China Relatives and Ancestral Places I

China Relatives and Ancestral Places II

(Continued from China Relatives and Ancestral Places I)

Shanghai Travel II

Shanghai Travel II

(Continued from Shanghai Travel I)

(Please click on the images below to view large, complete ones)

In the morning, the first thing our Nanjing tour guide, Mr. Lee, wanted us to see was the China’s historic bridge, known as “Nanjing Yangtze River Bridge”.

Nanjing Yangtze River Bridge

It is a massive double-decker steel bridge with a highway on top and railway track below. Built in 1968 over the China’s second longest river, Yangtze River is 4,589 metres long. The Chinese are very proud of this bridge as it was built without any foreign assistance.

When we arrived at the bridge we took a lift to the top of a building that is beside it and watched a constant flow of vehicles on the upper deck of the bridge and, once, a train moving on the track below it. We also saw the scenery of the river, but it was spoiled by some mist in the area then.

Then we went down to a shop on the ground floor of the building to see unusual artworks: paintings inside glass balls. In the shop, glass-balls of different sizes with different Chinese paintings were displayed on shelves. They were mostly for sale, but they did not come cheap. Most of the paintings were done by a famous artist named Gong Liang and the rest by his students. We were told by our Nanjing tour guide, Mr. Lee, that the artist was very generous as he would donate most of his sale proceeds for the repair and maintenance of the grand bridge, the Nanjing Yangtze River Bridge. When my wife bought one of his art pieces, both of us had the honour of taking a photo with him. Unfortunately, the photo turned out to be dark, as we were told to take the photograph without flash that might damage the artist’s valuable eyes. Anyway, with digital technology, the photo is edited and can be seen clearly as shown here.

At 2.30 p.m. we left the bridge and began a long journey to China’s largest city, Shanghai. It would take us four hours to reach the metropolitan.

Shanghai has a population of about 20 millions. Located at the estuary of Yangtze River, it was founded by the Song Dynasty(969-1279 A.D.) and became a thriving trading port in the 17^th. Century. It has a colourful history, and rich eastern and western cultures. Now, it is the largest financial, commercial, trading and tourist centre in China.

When we arrived at the vibrant city of Shanghai, the first place we visited was an old shopping mall known as Longhua Fashion & Gift Market. At the entrance of the mall, we were surprised to read a government notice which warned shopkeepers not to sell fake goods with branded names. When we went round the mall we were surprised that none of the goods had branded names. The good shopkeepers had abided with the request in the notice.

As it was Monday when we visited the mall, there were very few visitors and many shops were closed. After spending less than an hour there, we left for dinner at a restaurant and then we checked in at a hotel known as Shanghai Airlines Travel Hotel.

In the morning, we went to Shanghai Pudung International Airport to have a high speed experience on a Shanghai Maglev Train. It is the only magnetic levitation train in China. In 2004, it began its operation running a distance of 30.5 km in about 8 minutes from the airport to Lonyang Road Station in the outskirt of Shanghai City. Its top speed is 431 km/h. We enjoyed the ride as it was smooth, fast and quiet; unlike the conventional  train which is noisy, jumpy, jerky and slow. In future, China is going to build long distance tracks for Maglev trains linking all its major cities.

At 12 noon, we went to a Huangpu River waterfront near the Lupu Bridge in Shanghai to see the World Expo 2010 which commenced on the 1^stof May and will end on 31^st. October 2010. Held with the theme “Better City, Better Life”, it is the largest exhibition in the world with over two hundred foreign participants and expects a total of 70 million visitors.

On arrival at the Expo site, we were surprised to see hundreds of tourist buses parked, neatly, in a large open space. We were delighted that we did not have to queue up for a long time to enter the Expo site as it was already 12.30 in the afternoon.

While we were in the Expo area, we were amazed to see lots of visitors everywhere. Our chief tour guide, Mr. Chu, told us that the average daily number of visitors at the Expo is about 300,000. He led us to the China Pavilion. It was a long walk to the large, red building which looks like an inverted pyramid.

As we were walking to the building, Mr. Chu told us that the tickets for the exhibition in the main hall of the China Pavilion were already sold out a few months ago, but he asked us to join a very long zigzag queue to another hall adjacent to the main one. The admission for that exhibition was free.

After more than 30 minutes of queuing up, we, finally, entered the hall. It was a very large hall where there were many mini-pavilions close to each other. Each mini-pavilion was represented by a province of China boasting of its rich histories, cultures, ethnic peoples, economies, scenic landscapes, etc. Owing to time constraint, we made a quick tour of all the mini-pavilions. When we came out of the hall, we felt as though we had visited all the provinces in China.

Long Queues

While we were outside the China Pavilion we were shocked to hear announcements after announcements that the queuing time at Japan’s Pavilion was then 5 hours, Italy’s 3 hours, Germany’s 2 hours, USA’s 3 hours, and so on. That discouraged my wife

and I from going near those pavilions. So, we walked along a long elevated walkway that cut across the Expo site in the middle and felt contented looking at the pavilions of different shapes and sizes; some were nearby while others far away.

Malaysia Pavilion

Then in the late afternoon, we decided to visit our own country’s pavilion, Malaysia Pavilion. Fortunately, the queue was short when we arrived there. As the queue was moving slowly, we were occasionally pushed roughly by impatient visitors behind us and a few uncivil ones jumped queue. After 23 minutes of lining up, we, happily, entered the pavilion. There were quite a lot of exhibits inside that showed some Malaysian places of interest, racial, religious and cultural diversities, a variety of economies, arts and crafts, etc. We were glad that our Malaysian pavilion had put up an impressive exhibition.

Visiting Other Pavilions

Then we went to look for pavilions that had short queues. We managed to enter three more pavilions belonging to Brunei, Cambodia and New Zealand without much waiting. By the time we visited the last one, it was time to leave the Expo site. While leaving the place, we felt disappointed for not being to visit the popular ones such as Japan, USA, Italy, and Britain.

When the World Expo 2010 in Shanghai is over, it is sad that all the pavilions costing tens of millions of dollars each, except the China Pavilion, Expo Axis, Expo Culture Centre, Expo Centre and Theme Pavilion., will be torn down.

 A Lost Tour Member

At 7 p.m. we went back to our bus outside the Expo site. But we could not go for dinner, immediately, in the downtown as one of our tour members did not turn up yet. Our chief tour guide, Mr.. Chu, and tour group leader, Miss Ng, walked back to the Expo site and searched for him, frantically. An hour later, we all heaved a sigh of relief when we were told that he was found waiting at the wrong place. When he came back and joined us on the bus, he apologized to us, profusely, for causing the delay.

Golden Jaguar Plaza Restaurant

For the late dinner, we went to a large restaurant, Golden Jaguar Plaza Restaurant, and had a buffet-style dinner. It provided over 200 kinds of food and we, happily, savored many of them. After that sumptuous meal, we went back to our hotel and slept like a log.

After breakfast, we visited a Chinese medical shop selling Baoshutang medicines which it claimed to have remedies for many body ailments, including eczemas(skin problems), arthritis, sprain, muscular ache, insect-bites and rheumatism. Then, we went to the most popular tourist spot in Shanghai City, The Bund.

The Bund, Shanghai City

The Bund, in the city centre, is a stretch of embanked waterfront along the Huangpu River. At this place, a visitor can see a row of grand, old colonial buildings along Zhongshan Road(E-1) and skyscrapers of modern architecture in the financial centre, Lujiazui, across the Huangpu River. We spent an hour enjoying the breathtaking sceneries and the refreshing air from the sea at the Bund. Then we left the place and went underground to take a small cable car which passes through a tunnel under the Huangpu River to the other side of the river. The tunnel known as the Bund Tourist Tunnel is 647 metres long and was opened in 2000.

Xintiandi

After that exciting show, we went to an interesting place known as Xintiandi (or “New Heaven and Earth”). It is a place where small, quaint colonial buildings with narrow walkways, offer merchandise, food, beverages and entertainment which are a bit pricey. It is a romantic place in the evening as the place is dimly-lit. Because of its mixed setting of Chinese and European in an old place, it attracts many tourists. We spent a short time there as it was raining. Then we left the place for our hotel.

Moon River Town, Jiaxing

This was the last day of our tour. In the morning, we left Shanghai City for Hangzhou City which is a few hours away by bus. On the way, we stopped at an old water town which is a tourist attraction in Jiaxing. Known as Moon River Town, it has canals and rivers along which ancient houses have been built, like the old water town we have visited in Suzhou City. Its narrow roads and walkways are built of large bricks. Most of these buildings are shops that sell souvenirs, antiques, medicines, food, drinks, clothes, flowers, arts and crafts. We had our lunch in a restaurant there.

Leifeng Pagoda in the Evening Glow

Later, we left the Moon River Town and continued our journey to Hangzhou City. Before reaching the city, we stopped at another place known as Tongxiang Tongxin Food Co., Ltd. in Tongxiang City where we bought some young dry chrysanthemum flowers which the producer claimed had health benefits. Then we moved on and finally reached the city in the late afternoon. On arrival we went to our last place of interest. It is a well-known pagoda called Leifeng Pagoda in the Evening Glow.

It had been damaged, repaired, burnt down and rebuilt many times. In 1924 it collapsed due to a long period of neglect. Then in 2002, a new, beautiful, magnificent and elegant pagoda was built on the original site. It is five storeys high (about 72 metres), octagonal in shape and built mostly of steel and copper. It has two lifts in the middle that bring visitors to the top four levels for viewing the scenic West Lake and the mountainous areas.

On the ground floor of the pagoda, visitors can still see the remains of the base of the old pagoda. At other levels above, there are paintings and carvings depicting the life of Lord Buddha and the legend about the immortal Lady White Snake, and the writings and paintings about the old pagoda and an emperor‘s visit to the pagoda. Besides, at one level, there are three-dimensional pictures of the West Lake sceneries a visitor may see outside the pagoda if he is on a viewing deck. 

