Visiting a French Vineyard
While France is well known for Paris and fashion, its food and wine are also well known worldwide. Wine producing … Continue reading Visiting a French Vineyard
The Fortress Island
For many visitors to France, Paris is probably the only place that they visit, but France is just not only about Paris. So on our last trip to France, we decided to spend some time visiting a couple of other noteworthy attractions. One of the more famous sites is the abbey of Mont St. Michel located off the Normandy coast of France. I have always wanted to visit this place ever since I saw a picture of it long ago. It’s an ancient fortified island and also a UNESCO World Heritage site since 1979. It used to be only accessible during low tide but now a causeway connects it to the mainland so tourists can visit it safely. Continue reading “The Fortress Island”
City of Lights
In between trips, I’ve decided to review and republish some of my longer blogs into shorter and more focused versions. So here is the first of 3 parts from our visit to France in 2012. Paris, the eternal city of love and romance. The city has certainly been hugely successful in marketing themselves as such and it is the most visited city in the world. I had visited Paris previously in 1996 but it certainly didn’t impress me back then. It was dirty and messy, the proverbial Parisian rudeness was prevalent and there was a strike going on during my visit. Perhaps, it would be different this time. Continue reading “City of Lights”
In A Galaxy Far Far Away…
“A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away…” these immortal words have been engraved into our psyche since they first appeared on a cinema screen 40 years ago. Ever since the first Star Wars film debuted, it has started a massive cult following with legions of fans across the world. Continue reading “In A Galaxy Far Far Away…”
On a Slow Boat
This blog is all about boats. From huge cruise liners to small canoes, It’s all here. If you are afraid of flying and sea travel is your thing then read on. Very often we hear that the journey is more important than the destination, and if you are one of those that believes in this, then taking a cruise to your holiday destination can be more enjoyable than being stuck on a pressurized metal tube up in the air for hours. And you also get to sleep on a proper bed instead of being cramped onto a small economy class seat, especially on long haul flights.
Magical Wonderland by the Mountain
Still on our road trip through Japan, this final blog post is about a little less travelled place for most tourists to Japan. Starting on our journey from Tokyo to the central north of Honshu Island, we had stopped at Yamanouchi where the Snow Monkeys live, and made a westward turn towards Matsumoto, home of the Crow Castle. Heading south from Matsumoto, we were making our way back to Tokyo with a stop near Mt. Fuji.
Tibet – Roof of the World
Often referred to as the Roof of the World, Tibet is an unique destination due to its location and history. I finally got my chance to visit Tibet in August 2014 by following a packaged tour with Chan Brothers (www.chanbrothers.com). The tour actually took us to Lanzhou and Xining for 3 days first to acclimatize to higher altitudes before taking the train to Lhasa, capital of Tibet. Although the trip included Lanzhou, Qinghai and Xining, I will just talk about Tibet in this blog post since this was the main highlight of the trip.
This blog post has been updated with a link to a local tour operator that specializes in inbound tours for English speaking visitors to Tibet. Go to the end of the post for details.
