This was part of Central Europe - Day 4 🇨🇿 🔗. I joined the Old Town and Jewish Quarter Free Tour at 11:00 AM. We started from the Powder Tower and walked to the House at the Black Madonna, a 5-story historic building with Cubist architecture. We then headed towards The Estates Theatre and saw the Ernst Mach Sculpture on the way. We also saw the Charles University Archives and the IL COMMENDATORE sculpture by Anna Chromý. ...
The overnight train journey from Budapest was very comfortable since I had all the compartment to myself. I had a quick shower in the bathroom at the end of the coach and was ready for my last day visiting cities in Central Europe. A small breakfast box was handed out around 7:30 AM. I ate a little and packed the rest as we were about to reach Prague. Our train arrived around 8:30 AM. ...
This was part of Central Europe - Day 3 🇭🇺 🔗. I joined the Communism Walk at 4:00 PM to understand about the life in Budapest and Hungary before and after the Iron Curtain. We started at the Lion Fountain and headed to the Elizabeth Square and saw the Budapest Eye. Next we headed to St. Stephen’s Basilica and also saw the Soviet style of building architecture around Szent István tér. ...
This was part of Central Europe - Day 3 🇭🇺 🔗. I joined the Free Budapest Walk at 10:30 AM and we visited Elizabeth Square and saw the Budapest Eye. We also saw Francis Square. Next we walked to the St. Stephen’s Basilica, a vast cupola-topped Roman Catholic place of worship, built from 1851 to 1905. ...
Our bus from Kraków reached Budapest Kelenföld bus station a little before 6:00 AM. Most people immediately walked towards the Kelenföld vasútállomás subway stop. I bought a 24-hour Budapest-travelcard. I took the M 4 and M 2 metro from Kelenföld vasútállomás to Deák Ferenc tér. I made a pit stop at Starbucks Fashion for some quick breakfast. After that I took the M 1 metro from Deák Ferenc tér to Széchenyi fürdő to visit the Széchenyi Spa Baths. ...
This was part of Central Europe - Day 2 🇵🇱 🔗. I joined the Jewish Kraków tour at 5:00 PM, and we started at the Old Synagogue situated in the Kazimierz district. We learnt about the Jewish history in Kraków and in Poland. We also saw the Izaak Synagogue. We passed by the Corpus Christi Basilica and also saw some of the locations where the film ‘Schindler’s List’ was shot. ...
This was part of Central Europe - Day 2 🇵🇱 🔗. I joined the Old Town Kraków tour at 2:00 PM and we started at the Kraków Barbican, a fortified outpost once connected to the city walls, and we also saw the St. Florian’s Gate. From there, we made our way to the Rynek Główny which is the Main Square which features the city’s most recognizable icons. We saw the Kraków Cloth Hall and the Town Hall Tower. We also saw the St. Mary’s Basilica and the Church of St. Adalbert (or the Church of St. Wojciech). ...
This was part of Central Europe - Day 2 🇵🇱 🔗. I joined the World War II in Kraków walking tour at 10:30 AM and we started at the Cross of Katyń placed in the 1990s to remember the tragedy of Katyn in 1940, when thousands of Polish citizens lost their lives. We sat around on the benches in the park and our guide told us about the impact of World War II in Kraków and the impact of Nazi Germany and Soviet Russia on Poland and Kraków. ...
The overnight train journey from Prague was quite comfortable and I slept well. A small breakfast box was served around 5:30 AM. Our train stopped at Kraków Płaszów Railway Station a little after 6:00 AM and we were asked to move to other forward compartments because only a part of the train would proceed all the way to Kraków Główny Railway Station. My cabin mate thought it would be better if we take a tram to the main station from there rather than wait for the train to move. So we got down and walked up to the Estakada Dworzec Płaszów bridge and waited for the tram. We took the tram, but it was going the wrong way and we ended up reaching the last stop. I had time on my hands so I didn’t mind waiting for the tram to go back. But my cabin mate decided to take a taxi to his destination and insisted that he drop me off at Kraków Główny. ...
