Moldovan Countryside @ Văsieni, Moldova, July 2, 2019
Moldovan Countryside I’ve been in the capital of Moldova, Chisinau, for almost two weeks. A typical vacation traveler would spend only a couple of days here, but I have been ‘taking it easy’ and getting some work done at my pace. As much as I like the comfortable and modestly urban vibe of Chisinau, I knew that my impression of Moldova would not be balanced without visiting the countryside, where they say that there are far fewer people and not much progress has been made since...
with Future Thinkers Podcast team @ Plovdiv, Bulgaria, June 11, 2019
with Future Thinkers Podcast team I first learned about Future Thinkers Podcast last year. According to the team, it is ‘a podcast about evolving technology, society, and consciousness’. One evening I was looking for discussions around the future of humanity, as it is my area of interest for future studies, and I ran into their program on a podcast app. I was excited to find out that they were discussing and asking about things I also ask about, so naturally I got curious about their stories...
Border crossing into Moldova@ Vama Leușeni, Moldova, June 19, 2019
Border crossing into Moldova Until the last minute, I was debating whether to enter Moldova or skip the country and enter Ukraine directly. Moldova is arguably the least visited country in Europe and I couldn’t find much information about the price of a vehicle insurance or the overall border crossing procedure. If the cost of the mandatory insurance turns out to be almost like a penalty for foreign vehicles, as was the case in Serbia with around 340 euros, I might have to consider going back...
with Natasha’s family @ Nis, Serbia, June 6, 2019
with Natasha’s family One of the good things about long-term travel is that you are less likely to be amazed by the ‘things to do in X’, because you feel you had done something similar in previous destinations. It is good news for me, because the remaining energy often goes to interaction with people or observing how the places make me feel, instead of remembering some facts about them. I stayed in Nis, the 3rd biggest city in Serbia, for about 5 days. In terms of...
Arrival @ Plovdiv, Bulgaria, June 7, 2019
Arrived in Plovdiv, an ancient Roman city in Southern Bulgaria. It feels surreal that within hours of driving from here now I can reach Turkey or Greece, two countries that I have long considered ‘far and far away’. But my plan is to drive north, in the direction of the Baltic states. For the time being, I’ll soak up Bulgarian culture. @ Plovdiv, Bulgaria, June 7, 2019
Bosnian pot and Cevapi @ Bosnian Steak House, Sarajevo, May 30, 2019
This restaurant is in the center of the touristy area in Sarajevo, but I went inside nonetheless, because the vibe was good near the busy street, and it was fun to watch people. And the server turned out to have great photo-taking skills. Bosnian cuisine uses a lot of meat, which doesn’t annoy me. The Bosnian Pot (Bosanski Lonac) tastes almost what it looks like. It’s a heavy stew with tender and moist meat and vegetables. I’d say that this kind of stew is found in...
Auschwitz @ Auschwitz concentration camp, Oświęcim, Poland, May 10
Auschwitz Auschwitz concentration camp consists of over 40 concentration and extermination camps and was operated by Nazi Germany from 1940 to 1945. Around 1.3 million people were sent to the camp, among which 1.1 million people died. And 90% of them were Jews. I learned that Auschwitz was much more of extermination camps rather than labor camps or otherwise. Essentially, it was designed to annihilate a large number of people each day, by other prisoners who were chosen for the labor. I tried to imagine what...
Arrival @ Zagreb, Croatia, May 17, 2019
I continue zigzags through the Central and Eastern Europe. Today, almost after 10 months since Uruguay, I experienced a ‘formal’ border crossing procedure with Hungarian officials with suspecting eyes on the car, its license plate, and my overall trustworthiness. After an hour, I was let go. Now I’m in Croatia while having a break from the ticking Schengen clock. @ Letenye, Hungary, May 17, 2019
This website chronicles Leebong’s journey around the world for 2+ years, for the time being. To find out more, see The Travel & The Why.
To catch me, see Itinerary.
Impressions Series
