My wife and I joined a group tour to Balkan for 10 days covering Greece, Mecodonia, Croatia, Serbia, Bosnia and Albania. We did not know the others in the group but it turned out the group made a good company.
We visited many tourists spots , the one I remembered the most was a visit to Christian monastaries on top of limestone hills. I cant imagine how difficult life was for the nuns in those days without electricity, running water and modern facilities. These self dependant community survived in unhospitalable enviroment where they served their Lord and do farming to support themselves.
The old cities of Dubronic and Kotor were also very impressive fort city I visited. It appeared to me these cities didnot have a hinterland to supprt themselves in the olden days. They must have depended on trade.
The Balkan countries have nature which they preseve well. The hill slopes are wooded, the rivers have sparkling clear water and the waterfalls are clean and natural and the air fresh
Bosnia is the country familiar to me because of the Bosnian War and atrocities some 30 years ago. The scars of war could still be seen on the walls of houses pockmarked by bullets. Our guide was just a baby during the time and he nerrated how difficult for the family to secure food at the time of constant fear and distrust in Sarajevo.
I could say that despite my aversion for organised tour, I enjoyed the trip because of the bus load of friends I made during the trip. Most of us were in the same age group and so we spoke in the same lingo. A doctor in the group made my motion sickness of being in the bus too long more bearable.
Saturday, September 21, 2019
Monday, September 16, 2019
Cycling Brunei and Limbang
It took a while for me to make this cycling trip a reality. I had never ventured on this kind of long distance trip and there were some planning and preparation involved in this venture.
At last the day came. I embarked on Air Asia plane with my bicycle as its sports luggage. Soon I was checking in at a Kota Batu Road hotel , unpack my bicycle and test run it on Bandar Brunei and was ready to shoot off.
The next morning I was on the road to Limbang. As it was rush hour for Brunei car commuters it was quite an ardious ride through the city to get to the other side of it. But it was not too bad for Brunei motorists were the accomodating type and let me have my way most of the time. About 30 minutes later, I was on the quieter road road to Limbang. I passed through the immigration checkpoints and rode the ferry crossing, and by noon I was already on the Limbang side.
By noon it was extremely hot and I had to take a shelter in one road side shed with a house about 25 meters away. A woman came out to offer shelter and take bath in the house which I politely declined. Nevertheless she made coffee for me before I resumed my cycling. After two hours of cycling the road became bad and I rode over a boulder and stumbled over. Luckily I was not hurt, but my bicycle tyre was pucures and ream needed to be fixed up. Seeing me struggling on the lonely road, a four wheel truck stopped by and offered to take me and the bicycle to Limbang. By the time I reached Limbang, it was almost dark, but lickily the repair shop was still open and I got my bicycle problem fixed
The next day I continued to cycle to Bangar which is the other part of Brunei. The road became very good again in Brunei and the ride was an easy one. By noon I reached Bangar and continued upstream along Sungai Temburung, passing therough lon houses along the way and stopped at the end of the road for a night at one of those retreats. It was a beatiful river with crystal clear water and I took a dip on arrival and the next morning before returning to Bangar. Back at Bangar the following day, I put my bicycle on the speed boat and landed in Bandar Sri Bangawan to spend the night there.
On this trip I went to Labuan too through Muara ferry terminal. It took 2 hours to cross over to Labuan by ferry. Labuan is a port town in Sabah and I cycled in Labuan before taking the same ferry back to Brunei. As it was night when we reached Muara, and sinece my bicycle was not equipped with night, it was a struggle to reach our hotel in Bandar Brunei.
The next day was free and easy . I cycled around the city sighteeeing its attraction such as Kampung Air , the Sultan Mosque , the open market and ithe Royal Musuem.
At last the day came. I embarked on Air Asia plane with my bicycle as its sports luggage. Soon I was checking in at a Kota Batu Road hotel , unpack my bicycle and test run it on Bandar Brunei and was ready to shoot off.
The next morning I was on the road to Limbang. As it was rush hour for Brunei car commuters it was quite an ardious ride through the city to get to the other side of it. But it was not too bad for Brunei motorists were the accomodating type and let me have my way most of the time. About 30 minutes later, I was on the quieter road road to Limbang. I passed through the immigration checkpoints and rode the ferry crossing, and by noon I was already on the Limbang side.
