Eastern Europe Trip

Had a short trip to Eastern Europe countries in early March. Was attending a conference in Bucharest. So decided to tour some of the interesting places around Bucharest and Sofia, Bulgaria. After all, the whole region is huge. With a limited time and budget, so just settled with Bucharest and Sofia.

Landed in Bucharest airport on 6 March afternoon, after a 12-hour flight from Singapore to Zurich. Was surprised to find out snow all over the places. Kinda late winter. Expected the next few days to get warmer. So the first place headed to was the conference hotel for check in.

It was foggy when landed.

Bucharest Airport. Quite a small size airport.

Walking street along the Union Boulevald

I guess that is the National Library

Photos taken with iPhone 6s

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Kaoshiung

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Xiangshan (Elephant Mountain)

If Yangmingshan is too far or too adventurous for you, try Xiang Shan (literally means Elephant Mountain) which is right in the city. The place is accessible by MRT. Just get out from Xiangshan MRT station, walk towards the park and you will be at the entrance in no time. Follow the signpost along the way. Be prepared for a series of steep stairway. At the stop uphill, you can get the closest view of 101 Tower. The starting point of Xiangshan All uphill climb Stairway to the top If you see this, you have arrived at the viewpoint Taipei 101 Tower View along the way Benches Posting as a sign of achievement Night view of 101

Qixingshan trail

Had a chance to visit Taiwan again in last November. It was an invitation to attend a symposium in Taichung. So I decided to take a few days to explore Taipei before the conference. But this round I opted for hiking experience. Thus, the search for easy access of hiking venues around Taipei city. One particular blog has provided most of the useful information for my trip: www.nickkembel.com. I picked Qixingshan trail in Yangmingshan National Park as my first choice for the hiking. It's easily accessible with moderate difficulty level of the hiking route. To get to Yangmingshan, one can opt for the public transport right below Jiantan MRT station. The Taipei Performing Arts Center is just opposite the bus stop areas. I took the S15 mini bus which is bound for Lengshuikeng. Waited a few minutes, the bus came. There were many locals heading to the national park on that day. So I had to stand for almost the entire journey. Got off at Lengshuikeng Visitor Center (which is the last two s

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