Most days, we would wake up at the break of dawn to start our cycling, not only because we have distance to cover, but also because we usually camp illegally. Not today. We were at a proper caravan park beside the beautiful lake, and we slept in. Did the laundry at the laundry point, and had nice refreshing cold showers. Our plan for the day was to rest and relax by the 'beach', and start cycling at about 4pm when the sun was down. We took a stroll around the campsite, and realized that it was huge. At least 15 football fields worth of camping ground. There were many German and Dutch tourists who drove from their homeland to enjoy the Italian summer. Most were families who came in their all-equiped caravans, campervans and trailers. It ... read more

The effects of cycling takes a toll on your body physically. From the use of the upper torso to maintain the handlebar alignment, to the calf muscles that powers me up the slopes. The moment I woke up, I knew that my leg muscles were gonna be hurting. I got out of the tent - hmm, so far so good. Just a little tightness in the hamstrings, totally bearable. After all the equipments are packed and loaded onto the bike, I load up my bike. Ouch! The butt is sore and tender to the now-seemingly rock hard saddle! So, boys and girls, invest in a good pair of bike shorts with good padding. We have learnt a few lessons from the first day of riding. The most important one was: Try to cover as much distance ... read more

The bikes and us were trained down on 3 connecting regional trains. Our plans were delayed a day when we realized that all italian train workers were on strike that day. Maybe thats why foreigners like the PAP so much.. Vicenza and Florence is at most 3 hours apart from each other on train, but because we needed to be on trains that have bike-approved carriages, we had to transfer thrice just to get to Florence. A slight confusion also led to me missing one of the connecting trains, but lets not go into that. Very little disabled fascilities meant that I had to carry two fully loaded bicycles up the flight of stairs whenever we had to change trains. It was pretty heavy... But as I carried the bikes up the stairs, it came to ... read more

Since we were staying in Vicenza for a week, we could not pass on the opportunity to visit the city of waters, Venice. Only a 1-hour train ride away, Venice was our obvious destination for a day-trip. With the cameras charged, sunglasses ready, bag slinged close to our body, we were ready to be engulfed by the throngs of tourists (like us!) along the canals. After alighting from the train, the sight that greeted me was surreal. It is just like the pictures. No cars, buses or bikes - just boats and gondolas in canals. Surely, a green city without any forms of pollution other than the rubbish tourists left behind. Since the current local population is less than the number of tourists visiting, it did not surprise me that Italian was no longer the lingua ... read more

The two-week long mid-semester break was a great opportunity to explore the regions in Victoria, outside the metropolitan city centre of melbourne. The travel-itch started weeks before the break and I was planning for a short trip (that i can afford). I have always been fascinated by nomadic travelling, a form of travelling not by great detailed planning, but by the spur of spontaneity. One way of doing that is travelling in campervans or caravans. Australia, was a perfect country for that mode of travelling. Firstly, road distances were long. Also, the numerous national forest/parks were perfect for camping for free! Lastly, routes were dotted with scenic surroundings, and a campervan gave one the flexibility of stopping whenever one delights, whether its by the ocean, or within the canopy of a rainforest. I looked up several ... read more