| I
would like to make it clear that I'm not an
expert in travelling or travel guide or have
anything to do with the travel industry. I'm
just a web enthusiast and an avid traveller.
I wish to visit at least 25 countries before
I retire.
I'm a software consultant by profession. I started
'serious' travelling for professional reasons
at the age of 23 (in 1994) when I went to Hong
Kong/South Korea for a business visit for one
month. I did not speak Korean and did not know
anyone else who spoke Korean. Being a vegetarian
compounded the problem as I struggled to get
the message across in hotels.
But
it amazes me how human mind works. On my second
visit to the restaurant, I again faced the problem
of what to eat. I took the paper tissue kept
on the table and drew a chicken on it. Then
I put a BIG cross on it. Then I drew a four
legged animal and again drew a cross across
it. Then it was turn of the fish and again a
big cross.
Then
I drew an Egg next to the chicken I drew earlier
and put a BIG YES tick on it (like the Nike
logo). Then something with leaves again a yes
there.
The
waitress could not believe what was going on,
but at the end of it she was amazed and gave
a huge smile that she understood.
She
also called her manager to see this weired fellow's
drawings and both of them laughed and put fingers
on some menu options on the menu card. I ordered
one of it and found that I indeed got an egg
fried rice.
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Photo above: Konigsee,
Germany. World is beautiful ! |
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However
later I got better. Next day, I requested one
of my colleagues who could write a bit of english
to write some common things for me in Korean
(including one that said 'I'm a vegetarian -
no meat or fish for me. Egg is fine') and later
on only thing I had to do was to carry that
paper with me and show the message. In my next
trip to South Korea in 1995, I had managed to
buy english / korean book of common phrases,
had picked up the hangul script. So I could
easily write and read things correctly, although
I could not tell what it means due to my limited
vocabulary.
Photo
above: Eiffel
Tower, Paris - My favourite place so far
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Later
it was the turn of England, again for professional reasons.
I made full use of my stay in England to visit Scotland,
Frace, Holland, Switzerland (all more than once), Belgium,
Italy, Germany, Austria, and Spain. First time I travelled
there as a bachelor and later with wife. Then it was
me, wife and our daughter. Our first trip outside England
with our 6 month old daughter was to Holland. It did
make some difference since earlier I used to stay in
hostels, now we stay in better hotels or Self catering
apartments. Now I also consider aspects like children
friendliness etc.
On
this website, I want to inform you about not only places
in England, but also want to tell you about practical
itineraries that worked for me.
I
also want to write about travel planning in general.
One day I also wish to write on all the countries I
visited and the experiences I had. If visitors like
the website, then may be in the future I can recover
some costs by advertising. Unfortunately I'm at least
10 years late to make a living on a dot com :-)
Sometimes
people do ask me what are my favourite places
in whatever I have seen so far?
Well,
it's:
1.
Eiffel Tower, Paris, France
2.
Neuschwanstein Castle, Bavaria, Germany
3.
Trafalgar square / Westminister, London, England
4.
Keukenhof Gardens, Lisse, Holland
5.
Backwaters of Kerala, India
I
wish I could visit so many more places in years
to come that the list keeps on growing! |
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