By noon it was extremely hot and I had to take a shelter in one road side shed with a house about 25 meters away. A woman came out to offer shelter and take bath in the house which I politely declined. Nevertheless she made coffee for me before I resumed my cycling. After two hours of cycling the road became bad and I rode over a boulder and stumbled over. Luckily I was not hurt, but my bicycle tyre was pucures and ream needed to be fixed up. Seeing me struggling on the lonely road, a four wheel truck stopped by and offered to take me and the bicycle to Limbang. By the time I reached Limbang, it was almost dark, but lickily the repair shop was still open and I got my bicycle problem fixed
The next day I continued to cycle to Bangar which is the other part of Brunei. The road became very good again in Brunei and the ride was an easy one. By noon I reached Bangar and continued upstream along Sungai Temburung, passing therough lon houses along the way and stopped at the end of the road for a night at one of those retreats. It was a beatiful river with crystal clear water and I took a dip on arrival and the next morning before returning to Bangar. Back at Bangar the following day, I put my bicycle on the speed boat and landed in Bandar Sri Bangawan to spend the night there.
On this trip I went to Labuan too through Muara ferry terminal. It took 2 hours to cross over to Labuan by ferry. Labuan is a port town in Sabah and I cycled in Labuan before taking the same ferry back to Brunei. As it was night when we reached Muara, and sinece my bicycle was not equipped with night, it was a struggle to reach our hotel in Bandar Brunei.
The next day was free and easy . I cycled around the city sighteeeing its attraction such as Kampung Air , the Sultan Mosque , the open market and ithe Royal Musuem.
Saturday, September 14, 2019
Bursa
I donot want to visit Istanbul only but wished to experience a town other than its capital which I had visited twice already. Bus and finall
When it came to me that Bursa was an old historical ad was Turkey's former capital for hundred of years since the time of the Seljuk, I became very interested to see this city.
To get to Bursa, I had to cross the Mamara by boat, then take a bus and finally a metro to its old town city centre named Osmangazi, a well respected ruler who built up Bursa .
The epicentre of the old city is the Sultan's Mosque built in the year 1300s.Its architecture is Seljuk with many domes and two minerets. From the outside, it looks impresive with minerats rising to sheer height. On the inside the whole structure is supported by huge pillars. The main domes allows light to flood the interior. The walls are decorated with calligrahic drawing, nothing elaborate, except for the intricate wood carving of the mimbar. As the mosque is open to everybody, prayers come to pray , and non praying visitors come to view the mosque , it is hard to feel the holiness ambience of the great mosque, especially when there were children running around.
The area around the mosque is the grand bazaar. The title grand really fit the description of the place. I cannot figure out where it starts and where it ends. All sort of things are on sale here from fresh fish and vegetable to jewellary items in hundres of small shops and stalls.It seems that the name bursa means market place , a venue for buyers and sellrs hundred of years ago since Bursa was on the famous Silk Trade Route.
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There are more places to visit in Bursa, but because time is limited I dont manage to see them
Budapest
Aku sampai ke kota Budapest dari Prague selepas menaiki bus selama 5 jam melalui Slovakia. Perjalanan tidaklah menjemukan kerana pemandangan merentasi ladang ladang yang diusahakan kemas serta kehijauan dan bus singgah di 2 bandar besar iaitu Byro dan Balistava.,
Sesampai di stesyen bas Budapest, akungan mempunyai impression seolah Budapest ialah kota di dunia ketiga memandangkan bangunan di sekelilingdiri stesyen dan tramnya, tapi satelahBuda mmemasuki tengah kota, impression ku berubah.
Liameb
Peninapan ku di sini betul betul di tengah kota. Banyak kedai makan, kedai beraneka barang dan bar serta cafe di kawasan ini. Pukul 2 pagi masih lagi bising dengan pelanggan.
Budapest terdiri dari 2 bandar iaitu Buda dan Pest yang di pisahkan oleh Sungai Danube. Ia menjadi pusat kerajaan Hungary sejak dulu dan bangunan parliamennya berbentuk gothic yang tersergam menjadgai mercu kota ini. Susun atur bangunan bangunan yang diselang seli dengan taman bunya sangat menyalaman bagi pejalan kaki.
Di sebelah sana sungai terdapat Castle Hill yang menjadi benting pertahan kota. Di sinilah ada istana raja di puncak bukit yang memperlihat pemandugan Sungai Danube yang cantik. Merentasi sungai yang di lalui oleh kapal kapal pelancung dan komersial terdapat 3 jambatan, satu darinya jambatan gantung yang ramai dilalui pelancung berjalan kaki.
