BACK IN PARADISE

And now, eventually I can get to where I currently find myself. There has been a fair amount of suspicion of me having dropped off the edge of the earth, and so forth.

Anyway, it is not quite that complicated. By the time I was leaving China I was already in some serious financial trouble (having to take trains and busses to get back out of the country in time). Thanks to my sister Olga for looking out for me, and the Western Union line must have been red-hot!

Then, by the end of November the guest season in Florida had started to pick up again, and Gabriele of Paradise Farm (where I'd spent a part of the previous winter) was keen to get me on a plane to resume my former duties. Thanks to Gabriele for the plane ticket as well as for sending me cash in Thailand

So in December I arrived back on the farm close to Homestead (South of Miami), and started taking care of the guests in the B&B bungalows again. The cat (Guacamole) seemed somewhat indifferent about my 6-month absence, but I was glad to see her again as I had not expected to ever return.

Once again, I don't really get off the farm, but I have met many wonderful people from all over the world (especially from the North in winter). Initially I came to the farm as a Warmshowers.org guest, and now I have had the priviledge of taking care of many other Warmsowers members who regularly come cycling in here. Some are pictured here, apologies to the many others, I may not have taken your picture.

My bike (Old Saartjie) is set up for shopping duty at the moment, and I have cycled more than 1000 km in the past few months to the grocery stores in the area (of course I do not add that to my total mileage!).

Where to next? In a couple of weeks I hop on a plane to Bangkok to resume my travels in the far east. I've found that Bangkok is a good hub and starting point for visas and permits etc. I still have a section of China to cycle through, and Myanmar is on my to-do list (hopefully it will work out this time).