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

Israel, Caesarea The original article was first published in this blog in 2016.  Caesarea was an ancient port and administrative city on the Mediterranean coast of Israel.  Located between the Israeli cities of Tel Aviv and Haifa, this ancient city sits within the Caesarea National Park. If you like history and are visiting Israel or the surrounding regions, I highly recommend a side trip to Caesarea.  For me, my visits to Caesarea were the fulfilment of a personal bucket list item.  ****************** Caesarea is a small town in central Israel. It is located along Israel's Mediterranean coastline and is situated 45km north of Tel Aviv and a similar distance south of the northern Israeli port city of Haifa. Caesarea was built sometime between 25 to 13 BC by Herod the Great (a.k.a. Herod I). In the Bible, Herod I was described as the ruler who ordered the "Massacre of the Innocents" based on a prophecy at the time of the birth of Jesus.  Walking amongst...

Australia, Western Australia, New Norcia The original article was first published in this blog in December 2018.  This was an unplanned side trip that ended up as a personal bucket list item for me. While visiting Western Australia, I had planned for a trip to Rottnest Island. However, inclement weather on the day of my planned visit to Rottnest Island meant that I had to cancel my travel plans leaving me with a full day of free time in my itinerary. Someone suggested I should visit New Norcia. Until then, I had never heard of this town before. And since I had a rented vehicle for the duration of my stay in Western Australia, I decided that a drive to this monastery town was a good idea. Instead, it turned out to be a great idea. Besides enjoying the relatively long two and half hour drive (one way ) from Perth to New Norcia, I got to experience an actual monastery town for the first time in my travels. This trip...

Switzerland, Obwalden and Bern, Mount Titlis The original article was first published in this blog in May 2017.  Even though I cannot claim rot be well-travelled, I had seen and on the rare occasions, climbed some mountains. Trekking the Annapurna Circuit in Nepal's western region had brought forth a love for this mighty mountains that towered over us mere humans. I had also using just leg power, climbed South-East Asia's highest peak; Mount Kinabalu in Malaysia's Sabah state.  When I had the chance to visit and ascend to the peak (or near the peak) of Mount Titlis during a visit to Switzerland in 2009, it was like a dream came true. Another peak to add to my travel list. The fact that I took a cable car up this mountain and didn't climb up my way up Mount Titlis did not matter to me. A peak conquered is a peak conquered! Apart from Mount Titlis, the fairy-tale like village of Engelberg which serves as the gateway to ...

China, Hong Kong SAR, South Island Region This article was originally published in this blog in September 2020. Drawing inspirations from travel variety programs from Japan, I had always wondered what would the experience be like if I were to randomly choose a train or subway line, hop on the train and alight at as many stations as time permits, walk and explore around the locale of each station and than hop back onto the same train line, continuing until the last stop. In other words, experiencing a train journey without any fixed plans or maps. Since I will mostly be within walking distance of each station that I alighted at, no maps will be necessary and I can simply explore and enjoy the sights and sounds without having to worry about losing my way. This was what I did when I last visited Hong Kong in January 2019. I chose the South Island MTR Line because this was a line that extended out into the sub-urban regions of Hong Kong, away from the...

After more than two and a half years, I finally went on my first overseas trip when I drove to Malaysia's Cameron Highlands as part of my road trip from Singapore to Malaysia in May 2022. Here in Cameron Highlands, nestled next to a golf course, is the Smokehouse Hotel and Restaurant. I have never stay in their hotel before but I love the ambience of their old-english style gardens which surround the hotel and restaurant. Smokehouse Hotel and Restaurant, Tanah Rata, Cameron Highlands, Pahang, Malaysia (2018) In my previous visits, I usually had tea in the restaurant to while away a lazy afternoon in the cool temperatures of the place, thanks to its high elevation at about 1,400 metres above sea level. Here, they serve great tea, most probably sourced locally from the many tea plantations in and around the area. Besides tea, I also love the delicious scones, old-english style, of course!  During my visit in May 2022, I visited the restaurant as usual for the tea and scones and also ...

Switzerland, Interlaken, Valley of the Mountains This article was originally published in this blog in December 2018. This article captured my experience on what was my first visit to Switzerland and Interlaken in 2009. In this re-post, I had added more photographs taken during my trip. Most of these newly-added photographs had not been previously published in this blog or anywhere else. Excerpt from this blog post: "Staying in a valley amongst the mountains, even for only a few days, encapsulated visions that I had from my childhood years, to be able to live in the mountains and enjoy the beauty of nature. Goats, sheep, farms, wild berries, long hikes and rivers that run through valleys. In just a short few days at Interlaken, I experienced and truly enjoyed all these natural wonders and more. A personal bucket list item fulfilled." ****************** Located in a valley in central Switzerland, Interlaken its well-known as a resort town...