My Abu Dhabi accomodation looks like illegal business -they don’t issue any receipts for received money – so I will not receive compensation from Booking.com…. Lovely, sunny morning. Flowers in the streets. I have been here many times but it is still nice to look at this modern architecture once again. In the afternoon I took again bus A2 to the modern airport – see picture!. Qatar Airlines refused to give me boarding pass on line so I went to check in desk. And here… The weight of your cabin luggage is to high! We can register it only as a checked baggage. Uff – I didn’t expect this…

i survived, but they collected my backpack to check it as a regular baggage…

The meal on a one-hour flight was rather poor (Qatar wants to be the best airline in the world).

Once in Doha, I went through the immigrations annd customs (no problems!) Then at the information desk they told me that there is no public bus to the city. As alternative I ordered UBER to my Sovereign Hotel.. The pick up point of Uber is clearly marked in the building opposite the exit. It was 8 kms via the highway and overpases. Driver accepted payment in USD. The hotel is worth to recommend. Only a/c is not cooling but blowing air. There is electric kettle in the room. I left my staff and started the walk through the old Doha. It was evening already. Look at the brightly illuminated buildings:

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In the morning Andrzej was so nice to deliver me to the airport. Thank you and welcome to Wojtkowks in the summer! The wizz flight was full. Departed with half an hour delay. We were flying 6 hours over the snowy mountains. Black Sea and deserts of Arabia. 3 hours time difference. At 9 pm we landed in Abu Dhabi. 23 deg. In the evening. The airport is great. But big distances to walk. But after 20 minutes I went out of the building and turn right – to the A2 bus stop. Soon we were going to the city. I asked local Indian where to disembark for my guesthouse. He made the call and… Reported that my guesthouse is closed alredy since December. My God! Only one week ago Booking.com charged me money for this stay! No choice, I was going hotel to hotel asking for the cheap substitute. Filipino couple helped me to find a room with shared bath for 150 dirhams. Another adventure! Lets have a rest!

My long-distance flight to the Emirates will depart tomorrow morning from Cracow in the south of Poland. So today I boarded the train going through the snow-covered Poland to Cracow. My old friend, outstanding Polish traveller Andrzej was waiting for me. He invited me for the overnight stay. We spent few hours sipping wine and talking about world travelling. Andrzej has a long backpacking experience, he was organizing annual meetings of Polish globetrotters for 30 years – I attended almost all of them. Thank you Andrzej for your hospitality and a nice time we spent together!

The year 2026 marks the eightieth year of my life. I’ve decided to celebrate this anniversary by embarking on my fifteenth journey around the globe. Traveling by land, sea, and air, I’d like to reach several previously unknown destinations and reconnect with interesting places I haven’t  visited for a long time. Just look at the map… I ask my friends and supporters to keep their fingers crossed for me…  If I’ll find free internet access somewhere along the route, I will post hot news from this trip in my new-old travel log…  🙂

Lufthansa found for me last available seat on the Finnair plane departing to Helsinki. They rebooked me and soon I boarded their A350. It was 13-hours plus flight. It is hard to say that Finnair offers good service. The meals on the long flight are just poor. Regarding drinks you have a choice of one beer OR one glass of wine. That’s all… It was minus 20 degrees Celsius when we landed in Helsinki. Two hours later I departed on a small embraer plane to Gdansk.

Forget warm wind of the Pacific and lovely sunsets. In Gdansk I experienced snow around and temperature minus 15 degrees. One more interesting voyage is over… It is time to make the laundry and and start preparation for the next voyage! 😉 Look at the landscape from my balcony:

It was cloudy morning when our ship reached port of Hongkong. I said “thank you and goodbye” to Sankar – my cabin attendent. No custom or immigration control in the terminal. I connected to the free wifi network and… received e-mail from Lufthansa that their evening flight to Frankfurt will depart only tomorrow, 10 am. With 11- hours delay. I decided to go the airport to fight for my rights. First by bus 20A to Nathan Road. Here I went to the opposite side of the road to board A21 bus to the airport (7,50 + 34 HKG). In total it took more than 2 hours, but it seems to be last expensive solution…