Kota ini mempunyai sejarah menarik kerana sejarah lampau sasaran jirannya saperti German, Austria, Mongol, Turkey, dan Russia. Ia juga bandar terbesar penduduk Yahudi sebelum perang dunia ke2 sehingga digelar Mecca untuk orang Yahudi. Komuniti Yahudi dengan synogue yang besar masih aktif di bandar ini
.
Amsterdam
Kota Amsterdam adalah antara kota yang tak pernah jemu aku kunjungi walaupun sudah enam tujuh kali aku disini sejak tahun 1983.
Aku tiba di Amsterdam awsl pagi dengan keretapi dari Paris. Secara fisikalnya Station Centrum masih kelihatan sama dengan tram menunggu di luar station membawa penumpang ke berbagai destinasi kota. Aku menaki tram ke hotel yang kira kira 15 minit perjalanan
Selesai check in aku menaiki tram semula ke kawasan Rembrent di tengah kota di mana tugu Rembrent di kelilingi pengawal pengawal bersize human. Dari situ aku berjalan menuju ke Dam di mana terdapat satu square di keliliigi bangunan lama dan tugu tugu tokoh bersejarah bersejarah. Tempat ini padat dengan lokal dan pelancung Dalam hiruk pikuk orang ramai, aku dapati polis polis berkuda memacu kuda dan beberapa truck polis dalam position siap sedia. Rupanya di seberang sana square ada demonstrasi peminat kelab bola sepak bekumpul dan menyanyi lagu pasukan mareka. Polis bergerak ke arah mareka sambil melaung ingatan bersurai tapi ahli kelab masih tidak berganjak malah masih menyanyi. Polis tidak membuat apa apa lebih dari setakad amaran bersurai , dan lama kelamaan peminat kelab dengan sendiri meninggalkan square itu sambil menyanyi untuk bergerak ke stadium entah di mana.
Aku bergerak ke kawasan Red District untuk menekmati suasana canels dan kedai kedai di lorong lorong podestrian yang sempit. Keadaan tempat ini memang tidak berubah walaupun sudah hampir 50 tahun dulu aku disini.Berbagai bentuk bot komersial dan rekreational mudar mandir sepanjang canel. Kedai kedai sex, bar muzik bob marley dengan bauan ganja dan arkitektur bangunan tidak berubah. Ada beza pun dari segi pengunjung yang penuh sesak di kawasan ini berbanding dulu.
Esoknya pagi pagi lagi aku sudah menaki tram ke kompleks muzium Amsterdam. Ada 2 muzium terkemuka di sini iaitu Muzium Van Gosh dan Muzium Ratj. Kerana kedua muzium sudah kehabisan tikit dan full house dan aku tak ada punya masa menunggu, aku rasa cukup puas menekmati suasana santai taman dan istana raja Rajs saja.
Hari terakhir aku gunakan untuk berbasikal di Amsterdam , satu kultur gaya hidup orang Belanda. Aku mula kayuhan sepanjang trek basikal Sungai Amstel dari muara mudik ke hulu. Pemandangan di kawasan hulu sangat tenang dan kehijauan. Aku sampai ke koloni gaya hidup hijau tanpa kereta di mana rumah rumah kecil dengan taman diselenggara rapi di duduki oleh penghuni yang komital dengan gaya hidup sebegini. Dari hulu sungai aku berbasikal semula ke kawasan bandar dengan route lain sambil berhenti di banyak taman taman rekreasi yang tidak ada kereta untuk bersantai. Bolehlah aku katakan ini kawasan suburb Amsterdam , dan masuk semula pinggir bandar yang bersirat dengan canels yang dilalui oleh berbagai jenis bot. Kerana aku asyik berhenti menghayati keindaham kawasan kawasan yang aku lalui Aku tak sempat ke pasar terbuka yang menjual berbagai antik dan curio kerana hari sudah gelap dan peniaga sudah punggah jualan.
