Borobudur & Prambanan, Indonesia

Day 4

Today my plan was to visit in Borobudur temple. Andry wrote me last night instructions how to get there and after breakfast he took me to the bus stop. After adventuring with Yogyakarta's bus system I found myself at a bus station in the northern part of the city. From there I took a minibus to Borobudur. On the way I saw my first rice fields which was exciting for me. Roadsides seemed to be full of shops selling statues, especially Buddha statues. Borobudur influence, maybe? Bus also stopped at some market where street players and sellers filled the bus in hope of getting some money.

At Borobudur bus station I was little confused which direction I should go. But Indonesians are so helpful and soon there was somebody pointing me in right direction without even asking help. Ignore all the rickshaw and taxi drivers because the temple area is only 1 kilometre or even less from the bus station.

At the gates to the temple I forgot there was a special entrance for foreign tourists so I first asked ticket from a normal ticket office. No wonder the entrance prices looked cheap. After I found my way to the tourist entrance it was big relief: they had air conditioning there! And free water (just a very small bottle), coffee and tea. And free internet so you can tell all your friends in Facebook that you're in Borobudur now. After getting the ticket, they gave sarong to wear and then I was off to explore Borobudur temple.

The temple area was quite full of people because it was holiday season in Indonesia. First view to the temple is quite amazing, it rises on top of small hill. The path there is quite cleverly designed so that you can see the first view of the temple after a curve. Some locals didn't really care about the sarong rule and used it as head scarf against sun which was shining from a clear sky. I burned myself very badly on that day. After climbing to the temple I had my first "Hello Mister!" experience. And soon I had probably 100 more of those experiences. Indonesians love to take pictures with tourists and as I am blond and very tall I was quite popular photograph friend. I enjoyed just enjoyed this, but I noticed that some other tourists weren't so happy about this habit. There was also some "official" photographers and one of them started to follow me and forced some people to take pictures with me, so funny. I also scared many small kids almost to death that day.

Views from the temple are really nice and very green. If you want to know about the carvings hiring a guide is not a bad idea but I myself was just walking around the temple and taking pictures by myself and with others. The temple is large but somehow it didn't really impress me that much. I, however, recommend to visit it, even just to have "Hello Mister" experiences. I skipped the museum which was included in the price and went to explore the souvenir village outside the entrance. I bought some chicken to eat and a traditional farmer's hat to hide from the sun. Then I walked back to the bus station and in the bus back to Yogyakarta I met a lovely local couple and the trip went fast by talking with them. I walked back to Andry's place from the bus stop. It was a long walk but really interesting. During the walk I saw how normal Indonesian neighbourhood lives, experience that not all tourists are able to do. Andry came back home in the evening and we went to eat near his home.

Day 5

Today my plan was to visit in Prambanan temple. It is located at the outskirts of Yogyakarta so the trip wasn't going to be as long as to Borobudur. Andry got new work order from his boss and he had to leave the city that evening. That meant that I was going to stay alone at his place my last night in Yogyakarta. Again Andry took me to the bus stop and we said goodbye to each other. Again locals were very helpful and they helped me to get to Prambanan as easily as possible.

Prambanan also has different entrance for tourists with same luxury services. But Prambanan has student discount, yay! I already saw quick peek of the temples from the bus but I was amazed when I saw the first sight of them after the entrance. My judgement: better than Borobudur. The temples are totally different in architectural style than Borobudur and I like more this Hindu style. The biggest temple in the Prambanan complex is Shiva temple which was closed during my visit. Other temples were open. There was more foreign tourists here than in Borobudur which was surprising for me. Also "Hello Mister"s were here too and again I took like 200 pictures with people. I also met some school children who spoke very good English and chatted with them quite long time. When I had enough of the Hindu temple complex I walked to the Candi Sewu which is a Buddhist temple almost 1 kilometre away. It still belongs to the same area but because it is far away from the Hindu temples only few people had found their way there. Actually there was only 2 American tourists with me there and we were quite excited to have a whole ancient temple just for us. Also in the area there is a small museum and zoo with deers and a cassowary bird. Like in Borobudur here was also a souvenir village.

