Travel Bits: April 2019

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Inspiration from Travel Programmes.......

For most travellers, their typical travel itineraries will be planned around famous landmarks or icons. Some intrepid travellers will go further to explore the lesser known places, to experience things that the typical travellers will not get to enjoy.

If we were to stay away from the famous landmarks and icons and instead ventured to explore the back alleys of the cities we had visited, what will be the kind of travel experiences that we will have encountered?

Taking cues from some travel programmes which featured unexplored areas or back alleys of popular tourist destination cities, I had explored the suburban and back alleys of some of the cities I had visited. These included Nakano Ward of Tokyo which is just minutes away from crowded Shinjuku but seems like a world away when it comes down to ambience and crowd.

A small shrine along the road, Nakano, Tokyo, Japan (2017)

I had also travelled away from the city centre of Glasgow and explored its side streets on foot. There was also the time when I had dutifully followed a canal in Bangkok all the way to its source which I would discovered to be the famous Chao Phraya River. Along these routes, I had carefully documented my side trips through photographs. On hindsight, I should have added short video clips of at least parts of these small exploration trips.

This beautiful mural of a Tiger along the banks of the River Clyde was not visible to me until I had crossed the bridge to the opposite side, Glasgow, Scotland, UK (2011)

What did I get to experience during these personal "escapades"? I got to see and enjoy sights that were not listed in most travel guides. I had the joy of experiencing interaction with locals that would otherwise had not occured. I also got to better understand the daily life experienced by the locals in these cities. And I got to be "off the beaten path" without actually straying too far from my intended itineraries, thus saving time and money on transportation.




And all these from inspirations just by watching travel programmes. This is the main reason why I enjoy watching travel programmes on weekday nights after a long hard day at work. To get inspirations to enrich my travel itineraries the next time I travel.

Affordable and delicious local food from an eatery at a back alley, Bangkok, Thailand (2017)

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