Australia Brisbane - Airlie Beach

Australia

A new continent NIIICCEE. The flight was actually very short (8h) cause I was able to sleep on the plane which I usually can t. This time though I had two seats and so i missed out on all the nice movies. After my arrival I went to buy an Australien SIM card, to be able to call Fabian, then I booked a busticket from the airport in Brisbane to Hervey Bay where I would meet Fabian.

Eventhough I slept on the plane I was still quite tired, so i slept most of the time during the busride. Everything just worked out very fine. As you know I had prolonged my stay in Lombok, but Fabian hadn t, so he had been in Australia for already 10 days. During these days he managed to recruit two German guys who rented together with him a van to drive up to Cairns. The had rented a so called „wicked van“. Those vans are in comparison rather low costs and they look totally like a van out of the 70s, full of slogans and painting. Inside there are 3 mattresses and some cooking equipment. To be honest there is hardly enough space for 3 people but definitely not enough for four. Therefore we started taking turns who had to sleep on the front seats.

In Australia it is forbidden to sleep in your car which is a little bit stupid, cause if you are tired you better sleep in your car than continue to drive. I guess this kind of backpackers like us, just got annoying and thats why the introduced that law. So officially we cannot sleep somewhere in our van, but we simply don t care and the police knows that. So once in a while the police might bang your door in the very moring to wake you up, and make you go away. They do that cause asking to pay a fine usually ends up that the backpackers prefer to spend a day in jail than to pay 200 ASD, which the police tries to avoid.
Therefore every night we try to find a nice parking space which is not too obvious where we spend the night. The only disadvantage of wild camping is the lack of toilet and shower. Okay toilet is easily solved, as nature is abundant and there are always showers at the beach. As we are driving up the coast, we just stop once in a while at a beach for a swim and a shower.

On my second day we went to Bundaberg where we visited a rum distillery. Very interesting to see how they make rum and of course the tour included rum tasting... even better! My favourite one is the 10 year old mixed with cream,.. tastes basically like Bali's...

After that we continued until 1770 and spend the night there. Yes 1770 is the name of the place. Obviously in 1770 Sr. Cook arrived precisely at this point and decided to start a town here, called 1770. Not too creative I would say.
Already at the distillery and again in 1770 we met Bill. Bill recently retired and decided that he would like to see Australia. He has never traveled much in Australia before (even though he is Australian)... so slowly he is making his way through Australia in a van like ours (little less hippie though). We had some interesting discussions... and I have to admit I like the way you spend your time Bill :-)

After half a day on the beach in 1770 we continued to Malborough where we simply spent the night on aparking space next to the highway. He had to keep driving as we hardly had gotten forward (in terms of distance) so far. Next day was just driving and driving until Airlie Beach. This place is famous for its great whitesunday cruises and great beaches. This is precicely what we want to do here. Unfortunately it turned out that Fabi had gotten ill. So he spent most of the time in the back of the van sleeping, trying to get better as soon as possible. This evening we treated ourselves with a stay on a camp site!!! Hot shower and a camp kitchen + electricity!!!! Nice!! We charged everything that could be charged. Moreover we found ourselves a good deal for the cruise, that included a night in a hostel!!! YYEAAHHH more luxury!!!!

The way of travelling in Australia is just much more budget than in Asia but still it is very nice!!! Next blog will be about the cruise.

Kisses from Airlie Beach
Astrid

Final days in Asia

Bali- Jakarta – Singapore

Hello after a long time, well I am already in Australia but I still owe you the final days of Asia. I spent exactly 100 days in Asia. Not that I had actually planned to do so but... well i guess it is better not to have any plans and just decide on the spot... and this is precicely what I did. As I have told you already I had changed my ticket to be able to stay 10 days more in Indonesia. Acutally Chuss and me were planning to stay in Lombok and to do a tour but ... well.. I met Janish, (the girl I was hiking on the volcano with) and she invited us to visit her in Bali.