Walaupun pertama kali berbasikal di Amsterdam, aku hanya perlu sedikit masa memahami trek trek basikalnya. Amserdam mempunyai infrstrutur berbasikal yang lengkap dengan lorong basikal khas, bertrafik light dan bersign board serta rangkaian penyewa basikal dengan bermacam jenis basikal untuk semua peringkat umur. Aliran trafik yang berdisiplin membuat kayuhan lebih mudah walaupun di pusat kota. Malam itu aku terlena awal kerana kepenatan dan tidak mahu risiko terlepas keretapi pagi ke Brussel
Selesai check in aku menaiki tram semula ke kawasan Rembrent di tengah kota di mana tugu Rembrent di kelilingi pengawal pengawal bersize human. Dari situ aku berjalan menuju ke Dam di mana terdapat satu square di keliliigi bangunan lama dan tugu tugu tokoh bersejarah bersejarah. Tempat ini padat dengan lokal dan pelancung Dalam hiruk pikuk orang ramai, aku dapati polis polis berkuda memacu kuda dan beberapa truck polis dalam position siap sedia. Rupanya di seberang sana square ada demonstrasi peminat kelab bola sepak bekumpul dan menyanyi lagu pasukan mareka. Polis bergerak ke arah mareka sambil melaung ingatan bersurai tapi ahli kelab masih tidak berganjak malah masih menyanyi. Polis tidak membuat apa apa lebih dari setakad amaran bersurai , dan lama kelamaan peminat kelab dengan sendiri meninggalkan square itu sambil menyanyi untuk bergerak ke stadium entah di mana.
Aku bergerak ke kawasan Red District untuk menekmati suasana canels dan kedai kedai di lorong lorong podestrian yang sempit. Keadaan tempat ini memang tidak berubah walaupun sudah hampir 50 tahun dulu aku disini.Berbagai bentuk bot komersial dan rekreational mudar mandir sepanjang canel. Kedai kedai sex, bar muzik bob marley dengan bauan ganja dan arkitektur bangunan tidak berubah. Ada beza pun dari segi pengunjung yang penuh sesak di kawasan ini berbanding dulu.
Esoknya pagi pagi lagi aku sudah menaki tram ke kompleks muzium Amsterdam. Ada 2 muzium terkemuka di sini iaitu Muzium Van Gosh dan Muzium Ratj. Kerana kedua muzium sudah kehabisan tikit dan full house dan aku tak ada punya masa menunggu, aku rasa cukup puas menekmati suasana santai taman dan istana raja Rajs saja.
Hari terakhir aku gunakan untuk berbasikal di Amsterdam , satu kultur gaya hidup orang Belanda. Aku mula kayuhan sepanjang trek basikal Sungai Amstel dari muara mudik ke hulu. Pemandangan di kawasan hulu sangat tenang dan kehijauan. Aku sampai ke koloni gaya hidup hijau tanpa kereta di mana rumah rumah kecil dengan taman diselenggara rapi di duduki oleh penghuni yang komital dengan gaya hidup sebegini. Dari hulu sungai aku berbasikal semula ke kawasan bandar dengan route lain sambil berhenti di banyak taman taman rekreasi yang tidak ada kereta untuk bersantai. Bolehlah aku katakan ini kawasan suburb Amsterdam , dan masuk semula pinggir bandar yang bersirat dengan canels yang dilalui oleh berbagai jenis bot. Kerana aku asyik berhenti menghayati keindaham kawasan kawasan yang aku lalui Aku tak sempat ke pasar terbuka yang menjual berbagai antik dan curio kerana hari sudah gelap dan peniaga sudah punggah jualan.
Walaupun pertama kali berbasikal di Amsterdam, aku hanya perlu sedikit masa memahami trek trek basikalnya. Amserdam mempunyai infrstrutur berbasikal yang lengkap dengan lorong basikal khas, bertrafik light dan bersign board serta rangkaian penyewa basikal dengan bermacam jenis basikal untuk semua peringkat umur. Aliran trafik yang berdisiplin membuat kayuhan lebih mudah walaupun di pusat kota. Malam itu aku terlena awal kerana kepenatan dan tidak mahu risiko terlepas keretapi pagi ke Brussel
Prague
Saya sampai ke Prague dari Vienna melalui dengan keretapi.
Aku dapati stesyen keretapi Prague memudahkan penggunanya dan masa 10
minit aku sudah menaiki trem untuk ke hotel.
Tempat pertama yang aku tuju ialah Old Town Prague. Untuk
kesana aku melalui pekan baru yang dibina dalam kurun 18 yanh mempuyai
banyak butik dan kafe. Selepas berjalan 10 minit aku mula memsuki Old
Town Prague.