This was part of Central Europe - Day 1 🇨🇿 🔗. I joined the Charles Bridge & Prague Castle Free Tour at 5:30 PM. We started from the Krizovnicke Square and headed over the medieval Charles Bridge. There are about 30 statues mounted to the balustrade of Charles Bridge forming two rows on either side. ...
Today was the first day of travel across Central Europe. I checked out of the hotel and left my bags at the front desk. I would be back after four days for one more night here, before flying back home. I had been researching the best way to move around across cities on my go-to site for train travel seat61.com and I found this awesome option to get from Frankfurt to Prague via Nürnberg and Cheb for only €16 each way and booked it on the Czech Railways website. I walked to the train station to catch the ICE 23 from Frankfurt (Main) Hbf to Nürnberg. I changed to regional train RE 5285 at Nürnberg. The train continued till Cheb and I was officially in Czechia. Here I boarded the Ex 559 for Prague. ...
This was part of A day in Brussels 🇧🇪 🔗. We started off from the Grand Place and our guide told us about the history of Brussels and Belgium. We saw the Everard ‘T Serclaes and then walked to the famous Manneken Pis. × < > From there we headed towards Place de la Bourse through some of the surrounding neighbourhoods as we learnt more about Brussels. After the Brussels Stock Exchange and walked to Galerie De La Reine where saw Neuhaus, famous for Belgian chocolate. ...
My flight from Washington-Dulles landed on time around 7:15 AM. There were two paths to clear immigration, one for transit passengers with onward connections and the other for people going to Belgium, I stood in line at the latter. When I reached the immigration desk, the officer asked me where I was going and I replied Frankfurt. He told me that I was in the wrong line and I should have cleared immigration at the other section for transit passengers. I told him that I had a long layover in Brussels and wanted to go into the city to look around before by next flight. He stamped me in and I exited the airport and found the local bus stop. I bought the STIB-MIVB 1 day ticket for € 7.50 from the GO machine and boarded the bus from Brussels Airport to Schuman and then took the metro from Schuman to Gare Centrale. ...
Since I had decided the destination of our last trip to South Africa 🔗, this time it was my wife’s turn to decide, and Japan was the destination of choice. My job now was to figure out a way to get us there. There was a transfer promotion going on, so I transferred points from my Citibank Rewards credit card to the Jet Airways JetPrivilege program, and I did the same for my mother’s credit card. We eventually didn’t get the transfer bonus as per the promotion, but nonetheless, we had just enough miles for two round-trip tickets to Japan. ...
This was part of A day in Amsterdam 🇳🇱 🔗. Because of the constant rain, I wasn’t even sure if anyone else would turn up and if the tour would operate, but there were a few others like me who showed up and we were off. We walked through the Red Light District of Amsterdam and learnt about its history and the legal prostitution. As we heard about the ground realities there, it all was a little disconcerting. ...
Ever since I transited Schiphol airport when I traveled to the USA for the first time in 2003, I’ve always wanted to visit Amsterdam and the Netherlands. During this trip, I managed to get connecting flights back from Zurich to Amsterdam on Swiss and then Munich to Mumbai on Lufthansa with a 23 hours 45 minutes layover in Amsterdam, which was technically still a connection and not a break journey. My flight from Zurich arrived around 9:10 AM, and I exited the airport and took the shuttle bus to Hampton by Hilton Amsterdam Airport Schiphol. ...
I had stayed over with a friend (from the USA) who was now based in Basel, and had enjoyed the previous day with him and his family. Today I was to meet up with another friend from work; the plan was to drive to Strasbourg and spend the day there. He picked me up around 7:00 AM, and soon we were on our way. After leaving Switzerland, we drove on the German side of the border until Kehl. We had not met in a long time and it was nice to catch up with each other during the drive. We crossed the Pont de l’Europe over the Rhine into France and parked the car close to Tour du Bourreau. ...
The plan for today was to spend a day at Innsbruck in Austria and add that to my travel map. I wanted to be back in Zurich that night, so I decided to make a day trip. I had booked my tickets in advance on the Austrian Federal Railways (ÖBB or OEBB) on their website at € 19,00 each way (which was a very good price considering that I paid CHF 16.60 each way only to get to Sargans the previous day when I visited Vaduz 🔗. As I had seen before when I returned from Milan by train, generally, booking train tickets on SBB was more expensive than booking on Trenitalia / ÖBB / Deutsche Bahn / where possible, even when, the actual train on which you travel is the same. ...
