We made it! Scrubbing the apartment in the half light of morning, the lamps already removed. Give the key to the hausmeister, two taxi-vans full of the last stuff, and we're off. Everything into the storage room. What's this? Alfred decides his new, high-tech backpack is too small and uncomfortable. OK, take my old one out of the storage, repack, and go. Gabi happens by. Takes us to the train station. Call the landlord from the train - not exactly cool, but hopefully he doesn't pull any funny stuff with the "condition" of the apartment. We'll see in the Spring.

Frankfurt airport. Our tickets haven't arrived yet. Come back at 3pm. Again. No. But wait, ask that woman over there in the sari, maybe she knows. Yes.

In our original plan to travel for a whole year, we intended to go through part of India and Nepal as well as S.E. Asia. Because the trip is shorter now, only 4.5 months, we will skip India (this time), but flying with a bangladeshi airline gave a short taste of what we'll be missing. Flight attendants in saris, good curry as airplane food (at least the vegetarian), passengers squatting multiple seats in hopes of having both a window seat and a long row for sleeping, a morally edifying soap opera on TV, and then transfer in Dakka. Water, palms. Everyone crowd over to the desk over there to get your boarding pass - no queue and make sure the guy who just took your ticket doesn't get distracted and forget about it...

Then we're in Bangkok. Taxi can't find our hotel - get out here and walk, it's right down this street... I only see an alley of garages and piles of metal machine parts, but the hotel is really there around the bend. It's nice. A short walk and it's back to sleep for another 12 hours.

yesterday