So after our dream days in Kuta Lombok, we went to Mataram and took a plane from there to Denpasar (Bali). This flight takes only 20 minutes, costs 18 Euros and is cheaper than the boat. Janisha was still with her boyfriend in Singapore but we could anyway go to her house as her maid was taking care of the house. When we arrive there, we were seriously impressed!!! The house is just amazingly beautiful, very open with a very nice terrasse and pool. This is were we would spend the next 4 days! GREAT! Australia won t be to luxurious anyway, so this is a very nice treat before leaving for camping ;-)

Janisha, Greg (Janisha's boyfriend), Chuss and me had a very nice time at the beach, hanging around on their terrasse or going out for dinner. I have to mention that they have been the most incredible hosts EVER!!!!! Seriously, it has been almost too much,! It was such a pleasure to stay with you at your house, thanks again VERY much for everything!
Well i guess some of my dedicated readers may remember that I wasn t impressed by the beaches in Bali. Well.. my opinion has quite changed. Obviously the last time we were there, all the rubbish was brought by the current due to the bad weather... as we were lucky with the weather, also the beaches were very nice, and I did my best to get tanned! (mediocra success, but for me.. pretty good)

After our nice days at Janisha's and Greg's house Chuss went back to Bangkok and me to Jakarta to meet my dear Indonesian friends I studied in Rotterdam with. Obviously heritability seems to be a major strength of Indonesians, cause also them treated me like a queen. I just went to Jakarta for one day, so my time was pretty limited. They picked me up from the airport and took me out for some real Indonesian food with their families (delicious by the way!!!). Afterward we drove around the city to get an idea of Jakarta until a very bad thunderstorm started. The next day I could see the old port of Jakarta which is still in use by wooden ships supplying small islands.

Afterwards more food, this time seafood! It was just great and even better I could eat with my hands. This used to be my dream when I was a child (but well in Europe we don t consider that to be good table manners). In Indonesia this is perfectly fine and so I went for it and I have to say after all those years of European table manners it is a little be strange but I grew into it and I started to really like it :-) After our lunch I had to leave already for the airport to catch my flight to Singapore, my final stop in Asia.

Singapore..... It has been mentioned EVERY often in my MEL classes as THE shipping hub, famous for its efficient stacking due to a substantial lack of space :-) The city itself is not too bad either. Beaches, ships, shopping and nice people... what else could a girl ask for? Okay maybe my visit was a bit short for some serious judgment BUT i have to say I liked it. There are some fancy places. I had to go to Simli-Square (the center for electronics) to buy another charger for my computer! YES... I KNOW... again, but that shitty (sorry but it is the truth in that case) Chinese crap didn t last too long. Suddenly it just decided to stop working! Damn it... but at least it happend somewhere were I could find replacement! After my exhausting shopping, I went to the beach to enjoy the sea and the view of vessels queuing :-)

I had only 1,5 days in Singapore as my flight to Australia left on the 25th of April at 00.10! New continent... how exciting and this time the flight was much more pleasant!! I had two seats, so I was actually able to sleep, which was a pitty as they had sooo many good movies to watch!!!

Kisses from already Australia
Astrid

PS: the internet cafe computer just told me that i don t have the permission to upload fotos! damn it ... so again, will upload when i can

Lombok II - Indonesia

After my quite exhausting trip to the vulcan, I had actually planned to do s scooter trip to Kuta together with Chuss but when I arrived back in Sengiggi, that night, there was no way I would be driving for two days. My knee had a quite bad inflammation and my feet were sore. So Chuss and me decided to rest for a day in Sengiggi.
WE spent the night again in the same hostel, were the owner and his family are amazingly friendly but the issue with the bathroom (no floor which led to two mice in our bed) made us change the hostel for the second night. After that we went for lunch and enjoyed a rather quite evening. The night before when we went our for dinner (my trekking partner) and all the trekking guides, they had told us, that there would be traditional stick-fighting today. We were of course interested and went to see traditional Lombok stick fighting. It turned out to be quite brutal!! Firstly volunteers were hitting each other as badly as they could for four rounds, then a referee would decided who would be the winner. After the amateurs the professional stick fighters had a go but here there are no rounds. They fight until sombebody is bleeding from their had. Once in a while people throw money into the ring, to encourage the fighters to fight harder. The people around seemed to really enjoy it.. more and more people came (local people) and were cheering for their fighter.

