Hue 顺化

Posted on October 7, 2024 by The Traveller

Huế is a city in the central of Vietnam. It was the seat of the Nguyen Dynasty emperors and Vietnam’s national capital from 1802 to 1945.

A major attraction of Hue is the Imperial City (皇城). This is a walled enclosure within the citadel (京城) of the city of Huế, the former imperial capital of Vietnam during the Nguyễn dynasty.

The Imperial City was designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1993. This historical site is still undergoing restoration when I was there.

When you walk out of the visiting site, you will be encountered by locals trying to sell anything they have on hand.

The Thien Mu Pagoda (Heaven Fairy Lady Pagoda) is one of the most fascinating ancient pagoda in the Hue city. It is situated on Ha Khe hill, north bank of the Perfume River, in Huong Long village. I walked for about 5 kilometers (about an hour) from the city to reach there. After been there for about 30 minutes, I walked back to the hotel; I could have taken the boat ride back instead.

The Hue Royal Antiquities Museum is a World Heritage but I found there is no nothing much to see.

The market is on the right hand side of the the bridge when I walked from the main road. Besides vegetables and meat, the market also sells food, drinks, household items, clothing, shoes, etc. I bought a pair of Adidas shoe and some roasted Vietnamese cashew nuts through a hard bargaining process.

The city area where I stayed.

I stayed in the Amona Hotel. The check-out time is at noon but I was allowed to stay till the late afternoon for the bus come and pick me up to Da Nang, I gave the hotel a 5 Star rating in Agoda.

Fuzhou 福州

Posted on September 27, 2024 by The Traveller

I took the bus from Xiamen (厦门) to Fuzhou (福州). I walked into a hotel but was rejected. The staff said according to the regulations and for safety, foreigners are to stay in at least a 3 Star hotel.

I asked the locals and found that the 3 Star hotels are not within my budget. Finally, I was directed to stay in an apartment (写字楼). The counter staff said that the regulations are only for hotels and apartments are excluded.

Went to the Panda Word and I only saw one sleeping Panda.

There is also a mini animal show.

Some of the food I had in during my 3 days in Fuzhou.

Mekong Delta 湄公河

Posted on February 3, 2018 by The Traveller

I took the 2 days one night tour of the Mekong Delta.

Travelling in Vietnam was full of excitement

Cruising along the mighty Mekong river was a memorable experience.

Meeting the enthusiastic boat sellers was a great opportunity.

Seeing the rows of standing houses on water was an eye opener.

Staying in the resort was a fresh air taking.

Krabi

Posted on July 5, 2016 by The Traveller

I was in Krabi for just a few hours. So, I intend to visit the place again.

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Mini Siam

Posted on March 23, 2016 by The Traveller

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Ipswich and other places

Posted on October 13, 2013 by The Traveller

I arrived in London Luton Airport from Paris and stayed in the Aylesbury area for one night. The next day, I took the tube (train) to London (about 35 minutes) and stayed for 2 days. I took another tube to Ipswich, which is in Suffolk, for another 2 days.

While I was travelling in the tube, I heard multiple announcements that transport workers going on strike on the coming Sunday. Passengers were advised to make their own alternative transport arrangement. As my flight was on the strike day, I decided to take the airport bus from Ipswich station to Stanstead airport. In fact, I took the earlier bus (2 hours earlier) and reached the airport 4 hours before the flight. I flew with the budget airline, Ryan Air, to Berlin, Germany.

Fremantle 弗里曼特尔

Posted on July 19, 2013 by The Traveller

Fremantle is just about 45 minutes of train ride from the city of Perth. I was there on a Friday afternoon. The place is bit of slow and quiet. I think I see more people in MBC than in Fremantle. The Fremantle Market opens only on weekends. I bought a T-shirt from one of those tourist shops at a discounted price of A$10. The next day when I was in Perth, I saw T-shirts with the same design are selling at A$5 each. Got cheated!!!!

One thing good about Fremantle is that I can take unlimited free bus trips to travel around the city. Maybe Singapore could learn from this by providing free bus services from Marina Bay to Orchard Road. If you want to get out of the city, you could take a ferry to the Rottnest island for a day tour. I think the ferry trip costs about A$50.

Indian Pacific Train

Posted on July 15, 2013 by The Traveller

From Perth, I took the Indian Pacific Train (印度太平洋火车) to Adelaide. The journey is 2 days and 2 nights (48 hours). The train had a stop at Kalgoorlie at about 1am. I got out of the train with my seat partner (a young German girl) to explore the quiet town. We walked for about 30 minutes and finally found McDonald’s.

The train continued. We passed by 2 deserted towns – Tarcoola and Forrest. We had our second stop in Cook Town. There are only 5 men and one fat woman living in this 鸟不下蛋的地方. We got off the train and had a self-guided tour in this ghost town for about 2 hours.

We travelled for another few more hours seeing more dry areas and finally reached Adelaide in the early morning. My adventure trip n South Australia continues.

St Kilda 圣基尔达

Posted on July 15, 2013 by The Traveller

St Kilda is about an hour walk from the city of Melbourne. As I was staying a distance away from the the city, I have to take about an hour walk to the city and another hour walk to the beach in St Kilda. I never take any bus or train when I was in Melbourne. I only once took the free city bus to travel around the city (I took 3 rounds). Most of my travel are on foot and with a map.

**This is the place for sun, wind and sand**.

While I walking towards St Kilda, I found that there was no many vehicles on the road. Later I realised it was the day of the Pride Parade and some of the roads were closed. I joined in the crowd to watch the parade and took some pictures.

The parade ended with music, dance and performance in the park near to the beach.

Milan 米兰

Posted on July 5, 2013 by The Traveller

Italy is my first and last stop for the Europe trip. I arrived in Milan and flew back from Rome. Milan is a cosmopolitan metropolis with a European flair, and is considered one of the world’s fashion and design capitals.

A must visit place is the the Duomo di Milano (Cathedral). You could pay 7 Euro and climb up to the roof top to have a aerial view.

I joined the free walking tour and visited the Sforzesco Castle and other places.

Even if you are not into arts, Santa Maria delle Grazie is also a must visit. In this small church you could see the original Leonardo Da Vinci’s “The last Supper” painted on the wall. According to the website, you will have to book the ticket at least one month in advance as they only allow about 20 people per visit and each visit last about 30 minutes. I was lucky as one of the tourists did not turn up at the particular time slot when I was there. So, I took over the place. We were not allowed to take pictures during the tour but I still managed to get a few shots without flash.