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

Malaysia, Perak, Gopeng, Exploring Peninsula Malaysia's Longest Cave System This article was originally published in this blog in January 2017. I have always been fascinated with caves and this was actually my first visit to a natural cave system. While I would not say my first visit to Gua Tenpurung was an adventure of a lifetime, it was nevertheless a good introduction to caves for me as a novice and definitely worthy of a tick off my Travel Bucket List. ****************** Located in Gopeng in the Malaysian state of Perak, Gua Tempurung is one of the longest cave system in Peninsula Malaysia (a.k.a. West Malaysia). New to caves and caving? Gua Tempurung is a cave where beginners could breeze through with zero prior caving experience. A natural opening allows some sunlight into the cave near its entrance, Gua Tempurung, Gopeng, Perak, Malaysia (2016) History and Geography Estimated at around 10,000 years old, Gua Tempurung is a cave system that runs under the limest...

Travelling to a new city for the first time... This coming Thursday, I will be travelling to Laos for the first time. The purpose of the trip is for a short vacation to Luang Prabang in northern Laos and to visit the UNESCO World Heritage Site of the Town of Luang Prabang. Being a first time visitor to Laos and Luang Prabang, I did some research on the internet and in the libraries to find out more about the cultural and religious norms of the city. I usually try my best to conform to and more importantly, to respect the local culture and religion of the cities I am visiting. Besides the more practical aspect of not getting into trouble with the local authorities, the main intention is to show respect to the local people, culture and religions. This is because I am a foreigner and guest after all and it will be rude to behave in manners that may offend the locals as well as their cultural or religious beliefs. The areas where I show respect and conform to the local culture...