Hallstatt, Austria

Think Alps and you get images of Switzerland in your head – snowcapped peaks, lush green meadows, cow bells, Shahrukh & Kajol etc etc. However, the Alps range stretches halfway across Europe - from France, across north of Italy, Switzerland (of course), the tiny country of Liechtenstein, Germany & Austria. And while all of the Alpine regions are very pretty, the Alpine lakes are in a league of their own. Whether it is Lake Geneva in Switzerland or Lake Cuomo in Italy, Alpine lakes are usually breathtakingly beautiful.

Our destination was Lake Hallstatt, a slightly lesser known, but no less beautiful Alpine Lake in the Salzkammergut region of Austria (also known as Austrian Alps region). The tiny town of Hallstatt lies on the shore of Lake Hallstatt (called Hallstätter See in the local language). Earlier, the town could only be reached by boat from the town of Obertraun on the opposite shore, but now has a beautiful road connecting it to Bad Ischl, onto Salzburg.

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Český Krumlov, Czech Republic

The first time I heard of this picture-postcard town, it was in a small blurb in the Indian magazine Outlook Traveller. Back then (5-6 years ago), international travel was very rare for us and this name was just filed away in some corner of my head. But over the years, the name kept cropping up, in articles or travelogues. And after knowing more about the place, I just had to include it in our Czech trip.

Český Krumlov (pronounced 'chessky crumlaw') is situated in the southern part of Czech Republic, in what was erstwhile the republic of Bohemia (origin of the word ‘bohemian’). Český Krumlov is a charmingly well-preserved medieval town, built around an equally well preserved 13th century castle – and has been classified as a UNESCO World Heritage site. The river Vltava flows through it, and the Old Town is within a horseshoe bend of the river. The town is small enough to walk across in 15 min or so (most of the Old Town is pedestrian only). Or you could take a canoe down the river if you felt like it.

(the same river Vltava flows through Prague as well)

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Czech Republic & Austria

For someone running a travel blog, I am ashamed to say, we had only seen one European country before this - Croatia. European countries, are a victim of their own popularity. We know exactly what to expect in a France or a England or Italy or Netherlands or Switzerland. They are still very beautiful and special, but they are missing that thrill of discovery. Of some corner, which makes you feel like you are one of the few to see this.

So we decided on a compromise for our first proper European trip – we chose the central European countries of Austria and Czech Republic – or more like chose the cities Prague and Vienna and wove a trip out of it. Prague (and Czech Republic) are the new European destinations, with the charm of the old world, but with lower prices and some rough edges from the communist times. And Austria has always been in the shadow of the more famous European countries, but Vienna is now getting more attention as a European destination.

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Pammukale : Photo Blog

We travelled to Turkey in 2011, much before we started the blog. As a country, Turkey is spectacular. A true melting pot of the East and West, Turkey is recently being credited as the cradle of human civilization (Göbekli Tepe - supposedly the site where organized religion started - as well as first cultivation of wild wheat). Turkey as a country has something for everyone - the Meditteranean for the beach bums, thousands of archaelogical sites for the history buffs, charming city life in Istanbul, natural wonders like Cappadocia ..

Today we are looking at Pammukale, which is a natural wonder without a peer

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Croatia : Part II - Dalmatian Coast

After finishing capital city Zagreb and the beautiful Plitvice National Park in Part 1, we reached Split on the Dalmatian Coast

Croatia’s oldest (and second largest) city was founded in 305 AD by Roman Emperor Diocletian. He built a magnificent fortified palace by the sea as his retirement home, after he gave up the throne in Rome (he was apparently the only Roman Emperor to have retired voluntarily from his throne). Till today, the walls of Diocletian Palace and some structures inside survive and form the centre of the town of Split. It is supposed to be one of the finest surviving examples of a Roman palace and in 1979 UNESCO declared Diocletian’s palace a world heritage site

Split is the site of a natural harbour and it is a port of call for many Mediterranean cruise ships. The passenger ships berth right next to Diocletian’s Palace

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Croatia : Part I - Zagreb & Plitvice

Croatia ? Sounds vaguely familiar, but don’t quite know or remember ?
Croatia is on the Mediterranean sea, across the Adriatic from Italy. There are thousands of islands off the coast - also called Dalmatian coast. Lots of coastal towns, pretty as a postcard, with their orange riled roofs. It is one of the erstwhile Yugoslavia republics. Like most of the other East European countries – Austria, Hungary, Czech Republic – Croatia has opened up to the world only in the late 1990s and it is still not fully explored. It also helps that the country is generously endowed with a beautiful Dalmatian coastline, lots of Roman outposts, the magnificent Plitvice National Park (pictured above) and genuinely nice citizens.

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Angkor Wat, Cambodia

Like everyone else out there, we also have a list of places in the world we wish to see with our own eyes – mix of common and not-so-common locations. And while most of those locations will very likely remain dreams, we were able to fulfil one of our desires – when we went to see Angkor Wat in Cambodia this June

For those who can't quite place the name, Angkor Wat is the largest temple in the world (by area) and is considered by many to be one of the seven wonders of the world. Like some Inca and Aztec cities, the place was forgotten and covered up by the jungle, till French explorers rediscovered the place in the 1860s. Then Pol Pot and the civil war kept Cambodia out of bounds for the rest of the world till the 1990s. The temple and the adjoining capital city of Angkor Thom was built by the Khmer kings of Cambodia. Their style of architecture borrows a lot from South India and depicts mythology from Hinduism and Buddhism.

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Langkawi

After feasting our eyes on the magnificent Angkor Wat ruins, we joined another couple friend in Langkawi, Malaysia to enjoy a few days of azure seas and white sand beaches. Unfortunately, our timing wasn't the best and our visit coincided with the rainy season there. However, the island itself looked very green and beautiful - and the smaller islands around Langkawi lived up to their reputation of spectacular beaches and enchanting seas.

How to Get There
Langkawi is quite well connected to Kuala Lumpur (7-8 flights a day) as well as Singapore. We flew in on Air Asia from Kuala Lumpur, where the trip was an hour long and tickets for the round trip cost just Rs 3,000. The airport is small but very nice - and the runway lies right next to the sea, making for a very beautiful landing. At the airport, there are the usual regular duty free shops and Starbucks - and more importantly, car rental firms. The island is about 320 sq km, which is less than the size of Greater Mumbai (437 sq km), but large enough to make traveling around a pain. If you have a license and can drive, it is incredibly convenient to take a car on hire and drive around the island. Indian driving licenses work just fine and you can get a middle aged Proton Wira 1.5L manual (Proton is Malaysian national car company) for about RM 220 for two days. Petrol is really cheap - equivalent of Rs 25 per litre - and the roads are in fabulous shape.

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