In the evening when the sun is setting, the shadow of the pagoda together with the colours of the sky in the reflection at the lake make the pagoda seem to be glowing, thus it is known as Leifeng Pagoda in the Evening Glow.

Leifeng Pagoda Visit

When we arrived at the foot of the Sunset Hill, we saw lots of visitors going up the hill to the pagoda by elevators instead of climbing up the steps. Then we followed them and reached the base of the Leifeng Pagoda. Standing right in front of the pagoda and looking up, we were astounded to see the large, towering pagoda. When we entered the pagoda, we saw the remains of the old pagoda base. Later, we went up by lift to all the levels to see the paintings and carvings on the wall, and the panoramic views of the scenic West Lake, Hangzhou City and the mountainous areas which were spectacular.

Then we left the pagoda to have dinner in a restaurant known as Ba Gua Bu Yi Cuisine Restaurant in the Hangzhou City. When we had finished the meal we were entertained by a big man in a heavy Chinese traditional costume. He was wearing many masks. As a Chinese song was played, loudly, he danced on a small stage and changed his masks one at a time fast. He was an amazing performer, as he could change more than ten different masks in one song.

After enjoying the one-man show, we left for a theatre, Dongbo Theatre, to watch a splendid and spectacular Chinese cultural show known as “Night of West Lake“. It was an extravaganza that had five parts: “King Yue’s Power”, “Prosperity of Qiantang”, “Butterfly Lovers”, “Elegance of Qiantang”, and “Oriental Buddhism”. We enjoyed the show very much as it mesmerized us from the beginning to the end.

At 11.20 p.m., we left China for our country, Malaysia, bringing along with us fond memories of the tour and our tour guides, too.

We would like to thank the tour agency, Chiu Travel Sdn. Bhd., Batu Pahat, for organizing the above-mentioned, unforgettable tour for us and its employee, Miss Ng, for looking after us all the time during the tour. Here, we would like to thank Mr. Chu, our tour guide leader, and Mr. Su, our bus driver again for rendering us excellent service during the tour. Last but not least, we would like to thank our three assistant tour guides who had also done a good job: Madam Chien(our Suzhou tour guide), Mr. Chiang(our Wuxi tour guide) and Mr. Lee(our Nanjing tour guide).

Thanks to you too for taking the trouble to read my travel above.

I hope the information given above is useful to those who plan to visit the China cities in future.

Written by Choo Chaw of Kluang, Johor, Malaysia.

Shanghai Travel I

Shanghai Travel I

(Please click on the images below to view large complete ones)

tourist destinations in the middle of the eastern coast of China, viz. Hangzhou, Suzhou, Wuxi, Nanjing, Xiaxing and Shanghai. Then we called up our favourite tour agency, Chiu Travel Sdn. Bhd. in Batu Bahat, Johor, Malaysia and booked an 8-day package tour. The tour would be from 3 to 11 June 2010. Below is the dairy of our memorable visit to the historical, cultural and developed cities and their scenic landscape sites.

Travel to Hangzhou

Day 1      3 June 2010 (Thursday)

My wife and I joined a group of 22 people for the tour(see photo above). We were all brought by the tour agency’s bus to KLIA in Sepang from Johor- a 3-hour journey. The agency sent a young, pretty and sweet lady, Miss Ng, to be our tour group leader taking care of us all. On arrival at the airport, we went through the normal procedures: checking-in, security checking, immigration passport stamping and waiting to board the airplane.

At 5.20 in the evening, we left the Malaysian airport by an Air Asia plane. Five hours later, we landed safely at the Hangzhou Xiaoshan International Airport in China where we were greeted by a young prosperous-looking guy, Mr. Chu, who would be with us for the entire 8-day China tour. He would take care of our meals and hotel accommodation, besides conducting the guided tour.

After introducing himself as our chief tour guide, Mr. Chu brought us outside the airport to board a China tour bus. The bus-driver was Mr. Su who was friendly, but a man of few words. He had 17 years of driving experience. Then Mr. Su brought us to a

restaurant in Hangzhou City of 6.7 million people to have a very late dinner before we checked in at a comfortable hotel nearby. It had an unusual name: Day Joy Refinement Hotel.

At 9 in the morning, we left the hotel to begin our China tour. Our first visit was the West Lake in the Hangzhou City. When we arrived there, we were amazed to see lots of tourists walking to a pier to board cruise boats. The boats would take them across the lake for sightseeing.

Arriving at the pier, we boarded an electric-powered wooden boat and crossed the scenic West Lake, slowly. As it was moving, we could see three islets in the middle, Hangzhou City in the east and mountainous areas in the north, west and south. Besides, we saw three small stone pagodas of 2 m high standing in the water near the largest islet. They were made in 1621. During the full moon, a candle is placed in a hole in each of the pagodas and its light will mingle with the moonlight in the water. Thus, they are known as “Three Pools Mirroring the Moon”.

Meijiawu Village

Taiwan Travel I

Taiwan Travel

Location of Taiwan

Taiwan is located 120 km off the southeast coast of Mainland China. It is 394 km long and 144 km wide with an area of 35,980 sq. km. Comparatively, Taiwan’s area is about 300 times smaller than that of Mainland China. It has the shape of a sweet potato. Two thirds of the island is mountainous and the highest peak is Yu Shan or Jade Mountain(3,952 metres).

Natural Disasters

Earthquakes: As Taiwan is on the Pacific Ring of Fire it often experiences earthquakes. The last powerful and deadly earthquake of 7.3 on the Richter’s scale occured 10 years ago (21 September 1999). It destroyed over 44,000 dwellings and buildings, and caused 132 landslides resulting in over 2,400 deaths in Central Taiwan. Besides earthquakes, it also experiences another kind of natural disaster, i.e. floods and mudslides, caused by strong winds (typhoons) which bring large amount of rainfall from the Pacific Ocean. They usually occur between May and November every year.

Morakot: The last powerful typhoon, Morakot, struck Southern Taiwan on 8 August 2009 and killed several hundreds of people. It brought a record-breaking rainfall of 2,900 mm in three days causing massive floods and mudslides in many mountainous areas in southern Taiwan. The floods damaged roads and a railway, washed away several houses into the sea, toppled over a large hotel into a raging river and rose to the 2nd. floors of some buildings. The mudslides buried a few villages, e.g. Shiao Lin in Kaohsiung County where many villagers were buried alive.

History

Taiwan is ruled by the Nationalist Government (Kuomintang Government). In the beginning, the Nationalist Party under Dr. Sun Yat-sen overthrew the Qing Dynasty in 1911 in the Mainland China. Then the party resisted the Japanese aggression for 8 years from 1937 until 1945 in the Mainland China when Japan lost the World War II. Later, in 1949, the Nationalist Government under President Chiang Kai-shek was overthrown by the Communist Party under Mao Zedong. Consequently, the Nationalist Party was forced to move out of the Mainland China to Taiwan together with two million loyal people. Since the party left the Mainland China in 1949, it still clings on to the hope that one day it will rule the mainland again.

Population

The island is now populated by 23 million people. Comparatively, its population is over 60 times smaller than that of the Mainland China. 95% of the Taiwanese are Hans, 2% aborigines and the rest are other races. The common religions in Taiwan are Buddhism(35%), Taoism(33%), I-Kuan Tao(3.5%), Protestantism(2.6%), and Roman Catholicism(1.3%).

Tourist Destination

Taiwan is a beautiful island that offers lots and lots of scenic and cultural attractions. Its physical landscape of mountains, steep valleys, high cliffs, roaring streams, tranquil lakes, islets, and stunning coasts; its diverse vegetation from the tropical rainforests to alpine trees; its mixed culture of the native and Mainland Chinese; and its food of different regional culinary traditions of the Mainland China and the aborigines are some of the attractions that, undoubtedly, make it a famous tourist destination.

Day 1 : Saturday, 22 August 2009

Journey to Taiwan

On 22 August 2009, my wife and I joined a group of 49 Malaysians at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport for a seven-day vacation in Taiwan. Together with them and a tour leader, Kim Loh, we boarded a China Airlines plane and left the airport at 2.30 p.m. for Taiwan. After three hours of smooth flight, we landed safely at Taoyuan International Airport in north-western Taiwan. On arrival at the airport, our group was split into two: Group A(27 persons) and Group B(24 persons). Group A was led by a Taiwanese tour guide, Mr. Leong, whereas Group B was led by Miss Tracy Tu. My wife and I belonged to the latter group. Coming out of  the airport, we boarded their respective buses, Bus A and Bus B. Then we were on our way to Taipei City.

Taipei City, the Capital of Taiwan

Taipei City was made the Taiwan’s capital by the Nationalist Party since 1949, when it was ousted by the Communist Party from the Mainland China. Taipei is the largest city in Taiwan. Located in the north of the island, it is a vibrant city with a population of 2.6 millions. It is now the economic, financial, commercial and cultural centre of the island

On arrival at the city at 9.30 p.m. we went straight to a Taiwan’s famous night food court, the Shilin Night Market, to fill our empty stomachs.

 

Shilin Night Market, Taipei City

Shilin Night Market is located in between Wenlin Road, Tatung Road and Anping Road in Taipei City. When we entered the market, we could smell the food in the air. It was crowded with both locals and tourists. There were many small stalls selling all kinds of mouthwatering local food, such as the stinking bean curd (or stinking “tofu“), squid soap, oyster omelette, fried chicken fillet, Chinese medicinal pork rib stew, large sausages, etc.

While walking in the market looking for tasty food, my wife and I noticed a stinking smell in the air. We looked at each other and said together, instantly, “It is from the stinking ‘tofu’, a fermented bean curd!” We went to the stall to try it. After eating it, I told my wife that I would never try it again. But, surprisingly, she told me that she loved eating it. Besides the stinking food, we ordered and savoured squid soup and fried oyster omelette which were more palatable to me.

 

Later, we left the market for a five-star hotel known as Sunworld Dynasty Hotel at 100, Dun Hua North Road in Taipei. Entering our hotel room, we were delighted to see two king-sized beds, one for my wife and the other for myself. We  slept soundly throughout that night.

