Incredible India

This India trip almost did not push through because of Air Asia’s flights cancellation to New Delhi. booked the flight late 2011 and three months before the trip, they notified all passengers about the news. I chose to be transferred to other airlines as Air Asia have already an agreement with Malaysia Airlines. but it took a very long time that confirmed MAS e-ticket was sent. In my case i just received it two weeks before the trip so it was a stressful planning of the trip itinerary. I also got a hard time booking with cleartrip where all train bookings did not proceed while booking on their very slow site. From the start the process of registration to the site is very complicated that you need an India mobile number as required for registration. The account has been linked to IRCTC which is the main website for train bookings in India. While account registration the system will send an email password as well as mobile password which will be sent thru the provided mobile number so if you’re booking outside of India it will be harder to register. There’s a workaround and that is to request IRCTC to allow your registration by sending an email requesting a mobile password. So when they have provided one for me, the cleartrip site did not seem to cooperate as all my bookings were cancelled and all for refund.

So after i processed my visa and got the final confirmation from Malaysia Airlines i pushed through with the plan. I was able to contact India Travel Organizers based in New Delhi to arrange my itinerary for India. I decided to have this route New Delhi-Agra-Jaipur-Jodhpur-New Delhi.

I arrived in the Indian capital by lunch time so not so much activities except for  India Gate and Qutab Minar. Also able to visit the presidential and parliament houses. It was a monday so lots of sights are closed. As always souvenir shop visits follow but you can ask the driver not to visit souvenir shops yet. The travel agency manager invited a dinner at home so I was able to eat my first chicken curry meal.

The next day was the start of India road trip as we go for an early travel to Agra and experience the street hot tea before proceeding to Taj Mahal, the most famous landmark of India, a UNESCO world heritage site.

Also we had a quick visit to the Agra Fort before heading to Fatehpur Sikri, a ghost town built and abandoned but now a famous Muslim and also a UNESCO heritage site. Agra buses to the heritage site were available going to the site. Then enroute to another 5-hour road trip to the pink city Jaipur.

The city is a very commercial and famous for textiles. I was able to visit lots of landmark like the Amber Fort but did not go for the elephant ride as a Maharaja to the top of the fort.

When we arrived in Jodhpur we went right away to buy spices. The city is famous for spices so found myself buying chicken tikka masala and curry powders for home use. I stayed at  Jodhpur Heritage Kuchaman Haveli.

The next day we went to Meharangarh Fort overlooking the blue city of Jodhpur. Also within the vicinity is the Jaswant Thada a temple made of marble.

I parted ways with my driver and dropped me at the Jodhpur train station to board sleeper train Mandor Express back to New Delhi

Back in New Delhi I met another driver to take me around the city and visited the huge Red Fort complex, Raj Ghat, Himayun’s Tomb and Akshardham Temple in which cameras were not allowed inside.

It was really a great journey in India. Hope i had more time to visit Kerala or Amritsar or Varanasi and even Mumbai but maybe that will wait until the next visit. India is definitely one of the most colorful country i visited. It’s really incredible!

Short Stay in Yangon

Myanmar is definitely one of the Asian destinations that travellers really wanted to go. Since it’s opening to the world, many travellers have great statements about the country, good or bad, it’s still the place to be. Apparently every traveller needs a visa to enter the country even for me who’s coming from the same Southeast Asian nation. But that did not deprive us from going there.

It was a short trip from a busy work so we only went to Yangon in Myanmar. Apparently afraid of getting templed out too being the country as the land of golden pagodas. But then hopefully i could go Mandalay or Bagan soon when I got the chance again.

Anyhow we started our city walks from the hotel to the downtown Yangon where the City Hall is located just across the Sule Pagoda

On that area also we can see the Independence Monument, the Hall Of Justice Building and some old buildings in Burmese architecture. Most of the time we head to one place through a taxi where we can pay either in kyat their local currency or US dollars. It’s good that we had a great weather during our stay. That means the main tourist attraction in Yangon which is Shwedagon Pagoda is lighted in its golden glory. It’s definitely a sight to behold.

Undoubtedly the biggest golden stupa i’ve seen, way bigger than Bangkok’s temples, Shwedagon Pagoda complex is huge that one can be mesmerized and how people pay respect to the shrine. The ticket to the Shwedagon Pagoda that day can still be used as ticket for night photo opportunities so better keep those tickets.

For Burmese food, we really appreciated our lunch and dinner at Feel Myanmar restaurant. It’s quite costly but the experience was really great.

