Author archive
25 July 2025
No jetlag Three nights after landing from Europe, I’m happy to report that I haven’t had any jetlag. That’s quite unheard of, for me, especially flying towards the east. I’ve had not trouble falling asleep and have been OK to wake with the alarm at 0715 each morning. And my nature calls were nearly on […]
22 July 2025
Arriving in Bangkok The 1630 departure from Istanbul wasn’t conducive for sleep on the 9h10 flight. That’s despite the 0415 wake-up and half a sleeping pill. Somehow, I must have rested enough during the 5h30 between the dinner and breakfast, as it didn’t seem to drag on. I did get peckish in between the meals […]
21 July 2025
Leaving Chisinau Today I fly from Chisinau to Istanbul and from there, will somehow and hopefully make it to Kuala Lumpur on one of several standby options. I woke at 0415 and left my room about 30 mins later to check out from the hotel. I managed to get a car on the Yandex app, […]
20 July 2025
Today is about enjoying the atmosphere (which I already was), seeing life in a different country, living my day-to-day in a different environment and escaping the New Zealand winter. I spent the morning at the gym then ate a sandwich seated in the pedestrian mall which I had missed yesterday. After a rest in the […]
19 July 2025
Leaving Romania With an 1100 hotel check-out and 1230 bus, I had some spare time in the morning to review my standby flight options from Istanbul to Kuala Lumpur. All options were starting to get worse so I booked the most expensive standby option on Qatar Airways as a further backup. I headed out to […]
18 July 2025
Getting to Iasi I made the 20 min walk from Cassandra Pension to Targu Neamt’s Flozampet Bus Station. It’s not a long walk but the surfaces of the sidewalks and roads were not smooth enough for a wheelie bag and that had slowed me down a little. The bus to Iasi left 5 mins early […]
18 July 2025
Getting to Agapia Today’s plan was to visit one or maybe two monasteries outside Targu Neamt. I had checked the bus schedule for Agapia Monastery at the station yesterday and also had an old timetable for Varatec Monastery. I walked to the bus station in time for the 0900 service to Agapia. The man who […]
16 July 2025
Getting to Targu Neamt Today I leave Suceava for the town of Targu Neamt, over an hour away by road. But there weren’t many buses available when I looked. I booked one leaving from the station at 0830. In my enquiries, it was possible to have a pickup from the carpark of a hotel near […]
15 July 2025
Bucovina’s painted monasteries Suceava is a good base for visiting the painted monasteries of the surrounding Bucovina area. But these monasteries are out of town and it is difficult to do with public transport. I was very fortunate to secure a tour at the last minute for a half-day tour that offered Humorului and Voronet […]
14 July 2025
Arriving in Suceava We landed at Suceava’s little airport at 0115. I love small airports like this an was out at the taxi rank in minutes. With the taxi not accepting card, it was only a short walk to the ATM in the departure hall to get cash. While waiting, a kind gentleman had called […]