Day 2 : Sunday, 23 August 2009

In the morning, we began our tour in Taipei . The first place we went to was the Martyr’s Shrine.

The Martyr’s Shrine, Taipei City

The Martyr’s Shrine is located along Bei-an Road in the northern part of the Taipei City. This is a solemn place sacred to the 330,000 fallen heroes who sacrificed their lives in the civil wars (1911-1949) and the wars against the Japanese aggression and occupation(1937-1945) in the Mainland China. The grand building for worshipping the heroes looks like one of the imperial buildings in the Forbidden City in Beijing (Tai-he Imperial Palace).

Every year, in spring and autumn, the Taiwan’s president together with his civil and military officials pay their respect at the shrine

Tourists waiting for the Martyr’s Shrine to be opened

from 1911 when the Nationalist Party overthrew the Qing Dynasty till 1949 when the Nationalist Party lost the Mainland China to the Communist Party. The battles include the following: “The 1911 Revolution”, “The Final Attack on Canton(1911)”, “Seizure of Hui-Chou(1925)”, “Battle of Ting-Szu-Chiao(1926)”, “Battle of Lung-tan(1927)”, “Suppression of Mutiny in Fukien Province(1934)”, “The Battle of Shanghai(1937)”, “The Eight-Year War of Resistance Against Japan(1937-1945)”, ‘The Battle of Changsha-Hengyang(1944)”, “The Suppression of the Chinese Communists Revolution” and “The Battle of Kuningtou on Kinmen(1949)”. So many battles that were fought in the Mainland China in such a short period(1911-1949) show that she was always in turmoil causing heavy casualties.

When we arrived at the shrine, we saw a lot of tourists waiting for the shrine to be opened. At 9 a.m. sharp, the gates of the shrine were opened and all of us entered and watched the changing of the guards who were military police. After the solemn ceremony which lasted for a brief moment, we toured the shrine. While we were in the shrine compound, we heard thousands of beetles hiding in tall trees outside the shrine making loud, sharp shrieking noises. I guessed they were welcoming the guests.

After the tour of the shrine, I noticed a lot of tourists taking turns to take photos with two guards standing motionless at the entrance. I managed to take one with one of them. He did not respond when I thanked him.

Then we left the shrine for the Chiang Kai-shek’s Shilin Residence.

Chiang Kai-shek’s Shilin Residence, Taipei

The  residence of  the former President of the Republic of China, Chiang Kai-shek, is sited at 60, Fulin Road, Taipei. In 1950, he moved in with his wife, Song Mei-ling, after his defeat in the Mainland China. The two-storey residence or Main Hall was built in the middle of a large garden. When we visited the garden, the residence was under renovation, but we managed to see some of the following attractions in the garden:

a.   Ciyun Pavilion which was built by President Chiang Kai-shek in 1963 in memory of his mother

b.   Victory Chapel, a small, simple Western style building, where President Chiang, his family and friends who were  Christians prayed. (It was given such a name to commemorate the transfer of the capital of the Republic of China from Chongqing to Nanjing after World War II)

c.    Rose Garden where Madame Chiang liked to stroll and relax

d.   Chinese Garden which was built to commemorate President Chiang’s 80th. birthday

e.    Western Garden of stone-paved walkways, fountains and symmetrical landscaped flowers and trees

f.     an amphitheatre built in 1998 for musical and cultural performances

g.    Orchid Pavilion built in an ancient Chinese architectural style for orchid exhibitions

h.    Horticulture Exhibition Hall built in 1984 for plant exhibitions

i.     Eco-Garden for nature study

 

President Chiang Kai-shek passed away on 4 April 1975 at the age of 88 years at his residence (Main Hall) and his wife died in 2003 at the age of 105 years in New York, U.S.A. In 1996, the Mayor of Taipei (Chen Shui-bian) opened the residence to the public except the Main Hall. In 2005, the Taiwan government designated the place as a historical site.

On arrival at the residence, the first thing that attracted us was an antique black sedan car kept in a garage. It was a Cadillac manufactured in 1988 with an engine capacity of 5031 c.c. and weight of 3.4 tons. It was used by Madame Chiang Kai-shek (Song Mei-ling). Then we walked around the garden that befits a king and queen.

The next place we visited was the world’s tallest building, Taipei 101, located in the centre of Taipei City.

Taipei 101, Taipei City

 

Located in the centre of the busy central business district in Xinyi District, the tallest building in the world, Taipei 101, is standing majestically at a height of 508 metres above the ground and consists of 101 storeys. It is the most prominent and iconic landmark in Taipei City.

Completed within 5 years at an astronomical cost of US$1.76 billions, it was opened to the public on 31 December 2004. Attached to this tall, slim tower of a mix of traditional Chinese and Taiwanese architectural styles is a multi-storey building that houses hundreds of retail stores, restaurants, clubs and other attractions.

Observatory: When we arrived at Taipei 101, we took a lift to the fifth floor where we took another lift. The latter climbed at a very high speed. In 37 seconds, we passed 84 floors and climbed a vertical height of 382 metres to reach the 89th. floor! That 89th. floor is an indoor or enclosed observatory with large glass windows all round it. Stepping out of the lift, we walked round the observatory and were awestruck by the breathtaking view of the Taipei City.

 

Feeling not satisfied, we walked up two flights of  stairs to the 91st. floor which is an outdoor observatory (open-air floor). It was an exhilarating experience to see the spectacular views of the whole city. We could feel the gusts of wind blowing past us. The tall metal-fence surrounding the observatory played symphonies when strong wind kept blowing through it.

The top of the tower is stabilized by a 660 metric ton tuned mass damper suspended from the 92nd. floor to the 88th. floor against movements caused by strong winds.

(The next tallest building in the world will be Burj Dubai which will be 141 storeys and 818 metres high. It is in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and will be opened in December 2009)

Later, we left Taipei 101 and travelled to the south-west of Taipei for over an hour to visit the Taiwan’s most famous theme park, LeoFu Theme Park.

LeoFu Theme Park, Hsinchu County

Located in Guanxi Township in Hsinchu County, it is the most famous theme park in Taiwan. It was opened 30 years ago.

There are four areas in this theme park. They are:

 

1.  “African Safari” -an area where there are herbivores, carnivores, bird shows, “Sahara Twist” (a train ride), horse, camel and pony rides, etc.

2.   “Wild West” - stage shows, photo spots and thrill rides like “Screaming Condor”, “Little Rattler” and “Big Canyon Rapids”

3. “South Pacific” -thrill rides like “Pagoda’s Revenge”, and “ Mighty Mountain Flume Adventure”.

4. “Arabian Kingdom” - “Ring of Fire”, “Flying Horse Ride”, “Sultan’s Adventure”

As we entered the park in the afternoon, we were amazed to see lots of young people. We were told that the Taiwan’s schools were closed for holidays and many students like to spend their time in the park. Besides, it was a Sunday and parents brought along their children too.

 

There were many kinds of rides there ranging from slow ones to the extreme adrenalin-pumping ones. The extreme rides are quite popular among the youngsters, such as “Screaming Condor” (a spiral roller-coaster), “Pagoda Revenge” ( a sudden 17-floor  drop), “Desert Storm” (an independent rotating roller-coaster), “Captain Cook’s Swinging Ship” (that oscillates to a height of 6 floors), “Big Canyon Rapids” (a rapids-ride), and a few more. The most extreme and exciting ride is the “Screaming Condor”. It is a roller-coaster consisting of 14 cars for 28 riders. It moves along a semi-circular and spiral track of 192 metres long at a maximum speed of  104 km per hour. The highest height it reaches is 56 metres and one third of its length is perpendicular to the ground. This ride is not for the faint hearted people.

 

Although there were countless rides in the theme park, all of them attract long queues. As my wife and I were put off by the long queues we went round watching people enjoying them. Towards the evening when the crowd was getting smaller, we managed to go for two things that attracted less people then: a slow train ride and a 3-D show which was about Sindbad on a flying carpet trying to save a beautiful princess.

Having spent about two hours at the theme park, we continued our journey to a hotel in the south known as Ataya Hot Spring Hotel which is near Nantou City.

Atayal Hot Spring Hotel, Nantou County

 As Taiwan is located in the Pacific Ring of Fire (or Circum-Pacific Seismic Belt) where countless earthquakes and volcanic eruptions take place in the Pacific Ocean Basin, it is a home to many hot springs. There are two main kinds of hot springs in Taiwan, viz. the sulfur hot springs and sodium carbonate hot springs.

Although the sulfur hot springs stink, they are claimed to do wonders for arthritis and some skin diseases. The clear and odourless sodium carbonate hot springs are claimed to relieve gastrointestinal disorders.

When we reached the Atayal Hotel bus parking area, we took a shuttle train with tyred wheels to the hotel located on a hill. The hotel, built in a European baroque style, commands a scenic panoramic view of the lush tropical rainforests on the mountains and the valleys. After checking in at the hotel, we walked a short distance from the hotel to a few pools of hot spring water which had a mild smell of sulfur. We soaked ourselves for a few minutes in the water of 40 degree Celcius and felt rejuvenated.

On the following morning, we left the hotel and headed straight for Checheng in the mountainous area in the south-east of Atayal Hotel.

( Continued on  Taiwan Travel II )

Taiwan Travel II

(Continued from Taiwan Travel I)

Day 3 : 24 August 2009

Checheng, Nantou County

Checheng is a small quiet village located in a mountainous area of Shueili in Nantou County of Central Taiwan. It has gone through a few times of prosperity and hardship during the last 100 years.

In 1913, Checheng was thriving when a railway line for manually operated railway carts was built to transport cane sugar from the village to Puli. Undoubtedly, it soon became the villagers’ main means of  transport. A workshop for railway carts and residential place for the railway-workers were established here making it a busy village. As Checheng had those railway carts, it was given the name “Checheng” which, literally, means “square cart”.

