Touch down in Rome!

Rome. Touch down!
We took the express train that leads us to the town central. Something you really need to take note. Somehow, at the ticket counter, they only have one staff attending to the long queue of passengers. Why can't they employ more?

Anyway, it was our lucky day. We touch down on the first day of the Cultural week! The Cultural Week lasts for nine days from 16 April to 25 April. During this period, major museums and monuments are open to the public without admission charges. We don't need to pay the admission fees for most of  the museums in Italy! Think Lady Luck is smiling upon us.

First stop! The coliseum. Gladiators used to fight to death in this magnificant stadium to entertain the Romans. Sometimes they fought with beasts such as lions and tigers. Sounds like the Ancestors of  WWE.

Then we walk over to the Forum. Free admission again! It shows the ancient Rome town with pillars and ruins. We ventured to the Julius Casear tomb. Not sure whether his body is still there but can still see flowers on his tomb. Surprised that people nowadays still remember him.

From the Forum, we moved on to the Capitoline Hill. The majestic Victor Emmanuel II Memorial memorial is to commerate the first King who unified Italy.

The whole area around Capitoline Hill is designed by Michelangelo. And the Piazza Nuovo now houses several museums while the parade square shows a pattern designed by the great artist himself, Michelangelo. To reach the square, go up the Cordonata Stairs. Then tour Palazzo dei Conservatori, Epigraphic gallery and Tabularium.
 

Next stop, Tiber Island. The island is connected to the main island by two bridges. Check out the Temple of Aesculapius on the island. You see one of the bridges in the above photo.

Then we took a long walk to Saint Peter's Basilica. It is the largest Church in the world. It is also beautifully decorated with statues and sculptures. Standing in the center of the Saint Peter's Square really makes one feel very small. Definitely worth going there! Excellent place for taking photo!

After taking numerous photos, we headed for the Vatican Museum. The highlight of the Rome trip is the Sistine Chapel inside the museum. No free admission here! In fact, it is 15 euro each. What the heck. A bit expensive but Michelangelo's masterpieces are in there.

You have to take a long walk to reach the Sistine Chapel. And please expect crowds. There are a lot of paintings, tapestries, sculptures and statues in the museum. But for me, the main target is still Sistine Chapel. Wasted no time in heading there.

In the Sistine Chapel, you can see why Michelangelo is considered one of the greatest artists at that time. He painted the ceiling using special platforms and it is beautiful! If it is possible, bring along a binoculars to gaze upon the painting on the ceiling. Don't miss out on the Last Judgement on the altar wall too. It is said that Michelangelo painted his hated enemy as the devil.

The entire trip took us at least 6 hours including the tours. Boy, am I exhausted from the walking. We wanted to head for Trellis fountain but we were running short of time. Maybe next time.

Actually in Rome, you really need more than 1 day to tour all attractions. There are too many places that you can go. To save time, you can hop on their tour bus specially for touring Rome. You can alight or board at major tourist attractions in a day.

Recommendation : Coliseum, Vatican Museum, Sistine Chapel (Must Go!) Trellis Fountain.

Lion Cubs for Tea Break

After our morning "hunt" for the big five in the nature park, we decided to head for the lion park. We knew that it is not possbile to see all the big five in the wild. Hence, our back up plan was to go to the lion park to see lions in captivity.

It was about two hours drive back. Luckily we had the gps because the road signs and directions are very confusing for us. Upon reaching the park, we were amazed at the toilet sign outside. See photo. Well, at
least we know which one to go to. To enter the park, you need to purchase the tickets at the gift shop. Strange though, I would say all attractions usually have the gift shop after the tour. As for the lion park, you go through the gift shop and cafeteria first. Anyway, I couldn't wait so I hurried my group along to enter the lion cub world. There was already a queue in front of us. Everyone was eager to play with the lion cub. We can view from outside the fence that there were several lion cubs. One , two, three nd four lions cub. These cubc were three to four months old. Although they are young, they are quite strong.

