Vatican City 梵蒂冈城

Posted on October 8, 2013 by The Traveller

The Vatican City is in Rome. It is the headquarters of the Roman Catholic Church. This is the world’s smallest independent nation-state, with 44 hectares in size. You just need to take about an hour to walk through the whole country.

You could climb to the top and have a nice aerial view.

You could walk into the city for free. However, you will have to pay to enter the Sistine Chapel and Vatican Museums. I went inside the both of them and recommend that you should also go inside. At the end of the route, you could see the paintings of Michelangelo on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. It was so beautiful that I just want to stay there as long as I could.

London 伦敦

Posted on September 24, 2013 by The Traveller

I was thinking of taking the Euro train from Paris to London. Because of my hesitation, I have to take the plane instead. It would be cheaper if I get the train ticket online while I was in Singapore as the price of the ticket keeps on increasing till I found that it is cheaper to take the domestic flight.

From Chinatown, I took a slow walk to the British Museum with my 65 litre backpack behind my back and a green haversack in front of me. The entrance to the museum is free but I was being denied entry at the gate by the guard because of my big and heavy backpack.

South France

Posted on September 24, 2013 by The Traveller

It took me about 2 hours to travel from Brussel to the Burgundy region in South of France. This is the countryside and there is no shopping centres or fast food restaurants. The place is every peaceful and I even camp near the river for a night.

Pont Canal De Briare

The Castle

There was a market near the castle.

I visited a museum.

There were people fishing and playing along the lake.

Château de Guédelon

Posted on September 18, 2013 by The Traveller

I have to pay 9 Euro to enter Chateau de Guedelo. This is a construction site where a team of people is trying to build a castle using the techniques and materials used in the old days (without the help of technology). The daily work stops after sunset as there is no electricity. The project began in 1997 and is scheduled to complete in 25 years.

Each year hundreds of people visited the site and this place is now a popular tourist spot. According to the information I have gathered while I was there, the authority has already collected enough money from the entrance fee to build the castle. Now they are trying to slow down the work so that more money can be collected. What a good business strategy!

Parc Asterix

Posted on September 16, 2013 by The Traveller

Parc Astérix is a theme park situated in the north of Paris, France. This theme park is based on the stories of the French comic character Asterix. You will enjoy the park more if you do know about European comics and appreciate the France humour.

Sydney Habour

Posted on August 20, 2013 by The Traveller

**The beauty of the Sydney Opera Theatre is irresistible. I just got lured over by its charming appearance and indulged myself into admiring this elegant infrastructure.**

If you have more time, take a walk across the bridge and have a good aerial view of the habour.

You could sign up for the half day climb of the Sydney Harbour Bridge and get certified.

There is also the Rock where you could have some refreshment while doing your shopping.

You could also take the ferry to the zoo or to the other side of the nude beach and take a bus back. Just take note of the timetable for the ferry as the last boat is at 5pm.

Indonesia 印度尼西亚 – Bali 巴厘岛

Posted on August 10, 2013 by The Traveller

The trip to Bali was through Time Sharing. Someone invested in time sharing and was given a free stay in a restort in Bali with 2 free return air tickets. He approached me to accompany him on this holiday trip. The resort is rather comfortable with a swimming pool infront of the room. The beach is about 15 minutes walk. However, when we turned on the tap to take shower, muddy water came out. The Australian engineer took a few hours to fix it. The next day, we hired a taxi driver to take us around to visit the tourist attractions.

Rotorua

Posted on August 9, 2013 by The Traveller

Auckland to Rotorua is about 3 hours car ride. When I was in Auckland, I stayed in Nomads Kiwi Paka with 20 beds in a room and I was the only guest in that room. Maybe I should not call “beds” as it was rows of mattresses on the floor.

I visited the the Te Puia to see bubbling mud pools. I also visited a Maori village and experienced the culture differences. I went to a farm, watched the sheep show and fed the animals.

Christchurch

Posted on August 9, 2013 by The Traveller

I arrived in Christchurch by the colourful Virgin Airlines. Anyone who has taken the flight will have a deep impression of the airlines as it is different from the traditional airlines. There are posters and advertisments inside the plane. When the plane landed, there were loud cheers and chaps (from the speakers).

Wellington

Posted on August 9, 2013 by The Traveller

I took the seven o’clock morning train on the scenic route from Auckland and reached Wellington at seven o’clock in the evening. The 12 hours’ ride was spectacular with the view of the snow mountain. We even had a stop in the National Park to get down for photo taking. In the city, I took the cable car up to the hillside and had the aerial view of the city. From Wellington, I took the domestic flight to Christchurch which is in the south island.