How far can you go?

I took this photo in the City Hall Square in Copenhagen, Denmark; the heart of the city. The square pillar was made of stone and it was nearly as tall as a human. The four sides of this stone pillar had beautiful carved images and characters. I read the characters on a side says ROSKILDE 30 KM : RINGSTED 60 KM : KORSOR 107 KM. I thought the stone pillar indicated those Danish cities are so many kilometers away from the capital, Copenhagen where I was at that moment. How far can you go?

Pillar post box

I took this photo in Lisbon Portugal. When I took a stroll around picturesque Baixa district, I found this cute pillar post box on a cobblestone lane. The red pillar post box looked so nice and suited the atmosphere of beautiful Lisbon. I loved every detail of Lisbon, Portugal and this pillar post box was one of them. I sent a couple of postcards from Lisbon, but I didn't drop the postcards into this pillar post box. I didn't have stamps, so I went to a place where had a sign of Correio and just finished everything there. This is the 1000th post of this blog. Thanks.

Go with plan B

The photo shows a view of Pattaya, Thailand from my hotel room. It was about five or six years ago, I've got unexpected five days off in a row and decided to spend my spare time in Thailand. A difficulty was airline booking. My favorite Thai Airways International were fully booked, and the others were most of the same. I needed a plan B and called a travel agent. They said only one seat available for a packaged tour which included a round trip ticket, airport transfer and a hotel room in Bangkok. The offer was not that bad, so I went with plan B and barely managed to flew in Bangkok, Thailand. Why I was in Pattaya? It'll be kinda log story.

Beer Lao umbrellas

I took this photo in Vientiane, Laos. I found a couple of Beer Lao umbrellas in front of a restaurant. Beer Lao is my favorite Laotian beer. I think it's worth going to Laos just to taste Beer Lao under the tropical sun. It was about five years ago I was in Laos at the end of May. From April through May is considered the hottest time of the year in South East Asia and Laos is no exception. I felt dizzy with the heat and was going to melt, but I think the summer heat in Laos makes Beer Lao even more refreshing. Just my two cents.

Athens trolley bus

The photo shows an Athens trolley bus and its yellow cabs. I took this photo while I was exploring in Athens, Greece and I can't tell you exactly where it was. Getting lost in Athens was so much fun. I could see a lot of nice taverna on the streets and streets. Taverna is a restaurant where you can eat authentic Greek cuisine. Greek street signs were kinda interesting to me. It was all Greek to me obviously, but they looked pretty. Acropolis was visible from a lot of places in Athens, so I was able to know where about I was without a map.

Israeli snacks

The photo shows Israeli snacks which I bought at a supermarket in Tel Aviv, Israel. Every letters on packages were written in Hebrew and I couldn't read anything, but the taste were pretty good actually. I liked both of the flavors. They were kind of like Nachos and went well with Israeli beer. Before I went to Israel, I tried to learn some Hebrew and remembered some of word and phrases to survive, but it wasn't necessary actually. I've met a lot of Israeli who spoke English flawlessly. When a taxi driver turned the car radio on, I heard Hebrew. That beats me.

Good to go

I took this photo in Wangdue Phodrang in Bhutan. Tourism in Bhutan was totally different from other South and South East Asian countries where I've been to. First of all, I needed to apply all cities and places I'd like to visit in Bhutan. Also, I needed to book hotel rooms in each city in advance. When I got out of the airport, a guide and a driver were waiting for me, and they were with me until the last minute. It's forbidden to travel around Bhutan without a guide and a driver. First, last, and always my travel was good to go.

Monaco it is.

I took this photo nearby the Prince's palace of Monaco in Monaco-Ville. There were a lot of cannons and cannonballs. Also, there were unique benches which had spheral feet made of cannonballs. How interesting. Not only that, but the view from there was breathtaking. After taking some photos, I walked toward Monte-Carlo to see gorgeous casino and such. Three were so many high-end cars in the parking lot of the casino and it looked like a motor show or something like that. I mean it was THAT gorgeous. Monaco it is. Late at night, I needed to return to Nice, France where my hotel was. Time flies when you are having a lot of fun. I will never forget the great view from the heights, unique display, fancy streets, delicious cuisine and so on.

Colossal Stature of Ramesses II, Memphis

The photo shows a colossal Statue of Ramesses II in Memphis, Egypt. The stature was made of lime stone and was laid on the ground of the open-air museum. One of the beautiful statues of Ramesses II. I went to Memphis via Giza from the capital Cairo, and I also visited Saqqara after Memphis, then backed to Cairo. If you want to do those things in a day, yes you can. You need a driver and a car, though. The open-air museum in Memphis is a nice place to visit and learn something about ancient Egyptian kingdom.

We should celebrate, not whitewash them

I took this photo in front of my hotel in Chinatown in Bangkok, Thailand. There were a lot of beautiful paper lanterns to celebrate the upcoming Chinese New Year in 2011. At that time, Chinatown in Bangkok was full of paper lanterns I'd say. I still remember that lots and lots of paper lanterns were decorated over Yaowaraj road (Thai: เยาวราช). Yaowaraj is one of the busiest roads in Bangkok. The paper lanterns looked so nice especially at night and I loved the atmosphere. We should celebrate our differences, not whitewash them.

