A Youth Backpacker in Europe
Part II Chapter I
Marseille, Second French Connection

City: Marseille
Country: France
Currency: Euro (€)
Travel date: 4/9/2008 – 6/9/2008
Couchsurfing: 2 nights


Though I wouldn’t say that it was a shoddy planning due to the extra lengthy working hour during my internship in Indonesia and England, the entire planning of the summer trip was pretty much resembled the idea of assembling scattering pieces for greater picture formation.

Nevertheless, the summer trip had successfully kick-started at Marseille, my second French connection, with a brand new travel experience; travelling alone and couchsurfing. Though it would be better if I have got companion, I savoured the greater freedom and flexibility offered by unaccompanied travel.

Caption: Entrance of navigational channel and Chatédrale.

Marseille is the second largest city in France after Paris. The city is huge, but my time allocated for Marseille was scarce. And supported by the idea of having more relaxed travel compared to my winter trip, most of the tourist destinations had been aborted intentionally.

Being one of the candidates for cultural city of Europe, the ethnic composition of the population in the city of Marseille has certainly tailored it for the title. Culturally rich is almost automatically linked with Marseille due to this factor. However, to be crowned the cultural city of Europe? I have reservation.

Caption: Vieux Port day and night.

Not that Marseille was lacking the x factors that make it top the chart, but it was somehow unnatural in my opinion. If you have travelled to the city, you would definitely be dazzled by its offering of celebrations and activities that originated from cultures galore. But it just made me felt that these were all forced out.

It was interesting to witness how people of various skin colour tolerating each other for co-existence. But the connections of these people were in serious shortage with isolated living zones. Very often, it conveyed the message that these people are living together because they share the same space and not for greater interaction. Such a shame, indeed!

Caption: "Old Town" for the first three and Modern Town for the last.

Despite the fact that Marseille couldn’t be more cultural naturally interesting, attractions remain plentiful. Certainly, a walk along Vieux Port all the way towards Fort Saint-Jean or Bas Fort Saint-Nicolas is a must, especially during evening time when all the fishermen gather around Vieux Port, shouting at passerby for their products.

Vieux Port at night, however, has a totally different atmosphere in store for tourists than its blatant business and the chaotic manoeuvre of traffic during daytime. Accompanied by the refreshing late summer breeze from the sea, Vieux Port was beautifully decorated with colourful neon lights that sketched the liveliness of the city.

Vieux Port was nice, but it was not enormous for an entire day. Visiting to south of France and getting closer to the warmth of Mediterranean, what could be more relaxing and rewarding than a walk through the ancient hub of Marseille around the second district, especially in the proximity of Vielle Charite (the “old town” of Marseille) for its Mediterranean and Greek-like construction before diving oneself to the arms of sea at Catalans Beach?

Caption: Notre Dame de la Garde, inside and the way up.

Visiting to the “old town” of Marseille brought me to an entirely new world. The architectural value at the old town was distinctive from the modern Marseille. Surrounded by buildings which I believe were living quarters normally of three to four storey high and painted in different colours, there was a constant demand for a climb on fairly large step concrete staircase. It gave me a very strong sense of Mediterranean construction which surprised me in great order.

Satisfied with the old town, Catalans Beach or Plage des Catalans was however a shocking disappointment. The seawater was crystal clear and was in lovely sky blue colour if viewed from top and the temperature was surely a lot better than North Sea. However, the bay was so narrow that my search for a wide sandy beach unfortunately became a total nightmare. Luckily it wasn’t crowded for a nice late summer tan.

Caption: Another new and old comparison.

My only day in Marseille though was not inundated by tourist hot spots was quite tiring after a swim in the sea and a climb to Notre Dame de la Garde. Thus, there was no night life for me. However, hospitality offered by my host had got me to a night walk in Marseille which I appreciate very much.

Marseille, whether it is an official cultural city of Europe, surely has something to offer. But whether a tourist knows how to appreciate its charm, it depends.

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A Youth Backpacker in Europe
Part Two Summer Trip 2008
Prelude

In my last post, I mentioned Berlin was the “last” stop of my winter trip. It was actually not because I took a detour to Hamburg on the last day of my month long travel since Berlin had literally killed my passion for travel with its persistently stubborn downpour.