Old Town adalah bandar penuh kelainan.Jalannya sempit ,
bercoble stone da tidak boleh dilalui kereya dan sesak dengan
pengunjung. Satelah melalui kedai sepanjang lorong, aku sampai di satu
medan luas iaitu Old Town Square. Ada 3 bangunan tersergam di square itu
iaitu clock tower, town hall dan 2 gereja. Semua berbentuk medieval dan
bina pada sekitan masehi 1200. Square ini di penuhi pengunjung
sepanjang masa.
Satelah duduk di square itu selama dua jam, aku bergerak
kearah Charles Bridge yang merentangi sungai , Aku berjalan atas
jambatan menikmati keindahan sungai dan gelagat orang2 yang bersiar2
seoanjang jambatan.Disebelah sana sungai terdapat bukit kecil di mana
terdapat istana lama dan gereja tua. Ia merupakan backdrop pemandangan
dari arah bandar tua Prague.
Kerana pemandangan bukit sebelah sana sungai sangat cantik,
aku teruja untuk kesana esoknya . Agak sukar juga mendaki ñ si sana.
Diatas puncak terdepat gereja tua awal kristian dan istana raja yang
sufah dijadikan parliamen dan kediaman rasmi president. Panorama koya
Prague dati sini sanhat cantik.
Aku dapati Prague memang kota yang cantik dan penuh
sejarah. Jalannya diturap dengan cobble stone dan bangunannya di jaga
rapi. Ada juga bangunan baru , tapi lama dan baru blendef dengan baik di
kota ini.
Cycling Trip Sabah
Cycling trip sabah
This is the 2nd night of my 10 days cycling trip. We started fro kota kinabalu at around 1 pm and after hours of lunch, looking for my medicine which i forgot and looking for bicycle shops, we actually kick off aroud 3 30 pm.
By the time we reched the foothill of crocker range there was a heavy rain. But the biew along the road was beautiful covered by green rainforest. The road was winding but well mantained and the gradient was steep. It was lucky thay zaini offered to drive us up the mountain. Should we be cycling by ourselves that would almost like an inpossible task.
After climbing for about an hour we at last starting to go downhill. We stopped at gumug albab rest area which to me appear to be in the middle of nowbere. As the rain never stop and it was getting darker i decided to spend a night at gunung alab. The next morning i woke up fresh and ready to start cycling again.
From gunung alab the road was downhill all the way to sensuron and soon i reached tambunan. Tambunan has grown into quite a town. After a short break at tambunan we continued to keningau.
The road to keningau was hilly with hill after hill to go through. I can hardly ride so i have to push the bicycle. It was a tough job. I must have done hill number 3 when a lorry stopped by to take us as he saod there were a few more hills ahead. I agreed and pit my bicycle on the lorry. Somewhere 6 or 7 km after the driver dropped us to continue or journey to keningau. We stopped by at a frnds houst and rezumed after lunchnto keningu. We stayed in keningau for 2 nights because we have frieds to see there.
My next destination was tenomm we cycled there for 4 hours and reached tenom in time for Friday prayer. There is nothing much in tenom and as it was raining, we stayed in door.
Tenom is connected to beaufort by an old train. I loaded my bicycle into the passemger cargo where there is no chairs and the passegers have to sit on the floor . The train stopped at assigned stations and whenever ot was flagged down by passengers. It runs parallel to pedas river , a beautiful river with strong rapid that cut through steep forested slope. The journey lasted about 4 hours and when i reached Beaufort i was already too tired that i checked into the hotel.
The next leg of the ride is covering the west coast staring from Beaufort to Kota Kinabalu. On the ay to papar we went to a small town named Kimanis and joined the villagers at a coffee shop talking about the current political issues. We couldnt spend more tie with them because we have a schdule to follow. We reached papar before noon and cycled around looking for a hotel. The town of papar s still recogisable due to the railway stataion in its centre. But there is no hotel. We searched in the new town and found one where we spent the night. Later rosli Joined us for tea tarik in the nearby mamak joint.