It was still far from autamn

The photo shows a view of Tel Aviv, Israel near the colorful exterior walls of an ocean view hotel. I took this photo from the boardwalk along the white sand beach and the Mediterranean sea. I enjoyed the very relaxing atmosphere of Tel Aviv and its perfect weather. It was already October 1st, but Tel Aviv was still so hot and people seemed to enjoy spending a day on the white sand beach. It was very nice staring into the Mediterranean sea under the sun. A few days later, I flew to Cairo, Egypt to celebrate my birthday near the Pyramids.

Same same but slightly different

The photo shows one of the guardian lions of the Chain Bridge (Hungarian: Lánchíd) in Budapest, Hungary. The Chain Bridge is 375 meters long and was the first bridge across the river Danube in Budapest. I took this photo after enjoyed the sightseeing in hilly Buda side, then I crossed the bridge to flat Pest side. The view of Budapest with the river Danube from the Chain Bridge was breathtaking. When I cross the bridge, I took some photos, so I have a lot of similar photos of Budapest. Same same but different.

Time for siesta

I took this photo at my hostal room in Barcelona, Spain. The hostel was located on Las Ramblas and was just a minute walk from Liceu metro station. There were so many places to eat and drink around the hostal and I enjoyed a lot of great Spanish cuisine in that area. Also, there were a lot of street performers on La Rambla, and they caught my eyes with their extraordinary performances. Not only that, but very popular Part Vell and its huge shopping mall was just a stone's throw away from the hostal. After taking a stroll, after a nice Paella, it was already time for siesta, so I backed to my hostal room for relaxing siesta.

The Colosseum

The photo shows a part of the Colosseum in Rome, Italy. This is the most gigantic architecture in the Roman Empire. Now time went by, you can see a miniature version of the Colosseum on the 5 Euro Cent from Italy. So, I've seen a lot of photos and miniatures of the Colosseum many many times, but when I first saw it in my own two eyes, I was in complete awe of it. I felt like I was there, finally. My hotel was in the outskirts of Rome, but I got there on foot with the help of a map. The Colosseum was worth a thousand words.

TG795 LAX - BKK; the 3rd meal; Nov 2010

The photo shows an in-flight cuisine of Thai Airways International flight TG795 Los Angeles, the States to Bangkok, Thailand (LAX - BKK). It was about 18-hour flight and the photo shows the third meal on the cabin. When the third meal was served, one of the world's longest non-stop flights was coming to a close. The third meal was gorgeous. THAI's stir-fried chicken with basil leaves (Thai: ผัดกะเพราไก่, Pronounciation: Pad Ka Prao Gai) was so yummy. I already felt like I was in an eatery in Bangkok, Thailand. Well done, Thai Airways. I really love your in-flight meals.

All's well that ends well

I took this photo in Lumbini, Nepal. I was supposed to be there the day before.  My Nepali guide and a driver picked me up at my hotel in Kathmandu and we were heading down to Chitwan National Park, but a snowball into a major issue on the road. After getting hands-on experience such us Landslides, struggle, lack of water and then some, finally we arrived to a cottage in Chitwan National Park in the evening, I'd say almost at night. I got behind schedule, so I decided to put off my itinerary and spent one extra night in Chitwan to do elephant safari, jungle safari and so on. Then, moved to Lumbini a day after. I had a lot of nice memories in Chitwan and Lumbini. All's well that ends well.

There can't be good without bad

The photo shows lovely street view of Zurich, Switzerland with a couple of Swiss flags and Zurich flags. I really liked the beautiful view of streets in Switzerland, so I took this kind of photos a lot more. I've been to Switzerland twice. My first city in Switzerland was Lucern, and the second city was Zurich. I've stayed in Lucern for a couple of night, but visiting Zurich was a one-day excursion from Frankfurt, Germany. Which means I didn't have enough time to look around a lot of places in Zurich, but I think there can't be good without bad, so it was alright.

Monsoonal rain in Negombo, Sri Lanka

The photo shows a rainy afternoon in tropical South Asia. I took this photo from my ocean view hotel's balcony in Negombo, Sri Lanka. The hotel was right on the Negombo beach that faces the Indian Ocean. Every sunny evenings I could see the sun set over the Indian Ocean, but that afternoon the beautiful beach was caught in a squall exactly like the photo shows. I just stayed in the balcony and stared into tropical rainfall and the beach with no people. I think almost all tourists in Negombo spent the afternoon just like that.

Neuschwanstein Castle from below

The photo shows Neuschwanstein Castle from below. The world-famous beautiful castle is situated on a rugged hill near Füssen, Germany and was a Romanesque Revival palace in 19th century. I started a day in Rothenburg and was heading down to Füssen by coach to see Neuschwanstein Castle. The castle is located in this close to Austrian border, and my tour director recommended to me to have delicious cheese of that area. I took this photo right before lunch.