Checheng became more prosperous, when the Daguan Hydroelectric Power Plant was being constructed nearby in 1919, and another cart railway was built from Ershuei to the village in 1922. But in 1934 when the power station was completed, the dam-workers left the village and it suffered economic hardship.

In 1958, Checheng’s prosperity came back  again when timber factories were established there. Later, in 1985, it suffered economically again, when the Taiwan government banned logging.

Then, in the early 1990s, Checheng became a thriving village once more when two dams, Minghu and Mingtan, were constructed across the Shueili River in the north. But when they were completed in 1995 the village experienced an economic downturn again. Since then it remained a ghost town until 2001 when the Checheng Tourism Board decided to make it a tourist attraction.

Today, the legacy of the logging era can be seen in Checheng. A large, old sawmill is now a museum which houses some of the sawmill relics and provides valuable information about the history of the village. Near the museum vistors can see a large log storage pool where logs were kept temporarily, a crane for lifting logs off lorries and lowering them into the pool, and a workshop where manually operated railway carts were repaired. There are two railway carts at the workshop and visitors may try to operate them manually for a short joy ride. Some of the relics of the steam-engined locomotives are still around at Checheng, such as standpipes, coal-adding platforms and water-tanks. The whole of Checheng is in fact a museum showcasing its economic and cultural history.

When we arrived at Checheng, we were famished and went straight to a small restaurant, Cedar Tea House, where we had a small wooden barrel of delicious chicken rice for lunch (Bento lunch). After the meal we were asked to keep the containers as a souvenir which we gladly did. Then we began to tour the little, quiet, quaint village.

Having spent more than an hour at the village, we walked a short distance to a small old railway station. Then we boarded a modern diesel-engined train and travelled to Jiji to experience several kilometres of  train-ride. When we arrived at Jiji, we noticed that there was a remarkable contrast between Jiji and Checheng: Jiji is a large busy town.

Built in 1933, Jiji’s wooden railway station is the oldest in Taiwan. There is a train museum which is a stone throw from the station. It showcases the cultural relics of Jiji retracing the history of the railway line. Besides, an old steam-engined train can be seen standing proudly outside the museum.

On arrival at the Jiji railway station, we boarded our buses and left for the Sun Moon Lake which is not far from Checheng.

Sun Moon Lake, Nantou County

Surrounded by the mountains in Nantou County in Central Taiwan, Sun Moon Lake is the largest lake in Taiwan and it is 760 metres above sea-level. It is so called because the eastern part of the lake is round and looks like the shape of the sun whereas the western part looks like the shape of a crescent moon. It is a picturesque, romantic lake with tranquil water, and surrounded by awesome mountains. To enjoy its natural beauty, visitors may take a stroll, cycle, or row a rented boat round it. To see the whole lake fast, they may board a boat that cruises round it.

The first people to settle at the lake were the Thao aborigines. Later, they were joined by the Han Chinese of the Qing Dynasty who built some temples at the lake, such as Syuanguang Temple, Syuanzang Temple, Wunun Temple and Choh Pagoda. A hydroelectric power station which was built by the Japanese during their occupation makes use of the water from the lake.

On arrival at the lake, we went to a spot where we had a good view of the misty large lake. Having enjoyed the beautiful sight of the lake and the surrounding mountains, we left for Kaohsiung, Taiwan’s second largest city, in the south. 

After three hours of travelling, we reached Kaohsiung City in the evening. We went to the largest mall in the city first, Dream Mall, and then the most popular night market in Taiwan, Liouhe Night Market, in the centre of the city to have dinner.

Liouhe Night Market in Kaohsiung City

In the evening from 6 p.m. to 2 a.m. part of the Liouhe 2nd. Road between Zihli Road and Jhongshan Road is closed for the Liouhe Night Market. Over 150 stalls are set up on both sides of the road selling cheap and mouth-watering food such as stinking ‘tofu’, grilled squids and fish, large meatballs, fried oyster omelette, squid soup, cooked chicken feet, eel noodle, and many more. It is a street food paradise for both locals and tourists alike.

VIPs: The Liouhe Night Market boasts of visits by VIPs, such as presidents, well-known overseas movie stars,

entertainers and other very important persons. Visitors may visit a tourist information centre and public toilets located next to the Jiangua Elementary School near the crossroads of Zihli Road and Liouhe 2nd. Road.

According to the 2008 survey conducted by the Taiwan Tourism, Transportation & Communication Ministry, this night market is the most popular one on the island.

Having enjoyed the sights, sounds and the roadside food of the night market, we left for the Garden Villa Hotel which is new and looks like a white, grand palace built in a modern architechural style. We stayed at the hotel, comfortably, for a night, and in the morning we left for Fo Guang Shan Monastery.

Day 4 : 25 August 2009

Fo Guang Shan Monastery, Kaohsiung County

Fo Guang Shang Monastery is the largest Buddhist monastery in Taiwan. Located in the Dashu Township in Kaohsiung County, it was founded by Master Hsing Yun in 1967. It is established with the following objectives:

*To propagate Buddhist teachings through cultural activities
*To foster talent through education
*To benefit society through charitable programs
*To purify hearts and minds through Buddhist practice

It has affiliated branch temples and organizations all over the world. It offers many activities for anybody regardless of his /her religion, race and greed, such as morning prayer, calligraphy, meditaion, Tai Chi, etc.

This monastery is built on a hill overlooking a village and flood plain where a meandering river flows. In its compound, there are several buildings for different functions, such as meditation, worship, its history exhibition(mini-museum), pilgrim accommodation, monk and nun accommodation, Buddha’s tooth relic, etc. The most prominent feature  in the monastery is a 36-metre high statue of Buddha surrounded by many identical but small ones.

We spent more than an hour touring the whole place. We felt it was quite an impressive and great monastery. Then we had lunch at a restaurant at the foot of the hill before we left for Taichung City in the north.

Taichung City

It was a long journey to Taichung City. We arrived at the city of 1.1 million people in the evening and went straight to a unique restaurant, Five Cent Driftwood Restaurant, for dinner.

The Five Cent Driftwood Restaurant, Taichung City

The owner of this restaurant in Taichung is an ambitous, artistic and enterprising lady, Hsieh Li-shiang. When she was 8 years old, she built a tree house which later gave her the inspiration to build five restaurants in Taiwan in her own unique architechural designs. She used driftwood, trees, coloured bricks, oyster shells, rocks, sculpture, and other things she fancies as decorations for her restaurants. Besides, the tables, benches, plates, cups, bowls, etc. in all her restaurants are all designed by herself.

Hsieh Li-shiang’s restaurants are well-known in many countries, as Taiwanese tour guides like to bring foreign tourists to her restaurants to see for themselves her unusual architecture and sculpture, besides her delicious cuisine.  

When we were inside the dimly-lit Five Cent Driftwood Restaurant in Taichung City, we admired  the lady’s unusual works of art. Then we sat on the low benches close to the square tables, both made of driftwood and designed by the lady, and enjoyed the simple but tasty food.

Having taken our dinner at the restaurant, we headed for a night market in Taichung Downtown known as Feng Chia Night Market.

Feng Chia Night Market, Taichung City

Feng Chia Night Market was first opened along Wen-hua Road in 1963. As it gained popularity, it expanded to Feng Chia Road, Fusing Road, Xian Road and other roads. It is a favourite place for shoppers and food lovers. Shops along these roads sell a wide range of goods ranging from clothes to modern electronic gadgets, and over a hundred street vendors offer many kinds of local snacks. As there is a university nearby (Feng Chia University), the market is also a favourite haunt of the students.

We spent an hour at the market savouring a variety of local snacks and shopping for some clothes along the busy Fusing Road before we travelled again to the Miaoli County in the north. In the late evening, we arrived at a hotel, West Lake Hotel in Sanyi, Miaoli County, where we tried to get as much sleep as possible.

Day 5 : 26 August 2009

West Lake Hotel, Sanyi, Miaoli County

This hotel, located in a quiet countryside, has a beautiful romantic garden of European style. It has a fountain in the centre and a row of ancient European statutes, like Venus de Milo, David, Winged Angels, etc. Besides, it has an amusement park known as Cartoon Dream World suitable for children. The forests that surround the hotel area provide a natural place for studying the flora and fauna, and trekking for the adventurous. This resort is ideal for families considering the fun and educational activities available here.

In the morning, after breakfast, my wife and I went to the garden admiring its charm and beauty, and enjoying the freshness of the air. Later, we left the hotel and travelled north-east for an hour to the Fantasy World Resort in Hsinchu County.

Fantasy World Resort

On arrival at the Fantasy World Resort which is in the mountainous area, we were invited to a fun-filled parrot show in which a few colourful, friendly and intelligent parrots did some interesting and amazing acts, like two parrots racing up the flagstaffs, a parrot cycling on a thin rope, an intelligent parrot picking the right coloured ball and paper money in one of the three inverted cups, etc. Then we watched tame and beautiful pheasants flying down a hill. Later, we laughed and cheered as we watched 11 little pigs competing with each other in a challenging obstacle race. After the piggy race, we were asked to bet on the pig that would win a 40-metre race. Unfortunately, I bet on the wrong one and failed to get a prize which was a large cute-looking piggy bank

After the three animal shows, we visited the Car Museum which housed vintage cars made since 1912. Some of the photos below show the beautiful cars in the museum:

At night we retired not in a hotel but caravans in the open in the Fantasy World Resort. It was my first and memorable experience sleeping with my wife in a caravan under the starry sky far away from the hustle and bustle of the Hsinchu City. In the morning we left the resort and travelled a long journey to a coastal place in the north known as Yehliu.

Yehliu, Taipei County

Yehliu is a small fishing town in the north of Taiwan. Its main attraction is the unusual landscape on the long narrow piece of land that juts 1700 metres into the sea (headland). It is known as “Yehliu GeoPark“. This land was submerged 4000 years ago in the sea and consisted of  sandstone, coral limestone, shale and other rocks. It was raised slowly at the rate of 2 to 4 millimetres per year, and was constantly subjected to erosion by waves, currents, tides and sea-water for millions of years. The erosive work of these active agents had produced many kinds of shapes and sizes of rocks that are now dominating the coastal landscape.

