Travel Round-Up, Oct 14 - Nov 20 2017
The past five weeks have seen me leave my home for more than two days at a time, not once, twice, or even thrice, but four times. In each of these trips I had a very enjoyable experience, and rekindled my desire to travel long distances. Granted, two of these were actually not very ambitious, since they both involved a short stay at the Aston resort in Bogor, but I still had a chance to relax and rest while my parents were hard at work attending a major conference. In each of these visits I used the hotel's pool for swimming practice not once but twice. Apart from this, and the fact that I caught sight of a brilliant sunset and rainbow during a thunderstorm (complete with forked lightning!) on the second visit, both trips were otherwise relatively unremarkable, for I had nothing to do all day but sit in my hotel room for much of my stay.
The other two trips were much more memorable, simply because the destinations were much farther away. It was during the latter of these that I finally got the chance to visit Bangka for the first time - not the island of Belitung, mind you, but still a new destination for me nonetheless, even though my parents had already been there multiple times before. And as expected, it was definitely well worth the wait.
The local cuisine in Belitung was excellent, and I enjoyed all kinds of freshly caught seafood - which comprised the bulk of the region's food production - throughout my stay. I also got to see more than a few Chinese temples - the region had previously been settled by ethnic Chinese, and their heritage was clearly evident in how the temples were designed. But even this trip seemed somewhat ordinary compared to my visit to Toronto a few weeks earlier.
For starters, it was my first trip to North America in over 15 years, and was a far more ambitious affair, although by staying at the Chelsea Hotel, on Yonge Street, I could easily reach the sightseeing tours that start and finish at Yonge-Dundas Square. In the space of just one week, I visited such major tourist hotspots as the Casa Loma (the only real castle in Canada), the Royal Ontario Museum (famed for its displays of historical artifacts and mineral specimens), the CN Tower (the tallest free-standing structure in the Western Hemisphere), the Ripley's Aquarium (which contains a multitude of exhibits depicting various freshwater and marine habitats) and the Ontario Sciencentre (the go-to place for anyone wishing to fulfill their scientific curiosity, with an IMAX theater and many hands-on experiments among the main attractions), among others. I enjoyed my visits to each of these, but felt like I was only scratching the surface, since I skipped several points of interest, such as the Hockey Hall Of Fame, Bata Shoe Museum, and the University of Toronto. Nevertheless, having done so much in so little time, to call this trip epic would not be an exaggeration, considering the diverse array of culinary delights on offer, including those found at the Saint Lawrence Market and Distillery District - the latter was once home to actual distilleries, but is now used for retail space.
The real highlight of the trip, however, was my visit to Niagara Falls, between Lakes Erie and Ontario and right on the US/Canadian border. Other waterfalls may be larger (in terms of height, volume and/or width), but Niagara is the most famous one by some margin, especially when it is surrounded by fall foliage. A boat ride down towards the Horseshoe Falls (the second and larger of the two waterfalls that make up the system) confirmed what I had suspected for years: that a rainbow is only present when someone sees it, and its shape and size are dependent on where the observer is standing. The fact that I got to see some of the idyllic countryside nearby a few hours later, and even sampled some wine at a nearby winery, was icing on the cake. And yet there was one final surprise, for I caught my first glimpse of an aurora on the return flight, which passed very close to the North Pole; it was bright green, and lasted for several minutes, changing its size and shape erratically the whole time.
What about the future? I will most definitely not be repeating last year's Christmas visit to Bali, because the formation of an ash cloud above the increasingly unstable Mount Agung has effectively rendered the whole island off-limits to aircraft, although ferries remain unaffected. Instead I plan to celebrate Christmas and New Year's Eve at Plaza Indonesia, right in the heart of the city. If it were ever to happen, it would be unprecedented, but not entirely unexpected. One thing's for sure: it's going to be fun.
The local cuisine in Belitung was excellent, and I enjoyed all kinds of freshly caught seafood - which comprised the bulk of the region's food production - throughout my stay. I also got to see more than a few Chinese temples - the region had previously been settled by ethnic Chinese, and their heritage was clearly evident in how the temples were designed. But even this trip seemed somewhat ordinary compared to my visit to Toronto a few weeks earlier.
For starters, it was my first trip to North America in over 15 years, and was a far more ambitious affair, although by staying at the Chelsea Hotel, on Yonge Street, I could easily reach the sightseeing tours that start and finish at Yonge-Dundas Square. In the space of just one week, I visited such major tourist hotspots as the Casa Loma (the only real castle in Canada), the Royal Ontario Museum (famed for its displays of historical artifacts and mineral specimens), the CN Tower (the tallest free-standing structure in the Western Hemisphere), the Ripley's Aquarium (which contains a multitude of exhibits depicting various freshwater and marine habitats) and the Ontario Sciencentre (the go-to place for anyone wishing to fulfill their scientific curiosity, with an IMAX theater and many hands-on experiments among the main attractions), among others. I enjoyed my visits to each of these, but felt like I was only scratching the surface, since I skipped several points of interest, such as the Hockey Hall Of Fame, Bata Shoe Museum, and the University of Toronto. Nevertheless, having done so much in so little time, to call this trip epic would not be an exaggeration, considering the diverse array of culinary delights on offer, including those found at the Saint Lawrence Market and Distillery District - the latter was once home to actual distilleries, but is now used for retail space.
The real highlight of the trip, however, was my visit to Niagara Falls, between Lakes Erie and Ontario and right on the US/Canadian border. Other waterfalls may be larger (in terms of height, volume and/or width), but Niagara is the most famous one by some margin, especially when it is surrounded by fall foliage. A boat ride down towards the Horseshoe Falls (the second and larger of the two waterfalls that make up the system) confirmed what I had suspected for years: that a rainbow is only present when someone sees it, and its shape and size are dependent on where the observer is standing. The fact that I got to see some of the idyllic countryside nearby a few hours later, and even sampled some wine at a nearby winery, was icing on the cake. And yet there was one final surprise, for I caught my first glimpse of an aurora on the return flight, which passed very close to the North Pole; it was bright green, and lasted for several minutes, changing its size and shape erratically the whole time.
What about the future? I will most definitely not be repeating last year's Christmas visit to Bali, because the formation of an ash cloud above the increasingly unstable Mount Agung has effectively rendered the whole island off-limits to aircraft, although ferries remain unaffected. Instead I plan to celebrate Christmas and New Year's Eve at Plaza Indonesia, right in the heart of the city. If it were ever to happen, it would be unprecedented, but not entirely unexpected. One thing's for sure: it's going to be fun.
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