Natasha Sabrin Khan

Natasha Sabrin Khan

Natasha Sabrin Khan

A common trait in the Western world is for students to start travelling the world from an young age- they go backpacking during the summer with friends or alone. I come from a country and culture where it is very unconventional (though things are gradually changing in the urban areas) for a young girl- particularly an unmarried girl- to go travelling around the globe without any guardian. Hence, before I finished my post graduation and got married at age 24, I had only visited few countries with my parents.

My parents, particularly my mother, has this love for nature and travelling- which she passed on to me. And I have been blessed with a husband who thoroughly shares my passion for travelling. Now that we have a small daughter, we intend to instill the passion for travelling in her too. (8 years later: She LOVEs nature and travelling)

To me, travelling to different places is the best way to appreciate the vastness and beauty of Almighty's creation. Travelling brings me happiness; visiting wonders of the natural world brings me peace. When I visit faraway places, I feel contentment. There is so much to see around the globe and opportunities are so little! Still, we try to make the most of our ability and explore as many new places as possible.

It is difficult to remember every detail from all our little travel expeditions but it would be sad if we forget the wonderful things and adventures we encounter on our trips. So I have started to write down my feelings and experiences from our trips. The plus side is that my Partner loves photography which enriches my blogs.

These blogs are mainly for myself- so that I can relive my trips whenever I want to. But, if someone else enjoys reading my blog and eventually gets inspired to visit someplace, that would be a great bonus for me.

Bon Voyage !!




Middle East » Turkey » Central Anatolia » Cappadocia » Göreme November 27th 2012

Our second day in Cappadocia was supposed to start with an adventure we had not done before and were very much looking forward to. We were to take the hot air balloon flight that is so famous in Cappadocia. We were picked up from our hotel at 4 am and were taken to the vast open field. In the dark of the night, the field was strewn with numerous huge colorful air balloons those were being prepared for the flight. There were huge fans blowing very hard –which were used to fill the insides of the balloons with air. Once the balloons were somewhat filled with air, fires was blown directed towards the inside of the balloon so that the air inside would get hot and the balloon slowly started to rise. It was as if ... read more
Balloon being fed with air
The air inside balloon being made warm with fire
t14

Middle East » Turkey » Central Anatolia » Cappadocia » Göreme November 27th 2012

Have you been to Turkey and not visited Cappadocia? You have probably missed some great fun that Turkey has to offer. We spent 2 days in Cappadocia and the entire time flashed passed our eyes like a blink. There was so much to do and so much to enjoy that I did not notice how it was time again to leave Cappadocia for Seljuk. We arrived in Goreme early morning after a night long bus ride. We were dead tired when we were transferred to Dream Cave Hotel. Cappadocia trip was planned by Mr. hubby so I was totally thrilled to find out that our room was actually curved inside the rock chimney. Cappadocia has a unique geological feature unlike anywhere else I had ever seen so far. This land had experienced 3 volcanic eruptions and ... read more
cave room- Dream Cave Hotel
Cappadocia Valley
Pigeon houses made in mountain

Asia » Maldives » Male Atoll November 25th 2012

I was determined to start the day very early as this was the only full day I would spend in Maldives. I wanted to see every change of color in the sky and it’s reflection on sea during the entire day. But as usual, even after setting the alarm clock I missed the sunrise. I never seem to be able to wake up so early. But none the less, I did get out of my room by 6 am- which was a pretty early start. The sky was very light blue and as I stepped into the water, a rush of cold ran through my spine. After the November night, the water was cold! But not for long, by 7 am, sun was up and bright and the water warmed up pretty quickly.After breakfast we took ... read more
Pool area
Veli Spa
B1

Asia » Maldives » Male Atoll November 24th 2012

It was a dream to go on a vacation to Maldives someday. We (Mr. hubby and myself) didn't know this opportunity would come so suddenly and we would be off to this vacation after such little planning. Maldives being an awfully expensive tourist destination and combined with the fact that we have both spent our allocated days of annual leave this year, the 3 day holiday seemed like the best time to go on this dream vacation. 2 days means a lot less budget required and also means no need to tale leave from work. We are very much looking forward to 2 days of absolute bliss (in shaa Allah). join us on our dream voyage- hope you would want to visit this beauty too ........ DAY 1: I had seen photographs- of private wooden jetties ... read more
Landed
Speedboat transfer
Jetty