 
The rocks are named after common things which look like them, such as “pot-holes“, “mushrooms“, “honeycombs“, “ginger“, “candles“, “beancurds“, “fairy’s shoe” and “chessboard“. Among them, the “mushrooms” totaling about 180 are the most striking ones. There is one which looks like a queen’s head. Some rocks with exposed sea-animal and plant fossils can be seen here.

In the middle of the headland stands a statue of a man, Lin Tien-chen. In 1964, when he saw a student being swept away by a large wave, he quickly jumped into the sea and tried to save him. Unfortunately, he failed and lost his life. The student died too. In memory of that courageous man, a statue of him is erected there.

We spent two hours at the Yehliu Geo Park and saw a lot of the physical wonders scuptured by Nature. Then we left for Jioufen to visit a well-known old street in the east of Yehliu.

Jioufen Old Street, Taipei County

Jioufen is an old village in a lush green mountainous area in northern Taiwan. As it is sited on a high mountain it offers a spectacular view of the mountains (e.g. Keelung Mountain), valleys and coastal areas. It was once a  prosperous gold and coal mining settlement.

Besides its awesome scenery, Jioufen has a famous old street that attracts hundreds of tourists both local and foreign alike every day. It is a long street that is lined with over a hundred shops that sell many kinds of local food, snacks, hand-made wooden clogs, apparels, toys, souvenirs and many more. As the street is narrow and crowded, tourists have to zigzag their way or they may be bulldozed by others.

When my wife and I were in the Jioufen Old Street, we bought a lot of local snacks from a popular shop recommended by our tour-guide, Tracy, to bring home and give away as presents. After that, we looked for a crowded food shop which we thought would serve delicious food. We found one and enjoyed the food. Later, we left Jioufen for Taipei City. On arrival at the city, we visited the Taiwan’s most famous museum, the National Museum Palace.

National Museum Palace, Taipei City

Located in the Wai Shuangxi area of Shilin on the outskirts of Taipei City, the National Palace Museum showcases over 650,000 priceless relics of Chinese ancient civilisations of Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties, rituals, beliefs, etc. dating back to 8000 years. These treasures were brought in from Mainland China to Taiwan by the Nationalist Government in 1949 when it lost the civil war to the Communist Party there. In 1965 these treasures were brought to the National Palace Museum and since then it is open to the public.

The first three floors of the museum are used for exhibiting the relics. Each floor displays more than a theme. Below are some of the themes of the exhibits in the museum:

1. Painting and Calligraphy on the 2nd. Floor
2. Rare Books an Historical Documents on the 1st. Floor of the West Wing         
3. Antiquities:
   a. Permanent Exhibitions: “The Treasures of 8000 Years” on the 2nd. and 3rd. Floors  of the East Wing
   b. Themed Permanent Exhibitions on the 1st. and 3rd. Floors
   c. Special Exhibitions on the 3rd. Floor of the West Wing
4. Others:
    The 1st. Floor of the East Wing is the venue for joint special exhibitions of painting and calligraphy,
    antiquities and rare books and historical documentaries, or of modern painting and calligraphy.

As we did not have much time to see all the exhibits in the museum, our smart Taiwanese tour guide, Tracy Tu, brought us to see some of the important items only and related the interesting histories connected to them. We found that the museum was an excellent place to learn about the China’s last 8,000 years of history.

When it was dinner-time, we left the museum for a very popular night market in the downtown, Xi Men Ding Night Market.

Xi Men Ding Night Market, Taipei City

Xi Men Ding Night Market is in Wanhua District in Taipei. It is a well-known place for shopping, entertainment, and local and exotic cuisine. It is always crowded with people from all walks of life, foreign and domestic alike. Besides, there are buskers on walkways showing off their talents to large crowds. While walking in the crowded night market, we felt as though the place was having a carnival: shops were brightly lit, sales-workers with microphones calling for people to patronise their shops and holding large, colourful billboards that announced

delicious food and attractive discounts for products, frequent influxes of visitors, shops busy serving customers, etc. Then we stopped at a food shop where many people were queueing up. Our tour guide who was near us recommended that we should try the noodle food from that shop. The shop was known as “Ah Chong Flour-Rice Noodle Shop”. When we had bought the food we were surprised that the shop did not provide chairs and tables for the customers. So all of us had to stand or squat on the walkway and enjoyed the hot, delicious noodle.

U.Com Hotel, Linkou County

After an enjoyable experience at the night market, we left for Linkou County where we checked in a hotel known as U.Com Hotel. This hotel is an awesome one. Every quest-room has a car-park outside regardless on which floor. For an example, if a quest’s room is on the 7h. floor, he can drive his car right up the hotel to his car-park next to his room!

 Day 7 : 28 August 2009

Early in the morming on the last day of our tour, with the packed breakfast from the hotel, we left for the Taoyuan International Airport. On arrival at the airport, we thanked and bade farewell to our diligent, helpful, friendly and responsible Taiwanese tour-guides, Tracy Tu and Leong, and the two skilful bus-drivers, Sia and Lim, who had done a good job in transporting us safely for the unforgettable 7-day Taiwan tour. At about 8.20 a.m. the China Airline took off and flew us back to Malaysia, our home.

This is another travel story of mine and I hope you have enjoyed reading it. Please read my other travels in the same website: www.travel-cities.com

Written by: Choo Chaw, Kluang, Johor, Malaysia.

Phuket Travel

Phuket

Phuket is located off the coast of southern Thailand. It has a large island that is known as Phuket Island and 39 small islands in the Andaman Sea. Its total area is about 570 sq. km. which is about the same area of Singapore. The main island, Phuket Island, is 50 km long and 20 km wide. It was formerly known as Tha-Loang, Talang and Jung Ceylon.

Phuket was once an important trading centre on the route between China and India. Traders from as far as Europe came to Phuket to buy tin and rubber in the 16th. century. The tin mining in Phuket had attracted many Chinese immigrant workers and most of them later settled down there. As tin mines are now exhausted the island’s income now depends mainly on rubber, oil palm plantations and tourism.

Phuket’s population is about 320,000 who are mostly Buddhists. About 30 % of them are Muslims. Since 1980s, it attracts many foreign retirees, esp. the Europeans and Americans, who make it their second home.

A Well-Known Tourist Destination

Dubbed as the “Pearl of the Andaman”, Phuket is a well-known tourist destination for the last few decades. It is a peaceful place that has

many stunning, idyllic islands with lush green tropical forests, white sandy beaches and crystal clear water rich in marine life. Besides, it offers a variety of attractions and activities like animal shows, cultural shows, seafood, Thai food, temples, shopping centres, entertainment centres, land and sea recreational activities, and many more.

After the Hanoi trip in March a few months ago, my wife and I were then off again to another famous tourist destination, Phuket in southern Thailand. This time, two of our friends, Mr. and Mrs. Chuah, joined us for the tour. Below is the description of our Phuket travel.

Day 1

15 June 2009

Travel to Phuket

On 15 June 2009, we boarded an Air Asia plane and left the Kuala Lumpur International Airport for Phuket at about at 2.45 p.m. (Malaysian local time) and arrived at the Phuket airport about an hour later. Then we took a taxi to our hotel in Phuket Town which is 40 km south of the airport. On arrival at the hotel, Rome Place Hotel, in the downtown, we checked in and rested in our rooms for awhile.

 

At 7 p.m. we left the hotel to look for Thai food for dinner. There were many small and inexpensive food shops in the town. Having taken our dinner at one of them, we tried to look for a travel agent in the town who could give us the best bargain for the Phi Phi Island trip for the following day. After seeing a few agents, we finally got one and accepted his good offer.

Central Festival Phuket

After that, we visited two large shopping centres, Robinson and Ocean, in town. The latest and largest shopping centre in Phuket is located at the crossroads of Wichit Songkhram and Chalerm Prakat in the outskirt of Phuket Town. Known as Central Festival Phuket, it is a one-stop shopping and entertainment complex housing 150 stalls, 30 restaurants, a cine-multiplex of 7 screens, bowling, karoake, financial and tourist service centres. Free transport was provided from hotels and other places to the shopping complex when we were there.

A Trip to Phi Phi Islands

On the second day of our stay, we were going to visit the well-known Phi Phi Island consisting of two islands: Phi Phi Don Island and Phi Phi Le Island. It is located 48 km south-east of Phuket Port (Rassada Port). According to the itinerary of the trip which we had booked one day earlier, we were supposed to visit the Maya Bay which was a location for shooting a famous American film, The Beach, acted by Leonardo Di Caprio, the Monkey Beach where monkeys roam freely and the Phi Phi village.

Hanoi Travel I

Hanoi

Hanoi is in the north of Vietnam. Located on the west bank of a long river, Red River (1,200 km), it has over 1000 years of history.

Red River Delta

The Red River originates from the highlands in Yunan Province  and flows south-east. Midway, it is joined by two tributaries, Clear River (Lo River) and Black River (Da River). Together, the rivers bring a large amount of alluvial soil annually and deposit it in the Gulf of Tonkin creating a large fertile delta, Red River Delta, which is 120 km by 140 km now. The delta is now the economic hub of North Vietnam where tourism, agriculture, industry, trade, commerce, finance and banking are growing. As a result, the delta has become a densely populated area of over 6 million people.

Hanoi as a Capital

Hanoi was first made a capital in 1010 by Ly Thai, the first ruler of the Ly Dynasty. Then in 1887, the French colonialists made it the capital of the French Indochina. Later, in 1954, the Viet Minh led by Ho Chi Minh liberated North Vietnam from the French colonialists and made it the capital of the Independent North Vietnam. Finally, on 2 July 1976, it became the capital of Vietnam when North and South Vietnams were reunited.

