KB203 KTM - PBH

I flew to Bhutan from Nepal by Druk Air; Royal Bhutan Airlines which is the national flag carrier of the Kingdom of Bhutan. There are several scheduled flights from South and South East Asian cities. First of all, I flew to Kathmandu, Nepal from Bangkok, Thailand then spent a night in Kathmandu. Then, in the next afternoon I flew to Paro, Bhutan. There was a scheduled flight from Bangkok, Thailand as well, but I chose Kathmandu - Paro route just to see the Himalayas from above. Bhutan is located at the Eastern end of the Himalayas, so that's why.

Betws-y-Coed, North Wales

I took this photo in Betws-y-Coed in North Wales, the United Kingdom. From April 18 to April 27 in 2007 I joined COSMOS tour to visit a lot of cities in England, Scotland and Wales. That day the coach departed from Liverpool, England and took us to North Wales. The coach dropped by Conwy, Caernarfon, then drove through Snowdonia National Park, Llanberis Pass and then some. The tour director gave us a lunch break in Betws-y-Coed. I took this photo in front of the railway station while I was waiting the coach to back to Liverpool. The railway station is known as bus interchange as well.

Römerberg, Frankfurt am main

I took this photo in the Römerberg (a.k.a. old town square) in Frankfurt, Germany at dusk. It was my second time to visit Frankfurt. That time I arrived in Frankfurt by ICE train from Munich. ICE stands for Inter City Express and the bullet train connect Munich and Frankfurt by only three hours. I really enjoyed German scenery from the train windows. After dumping my luggage in my hotel room, I set off to the city. The old town square was one of the most beautiful locations of Frankfurt and I really loved there.

Subterranean development

The photo shows an inside view of MRT Bangkok (a.k.a. Bangkok Metro). Most of the time I choose a hotel in Chinatown area, so MRT is one of my very important public transportations to explore the jam-up Bangkok metropolitan. Hua Lamphong is the nearest station from Chinatown, Bangkok. MRT Bangkok has three interchange stations for BTS (a.k.a. Bangkok Sky Train), and an interchange station for fairy new Airport Link (a.k.a. Suvarnabhumi Airport Rail Link. Epitome of convenient Bangkok.

Things to do in a secluded area

I took this photo in Unawatuna, Sri Lanka. There were a lot of sunbeds and beach umbrellas available in front of eateries on the white sand beach. The beach is hidden from the main road, so compare to many other beaches in Sri Lanka, Unawatuna is kinda quiet, but pretty comfortable. Sri Lanka is formerly called Ceylon and in fact, Sri Lanka is one of the world largest tea producers. I enjoyed so many pots of Ceylon tea on the beach, in the balcony, on the streets and everywhere. It was just totally good.

Travel around Europe by coach

From March the 25th to April 15th in 2007, I joined Contiki's European Vista tour and visited England, France, Monaco, Italy, Austria, Germany, Liechtenstein, Switzerland, and Holland by coach. I took this photo on day 2 in Fontainebleau, France. Our coach departed from Paris in the morning and headed to Lyon. On the way to Lyon, the coach dropped by Fontainebleau to show us the beautiful Palace of Fontainebleau. I must admit, we didn't have plenty of time to see the city itself, but had enough time to see the featured site. This is a photo which I took right before backed to the coach.

Eat rice for breakfast

The photo shows my breakfast at my hotel in Pattaya, Thailand. I chose Thai fried rice with chicken and a fried egg; Khao Pad Gai Khai Dao (Thai: ข้าวผัดไก่ไข่ดาว), some Thai fruits and two cups of English tea. My favorite ones. Come to think of it, one of my English acquaintances has told me that he was fragile in the morning, so he couldn't eat rice for breakfast. He said he loved rice, but he didn't want to have rice for breakfast. His view was the polar opposite of mine. If I can't have rice for breakfast, I'm not exactly happy about it. Sometimes is okay without rice, but certainly not all the time. I need rice to start a day.

Passed down by word of mouth

I took this photo in Pokhara, Nepal. When I climbed a hill with a Nepali local, he showed me Pokhara and Phewa lake from above, and he also showed me a place which is called the World Peace Pagoda. I didn't know anything before I started to climb the hill, but according to Nepali locals, the place is known as the white stupa which was built by Buddhist monks from Japan. This is one of my photos from the World Peace Pagoda which shows a golden reclining buddha statue.