After 2 hours of brutal fighting, Chuss and me decided that we had seen enough bruises and blood and left for a massage.
This was actually my first massage in southeast Asia. Even though you can find cheap massage offers on every corner, so I hadn t enjoyed one.
For me the massage was all relaxing and very nice for my knee and feet. Chuss had a rather awkward experience when the massage lady indicated that a so called "happy ending massage" could be an option as well. .... She did not go for it :-)

That day we had spent around 1,5 hours in a so called travel agency, discussing various opportunities: going to Comodor and Flores (tour), changing Chuss s ticket to Spain or to Bangkok, renting a scooter, etc.... Well originally we really wanted to go to Comodor and Flores to see the Dinosors, but the boat trip takes 4 days and 5 nights and does not take you back. Therefore you need to take a flight back from Flores to Bali which intotal adds up to the costs. Furthermore we were a little bit suspicios about the boat we were supposed to go on with and to sleep on.... cause due to a second engine (which according to the travel agent stabilizes the boat HAHAHAHA) we would not be getting sea sick.... and probably the wheather is going to be fine... we should not worry. WELL, I have heard that story before I climbed the volcano (don t worry it is going to be fine) and therefore we decided that it is a little bit too risky and too expensive. (by the way good decidsion cause a cyclone is supposed to hit flores soon!!! I would like to see how effective the second engine is then!!)

Anyway we wanted to rent a scooter to drive to Kuta Lombok, but unfortunately the moment we wanted to leave, it started to pour. We waited a while but the situation didn t get better, so we switched to a car. It is a little bit more demanding as Indonesia is driving on the other side of the road (other than Austria and Spain) and therefore the stiring wheel is also on the other side and and shift with your left hand. But so far we managed quite well... until we came into a very croweded village were left and right of the car scooters were passing..... Chuss didn t pay attention to the left edge of the road for a second and BUUUUUMMMMMMM we hit another parking car. Okay I wasn t exactly relaxed for a second.... screaming but when i figured that nobody was hurt, I calmed down and tried to calm Chuss a bit cause she looked terrified.
The people around us were extremely helpful. Nobody was shouting or angry ... but their first sentence was: "Don t call the police" .... well I wasn t ready to call anybody right now... so I took my time, checked the damage on both cars and started thinking.

A guy explained to us that we would have more issues with the police cause we would have to bribe them, instead we should call the rental guy... which I did. I expected anger and shouting ..but nothing... very calm. He came, checked the damaged and arranged for the car to be taken to a mechanic. He would also drive us "home" after he had finished his prayer. We got in the car with all our stuff and he suggested that he could also drive us to Kuta, which we gladly accepted. Suddenly he pulled by a gas station ... pray again... Chuss and me patently waiting in the car. THEN we went to pick up his motor bike from a private house, obviously these were friends of him, so he went inside to have a cup of tea with them... Chuss and me waiting. After that we went to his house, because he was too tired to drive us to Kuta (10 km more) so his so called "brother" took over. Actually suddenly we were stuck with 3 middle aged guys who didn t really speak english but the loved football and Real Madrid, therefore Chuss had do have one word conversations about the great football nation Spain.
Finally we arrived in Kuta and checked into a Hotel. The room was soo big that you could have played tennis in it but appart from two beds there was nothing inside. I used the space to dry my clothes.
After this day we took it very easy. We rented a scooter and went to the beach. THE BEACH!!! We were alone on a super white, glittering beach, with skyblue water holding in one hand a freshly cut pineapple. Life can be soooooo good

Kuta is an amazing place, very quiete with a few Homestays and Warungs (little traditional Indonesian restaurants), wonderful beaches and a surfers paradise. Unfortunately that might change soon, as they have built closely an international airport ... when this airport opens, all the peace might be gone very fast. Therefore if you have time, go to Lombok Kuta and enjoy this paradise... it might not last for long.

After two days in Kuta we went to Mataram (the capital of Lombok) were we took a 20 minute flight to Bali. The girl I ve been trekking with (Janisha) had invited Chuss and me to visit her in Bali. We gladly accepted and went to Bali

Kisses from the paradise Kuta Lombok
astrid

Lombok - Indonesia

Hello from Lombok,

I would love to add the pictures from Gili and also for this entry but it is quite hard to find an internet connection that is potent enough to upload my fotos!!! I will do so, as soon as I find one.