Aside from Feel Myanmar, we also experienced to eat Shan Noodles on the streets and their version of Chicken Biryani Rice. The Yangon trip was one of the most memorable even if it was a short stay.

Stockholm: The Capital of Scandinavia

Stockholm: The Capital of Scandinavia

Scandinavia is a region in northern Europe that comprises of Denmark, Iceland, Norway, Finland and Sweden. Stockholm is the biggest city in Sweden and undoubtedly the most cosmopolitan among the capital cities in the region. From Linkoping in the Ostergotland region we traveled by train via SJ trains which also connects to Stockholm Arlanda airport and to down south to Copenhagen in Denmark. It was a two-hour trip and we arrived at Stockholm Central station where you can connect to Stockholm metro. Other alternative route is 3 hour bus ride from Linkoping via www.swebusexpress.com

From train station we went right away to the Stochholm royal garden, locally known as Djurgården.  You can see how beautiful the city is from the island. It was good that the sun was shining brightly, perfect for spring weather so every Swedes that time are out doing some outdoor activities. Famous attractions in Djurgården area include the Vasa Museum, Nordic Museum and the open museum Skansen. We visited the Vasa Museum as it’s the most famous. These tourist spots are interconnected by a tram as well.

Vasa Museum is where the famous Vasa warship stands. Relics and artifacts about the Vasa ship are stored in the museum. Brief history on the Vasa ship, it sank after sailing within 2kms on her maiden voyage. It’s actually a small museum that generally occupied by the Vasa ship. We skipped Skansen and Nordic Museum as were rushing to meet colleagues in Gamla Stan area. Stockholm Old Town or popularly known as Gamla Stan is an area in the city. Stockholm is composed of thousands of islets interconnected with bridges. It was lovely design for a city that’s why Stockholm is one of the most beautiful capital cities in the world.

Gamla Stan is also where the Swedish Royal Palace is located. Also in the are are other government, arts buildings, theaters and other architectural landmarks in Scandinavia. Stockholm trip will not be complete without the archipelago tour. It’s a tour by a steamboat with dinner and drinks. It was a great experience looking at the city from the sea. One of the best views, the archipelago tour also includes a visit to several islands near the capital.  Not to mention food was one of the best dinners I’ve got in Sweden. The package includes tour and food which includes herring with cheese, crisp bread, steamboat steak, with fried onions and potatoes and choice of beer or schnapps

It was only a 3-day stay in Stockholm including work day so no time to really explore the numerous museums and attractions in the city. Stockholm is also the H&M hub where every block has a branch. Hope to explore more of Stockholm. Definitely a lovely city and the capital of Scandinavia.

Min Resa I Sverige

Min Resa I Sverige means My Trip in Sweden.

It was actually a business trip and I was blessed to be sent to Sweden. I learned that i’ll be going to Sweden three weeks before the scheduled trip so the processing of visa via the Swiss embassy was done right away. We got no Sweden embassy here in Manila and the nearest is still in Bangkok so the processing was done quickly in Swiss embassy where Schengen visa applications are processed. The consideration too was the weather and lucky that it’s spring time in Sweden so i must say it was the best time to visit.

We got two offices in Sweden, one in Kista in Stockholm and another one in Linkoping, two hours drive from the capital. Most of our counterparts are assigned in Linkoping, so we stayed in this city, the 5th biggest in the whole of Sweden. Very laid back town and with charming old town , Swedish are really nice and friendly people. Also like Filipinos, most Swedes speak English fluently and at least understand it. It was great experience to really engage with the locals in my month’s stay and I could say one of the most memorable trips in my life. We flew Manila to Linkoping via Amsterdam. Luckily KLM flies to Linkoping directly so there was no need to change flights. We arrived there in time for the start of spring celebration so right away our Swedish hosts invited us in the bonfire that signifies the start of spring.

Then the first experience of Swedish beer at the city square makes it more appropriate for an expat. Swedes are beer and coffee drinkers and in this case, a cold beer in 10 degrees spring weather was not totally bad.  People stay the whole day and night outdoors during spring and summer seasons as they usually stay at home for the rest of the year at the end of fall and winter. It’s “depressing weather” for them until the snow arrives where it will brighten the dark atmosphere.

The following days were spent in touring the city. Important sights to visit include St. Lars Cathedral, the Domkyrka, Swedish Air Force Museum and Linkoping Museum.

Linkoping is such a small city and just like most of European cities and towns, it has charming old town, city square, laid back downtown and lovely sights. This was my home for four weeks.

I fell in love with the city and can probably say I can always go back. It’s not only the place but also the people there who were really nice and accomodating.