I wrote this post on my way back to Malaysian after 20 days
in Europe. Overall this holiday was superb. It was totally worth it with all
the hard work that I had been working on the past year.
I joined the Kelana Convoy trip after being introduced by a
friend. The trip goes to 8 countries around Europe for 15 days. The countries
include Belgium, Holland, Germany, Austria, Italy, Switzerland, Paris and the
UK. It was fun and I shall say it is the easy way to conquer Europe if you have
a small budget. Here the list of reason why you should join the trip.
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| Conquest of Europe trip 2011 |
1) The price was
reasonable.
- The trip that I
just joined cost me about 599 GBP, or about 1000 USD. It was reasonable price
as you get the accommodation (tent), food and transport. The visitor tax for
some places also included in the price.
2) It
Muslim-friendly.
- The food served
was Halal, which mean you can get rid of the biggest worries while travelling
abroad. There are certain days where lunch was not provided. However, the crew
will tell you places where you can get Halal food, or at least seafood.
- The Qibla
direction and Solat time was provided.
3) Tour guide and
language lesson day
- When the group
spends the in big city such as Venice, Rome or Paris, there are crews that will
make a walking tour. So for those who do not want to read the map or subway
directories, they can follow the crew visiting the places in the city. Mostly
families and quite old people will join this walking tour.
The crews also
teach language for the different countries. ‘Thank you’ and ‘Hi’ in the
different language is a must if you are travelling in Europe.
4) Sleeping in tent!
- Sleeping in tent
for 15 days was not as bad as I thought at first. It was fun instead. I booked
a cabin at the Swiss campsite, but I ended up voluntarily sleeping in the tent.
It was fun!
Maybe it was not
for some people, especially for older people. There are cabin option available
for those who do not want to camp.
5) Malaysian friends
for all over the world.
In my trip, there
are people come from US, Canada, Doha, UK, Ireland and even New Zealand. Not to
forget, Malaysia! Here was the place to make new friend. Don’t afraid to join
the trip alone as you will make new friends to accompany you around the Europe!
6) Spending time with
family.
- I’m pretty sure
that several families that joined the trip had a great time. I think Nadiah
had. Some graduates in UK and their parent joined this trip before their
graduation. Some even come from Malaysia.
Of all the reasons above, bear in mind that this is budget
trip. You are required to wash the dishes, setting up the tent by yourself, helping
with the cooking and cleaning and also cleaning up the campsite. And some
campsites do charge for hot shower, so don’t get mad, it was common.
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| One of the campsite! |
Oh wait I noticed that Air Asia X was not as bad as pictures
by some friends. The legroom was the widest that I had so far. Even travelling
with MAS, you can’t get the legroom
as wide as this. I haven’t taste the food at the time I wrote this post. I hope
it is nice.
I will published the each day diary from the first day until day 15. I could not post it live during the trip as the internet were limited. So bear with this blog for another 15 days. It's start now!
