I have traveled and to my luck I have been to most of the countries on scholarship! Probably I would have spent 30,000 inr in total 🙂 and the rest were scholarship allowances 🙂
I all started with this country
- Malaysia : lived over 2 month and visited 4 times. Of the 4 times 3 were on a study related internships and 1 with my friends. It was an awesome experience but not that new to me in relevance to culture, food or language as most of them were Tamils and I am from a Tamil speaking state in India. Food, mostly Chinese food which already had set its foot in India. Apart from language, I loved the beach, people and Satay! He people whom I worked were wonderful souls who were HIV positive. They took care of me so well and helped me understand how they work for the others who were addicts (IDU) and other positives.
- Singapore : city country, would never get lost due to the numbering on the buildings, had frog soup and dried crocodile meat. It was the first cleanest country I have been to. Wondered how people were responsible on keeping the city country clean. Sentoza, cable car and the beach was a real treat.
- Srilanka: maiden visit, stayed at Galadari, loved the sea foods. Admired the way Tamil is spoken as it sounded to me so pure and respectful. Again, nothing as of great difference apart from taking a flight and crossing the sea. Not that expensive to tour. Visa on arrival makes it even more easier for a quick trip.
- Dubai : yes, this time, I did have a real time experience, my eyebrows were up, inquisitive, looking at those Arab outfits in the immigration and wondered if everyone wore the same clothes. Parking space was full of those expensive cars that I had seen on wallpapers and car games. Underestimated the heat and got burnt while trying to walk out in the sun. I literally was thunderstruck by that big indoor aquarium, the aroma, and especially that typical perfume that an Arab will only know what it is. The fountain near the tallest man made structure was stunning. The Dubai palms, a pure sign of luxury. On the whole, a fictional world so long was existing on a desert.
- England: all those pictures of London, common talks of the city which has casted so many spells on people’s minds through all those movies. For me, yes, it was different to see all those white people, their English and the cold was new to me after the heat experiment. As a first timer to be in a cold place I had three layers of clothes. Fish and chips, beer, music, fast trains, silent compartments and crowded high streets. Christmas and Newyear was huge there. The weather was unpredictable, which, I had to learn after many failed attempts of my dressing, assuming I will have sunlight whole day. The country side was so pleasant, a book, a glass of wine and a good country folk music was my favorite pass time. I did enjoyed playing football and cricket. After a match I understood that even though the English invented cricket the Indians have perfected it and feel it is engraved on our DNA 😉 …
- Denmark : now that I have travelled, that to alone, realized I had to give it a read about the country I was visiting. Danes and Danish culture was something very weird to me. So I left it to my experience. First day, in northern Denmark, I landed and saw snow which was until my knee. First, snow, looked around removed my gloves and wanted to see how it feels. Yes, to those who haven’t, please do. Liverpostej was my favorite, they love black and you should not be surprised to see most of them wearing black colour almost all the time of the year. They are very friendly and helpful. They seemed to be humble and love to drink. I have never met any angry Dane except a bar bouncer. Among all the countries I have been Denmark was and is my favorite. Danish seems to be an usual language. Bicycles proves to be a clever transport and I enjoyed every bit of my cycling in the summer. Used to do 100kms every Saturday …. The country is so quit that even the ticking of the clock seems so loud. Being naked in summer is not new for them and even I got used to it over a period.
- Sweden: the Scandinavian countries are not that distinct apart from language and borders. They have so much of similarities from architecture to weather and food. Stockholm is so crowded as to get a house it is very tough. They are friendly too and love the summer. The lighthouses near the shore are a delight to eyes. The night was beautiful with the lights on.
- Finland: Finnish apples, tasting them and saving them on my bag while travel was my most tasted fruit. Angry birds, Nokia and land of heavy metal music, it was so calm and peaceful. I travelled to the west coast and the south east coast. Helsinki, was no different from Stockholm or Copenhagen, but, the trams were here alone. The finns are tall and tough ( my observations).