Group of Six

On 15 March 2009, my wife and I, together with four friends (Mr. and Mrs. Chua, Grace Chen and Crace Gan), took an Air Asia plane at Kuala Lumpur Internatinal Airport and flew to Hanoi to see for ourselves the places of interest there.

Day 1

15 March 2009

After 3 hours and 15 minutes of flying we landed safely at Noi Bai Airport which is 35 km north of Hanoi. Then we paid USD 15 each for the transport from the airport to the hotel we had booked earlier through Air Asia. The hotel known as Hanoi Palace Hotel is a three-star hotel. It is located in the old part of Hanoi which is called the Old Quarter.

The Old Quarter

 The Old Quarter is a maze of narrow streets lined with narrow quaint shophouses and trees. These old shophouses are narrow because the owners were taxed according to the width of their buildings. To overcome the narrow building space, they built them longer and the latter are commonly known as ”tube houses”.

 The Old Quarter had 36 streets that were named after the trades carried out there in the olden days, e.g. Hang Bac (Silver Street), Hang Be (Rattan Raft Street), Hang Bo (Basket Street), Hang Bong (Cotton Street), Hang Ca (Fish Street), etc. Most of these shophouses have given up their traditional trades and are now cafes, bars, mini-bars, cyber-cafes, mini-hotels, tour-agency offices, restaurants, etc. 

The Old Quarter As A Tourist Attaraction

 The Old Quarter has now become a tourist attraction. To learn about the old city of Hanoi, the Old Quarter is the best place to visit. The first thing we did on our first day in Hanoi was to visit the sights of the Old Quarter and feel the hustle and bustle of the place. The old buildings here are either two or three storeyed. Most of them are built with balconies after the style of the French buildings.

The old streets are untidy and dirty with wires strung from pole to pole and waste water flowing along the sides of the roads. Most of the buildings have not been painted for umpteen years. Quite often a procession of trishaws can be seen moving slowly along the roads. They carry tourists who want to enjoy the sights and sounds of the quaint Old Quarter.

Chaotic Traffic Situation

While walking along the streets, we were shocked to see the chaotic and constant flow of traffic. Besides being narrow, the streets allow two-way traffic flow aggravating the traffic situation.  Motorbikes and cars honk frequently asking pedestrians and others to give way. I was surprised that nobody was agitated by the honking. I quess the locals understand the unavoidable chaotic traffic situation and have already got used to the noise. While walking in the Old Quarter we were always on the lookout for the vehicles making sure that we would not end up in the hospital.

Hardworking Vietnamese Women

It is a common sight to see hardworking Vietnamese women, some in conical straw hats, peddling their goods in baskets which they carry around and persuading passers-by to buy them. They sell fresh flowers, food, drinks, vegetables, fruits, meat, etc. Besides, on the roadside or walkway of every street, there are some women who set up small foodstalls selling a variety of cheap local food like chicken, pork or beef rice-noodle (pho), porridge, spicy rice-noodle, etc. During our three days stay in Hanoi we had patronized some of these stalls. It was quite an experience for us to savour their food in the streets. We had to sit on a low plastic stool (about a foot high), hold a bowl of hot food (no table was provided) and enjoyed the cheap Veitnamese food in the midst of the noisy traffic.

Hoan Kiem Lake

There is a lake, Hoan Kiem Lake, in the Old Quarter. In the middle of the lake, there is an islet with a small, lonely pagoda-like tower known as Tortoise Tower (Thap Rua). A temple, Ngoc Son Temple (Jade Mountain Temple), is located near it. It was built in the 18th. century in dedication to a scholar, Van Xuong, and General Tran Huang Dao who fought against the Mongols in the 13th. century.

 According to a Vietnamese legend about the lake, a Vietnamese king, Le Loi, received a magic sword from a golden tortoise in the lake in the 15th. century. He used it to fight the Chinese invaders and won the battle. Later, he returned the sword to the creature which then disappeared in the lake. So, the Hoan Kiem Lake is also known as the Restored Sword Lake and the Tortoise Tower was erected in memory of the helpful animal.

Old Colonial French Buildings

Old colonial French buildings are still around, especially, in the east and south of the Hoan Kiem Lake., e.g. the Grand Opera House, the State Bank of Vietnam (formerly the Bank of Indochina), the Presidential Palace (formerly the palace of the governor-general of French Indochina), the Cathédrale St-Joseph, and the historic hotel Sofitel Metropole.  

Day 2

16 March 2009

In the morning, we planned to go to a famous place which is known as Halong Bay. It is 170 km east of Hanoi. At 9.30 a.m., a van came to our hotel to fetch us. Together with other tourists, we travelled for

3 1/2 hours on a road which was dusty, busy and sometimes bumpy. We went through agricultural land planted mostly with paddy, villages and towns to Halong Bay. We only stopped once at a large building which sold all kinds of Vietnamese arts and handicrafts.

Embroidery Arts

That building had a large room where young boys and girls were employed to produce embroidery pieces of art. They, painstakingly, sewed a piece of white cloth with coloured threads to produce a picture. A piece of picture of size 20 .5 cm x 25 .5 cm would take a child 2 weeks to complete and cost USD 25 only. We were shocked when their supervisor told us that those children were born with birth defects and disabilities. It was because their parents were unfortunately exposed to Agent Orange during

the Vietnam War in the 1970’s.

Before leaving the place, my wife bought a beautiful picture of a woman pushing a bicycle with a basketful of fresh, colourful flowers (see photo above).

Agent Orange 

In 1970, during the Vietnam War, the Americans sprayed the jungles in Vietnam with a very toxic chemical, dioxin, commonly known as Agent Orange, to destroy the trees depriving the North Vietnamese armies of the jungle cover. Consequently, 3 million people were killed, the survivors suffered disabilities and their chidren were born with birth defects and disabilities.

Halong Bay

Soon we arrived at the Hon Gai wharf at 1 p.m. We were surprised to see the place crowded with hundreds of tourists waiting to board their boats to Halong Bay. There were lots of boats there. They looked like Chinese junks which were large and made of wood. Every boat had a large, wooden and painted figure of a dragon attached to its bow. To the Vietnamese, it signifies blessings and prosperity.

We could not go to the boat yet as we had to wait for an hour for a group of  tourists to arrive. When they arrived, they joined us and together we boarded a boat. Soon it left the wharf  and was moving slowly towards the small and large islands scattered in the Bay of Halong numbering over 1000.

Halong Bay Islands

The scenery of  the  islands in the Halong Bay is considered a natural wonder of the world. The locals name the islands according to their shapes, such as Banana, Tortoise, Wallowing Buffalo, Nail, Small Fish, Wading Ox, Fighting Cocks, etc. Some of these islands, especially the large ones,  have caves.

After having lunch in the boat, we went to the top deck and watched boats cruising to the islands and boats returning to the wharf. It looked as though the boats were on a warpath. Soon we sighted the islands of different shapes, sizes and heights, seemingly, emerging from the sea. The panoramic view of these islands was spectacular in spite of the haze in the air that reduced the visibility slightly.

A Vietnamese Belief

According to a Vietnamese belief, a large dragon came down from heaven to the earth and with its powerful long tail carved a large rock into small hills  and then flew away. So the people call the place ‘Halong Bay’ which means ‘Descending Dragon Bay’.

Thien Cung Cave

An hour later, we stopped at an island and disembarked the boat. Then we climbed steep staircases and entered a cave, Thien Cung Cave. It was large and had a high ceiling. Stalagtities, stalagmites and

pillars of different shapes and sizes were plentiful inside. Some of these formations had collapsed. With a little bit of imagination, we could see some of these rock formations that looked like dragons, lions, monkeys, fish, corals, etc. I noticed that the cave was unusually white and clean. I guessed it had been scrubbed clean not by nature but human beings. My guess was confirmed when we entered an adjacent cave which was in its original condition: dark, dirty, and covered with algae and moss.

Halong Bay Cruise

Later, we left the island. As our boat cruised among some towering islands with sheer rocks and lush rainforests we past by a floating village where the fishermen bred fish in cages and nets. When we saw two small rocks close to each other our tour-guide told us that they were

called ”fighting cocks’. They were aptly named as the two rocks looked like the cocks’ heads facing each other and getting ready to fight. Then we headed back to the Hon Cai wharf and travelled back to our hotel in Hanoi by the same van that brought us to the former place. 

(continued in Hanoi Travel II:  http://travel-cities.com/2009/05/hanoi-travel-north-vietnam/)

 

Hanoi Travel II

 Hoa Lo

On this day, we decided to visit two places of interest, viz. H0a Lo and Tam Coc.  A van came to hour hotel in the morning and picked us up. It brought us to Hoa Lo first. It is about 110 km south of

Hanoi. After two hours of travelling we arrived at a large open field in Hoa Lo. From the field, we could see high hills and temples. Hoa Lo was once an ancient capital as the hills provided protection to the dwellers then.

 Temples of King Dinh and King Le

We visited two well-known temples there. There were built as shrines to the memory of  two kings, King Dingh Bo Linh and King Le Hoan, who lived in the 10th. century. The temples were built like those in China but they were lower. According to our tour-guide, Cong, one day, King Dingh and two of his three sons were assassinated by some generals who wanted to overthrow him. His wife, with the help of a loyal general, Le Hoan, defeated them and made Le Loan the new king. Later, she married him and her youngest son who escaped the assassination lived with them. The first temple we visited had a

statue of King Dingh and his wife inside and the second one nearby had three statues, King Le, his wife (formerly King Dinh’s wife) and King Dingh’s youngest son.

Tam Coc (Three Caves)

Vietnamese Boat Rowers

When we arrived at the Tam Coc wharf, we saw Vietnamese rowers waiting for tourists to board their small boats which were made of metal. Each boat can carry six adults including a paddle-man and his assistant. Before we went for the boat ride, we had lunch first at a new restaurant at the wharf.  After the meal, we boarded the boats: two, three or four persons to each boat. My wife and I sat in a boat which was rowed by a 15 year old boy and his assistant, a 22 year old sister. The small and skinny boy was rowing with two long oars while her sister was rowing with a short one.

