By 11 we had checked out of the hotel and went to a parrot sanctuary nearby - there were dozens of parrots sitting on ropes and flying around - we fed them and let them sit on us for an hour, and went to the train station. On the way there we got snacks in Bristol. In the train I was watching Aeterna. At about am Kate wanted to drink, so I found a cooler. Next morning we arrived in Ekat, got a taxi to the Blimp and got into the bus home. In the bus I finished watching season 1 of Aeterna. We also went to Soni-Krivoy for some things and then finally got home

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I got some food for us in the morning and by 10:30 was at the Cup - we gathered at 11 for the steamboat voyage to Sviyazhsk. While sailing up the Volga river, we saw a monument of where Ivan the Terrible had his tent and watched the Tatar capital fall. It was raining for the first half of the excursion, so we were walking doun the ancient island-city-fortress streets in raincoats. The cathedrals and churches there are amaising for such a small place. there is a reconstruction of a gorgonion cannon people called "lassie's haed". I got a sbiten and a tubeteyka hat as souvenirs. I ate an oladushek, which is a local dish - a holeless goughnut with apple jam. There is a thinking garden there with quotes gathered by Leo Tolstoy and the apple trees from his homestead. There also is sa UNESCO heritage site there - the Asscention church. Highly recommend the tour.

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I had some work to do remotely and Kate got me 2 peremeches to eat. We went to Zoobotsad - it's both a zoo and a botanical garden. We saw a few cute De Brazza's monkeys - they looked very much like cats, lazy lemurs, suricates (the standing one was immediately crowned Timon), elephants, 2 lionesses playing like cats as well, a lion bathing in the sun, a gazelle, marabous, emus, zebras, flamingos, a hippo, cheetas, giant tortoises, gorillas, parrots and even a helmeted guinea fowl. It was really cool, but the gift shop was mainly just random animal plushees (not made locally).

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On Tuesday, Kate was busy in the morning, so I went to the Tatar printing near the Cup and got two books - one for myself and one as a gift. Then I went to the Kayuma Nasiri str (thinking for some reason that I was going to Baumana - the heat got to me). I got a tubeteyka hat. For some reason, I like different cultures' hats. Also, I went to Tubetay, which is a neotatar cuisine cafe, and got things like tiny fried echpochmaks, an echpochmotti, a qistibi, a tatarburger etc. - to share with Kate. Later we went to catch some fresh air after the rain - we got some drinks. The evening was spent watching Friends for who knows which time

Got Kate and myself a coffee each, a potato sausage roll and a homemade pizza. Chilled a little, packed our things, at 11:20 got into the taxi to the airport. The flight was delayed from 9:50 to 14:00. Later, the flight was cancelled and we took a taxi to the nerest metro station. Booked a hotel near the Kremlin

On Sunday, we went to the place called "Interesting Garden" for breakfast. It was close to the Cup, which we wanted to visit. I got the home breakfast and a pear latte, and Kate got a cappiccino. It was tasty. We climbed the Cup - nine stories with traditional folk ornaments displayed between stair flights. On top there were two levels - one like a walled ring with giant windows to look around, and the pot circulat platform to see the panorama. After that we took a trolleybus №5 instead of the autobus of the same number, so we got to a flee market instead of the zoo. Among thousands of trinkets there I saw a tiny red leather bound copy of Omar Hayam's selected poems in the Tatar language, but the gem was already snatched by a quicker buyer. We came home to chill under the AC and ate echpochmaks. At half to eight we went to the Kayuma Nasiri str - a central part of the Old-Tatar sloboda. We got a spiced tea and went to a shop near the hotel for souvenirs. In the hotel, I ate baursaks. We got the news that the flight back home got delayed for a few hours, so I had to shift some work to later, but it wasn't a problem