Asia » Nepal » Kathmandu » Thamal November 14th 2012

Nepal- the land of Himalayas. A small, peaceful territory where the majestic snowy Himalayan peaks stand in pride. I love mountains- I love the rolling greenery, I love the winding roads across the mountains, I love the snow covered mountain peaks and I absolutely love the slightly chilly mountain weather. So visiting Nepal-which is so close to my homeland, was a must for me! Kathmandu- where you can find more tourists than natives. Well, it might be a false statement statistically but it definitely seemed so when we arrived in our hotel in Thamel. Thamel- is the tourist hub in Kathmandu. Its jam packed with souvenir shops, food shops, hotels, bars and of course backpacker westerners! Nowhere else in the world had I seen so many white people in such raggedy outfits? And for some reason ... read more
Handicrafts
Siam chilling at restaurant
Yummy Dinner

Middle East » Turkey » Marmara » Istanbul » Sultanahmet October 29th 2012

Our second day in Istanbul was dedicated to exploring the 3 royal historical delights - Hagia Sophia, Topkapi Palace and The Blue Mosque. All these 3 places were built and used by the Turkish Sultans a few centuries ago but even today, the splendor of the architecture and interior awe people; I wonder what they have been like in their original grandeur days! These 3 places are situated very close to one another- a walking distance of a few hundred metres each. We were extremely lucky to have chosen a hotel just in the centre of this trio. We started the day early by going to the most majestic and most famous tourist spot of Turkey- Topkapi Palace. This palace was the royal residence of the Sultans and was built right beside the unimaginably blue sea. ... read more
Inside Blue Mosque
Blue Mosque
Blue Mosque

Asia » Bangladesh » Bandarban September 12th 2012

What is the objective of a passionate backpacker? To travel in comfort or to take trouble but getting to see the beauties of the world? If you fall under the category of traveler who will go through difficulties and hardship to get a glimpse of a remote area surrounded with hills, forests, river and massive rocks then Nafakum in Bandarban is the place for you. I was born and brought up in Dhaka and I do not encourage you at all to come and visit Dhaka. Stay away from this city- there is nothing here for tourists- unless you come from a very quiet and peaceful country and want to experience what massive gatherings of people and extreme congestion of traffic means. But Nafakum is a different story altogether. This place is remote and very difficult ... read more
Distance board
Lonely bridge
Sunset

Middle East » Turkey » Marmara » Istanbul » Sultanahmet September 11th 2012

Plan was to spend the holiday in New York- but we ended up spending it partly in Dubai and then in Turkey. An airline employee (who avails discounted tickets) would well understand the reason without further explanation- so I’ll leave this insider’s joke to that! Our first stop was in Istanbul. We took the Metro service from airport to our hotel in Sultan Ahmet. We had spent 4 Lira each and had to change train once whereas we might have to pay over 100 liras had we taken a taxi from airport. We had booked our stay at Star Holiday Hotel- which was 2 minutes walk from the Sultan Ahmet metro stop, 3 minutes walk from Hagia Sophia, 7-8 minutes’ walk from the Blue Mosque and less than 10 minutes walk from Topkapi Palace and 15 ... read more
Blue Mosque
tb5
View from hotel terrace

Middle East » United Arab Emirates » Dubai September 8th 2012

The feeling of luxury oozes from every inch of Dubai. Starting right from the airport- where the “duty free shopping area” stocks all luxury brands to lure you into extravaganza to the plush Metro line, almost everything in Dubai is new and luxurious. Our 4 day short trip to Dubai made me realize that there aren’t enough expensive things to buy for people who own more money than they know- and honestly, such people are too many in numbers in Dubai. We went to Dubai during Ramadan. We were staying at Bur Dubai in hotel Admiral Plaza. The hotel was nice and new- had pool and spa and all other necessities like Business centre and travel desk. Rooms were not large (at least the regular double bed rooms) but provided all sorts of comforts like mini ... read more
Dubai Skyline
Burj Khalifa
The entire green area is Dubai Mall- view from 124th floor of Burj Khalifa

Asia » Malaysia » Wilayah Persekutuan » Kuala Lumpur » Bukit Bintang September 4th 2012

Kuala Lampur. Shopping lovers’ paradise. Food lovers’ paradise. Greenery lovers’ paradise. Massage lovers’s paradise! The 3 days I spent in Kuala Lampur, We had the pleasure of enjoying each one of these to the max. I shopped for shoes like crazy, we ate yummy food like famine stricken hungry kids, looked long and hard at the vast green highways and soothed our eyes and ended the days with a supped relaxing back massage. We stayed in Bukit Bintang- in Hotel Oasis Garden. From our hotel, walking distance to Bukit Bintang Plaza was literally 2 minutes, to Pavillion it was about 6 minutes and to the Times Square shopping mall it was like 10 minutes. You can well imagine from the location of my hotel what a fabulous shopping spree I have had. As the cherry on ... read more
View from inside The Pavillion
KL3
Cool Display




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