However, Hamburg will not be featured in this column as in my opinion it would be unjustifiable to describe a city when I was only putting my footprints on a few streets.

And then the travelogue is supposed to continue with my adventures in the Netherlands. But I have decided to reserve it until the time when travel entries run dry. And right, there is also the experience in Kalimantan and Great Yarmouth during my summer internship. For the same reason, they are refrigerated.

Therefore, here comes the prelude of my recent summer trip to France, Switzerland, Italy and London.

The trip had claimed my many firsts; the first time travelling alone overseas, the first time staying at random strangers homes, the first time not concentrating on tourist destinations, the first time of spending more money on ice-cream than on food, and the first time of, wait, that is a piece of private information.

A comment left in the previous post taught me into learning the colours of unexpected rather than the frustrations of expected. Strangely, this is somehow connected to my recent rather unplanned summer trip.

If a picture conveys a thousand words, I am going to give you a wall of pictures. Bon voyage with me in due course.

Click to enlarge.

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A Youth Backpacker in Europe
Chapter XI
Berlin, Feels Like Home





City: Berlin
Country: Germany
Currency: Euro (€)
Travel Date: 19-22 January 2008
Travel Buddies: Siddharth, Egon, Rahma, Stella, Philipp, Chris and Meghan



Caption: Single most important depiction of Berlin history

Berlin is such an important city for past and current world affairs and it is definitely a crucial checkpoint for the world's history. However, it felt strangely familiar during my visit. For more than one moment, I questioned myself: Have I boarded a flight that brought me back to my home country Malaysia?

I was literally drenched in rain for the entire 4-day stay in Berlin. This megacity looked nothing more like Kuala Lumpur when it was cloudy and rainy, flashflood-less of course. Wide roads with wheels speeding along, unplanned city development, numerous unknown buildings that seem to have received careless treatment, and the uncoated dirtiness around the city, I couldn't help but wonder the resemblance between Berlina and Kuala Lumpur.

Having mentioned the esrtwhile blatant descriptions, yes, it is an explicit indication that I didn't really enjoy my Berlin stay (so as Kuala Lumpur). First of all, why do I have to fly continents away to go a place that I feel familiar with? Secondly, the "monsoon" season during my visit had literally killed my travelling mood. And lastly, the city was, allow me to be scrupulously honest, ugly.

Caption: Two drawings on the Eastside Gallery.

Indeed, it is unfair to judge the city with my sole opinion. Everyone should visit the city before making his or her own conclusion. That was also the reason why I was so deeply disappointed after drowned by the many there-is-just-so-much-going-on comment from my friends. Perhaps expectation does always lead to frustration. But sincerely, I wouldn't fancy revisiting the city in the future.

Perhaps the city is dirty. Perhaps it is not intelligently constructed mainly due to the destruction during the war and the demand to recover at its fastest. But the rain that I hated pretty much was contradictorily the magic wand that miraculously added a must have Berlin atmosphere during my visit. What could be a better weather to visit the Holocaust, Charlie checkpoint, Eastside gallery of Berlin Wall if not a rainy one?

Caption: Berlin division and the cut off section of Berlin Wall.

War was once again becam the main course of my winter trip after Poland. I knew it was only a matter of time that learning about Nazism from the inside and not from the outside (Poland) is on my agenda since the moment I started planning my winter trip.

It was less depressing though if compared to Auschwitz, perhaps the sudden imposition of disbelief reduced significantly when the War agenda was again raised. Emotion was niggardly involved, but it was educational to walk along the Eastside gallery which for some is mainly a long piece of graffiti by unknown artists. To me, a lot of messages could be delivered if one scrutinise the drawings carefully.

Undoubtedly, the Berlin Wall is the single most important feature of Berlin. But the historical past of the city was actually filled up the every corner around the city. There were permanent exhibitions made available to public at various locations in the city. The city is definitely made for War enthusiasts and I would probably describe it as a vast walk-in museum to the War.

Caption: Charlie Checkpoint and some exhibition close to the Holocaust.

Politically, the history of Berlin is not only the attraction to visitors. A visit to Berlin would seem to be less perfect if the Parliament is not in your agenda. And topping it up with a handful of greyish atmosphere, excellent.