After our beach holidays in Gili Islands (at the biggest of the Gili islands) Chuss and me moved on to Lombok, anothere island quite close to the Gili islands but far bigger. When we arrived we had our first encounter with the local so callled "transport mafia" ... the code phrase here is: stay cool, be patient and bargain like hell...mercy is for victims! We had decided to start our trip in a village called Sengiggi... recommended by the famous lonely planet.
We found a quite cheap hostel which seemed to be very nice as for 5 Euros per person we got a double room (clean), breakfast (banana pancake), free internet and free transportation (as the center was a 15 minutes on foot). Just one drawback... remember the bathroom in Gili had no ceiling, well this bathroom had basically no floor. The soil was covered with rocks, which gave hostage to all kind of insects and animals. Fair enough, otherwise to good to be true.

Chuss and me rented a scooter and explored a little bit the south of the island. While I was driving, Chuss was responsible for greeting and waving at locals, as every time we passed somebody, there were friendly shouting "Hellooooo, how are yooouuuuuuuuu". Did I mention that right now in Indonesia it is still the rainy season? That means that at least twice per day, its starts pouring like hell. We were not yet totally accustomed so, when suddenly the weather god emptied a bucket over us, we kept on driving. Obviously what you should do is: find shelter... this is what all the locals do. Well eventually we got it.. and joined a couple of girls in their shelter.

When it started raining for the second time, we were already prepared and took shelter next to a small kiosk. Even though the owner didn t speak English he was highly motivated talking to us. Slowly his whole family joined, 3 ladies and their kids.... ahh i forgot to mention... here men are allowed to have more than one wife (max 4). He wanted us to hold the babies, but every time we just attempted to touch the kids, they started panicking and cried for 10 minutes :-)
Eventually we could continue and we went to Sokotong (small village in the south), there we enjoyed a very nice rice with chicken in a local "warung" = I wouldn t call it restaurant... but a rather basic place, usually family-run offering food. As the weather didn t get better we decided to go back home, cause I had to be in good shape, as the next day I would start my trekking tour to the summit of a volcano.

Pick up time: 5 am!!!!!!! Even though Chuss would not do the hike, she would still go to the village, where I will end my trek, to visit the waterfalls there. Therefore she had to get up at 4.30 as well. We arrived at the starting point where we had breakfast (banana panacake and pineapple). I never had so many pancakes in my life like in Indonesia... I guess the Indonesians think this is what Europeans eat for breakfast and so this is what they serve (cause they eat rice!!). Anyway after the breakfast an Indonesian girl (Janisha), me, the guide and 2 porters started our trip. The first day we had to hike for 7 hours. The path was extremely steep and very difficult, to make it even more demanding it OF COURSE started to rain, so the soil was very wet ans slippery.
If you think your job is hard, pls let me advice you, probably nothing in comparison to the job of the porter. I almost "died of exhaustion" climbing up that day but the porters were wearing flip-flops and carried around 50 kilos each. Not in a backpack like me, but in two wooden baskets connected by bamboo! I guess you imagine these guys to be of a similar structure like Rocky, but rather the contrary. Two tiny guys (around 1,6 m) with approximately 55 kilograms! Even more fascinating was the speed the climbed the mountain!!! The over took us and basically ran up the mountain!!!!

In the last hour of that day I was really exhausted but I kept going, as there was anyway no way back and complaining would make the situation easier...Eventually we arrived at the rim and OF COURSE it was raining. Two French guys and me found shelter were we waited for the rain to stop. Meanwhile our porters and the guide established our tent... service like for a princes. Cause they also prepared immediately some tea and dinner, so that we would get warm again. I basically fell into bed (sleeping bag) after that, which was good, cause I had to get up at 2:45 am to hike up to the summit.
After a cup of coffee equipped with a torch we started walking up to the summit. The way was very steep, slippery and we didn t have enough light = dangerous venture. I soon lost the other Indonesian girl, as she was very slow, and I was determined to be at the summit for sunrise. I disappointed myself by not making it for sunrise. It turned out to be the hardest hike of my life, as the last bit was a sort of steep lava-sand beach. So every time you made a step, we slid back half of it again. On the way I met the two French from the day before again... they were as exhausted as I was. We celebrated our victory (climbing the summit) with chocolate an energy drinks! AND it was sooooo worth it. The view on the crater, the panorama and just everything was GREAT!!! I have hardly seen something soo beautiful.