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We arrived to the hotel at about half past 3 in the morning and went straight to bed. The strange thing was that it was bright already and there were people in the streets, just walking. For breakfast, we went to Pera - a Turkish restaurant. I got a kavurmali pide, which was so large I needed willpower to finish it, a ruby chocolate coffee and a cold baklava. Kate got a muhammara, which she seemed to have enjoyed, but which was also on the large portion side. After that, we headed north to the Kremlin, through the Baumana str - the largest pedestrian street in Russia. We got ourselves docker hats, took photos with a giant echpochmak statue and overall enjoyed the walk. The Kremlin was nice - a fortress of white walls and towers on a hill look like something straingt out of medieval tales. We saw the Kul Sharif Mosque, went up the walls of the Kremlin, I climbed up the Transfuguration tower and took some photos from there. Later I went inside the moaque and went upstairs under the dome and heard about its decorum. Going back home, it was pretty hot, so we went inside a Harry Potter cafe. I got a butterbeer, which was a fun checkmark, but the drink was a little underwhelming. The interior was cool and they were playing HPatPoA - the best part imo.

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Today was a working day, but at 7 in the morning L arrived to help us with the pets - she'll look after them while we're gone. I will go to the train station by 5pm - the car to Ekat will leave from there. From Ekat we will fly to Kazan at night. Hopefully, the journey will be pleasant. I have downloaded the 1st season of Aeterna. The carpool taxi turned out to be a bad idea as the driver had to make a giant loop in the middle of the ride, but I still managed to be on time

As Kate and I are talking about travelling more and more, I thought it’d be a fun idea to have a digital map, on which I could mark the countries of the world I have been to. A physical map with pins is also cool, but it can’t be taken with you. So, I got a vector map of the world off of GitHub and added it to this website. You can see the countries I’ve been to and some comments about the trips. I will work on the comments and I will add new countries as they get visited. It’s a fun little project

Soon, Kate and I are going to travel to Kazan, the capital of Tatarstan, and we are also planning to go to Salekhard in the winter. Kazan seems an important place to visit, culturally speaking, as it holds the third place after Moscow and Saint-Petersburg, both of which I have seen a few times. Salekhard is the only town in the world that lies on the Arctic Circle, and I want to traverse the 66th parallel, and the Nenets deer-keeper's culture is also fascinating

Due to the way my family is dispersed throughout the land, I have to sometimes travel to see relatives. My phone has a faulty battery, so I have started using this uConsole in conjunction with an SD card and a shellless card-reader module - together they all look fairly technophile-dystopia-esque and the battery is good for like 12h. I have all of adventure time and futurama on the SD in low-res. If you have any similar sitcom cartoon suggestions for me to legally buy and put on the memory card in case of travel - leave them over at the guestbook or via tar@tar.dev

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It's getting warmer back home - the morning I left for Thailand was crowned by a blizzard and piles of snow taller than me. Now, the snow is almost gone. I think Kate lost her sim card, which is sad, but if that's the worst that had happened during the trip - I'll take it. I downloaded a few apps from the Thai App Store - different countries have different restrictions, so I took the chance, while I could. There is a pile of souvenirs, clothes, powders and pastes, and jams, and flakes - for cooking. And two crazy cats are running through the pile knocking everything off. There were looked after, but they missed us, at least Luna - the black one- did. I finished the last exam for my half-a-year retraining program, can't wait for the results and, eventually, the diploma. Everything's settling down and I won't write every day in the future, but it was fun to capture Phuket as I saw it for the first time

In the morning I tried the new hotel's breakfast and was satisfied. That was also the first time I ate chicken bacon. At 11:45am I got a call via the hotel room's internal telephone - we needed to move out by 12. Our plane was supposed to leave at, like 1am, so there was a full day ahead, but somebody needed to watch the baggage, so we just took turns. The day was hot and we made the 7-eleven around the corner filthy rich. When the day grew older I went to Bungla road and ordered a special mojito iykwim. By 17:50 the world seemed sluggish. At 21:30 2 busses came to pick us up and bring us to the airport. At the last minute I decided to spend the some of the leftover bahts in the duty-free shop and bought some curry powders. Looking back, I should have spent more on snacks - I still have like 2k bahts and there is no use for them here, other than to keep them as souvenirs. Passport control was slow, but we boarded the plane and got some food and drinks before I dozed off reading Wuthering Heights - the novel is fine, I guess I was just tired. I got lucky my sunburnt feet felt more or less OK - 8 and a half hours flight was a test for them