Compared to the other visitor hotspots, the Parliament is relatively "young". The core section of the Parliament is definitely the Dome, an interesting architecture feature of the Parliament structure that allows visitors to view the seating of parliament from the top, of course, when there is one. During my visit, it was just too bad. However, ascending and descending in alternate order along the pathways inside the Dome was also an intriguing event.

Honestly, that was it, my Berlin encounter. Being the "last" stop of my winter trip, I was culturally filled and started to lose motivation for eager exploration. Lid-ed by the discouraging weather (and just for how many times more I am going to blame on the weather?), I must admit that I deliberately kept my enthusiasm safely in a hidden corner. Perhaps it is time to settle down at my second home - the Netherlands.

Caption: The Parliament building and inside the Dome.

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A Youth Backpacker in Europe
Chapter X Part II
Munich, the King who lived in Fairy Tale



City: Munich
Country: Germany
Currency: Euro (€)
Dates: 15/01/2008 - 19/01/2008
Travel buddies: Chris, Siddharth, Stella, Meghan, Rahma, Egon


Caption: Munich city hall

Yes, it is undeniable that this has been a longed update. Summer trip, still freshly lingering in my mind will however not appearing in this column anytime soon. Well, as you can see, I am still struggling with my late production of my winter trip.

However, I have decided that updates will be made more frequently in order to keep up with the pace of the column with the tragically overdue travel stories.

Last time we were looking Munich from an advanced and developed point of view. But now, let's board on time machine and travel to the past of Munich. Our destinations: ancient Munich city and Neuschwanstein.

Caption: Munich old town and the dragon church.

Munich old town, in my opinion is not massively confusing. But together with my friends, there was still quite a bit of challenge for us to locate at night the restaurant which serves humongous portion of cuisines at unimaginable affordable prices, which was recommended by our walking tour guide.

The trails of an old expression of Munich were not difficult to be noticed. But with modern shops so compactly fused into historical monuments, it could be hard and perhaps less interesting for one to really enjoy the visit to the old town. However, bear in mind that this is the norm of megacities in Europe, where very often shopping street or district is located, or purely a modification from a city's old town.

Still, during the visit to Munich old town, one would be able to ascend to the city hall tower which gives you a panoramic view of the entire Munich city, or visit to a church which was once conquered by a dragon (couldn't remember the name of the church though), and also various buildings located at random corners, which remained largely untouched.

Caption: Neuschwanstein and the beer mug of King Ludwig II.

Personally, for the sake of quenching the thirst for more historical sides of Munich city and its surrounding, I would recommend a visit to Neuschwanstein at Füssen. If you haven't got to know it, Neuschwanstein was one of the 21 candidates in the new seven wonders of the world contest. But to be really honest, this fairy tale castle, which was popular locations for various films, turned out to be not so glamorous.

The interior of the castle is not as extravagant as its adjacent surrounding promises. The location of the castle is undeniably perfect as any view from any of the windows of the cacstle will isntantly supplies a sight to sore eyes, even when it was durinf winter time. However, this supposed to be the most expensive castle built by King Ludwig II turned out to the a loser when the interior design is of concern. There was golden decoration but only with golden paint; there were murals all around the building, but only unattractive dull drawings.

And contrary to the romantic belief, this castle was actually used by the King to separate himself from the world. Some even concluded that Neuschwanstein was the private mental illness centre of the King. To add on the mysteries, there was even speculation saying that it was the love net of the King and his homosexual lover. Fascinating!

Caption: Trains hall, bridges hall and space hall in Science and Technology Museum.

Leaving Neuschwanstein, I stepped into the past of Munich in another form; the Science and Technology Museum of Munich. Yes, I admit this may sound a little similar to the technology chapter in the last entry. But differs itself from the modern technology which you can observe easily on the streets, the science and technology museum supplies immense pleasure to technology enthusiasts of different disciplines with its detailed and rich galore of histories, explanations and models in various technology fields.

However, once has to recognise that this museum is not targeted to be a day or even a two-day event. Of course you can choose to rush through the various chambers of the museum, but surely that will not benefit you in any way. My suggestion is really to just relax and pace yourself in the museum and the best thing to do is always to start with your favourite section. To me, this definitely has to be the train technology section, where large scale trains models was set up and running in the entire hall.

Caption: Tropical fruit store in Munich old town and voila! The most expensive papaya in life!