On the way down I met the Indonesian girl and our guide, she was totally exhausted and freezing, cause SURPRISE at 3700 m it is cold. So I volunteered to lend her my jacket as I was anyway on the way down to the rim.
When I arrived at the rim, one of the porters had already prepared breakfast for me... I was really glad, cause I was basically starving. Usually we were supposed to leave now to go down to a lake with hot springs, but we had to rest a bit, cause the Indonesian girl almost collapsed.
The way down to the hot springs was a real pain. I really do not like going down, especially when it is raining (ahh yes it started to rain again) and it was again really slippery. So once you slip you might actually die!! Very comforting perspective!
I was walking with the porter, as Janisha was far behind with the guide and so I arrived first at the hot springs. After a cup of tea I went directly with all my clothes on into the hot springs and stayed there 2,5 hours!!!!! SOOOOOOOOOOOO NICE!
Unfortunately I could not take a photo of the hot springs, but they are amazing. They are located next to a waterfall, which is surrounded by green mountains! No people, just me and the waterfall!

Actually we were supposed to walk up to the other rim the same day, but Janisha couldn t so we stayed (I was quite exhausted as well... but maybe I could have made it). Therefore the next day we had to get up early again to walk up to the second rim. 3,5 climbing! My backpack was even heavier because all my clothes were wet and therefore heavier! When we arrived at the rim, I received a sms from Fabian saying: "Hey astrid, pls send me a message when you are back home, I heard all trek in lombok have been closed as the weather is soo bad".... that doesn t make you feel extremely safe when you are at the top of a mountain. Well... anyway we started walking down and of course by then it started to rain again. We had to walk 6 hours downwards and obviously this is quite a challenge for one's knees. After 4 hours, my right knee decided that it was too much and started to be a real pain (literally).

When we FINALLY arrived in Sanaru at the car.... I was sooo happy to be alive and in more less good health!!!! It was a great trip but VERY exhausting and very hard. So if you ever decided to do that hike, brace yourself. BE in GOOD shape, have a very nice rain jacket and VERY good shoes!

Kisses from the volcano
Astrid

Bali - Gili Islands

Greetings from Bali!!!!!!

I arrived on the first of April in Bali- Denpasar. Fortunately Fabi arrived more less at the same time so we could take a taxi together and look for a place to stay overnight. As Fabians brother has told us that Seminyak is much nicer than kuta, so we went to Seminyak as it is supposed to be a little bit more quiet. Ahhhh not really the case though!!!! Crazy traffic, one shop after the other followed by a restaurants! I don t know how to explain it but basically the vibe was not the right one! In the evening Mike (friend from Greece) arrived. He had just short term decided that he would join for a short holiday in Bali. While Fabian and me were waiting we went to the beach and it turned out to be the most disgusting beach I ve seen so far!! Full of rubbish!!! Far away from what I had in mind when I was thinking of Bali! As it was Fabians and my reunion, we decided to have a beer on the beach. In the bar there we met Wendy, a girl from California travelli9ng by herself. As we were thinking of hiring a Jeep, she decided that she would come with us! Meanwhile Mike had arrived and all four of us went out, first night out in Bali.... not too spectacular!!!

Next Fabian and Mike went to hire a big car to go to Ubud. For those of you who have read „eat pray love“, yes this is the place where she starts her trip in Indonesia. It is famous for its culture. In general Indonesia is a Muslim country but Bali is determined by Hindus and their traditions.
With our car we went to see a temple on the way to Ubud... which was full of monkeys. Even though we were not allowed to enter the temple, the view from the top to the bay was amazing.

Just to treat ourselves we decided to check into a nice hotel, and there are plenty in Ubud. Unfortunately the weather wasn t to good for 2 days so we didn t do much apart from picking Chuss up from the airport, food and a walk. From Ubud we went to the nearby vulcano, which we intended to climb. Shortly before the top the weather turned bad again and as we didn t want to be in the news als those kids who went missing cause they were stupid enough to continue walking eventhough they didn t know the exact way, we decided to go back. never the less it was an amazing hike, which i personally really enjoyed.