Next day I was going to travel back to Jakarta so my next destination was train station where I had to buy a train ticket for tomorrow. In a bus from Prambanan to the city centre I met an American girl who was working in Indonesia and we chatted the whole ride back to the city about our travels. It was really nice to meet her. At the train station I was shocked: the line to the ticket counters were 1,5 hours long! After getting my waiting number I went to buy some snacks for waiting. The waiting time actually went by fast because there was so much happening at the train station and I also got to chat with some locals. It also started to rain little bit. After getting my ticket to a morning train to Jakarta I went to find a internet cafe or something. I didn't need to look for long because I was in the backpacker area and there was internet available at a first hostel I saw. Internet wasn't working in Andry's place and I needed it to check my next hosts contact information. After my time was up it was already dark outside and rainy. I took a bus and went to visit in a shopping mall near Andry's home. I also had visited in this mall in the morning to buy relief for my sunburns. I had now dinner in there (some Chinese food) and then bought some food for tomorrow's train ride and for breakfast. Because it was quite long way to walk from there to Andry's place and it was dark and little bit rainy, I decided to took a taxi to home and after shower I went to sleep.

Yogyakarta, Indonesia

I travelled in Southeast Asia between December 2011 and January 2012. During the trip I visited in Singapore, Indonesia and Malaysia. Next posts will be about this trip.

I had a flight to Singapore from Helsinki via Frankfurt, Germany. In Frankfurt I had 6 hours to spend so I visited in city centre. There was Christmas Market going on so I of course had some pretzels and Glühwein. I had been in Frankfurt before so there was no nothing new to me. The flight to Singapore went easily, I was sleeping most of it. Lufthansa's Airbus A380 is very good plane, very good entertainment selection.

I arrived to Singapore in the evening. I found my hostel, went to eat to nearby shopping mall and then I went to sleep.

Day 1

I woke up early in the morning and checked my departure time to Yogyakarta, Indonesia many times. But still I arrived to airport too late. I blame jet lag of my stupidness in that morning. AirAsia is the only airline which has straight flights to Yogyakarta from Singapore and only once per day. So I had too options: fly next day or fly today to somewhere else. And I decided to fly to Jakarta and take a train from there to Yogyakarta.

Couple hours later I was in the plane going to Jakarta. I had no clue what I was doing because my careful plans were now gone. There was woman and her daughter sitting next to me and they wished me good luck in Jakarta because it is very dangerous city in their opinion. This just made me more excited! In Jakarta I first bought visa on arrival before passport check. After customs was time to find a reliable taxi to the train station. I ignored all the taxi drivers shouting offers at me and I tried to find a taxi stall. I found one and they had metered taxi which took me to the Gambir train station. I was enjoying every moment of the drive to the station. Singapore wasn't that much different from Europe (except the weather) but Indonesia was already showing its different face. At the station I bought a ticket to a night train to Yogyakarta.

Day 2   

In the train I tried to sleep but it was quite hard because the train was noisy, other passengers were noisy and at every station there was coffee sellers shouting "Kopi! Kopi! Kopiiiiii!" And I saw some huge lizards climbing on train stations' walls and trying to catch some huge moths.

I arrived to Yogyakarta around 4am and then I tried to find a hostel or hotel. I walked to one hotel which was recommended in my guide book. The receptionist was sleeping when I came in. I asked if they had rooms available and he said no. Then I asked if I could spend the rest of the night at the couch in the reception and he said it was ok. But I really couldn't get any rest because of the noises from the street and soon the sun come up and the city woke up so I gave up with resting. I started to wait call from my couchsurfing host Andry. He was supposed to come to the city in the morning from Jakarta. While waiting his call I walked around the neighbourhood which is called Sosrowijayan. It has narrow streets with many backpacker hostels and colourful houses, very lovely neighbourhood in the day time, not so much at 4am. I also bought my street food in Indonesia: delicious chicken soup and fresh mango juice. And I learned probably the most useful words of my whole trip: ayam means chicken and goreng means fried. These 2 words helped me a lot next days. Finally Andry contacted me but he had bad news: his boss asked him to visit in other city before his return to Yogyakarta so he couldn't host me yet. So I took a room from the hotel where I spent my morning. And I went straight to sleep as I was really, really tired. I woke up when it was already dark outside and I went to find something to eat. I ate at a restaurant which was full of other tourists and then had some snacks and drinks from supermarket. Before I went to sleep I was watching how gekko was walking on my ceiling.

