My trip in Asia started on Saturday November 16th when I took a flight from Prague to Bangkok. I decided to fly with Emirates although it was not the cheapest option but I liked the itinerary because it provided me with the possibility to visit additional two countries. I left Prague around 4pm and the flight lasted 6 hours which means that I arrived to Dubai at 1am. The flight attendants served food, I had chicken and we could choose free drinks, I was surprised that also the alcoholic ones were also free. I got a transit visa for 3 days with Emirates and I passed the border controls smoothly, the officer didn't have any questions about my stay in Dubai but he asked me about the Czech football player Pavel Nedved. I found a host on CS and he picked me up at the airport. We were driving in the city, then we stopped to have a drink in some fast food, my host ordered French vanillla coffee, I usually don't drink coffee, but this one was good. Then we drove to the hotel Atlantis in the Palm Jumeirah. The guards didn't want to let us enter the hotel but my host told them that we were going to book a room there so we were allowed to go in. There was a huge aquarium with many kinds of fish, we took many pictures and I also made a video.

After visiting the hotel Atlantis we went to my host's home in Discovery Gardens. It was still warm although it was very late at night, the temperature was around 25°C. We went to sleep very late and I managed to sleep only 3 hours. When we got up in the morning my host took me to the Ibn Battuta mall which was close to his home, there was some Indian and Chinese architecture inside. We took some photos but my host was in hurry because he had to go to Abu Dhabi and I had to take a metro to the Dubai mall. I booked a ticket to Burj Khalifa in advance which is the highest building in the world but unfortunately there was a sand storm that day so the view from the top wasn't good and I could barely see the hotel Burj Al Arab in the distance.

I spent around one hour on the top, but I didn't find the view amazing due to the bad weather. Then I went back to the mall, there were many shops, waterfall, aquarium, skating ring and also the ski slope. I walked around for some time but then I had to take a metro to the airport because my flight to Hong Kong was leaving at 18:30. When I was in metro a woman spoke to me, she asked me if I was a crew, I said no and she said she was from Egypt and she was a crew. When I gave her my flight number she was able to see the details of my flight on her phone. I arrived at the airport two hours before departure. I felt a bit embarrassed about my stay in UAE, I admit that one day in Dubai is not sufficient to know it well but I found it overrated. It might be worth visiting for the people who want to spend a lot of money there and enjoy the megalomania of this city, but in my opinion it doesn't have many things to offer to a common traveller. Although there are many skyscrapers it is still a desert with a very hot climate for most of the year. However, my next destination Hong Kong was one of the most beautiful places which I have ever seen.

After I returned from Mallorca I didn't stay in Prague for a long time because after a few days I travelled to Budapest. I left Prague on 27th September around midnight, I took a night train to Budapest and I arrived there around 8am on Saturday. I walked from the Keleti train station to the Wombat hostel where I stayed one night with a friend. The weather was wonderful on Saturday, it was sunny and around 20°C. We walked in the city center with my friend and then we had a dinner in a restaurant. The following day my friend left Budapest and I met a Pakistani guy Usman from couchsurfing at the train station. I thought I would leave Budapest on Sunday and go to Slovakia but I changed my mind and I stayed in Budapest 2 days longer. We went to the castle and to the center and then to a Turkish restaurant. Usman was working on Monday so I visited the city alone in the morning but in the afternoon we went to the thermal baths Szechenyi. There were many pools with hot water, especially the outdoor pool with the stream was exciting. It got colder and it was only around 13°C that day but the water in the pool had 34°C . There were some French high school students with their teacher so we had some conversation with them. I left Budapest on Tuesday and I returned to Prague by the Student Agency bus.

I travelled to Budapest again with my mother on Thursday 23rd January 2014. We stayed in the Animation City hostel next to the Vaci utca. It was good to stay in the center, the hostel was cosy and the room for two people costed around 70 Eur for three nights. We used to eat in the Turkish restuarants, there are many of them in Buapest and the food is cheap and tasty. On Friday and Saturday we went to the thermal baths Szechenyi. On Friday it was slightly above 0°C and on Saturday it was -4°C. The outdoor pools were amazing but crowded, there was a lot of steam going out from the pool. The baths were very crowded on Saturday and there was ice next to the pool so I slid there and fell but nothing happened to me. On Sunday we returned to Prague with the Eurolines bus.

Last year I had a hard time to decide where to travel because I couldn't take holidays from work during summer. I wanted to visit Greece at first but then my trip was cancelled and I decided to go back to Mallorca. I left Prague on September 17th and I returned on September 25th. I stayed in Arenal with the same host who I visited already in November 2012. My stay in Mallorca was good, the weather was nice and warm, around 26-28°C, my host lived next to the beach so I went to swim every day. I used to visit Palma often and walk around the city. My host was very busy working in his travel agency and I decided to travel to Ibiza for 2 days. I took a ferry from Palma on Sunday 22nd September at 8am. As I had to be there one hour before departure I had to get up around 5am, catch a bus to Palma and then take a ferry. I couldn't find a host on couchsurfing in Ibiza therefore I had to book a room in the hotel Piscis Park which was in the north of the island.

After arriving to Ibiza I took a bus to the city and when I was walking towards the castle I met an Indian guy who lived in USA. We took some photos and he accompanied me to the castle. It was a hot day, around 30°C. We wanted to find a beach but we were told by the locals that there were no beaches around so we went to eat something and after we found a bus which would take us to the beach.

When we got to the beach in the south of the island we found out immediately that it was a nude beach, but the sea was full of dirt. There were many sea plants and small pieces of wood. I went inside for a little while but it was almost impossible to swim in it. So we just sat on the beach for some hours and took sun and then we went back to the city where we had a dinner in an Indian restaurant. I ordered Pokhara butter chicken which was chicken breast in curry sauce and it was very tasty. Then we took a bus to the north of the island to go to my hotel, but the security guard didn't let my friend enter the hotel so he had to take a bus to his hotel. I walked alone along the beach in the night, there were many people partying in the clubs but I didn't feel like going there alone so I returned to the hotel. One night in the hotel Piscis Park costed 23,70 Eur which I found adequate. The breakfast was included in the price. In the morning I walked around the city and I swam in the sea next to the port. The sea was clean and I stepped on an octopus while swimming which scared me a bit. Then I went back to the south of Ibiza to meet my Indian friend and we walked to the castle again and he accompanied me to the bus which took me to the ferry. The ferry left Ibiza at 8pm and I returned to my host in Mallorca late in the evening.
The following day I took a flight to Madrid where I had to stay during the night. I had a host from Sri Lanka who studied PhD. in Spain. We went to a Chinese buffet all you can eat for 10 Eur and I took enormous amount of food, including shrimps, noodles, sushi, fish, different kinds of seafood and also a dessert.

We spent a pleasant evening walking around the city, I already knew the places which we visited because this was my second time in Madrid, I had already been there in February 2012 for 2 days. Then we drank sangria and we returned home around midnight. The following day I took a flight to Prague.