TANKS Travel Tales - a travelogue.......

Also known as the Tel Aviv-Yafo Beach Promenade, the Tel Aviv Boardwalk is spread out along  parts of Israel's Mediterranean coastline. This stretch of prime beachfront real estate extends from the north of the city to the south towards Jaffa. It is dotted by expensive hotels offering unblocked and awesome views of the Mediterranean Sea. The  Tel Aviv-Yafo Beach Promenade a.k.a. Boardwalk, Tel Aviv, Israel (2017)  History and Geography This promenade is also known as Tayelet in Hebrew. It's origin can be traced back as far as the 1930s when the then City Council decided on the construction of the promenade. Following the outbreak of World War II, the city's beaches were neglected and the seas along the beach ended up as a de facto dumping ground for sewages.  Following the building of a sewage plant in the area in the 1980s, the discharge of sewage into the seas ended. Gradually, cleanup works enabled the beaches along the promenade to be opened up...

Laos is a predominantly Buddhist country where almost 67% of the population practice Theravada Buddhism. With close to 5,000 temples throughout the country of slightly more than  7 million people, visitors travelling to Laos are likely to encounter monks and novices going about their daily activities. While having lunch at one of the local eateries located along the Mekong River in Luang Prabang, I saw this small boat carrying 4 young monks travelling upstream. From their young age, they were probably novices, based on the hierarchical organization of the community of monks and novices in Laos. Taking my DSLR, I took 2 photographs in quick succession from where I was seated. Here is one of the photographs. Canon EOS 70D, Lens: 18-135mm set at 104mm, f/5.6, 1/100s. Traveling by boat along the Mekong River, Luang Prabang, Laos (2017)

During my visit to Lao's Luang Prabang province in September 2017, I came across many instances of tour agencies promoting elephant rides for tourists. These tours are usually marketed as educational and being part of the overall wildlife conservation efforts of the areas where these rides are offered. Besides Laos, these tourists-centric activities are also marketed throughout all the countries in Indochina, including Cambodia, Vietnam and Thailand. I am personally not sure of the links between such rides and the respective local wildlife conservation efforts. What I am sure of is that these rides are far from educational. Capturing and harnessing these magnificent animals to be used as tourist attractions and for rides certainly do not seem educational to me. I would prefer to see these powerful animals roam free with their herds in their natural habitats. Observing them from a distance with binoculars and studying their natural habits and herd life would fit more into what ...

Air Canada is the national airline of Canada and is also the country's largest airline. The airline currently operates 19 Boeing 777-300ER aircraft in its fleet. This aircraft type is used by Air Canada on its international routes in 2 different configurations. Both configurations feature a 3-class layout comprising of Business, Premium Economy and Economy Class seatings. The first configuration includes 40 Business Class seats and the second configuration has 28 Business Class seats, both are in a 1-2-1 layout. There are a total of 18 Premium Economy Class seats spread out in a 2-4-2 layout in both aircraft configurations. Economy Class seats make up the rest of the seating arrangements. The pictures below featured one of the Boeing 777-300ER in Air Canada's fleet. I photographed this aircraft at Frankfurt International Airport on 18 February 2017 while I was in the airport on transit. Air Canada Boeing 777-300ER at Frankfurt International Airport, Frankfurt, Ge...

Reading and Travelling....... What has reading got to do with travelling? Plenty of reasons. For me, reading up on the countries and cities I am visiting provide me with lots of information on the sights and sounds that I can expect. It also allows me to better plan my itinerary and help me to decide on where to stay and how much time to spend in a particular place. Other important information like currency exchanges, local culture and customs, potential immigration hurdles and visa applicabilities are also what I look out for when I read up on the places i am about to visit. Most of these information can be found in travel guides or on the internet. Dungeons and Dragons, a wall mural in a former dungeon and now a toilet, in a restaurant housed in a heritage building, Tallinn, Estonia (2017) And of course, reading about the experiences of other travellers provide me with a whole new world of information not usually available in officially published literature. For this r...

Relaxing cruises between the capital cities of Finland, Sweden and Estonia are readily available in Helsinki at affordable prices. While the cruises from Helsinki to Stockholm will take around 17.5 hours to complete, a more relaxing and shorter cruise is between Helsinki and Tallinn. This relatively short hop takes just about 2 hours to complete, each way. This means a day excursion from Helsinki to Tallinn can easily be undertaken by tourists who have limited time to spend on their vacations and would thus prefer shorter stays in each of these capital cities. Typical cruise ship providing rides between Helsinki, Stockholm and Tallinn, Helsinki, Finland (2017) And this was what I did when I was in Finland during spring of 2017. A single day trip, free and easy style, to visit the UNESCO World Heritage Site of the Historical Centre of Tallinn was taken without much fuss, any guides or pre-arranged tour packages. I booked my return ferry tickets online about a month before m...

