Iranian Visa: Picking Up My First Visa in Yerevan, Armenia

NOTE: If you want to use this picture of me preciously holding my first visa for an article about getting an Iranian visa and such, read my page about using my content first. Wanted: a visa to Iran YESSSS! I just picked up my very first visa. If you’re new here: I’ve been trying to obtain an Iranian visa for months now, first starting at the Iranian embassy in Tbilisi. I just walked in and asked, but they couldn’t really help me. I went to bureaucratic hell and back and considered hitchhiking to the Iranian consulate in Trabzon in Turkey.Continue reading

Kayak Trip Day 39: Komárno to Kúpele Patince

Narrated events in this story happened on Saturday the 17th of August, 2019. We intended to paddle Zucchini from Komárno to Moča on the Slovak Danube, but the accommodation in Moča fell through. Booking.com helped us find a replacement stay instead in a place called Kúpele Patince, which is a Slovak holiday village and the substantiation of a nightmare. Our Stay in Komárno Our three-night stay in Komárno was pleasant, but we didn’t explore as much as I’d hoped. One thing that consumed me during our stay was my desire to find a better spot to enter the Danube for the day we’dContinue reading

Samarkand Museums and Cultural Heritage Sites: 2021 Entry Fees for Foreigners

Though generally an inexpensive country in 2021, I’d like to know the entry price before going to a museum. This is no different for Samarkand, with its many museums, mausoleums, mosques, and other cultural heritage sites. At the Ulugh Beg observatory, I stumbled upon a price list in Uzbek written in Cyrillic. I decided to translate the info for other foreigners coming to Samarkand. Below you’ll find a map of all the museums. Contents1 Before You Visit a Samarkand Museum or Cultural Heritage Site2 Registan 2021 Opening Times + Entry Fees 🧿2.1 Registan Square Guided Tours + Video/Photo Fees +Continue reading

The Return to Uni: Going Back, or Moving Forward?

There is this thing I’ve known for the last few years: one of these days, I’ll have to return to Maastricht to finish my studies. I started university in the summer of 2010 and dropped out in November 2013. This had consequences. Today, I arrived back in that city that gave me so much pain. For those of you that have followed my journey for many years, you’ll know that my blogging journey started under the nom de guerre ‘Escapist’. Because that’s how I really felt. I was escaping the horror of my student life in Maastricht that had left meContinue reading

Kayak Trip Day 9: Günzburg to Dillingen an der Donau

Events in this article happened on the 30th of May, 2019, which was also Ascension day. We paddled in our inflatable canoe from Günzburg to Dillingen an der Donau, a distance of about 24 kilometers. Both towns lie in Bavaria in Germany. In Germany, Ascension day is a public holiday and they celebrate father’s day on this same day. Father’s day is actually more generally ‘men’s day’, which means that a lot of groups of men go outside to drink and revel in shitty activities like fishing. In Dillingen an der Donau, we finally went camping for the first timeContinue reading

Kayak Trip Day 3: Immendingen to Mühlheim via the Donauversickerung

Our Events chronicled happened on the 8th and 9th of May 2019. Jonas and I paddled our canoe/kayak over the young Danube from a small town called Immendingen to another small town called Mühlheim over 20.1 kilometers. On the way, we passed the ‘Donauversickerung’ – where the Danube river sinks or goes underground for 155 days a year. The water levels were high enough for us to paddle it.  If you want to know what this kayak trip is about, I wrote a detailed article about how we came up with this trip idea. You can also read about Day 1Continue reading

Hitchhiking from Nyaung-U (Old Bagan) to Naypyitaw

This happened on the 10th of January, 2020. Jonas and I hitchhiked from Nyaung-U – the town near the famous ruins of Old Bagan – to Myanmar’s new capital city Naypyitaw. This was our first attempt at hitchhiking in Myanmar. We covered 260 kilometers by hitchhiking. Here you can find a price comparison of our hitchhiking journey versus taking the bus and here’s the map of our route and points of interest. Preparations to Hitchhike in Myanmar I’d been preparing for hitchhiking in Myanmar for literal weeks. Back when Jonas and I were in Chiang Mai, Thailand, I made the first hitchhiking signContinue reading

Île aux Bénitiers + Crystal Rock by Kayak! (Mauritius)

All this happened on the 10th of January, 2022. After asking around far and wide for a place that would rent us a kayak, someone came through. The caveat? The two-person kayak only had one paddle. But we made do and paddled to île aux Bénitiers and Crystal Rock. Watch the vlog to see what that’s like! Contents1 Green Village Saves the Day2 Paddling to Île aux Bénitiers3 Mystery Rock + Crystal Rock4 Crossing Île aux Bénitiers on Foot/Paddling Around the North5 Paddling Back to Green Village/La Gaulette6 Contact Info7 Good intel? Consider buying me a tamarind juice! Green VillageContinue reading

Istanbul City Trip 2013 with Mom (Turkey)

Here are some photos and treasured memories from my 5-day trip to Istanbul, Turkey, with my mother back in 2013. I didn’t have a blog back then, so you figure I added all this much later. Dates of the trip: 28th of March till 2nd of April, 2013. The camera I had during this Istanbul city trip was still my first compact camera, so excuse the quality of the pictures. I returned to Istanbul in 2014 solo and in 2021 together with Jonas. Contents1 Istanbul City Trip Background2 Day 1: Flight to Sabiha Gökçen International Airport3 Day 2: Sultanahmet Neighborhood3.1Continue reading