Getting Prepared for Travelling

So today I'm going to blog about preparing for your travel trip. No matter where are you going either overseas or domestic, it is very important to get prepared for any circumstances.

If you are travelling overseas, always remember to prepare your passport. You must ensure that your passport expiry date is still valid at least for another 4 months.
Check whether you need to prepared for any visa for the country you are travelling. If you do, then go to their embassy and apply for a visa which sometimes will be costly '-.-

Make sure to exchange the correct currency and always bring extra USD or EURO for any emergency in case that you don't have enough money when travelling. Most countries accept USD and EURO for exchange.

Organize your passport, visa, money, air ticket and also a pen in one place. Recommended to have a passport wallet.

Always remember to bring your prescriptions and also general medicine such as for diarrhea, headache, fever, menstrual pain, flu, cough and many more. It is not easy to get this medicine when travelling, so make sure to have them with you.

Search through the internet for the information of the weather, the humidity, the temperature of your chosen travelling place. Packed the appropiate clothes for the weather so you don't need to spend on clothes when reaching there.

It is more secure to bring backpack rather than handbag since you can carry them at your front to avoid pickpockets.

Remember to bring your memory card, travel adapter, charger or extra battery for your electronic devices.

And lastly, make sure to bring your vacation mode along ^.^ ENJOY~~~

India - Kashmir

Visiting Kashmir at winter time! So this means that this is my first encounter with snow! Kashmir was a very lovely place and most of the locals are Muslims. So I don't have hard time finding halal dishes.

Kashmir is a famous place for Bollywood movies since most of the beautiful scenery in the movies are being shot there.

I was having a serious flu when I reached there and surprisingly, the locals were saying that we arrived at a good weather which is 0 degree Celsius (OMG! So cold!) And they were saying that usually the weather can reach up to -15!

Anyway, I was staying at what they called as boat house. It is a house made out of a big boat and located at the center of the icy cold lake. Me and my fellow tour groups were crossing the lake using a small nicely decorated boat. Its just like Hokkaido ice breaker but smaller haha

Ice breaking on the lake

Staying at the boat house is a very interesting experience. The temperature is cold and we were only depending on a heater that burns charcoal. If the heater is out of charcoal, you'll be sleeping on iceberg! For shower, you have to take your shower early in the morning before 6.30 (that is the only time the water heater works) or you'll be having ice cold for shower which I had once! *shivering* O_O

The boat house

Lets check the room

The charcoal heater in our room

After taking a clear view of what we are going to be sleeping at for the night, the tour continues by cruising with the smaller boat (not the house boat) to the water village. I can see lots of shops closed during that time, but don't be fooled cause the locals actually doing their business on the boat! They just park next to your boat and they will do their trading with you. You can bargain like crazy and they also will persuade you like crazy. Be smart when bargaining ;-)

Show your poker face

There are few Mughal gardens that I've visited in Kashmir but sadly, the tour guide did not explain much on the garden so we've just had to walked around the garden but luckily I've managed to take some shots with the wonderful view

Me and my mom

A trip to Gulmarg was breathtaking, with beautiful people and beautiful scenery of Kashmir, you can really enjoy the view and the culture. Firstly, we had to travel by SUV and then switch to a bus which would climb up to Gulmarg. The best part of the trip is, the locals climb up on top of the bus and had a free ride along with us (of course we had to pay the fee since we got to sit inside the bus). My thought were "can this small bus really go up the mountain with this heavy load? OMG!!! Incredible super bus!"

Snow on Gulmarg

Sliding with the sledge

When we reached Gulmarg, I was sooooo excited with the snow, sledge, ski etc that I slipped and felt on my bump. Ouch! That is DAMN hurt! And remember that I said I was having a serious flu? Well~ As excited as I can be, I was playing (more like wrestling with myself on the snow) with the Snow that when I stood up, I lost my breathe. Seeing my mom's worried face, I turn and looked at her with my fake smile and said "I love snow!" Only god knows how I felt almost like dying to catch my breathe haha. Promised myself that I will never ever ever be too excited with snow.

Excited me on snow

View from Gulmarg

Showing off my skiing skill

Thank you so much Kashmir for the great time I had there. Thank you for the friendliness, thank you for the hospitality, and most importantly, thank you for my first snow experience :-) 

Peace out~

Laos

Hey Vientiane~ Capital city of Laos... Indochina baby! Anyway, lots of my friends keep saying you're going to Laos for vacation? What do they have there???