One othe thing about why Munich was able to crave such a vivid memory in my mind was the most expensive papaya I had ever bought in my life. it was the first time I saw a papaya in Europe and after being deserted by the fruit for more than half a year, I went literally insane during its presence. Spent 12 Euros on that papaya, I must say it was not only the most expensive one in my life, it was also the most effective one; toilet visit was guaranteed after two-hour I had tasted it.

Now, it is not hard to see why Munich was such a huge attraction to me. It simply has the whole package tgat dazzles tourists of all walks of life. If there is one place in Germany that I would recommend, Munich is definitely the place. But to be fair and not just conclude as a first-timer to Germany, join me in Berlin next time.
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A Youth Backpacker in Europe
Chapter X Part I
Munich, more than Oktoberfest




City: Munich
Country: Germany
Currency: Euro (€)
Dates: 15th January 2008 - 19th January 2008
Travel buddies: Stella, Egon, Rahma, Sid, Chris and Meghan








Caption: Olympia Tower in Olympia Park

It was intriguing to observe how every alphabet flipped in an old-fashioned way as the schedule changed in Budapest central station. But what occupied me the whole night was by having Budapest setting such a high standard in travel, will Munich, city lived and promoted excessively by Soon Hooi be able to live up with the expectation?

Anyway, the Budapest-Munich train ride was definitely nowhere close to a comfortable 10-hour. Despite the fact that Germany is probably one of the countries in the world that produces the best trains, the journey was surprisingly awful as the train was crappy and completely worn out. Not to mention also how slowly it paced. But I guess this is just the nature of international train - except no quality train, unless you are willing to churn out money from your wallet.

Munich, as described by Soon Hooi as one of the coldest cities in Germany contradictorily welcomed me with its warm hug. There wasn't a single snow fall during my entire visit. And in fact, it was the time when I was relaxing in Olympia Park Munich that I had to unbutton my jacket to feel the soothing winter breeze.

Caption: Lake in Olympia Park (left) and interestingly, was it feeding ourselves or feeding swans?

Yes, besides the worldwide acclaimed annual Oktoberfest event, Munich certainly has a huge galore of fun to offer. Olympia Park, as mentioned previously, was built for the 1972 Summe Olympic Games. It was the first Olympic complex I have visited in my life. Wondering how monstrously huge an Olympic Stadium would be, I found the park was lovely in size.

Visiting Olympia Park in the morning was definitely the smartest decision of the day. Surrounded by groups of swans gliding smoothly in the beautifully created artificial lake, birds flying by the park and occassionaly added a closer-to-nature scent to the park, and the scattering crowds of people eithier practicing sports or leisurely strolling around the park like I did, I asked myself, what could be more relaxing?

Ascending to the Olympia Tower however may seem to be luxurious treat as it offers nothing more than a panoramic view of the industrial hub of Munich City. With so many historically erected monuments in Munich city centre offering fascinating sceneries of the Bavarian capital, it really is hard to convince that a climb to the Olympia Tower is necessary. But I did give it a try and found that it really was... nothing much.

Caption: Olympia Park (left) and BMW world from Olympia Tower.

If you are willing to spend the money for the tower, then it is absolutely idiotic if you choose to skip the guided tour to BMW Manufacturing Plant in the BMW Weld (BMW World), which is located just less than a few hundreds metres from the Olympia Park.

Germany, a nation often associated with state-of-the-art high speed trains and luxuriosuly good performance automobiles certainly would render disappointment to mechanical technology fanatics impossible. Mercedes-Benz, Porsche and Volkwagen are all originated from Germany. But most importantly in Munich is home to another automobile giant - BMW.

With the newly constructed BMW World, BMW certainly promises to provide the ultimate pleasure and intense excitement to cars lovers by cramping a BMW Museum which unfortunately was under renovation during my visit, manufacturing plant, exhibition and sales centre with test drive facility all under the same roof.

The feel-free atmosphere in the centre was so encouraging that no matter who you are and whether you can afford a BMW, you are encouraged to jump into any model of BMW on display, except the very exclusive F1 race cart centred the exhibition hall like the king of the kings. Filled with information, interactive games and friendly staff fluent in multiple languages, satisfaction is assured in the world of BMW.

Caption: That is the logo that everyone is chasing after. And to the right, observe the test drive runway which appears as a bridge as seen from below.