We left the hotel by noon and at 13:30 we were at the new hotel that the travel agent provided for us because the flight got delayed. The hotel was, I would say, more expensive than our original one, but less tropical-paradise. This new hotel was just 3 min away from Bungla road, which is the place to go for nightlife, cafes, bars and things that in my native country are illegal. In the evening we went to the 7 eleven around the corner, got some curry paste to bring back home and some drinks. Later I went to Bungla road, but generally saw nothing special other that a tone of weed bars/shops, and some girls were pole-dancing in the bars. Later in the evening I passed all the tests for my retraining program, other than the final exam, which is not available yet.

We went shopping for snacks to the nearby 7 eleven and for souvenirs. In the evening, while dining we got the news that the flight back home will be delayed by a day, which we had expected. Tomorrow we will move to another hotel. Pretty much everything is ready

Hey, it’s Pi day! Today at 16:20 we sat into a mini van, which picked up people from two other hotels, and brought us to a meeting point where we all got into a coach. By 17:50 we were at the Siam Niramit complex. First, we went to eat there - all the rooms were beautifully furnished and decorated, and the food ranged from the usual European dishes to the traditional Thai ones. I finished my plate first and went to the space between the food court and the 100-year village. There there were some areas with different crafts, like cutting paper ornaments, weaving fish out of what seemed like palm leaves and something like henna drawings on the skin. I didn’t come to the latter, but I did make an ornament and a fish. I went to the recreation of the traditional village - there were wooden houses in different regional styles and with different purposes. The houses were separated by a river full of fish, and connected by wooden roads and bridges. In some houses people were doing crafts and cooking. I tasted two things - an egg cooked in banana leaves, and some crispy rice treat with creamy coconut sauce - both in one-bite portions. There were souvenirs and an old man offered boat rides along this river to couples. There were beautiful lanterns along the safety rails and in the trees. After all that in the central square there was a pre-show about, as I took it, a cat catching a fish, and some female deity/princess with a horned animal. To finish it off, there was a parade that culminated in what I think was a rain calling ceremony, and the fountain behind the scene activated. Everything was beautiful and already felt like a proper show, although it was short. But it was just to give us a taste of what was going to happen later. I will not describe the synopsis of the actual Siam Niramit show, but I will express my emotions about some aspects of it. The organisation level is very high, all logistics are easy and comfortable for a foreigner. There are subtitles and an English voiceover in between scenes, so you always know what you are going to be looking at. The acting is impressive to say the least. The structure of the show is well thought through. And, of course, the special effects are magical! By 23:00 we were home. Cannot recommend Siam Niramit highly enough, it - is - a - must if you are visiting Thailand and have the means to attend the show. Also, a lot of things seemed straight out of Avatar the Last Airbender's episode with the Fire Nation theatre, e.g. the last photo (but also the theatrical effects) P.S. the date and time on my Nokia “camera” had reset for some reason, so it is wrong on the pre-show and village photos

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Mostly chill, we watched some TBBT during the day and went to dine out and for souvenir shopping after nightfall. The former was accomplished with the services from the Dino Restaurant that we loved from the crab experience before, however this time I took their recommendations on the T-Rex burger and the Pangaea cocktail. I highly recommend the burger, the cocktail was decent but nothing special. The latter of the two activities was highlighted by a very welcomed rain. We went shopping for souvenirs to bring to our relatives and friends. Local dresses, tees with Thailand-themed prints and figurines of elephants and the Buddha - were our prizes. Locals in these small stalls like to bargain, so it feels like you’re getting a discount

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The day was a relaxation day, we mostly stayed in, leaving the hotel to eat out. I mostly tried to avoid the sun, making some progress on the retraining program, which ends soon

