Eurasia Trip 2026: Part I

This trip was planned at the end of December 2025. Routes were discussed, plans were made and altered before confirmed, air tickets were monitored and accommodation at various cities were booked. The U Ass attack on Iran in end-February 2026 threatened the trip but I was determined to go through it because I wasn’t going to let some orange bugger determined how I lived my life or affect it. Flight tickets were bought online during the MATTA Fair in early April 2026.

Two weeks before the flight, we received notification from Trip.com that the airline had rescheduled our departure by almost 12 hours so I quickly accepted the flight change and scrambled to find accommodation for the extra night. This also meant having to buy coach tickets and burning the train tickets I’d bought earlier. And ten days before I was supposed to fly out from somewhere, another airline cancelled the flight and again, I had to find either an alternative airline or route or departure date.

Thursday, 21 May 2026

I made my way to KLIA T1 in the afternoon and met up with my niece there. We’d tried checking in online the evening before; however, we received message that we could not proceed with online check-in but to proceed at the airport. The queue was slow, only two counters were opened. We made our way to the satellite building after performing evening prayers. We took off just after 22:00.

Friday, 22 May 2026

We landed in Abu Dhabi slightly ahead of schedule and went through the transfer process for the gate to the next destination. We boarded at 01:30 and I tried to sleep but only managed to catch brief spells of it.  

We landed at Rome Fiumicino at 06:20 and quickly made our way to the immigration. We’d purchased bus ticket to Termini for 08:10 and didn’t want to miss the bus. Alhamdulillah, we managed to clear passport control by 07:30 and our bags were just coming out when we reached the bag carousel. We went to freshen up before making our way out and to the bus stop.

We arrived at Termini just after 09:05 and walked to nearby Basilica Papale di Santa Maria Maggiore, one of Rome’s four major papal basilicas. Then we walked to the water fountain outside Giardino Nicola Calipari before returning to Termini. We also bought metro ticket from a tabacchi as I didn’t want to buy it at the metro station.

We rode metro line B to Tiburtina and walked to the coach station. Our 11:25 FlixBus arrived ten minutes late. There was an early drama when some idiot sat in our seats but I asserted myself and demanded that he move. We stopped after two hours at a rest area to use the facilities.

We arrived at Pisa Pietrasantina at 16:55 and walked to Piazza del Duomo or Piazza Miracoli where Battistero di San Giovanni, Cattedrale di Pisa and Torre di Pisa are. This was my fourth visit to Pisa and the third visit to Piazza del Duomo. We spent half an hour there before walking to our Airbnb at via Santa Lucia. The apartment is at the second floor.  We freshened up before venturing out to the city, across River Arno. Dinner was bought from Conad and we returned to the room to have it.

Saturday, 23 May 2026

An early start today. We left the Airbnb at 09:10 and walked Pisa Pietrasantina for our 09:40 FlixBus to Florence. The bus was only five minutes late but made up for it by arriving early at Firenze Villa Constanza at 10:55. This was my fourth visit to Florence and the first time I arrived at Villa Constanza and rode the tram. We bought tickets for the tram and rode the tram to Valfonda stop. We walked to Student Doner Kebab to have early lunch there before trudging to Cattedrale di Santa Maria del Fiore. This is one of the landmarks of Florence.

After that, we trudged to Giardino dell’Orticoltura and rested there before walking to our Airbnb at nearby via Vittorio Emanuele II. The apartment is at the fourth floor and we gasped as we struggled up with our bags. The apartment comes en-suite with its private terrace so I guess that’s the price one has to pay to get a terrace.

We ventured out at 17:30 and walked to Ponte Vecchio. It was a busy early evening in the city. We turned back and had gelato at Venchi before walking back.

Sunday, 24 May 2026

Another early morning. We left the Airbnb at 09:15 and walked to Santa Maria Novella station for our train to Rome. We’d received notification from Trip,com that there’d be a slight delay with the train arriving three minutes late. The journey was smooth and pleasant bar an irritating kid who couldn’t stay still.

We pulled into Termini at 12:15 and trudged to our Airbnb at via Santa Croce in Gerusalemme. The check-in time was 16:00 and we’d planned to leave our bags in the kitchen as agreed with the host; however, the staff allowed us to enter our room just before 13:00. We ventured out again after prayers at 14:15 and took the metro to Spagna for the Spanish Steps before taking the metro to Ottaviano.

