K M Cheng-Travel Journal: Malaysia (Pre-Covid 19 - Reminisce My Good Old Days

continued from Part 1 - these are a few of my favourite things I like to do when travelling .... visiting snowy mountains, cool highlands, gorgeous deep valleys, fjords & high cliffs, ancient grottoes, wonderful geoparks, mysterious underground caves & mines .... the breathtaking scenery of Salzburg (Austria), how not to fall in love watching this 5 Oscar award film, my dream of visiting Salzburg was fulfilled after visiting this old beautiful city together with my wife in June 2017 !

The hills are alive .... keeping my travel dreams alive after my retirement in May 2006 till now !

Here are some pictures of my mountain-related Good Old Day visits I had taken during my travelling years (2006 > 2019) - enjoy reading !

1) New Zealand - Milford Sound ( my free & easy solo visit to New Zealand in March 2016) - a fiord in the Southwest of New Zealand's South Island, known for towering Mitre Peak plus rainforests & waterfalls like Stirling & Bowen falls, home to fur seal colonies, penguins & dolphins; booked a Milford Sound day tour package via my hostel in Queenstown, South Island, my 3rd fiord cruise having visited the Norwegian fiord in May 2011 & joined a Three Gorges Yangtze River cruise in Oct 2009 !

2) India - Chang La Pass (my free & easy visit with my Hospitality Club members to Northern India in July 2007) - a high Mountain Pass in Ladakh of 5,391m (17,688ft) in the Ladakh ranges between Leh & the Shyok River Valley, one of the highest motorable road in the world ! Chang La is approached from Leh via Kharu & Skati village by an asphalt road, Chang La is world's 3rd highest Mountain Pass & a gateway to the famous Pangong Tso Lake !

3) India - Himalayas, Leh Town (3,500m) / Ladakh (free & easy visit with my Hospitality Club members to North India in July 2007) - The Himalayas are a mountain range in South & East Asia separating from plains of the Indian Subcontinents from the Tibetan Plateau, the range has many of Earth's highest peaks, including Mt Everest (8848m) at the border between Nepal & China, Leh is the joint capital & largest town of the union territory of Ladakh in India, Leh was also the historical capital of the Himalayan Kingdom of Ladakh.

4) India - High Altitude Himalayan Passes of Leh-Manali Highway (my free & easy visit with my Hospitality Club members to North India in July 2007) - a 426km long highway in northern most India connecting Leh of Ladakh to Manali of Himachai Pradesh, it connects the Zankars Valley in Ladakh & the Manali Solang Valley to the Lahaul & Spiti Valleys in Himachai Pradesh, it opens only 5 months in a year from mid-May or June to Oct; Rohtang La is the 4th High Altitude Himalayan Pass on Leh-Manali Highway which comes between the stretch of Marhi & Sissu, the other 3 Mountain Passes are Baralacha La, Nakee La & Lachung La

5) Slovenia - Postojnska Jama Caves (package tour with my wife & sister to the Balkans in March 2019) - a 24,340m long karst cave system near Postojna, southwestern Slovenia, the 2nd longest cave system in the country as well one of its top tourism sites, the caves were created by the Pivka River.

6) Poland - Wieliczka Salt Mine, Krakow (package tour with my wife + brother-in-law & wife + my sister to Eastern Europe in June 2017) - an underground metropolis with extensive infrastructure. This World Heritage Site was built on salt road that more than 130 feet above the ground for tourists to visit. There is a museum, entertainment hall, an original salt lake, prayer & the miners labor scene. There are many statutes and ornaments, carved from salt. Famous sculpture with Leonardo Da Vinci's The Last Supplier

7) South Korea - Phoenix Park, Pyeongchang, Gangwon Province (package tour with my wife to South Korea in Dec 2012) - Asia's Alps, located at 700m above sea level, the venue for 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympic, scenic cable car ride, Mont Blanc, Blue Canyon Spa

8) South Korea - Mt Seorak National Park, Gangwon Province (package tour with my wife to South Korea in Dec 2012) - the Park is home to Seoraksan. the 3rd highest mountain in Korea, a popular hiking destination blessed with dramatic peak, deep valleys & jagged ridges, offers spectacular landscapes & scenery all year round.

9) Japan - Tateyama Kurobe Alphine Route (The Roof of Japan) Toyama Prefecture (package tour with my wife to Japan in March 2017) - the route passes through the dynamic scenery of Mt Tateyama in the Japan Alps, it is transverse using a variety of vehicles (cable car, highland bus, trolley bus, ropeway, tunnel trolley bus) with an elevation change of 2,400 meters from Toyama Prefecture to Nagoma Prefecture

10) Japan - Kamikochi, Nagano Prefecture (package tour with my wife to Japan in March 2017) - a remote mountainous highland valley within the Hida Mountain range, preserved in its natural state within Chubu-Sangaku National Park

11) Japan - Mt Fuji (my free & easy visit together with 2 Ipoh travel buddies to Japan in May 2008) - an active volcano about 100km from Tokyo, also called Fujishan, it's Japan highest mountain at 3,776m, a pilgrimage site for centuries, one of Japan's 3 sacred mountains, summit hikes are a popular activity

12) Japan - Ryuosan Volcanic Valley, Akan National Park (package tour with my wife & brother-in-law & wife to Hokkaido in Oct 2015) - sulphurous fumes filled the air with a strong pungent smell, a landscape sculpted by volcanic activity, a land of volcanoes, lakes & forests.

13) Japan - Daisetsuzan National Park, Hokkaido (package tour with my wife & brother-in-law + wife to Hokkaido in Oct 2015) - located in the mountainous center of the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido, at 2,276 sq km, Daisetsuzan is the largest national park in Japan, scenic Sounkyo Valley, Sei No Taki (Shooting Star Waterfall) & Gin Ga No Taki (Milky Way Waterfall), cable car ride to enjoy a panoramic view of Mt Kurodake.

14) Nepal - Sarangkot, Pokhara (my solo visit to Nepal in March 2013 - a hill on the western side of Pokhara with an altitude of 1600m, know for panoramic Himalayan views of Dhaulagiri, Annapurna & Manaslu, also provide an expansive view of the city of Pokhara from the extreme north to the south including the Phewa Lake, tourists drive or hike up the hill to watch sunrise, also one of the best paragliding locations in the world ! I did a hike (2hrs) up to Sarangkot hilltop to watch a paragliding activity !

15) Malaysia - Mt Kota Kinabalu (my 1st mountain summit climbing in July 2011) - the highest peak in Borneo, an island in South East Asia, shared by countries ie Malaysia, Brunei & Indonesia; Mt Kinabalu is situated in Sabah, on the Malaysian side of the island & is the highest mountain (4,095m) in Malaysia

16) Norway - Oslo > Myrdal > Flam (my solo visit to Scandinavia in May 2011) - 2 train rides from Oslo > Myrdal (5hrs - 220km) & Myrdal > Flam (40 minutes - 867m above sea level); the Flam Railway is one of the most beautiful train journeys in the world, the train runs from Aurlandsfjords, a tributary of the Songnefjord, up to the hugh mountains at Myrdal station, the journey features the finest aspects of the stunning scenery of Western Norway, the train takes a 5 minutes photo shop at the Kjosfossen waterfall where you can disembark & go out onto the platform.