We woke up early and went to the marina by bus. We visited the Krabi island first, had a photo session. A little later we took some photos on the ship’s bow. We sailed by the monkey island and took some photos of them too. By 11 we arrived to Phi Phi. The lunch was hot - Tom Yum here is heavily peppered with chilli oil. I also had some pasta with a sweet semi-hot sauce, a bowl of rice and a couple of crispy chicken legs. There was also an island that looked like a chicken’s head (see photos). Then we went to the Mai Phai island, which is like paradise on earth. I even snorkelled a bit. We also visited one of the Phang Nga islands - Poda. Our guide was cool and gave us some rum on the way back. Kate wore her hat like a tricorne (there is a wire in the brim to shape it as you please). The only downside was my sunburn from before, which created a little discomfort - so always use a lot of sunscreen with high SPF, don’t be like me =P

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This was a chill day also. Had breakfast - Kate seems to be enjoying the fruit. She got worried about sunburns and got me a white cotton outfit and some aloe gel, which was really nice of her. We managed to exchange some of our national currency into bats via telegram - turns out it’s quite easy and the fee is reasonable, so even if your cards don’t work, you’ll still be able to withdraw the money in Thailand. Also, today was the first time I tried Taco Bell - it doesn’t exist back home. We got 3 crispy chicken tacos, a quesadilla and some nachos. Tacos are on the smaller side, but everything was really tasty. We’ll go out in the evening as well, when the sun is not beating down on us as much

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This was a chill day, I spent some time on the sun by the pool and got a little sunburn. In the evening we went to the shop for drinks and got some local ramen for friends back home

I had the same breakfast, only it was dragonfruit instead of papaya. At 10:30 we went to some pharmacy, listened to a 30min-long lecture about Thai medicine and ended up buying some inhalers and a toothpaste. Next, we went to see the Big Buddha statue, and let me tell you, he biiig. I really enjoyed the place, and the view from the top of the mountain is amazing. At about 1pm we went to a snake farm, where we learnt a little about the snakes of Phuket. We watched a man kiss a cobra, which was fun. The guide lady there gave us some snake gallbladder-infuded rum and told us about the snake products they sell on the farm. There were also snakes in formaldehyde there. I took some pics with a python as well. We were home by about 3:30 and went to the pool. Later in the evening we went to Dino Bar, which is a dinosaur-themed restaurant, where we got Tom Yun, curry crabs, onion rings and some drinks

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This morning I got potatoes, sausages, some papaya, watermelon slices and pineapple juice. While having breakfast, I met Misha, a compat, who comes here mainly for diving. He gave me some advice on where to go. We went to the beach - the sand is nice, but I need better footwear. I bought 2 mangoes and an opened coconut with a straw. Then, there was a meeting with our guide, who gave us some info about excursions, and we picked a couple. After the meeting I went swimming in the hotel pool. and later we headed down to the "Red Chopsticks" restaurant, I had pad thai and Kate had fried tofu and a margarita. We saw a yellow-beaked bird - I don't know what kind -, who was trying to ask customers for food by singing its song next to the occupied tables. Later in the evening, we went to the Kata night market and bought some fruit and also got snacks and drinks at the nearby 7-eleven

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at 5:55am: We've passed all the controls and got our departure stamps. I got Kate a bottle of diet coke at the duty free shop for a euro. I've downloaded a couple of videos by LJR from the Halo series to watch on the plane - 8-9 hours is a long flight at 8:54pm: We've landed in the rain, It's already quite dark. Before getting the luggage, where I left out QR codes, we needed to get through passport control, which needed the QR codes. Luckily, I had exchanged half of our money into bahts and got us local sim cards with unlimited internet access (not with the whole half of our money ofc). We were able to fill all the forms even though my phone died. We went through and got the luggage. The nice ladies at the info boot helped us find out transfer and we arrived at the hotel at about 22:50 local time. We took a shower and went to the shops and got some snacks

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Before travelling, I have found a couple of old phones, and I kinda want to document the vacation with the old 0.3 Mpx cameras. I think it would be fun.
One of the phones automatically burns timestamps into the pictures, but they look cool, and the second produces just kinda smoothed out photos with no noise crunch in them. I think I might either keep the time-stamped pics or manually edit the stamps out later. Or maybe I will find yet another phone. We’ll see

I've added a drawbox, inspired by this Neocities website. Hopefully people will draw nice things there. I am also getting ready to go to Thailand soon - exciting!