On my visit to London in May 2017, I chanced upon the M&M World in Leicester Square. While, I usually do not focus a single blog post on a particular brand or product, this store is simply too awesome for me not to break from my personal blogging tradition. M&M merchandise galore, M&M World, London, England, UK (2017) The M&M World was amazing. Rows upon rows of my favourite chocolate snacks. And those colours were simply irresistible to both eyes and mouth. Here are some photographs of M&M World (London) to get you drooling for those awesome chocolates. M&M branded mugs, M&M World, London, England, UK (2017) General view of the store, M&M World, London, England, UK (2017) Icons of M&M, M&M World, London, England, UK (2017) Chocolates and more chocolates, M&M World, London, England, UK (2017) More M&M branded merchandise, M&M World, London, England, UK (2017) Personalised M&M choc...

During my travels, I always enjoyed street photography. I took pictures of almost everything and anything I encountered in every city or place I travelled to. Back home after each trip, these photographs when viewed in chronological sequences, provide accurate and vivid records of my trips. Viewed many months or even years later, they will always bring along senses of nostalgia and will not fail to stir that urge to travel that is within me. Visiting Nakano City for the first time in April 2017, I was amazed at the many beautiful sights that this part of the greater Tokyo area offers. Nakano is officially a ward of Tokyo and has a land area of just above 15 square kilometres. With a population size of about 300,000 people, Nakano offers the visitors a unique experience just minutes by train from bustling Shinjuku. Many parts of Nakano have a rural town feel and provide visitors with plenty of opportunities for a quiet escapade from the hustle and bustle of Tokyo. A small...

Located about 30 km in the south of Luang Prabang, the Kuang Si Waterfall is a famous natural feature of Luang Prabang and a tourist favourite. Also known as the Tat Kuang Si Waterfalls, some of the pools in the lower levels of this 3-tiered waterfall are open for visitors to swim or soak in the water. Beware though that the depths of some of these pools may be as deep as 1.8 meters. Thus, it is advisable that non-swimmers and small children be appropriately supervised and care taken to avoid any untoward incidents that may ruin a fun day at the waterfall. During my visit here, I could't resist taking dips in the pools. The experience was both fun and exhilarating. And the water in the pools was freezing cold! Here is a picture of myself, stripped down to my trunks and dripping wet after immersing myself in one of the pools. The author emerging from one of the pools, Kuang Si Waterfall, Luang Prabang, Laos (2017)

Wherever I travel, I have always enjoyed interacting and speaking with the locals. This experience is more enjoyable in developing countries or rural areas of developed countries where the interactions and conversations were usually of a more personal rather than a commercial nature, unlike those in the larger cities. While mapping walking tours of the town on Day 2 (1 Sep 2017) of my trip to Luang Prabang, I met many friendly locals and held interesting small talks with them. Many of them shyly agreed to my requests for photographs, be it of themselves or their houses or shops. Here is a photograph of a lovely young boy enjoying his snack while seated on a parked motorcycle.And he cheekily posed for  this photograph. This is also my most favourite photographs of this trip. Young boy enjoying his snack on a parked motorcycle, Luang Prabang, Laos (2017)

Travelling enables us to see and enjoy experiences that may not be available in our country or city of residence.  This photograph of a tut tut was taken in Luang Prabang. For those who do not already know, a tut tut usually refers to a type of motocycle-based taxi popular in Thailand and throughout the Indochina region in countries such as Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam. And if you have never travelled in one before, make sure you do so the next time you visit the region. Its quite an experience, especially when it rains. :-) A tut tut motocycle taxi in Luang Prabang, Laos (2017)

I am currently in Luang Prabang on vacation. Being a first time visitor to the country of Laos, I was naturally excited by everything I saw and experienced. Here are a couple of photographs taken from my window seat onboard Silkair Flight MI788 as it flew from Vientiane to Luang Prabang. Views of the countryside surrounding Vientiane as Silkair Flight MI788 took off from the Wattay International Airport (IATA: VTE, ICAO:VLVT) after a brief transit stopover, Vientiane, Laos (2017) Silkair Flight MI788 en-route from Vientiane to Luang Prabang on 31 August 2017, Laos (2017) A long winding river is clearly visible from this photograph taken while Silkair Flight MI788 was en-route from Vientiane to Luang Prabang on 31 Aug 2017, Laos (2017) Rolling hills were a sight to behold from the air as Silkair Flight MI788 flew from Vientiane to Luang Prabang on 31 Aug 2017, Laos (2017)