Writer Helped to Row

Later, as I felt I needed some exercise, I took over the lady’s task and enjoyed rowing upstream. As we moved along the river we saw paddy-fields and towering hills which were scenic. We also

went through three low caves which were dark inside. On one occssion, we saw two white goats grazing high up on a steep slope of a hill. A few minutes later, we saw lots of boats of tourists on their returning journey. Some of them were smiling at me and taking snap-shots as I was helping to row the boat. Along the river, I noticed some uniformed officers with an arm-band watching the river traffic. I guessed they were traffic police.

When we had travelled midway an oncoming boat came close to our boat and a man transferred a large metal box to our boat. I was wondering what was inside the box. An hour later, we came to the end of the boat-journey and had to turn

back. While we were turning back we were obstructed by a boat carrying food and drinks. The lady of the boat persuaded us to buy some food or drink for our rowers. We bought a pack of snack for the young boy.

Lady Rower Became Businesswoman

As we were going back half-way, the lady of our boat opened the metal box, took out table-cloths with simple embroidery and persuaded my wife to buy them. As my wife felt the embroidery works were not attractive and the cloths were expensive she refused to buy them. Then the disappointed lady took out other handicrafts and showed them to my wife. She became more disappointed when my wife refused to buy them too. But when we gave her and her brother a handsome tip she felt happy and friendly again.

I guessed these poor Vietnamese rowers were trying to make some extra money from tourists even though they knew they would be given tips by generous tourists.

Later, the lady transferred the box to another boat which was going upstream and I was surprised that she  boarded the other boat leaving her poor tired little brother to row. As I was helping to row most of the time, she might have thought that I would continue doing so until we reached the wharf.

Leg Rowing

effortlessly. On arrival at the wharf, we thanked the boy who looked so tired that he could not say a word. As we disembarked the boat, a middle-aged lady talked to us in Vietnamese which we could not understand and at the same time pointed at the boy who rowed us. Then someone told me in Mandarin that the lady said that the boy was her son. In response, I stuck out my right thumb up and then pointed at the boy who was still panting.  Well, that was an enjoyable boat-ride and a spectacular sight of the Tam Coc limestone hills.

Grace Gan, A Good Entertainer

Later, we left Tam Coc for Hanoi. Our return journey was an enjoyable one as we were entertained by one of our

friends, Grace Gan, most of the time, with her jokes, singing and interesting working experience tales. On arrival at the city, we had dinner at a small restaurant which had narrow staircases all the way up to the second floor. As the ground floor and the first floor of the restaurant were full of customers, we had to go up to the second floor. Luckily, our body-size was small enough to go up the staircases, otherwise we had to look for another restaurant nearby.

Puppet Show Tickets Sold Out

After dinner, we went to a famous theatre for a wooden puppet show. But we were disappointed as the tickets for the last two shows in the evening were sold out.  Anyway, we tried to book for one of the following day shows. We were shocked when we were informed by the ticket-

seller that the only show that was available for booking was the 9 p.m. show which was the last show. As we had no choice we booked the tickets for that show.

 Day 4

18 March 2009

Do Xuan Market

On the morning of our 4th. day in Hanoi, we left our hotel and walked to the largest Hanoi market, Dong Xuan Market. It was built in 1889 and now its building is much larger after renovation and expansion. The front part houses lots of stalls that sell goods ranging from apparels and handicrafts to electrical and electronic goods whereas the back part is wet and dry market. Dong Xuan Market is considered as the largest wholesale market in North Vietnam.

After walking for 15 minutes, we arrived at the market and were shocked to see the chaotic and appalling situation of the place behind the market. Roadside vendors set up their stalls haphazardly making the roads narrower. Motorbikes parked on the roadside in a disorderly manner and shops laid their goods in the walkway. Besides, the place was dirty and congested with both motorbikes and cars.

We spent a lot of time at the market as some of us were busy looking for something to buy like clothes and handbags, and haggling over the prices.

Vietnam Military History Museum

In the afternoon, we hired our hotel jeep for a short trip in the city. First, it brought us to the Vietnam Military History Museum in Dien Bien Phu Road in Ba Dinh District. Opened in 1958, this museum features thousands of exhibits that depict the Vietnamese military history and the wars the Vietnamese fought against the foreign invaders who were Chinese, French and the Americans. The most interesting exhibition at the museum was about the Vietnam War (1954 - 1975) when the Vietcongs were trying to conqure South Vietnam from the American imperialists.

War-Hardwares

In the compound of the museum, some war-hardwares used by the Vietcongs and the Americans during the war are on display, such as the captured American jetfighters, helicopter, tank and

artilleries, and the Russian MiG jetfighter and tank. Besides, there is a large and high pile of crashed  American fighter planes near the Flag Tower. The Flag Tower which is 31 m high and was ready in 1812 is a Vietnam national cultural monument.

Ho Chi Minh Museum

the French colonialists and his successful political career.

Ho Chi Minh

According to Wikipedia, Ho Chi Minh (May 19, 1890 – September 2, 1969) was a Vietnamese Communist revolutionary and statesman who was Prime Minister (1946–1955) and President (1946–1969) of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (North Vietnam).

Having learned about Uncle Ho, as he was fondly called, we left the museum and walked a short distance to the place where his embalmed body was laid.

Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum

When we reached the mausoleum we were disappointed to be informed that it was closed to public then. Later, we watched a change of guards in front of the building. Then we left the Ba Dinh Square for the largest lake in Hanoi, West Lake (Ho Tay Lake).

Water Puppet Show

A Pickpocket

As the 9 p.m. show was an hour away, my wife and I decided to take a walk at the Hoan Kien Lake Park for a few minutes. The park was full of people. As we were

walking towards an empty seat by the lake a thin, young man wearing a cap approached and asked me to buy his postcards. I told him I was not interested in his cards but he kept coming closer to me until his cards touched my chest. Then he walked away, quickly.

Later, my wife who suspected that guy could be a pickpocket asked me if I had lost anything, The first thing that came to my mind was my son’s expensive digital camera. Quickly, I touched my chest-pocket and it was gone! Over 400 photos I had, painstakingly, taken the last four days in Hanoi were gone too! We tried to search for the guy in the crowded park, but it was fruitless. Then, feeling unhappy about the theft, we went back to the theatre to watch the wooden puppet show.

Watching The Puppet Show

“Phoenix Dance”

In the theatre, I tried to watch and enjoy the puppet show without thinking of the unfortunate incident. At first the show was boring, but later it became interesting and exciting and I forgot about the lost camera, momentarily.

In the olden days, farmers created puppets from wooden blocks for performing shows to entertain themselves and the villagers after every rice harvest. But they did the shows in ponds or flooded paddy fields. Nowadays, wooden puppet shows are shown in theatres in Hanoi. Both locals and foreign tourists flock to the theatres to watch an hour show, every day.

skilfully make the wooden puppets come alive. The show is performed with the accompaniment of  a live Vietnamese orchestra and rendition of two singers.

The show features 17 unrelated scenes which are mostly about traditional village life and legends. Some of the scenes can be interesting and exciting like the ‘Dragon Dance’, ’Rearing Ducks and Catching Frogs’, ‘Fishing’, ‘Lion Dance’, ’Phoenix Dance’ and ‘Boat Racing’. As the puppets ’spoke’ in Vietnamese which we could not understand we tried to understand the stories by their movements and actions.

At the end of the show, eight puppeteers in brightly-coloured traditional costumes appeared in front of the curtain

clapping and waving farewell to us. We too clapped and waved goodbye to them. We felt the show was unusual and enjoyable.

Day 5

19 March 2009

Confiscated Sharp Objects

We woke up early in the morning, took our breakfast and went straight to the Noi Bai Airport to catch the 9.15 a.m. plane home, Malaysia. As we passed throught the baggage security checkpoint, we were shocked to see lots of confiscated sharp objects in a large transparent plastic box like scissors, knives, nail-cutters, etc. At about 9.30 a.m., we finally left Hanoi and were on our way home.

Acknowledgement

My wife and I would like to thank the staff of Hanoi Palace Hotel at 61B, Luong Ngoc Quyen Street, Hanoi City, Vietnam for their help and hospitality during our stay there.

Special thanks to Lisa Duong, the General Director of the hotel for being so kind as to walk and lead us to a superstore where we could buy the famousVietnamese coffee powder cheaply.

Bali Travel

After a trip to Batam Island in September 2008, two months later we went to another Indonesian island known as Bali.

Located a short distance east of Java, Bali is 153 km long and 112 km wide and has an area of about 5,632 sq. km. It has a few active volcanoes in the east such as Mt. Agung (3,142 m), the highest, and Mt. Abang, and Mt. Batur (1,717m).

A large part of its land is covered with volcanic soil making the land suitable for agriculture. Paddy is one of its main crops and is cultivated in the low flat land as well as in terraces on the highlands.

Looking at the map of Bali, the island looks like a bird standing near its egg which represents a smaller island known as Lombok. Denpasar with a population of over 300,000 is the capital of Bali and the international airport, Ngurah Rai  International Airport, is in the south of this city.

Although Indonesia is a Muslim-dominant country , over 90% of Bali’s population believe in Hinduism that is mixed with some local Balinese beliefs. It is surprising  that the small island has about 20,000 Hindu temples. The temples are built in Balinese architechural style and have narrow entrances and stone

statues of Ramayana characters. The island is commonly known as “The Island of Gods”. Sometimes, it is called “The Paradise on Earth”.

Bali is famous for arts and crafts. Besides, its dances are unique and well-known all over the world. The dances are usually incorporated in dramas that depict stories of Hindu epics of Ramayana mixed with local legendary tales, such as Barong, Legong, Kechak, Pendet, Topeng, Gong Keybar and Baru.

Tourism is the mainstay of Bali. Among all the Indonesian islands, Bali is the most popular tourist destination attracting millions of tourists from all over the world

every year. Its rapid growth in tourism has led to the increase in the living standard of the Balinese. It is commendable that many Balinese take the trouble to learn and speak English.

