Cultural Travel Wish Ever-Growing List To Tick Off

I daydream of taking the gap year to do cultural travel with a DSLR and a travel journal, even though most days I reconcile bank statements in my office cubicle. So today, the first thing I do, after waking up groggy this morning due to consuming an excessive amount of bubbly drinks on NYE, is made the travel list of the places I want to travel to this year.

Cultural Travel Wish List

India

I was and still am reluctant to put India on my cultural travel list.

It seems like everyone I know has been there. My school friend’s Facebook lately filled with beautiful pictures of Rajasthan when she married an Indian. Some of my best friends went to India and came back with enviable stories. Even the girl I met at the New Year’s Eve party, who, when I complimented her on her necklace, gave me twenty minutes of elaborate stories of her getting it from India during a road trip visiting the cities in the south, which she couldn’t even pronounce correctly *I am jelly*.

Indian culture fascinates me.

The Taj Mahal is, well, a must-see. I love Indian food oh so very much. I would leave my day job this second to be a supporting cast in Ranbir Kapoor’s movie.

Well, I guess it’s about taking the leap of faith and jumping into what? Delhi belly? Deadly traffics? Taxi drivers’ hotel scam? I am not sure about you guys. I need a little more push for India; it’s on my cultural travel list for now.

Update: I went to Hyderabad in 2014 for a family wedding and to Goa in 2018 for another wedding. But not to the Taj Mahal yet. Maybe next time.

Yogyakarta

I have been there before. Twice. The first one was my first travel with the family ever (when I was a toddler). Then, when I was two years old, I didn’t know I was in Yogyakarta. I only have picture proof of a messy-haired kid standing in Borobudur temple.

The second time was when I was in junior high. I remember being excited, yelling at the top of my lungs from the rickshaw. I thought it was just a teenager’s adrenaline.

Now, I would like to think it was my wanderlust gene, which I didn’t recognize yet, so I plan to go back—this time to see and savour the Indonesian culture at its’ best.

Update: I went to Yogyakarta in 2016 (only two years too late).

Myanmar

Burma had been on my list for more than a year now, even before the lonely planet made it one of their best adventure travel for 2014.

Of course, visiting the Bagan temple is on the list, but Inle Lake is the main reason to go.

I imagine staying for a couple of days in the hut at one of the fisherman villages on the lake, soaking up the beauty, enjoying simpler moments, and living a travel writer’s life.

Also, I plan to eat shan noodles for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

I have been pushing this plan aside due to political reasons and inconveniences, and it wasn’t easy to access even though it is a neighbouring country. This year, though, I feel like I should visit Burma instead of rewriting it again on my next year’s list, mainly because it’s a neighbouring country.

Cambodia

When it comes to Angkor Wat, I have been living under the rocks, you guys. I usually skipped everything about Angkor Wat since I learned about it from the movie Tomb Raider, like most people do, because it felt like an overexposed tourist attraction.

Going to Cambodia for just one temple didn’t seem right.

That was before I read the book my colleague bought for her granddaughter during office lunch, the Wonders Of The World. It was a good book, very educative, filled with colourful drawings. Then, I read about Angkor Wat in its; its captivating history, beliefs, and detailed carvings. Oh yes, I am going to Angkor Wat.

Update: I went to Cambodia in May 2014.

That’s it. I have written and sent my 2014 cultural travel list to the Universe. Hopefully, it will be similar to when I used the law of attraction to travel to Japan for the first time.

I also wish to go to Afghanistan, Belgium, UAE, Brazil, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Greece, Lebanon, Morocco, Nepal, Peru, the Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Russia, and Sri Lanka.

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