Last arrangements

I know that I haven't written a single word here for the whole month of January, but I have plenty of excuses... I was busy quitting my job, travelling to London and meeting cool people there, moving all my things out of my rented flat...

This will be my last post here before I depart on Friday (February 4th), heading to Paris.

After that I expect to post frequently about my whereabouts, since I bought a netbook to take with me, especially to be able to blog while travelling.

So be patient and keep on following new updates here.

For all of you who happen to know Basque too, I will be writing on a Basque language blog on BERRIA newspaper's website here:
http://www.berria.info/blogak/asiatik

Starting today I have a new haircut, a very short one for that matter, because long ago I thought it very convenient having a comfortably short hair to travel for months abroad.

Besides, I finally got today my Russian and Chinese visas, so the borders in my itinerary are open for me now, till August at least.

Talking about the itinerary, I had to change it when I was told that in order to get into Belarus I needed a real hotel reservation vouch signed and sent from Minsk, so fortunately, I am now getting from Poland to Moscow through Ukraine, that doesn't need any visa, and which I deem more interesting.

Apart from that, I have realized that I only have a two entry visa to China, each of which allows me to spend 30 days there, so I have a maximun of 60 days there, but I can only have 30 days every time I enter. This might rearrange a bit my sighting tour in China, because I will use one entry when I get from South Korea, and the second one most probably when I get back from Mongolia (after Beijing), so that won't allow me to visit Hong Kong if I don't apply for a new visa in China.

I had the last dosis of the necessary vaccines last week, and I emptied my flat (a great task), but not before I packed everything in my backpack, and I am so happy that everything I wanted to carry fitted inside!

I am going to say good-bye telling you that I already have Couchsurfing hosts in Paris and Berlin, in the first case a fellow expatriate from Bilbao and an American friend of him, and in Germany (where I will only spend one night before I take a train to Warsaw) a former host and guest.