Day 3

Andry sent a message that he was going to meet me afternoon so I had time to go explore Yogyakarta. I first walked to Kraton, the sultan's palace. On the way I met my first group of school kids, they were almost scared to death when they saw me. During the next days I would see this happening many times again. I also liked the small amusement park next to the Kraton. It looked like it was abandoned because it was in very bad shape. I entered to Kraton from it's northern entrance, I was surprised how the entrance fee was cheaper than what it was mentioned in guide book. Soon I realised why: I was only allowed to walk in a small part of the Kraton. Days later I heard from other tourist that you should use southern entrance which allows you to explore bigger and more interesting part of the Kraton. But there was some guides hanging around near the entrance of the Kraton. I asked them if this was really all I could see. They told me the rest of the Kraton was closed on that day. So I don't know who I should trust and believe. But at least I got the see small part of the Kraton.

After my question to guides one of them wanted to show me a batik workshop. I tried to refuse this offer as friendly as I could but soon I was walking with him to that batik workshop. Of course at the workshop they tried to sell me everything they had but I got away from there quite easily. Guide still gave me advice which way I should go if I want to visit in Taman Sari, the Water Palace. I was really surprised that he didn't ask me any money. But I started to walk towards Taman Sari. On the way I passed pet market which had very interesting selection of all kinds of crawling things. But the place made me feel very sad too so I continued my trip quickly.

Near Taman Sari I got one guide following me. I tried to ignore him first but then I started to follow him because he wanted to show me the way to Taman Sari. At one point he stopped and wanted me to come with him to batik shop. I said that I'm not interested and continued walking because I saw some other tourists in front of me so I started to follow them. Guide didn't try to follow me anymore. I walked through a tunnel and then I stopped to have a rest at a small kiosk with lovely terrace. After rest I went to visit in Taman Sari. Guide was included in the price but I didn't understand most of his stories because he was speaking so fast, quietly and with heavy accent. And of course he took me to a batik shop. I bought some postcards, got haggled down the price little bit too. He also showed me shadow puppet shop but prices there were definitely not for my budget. I gave a small tip to the guide after tour (small for me, big for him judging from his face).

After Taman Sari I walked through some ruins next to it. I decided to sit down and have a rest on top of them. From the top was great views over Yogyakarta. The city seems to lack high buildings but because of big earthquake risk I think it's understandable. I could also view first time Mount Merapi, the active and dangerous volcano. Well, the top of it was behind clouds but I could see some of it. I sat there for an hour watching how locals or local tourists were either scared or interested of me or both. Then I walked back to my hotel where I then met with Andry. He was with his scooter but I had so big luggage so it was better for me to take a bus. Andry gave me instructions and then we met again at a bus stop near his place. Then I hopped on his scooter and we drove short way to his place. It was my first time on a scooter so I was little nervous of the ride first but soon I realised there was nothing to be scary of. I had to give copy of my passport to gate guards of Andry's apartment complex so that they knew I was there. Andry offered me lunch and dinner and we stayed at his place rest of the day talking about all kinds of things. But we both were happy to go sleep early as we were quite tired both and next day I had new adventure ahead of me.

Belgium - Brussels, 2

So day 3 in Belgium started very sunny. As usually I hunted first breakfast. Today my was European Parliament. The parliament has 2 free tours per day and I went to the first one 10 am. I was there early so after getting my visitor tag I had time to walk around the Léopold Park which next to the parliament. When I got back there was some other visitors already waiting. After security check they gave us small video guides. Video guide told the route we should follow. The tour only visited in 3 rooms: the lobby, some room where you could see a statue and the hemicycle. Video guide was in a language of your choice, all official EU languages were available.

After the disappointing tour (but because it's free I recommend it) I walked to the Royal Palace. The palace was more bigger and grand than what I expected. I had a walking break at Parc de Bruxelles where I watched how immigrant women were taught how to ride a bicycle. The ladies seemed to be very happy to learn this new skill. I also checked the Federal Parliament of Belgium building next to the park.