From Ubud we went back to Seminyak as our bus + boat would leave from there to Gili islands. when we arrived finally there, it turned out to be just paradise!!! incredible beautiful!! white beaches, not too many people, small nice bungalows and totally clear sea with a lot of sea live.
After we found accommodation, we went directly to the beach and stayed there until midnight! Fabian found an Austrian restaurant and therefore the international gang had to go for Austrian food, but i have to admit... it was actually quite nice for a change. the next couple of days we spend just swimming, snorkeling, playing volleyball, eating, drinking and building sand volcanoes on the beach!!! Please check the photos and envy me:

Tomorrow Chuss and me are leaving for Lombok,... another island where I intend to climb a 3000 m high slightly active volcano... i am sure that will be great.
Fabian is staying a little longer as he we do his advanced diving license and Wendy is sick... so no clue yet.

kisses from paradise
astrid

Bangkok - Kho Samed - Bangkok

Okayyyy.... here I am after a long time again! After my twenty hour busride in Bangkok, the only thing I really wanted was a room with shower!!! I arrived in Bangkok at 5 in the morning, totally dizzy and sleepy and the first thing I saw when I got off the bus are 10 taxi and tuktuk drivers who offer you a ride for a „cheap cheap“ price which is actually a massive rip off. Therefore eventhough you are tired and sooooo not in the mood for bargaining I teamed up with two Germans and started to argue about the price... eventually we found a taxi driver who was willing to take us for a reasonable amount of money.

It was actually very nice to be back in civilization, called Bangkok. After more than 2 weeks in Laos where they have a curfew at 11:30 = all bars, pubs and clubs close or at least turn of the music, it was kind of a shock to be back in Khao San Road, where people never sleep! OF COURSE I had to go out and as it happens I met some very nice people from Argentina, Mexico, France and the Dominican Republic. As I was anyway trying to figure out where to go next and they invited me to join them in Kho Samed I just went for it!!

Kho Samed is the „Beach of Bangkok“ as it is only 3 hours from Bangkok... many Thai people go there as well for a weekend getaway. I was actually looking forward to some very nice beach time... BUT the weather was rather bad... cloudy and sometimes rain... anyway, that didn t stop us from having a good time even though it didn t include much beach time. I would though not recommend Kho Samed to anyone because the beaches are not that great, it is very expensive there and everybody is trying to rip you off constantly!!!
Once in a while I talked to Fabian who was by then in Kho Samui ... which was hit by a zyclone!!! So he actually all his time either in the hotel or at the airport trying to leave the island :-). Well... not funny but... what can you do.

During that time Thailand was experiencing an earthquake in the north of Thailand (quite a strong one) and there were rumors that there is going to be another one in Bangkok.... which made me a little nervous as I would have to go eventually back to Bangkok as my flight would left from there but if the earthquake would have happened while I was still in Kho Samed (it is an island) there could have been issues with a tsunami.... soooo what to do except praying?

Well I decided to go back to Bangkok...At least íf a catastrophe is going to hit, it might be easier to leave from Bangkok than from an island. On my way back I met Anthony a dive instructor from France. As we were both on a tight budget and he seemed like a nice guy we decided to share a room. We met another french couple that evening and we had a very nice night out again in Khao San Road. His flight to France left the next day early in the moring, so I barly noticed when he left in the morning.

Chuss (Spanish girl that I met in Laos) and me had arranged for the day to meet as she was in Bangkok aswell. As she had a double room I moved in which her and while I was packing my stuff I recognized that my camera was gone!!!!! NOOOOO DAMN it!!! I was sure that I didn t loose it and I had it the night before... soooo it seemed as Anthony had taken it. He is such a nice person, I really could not imagin that he had taken it on purpose... so I sent him a message inquiring about my camera... and it turned out that he had taken it by accident because we have the same case and it was dark and early in the morning... but still I was in a shitty situation as my camera was in France!! Thats also the reason why there are no pictures in this blog entry... cause my fotos are in France :-) !!!!
It is pretty hard to send anything to my by post as I change places all the time and I don t have an address to send it to where I could pick it up, therefore I decided to just buy a new one. Everything happens for a reason and obviously the universe wanted me to have an even better camera!!! Chuss and me spent a whole day in an 6 store electronic mall in Bangkok looking for cameras, checking prices and bargaining!!! But eventually I found an excellent model and so far I am very happy with it!!!!

On the first of April my plane left at 6.15 in the morning for Bali. Chuss had decided to join me but should would leave a day later. Leaving at 6 in the morning meant that I had to get up at 3 in the morning to go to the airport!! For the trip in Bali we were already a group of 4 people: Fabian, Chuss, me and Mike (a friend from Greece whom I know from Rotterdam). Seems like a very nice group!!

Greetings from Bangkok
Astrid