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From May 2018 to May 2019

Another six month vacation started from May 2018

June 2018– Phnom Penh and Sihanoukville with a friend

After June 2018, I had a serious talk with myself. I was 67 years old, and still had several friends in Almaty and also in Phnom Penh. It was time to rethink my priorities and try to visit my friends and travel with my friends as much as possible. Clearly, this was not going to last too long.

Surely, Covid came along and my health deteriorated even without getting infected by the virus, so it turned out that I had taken the right decision. In any case, apart from Almaty or Phnom Penh, I was in other countries purely for travel.

June 17 – Landed in Japan – another bucket list item!! Spent about twelve days here and visited Tokyo, Kyoto and Osaka. From Osaka, went to Seoul.

July 2018 Went to Seoul, South Korea to meet my Kansas Colleague, Biung -Ghi. Stayed for about a week, Went back to Kolkata for a few weeks

The plan for August onward was revised. The original plan was to fly to Rome and then onward to Germany and Austria and the Czech republic part of the time with my colleague Nadeem. I bailed on him haha.

Instead , after flying from Delhi to Rome, I flew again to Almaty. That was a terrible rescheduling – flew from Kolkata to Delhi to Rome to Istanbul to Almaty – I was dead tired when I arrived! Visited my friends and arranged for an apartment from January 2019. The landlord wanted me to pay rent from September 2018, and I agreed to that, I had no other choice. This was better than coming in January 2019 with all my luggage from India and looking for an apartment in intense cold (minus 5 to 15 centigrade usually). However , having rented the place, now I had an incentive to come back again in October. And I did come back on October 7 for eight days!

Meanwhile, I flew from Almaty to Rome at the end of August 2018 and spent three days in Venice and five days in Rome and and a day trip to Pompeii . Italian architecture was fascinating, Italian food not so much!! Back to Kolkata after this.

October 7-16, I was in Almaty, staying in an apartment I already paid for. On October 16 I flew from Almaty to Bangkok and then on to Phnom Penh. After a few days, returned to Kolkata to rest .

On November 23, I went to Phnom Penh again and flew to Bali with a friend. Bali was fantastic! Back to Kolkata for a few weeks.

January 2019 – Came to Almaty for what was going to be my last semester at work. I was not so young any more, the cold bothered me. I lived in a five floor walk up about ten / fifteen minutes walk from the main entrance on campus. I minimized walking outside.