LH don’t have an office here.! The local agent act on behalf of them. I said that it is the scandal what they do (and more!). As a result of messages sent to Germany and back after 2 hours they offered me last seat on the Finnair flight to Helsinki and onward to Gdansk. The plane will depart at 9 pm tonight. Better than waiting in the HKG airport! Please keep your fingers crossed! 🙂

I am in Pusan. The ship offers shuttle bus to the city centre for 19 euro RT. You should know that from the primitive cruise terminal it is only 20 min walk to Pusan station. Just overpass the road. At the station you have to go to the subway line 1 and buy ticket for less than 2000 won (the price depends of the distance). I am laughing now but in the modern South Korea you cannot use credit card to pay for metro ride. Korean cash only! Helpful Korean man changed me 5 USD and this was enough for whole day! Thank you, sir! One USD is worth 1400 won.

I did not go to the city center. I took opposite direction – to the mountais! At the end of the subway line 1 far from the noise and crowd there is hidden Buddhist Temple Beomeosa. If you are in a hurry take bus 90 from the metro station of the same name for 1700. It goes up and up through bamboo forest. Finally you will see many buildings on different levels.. Few people are praying… The marvel!

Back in the Pusan centre I went to the interesting fish market (huge octopuses on the picture below!) and then to the Yongclusan Park hidden between skyscrapers. They have there observation tower, Temple bell, few monuments. It took me half an hour walk to be back on the ship. Next two days we will be sailing back to Hong Kong…

Today in the morning we entered under the high bridge (like Golden Gate) lovely Bay of Nagasaki. The city is known as a place where second atomic bomb exploded in 1945. I took a tram no 1 (150yen) to get to Peace Park on the outskirts of the town (7 kms – too far to walk!). The picture on front of famous Statue of Peace is obligatory… Then I visited nearby catholic cathedral an went to colorful Chinatown (they just celebrate festival of lanterns)

There are picturesque stone bridges on the river and colorful Confician Tempe at the end of tram line 5. At the same area – near the cruise terminal they opened Glover Park on the hill where Westerners were living in 19th century. They charge 620 yen for entry, but it is worth… I found there tte statue of Madame Butterfly from the Puccini’s opera. And composer statue stands just nearby. I am the fan of opera so it was a good occasion to take souvenir picture.

Nagasaki is lovely with its little, junk trams and polite, friendly people. In the evening we will sail to South Korea…

Today in the afternoon we reached Kobe – huge Japanese port with many skyscrapers in the city.

It is cold and windy. Free shuttle bus took me from the cruise terminal to the elegant Chinatown full of shops. But I do not like shopping. So I turned by foot to the city hall. They offer viewing windows on the 24th floor – it is free self service visit. The view was excellent… But not sensational…

Looking for other attractions I found out that in the mountains surrounding Kobe there are trails. One of them is heading from ShinKobe station to the Mermaid Waterfall. Aha, I like waterfalls… I took a subway to ShinKobe station. Once out of the building turn left at at the end of the house you will see tunnel under the station to the trailhead. The orientation is easy – many signs on the way up. Small cascades on the way. It is serious 40 min hike up. The fall is weak on this season but I liked it. Just see the picture:

I was climbing up to the reservoir (another hour or so) to return after twilight. Great trip. Many surprised Japanese tourists on the trail! Tomorrow we will sail to Nagasaki…

Welcome to Tokyo! We docked at the Tokyo International Cruise Terminal just 200 m from the subway station the same name. Cold, but no wind today and lovely sun! Good info desk at the terminal… I decided to refresh memories – go first to Imperial Palace, getting of at Shimbashi station. The palace is like a green island in the center of Tokyo:

0ne city metro ride costs 170 yen only – use your card at the platform gate and scan it again on exit…

Then I crossed by foot famous Ginza quarter. I enjoyed the views of skyscrapers and took another metro ride to get to the tempe of Asakusa. Crowd of Japanese there. Kimonos for rent, lovely young ladies are happy to be photographed. What a atmosphere and what a day!