My flight to Zurich from Mumbai arrived on time and I made it out of the airport relatively quickly. I boarded the train from the airport to Zurich Hbf and then took the tram to the hotel to drop off my bags. I could have spent the day relaxing after travel, but instead I had decided to make the most of it by visiting Liechtenstein nearby. The plan was made, and I had booked the train tickets to Sargans just the previous evening on the Swiss Federal Railways (SBB) website for CHF 16.60 each way. I took the tram back from the hotel to Zurich Hbf and grabbed some breakfast at Rapido. I boarded the InterCity IC563 which arrived from Basel and was headed to Chur. The train left exactly at 9:37 AM; the next stop was Sargans. ...
natural liking for someone or something both fulfillment and longing, it does bring you are captivated and you don’t know why it doesn’t fit with obvious logic, but you still try you’re drawn to things that have a certain appeal or to people because of how they make you feel a four-legged friend who is eager to please the solicitous demeanour which puts you at ease the open countryside and quaint simple folk the obvious grin and chuckle on your inside joke ...
at times you are distant, even when with the crowd though you are really not, sometimes you do seem proud powerful like the tempest and gentle like the breeze you navigate places and people with such quasi-ease you are totally fatalistic and that’s how you choose to see your multifarious affiliations, they are just meant to be affinities come and go, but some things stay the same how you give, what you get and how you play the game ...
a feeling of pensive sadness, typically with no obvious cause you continue to tread the usual path, despondent, but without a pause when? where? how? and why? did all of this have to start who has put you in this quandary? your mind? or is it your heart? you want to wish away this frenzy, things should be steady, even slow but what is the solace that you seek? i think, even you do not know ...
After the wonderful Pilanesberg Safari yesterday, our overnight flight ET 848 from Johannesburg to Addis Ababa landed around 6:00 AM. We were already given a Passenger Accommodation Voucher at Johannesburg airport and at Addis Ababa we also got the transit visa card. We cleared immigration and were taken to the Ethiopia Hotel by bus. We each had a hotel voucher but needed only one room so they upgraded us to the suite for the two of us together. The room was basic but huge. It also had a small balcony. We went down for breakfast and then got ready for our day in Addis Ababa. ...
After spending our final day in Cape Town yesterday, we got up very early and took a taxi to Cape Town International Airport for our flight SA 302 to Johannesburg at 6:00 AM. We had breakfast at the SAA Domestic Premium Class Lounge before the flight. Onboard there was a choice of breakfast or fresh fruit. The expected time of arrival was 7:55 AM, so we wouldn’t be able to make it to Pilanesberg by 9:30 AM for the open vehicle safari drive. So the only option we had was the closed vehicle safari. I had booked it with MoAfrika Tours, including pickup and drop off at the airport, about a month before we travelled. ...
This was part of This Time for Africa - Day 5 🇿🇦 🔗. We joined the Bo Kaap Walking Tour at 4:00 PM and headed out from Green Market Square. Our first stop was the oldest Mosque, Auwal Masjeed. We learnt about the history of the place and its people. Seeing the different coloured houses across the streets was a nice sight. We saw the Biesmiellah Cape Malay Restaurant and then Chiappini Street with the backdrop of Table Mountain. ...
This was part of This Time for Africa - Day 5 🇿🇦 🔗. We joined the District Six Walking Tour at 2:00 PM and headed out from Green Market Square. District Six is a former inner-city residential area in Cape Town. It was made up largely of coloured residents who were forcibly removed during the 1970s by the apartheid regime. We learnt about the history of the place and its people, as well as the socio-economic and racial divide. We saw the street art and heard the stories behind it. We saw the Muir Street Mosque and the Al Azhar Mosque. On the way back we passed by the District Six Museum. ...
