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

Travel Reminiscing....... In a period where worldwide business and leisure travels are heavily curtailed due to a pandemic, the next best thing to satisfying the travel bug in all of us is to reminisce past trips.  Boat waiting to board passengers, Mal é , Maldives (2014) As part of my travel reminiscence, I started a 30-day Travel Reminiscing series of posts on my Instagram account (timothytanks) for the month of May 2020. For this series, I set a self-imposed limit of one post per country/territory/city. This is to allow me to recap and share 30 different destinations over the course of one month. The featured country/territory/city over the 30-days in chronological order were: Post 1.   Helsinki/Finland Post 2.   Nazareth/Israel Post 3.   Jiufen/Taiwan Post 4.   New Norcia/Australia Post 5.   Siem Reap/Cambodia Post 6.   Loch Ness/Scotland Post 7.   Kanchanaburi/Thailand Post 8.   Rome/Italy Post 9.   Kowloon/Hong Kong Post 10. Mah é /Seychelles

Gothenburg will always be remembered by me as the first city in Europe where I stayed. But the distinction for being the first European city I ever visited belongs to Copenhagen. Located in south-western Sweden, Gothenburg is a coastal city with direct maritime access to the North Sea. This photograph of Gothenburg's Harbour was taken on my first visit to the city. It shows the harbour's two famous landmarks; the Barken Viking and the Lilla Bommen. The Barken Viking was and still is the Nordic's largest sailing ship (387 feet). Launched in 1906 as part of Denmark's merchant fleet, the ship was decommissioned in 1950. It is now both a hotel and a restaurant. The distinctive building with the red-coloured top to the right of the photograph is the Lilla Bommen. With its unique red-coloured upper floors, it is more popularly known as "The Lipstick Building". Gothenburg Harbour, Gothenburg, Sweden (2000)

Japan, Nagasaki Prefecture, Tsushima Japan is a country which is heavily forested. Close to 2/3 of the country is covered in forests. I had always wanted to travel to and hike in some of Japan's forested areas, preferably in locales where the human population is sparse. Not that I am a hermit but less populated areas usually means more flourishing flora and fauna due to lesser human activities. Over the years and during my many trips to Japan, I had hiked in the Okuhida region of Takayama's mountain range as well as in the forests of Shiga Prefecture. One of my hikes in Japan's forests was in November 2019 when I traveled to Tsushima from Busan (Korea). Located between Busan and Nagasaki, Tsushima is an island group. With a sub-tropical marine environment, Tsushima has unique flora and fauna not found elsewhere in the Japanese main islands. A secluded shore in the n orthern part of Kamino-shima, Tsushima, Nagasaki Prefecture, Japan (2019) During my tr

Andorra is a small landlocked country located between southern France and northern Spain. Andorra is the 6th smallest country in Europe and has a population of only about 80,000 people. Located in the east of the Pyrenees Mountain Range, Andorra's landscape is generally mountains and more mountains, bisected in-between by several prominent valleys. This photograph of wild horses, including possibly the Ariegeois Pony, was taken in the parish of Encamp. Wild horses in the mountains, Encamp, Andorra (2007)

"What is life? If I am to know tomorrow, I travel. So that my tomorrow, Is a new Tomorrow "  -  Timothy Tan, author of this blog - tankstraveltales Stained glass artwork on a window pane, Tallinn, Estonia (2018)

While shopping in the Myeongdong area during a trip to Seoul, I was told by a fellow tourist that there was an evening light festival at the nearby Cheonggyecheon Stream (a.k.a. Cheonggye Stream). Because I had the evening free of any planned itinerary, I decided to take a stroll to Cheonggyecheon, treating the trip on foot as a walking tour of the area. When I arrived at Cheonggyecheon, I was not disappointed. There was indeed a splendid light festival on-going. Moving amongst the crowd, I walked along the stream and marvelled at the beautiful displays of lanterns and lighted figurines.  As it was raining, I had to juggle my umbrella together with my DSLR whilst jostling with the crowd. But I still managed to take some photographs of the festival before the eventual heavy downpour forced me to pack up my DSLR and seek shelter from the weather. Evening light festival,  Cheonggyecheon Stream, Seoul, South Korea (2019) Evening light festival,  Cheonggyecheon Stream,

Commissioned and built in the first century A.D. by the Emperor Vespasian, the Colosseum was opened in the year A.D. 80 by Vespasian's successor and son, the Emperor Titus, as the Flavian Amphitheater. The Colosseum, Rome, Italy (2007) For almost four centuries after its opening, the Colosseum was actively in use before it fell into neglect. Devastated by an earthquake in 1349, the entire outer south side of the Amphitheater's structure collapsed. Its stones were subsequently used as building materials for Rome's infrastructures including palaces and churches. At its peak, the Colosseum could hold up to 80,000 spectators for public events including gladiatorial battles as well as animal hunts and fights. On the less gory side, the Colosseum was also used to stage dramas based on classical mythologies. Today, the Colosseum lies in substantial ruins relative to its heydays. But it remains an iconic symbol of Rome in its imperial days and a major tourist att

Jiufen, New Taipei City Since watching the popular and award winning Japanese anime fantasy film,  Spirited Away ( 千と千尋の神隠し )  in 2003, I had wondered how nice it would be if I could one day visit an actual place similar to that shown in the magical world portrayed in the film. The dream became a reality years later in 2016 when I visited Jiufen for the first time during one of my frequent trips to Taipei. Just before the trip, I had transitioned from being a full-time employee to start my own consultancy business. Because I had just started my business and jobs had yet to materialise, I had the luxury of spending more time than usual on vacation. With that extra time on my hand, I planned a side trip to Jiufen, making sure to stay at least 2 nights there. While many visited Jiufen as a day trip, I wanted something more from my visit. To spend more time there so that I could explore the surrounding areas and to make use of the peace and quiet during the nights there to map out m