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

“To move, to breathe, to fly, to float, To gain all while you give, To roam the roads of lands remote, To travel is to live.” ―  Hans Christian Andersen,  The Fairy Tale of My Life: An Autobiography Forest in Takashima, Shiga Prefecture, Japan (2018)

It was my kind of typical laid-back trip to London, to watch musicals at the West End, dine on delicious food, shop and take in the sights and sights of the bustling capital city of the United Kingdom. I had just arrived in London from Glasgow and fresh from ticking off a major item in my bucket list which was to visit the famous Loch Ness. Sadly, I did not encounter Nessie during my trip to the famous Loch. Otherwise, that would have been a bigger tick off a huge item in my bucket list! But a tick off an item in my bucket list was still a tick, considering that my bucket list was a long list with very few ticks here and there.  Moment of Inspiration While deciding what to do with the 5 days that I had in London, it dawned upon me that I did not have to spend all 5 days wandering the streets of London. I could book short day trips to the surrounding areas. A quick check on the internet followed and Stonehenge surfaced at the top of the search list. A few quick clicks later

Travel Plans....... The months of January and February are usually the time of the year when I plan my travels for the year. Besides those ad-hoc trips that may crop up due to business or other reasons, my vacation trips are typically planned well ahead. When I planned a trip, I usually only took care of the broad outlines of the itineraries including where to travel to, the best time of the year to travel to the planned locations, accommodation costs, air tickets availability and visa requirements. The nitty gritty stuff like what to do during the trip, where to go, things to see and do etc. are usually left for much later. Where to travel to: This is usually the first question I asked myself when a trip was being planned. As a creature of habit, I have re-visited the same places many times either due to my likes for the destination, the environment, the food, the culture and the people. But I do also visit new places which I have never travel to before. I will try to visi

The Mekong is one of the longest river in the world. From the Tibetan Plateau, the Mekong flows through parts of China before entering Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam. Finally, ending in the South China Sea in southern Vietnam, the entire distance of the Mekong spans more than 4,300km. In Laos, the Mekong traverse the entire country. The importance of this mighty river in the lives of the people residing in the countries it flows through cannot be overstated. Many local communities depended on the Mekong in their daily lives in areas as diverse as transportation, fishing and agriculture.  While visiting Luang Prabang province of Laos, I had the chance to see the Mekong almost every day of my nearly week-long stay in the country. The photograph here was amongst the many that I took of the river and the activities around and in the river by the local residents. The boats shown in this photograph are used primarily for fishing and to a lesser degree, transportation.

Flea markets are always interesting places to visit when traveling. After all, it is at these markets where all manners of used goods, collectibles and antiques are sold. Flea markets are where old items deemed no longer important or useful by its current owners are given a new lease of life by its new owners. I love to wander through flea markets, sniffing out a collectible or two to be bought and brought home as souvenirs of my travels. It is also at flea markets where I can mingle freely with the local crowd, share a chat or two with new acquittances and given an insight into the culture and lives of the local people. A vendor pedalling used and refurbished electric fans, Ipoh, Perak, Malaysia (2019) To me, a flea market is more than just a place to browse or buy used goods or collectibles. It is also a window into the heart and soul of the city which I am visiting. My most recent visit to a flea market was  on a Sunday in Ipoh, the state capital of the Mal

The blue-collar neighbourhood of Sham Shui Po is located in Kowloon. While it is seldom mentioned or considered in travel articles on Hong Kong, Sham Shui Po is actually a particularly vibrant part of what Hong Kong is. Populated by working class folks, the traveler will find in Sham Shui Po the "real" Hong Kong.  Interspersed amongst this densely populated neighbourhood are many shops, street markets and food vendors. Here, one can easily discover that the shopping and food are much more affordable than in the more affluent parts of Hong Kong. The vibrant streets of Sham Shui Po are always crowded with people coming and going, Sham Shui Po, Kowloon, Hong Kong SAR, China (2019) Personally, I always make it a point to drop by Sham Shui Po for its food, especially the freshly baked egg tarts which I really enjoyed. There is also the shopping. Stuffed toys, modelling kits, stationery and clothing are just the few of the many stuff that can be bought here.

The setting sun in the back drop of the sea that extends into the horizon typically evokes a sense of vastness to me. It makes me realise how small I am in the vast expanse of the sea and the world. Since young, I had often stood on a beach or a jetty and stared right out into the horizon as the sun set, contemplating what life was, is and will be like out there. This photograph was taken at Cottesloe Beach in the western suburb of Perth as the sun sets over the sea. The ship in the distance provided perspective to the overall picture. Setting sun over the sea, Cottesloe Beach, Perth, West Australia, Australia (2018)