From the center I took a metro to see the Atomium. Atomium was also bigger than what I expected. Sun was shining bright and I could just wear a t-shirt - nice! I was also surprised of the Expo 58 buildings near the Atomium, they looked interesting. I had a lunch at the cafe under the Atomium - not the cheapest cafe but it was under Atomium so I had to do it! I took a small at the Parc d'Osseghem and then I took a metro back to the city center.

I came back to the surface at Schuman station which was located to my surprise next to the European Commission building. It isn't that fabulous looking but I just didn't know it was located there. My reason to come here was to visit in Parc du Cinquantenaire. It was lunch time and the sun was shining bright so people were enjoying their lunch break at the park. It was full of people. And highlight of this park is the triumphal arc which is huge! I loved it! There was a pop-up restaurant on top of it at the time. Because this was the last must-see for me in Brussels I took a metro to the old town area where hunted down many comic strip walls and took sunny pictures of Grand-Place. I decided walk to the Hans' place from the center. On the way I saw lots of small lovely parks and many churches. I also visited inside of the Palais Justice which looks amazing inside! I bought some African food from a market in St Gilles which was good! Fried bananas were quite blaah but the goat meat and the super spicy sauce were great.

I checked if Hans or one of his room mates were home but they weren't so I took a metro back to the European Parliament where I was supposed to meet my friend Mira and her friends. I was at Place du Luxembourg hour too early so I had time to watch people. The bar terraces around the square were starting to get full quickly. Soon Mira came and we went to buy beers from a supermarket. Then we went back to the square and we hangout there almost until 10pm with all the Eurocrats who enjoyed evening sun after work. As me and Mira had early wake up tomorrow as we were leaving together to student meeting in Netherlands we didn't stay later. And metro also stops working around 11pm and I really didn't want to walk back to Hans' place from there.

Unfortunately Hans wasn't at home when I came back to his place. And even more unfortunate was that his room mates also weren't at home. Hans also didn't answer my text messages. I waited some time behind the door while eating chips. Then I went to sit in a bar across the street where I could see the door of the house. I ordered one beer and started to read some papers which I had in my backpack. Soon I saw one of Hans' room mates coming back home and I run to the door and got inside. When I was getting ready to sleep I got a text message from Hans saying that he was part of an accident that day in Antwerp and he couldn't come back to Brussels. He provided his room mates numbers and apologized everything. I answered that I already got in and wished luck to him. Weird finish to my visit in Brussels.

Next morning I left Hans's place, walked to the Midi Station, bought some breakfast, took a train without ticket to Central Station and there I met Mira. And then started our trip to Netherlands which is a different story.

Belgium - Bruges & Leuven

Mira told me that next day will be warm and sunny so I decided to go that to visit in Bruges, famous medieval city north from Brussels. I took a train in the morning and the trip didn't took long, maybe an hour or little over it. At the Bruges train station it was clear which direction I should go because I could see the towers of the old town. But I bought map of the city at the station from a vending machine (map costs 50 cents) just to be sure. And people speak better English here than in Brussels and of course Dutch instead of French.

I first walked to the Begijnhof or Beguinage monastery. It was absolutely beautiful. The square was quiet and full of daffodils, and not so many tourists seemed to find their way here. But the blooming daffodils really made that place look special. This was my favourite part in my Bruges visit. I continued my walk towards Chuch of Our Lady and when I got there there was film crew filming something. Lots of people had stopped to see what was happening. But as nothing seemed to go on yet I went to visit the church. It was quite basic inside, nothing special to my eyes.

From the church I continued my walk along a canal to Rozenhoedkaai which is said to be the most photographed spot in Bruges. Nice spot but I found many more photogenic spots in this town. From there I walked to the Burg square which has nice buildings surrounding it but the real diamond of the city was already peeking behind the buildings. So I walked to the Markt square to see it closer: the belfry of Bruges. It's tall and beautiful and it's possible to walk to the top but with my bad fitness I decided to skip that. Markt seemed to busy market with both locals and tourists. Oh, I forgot to mention earlier but this town is full of tourists so be prepared. I had my lunch at Subway (yes, bad me) and then I walked to see part of the town that was called "The former Hanseatic Bruges" by my map. It looked same as other parts of Bruges. Looking at my map I noticed I had seen all the highlights of the city. As I wasn't interested to visit any museums and I had almost full day still ahead I decided to take a train to university city of Leuven which was recommended by my friends. On my walk back to the train station I passed St. Saviour's Church, some almshouses and gunpowder tower. Weather was getting hotter and many people were walking around in t-shirts and shorts. I also changed my long-sleeve to t-shirt.

