mrKian

To the Land of Snow, the Roof of the World When I announced to friends that I am going to Tibet, I am often greeted with a WOW reaction. For many of us, Tibet is a mysterious, exotic and spiritual Buddhist country . It is a country that is lo cked away in the corner of the earth. What is it gonna to feel like at the roof of the world? My 10 days journey to Tibet  was a trip that I very much looked forward to going . Altitude sickness is the most often mentioned challenge when visiting Tibet.   How does one overcome it? Can I? Pre-tip preparation There is no direct flight from Singapore to Lhasa. You have the option to get to Lhasa via domestic flight in China or via train. Also, you will need to engage an agent to prepare the travel permit and also purchase the air ticket to Lhasa. Some took train to gradually adapt to the altitude. People do encounter headache and short breath.  We decided to skip the train and flew to Chengdu instead. We arranged t...

I have long heard of the beauty of Bromo, and I just got to be there to witness it with my very own eyes.  The trip to Surabaya had always been on my mind since 2011 but the plan had been shelved because of volcanic eruptions. 1 May 2014, I was finally on the plane to Surabaya with my two nephews! I arranged with a tour agency in Indonesia to take us to our planned places. We arrived around 8pm (Indonesian time) and set off to Probolinggo.  To catch the sunrise, we had to set off at 3.30am. We had barely 3 hours of sleep that day! The jeep ride to Mt Penankakan took about an hour. Over at Mt Penankakan, you will find many tourists already there, ‘chopping’ for the best spot to capture the beauty of the sunrise and Mt Bromo. Mount Bromo After sunrise, the jeep took us to Mt Bromo. Here we had to walk for about an hour which included climbing 245 steps.  You could opt to take a pony ride too. Took some photos of the jeeps roaming around. No roads, no traffic...