In 2002, a horrendous bombing in a popular tourist area in Kuta, south of Denpasar, killed 202 people and injured about 200. Most of the casualties were foreigners. It was caused by the Indonesian Muslim terrorists. Then in 2005, a series of terrorist bomb-attacks at Jimbaran and Kuta in southern Bali killed 20 and injured 129. The two bombings in 2002 and 2005 have, undoubtedly,

discouraged tourists from visiting the beautiful island. As a result, they have caused

severe economic hardship to the islanders for several years. To encourage foreigners to visit Bali, the Indonesian government has been taking measures to make the islands safe for tourists. To gain their confidence, the government holds frequent international conferences in Bali.

In November 2008, my wife and I decided to visit Bali, as we thought it was safe to have a short vacation there then.

Day 1 (27 November 2008)

On 27 November 2008, we boarded an Air Asia plane at LCCT at Sepang and flew directly to Bali. In the afternoon, 3 hours and 40 minutes later, we touched down safely at  Ngurah Rai International in Bali. Then we were whisked away by a hotel van to a budget hotel known as Puri Dewa Bharata Hotel which we had booked earlier through Air Asia.

Later in the evening, the same hotel van brought us to Kuta town. While travelling in the town, our driver stopped and pointed across the road at a spot and said that at that place a terrorist powerful bomb attack occurred in a bar known as Paddy’s Club killing 202 people and burning down many shops nearby. He then pointed at a large man-made structure known as “Bali Blast Monument” which was erected on 12 October 2004 on the 2nd. anniversary of the bomb attack. It is made of stone with intricate carvings and a large marble plague with names and nationalities of those killed in the bomb attack. Besides, it is flanked by the national flags of the victims.

After dinner at a KFC outlet in Kuta, we decided to walk about in the town. As we were walking along a road, Pantai Road, parallel to the Kuta beach, we saw hotels, bars, restaurants and a lot of tourists. It is a popular tourist place as there is a beautiful sandy beach with a bay. Besides, we saw horse-drawn carriages trotting along the road carrying tourists for joyride. At 11 p.m. we left the place in a taxi for our hotel.

Day 2 (28 November 2008)

On the second day in Bali, we booked a private car with an English-speaking Balinese driver, Nyoman. He was also our tour guide. At about 9.30 a.m., he came

to our hotel to pick us up and then we left to begin our Bali tour. The first place Nyoman brought us was a theatre in Batu Bulan to watch a morning live Balinese performance known as Barong and Kris Dance.  It was a play about the fight between Barong, the good spirit, and Rangda, the evil spirit. It was an hour show accompanied on the music by a “gamelan” orchestra and it attracted quite a lot of tourists.

The show began with the Barong dance or “Lion” dance which was boring to watch. It was performed by a strange looking creature which had a tiny head but a huge furry body. Subsequently, the show became interesting. There were two pretty girls in colourful Balinese costumes who amazed us. As they were dancing they moved their hands, legs, heads and body slowly but gracefully. But when they opened their eyes wide and looked

left and right their exposed white large eyeballs frightened the audience.

After the show, we left for Ubud which is a well-known area for factories that produce arts and crafts. We visited three of them at different places. The first one we visited produced batik, then the second one gold and silver jewellery, and the last one carved wooden animals like horses, lions, monkeys and crocodiles, human beings, landscapes, masks, etc. Some of these creatures were life-seized.

As we were passing through Ubud to a highland, Tegallang, we saw hundreds of small shops selling nothing but all kinds of  local arts and crafts.

On arrival at Tegallang, we stopped and joined a group of tourists at a vantage-point to see the beautiful scenery of the paddy terraces on steep hill-slopes. At that moment the terraces were dry and the paddy had already been harvested.

Then we moved on to another place, a village known as Kintamani, which is at a height of over 1,750 m. When we arrived there we entered a crowded restaurant, Batur Sari Restaurant, which perched at the edge of a cliff. While having lunch at the back of the restaurant, we feasted our eyes on the breathtaking scenery of the distant landscapes of a volcano, Mount Batur (1,717 m), a deep valley, a higher and larger volcano, Mount Abang, and a large lake, Lake Batur (a crater), with dwellings along its edge.

After enjoying the beautiful sight, we had to pay the restaurant a high price for our meal which cost 121,000 Rp. per person(including the exorbitant 21% tax!).

Our next stop was a coffee farm. While travelling through some villages in the hilly areas, our driver, smilingly, asked us to look out for ladies bathing topless in streams along the road. At first we did not believe him. A few minutes later, we were shocked to see one in a stream.

Soon we arrived at a coffee farm and were treated to a variety of tea and coffee drinks. Looking around, we did not see any coffee or tea plants but a man roasting coffee beans in a little hut. When asked, our driver explained that the area was once a coffee farm but as the area was small, it was planted in a larger area at another place.

 

Then we continued our journey and soon we arrived at Tampaksiring where we visited an old, large Balinese temple, Tirta Empul Temple. It has a pool where underground water can be seen coming out of its bottom. This so-called “holy water” flows into another pool nearby where Hindu devotees bathe with it to

cleanse themselves of their sins.

The next place we went was a monkey forest, Sacred Monkey Forest Sanctuary, at Pedangtegal. There are hundreds of long-tailed Macagues roaming freely in this forest. Besides, the forest has three temples built in the 14th. Century. We were warned that there were some mischievous monkeys in the forest. They liked to steal or snatch tourists’ possessions like sunglasses, handbags, plastic bags of food, cameras, etc. But when we were there in the late afternoon most of them were

resting in the trees.  I guessed they had seen enough of tourists for the day. We met some Balinese women in their traditional clothes in the forest. They were celebrating a festival and had worhipped at the temples. Tourists who want to visit this forest should bring along an insect repellent as there are lots of blood-sucking mosquitoes there.

Our driver then brought us to Bedula to visit a small cave which I think is man-made. It is known as Elephant Cave (Goa Gajah). It is so-called because its front has been carved into an image of an elephant and a small, short tunnel has been

dug to make it into a cave. In the evening, some local people will spend their time meditating in the “cave”. Near the “cave” are some temples destroyed by earthquakes long time ago.

In the evening , our kind driver brought us to Batu Bulan again to see another Balinese performance known as Kecak and Fire Dance. It is about a prince, his beautiful wife and brother who lived in exile in a forest. A lecherous king who liked the prince’s wife asked his prime minister to bring her to his kingdom. The

prime minister then tricked, kidnapped and brought the lady to his king. When the prince discovered the kidnap, he, with the help of a large troop of monkeys, went to fight the king. He, successfully, killed the king and saved his wife.

After the show, we could not believed ourselves that we had visited so many places of interest in one day. As we were feeling tired, the first thing that came to our minds was to go for a Balinese massage. After the massage, we felt rejuvenated but famished. When we asked for a seafood restaurant, our driver brought us to one which is known as Ganesha Restaurant at Kedonganan Beach in Kuta.

We enjoyed the delicious dinner there. It consisted of a boiled crab of 1.4 kg, a sweet and sour grouper, some chilli clams, vegetable and white rice.

While we were having our meal we heard a band of four male Balinese playing musical instruments and singing English oldies to a group of tourists who were also having their meal.

When we have finished our dinner we were shocked that it was already 11 p.m. On the way to our hotel, we apologised to our patient driver for making him wait so long at the restaurant. We told him to come again and fetch us at our hotel for the following morning trip, as he was a good driver-cum-tour guide.

Day 3 (29 November 2009)

Our 3rd. day in Bali was our last day. As we had to leave Bali by plane at 4.50 p.m.we decided to make a short trip to Tanah Lot in the morning to see a famous temple sitting on a hard rock at the Indian Ocean. Our driver, Nyoman, came and brought us to the place in the morning. On arrival, we were awe-stricken to see beautiful coastal landscapes. The coastal land is high which is about 70 m above sea-level and has steep cliffs, promontories, stacks, arches and caves. All these structures have been created by the strong ocean waves.

Perched precariously on an arch is a small temple which is out of bound to the tourists. Not far from this temple is a another one which is built on a solid rock.

The rock becomes an islet when there is a high tide and it is about 100 m from the mainland. The view of the temple on the rock is spectacular.

On the mainland there is a spot near the edge of the cliff and is 70 m above the sea. It commands a panoramic view of the vast expense of the Indian Ocean. On a clear day, the eastern part of Java Island can be seen from this spot. In the evening, tourists go there to watch the sunset. Hence, the place is known as Sunset Terrace.

Having seen enough of the sacred place, we went to the capital of Bali, Denpasar. When we arrived there we stopped at a small restaurant for lunch. As we entered the restaurant we saw on the walls photos of customers and their words of praise for the food served there. We thought we would enjoy the meal there if what the customers said was true. For 50,000 Rp. for a meal per person, we were given a plate of white rice, a bowl of

pork meat soup, and a plate containing a stick of grilled pork meat, a few pieces of roasted pork (”babi guling”) and some vegetable. After taking the food, we felt that it was “so-so” for us.

Then we went to a superstore which is well-stocked with Balinese-made goods, such as clothes, hadbags, belts, souvenirs, arts, handicrafts, preserved foods, etc. It is called Krishna. After buying a few items there we left for the airport. On arrival, we thanked our good driver, Nyoman, tipped him for his excellent service and bade him farewell. Finally, at about 5 p.m. we left Bali and flew back to Malaysia, our homeland.

Well, that was a short but enjoyable vacation in Bali and we hope to visit more foreign places in the near future.

Here, I would like to thank I Nyoman Sudira, our excellent, patient and obliging driver-cum- tour guide, for making our Bali tour an enjoyable and memorable one. Those who are interested in his service can contact him by handphone: 0361-7432274 or at his email address, Lembut_Bali@yahoo.com .

Our next vacation will be in Hanoi City and hope you will read about it when I have visited the place and written about it. Well, I hope you have gained something from what I have written about our Bali trip.

Written by:

Choo Chaw, Kluang, Johor, Malaysia.

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