The next day we started off early to KK as we promised rosli we would drop in to his house. Rosli’s house has been expanded and the house is being prepared for his daughter wedding reception. Despite his medical condition rosli is full of life to do the best for his houze and to follow up on his tinkering hobby. We spent about 2 hours with rosli before continuing tp KK
The road to kk was quite challenging due to heavy traffic and small lane road. It was also blazing hot. At kepayan i received a call from rosli asking us to put up in his vacant house in kk rather than renting a hotel. As we made no booking that day we agreed to his invitation. Rosli came down to kk and that night we slept in rosli ‘s house.
From rosli’s house in Tanjung aru, we proceeded to our hotel at api-api which is only a short distance away. We cycled along to the waterfrot visiting the market and some touristy spots. This mark the end of our cycling tour of sabah interior and west coast
In conclusion i would say that this cycling trip is a good thing for me. This excersise Improves my overall health because of the physical preparation and the actual cycling that make my muscle and my heart to work harder. I also strengtened my friendship with some old friends and made friends with new people. Also i saw that sabah has made big progress in physical development since the time I was here in late 60s both in term of physical infrastucture and the wealth of the people from the cars they drive, their houses and the restaurant they patronise.
This is the 2nd night of my 10 days cycling trip. We started fro kota kinabalu at around 1 pm and after hours of lunch, looking for my medicine which i forgot and looking for bicycle shops, we actually kick off aroud 3 30 pm.
By the time we reched the foothill of crocker range there was a heavy rain. But the biew along the road was beautiful covered by green rainforest. The road was winding but well mantained and the gradient was steep. It was lucky thay zaini offered to drive us up the mountain. Should we be cycling by ourselves that would almost like an inpossible task.
After climbing for about an hour we at last starting to go downhill. We stopped at gumug albab rest area which to me appear to be in the middle of nowbere. As the rain never stop and it was getting darker i decided to spend a night at gunung alab. The next morning i woke up fresh and ready to start cycling again.
From gunung alab the road was downhill all the way to sensuron and soon i reached tambunan. Tambunan has grown into quite a town. After a short break at tambunan we continued to keningau.
The road to keningau was hilly with hill after hill to go through. I can hardly ride so i have to push the bicycle. It was a tough job. I must have done hill number 3 when a lorry stopped by to take us as he saod there were a few more hills ahead. I agreed and pit my bicycle on the lorry. Somewhere 6 or 7 km after the driver dropped us to continue or journey to keningau. We stopped by at a frnds houst and rezumed after lunchnto keningu. We stayed in keningau for 2 nights because we have frieds to see there.
My next destination was tenomm we cycled there for 4 hours and reached tenom in time for Friday prayer. There is nothing much in tenom and as it was raining, we stayed in door.
Tenom is connected to beaufort by an old train. I loaded my bicycle into the passemger cargo where there is no chairs and the passegers have to sit on the floor . The train stopped at assigned stations and whenever ot was flagged down by passengers. It runs parallel to pedas river , a beautiful river with strong rapid that cut through steep forested slope. The journey lasted about 4 hours and when i reached Beaufort i was already too tired that i checked into the hotel.
The next leg of the ride is covering the west coast staring from Beaufort to Kota Kinabalu. On the ay to papar we went to a small town named Kimanis and joined the villagers at a coffee shop talking about the current political issues. We couldnt spend more tie with them because we have a schdule to follow. We reached papar before noon and cycled around looking for a hotel. The town of papar s still recogisable due to the railway stataion in its centre. But there is no hotel. We searched in the new town and found one where we spent the night. Later rosli Joined us for tea tarik in the nearby mamak joint.
The next day we started off early to KK as we promised rosli we would drop in to his house. Rosli’s house has been expanded and the house is being prepared for his daughter wedding reception. Despite his medical condition rosli is full of life to do the best for his houze and to follow up on his tinkering hobby. We spent about 2 hours with rosli before continuing tp KK
The road to kk was quite challenging due to heavy traffic and small lane road. It was also blazing hot. At kepayan i received a call from rosli asking us to put up in his vacant house in kk rather than renting a hotel. As we made no booking that day we agreed to his invitation. Rosli came down to kk and that night we slept in rosli ‘s house.
From rosli’s house in Tanjung aru, we proceeded to our hotel at api-api which is only a short distance away. We cycled along to the waterfrot visiting the market and some touristy spots. This mark the end of our cycling tour of sabah interior and west coast
In conclusion i would say that this cycling trip is a good thing for me. This excersise Improves my overall health because of the physical preparation and the actual cycling that make my muscle and my heart to work harder. I also strengtened my friendship with some old friends and made friends with new people. Also i saw that sabah has made big progress in physical development since the time I was here in late 60s both in term of physical infrastucture and the wealth of the people from the cars they drive, their houses and the restaurant they patronise.
