Weekend Getaway: Lampung

Considering too many times of spending weekend in Bandung, I decided to try a different route and city. Then Lampung came into my option.

Lampung, with Bandar Lampung as its capital, is the most southern province of Sumatera Island. From Jakarta, the quickest way to Lampung is by car for 7-8 hours ride. Flight to Lampung's Raden Inten Airport is definitely a waste of time from Jakarta, considering effort to CGK airport and 2 hour prior check-in time.

To visit Lampung, you need to spare at least 2 full days. Day trip is not recommended, just calculate your travel time (7 hours each way).

The Journey

How is the route to Lampung? You don't need a map for this, but for your peace of mind, grab one as your guide. First, take toll-road from Jakarta to Merak. Then ferry cross Sunda Strait to Bakauheni, and continue by car to Bandar Lampung.

Jakarta-Merak toll fee is IDR 38,500 for private car, journey time is 1 hour and 20 minutes from Tomang for average speed of 90 km/h. Be caution on several section of the road that may have some cracks and road works.

Travel Planning: Hal Kecil Tapi Penting

Biasa kalau mendengar kata travel planning, kita asosiasikan dengan tempat tujuan wisata. Mau ke mana saja mulai dari hari pertama datang sampai pulang wisata. Jika menuju negara yang sudah pernah dikunjungi, atau yang bahasanya masih bisa dimengerti mungkin memang cukup mudah. Namun kalau mau tamasya ke negara yang Inggris bukanlah bahasa yang dimengerti penduduknya maka Anda akan kerepotan.

Banyak hal-hal kecil yang perlu kita rencanakan (setidaknya diketahui) supaya kita tidak kebingungan saat tiba di tempat tujuan.

Travel News Round up

Reaching end of 2009, travelers around the world are getting more problems in this December.

Heavy snow in America and Europe delayed almost half the scheduled flights in major airports like Washington DC, Frankfurt, London Heathrow and CDG Paris. Those airports became very crowded and almost like chaos.

For those still plan to travel in this season, consider using train as first option. Train schedule is more reliable although in bad weather like heavy rain and snow.

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Exception is on EuroStar trains, which connect London with Paris and Brussels via Channel Tunnel. Last week, 6 trains freezed in the middle of tunnel for more than 10 hours because of electricity problem. Thousand of passengers left without electricity and food supplies in those trains and thousands more in each stations are unable to depart for several days.

Brief Travel Guide to Malacca

Melaka / Malacca is a historic city located on south of Kuala Lumpur. Its position facing Malacca straits has made it an important city during eighteenth century and until now.

Transportations

• From Kuala Lumpur
  Take bus from Puduraya Bus Station, there are many bus companies offer this route, so nearly half an hour you can have a bus to Melaka. Journey time is about 2 hours.
• From Dumai or Pekan Baru
  Take boat from city port and will be arriving at Malacca port. It is quite a distance, so have a good sleep during journey
• From KLIA / LCCT Airport
  There is a direct bus from airport to Melaka Central or Melaka Mahkota Hospital. The bus company is Transnasional, it is located on stop #6 outside LCCT. Bus fare is RM 22/adult, journey time is 1 hour 30 minutes.
• From Singapore
  Take bus from Lavender St bus terminal and directly arrive at Melaka Central. Journey time is about 3.5-4 hours

Melaka itself has limited city transportation means. There are several bus lines serving this city. You can take city bus from Melaka Central (this is central bus terminal) to Mahkota Hotel and Hospital for only RM 1.50-2.00. Bus is not well maintained but quite reliable. But for tourist your the best bet is to catch tourist panorama bus. It is a double-deck bus (I believe imported from London), red color, and traveling across tourist spots.

Staying Online While Traveling to Malaysia

As a traveler and Internet-depended guy, I really like to travel to Singapore. Wifi hotspots are almost everywhere, and the best of it - it's FREE. Wherever you are: malls, hospitals, tourist spots, most of them covered by wifi using name Wireless@SG. By registering myself from GSM phone (from my home country) I can get a free wifi pass for whole day use.

How to get Free wifi account to access Wireless@SG hotspots? You need to switch your preferred network to SingTel (codename: STM). Then dial *168# using mobile phone. In short time you'll receive sms contains username and password to connect. The account can be used until midnight of the day, and you need to ask for new account again on next day.

But in Malaysia, thing gets different. Free wifi is rare from government, except offered by hotels or cafes. As I stay in Melaka (Malacca), there's no such thing called free Internet. So how to connect to Internet in Melaka, or any Malaysia cities? You need a 3G capable mobile phone.

Washington DC Travel Destination by The Lost Symbol Novel

I wrote previously about the launch of Dan Brown's The Lost Symbol novel that city of Washington DC is preparing to be flooded by curious tourists.

The Lost Symbol

Well, several historic places are mentioned by this novel and some are put as focus places where the story happened. So …

Dan Brown Lost Symbol and Travel Destinations

After Dan Brown The Da Vinci Code novel spark enthusiasm among people to know more about holy grail and Luvre Museum, millions of people go to the Paris museum just to make sure the pyramids still there and try to solve the mystery by themselves. Mystery tourism surges and everyone in tourism industry is happy except the Christians.

Then, after the book became the best-seller, his previous works are also become hit. Notably is Angels & Demons, in which Italy Rome and Vatican are the central places of story. Tour companies are then offering special tour for those interested in finding the real fact on places of Dan Brown's imaginary The Four Altars of Science: The Church of St. Maria della Vittoria, The Church of Santa Maria del Popolo, Fontano Piazza Navona as well as Basilica St. Peter.

The Lost Symbol

Garuda Indonesia offers Durian Juice onboard?

Indonesia state-own airlines - Garuda Indonesia - put an interesting advertising today in newspaper (Kompas, 16 September 2009) to describe its Garuda Indonesia Experience.

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