We came half an hour before the temple closed. Just like at the Osaka temple, we were hoping that by this time, the crowd of tourists has already dissipated. But we were absolutely wrong.

Even at almost 6PM, the stairs and halls of Kiyomize-dera were still swamped with local and foreign visitors. Maybe we just got unlucky but there were several groups of Japanese students exploring the temple and taking souvenir photos at the entrance. We inched our way to the main hall and even got as far as the main hall but 10 minutes later the crowd became suffocating so we hurriedly left.

In November 2016, I finished a marathon while 5 months pregnant.

When I found out I was pregnant, the first thing I did was madly Google stories of pregnant women running marathons. Even before I called my doctor and looked for a midwife. I wanted to know the possibilities and consequences. Or maybe I was just searching for confirmations. I knew, deep in my heart, that I will

We are not tea drinkers to begin with and our time in Kyoto was limited. But images of a quiet Japanese village surrounded by endless rows of tea fields appeal to me. So we headed to Wazuka for a day trip.

More than half of the tea consumed in Kyoto comes from this village. But when we asked for directions, we got curious looks instead. “Whoever goes to Chagenkyo (the village’s ancient name) anyway?”

I had too many doubts about this marathon, too many fears. The timing was very wrong because we were moving house and there were circumstances that forced me to slow down. But there was one thing I was sure about, that I will finish. After all, there’s a cut-off time of 7.5 hours. Long enough to walk to the finish line.

September 2012

After enduring 14 hours of sleeping on the cold floor at the restaurant of mv Aqua Hercules, squeezed between a table and the wall, using my carry on luggage full of wine bottles as pillow and hugging my backpack tightly lest it gets stolen, I finally arrived at the small port of Corfu. My body was so swollen and tight that you can hear my bones cracking with every movement.

I was also starving. When I left Bari, I didn’t realize that I only had €15 left, which I spent on dinner of overcooked spaghetti, cola and a bottle of water.

Visited three countries with backpack and a carry-on luggage.

A 25-degree Mediterranean weather welcomed me and although the sky was covered with clusters of dark clouds, the sun was warm, peeking every now and then. It was still so much warmer than the 15-degree weather in Hamburg, where I left five days ago.

My journey was long and back-breaking. I was very tired and  all I wanted to do was check in in my hotel, change into my bikinis and jump into the ocean.