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

Despite being a frequent visitor to Bali, I had previously only been to Ubud once. Yes, just once. Thus, when I traveled to Bali in December 2023, I decided that I wanted to visit Ubud. This was only my second time visiting Ubud in more than 10 previous vacations trips to Bali over the years. Religious festival; this photograph was taken with a zoom lens because I was observing from a distance, Ubud, Bali, Indonesia (2023) A simple day trip to Ubud will not suffice for me. I wanted to immerse myself in the vibes of Ubud. I also wanted to do walking trips around the vicinity of the hotel I was staying in. To explore the area, observe the local lifestyles and better understand the local culture unique not just to Bali, but also to Ubud. Located north of Denpasar, Ubud is well known as the centre for traditional crafts. It is surrounded by rainforests and padi fields are everywhere in the area. Some of these can be beautiful terraced fields while others may just be a small plot of land wh

Year 2023 Personal Travel Wrap-up......  And so, 2023 is nearing its goodbyes and we are all looking forward to a brand new year in 2024. For travelers, a brand new travel year beckons. Personally, 2023 marks the first year when leisure travel truly resumes, after 2020 and 2021. Yes, I traveled a fair bit in 2022 compared to the two preceding years. But travel in 2022 was tentative, punctuated by the need to handle cumbersome vaccination certifications submissions prior to each trip, downloading official apps from individual countries and registering on these apps before embarkation, masks wearing, expensive travel insurance as well as limitations in where one can travel to. All these requirements were thankfully, slowly peeled away towards the end of 2022. Year 2023 is when we feel like normal again. Truth be told, COVID-19 is still everywhere, endemic. However, a combination of annual vaccinations and naturally acquired immunity from previous infections by previous strains of the vir

Spontaneous vacation......  Due to my fast expiring air miles which had already been repeatedly extended out of goodwill by the airline company because of the COVID pandemic from 2020 to 2022, I realised I have to quickly book a trip by this month or I will lose those previous air miles. I don't actually have to travel within the month but need to get the booking confirmed. And because I am no big spender or frequent flyer, I only have enough air miles for a regional return-flight ticket. Best option? Bali, of course! I have two travel windows available for the trip. December 2023 or April 2024. Debating with myself, I argued that traveling in December will be expensive due to the year-end peak travel season and local school holidays. So, I checked out several hotel websites on accommodation prices for both December 2023 and April 2024. To my surprise, the accommodation prices are similar for both periods and still reasonable, at least in my economic context. Just for the record, I