After changing train in Brussels I arrived to Leuven. From the station I walked along what I believe is main street of the city to St. Peter's Church. It's belfry is World Heritage Site and it's has interesting history. The belfry is only 50 meters tall and doesn't stand out of the rest of the church. It was originally supposed to be 169 meters tall but it was never completed. Next to the church is the star of the city: the town hall of Leuven. It's an amazing piece of architecture. As sun was shining straight to the square in front of it I decided to sit down, have a beer and marvel at it's beauty. And at that point weather was very hot, summer temperatures at the start of April, amazing!

My next destination was Groot Begijnhof or Large Beguinage of Leuven. This beguinage was much larger than the one in Bruges and totally different in every way. The one in Bruges was just one square with white houses. This one in Leuven was like a small village with tile buildings without paint. I walked around and it seemed to serve as class rooms and apartments for the university. I would like to live here definitely! After nice walk around the beguinage I walked back to the town hall and from there I walked to see the amazing building of the University Library. I read after my visit that the original library was destroyed in World War I and this one was gift from the Americans. Finally something good coming from the USA.

After my Leuven tour I took a train back to Brussels. There was pregnant lady sitting in front of me in the train and at one point she started to hold her stomach and her face look like she was in lot of pain. I was hoping so bad that "please, don't start to give birth now!" Luckily it seemed that maybe her baby was just kicking as she stopped holding her tummy. But oh boy, how scared I was :P

Belgium - Brussels, 1

I was going to attend an international student meeting in Netherlands in early April. But as I had been in Netherlands before I thought what new I could add to my trip. So I decided to spend couple days in Belgium before the meeting as I haven't been in Belgium before. So in April 3rd my flight from Helsinki to Brussels rose up in the air. I was flying with Air Baltic so I needed to change planes in Riga. I had only like 40 minutes time to spend in Riga airport which was more than enough.

My flight arrived to Brussels in early evening. Weather was sunny and warm in Belgium, it felt like summer already. In Brussels I was going to couchsurf again, this time with a guy called Hans. Hans lived near Gare du Midi train station so I took a train from airport to there. I found his house quickly and easily. He lives in St Gilles neigbourhood which is very beautiful area in my opinion. Hans had his ex-roommates visiting him and I had nice time talking and eating with them. After the guests went home we went to sleep.

Next day I started my extensive sightseeing tour. My plan was to visit in every World Heritage site in Brussels so I started doing that straight away. My first mission was to find Victor Horta Museum, part of the Major Town Houses of the Architect Victor Horta World Heritage site. My host Hans didn't know it's exact location and neither did know his ex-roommates but they knew which part of the city it's located and what tram goes there. So I decided to follow that tram line and I hoped that I will end up in the right place. I really enjoyed walking through St Gilles, houses there are really beautiful! And it's hard to imagine that it's considered as a dangerous part of the city. Soon I was in the area where the Victor Horta museum was supposed to be and soon I realised I didn't have any clue where it could be there. But when I was about to ask help I noticed that I was on the right street! That was lucky! And soon I found the museum but it was still closed! The museum didn't open until afternoon and it wasn't even noon yet. So I needed to think what should I do before it opens. I was quite far from the city centre so I didn't want to go there. I looked at the tram map and I decided to go visit the Africa Museum in the outskirts of Brussels. I first took a tram to Montgomery and from there I walked little bit to Stoclet Palace which is also a World Heritage site! Unfortunately the palace (it's more house than palace) is not open to the public because it's still a private residence. I took couple pictures of it outside and then I took a tram to Tervuren where the Africa Museum is located.