This was part of This Time for Africa - Day 5 🇿🇦 🔗. We joined the Historic City Tour at 11:00 AM and headed out from Green Market Square. We passed by St George’s Cathedral on the way to the Company’s Garden, the oldest garden in South Africa. We saw the Company’s Garden Sundial and the Cecil John Rhodes Statue. Next, we headed to see the infamous High Court Civil Annex where all non-whites had to go to be racially classified under the Apartheid regime. Then we next walked to Church Square to see the remembrance columns and the Statue of Jan Hendrik Hofmeyr. Our last stop was Grand Parade, the main public square next to the Cape Town City Hall. ...
After visiting the Cape Peninsula yesterday, we were going to spend the day in Cape Town today. We enjoyed a relaxed morning, had breakfast, and got ready. We walked to the City Sightseeing Cape Town office to find out about the walking tours in the city. We walked to Green Market Square to join the Historic City Tour 🔗 at 11:00 AM, and we had lunch at Shwarma Cafe on the way back to Green Market Square. ...
After Shark Cage Diving and visiting Table Mountain yesterday, we had decided to take the 1 day Cape Peninsula Tour by Baz Bus today. We got up early and walked to the Baz Bus office which was close to our hotel. We joined the group there, boarded our bus and began our trip for the day. We drove along Atlantic Seaboard crossing Camps Bay etc. and headed to our first stop, Hout Bay harbour. ...
After arriving in Cape Town, we got up early and got ready for the day we had planned. I had booked Shark Cage Diving in Gansbaai with Shark Zone about a week before. The Shark Zone team’s transport service picked us up from our hotel and we made a few other stops in Cape Town to collect other passengers. We drove east and made our way up the Houwhoek Pass and across to the meeting point in Van Dyks Bay. ...
Our flight MS 851 from Cairo to Addis Ababa landed around 3:15 AM. The airport was quiet and there weren’t too many passengers around. We were able to access the Star Alliance Gold Lounge thanks to my United MileagePlus Gold. There was also a different Ethiopian Airlines Cloud Nine Lounge, which was only for business class passengers on Ethiopian Airlines. It was still the middle of the night so we found some comfortable chairs and tried to get some sleep. Around 7:00 AM, we had some breakfast. Our flight ET 847 to Cape Town was at 8:30 AM. ...
It was finally here. The day we began the trip that we had been planning for the last 11 months. I had booked United award tickets for us from Mumbai to Cape Town via Cairo and Addis Ababa. We left Pune the previous evening for our first flight to Cairo MS 969 departing from Mumbai at 2:20 AM. The flight itself was uneventful and we reached Cairo early in the morning. The plan was to spend the day in Cairo in transit and then continue to South Africa. Since we were travelling on an award ticket, I wasn’t sure if we could get the complimentary transit stamp and hotel. So we had applied for the transit visa in advance just in case. We were redirected to multiple lines and immigration counters only to be told that we couldn’t exit the airport with a transit visa. Exasperated, we finally went to the EgyptAir desk for transfer customers and they arranged for us to get the transit stamp to enter Egypt and also gave us complimentary hotel accommodation for the day. Had we followed this path from the beginning we would have been better off. But we wasted money on the transit visa and also three precious hours trying to get through. ...
My flight from Mumbai via Delhi and Hong Kong landed just past noon and I had about 6 hours before my connecting flight. I decided to take the chance and pass through immigration to take one of the Incheon Airport Transit Tours. Indian nationals in transit through South Korea are visa-exempt for 30 days, provided they hold a physical visa / residence permit issued by one of the following countries: USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand. Although I had a visa for Canada, the immigration officer checked my visa for the USA. He stamped my passport and I was through. My bags were checked all the way to Canada so I walked past baggage claim to the arrivals hall. I reached the Transit Tour Information Desk in Terminal 1 1F Near Exit 8. Given my transit duration and the tour timings, the only tour I would be able to take was the Incheon tour so I registered for it. ...
Both of us had been collecting miles on United MileagePlus from quite some time. With the miles we had collected so far, I was scouting for destinations which we wanted to visit and where we could maximize our miles. Africa was on top of our list and I was trying to figure out how we could do the most with that. We had enough miles between the two of us for 3 one-way tickets from India (Central Asia region) to South Africa (Africa region) which would mean that we would need to purchase 1 one-way for one of us. ...