Friday, September 13, 2019
Backpacking USA Coast to Coast
Upon
retiring I have been toying with the idea of backpacking the USA from coast to
coast. My backpacking trip would start from San Francisco on the west coast,
heading south to New Orleans and San Antonio, and then heading north towards Washington
DC and New York and ending up in Boston. The plan became a reality last year in
a month long road trip by self-drive, train and buses.
The
starting point of my backpacking trip was idyllic city of San Francisco that gave
me a good introduction to the US. The very next day upon arrival I savoured this
beautiful city with renowned landmarks such as the Golden Gate Bridge, Alcatraz,
the sprawling Chinatown and the Fishermen’s Wharf with its never ending street shows.
I got the impression that nobody seemed to be working, but living to the American
ideal of pursuing happiness and liberty. Yet this city is the most important
financial and technological centre of the US.
Moving on within the US has been a breeze with
the help of long distance express buses and trains. That’s how I travelled to Los
Angeles, Las Vegas, St Bernardino, Phoenix and Santa Fe before crossing the
continent down south to San Antonio and New
Orleans . I didn’t miss the Grand Canyon and the Hoover Dam, driving there all
the way from Las Vegas
.
.
Each
of these cities is special in their own character especially San Antonio and New
Orleans. San Antonio is a city uniquely built on river sides where the city
life revolves and tourists flock to enjoy the boat cruise, the restaurants’ cuisine
and the riverbank street walk. New Orleans started as a French city with a peculiar
colonial architecture and buskers performing streets shows. The street artists
performed their art for the love of it and this is the trade they live for their
whole life. This is the place where jazz music was born and indeed its airport
is named Louis Armstrong International Airport.
The
gems of the US cities are Washington DC, New York and Boston. These cities had
too much to offer that I found the two weeks I spent in the three cities were
just fleeting by. Among other things, Washington DC has so many museums and
they are all free. Despite the extensive underground network serving the city,
I had to do lots of legwork in the gardenlike historical monuments like The
Capitol, Lincoln Memorial, the White House and many more. I spent a lot of time in front
of the White House seeing the antics of the demonstrators expressing their causes,
after all this is America, the epitome of democracy .Then there is New York
with its Ground Zero, Times Square the underground
rail network and its cosmopolitan people on the streets. My last city was Boston, where i
roamed about the ivy league campuses of MIT and Harvard, the institutions
that make America great.
Travelling
this way made me learn quite a bit about America through meeting its people and
observing the way they live their lives. The US is a big country with diversity
in its people, culture and even dialect between the west coast, the east coast
and the south. On the surface of it, the West Coast people are more relaxed
with strangers and the East Coast people more reserved. Overall I can say that the
Americans are helpful lots offering unsolicited assistance to strangers who
appeared to be lost. The service level given by service providers is high and
they seem guanine to assist customers.
As a senior person i got many privileges in public facilities and assistance even from some
intimidating looking punk. Travelling around the US has been made very easy because many things like ticket and hotel bookings are on line and most purchases are cashless. I had visited some of the US cities some 30 ago, when the downtowns were neglected, dirty, high crime areas and were lived by the poor. Not now anymore, for the downtowns within the cities have transformed to be very modern and hype. In New York I stayed in Harlem, once a notorious crime hotspot, but I didn’t encounter any bad experience in its subways or streets even at night. What surprised me most was that there were a few madrassa and halal food joints in Harlem.
As a senior person i got many privileges in public facilities and assistance even from some
intimidating looking punk. Travelling around the US has been made very easy because many things like ticket and hotel bookings are on line and most purchases are cashless. I had visited some of the US cities some 30 ago, when the downtowns were neglected, dirty, high crime areas and were lived by the poor. Not now anymore, for the downtowns within the cities have transformed to be very modern and hype. In New York I stayed in Harlem, once a notorious crime hotspot, but I didn’t encounter any bad experience in its subways or streets even at night. What surprised me most was that there were a few madrassa and halal food joints in Harlem.
Even though I travelled from coast to coast
stopping in most of its major cities, I didn’t feel I had seen enough of the US.
I am planning another similar trip to the US to its Midwest states and other
places I missed during my last trip.