Tervuren is actually outside of Brussels and the tram was going through forests which was new to me. It was very peaceful at Tervuren and so green! It was still snowy in Finland but here the spring was full on! I found the museum easily, there didn't seem to be many other visitors, only school groups. I was surprised about the looks of the museum, I didn't know it had such a huge and beautiful garden and the museum  looked like a palace. There was nice elephant statues in the garden. The museum had very nice collections of African items and animals. Only problem was that there was only little information in English but the lady at the ticket counter said they usually have English brochures but they had run out of them at that time. But my Frech and Dutch skills were good enough to understand the main points of the information. After I toured the museum I went back to tram stop and I headed towards Brussels and Victor Horta Museum.

I arrived to the museum half hour before it opened. There was couple people waiting for it to open. I went get something to eat first and I found nice baguette shop which was called Krusties, if I remember right. They had quite cheap prices and nice customer service so I recommend them! I took the baguette with me and I went to wait up for the museum to open. The museum is not big as it used to be a private house. But it it was really nice looking and I recommed to visit it if you have time. It didn't took me long to go around it so I went to see other Victor Horta buildings which were nearby. In the end I found myself next to the Palais Justice, a huge court house. I was surprised how great views over Brussels you could see from the court house. From there I continued my walk towards Grand-Place. I passed the famous Manneken Pis on the way. It had started to rain a little bit so there wasn't that many tourists trying to take pictures with this peeing boy. Grand-Place was only a short walk from there. All I can say about Grand-Place is that it's beautiful and full of tourists. After taking pictures of the Grand-Place from every direction I started to walk back to Hans's place. On the way I bought some chips, which was my basic food during my stay in Belgium.

At Hans's place I got text message from my Finnish friend Mira, who was working in Brussels. She asked if I would like to come with her and her roommates to a bar. As Hans was busy on that evening I decided to meet Mira and her friends. Later I met Mira at metro station and we went to a bar near her home. I  had very nice time there, talking with Mira and her friends and sampling different Belgian beers. Kwak and Gueuze were my favourites. Mira and I were both going to the Netherlands to the same student meeting so we were planning about our trip there. She also invited me to the Eurocrats Thursday's afterwork party which I definitely would attend. I left back Hans's place and when I came there he was already sleeping and sleep was just what I needed also after that long day.

Israel - Tel Aviv

Once again I woke up early and I headed straight to the Jerusalem Central Bus Station. Well, not totally straight. I wanted to first take a picture of the interesting looking Chords Bridge designed by Santiago Calatrava. I like Calatrava's works so this bridge was must place for me to visit. After couple pictures I went to find the bus to Tel Aviv's Arlosoroff Bus Terminal. My next host in Tel Aviv lived more close to that bus terminal than the Tel Aviv Central Bus Station. As it was Friday the bus station was full of people and I needed to queue up 30 minutes to get in the bus. And actually I didn't even get to the first bus but to the next one.

When I arrived to Tel Aviv it was hot outside and I liked it! I called to my new host Boaz and he came to pick me up from the bus station. We drove to his place and what a place that was! He had amazing views over the city from his apartment. I loved it! We talked little but he needed leave to his band rehearsels so I went to walk in the city. I visited in Rabin Square to see quite horrible the town hall. Then I tried to find a food court from Dizengoff shopping centre but I didn't manage to do that. Later I heard that it was downstairs where I didn't look. So once again I just bought falafel pita from the street but eating only falafels is not a problem in Israel because they are delicious everywhere! Then I went to see a handicraft market near Carmel Market. The market was full of people and there was lots of interesting stuff to buy, althought quite pricy. I decided to buy small retro Hebrew Coca-Cola advert. The guy who sold it to me had a lot of cool old posters for sale. There was also lots of performers at the market and I also bought an Arab pancake or something like that which was good. From there I went to Carmel Market where was many people too and I bought fresh strawberries from the same seller I bought oranges a week ago. And the guy selling the fruits still remembered me! And we talked little bit about Finnish football as he was Jari Litmanen fan.

I walked back to Boaz's place via the beach. As it was warm day many people were playing or just hanging around at the beach. I also decided to sit down and I enjoyed my strawberries and the sunshine. When I got back to Boaz's place I met Jack. Jack was other couhsurfer who was staying also at Boaz's place. I didn't meet him in the morning because he was outside. Jack was going to the beach and asked if I wanted to come with him but I was very tired because of lack of sleep so I just decided to stay home and take a nap.