- Estonia : I sailed from Denmark to Estonia which was an unforgettable sailing experience. Estonia was so cheap after living in the Scandinavian countries. It was not as quiet as Denmark, things were different. The old town was a delight, there they serve a typical yak soup which was my daily breakfast, it was a typical olden day ambience with candles inside. The women and men were dressed up like those in the medival period. They helped me a lot to go around the town, some coffee shops inside the castle was my favorite with music, book and hot wine. It is famous for digitial governance.
- France : love is what came to my mind while in Paris. Yes, the cuisine, and the French language is quite addictive. Visited, south France and east of France. Witnessed the blue lavender gardens and saussison ( made out of meat). Paris was too populated for me. The riverside was a delight to people in the evening. One could sit for hours and talk with the right person in those riversides.
- Spain : land of the golden sun, ( my own description based on the evenings spent close to Gibraltar ) rabbits and siesta 🙂 …. They are very expressive unlike the Danes, they love life, beer, wine, food and life to its fullest. I lived in one of the villages near Mediterranean. Could see the African continent. Fresh olives, figs, mulberries and wine. flamenco was outstanding and it was a sheer luck that the towns mayor welcomes us personally. Many haven’t seen a black man and it was he first time they saw me. Whenever you go to a pub ensure to get a taste of tapas. Beautiful architecture in the south.
- Germany : Oktoberfest a must be season , enjoy the German beer, try the maximum speed limits of your car, the roads are made for it. A country with strong association with some of the most historical events. I spent few days in a farm getting my hands dirt in farming ( near Hamburg).
- Portugal : c. Ronaldo, and a strong connection with the Indian south west coast ( Goa), ” samosa” looks the same and pronounced almost the same. They are the highest fish consumers per head. Cod fish and Porto wine were my favorite. One could find more Indians, Nepal, Bangladesh and Pakistani in Lisbon. Be careful of pickpocketers, trams are so pleasant to travel on. Vascodagama bridge a must need travel. They love to help and many will pitch in to help even though they don’t know English. There is no need to pay huge for entertainment as almost all street corners will have brilliant artists performing and better help them. Without them I would have gone mad with the stressful academic life. The buses are crowded like India during peak hours. Do visit the countryside …..Fado might be sad but the lyrics are profound.
- Poland : it was similar to Estonia when it comes to the old town, medival architecture. The people are very religious and not that expressive like the Spanish nor communicative like the Danes in English. I had one friend from Poland, with that experience it seemed that most of them were
- Czech Republic : While in Europe, there are some budget airline that sells tickets at the price of 10 pounds and sometimes even less. Thus, I ended up flying to Prague from Copenhagen. It is very busy and was very cheap compared to the Nordic. Boat restaurants, visited the oldest catholic library where I saw a bible dared 1926. There is so much to window shop and street entertainers were a real treat to me.
- Belgium : Beer, beer and beer, 🙂 … French fries and waffle are the must . I could not find the reason behind the attention of the peeing little boy. I was fooled by my friend when she showed me a women statue saying she was the mom of he boy. I believed and ended up capturing with so much importance and at last my friends had a great good laugh.
Now I will be traveling to Africa, will update it 🙂
Travel is tiring but it never fails to wonder you !
I have visited more than 17 countries and I do not want to dwell on this. Most of all I liked France. I was amazed at the beauty of the Eiffel tower and the delicious cuisine of this country. Paris is an amazing city and I dream to live there. Many people close to me do not understand where I get money for travel. but I don’t overpay and constantly find cheap hotel rooms and cheap one way flights on this site. I am sure it will be useful for every travel lover
Hello. I am an experienced traveler and have already visited over 20 countries. I read reviews and research additional information before purchasing tickets or visiting a hotel while traveling. Choosing a good airline is already a big enough part of successful travel. If you’re looking for reviews, click to read more information. Here you will find not only reviews about the airline but also about places to go.