Ever since I found out about touristanbul I was eagerly waiting for the opportunity fly Turkish Airlines and visit Istanbul in transit. My red-eye from London to Istanbul on Saturday night landed early morning and I had a 15-hour layover before my flight to Mumbai. There were kiosks at the airport where people could apply for a visa.The Republic of Turkey issues e-Visas for Indian passport holders who have a valid visa for the USA, the UK, or the Schengen countries. I had applied for the e-Visa in advance to avoid any last-minute complications. I headed to immigration, where the officer checked my e-Visa and also my visa for the USA, and stamped my passport. My bag was checked through to Mumbai so I walked past baggage claim and customs and proceeded to the Hotel Desk in the International Arrival Hall (next to Starbucks). I submitted my boarding pass to them, and they asked me to wait around until they called for the tour. There was still lots of time so I found an empty bench and took a nap since I hadn’t really slept well on the overnight flight. ...
The plan for today was to make a day trip to Milan and add Italy to my travel map. I had started thinking about this two weeks before but the train tickets from Zurich to Milan were already quite expensive. So I decided to go by bus. I booked my onward journey on FlixBus for €19,00 and I found a good price of £22.10 on loco2.com for the return by train. My journey would take me over the Gotthard Pass by road and return via the Gotthard Tunnel by rail. The Gotthard Base Tunnel was still under construction and only opened in 2016 so I didn’t get to experience that. ...
Today was the last day of our trip and we were looking forward to going home. My initial plan was to go for a swim at the pool and then enjoy a nice breakfast. After packing all our luggage, it was a pleasant surprise to know that we still had room left for some more. So we changed our plan and visited MBK again to pick up stuff which we had liked the previous night but couldn’t buy because we weren’t sure if we could carry it back. So, after a quick breakfast we were off to MBK and took the metro from Nana to Siam. I missed the chance to enjoy the great swimming pool at the Ambassador Hotel. We came back in time for lunch but our car to the airport had arrived early. So we decided to get to the airport early and have lunch there. We checked out of the hotel and we were off to Bangkok Suvarnabhumi Airport which I had read so much about on airliners.net. It was very huge and impressive. ...
After visiting Safari World yesterday, today was another full day outdoors. We set off in the morning to visit the famous Damnoen Saduak Floating Market. We drove for a while away from Bangkok city after picking up passengers for today’s tour. We were dropped off at a canal from where we boarded boats which would take us to the floating market. We cruised through the canal passing by many houses and buildings and seeing the residents go about their everyday life. ...
Today we were all set to visit Safari World. We were picked up by a mini bus and we stopped by at a few other hotels to pick up more people for the tour. On reaching there, we first went for the drive through the Safari Park. We saw lots of wild animal along the way and it was nice to see that even if not free, at least they were not caged. ...
After a nice day in Pattaya yesterday, we left in the morning and headed back to Bangkok. We were dropped off at The Ambassador Hotel. We waited to be checked in and eventually they managed to find a room for us on a non-smoking floor. The room was nice with a small balcony overlooking the swimming pool. The swimming pool looked very inviting, and I should have gone for a swim right then and there instead of keeping that for later time. But at that time I didn’t know that with all the activities we had planned in Bangkok that later time would never come. ...
After arriving in Pattaya yesterday, we got ready in the morning and went down for breakfast. As usual, even this hotel had a great breakfast spread. We were scheduled to take the Coral Island (Ko Laan) tour today. A tuk-tuk arrived to take us to the beach. We reached there and had to wade through the water to reach the speedboat which was going to take us to Coral Island. There were about 20-25 people with us. Our first stop was parasailing. We had to climb aboard a floating platform where parasailing could be done at extra cost. We were, of course, more than willing. We watched in awe at the precision and timing with which the people were handling the activities. As soon as a person came in for a landing, a group of people would attack him/her and get the harness off, one person would lead the person who has just landed away, while another group would attach the harness to the next person waiting in line who would be lifted off his/her feet almost instantaneously. And all this within a time frame of 5-10 seconds while the boat pulling the harness and parachute is still moving ahead in the water. Soon it was my turn and before I knew it I was in the air being led by the boat for a loop round; it was like flying really. ...