Alright! It is our time to go in the cage. After observing outside the cage, we could not wait to experience this moment ourselves. Photo time!! Everyone grabs their chance to be with the cubs. Touching their silkly furs, feeling their limbs, holding their tails. This is the future king of the jungle and we are all playing with it.

Unbelievable! I believe if you have kids, your kids will love this activity!

While I was playing with one of the cub, it lies its hind legs on me. And I could feel its strength on my knee. I definitely do not want to be around them when they are fully grown. They are not called king of the jungle for nothing.

This is definitely the most popular spot in the whole lion park. Everyone was queueing up to meet the cubs.
Camera clicking away. Laughter and giggles whenever the lion cubs made a lazy attempt to stand up.

Ok time's up. Sadly, we have to leave the cage after 15 mins. But it is definitley a terrific experience with lion cubs.

We went on to tour the rest of the park. There is a platform to feed the giraffe. Another interesting spot in the park. One very big giraffe was waiting eagerly for the pellets which can be bought at the counter. We have fun feeding the giraffe. It really enjoys the pellets a lot and it can't seem to stop.

Next stop, the lion enclosure. Moving around in our car, we drove into the enclosure. There are four sections in the enclosure and each sections consists of full grown lions. Great thing that we are in the car. We can drive up next to the lion and it seems oblivious to our presence. I would be the same too, I think if I have to entertain tourists everyday. This is definitely BETTER than in the zoo! We tend to look at lion from a distance in the zoo. But this majestic creature is just a few feet beside me.

We even saw rainbow while at the park. It is definitely a good park to visit when you are in Johannesburg.

Dare to smell Elephant's Poo? Surprisingly Fragrant! (Johannesburg)

Ever since I was a kid, I have watched numerous documentaries on the wildlife in Africa. Now, this is my chance to see Africa's wildlife right in front of me.

I wanted to start ASAP and the hotel personnel actually recommend a few good guided tours. However, I wanted to make full use of the only one free day I have. So I became more adventurous.

I rented a car from the airport and drove to Pilanesberg National Park. The plan was to cover Pilanesberg National Park during the morning and move back to Lion Park and Apartheid Museum in the afternoon. A very tight schedule as the first destination is a cool three hours journey away from my hotel.

Nevertheless, No Venture No Gain.

Ok. GPS check. Water check. Tibits check. Car Keys check. My group check.

Off we go.

Oops... hang on. Who is this person in front of my car? A local was trying to hitchhike to a place which I have no idea where it is. On second thoughts, since I am a foreigner, I decide not to take the risk and besides, the car is full. I declined politely, which he obviously did not have take it very well. He persisted in making his request again. Without any hesitation, I gave a sign to my group. Hop in NOW! And locked the door.

I believed that it is common in Africa to hitchhike as when I drove along the roads, I could see quite a number of locals putting out the hitchhike sign. Well, I am a foreigner who rely on GPS to find my way. Hence, I don't think I am qualified to chaffuer anyone to his location. Sorry. Next time, perhaps.

Even though the journey was long, we did not notice the time as my group was fun loving and easy going. It really matters a lot while you are going out in a group. A mismatched group could really spoil the fun and excitement. I am lucky in this case. Thanks Mervyn, Liping and Rena for joining me in this road trip!

One thing to note though, be prepare for a bumpy ride. A fair amount of the highways is under construction and pot holes are a common sight. So drive carefully. In addition, I was quickly introduced to their driving culture. On a single lane, if you are slow and have no intention of speeding up, you can actually drive on the road shoulder so that the car behind you can pass easily. In appreciation, the car will switch on its hazard lights for a few seconds to say thanks.

Cool!

Upon reaching our destination, we have two choices. Drive into the Pilanesberg Nature Park ourselves and start our hunt for the animals roaming there or follow a guided tour in Sun City.

We chose the second option as we don't know where to look for the animals in the 55 ha of Nature Park. Furthermore, we may not know the names of the animals.