But the highlight was surely a guided tour to the manufacturing plant. It was one of the single most important events in my winter trip. Being able to witness this state-of-the-art manufacturing plant which adopts robotic aid in 95% of its operation was stunning. I was first impressed, and then amazed, and lastly fascinated by how a half-a-million Euro automobile is produced to its every detail. Not a mechanical enthusiast myself, the charm of the tour proved to be irresistible.

As mentioned, cars are not the only proud product of German. Trains, on the other hand is also an affair Germans take very high pride in. The delusive impression of German trains not too long before vanished after train journeys within the nation embarked. By deliberately served ignoring the supreme quality of train rides and just amplifying the types of trains in the nation, it is already sufficient to impress train commuters.

It was wonderful to travel in Germany by trains, not to mention my superb night train from Munich to Berlin. I was even travelled from Berlin to Hamburg just for the sake of trying out the ICE train at one point of my journey within Germany. You can tell that I was hooked to the quality of German trains. Although price concern travellers might find German trains slightly absurdly priced, but trust me, it worth the money. But in order to travel wisely, I would still advise you to buy a railpass.

Caption: BMW F1 and posing next to BMW.

From Olympia Park to BMW World to German trains, I trust I have given Germany a superior technology giant coating. The admiration to this highly developed nations is without a doubt. But the history behind Munich and the charm of it from an historical point of view surely will not surrender to dazzle visitors. Of course, all these are coming in the next entry.

Have I already told you that Munich is my most favourite city of my entire winter trip?

Caption: Allianz Arena which hasn't been mentioned in the post.

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I know it has been a long while since my last update. The reason, internship. Travelled to Kalimantan in the beginning of July and then came back to the Netherlands after three weeks. And then got re-posted by company a day after to England. So voila, here I am in Great Yarmouth, east coast of England. Heard that this is probably the roughest coastline in the North Sea. Well, so far, the nasty English weather is not prevailing. I guess summer season does help.

So, I guess you know this is not going to be a typical travel post that I normally make. Accessing the internet from wireless connection in hotel, nothing much to expect. Constant discontinuation is more likely. And everytime when there is a huge amouth of data transfer, I will get disconnected. It means no upload of picture. Therefore, this is not an ordinary travelogue from Sambaldeli.

Anyway, I will still share some travel experience with you. But they are my travel experiences in Banjarmasin and Great Yarmouth because under the reason of travel light, I didn't bring my travel diary with me, and my winter travel diary is inside.

Firstly, Banjarmasin. It is the capital of South Kalimantan. I thought it would be a huge city, but I was disappointed. Not that it is not huge enough. But it is monstrously huge just because of the population. As any typical city in Indonesia, the only thing to see in Banjarmasin is human, human, and more human. It is evident that the city is expanding because of the population and nothing else.

The traffic on the street, it was hardly imaginable. There wasn't a lot of cars, but motorcyclists were everywhere and they costed me five minutes before I managed to cross a road. There was apparently a floating market which according to my colleague, a waste of time. There was also something called a boat trip to a monkey island. But apparently, you only sit in the boat passing by the monkey island.

Sounds like I am complaining. But I am not exactly. Growing up in Malaysia, how much difference I would have expected between Indonesian and Malaysian was obvious. Monkey, it might be interesting to European, but not me. Floating market, perhaps it is just people selling goods on boats. By having said these, I didn't involve to any of the aforementioned activities.

Great Yarmouth, on the other hand, is a complete different story. According to my colleague, it is a, C.H.E.A.P English toursit city. Funny? Yes, indeed!

After slightly more than a week here, I have to agree with my colleagues that Great Yarmouth is indeed a popular beachfront city for poor English people. Not the mention the nasty English weather that mostly rain prevailing. It was because having a beautifully wide sandy beach but a deadly cold North Sea just doesn't make it interesting for, at least me, a typical tropical beach lover.

I went for a swim in the North Sea for the first time in my life last weekend. The moment I was in the water, I thought I was going to meet my creator in a few minutes. It was deadly cold. Okay, maybe it wasn't a great idea in the very first place to swim in the sea. But if you keep moving, you will soon get used to the sea temperature and be able to enjoy a little bit. But still, don't spend too much time in it. Because the harbour my company is building is just a mile away.

What to say? Poor English people.