Frankly speaking, I did not have any itinerary for this trip. Me and my girls just went on the Air Asia plane, and arrived at Vientiane with no knowledge of the place. Haha
Thankfully we had already booked our 2 night stay at Sengtawan Hotel. From the help of free wifi and our courage to ask around, we had found out lots of attractions in Vientiane but sadly we managed to cover only few during this trip

That Dam
That Dam was said to be the home of the seven headed dragon which serve to protect Vientiane from any invaders. Now it is a place where you can just hang around chit chatting or even picnic. I've also found few candles that was carved which I think is used for their prayers

That Dam

Carved candles

Sisaket Temple
Known as the oldest temple in Vientiane that still stand strong after the Siamese invasion.
There are few restoration of the painting in the inside of the temple has been done. No photo taking is allowed inside the temple to protect and reserved the painting on the walls

Sisaket Temple

Took a picture with the young monks

Night Market
Open at the evening around 4pm until 10pm, local time. There are lots of souvenirs you can buy for your loved ones, t-shirts, bags, and lots of interesting items. But always remember to bargain! >.<

Patuxai (Victory Gate)
A monument that was built for the honour of the people who fought for their independence from France. Other than the Laos art concept on the monument, it is similar to Arc de Triomphe of Paris

Patuxai

Riding bicycle at the Patuxai Park

Buddha Park (Xieng Khuan)
Located 24km from Vientiane city. Known to be the place where sculptures of the Hindu and Buddha concepts is placed in 1 park.  There are few options to choose from. You may go there by no 14 bus which cost around 5,000 kip per person, a taxi for return trip 200,000 kip and also tuk tuk return trip same as the taxi. You should bargain when dealing with tuk tuk but the best transportation would be to take a taxi since there are still few constructions being done on the road and it is very dusty along the way.

Buddha Park

Sleeping Buddha

Most of the attractions are just nearby the city, and it is really nice to just rent a bicycle to go around the city. It only cost me 10,000 kip for a full day rent.

Sunset at Mekong River

Access to halal food is easy which can be found near the Mekong Promenade such as Fathima Restaurant, Ashifa Restaurant, Noor Restaurant and many more. You can also find few halal snacks in the mini market. Just look for the halal logo printed on the snack packaging.

I will like to come again to Laos for Luang Prabang and Champasak... I wish I wish I wish!

Until next trip! See ya!

Jordan

Have you been to Amman, Jordan? Lets check out what we have in Amman...
My first mission to travel the globe started off at Amman, Jordan, but I didn't got the chance to enjoy Amman for long, it was just a 2 days trip to Amman since we were heading to Turkey. But with the 2 days trip, it gave me a chance to see the famous Dead Sea...

Dead Sea is located between Jerusalem and Amman and it is below the sea level. Before reaching the Dead Sea, you will see an information board showing the sea level of the Dead Sea

Another 18km to reach the Dead Sea YeaaaHooooo! This is a must go place! Oh, this is also where I lost my digital camera :'(

I'm floating! I'm floating! for non-swimmer out there... this is the place for us! We will never be drown out here in the Dead Sea

 

 

Nice view of Amman

Amman is just not about Dead Sea, they also have the Temple of Hercules which was mentioned the largest temple have ever built. If you got the chance to go here, make sure to check out the view of Amman from the top

Next stop is to Madaba and also Mount Nebo. Madaba is known for the Mosaic Map while Mount Nebo is a place that was said to be Moses Sanctuary where Moses saw the promised land. This is an important historical place for Christianity.

My journey in Amman stop here for now. I hope that one day I could come to Jordan again to continue my journey to see the well known Petra. I'll be back Jordan! =D

The Beginning

Hi! My name is Jihan and this blog is about me and my travel log. Why Jihan's backpack? I'm not a backpacker but I always bring along my trusted backpack when I'm traveling. Its easy, compact, and safe compared to handbags... right?

Anywhere, this is my first ever blog which I have been dreamed about having one but I dunno why I have not done this from the very beginning. Hope you guys enjoy reading it like how I enjoy writing it :-)