Wednesday, September 11, 2019
Istanbul
Aftet a month on the road I am coming to the end of my trip at Istanbul
I have always been fascinated by Istanbul because of its past history and the special beauty that the city has. This is the 3rd time I visited the city and I feel I discover new things each time
As I approached the city of 12 million from the airport I realized this is truly a big city and it looks like it never stop expanding. New satellite townships are spring up and bustling with real estate development. Tall buildings are making the skyline
As I approached the city centre called Sultan Ahmed , little has changed. The Blue Mosque , Hega Sophia, the Water Cistern, the Hippodrome, the Sultans Palace and the old building and houses are well preserved But the number of people in the city centre has increased tremendously , the shops are doing roaring business and the city trams are packed like sardine.
Unlike my earlier trip, this time I roamed about the city more freely using its public transoprt. Taksim, a suburb built about 300 years ago, the epicentre of protest demonstration 3 years ago, is even more crowded with shoppers compared to Sultan Ahmed. I have never seen such a long shopping avenue with shops and boutiques on both sides. People seemed to be enjoying themselves window shopping, eating and drinking and circling around buskers' performance. I hardly covered half the avenue before deciding to turn back.
There is another place called Onomonu with its imposing mosque and a busy ferry terminal a few kilometer from Sultan Ahmet that I went to. I was at first interested only to see the bridge with restaurants underneath and people fishing at the top. But as I wondered around to the hilly part, I was amazed to see the bazaar with hundred of shops and their milling patrons. Not intending to purchase anything, I sat down in a cafe, enjoying the movement of the crowd, and soon found out that I had spent a day in Onomonu.
I also ventyred outside Istanbul to a city called Bursa, which is an old capital city of Turkey. I had to ride a 2 hours ferry and then about an hour by land transport to reach the city centre. The city centre is Osmangazi. It has a huge seljuk style mosque built in 1300s around which a gigantic bazaar in existence since the silk trade days. The whole area is full of life with merchandise and foodstuff of all sort. I sampled the kebab and the fruits and they are the most fresh I have had. Unfortunately I didnt have much time to spend as I heard that the places around this city have many splendid venues to appreciate
I think one can never be satisfied with just one or two visits to Istanbul for the city with make you discover new things at every turn and corner.
I have always been fascinated by Istanbul because of its past history and the special beauty that the city has. This is the 3rd time I visited the city and I feel I discover new things each time
As I approached the city of 12 million from the airport I realized this is truly a big city and it looks like it never stop expanding. New satellite townships are spring up and bustling with real estate development. Tall buildings are making the skyline
As I approached the city centre called Sultan Ahmed , little has changed. The Blue Mosque , Hega Sophia, the Water Cistern, the Hippodrome, the Sultans Palace and the old building and houses are well preserved But the number of people in the city centre has increased tremendously , the shops are doing roaring business and the city trams are packed like sardine.
Unlike my earlier trip, this time I roamed about the city more freely using its public transoprt. Taksim, a suburb built about 300 years ago, the epicentre of protest demonstration 3 years ago, is even more crowded with shoppers compared to Sultan Ahmed. I have never seen such a long shopping avenue with shops and boutiques on both sides. People seemed to be enjoying themselves window shopping, eating and drinking and circling around buskers' performance. I hardly covered half the avenue before deciding to turn back.
There is another place called Onomonu with its imposing mosque and a busy ferry terminal a few kilometer from Sultan Ahmet that I went to. I was at first interested only to see the bridge with restaurants underneath and people fishing at the top. But as I wondered around to the hilly part, I was amazed to see the bazaar with hundred of shops and their milling patrons. Not intending to purchase anything, I sat down in a cafe, enjoying the movement of the crowd, and soon found out that I had spent a day in Onomonu.
I also ventyred outside Istanbul to a city called Bursa, which is an old capital city of Turkey. I had to ride a 2 hours ferry and then about an hour by land transport to reach the city centre. The city centre is Osmangazi. It has a huge seljuk style mosque built in 1300s around which a gigantic bazaar in existence since the silk trade days. The whole area is full of life with merchandise and foodstuff of all sort. I sampled the kebab and the fruits and they are the most fresh I have had. Unfortunately I didnt have much time to spend as I heard that the places around this city have many splendid venues to appreciate
I think one can never be satisfied with just one or two visits to Istanbul for the city with make you discover new things at every turn and corner.
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