Okay, you may have noticed I am not revealing a lot here. Because this is just an update for greater travel stories in the future. I will be back with more detailed travel bites in Banjarmasin and Graet Yarmouth. See you soon! I hope.

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Budapest, delightful Turkish experience
A Youth Backpacker in Europe
Chapter XI Part II

City: Budapest
Country: Hungary
Currency: Hungarian Florint (1Euro = 238 Ft)
Travel Date: 11-14 January 2008
Hostel: Goat Hostel
Travel Buddies: Siddharth, Egon, Rahma and Meghan

Caption: Random street view in Budapest

In Budapest, the fun wasn't limited to just walking endlessly from one tourist attraction to another. Having been told by the hostel owner that there is something called the thermal bath, the five of us were eagerly excited for another exploration. But the challenge, five kilometres of walking one way.

The navigation was extremely easy as I just walked along the Andrassy utca (the Embassy street) where embassies are located. But as you would have imagined, the scenery wasn't all that impressive. It was only until the very end of the journey where I spotted another concentration of tourist attractions; the Heroes Square, ski park and museum.

Indeed, thermal bath may be treated as another form of tourist activity. But the construction of this Turkish-like thermal bath centre, called Szechenyi, is actually for medical purpose rather than to attract tourists. Therefore, it wasn't surprising for me to notice that there was a handful of people holding a medical card in their hands asking for discount while I was queuing in the line.

Caption: Random street views in Budapest

One question, since thermal bath is medically beneficial, especially to skin problem, would transfer of diseases by sharing the same pool occur? Honestly, I don't know. I didn't give it that much of thought at that time. And judging by the fact that no one talks about it, I supposed it was all safe to enjoy the endless body contact with others in the same pool, to relax under numerous water jets and to have fun spinning in swirl pool.

But one warning, no underwear is allowed. Wear your swimsuit.

I did bring my swimming trunk with me. However, concerning whether the heat of the water might render extremely high weariness to the fabric, I opted for my white sport shorts. Unfortunately, it was a mistake, or perhaps a beautiful disaster.

Caption: Heroes Square (left) and Ski part next to a museum.

Not that I was questioned and scrutinised by the guard of the centre while standing half naked, which happened to my friend in his underwear. It was because while pool hopping in Szechenyi, I got uninvited stares from others as my white sport shorts turned to be transparent and I was wearing nothing more than the shorts. (Blushed)

Yes, it was absolutely hillarious. But it wasn't because of the indecent exposure, it was because of my high self awareness that had rendered me to walk (or run) from pool to pool extremely awkwardly while struggling to cover certain parts of the body, pathetically. However, the mist around the pools (except the cold water pool) did help a little in saving my embarrassment.

Caption: Szechenyi Thermal Bath centre (left) and its interior.

It was absolutely the best idea to just have a luxurious dinner around Szechenyi thermal bath centre after the two-hour relaxation. Heard also from the hostel owner that there is a restaurant somewhere around Szechenyi that is owned, operated, and served only by female, we were curiosuly interested.

Unfortunately, the nught came really early and instead of risk getting lost in the darkness, we decided to return to Budapest city centre, along the yet another five kilometres journey. How effective was the thermal bath after all the walking? I have absolutely no idea.

However it wasn't a bad decision to just have our one-proper-meal-per-city in the proximity of our hostel. The restaurant that we subscribed to was indeed eerily quiet when we first stepped in. But since it was recommended by the hostel owner, we gave it a shot, and it was definitely satisfying. The portion of food was generous, the environment was soothing with music played in the background, and most importantly, it was delicious and cheap. I especially like the layers potato in my lamb pot.

Caption: Food in the restaurant (first three) and langos in market.

Talking about food, there is a food called Langos that one must try in Budapest, or Hungary in general. It is very typical deep fried bread served with different topping, from savoury to sweet, which Hungarians normally have in the morning for breakfast. Though it might be new to some of my friends, I did find it quite resemble to "yaw zha kuei". But I guess it was the different topping that made it slightly unique.

To sum up my Budapest trip, i was thrilled to have visited this capital accidentally. Budapest certainly has a lot to offer and in great deal. The people don't speak perfect English, but they are genuine and friendly. But still, most importantly, expenses in this capital weren't that expensive.

I have had absolute good time in Budapest and I will definitely go back again.

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