Finally, here is my blog after planning and executing 35
days tour, which touched below countries, continents, weather regions and time
zones.
1.
Philippines
(Southeast Asia – Tropical)
2.
UAE
(Middle East – Desert)
3.
Kuwait
(Middle East – Desert)
4.
Egypt
(Africa – Desert and Semi-Arid)
5.
Turkey
(Asia/Europe – Temperate)
6.
Greece
(Europe – Temperate)
7.
Singapore
(Southeast Asia – Tropical)
8.
Thailand
(Southeast Asia – Tropical)
And here are best experiences to share from this
wonderful trip.
1.
First
time scuba dive at Boracay island, Philippines. One of the best experiences
ever after discovering underwater life and touching ocean bed.
2.
First
time use of prescription glasses for swimming and snorkelling and
used GoPro camera to capture underwater beauty.
3.
Helmet
diving at
Boracay Island, Philippines. It was something never heard before for
non-swimmers to enjoy marine life in open ocean.
4.
Kayaking,
ATV (All-terrain vehicle) and pedal boat was new additions to experience
during island tour at Boracay.
5.
Experience
of climbing highest man-made building in the world, Burj Khalifa at
Dubai with 828 m. It was marvellous engineering effort to create this building
and vision behind it.
6.
Grand
mosque at Abu Dhabi
is another mention from modern monuments visited. Salute to design thinking
behind this mosque.
7.
Visited
last remaining ancient wonders of the world- Pyramids at Giza. Tried to
capture as much knowledge behind creation of these huge structures, which are
standing tall from last 5000+ years.
8.
Visited
second biggest temple in world, Karnak temple at Luxor, Egypt. Second
biggest after Angkor Wat, which I visited in 2017. Really impressed with Karnak
and Luxor temple. No words are enough to write beauty and history hidden in
these temple complexes.
9.
Sailing
(Felucca boat) on Nile River at Egypt, which is also longest river with
6,650 kms in the world.
10.
Hot
air balloon experience
to understand Egyptian civilisation and hidden beauty over valley of kings and
temples at Luxor.
11.
Hagia
Sofia
(Church in 360 A.D, mosque in 1453 and then museum in 1935 and finally mosque
again from 2020) and Blue Mosque at Istanbul are must places to visit.
Spent hours to understand architecture, engineering, design, and artwork on
walls.
12.
Cappadocia – This was the surprise
package of the trip. What a place it is with rock formations, underground
cities, fairy chimneys, snow-capped mountains, canyons and what not.
13.
Acropolis
at Greece is
layered history and tried more than 10 locations to capture beauty of this
place.
14.
Greek
islands – Mykonos and Santorini, what should I say about these islands,
which are just amazing with white-washed buildings, blue dome churches, beaches
(red, black, white and what not) and as said world’s best sunsets.
15.
First
time experience of driving on right hand side of road and it worked
after first 30 mins of initial hiccup. And now I am ready to take any road
trips in North America or Europe in near future.
16.
Last
but not the least, visit to Bangkok Grand Palace, Wat Arun, Floating market,
and Thai massage was perfect way to complete holidays with bang.
And now it is time for few lows:
1.
Cairo
and Giza as cities need big time transformation, seems they are stand still
with approach of 1950’s and full of corruption and chaos all over.
2.
Visiting
Greek islands in winters can be let down for few with no tourist season and lot
of shops/cafes/experiences etc. are closed
3.
No
hot air balloon at Cappadocia for 6 consecutive days due to local weather
conditions and end-up without this experience.
4.
Lack
of consistent security process around different airports, which led to
frustration and waste of time and energy.
And let’s close with few awards from trip:
1.
Beer – Red Horse beer from
Philippines (After trying more than 20 local beers)
2.
Airport – Singapore and Istanbul
(IST)
3.
Food – Street food (Falafel)
opposite to Luxor temple, Mango Ice flakes at Boracay (You can’t miss this) and
Fish wrap sandwich at Istanbul (near Bosphorous river)
4.
Airlines – Kuwait airlines (for
relaxing seats and entertainment) and Turkish airlines (for food)
5.
City – Istanbul (what a blend of
East and West). Vibrant vibes never end in this beautiful city.
6.
Surprise
landscape –
Cappadocia region with never seen landscape in past
7.
Wine – Tursan from Cappadocia
region, Turkey
8.
Hotel – Elaia Luxury Apartments,
Mykonos with 3 level apartment and view of whole city and sunset
9.
Hosts
– Roshik,
Priyanka, Haritha, Anivas, Neha and special mention to Bruno.
That
was summary from 18 pages of handwritten notes, documented during trip
and hopefully I did justice to my personal travel diary.
Till
next trip – Sayonara
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