We walked to the Vatican and then to Castel Sant’Angelo. We then took Ponte Sant’Angelo across River Tiber and walked to Campo di Fiori. We had late lunch or early dinner at Istanbul Kebab near Largo Argentina. Then we went to check out the cats at Largo Argentina and were disappointed to see only four of them. We then rode bus no. 87 to Labicana (Merulana) stop then walked back to the Airbnb.

Monday, 25 May 2026

I woke up at 03:00 to have my predawn meal. The silence was broken by someone’s snores (our neighbour). I had an early shower before performing morning prayers.

We ventured out after 08:30 and walked to Labicana (Merulana) stop to get the bus no. 87 to Piazza Navona. From Piazza Navona, we walked to Pantheon, Obelisco della Minerva (Elephant and Obelisk) and on to Piazza Venezia and Monumento a Vittorio Emanuele II (Monument to Victor Emmanuel II). Then we walked to Foro Romano and Foro di Traiano (Trojan Forum) and Foro di Augusto before walking on to Colosseo. There were so many people around the area. We spent 30 minutes there before walking back. It’s such a hot, hot day today.

We rested before venturing out after 20:50 for Fontana di Trevi. We took the bus and walked to the fountain and arrived at 21:50. Then we waited for the barriers to be lifted and the crowds to be allowed in. Well, you can still visit during the day but there’s a ticket applicable these days.

We took a different bus and walked back to the Airbnb. I was in bed by 23:30, knackered from the heat and 17 hours of fasting.

Tuesday, 26 May 2026

I woke up at 03:00 for predawn meal. Another day of fasting, it’s the Day of Arafah today. I had a short nap at 05:45 for about two hours. We packed and left the Airbnb at 09:55.

We took the metro to Piramide and walked around the area before making our way up to the Keyhole of the Order of Malta (Buco della serratura dell’Ordine di Malta) and sited about 40 minutes for our turn. Next, we walked down to the Mouth of Truth but I wasn’t going to join another long queue! We crossed over to the Temple of Hercules Victor and Temple of Portunus then walked up past Teatro di Marcello en route to the Turkish kebab restaurant.

I left my niece to her lunch while I walked to Campo di Fiori. There were many more people there compared to when we visited on Sunday afternoon of course. I tried to find the shop selling Murano accessories which I saw on Sunday but couldn’t locate it. Dejected, I walked back to the Turkish restaurant and just in time too as my niece was only just finishing her lunch.

We took bus no, 87 and walked back to the Airbnb. We’d checked out so we sat in the kitchen while the staff deep cleaned the kitchen.

We left for Termini at 18:30 and went to find Conad supermarket for La Niña to buy dinner. The bus arrived and left at 20:45 and we reached Rome Fiumicino at 21:30. I went to find prayer room to perform prayers then we went to find some seats to rest.

To be continued

Adek’s Week Off: Some Pictures

I brought my new-to-me Leica to Europe but unfortunately some pictures were over-exposed - funny this didn’t happen during my trip to Tanzania, Zanzibar or Malawi. I’ve since had the lady at the Leica store here have a look and she was very helpful in setting the camera for me. Yes, I must admit I’m one who’ll just focus and snap and not know the technicalities and functions of a camera (I know slightly more now after dropping by the local store). I didn’t take a lot of pictures with my iPhone or iPad as I was relying on my Leica. Anyway, here are a few that I took with my devices.

 Le Notti d’Oriente B&B, Lecce

 About to spend time drying my clothes!

 Breakfast. And the sun was out the next morning!

 LuckyHouse B&B, Pisa

 Dining area and kitchen

 Italian breakfast is typically sweet. Self-service at the B&B

 This flower tree gave such sweet fragrance. Wonder if it’s in the same family as murraya

 Central Hostel Milano and the view from the kitchen

The long crazy line at Milan Malpensa tax refund. Most of the claimants were Chinese tourists, a few Arabs, a smattering of Caucasians. But I salute the Italian tax refund folks - I got my refund after only ten days (as opposed to almost two months when claiming at Heathrow, Charles de Gaulle and Rome Fiumicino!)

Adek’s Week Off: Part III

Wednesday, May the Fourth Be With You

I was just about to doze off when I was woken at 02:30 by the airport security who informed they were closing the airport. What the -? I’d read someone say he managed to sleep in the airport as his RyanAir flight landed late and was hoping I could do the same. Oh well. I joined a few others who also had to exit the terminal and finally sat at one of the entrances. I spotted a broken suitcase, took it, opened it up and sat in it.