Zürich Hauptbahnhof

This is my very first photo in Zurich, Switzerland. It shows inside of Zürich Hauptbahnhof which is the largest railway station in Switzerland. I arrived in Zurich by train from Frankfurt, Germany. After I got off the train, I walked around and see a bit of Zürich Hauptbahnhof, then got out of the station to explore the city itself. The last part of the day was return to Zürich Hauptbahnhof and caught a train to Frankfurt, Germany. Before that, I spent all my Swiss franc at a little shop in the station.

This is still better than nothing

I took this photo in Budapest, Hungary while I was walking on the Liberty Bridge which connects hilly Buda side and flat Pest side across the beautiful river Danube. When I enjoyed viewing stunning landscape of Budapest from the bridge, a tram came from left field. I was like "Oh, no, wait a sec. I wanna take a picture!" so you know, that's why. I was a bit too late to point a camera at the tram. The photo was supposed to be taken at a better angle, but at least I could see a tiny part of the Liberty Bridge and a tiny side of the Budapest tram on the photo. This is still better than nothing.

By the skin of one's teeth

I took this photo in Malmö, Sweden while I was heading toward HSB Turning Torso. During my last trip I got far enough north in winter time, so I was just curious to see things in a day with below zero temperature. Actually, I didn't have a temperature indicator or something, but the water around the lighthouse was still unfrozen. From what I remember, the science classes in my elementally school taught me that water freezes at zero degrees Celsius, so I guess the temperature was a little above zero degrees Celsius.

Do impulsive things

The photo shows a view of Venice, Italy. I took this photo from a gondola when I was enjoying gondola ride on the Grand Canal. I've been to several cities in Italy includes Pisa, Florence, Rome, Maranello and Venice. In Pisa, I lost my sense of balance due the Leaning Tower of Pisa. In Florence, I enjoyed exploring the picturesque beautiful city all day and night. In Rome, I was always thinking how tasty authentic Italian food was. Venice was my last city of travel around Italy, so I tried to do everything I could do at that moment.

Sub-zero temperature

I took this photo in Nyhavn district in Copenhagen, Denmark. I was on the odd numbers side which was lined by colorful cute buildings like the photo shows. I'd say Nyhavn is sort of one of the featured locations in Copenhagen, so first things first, I visited Nyhavn on my first day in Copenhagen. Surprisingly enough, the canal was frozen and wooden ships were stuck on the frozen canal. Before I got there, I saw a lot of beautiful photos of Nyhavn, but there weren't any photos of Nyhavn with frozen canal, so actually first of all I couldn't really understand what was going on.

Check-out time is 11, Check-in begins at 3

I took this photo at my favorite restaurant in Las Vegas, the States. The place was in my hotel on the northern end of the Vegas Strip. I really enjoyed the atmosphere and all-American food, so I went there more than once. That day, I needed to Check-out my room before 11 a.m. and I had four hours till check in to the next hotel. First of all, I put my stuff in the cloakroom and looked around the city. Then I spent some time in a Casino and took a late lunch at the restaurant. I had the soup of the day, chopped salad, and a bottle of Miller Lite.

There's a lot of traffic around here

The photo shows a sign of the Cairo Metro in Egypt. The oldest metro systems in African continent. I took this photo in Tahrir Square right above Sadat station of the Cairo Metro. There's a lot of traffic around here. I used the underground station to cross the street. I didn't know that, but Cairo, Egypt was heavily-trafficked. From what I remember, the area from Tahrir Square to the Egyptian Musium looked like one of the most heavily-trafficked and it wasn't exactly easy to cross the street for a tourist. So that's why. The underground access was come in handy.

Galle lighthouse

The photo shows Galle lighthouse and a mosque in Galle, Sri Lanka. When I headed off to Unawatuna from Negombo, my tuk-tuk driver and me dropped by Galle to see the most famous lighthouse in Sri Lanka. Galle is a popular city situated on Southwestern tip of Sri Lanka. The Galle Fort is known as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. That's the reason we dropped by Galle right before our arrival to Unawatuna. We spent for half an hour or so and were able to unwind from the fatigue of the long bumpy tuk-tuk ride.

The Olympics have begun

This is my another pic of 1896 Olympic Stadium in Athens, Greece. It's officially called the Panathenaic Stadium that the place where the first summer Olympic hosted in 1896. I waited for the wind to take the Greek flag and the Olympic flag together. The stadium was empty at that moment, but I was so impressed to be there. By the way, a while ago, I truly enjoyed to watch the opening ceremony of the 2012 London Olympic Games on TV. It was fantastic and full of surprises. I've lost track of time.