We took the safari truck into the Nature Park and peeled our eyes wide open to catch any glimpse of the Big Five animals. The Big Five animals consist of Elephant, Lion, Leopard, Rhino and Buffalo. It seemed that you must see these five animals before you are even classified as "Been to Africa" tourists. *Crossed my fingers*

The guide, Solly, drove the truck and explained to us at the same time. Sometimes he steered with his foot. Cool dude!

The first animal that we saw was the Zebra. The guide explained:"There are 2500 zebras in the nature park." No wonder we saw zebras everywhere.

Our guide was really superb as he was able to spot the animals from far. He would say:"Giraffe there." and we would say:"where? where?" It was really comical as most of us cannot see the animal hiding under the cover of the bush or trees. Their colours blend into the surroundings. And every now and then, you would hear "where? where?". The guide must be thinking what a bunch of cuckoo tourists.

Suddenly, he stopped the truck and climbed out to pick something off the road. Then he said, "Elephants passed by here." How did he know???? He went on to say that the thing in his hand is actually elephant's poo!! Oh my god! Don't worry, this poo is fragrant. Is he out of his mind? Since when is poo fragrant?

He did the unthinkable. He reached out to me with the poo in his hand and said,"Here, smell it."

Eeks! Double Eeks! Smell Poo??!!

As if I was under Solly's spell, my nose moved in onto the elephant's poo. Well, actually I was thinking since when will I ever have the chance to smell elephant's poo in my entire boring life.

To my surprise, it really smell nice with a distinct fragrant aroma from some plants. I am not bluffing! Solly said that elephant does not digest the grass very well hence, you can see traces of the grass in its poo and it constitutes to the fragrant smell. Valuable wildlife lesson. Point Taken.

"Want your poo to smell nice? Don't digest your food."

The rest of the tour went well. We manage to see the warthogs, wildbeest, fowl, brown hyena, giraffe and antelope. Solly seemed determined to show us the elephant that he constantly radio his colleagues for information and change sites frequently.

At last, he did manage to spot one. It was lying on his side between the trees. Everyone had a hard time figuring whether it was a rock or elephant. With the skin tone very familiar to the surroundings, you can easily miss the huge creature and passed it o ff as a huge rock.

Although I did not get to see the Big Five animals in Africa, it did provide me with a perfect excuse to visit the place again. ;)

 

 

TRAVELLING OUTSIDE THE BOX!

I LOVE TRAVELLING! That is my mission statement. Maybe due to the fact that I came from a small country, the desire to venture beyond my country's borders is greater.
Or perhaps the chance of meeting new people, new culture and explore new things are even more exciting. Or simply just want to have fun.

Everytime when I was about to go for my trip, I would soak myself in the library reading up on travel guide. Plan itinerary, prepare my camera and plan my leave. All these preparation are tedious but necessary for an enjoyment trip!

I remember when I was young, my family would bring me to our neighbouring country to visit our relatives. We are not rich people so we cannot travel around the world. However, I was quite sure that I got bitten by the travel bug on my first trip.

After that, all my trips were with the school or friends on the tour bus. Every programme is planned for and there are no surprises along the way.

When I grew older, I had the opportunity to travel without a tour group. Since then, I did not join any tour group at all! I was travelling outside the BOX! No longer restricted to daily programme. No longer "You must wake up at 6am", No longer "There is only one option on the menu"!

Wow! Was I relieved! Basically, travelling is supposed to be a carefree way to enjoy your stay in an foreign country. Can you imagine you are getting the same orders from the tour guide as compared to your boss at your workplace. I hate it! I hate it when I am told to do this and not to do that. Haha. I think everyone has the same feelings as well.

Furthermore, when you are not travelling according to plan, you have the flexibility to change according to the situation on the ground. You can have another hour of shopping if you want to. You can sip another cup of coffee while reading on the travel guide in the cafe.

Therefore, I told myself I would like to keep a blog to share travel tips and ideas! It may not be applicable to all but at least it keep a record to store these information.

Let me know if you share the same passion! Appreciate it when you leave your comments behind.

Travelling in Style

Things to avoid when travelling

1. Stop reading the travel guide!