The airport re-opened at 04:00 (really, why even bother chasing us out?) and we went back in. It was almost time for Suboh so I went to perform prayers before trying in vain to catch some kip. Alas, I didn’t manage to. After freshening up, I set off for Lucky House B&B less than a km away. I had asked Giovanna to help contact the owner to inform I would be arriving by 07:00 (I had indicated so in my booking but the owner never responded) and Giovanna promptly called her up. So I was happy and relieved to see the owner already waiting for me. I checked in and paid for my room and the city tax too (I also had to pay city tax in Lecce). I left my suitcase and seeing that I was already going to miss the 07:36 train to La Spezia Centrale (you need to get to La Spezia Centrale or Genoa to get the train to Cinque Terre), I had a light breakfast first before hurrying over to the train station which was just less than a km away. So yeah, that was one of the reasons why I chose that particular B&B: besides its high rating, it’s within walking distance of both airport and train station. I was in such a hurry, I brought both my Speedy and LeSportsac along instead of leaving some things behind such as my passport, my Total Pillow, house key etc... yes, seriously.

I arrived at the station huffing and panting and rushed to the ticket office to buy my ticket. The gruff unfriendly ticket lady sold me the 08:19 ticket and when I asked which binario, she barked ‘6!’ and I left feeling irritated. I rushed to the platform and it was devoid of passengers. I checked the time and it was 08:20. Of all the time you wanted a slight train delay you wouldn’t get it, I thought crossly. I pondered my options. There was another train to La Spezia Centrale at 08:28 albeit not a regional train. I decided to take my chances and went to find the platform for that train.

And what do you know, of course there had to be a diligent ticket inspector and he looked at my ticket and said I had the wrong ticket. I proceeded to explain my situation and stressed that the ticket lady sold me the ticket knowing I may not be able to make the train and really when I missed that train, what choice did I have? He was not swayed and told me I had to either pay the difference or get down at the next station. I had checked earlier and I knew the fare difference between the Regionale train and the Frecciabianca was €1.50 so I was shocked when he calculated and told me I had to pay €16.10. I told him so and he said the fare on board the train was different (and higher) than the one bought at the station. What the hell. I told I would get down at the next station as I wasn’t about to part with what would be double my original fare. After a while, I got up and went to find a WC. I locked myself in, pulled down the cover and sat in there (it was clean and not at all smelly). After a long while, someone came knocking on the door persistently (I suspected it was the ticket inspector) and I shouted, ‘Diarrhoea!’ a few times.

The train stopped at a station, Massa I think, and I got down reluctantly. The inspector was on the platform, I think looking out for me and when he saw me, he blew on the whistle, hopped back on the train and the train doors closed. I went to ask a newsagent if there was a bus to La Spezia and he said no. I checked the timetable and was dismayed to find the next Regionale train was at almost 11. ‘And what time would I reach Riomaggiore?’, I wondered. Then I studied the screen and couldn’t believe it when I saw a Regionale train which should have arrived was delayed by ten minutes and yes, after calculating in my head, I might just be able to make it! So it was another rush to the other platform – going down the stairs and climbing up the stairs to the platform and presto, the train arrived within a minute. Phew, I made it! As I sat down I wondered if it was in fact the train I had missed in Pisa because I know from my research that the next Regionale train from Pisa after the 08:19 one leaves Pisa only at 11:05. Or perhaps the train was delayed in Pisa itself. I could have saved a lot of explaining had I known!

We arrived at La Spezia Centrale at 09:50 and I rushed to buy the 09:55 ticket to Riomaggiore. I managed to get the ticket and rushed down the stairs to the platform for the train and boarded it huffing and panting. It was only an 8-minute train ride to Riomaggiore and the train was simply packed. It was like the whole of Liguria had descended upon Cinque Terre today. I got down, wandered over to the information centre before walking back and finding signs to La Via Dell’Amore which links Riomaggiore to the next village, Manarola. There was a small group of German (!) hikers and the bloke told me that the path was closed. Oh boy.

I turned and kind of followed them up the village. I sighted a couple coming down and waited for them to ask directions to Manarola. It turned out they were also tourists/visitors who were staying in Cinque Terre. They didn’t know the way although the bloke said I could hike and showed me the barely discernible figures climbing up the distant hill behind us. I asked if he knew the way to the trail and he shrugged. I thanked them and seeing a few other hikers, decided to follow them.

To be continued