When I woke up Boaz and Jack were both back home and it was already dark outside. Soon it started to rain hard and there was lightnings striking everywhere. We had earlier decided that we would go eating out together and so we left to Jaffa where we went to an Arabic restaurant. Once again the variety of starters amazed me and again they would have been enough to keep me full but I had already ordered a main course which was seafood, octopus rings and shrimps if I remember right. While eating Jack asked if I wanted to go clubbing with him after the dinner and I answered yes. So after eating Boaz took us to a bar near his place. We had couple drinks there and then Boaz went home but me and Jack continued to a club. The club was located in an old industrial hall outside city centre. When we got there the doorman asked password. We were confused but the guys before us in the line told us that if you know the password you get discount to the entrance fee. And the nice guys told us the password so we got in cheaper, yey! The club was big and the music was just right for my taste so I enjoyed dancing there very much. At one point they had band playing couple David Bowie songs live but after the performance the club music continued. They also had big video screens on the walls showing the music videos for the songs. At some point Jack and I lost each other and around 4am I decided to go home. For some strange reason I walked all the way back to the Boaz's place. I only stopped to buy water from supermarket. I was really tired when I finally came back to Boaz's place.

When I woke up I was feeling quite horrible. It was not hangover but it was my feet which were hurting like crazy. Boaz and Jack were already talking in the living room. Jack said he had came home before me with taxi. I decided to just rest the whole day because my feet were really tired and I was really tired. I only visited in nearby supermarket. Jack left back home to London in that day and Boaz took him to train station. While they were there I fell asleep. When I woke up later I asked if Boaz wanted to go eat something. We decided to get some shawarma and oh, how great it tasted as I was really hungry.

My flight back to Finland (via Budapest again) left at 6am so Boaz was nice enough to took me to the train station at 3am. But because I messed up with timetables I just missed my train. Next train was coming in an hour so I needed to take a taxi to the airport. I didn't have enough Shekels in cash to pay for the taxi ride but I had lots of euros. After short conversation the taxi driver said that it was ok to pay with euros and I was happy. At the airport the driver didn't really like that I paid some of the sum with coins but they were 2 euro coins so you can exchange them everywhere. And after I got out from the taxi the security hell started.

First I was stopped at the airport doors. The securityman asked basic questions: where I have been, what have I done, with who and where I'm going now. After that I got in. Then I searched where was my check-in desk. There was 2 empty lines and a securitywoman standing at the start of them. She asked me where I was flying to and then directed me to the right line. I walked through it and I came to the check-in area. There was 2 big machines next to me with some people putting their luggage through them but I passed them and went straight to the check-in desk. At the desk the check-in lady asked me where was my security sticker. I said I didn't have any and she adviced me that I needed to take my luggage first through the big machines I saw earlier. So I walked back to the machines and put my backpack through them. The securitywomen saw something in my bag and asked me to come with them. At the security check table they asked me if I had dates in my bag and I said yes because I had dried dates, papayas and kiwis. They wanted to see the dates and after I showed them they said everything was ok.

But then one of them asked where is my security sticker. And again I said I didn't have any security stickers. Then they asked if somebody had interviewed me already and I said that some securityman asked me questions at the airport doors. They said that they didn't mean that interview but  an interview just before the luggage machines. I said that nobody asked me questions before I put my luggage in the machine. Then they took my passport and asked me to wait there. Soon a man and a women came to ask me questions. First they askes me where I was from and how is my name pronounced. Then they went away and came back again and now they asked the basic questions of my trip in Israel. Again they went away and again came back. Now they asked me have I been in Egypt (I have stamps from Egypt in my passport). I said yes and then they asked with who I was there (with my family) and where they are now (at home, in Finland...). Then they asked me when I was in Egypt and after I said almost 6 years ago they said they thought I had been there now (the dates in Egyptian stamps are in Arabic so they didn't understand them). They also quickly asked my parents names. Then they went away and came back with the security stickers which they put on my passport, on my bacpack and on my hand luggage.

