It's been 6.5 years ever since I left England when my internship ended in April 2012. I have been longing to return to my second home country and that wish was finally fulfilled during my recent trip in December 2018. It all started when my friend asked me whether I'm interested to go Iceland. The country was initially not in my immediate-to-visit list but considering the possibility of celebrating winter holiday in Europe for another time, booked my flight tickets in the end of May.
Yours truly with fellow internmates in front of Tower Bridge in October 2011
Travelled to four countries, my trip spanned for 17 days, inclusive of travelling days. All the countries are visa-free for the entire duration of my visit. Kicked off my trip in the modern city of Dubai for 23 hours transit before proceeding to the capital of England/United Kingdom. Flying further north to Iceland for 5-day excursion before concluding in Croatia, the first runner up of 2018 World Cup. As it was December, the weather was rather chilly, can as low as zero degree and hence winter wear is necessary. Don't forget those gloves, in which I only bought them when I was there. I underestimated the freezing climate.
To make this trip possible, I purchased flight tickets from four different airlines to bring me to each destination, which sum up to a total of ten flights. This excluded intercity bus, metros, trams and car hire. More details shall unfold as we go along the journey for each country. In addition to that, four different currencies are required for transactions: Dirhams is used in United Arab Emirates, with exchange rate of 115 MYR for every 100 AED; Pounds in England with the exchange rate of 1 pound equivalent to 5.42 MYR; Icelandic Krona in Iceland with exchange rate of 1 MYR is approximately 30 Krona; and 100 Kuna for 60 MYR in Croatia (or around 7.4 Kuna for 1 Euro). These exchanges rates are as per my visit. I still remember that back in 2011, 1 pound was only around 5 MYR. Do bear in mind that Icelandic Krona and Croatian Kuna are not available in Malaysia. The options are to withdraw their notes from local ATM (after activating your card for international usage) or convert to pounds/euro and have them changed after arriving at the destination. I did the latter.
Burj Al-Arab and me. The first landmark I get to know when it comes to Dubai
To make this trip possible, I purchased flight tickets from four different airlines to bring me to each destination, which sum up to a total of ten flights. This excluded intercity bus, metros, trams and car hire. More details shall unfold as we go along the journey for each country. In addition to that, four different currencies are required for transactions: Dirhams is used in United Arab Emirates, with exchange rate of 115 MYR for every 100 AED; Pounds in England with the exchange rate of 1 pound equivalent to 5.42 MYR; Icelandic Krona in Iceland with exchange rate of 1 MYR is approximately 30 Krona; and 100 Kuna for 60 MYR in Croatia (or around 7.4 Kuna for 1 Euro). These exchanges rates are as per my visit. I still remember that back in 2011, 1 pound was only around 5 MYR. Do bear in mind that Icelandic Krona and Croatian Kuna are not available in Malaysia. The options are to withdraw their notes from local ATM (after activating your card for international usage) or convert to pounds/euro and have them changed after arriving at the destination. I did the latter.
My first selfie in London!
My biological clock was rather distorted as I experienced three different time zones during this trip; GMT+4 in Dubai, GMT+1 in Croatia and GMT for both Iceland and England. Living through different cultures throughout this excapade, it reminded me the reasons for being a traveller. The world is such a big place for me to explore and I'm yet to see the end of it.
The hidden gem in Iceland
Let's start exploring, shall we?
United Arab Emirates - England - Iceland - Croatia
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