12 June 2018, Tuesday Yesterday was very action-packed and I had a really good time, especially at the ABBA Museum and Gröna Lund. For my second full day in Stockholm today, I wanted to take it easy and explore at a more relaxed pace. As usual, the weather forecast was great – a sunny day […]
11 June 2018, Monday I’m 42 days into my Grand Adventure, and Sweden is the 10th country I have visited thus far. My accommodation here is Generator Stockholm, a chain of large hostels that are run more like hotels. I had stayed at Generator Hamburg earlier in the trip and I found the professional, business-like […]
Europe | Norway | Sweden | The Grand Adventure 2018
The Grand Adventure: Day 41 – Norway (Bergen/Oslo) / Sweden (Stockholm)
10 June 2018, Sunday After spending nine fabulous days in Norway (excluding today), the time had come to say goodbye to this amazing country and move on to Stockholm, the capital of Sweden. It was going to be a long day of travelling as I would have to first take a train from Bergen to […]
9 June 2018, Saturday Today, I was determined to make the best use of my last full day to enjoy as much of Norway’s nature as possible. After conquering Preikestolen and Trolltunga earlier in the week, I wanted to make one more hike to Ulriken. Standing at 643m, Ulriken is the highest of the seven […]
8 June 2018, Friday After yesterday’s momentous hike to Trolltunga, it was time to move on from the small town of Odda to Bergen, the second largest city in Norway. I woke up at about 7am, had my breakfast, checked out of Trolltunga Hotel and took bus 984 (fare: 37 Kr / S$6.32) to go […]
7 June 2018, Thursday I woke up this morning at 6am, all ready and excited for the hike to Trolltunga (click here). I checked the weather forecast and it was a chilly 8 degrees Celsius at the moment, with the temperature expected to hit a nice 17 degrees at noon time. I had booked a […]
6 June 2018, Wednesday After spending three nights in Stavanger, it was time to move on to Odda, a small town located about 200km away. The journey would require two bus transfers and take some five hours altogether. The total fare for the entire three-leg bus journey was 492 Kr (S$85.22) and I had booked […]
Europe | Norway | The Grand Adventure 2018
The Grand Adventure: Day 36 – Norway (Stavanger / Lysefjord)
5 June 2018, Tuesday After the thrilling hike to Preikestolen yesterday, I was left wondering what I could do with another spare day in Stavanger today. When drawing up my itinerary months ago, I originally planned to do another trek to Kjeragbolten, which is not too far from Stavanger, about 2.5 hours’ drive away. Kjeragbolten […]
Europe | Norway | The Grand Adventure 2018
The Grand Adventure: Day 35 – Norway (Stavanger / Preikestolen)
4 June 2018, Monday This morning, I woke up with an extra spring in my step, because it was the day I had waited for so long…I would be hiking up to Preikestolen (Pulpit Rock) today! After months of planning and dreaming about it, I am finally going to do it. Super excited! I left […]
3 June 2018, Sunday After spending two nights in Oslo, it was time to head southwest to Stavanger, the fourth largest city in Norway and gateway to one of the country’s most visited natural attractions – Preikestolen, or Pulpit Rock. This 604m steep cliff ranked high on my bucket list and it was one of […]
2 June 2018, Saturday This morning, I woke up relatively late and enjoyed a leisurely breakfast at my hostel at 9am. For once, I was not having croissants bought from the supermarket the night before because breakfast was included in my room booking. Food in Norway is very expensive so I was happy that there […]
Europe | Norway | Sweden | The Grand Adventure 2018
The Grand Adventure: Day 32 – Sweden (Gothenburg) / Norway (Oslo)
1 June 2018, Friday I woke up very early this morning because I had a 6:55am train to catch. In fact, I could very well have been woken up by my roommate’s snoring rather than by my mobile phone’s alarm. I had the “fortune” of having snoring roommates for the past three nights so I […]
Denmark | Europe | Sweden | The Grand Adventure 2018
The Grand Adventure: Day 31 – Denmark (Copenhagen) / Sweden (Gothenburg)
31 May 2018, Thursday Today marks a milestone…it’s Day 31 of my trip and it means that this is the longest I have ever been away from home. My previous record was set in 2012, when I went on a 30-day backpacking trip around Asia to celebrate my 30th birthday. So it has been a […]
30 May 2018, Wednesday After “going local” yesterday, I decided to do the opposite today. It was my third and last day in Copenhagen so I wanted to see some sights and learn a bit about the city’s history. The weather forecast showed the temperature reaching a high of 26 degrees Celsius, so I knew […]
29 May 2018, Tuesday I got tired from all the walking yesterday so today I decided to do what the Danes do – cycle! Luckily for me, Danhostel rents out bicycles at 120 Kr (S$26.40) for a day so it was really convenient as I could pick up the bicycle right at my doorstep. Note […]
Denmark | Europe | Germany | The Grand Adventure 2018
The Grand Adventure: Day 28 – Germany (Hamburg) / Denmark (Copenhagen)
28 May 2018, Monday After just one night in Hamburg, it was time to move north to Copenhagen, the Scandinavian city and capital of Denmark. I had a light breakfast of croissant and coffee (€3.50 / S$5.70) at Generator hostel before checking out just before 9am. I then strolled over to Hamburg Hbf, which was […]
Europe | Germany | The Grand Adventure 2018
The Grand Adventure: Day 27 – Germany (Dresden / Hamburg)
27 May 2018, Sunday It’s Day 27, time to move on to another city! After checking out of Kangaroo-Stop hostel bright and early at 6:05am, I walked to Bahnhof Dresden-Neustadt and bought a single-trip ticket (€2.30 / S$3.74) for the S-Bahn ride to Dresden Hbf. I arrived way in advance, as usual, so I got […]
26 May 2018, Saturday I woke up this morning to unfamiliar surroundings. I found myself in a dorm room occupying the lower bunk of a double-decker bed. The floor was strewn with bags and shoes that I did not recognise. I looked around for mum and dad but only saw some strangers still snoozing away […]
Czech Republic | Europe | Germany | The Grand Adventure 2018
The Grand Adventure: Day 25 – Czech Republic (Prague) / Germany (Dresden)
25 May 2018, Friday Today is D-Day. The day my solo adventure officially begins, as mum and dad will be flying home today, leaving me to carry on my journey alone. The feeling is bittersweet. After 25 days of travelling together, we have become so used to each other’s company and routines – in the […]
Czech Republic | Europe | The Grand Adventure 2018
The Grand Adventure: Day 24 – Czech Republic (Prague)
24 May 2018, Thursday This is probably going to be the shortest blog post for the trip as it was a pretty uneventful and chillax day today. Perhaps the knowledge that it was our last day together contributed to the somewhat subdued mood. Mum and dad would be flying home tomorrow, while I would continue […]