I had to put again my backpack through the big machine. And now they saw more dangerous stuff in my stuff. This time it was the papayas. But then they went through all my stuff with a sniffing hoover. I little laughed because my dirty socks and underwear were on top so they needed move them to get to the bottom. After the search they finally escorted me to the check-in desk. But I didn't get leave my luggage there. Because I had been declared to be dangerous my backpack was put in a special elevator with other "dangerous" luggage. My escort released me and I went to eat at McDonald's where I had the most interesting customer service ever. The girl there was talking to her cell phone and was totally shocked when I dared to interrupt her conversation with my order.

After eating it was time for a new security check. The securitymen at the start of the security lines checked my passport after noticing from the sticker that I was dangerous guided me to the special people's line. It was only good thing because I didn't need to wait up in a long normal line. I put my hand luggage (and also my belt and my long-sleeve shirt) through the same kind of machine they checked my backpack earlier. After that security check I was free to go. All that security stuff took almost 1.5 hours so I didn't need to wait long for the boarding to start. I slept most of the flight, I woke up when the flight attendant threw the breakfast in front of me. At Budapest I had again 5 hours to wait my flight to Helsinki. On both flights I had the seat next to the emergency exits so lots of leg room! There was no snow in Budapest but back in Helsinki there was lots of snow and freaking cold. I wished I was still in Israel.

Jerusalem - day 4

When I woke up I packed my things because I needed to leave Olga's place. There was a new couchsurfer coming to her place today. I said goodbye to her and then I walked to the hostel I stayed before. I got a bed from a same room where I was staying before but unfortunately I didn't got the same bed as last time. I hate sleeping on the top bed. But after leaving my stuff there I headed to Yad Vashem Holocaust museum. Bus driver was nice enough to tell me at what stop I needed to get off. I was very surprised of the scenery in the area. I didn't know there was forests like that in Israel. And it was so quiet! Very refresing after the noisy city centre. But I have to admit that Jerusalem's city centre is very quiet in the night. But back in Yad Vashem there was free shuttle bus going from the bus stop to the museum. There was no timetable so I just decided to walk to the museum through the forest. Yad Vashem is free to enter but I decided to buy a map of the area. It was good decision because the museum area is vast. I hate crowds and group tours in the museums and unfortunately the Holocaust History Museum was full of people and groups. But there was lots of good information (everything also in English) and especially lots of new information for me. Anyway, I enjoyed more walking outside in the park. There is different monuments all around the park and I was mostly alone when I was walking there. Only sound I heard was wind blowing. And because the museum is on top of a hill there was nice views to the Jerusalem Forest and suburbs around it.

After touring around the whole Yad Vashem I took bus back to the city centre. I went to Mahane Yehuda Market to buy food and I also bought some souvenir. Then my plan was to visit Israel Museum. I had asked earlier from the hostel how to get to the museum. So I took the bus they had adviced. But the driver of the bus said that I took the bus to the wrong direction. So I got off at the next stop and waited a looong time for the right bus. The next driver was also helpful and promised to say to me when I should get off. It was rush hour and the bus drive took ages. Finally I arrived to the museum but when I got to the doors I noticed that it was closing in 30 minutes. I had checked wrong opening hours for the museum. Israel Museum is open later on one day of the week and I thought it was that day but it had been the day before. But they let me walk in the museum garden where I saw the famous Second Temple Era model of Jerusalem and the Shrine of the Book fountain. I also noticed that the Israeli parliament building Knesset was located next to the museum. It was already getting dark so I took bus back to the hostel.

At hostel I spend time with other hostel guests and I went to buy the best falafel in Jerusalem - well, that was the name of the falafel place but it was good falafel. At one point I got a text message from Will. Will was a guy I met at couhsurfing website who asked if I want to have a drink with him in a bar. Because my fellow hostel stayers were very boring company I answered positively to his invitation. I met Will in his favourite bar and I talked with him and with some of his friends. Time went fast and suddenly it was already 3am and I left back to the hostel via shawarma shop. Everybody else in the room were already sleeping so I felt bad for waking some of them up with my late night arrival. And again I had only short sleep ahead of me because I needed to take early bus in the morning.