Traveling overnight from Malaysia yesterday, I got up as our train was approaching Hua Hin railway station. All the coach attendants put on their coats and hats and waited at the door of each coach. The halt wasn’t too long and soon we resumed our journey to Bangkok. One thing we didn’t notice the previous night was that our coach was the last coach on the train. And there was a door with a big glass window at the end, so I spent some time standing there and watching the track fly backwards. ...
After a relaxing day yesterday, we got up in the morning and went down for breakfast. The hotel had a great breakfast spread and we really enjoyed it. Even the restaurant setup and ambiance were great. We then went for a walk around the hotel. We wanted to stock up with a few food items for our journey to Thailand. We decided to be a little adventurous and take the bus from our hotel to the jetty to take the ferry to Butterworth on mainland Malaysia. We didn’t have to wait at the bus stop for long. The bus ride was nice and we were treated to some great views of the Andaman Sea on the way. We also caught a glimpse of Georgetown. ...
After a nice day in Kuala Lumpur yesterday, we got up in the morning and got ready to leave for Penang. We were to depart on Air Asia flight AK6310 from the LCCT. Our ride to the airport was arranged and we were picked up from our hotel after breakfast. The drive to the airport was nothing spectacular. But we did manage to view the developments in and around Kuala Lumpur. The high-rise buildings, elevated tracks for the mass transit system, the roads and highways all seems very impressive and almost on par with developed countries. As we drove towards the airport, the road ran alongside the high-speed train tracks from Kuala Lumpur International Airport to KL Sentral and one of the KLIA Express trains just zipped right past us. The non-stop trip takes around 28 minutes to cover the distance of 57 kilometers. Would have liked to try that. As we approached the road to the LCCT we also saw the way to the Sepang International Circuit (SIC), venue used for the Formula One Malaysian Grand Prix, etc. ...
After a nice day yesterday, we had a quick breakfast at our hotel and waited in the lobby to be picked up for the Kuala Lumpur city tour. When the driver arrived, we recognized him as being the one who drove us from Genting and we also met the couple from Mumbai who were also on the city tour with us. Our first stop was the Istana Negara (or National Palace). ...
After arriving here yesterday, we woke up and decided to hit the Genting Outdoor Theme Park nice and early to avoid the crowds and more importantly long lines for the rides. After a wonderful buffet breakfast at our hotel we started off following directions to get to the Outdoor Theme Park. After walking for what seemed like forever through corridors and escalators we finally reached the entrance of the Outdoor Theme Park. As we stepped outside we realized that it was really cold and very foggy. Forget the crowds, there was hardly anyone in sight. The first thing I tried was the Spinner. It was a nice ride but it made the cold seem even worse. I was the only one who tried this. ...
As I woke up and gazed outside my window, I realized that we were somewhere over the Malacca Straits as we approached Kuala Lumpur International Airport - KLIA (KUL). Soon the captain made the announcement asking the cabin crew to return to their seat as we were about to land. The one thing I did notice was how incredibly green the landscape below was: lush green palm plantations as far as we could see. The landing was nothing out of the ordinary and we were soon taxiing our way to the assigned aero-bridge for docking. ...
First of all, it’s hard enough for us to remove ourselves from a state of inertia and try something new. We tend to get comfortable very easily and don’t really make any effort for change as long as the going is good. It’s only when things don’t really go our way that we tend to sit up and take notice of opportunities suitable for us. Our approach to decision-making tends to be more reactive than proactive most of the time. ...
… Because It Might Just Come True! Life is strange. It has you running after things which you’re not even sure you want. And if you do want them, you’re not sure why. What you want, may clearly be something which is not best for you. The question is: When do you realize this? All through our life, and more consciously in our adult life, we chase after people or things which we seem to want in our lives. ...
I know you’re thinking “Charles Dickens”. But not this time. This is different. We go through life and cross paths with multitudes of people. People we’re related to, neighbours, friends from school/college, colleagues/friends from our workplace, etc. But surprisingly, only some of these make a meaningful impact on us. We are, more often than not, drawn to people for a couple of reasons: first, they make us feel good about ourselves, cared for, and/or protected; and second, they have something which we admire, appreciate, or want to emulate. ...