Trams in Europe : dont miss a ride!

One of the best and interesting ways to commute and appreciate the city, planning, and facilities, is to ride the tram network in Europe. Arguably the best in the world- far better than buses. These trams exist and have been expanded in mainland Europe. Its a great way to know the city and the residents. Whenever we travel in Europe, one of the first aspects in our travel and hotel preferences is the location of the hotels near tram and bus stations. Usually the trams are well co-located with trains and buses as well. 

Take a look at this series of photos of trams in various cities of Europe, all photographed by me during our travel. I will cover transport apps in detail later in the Europe series. 

Tram in Bern, Switzerland 

Tram in Prague, Czech Republic 

Tram in Birmingham city centre, UK 

Beautiful old-design tram in Stockholm

Tram in Munich, Germany

Tram thru Senate Square, Helsinki, Finland

Tram in Istanbul, Turkiye

Tram at the famous Opera House, Vienna, Austria
 

Helsinki by Tram

The first interesting thing for an Indian used to "bracketed time" - clear sunrise and sunset timings , more or less 12 hours , between the two- was the length of time sunlight was available in Helsinki. At 10pm ,it was barely less light; only around late night, by Indian standards, did it darken. But taking advantage, we took a round around Helsinki at 10pm in the trams- very conveniently available right outside our hotel!

One of the best experiences of travel in Europe are the trams. Most cities have really good networks and good quality. Helsinki is no exception. Good , efficient movement by trams. This allows travelers to stay outside the expensive city centres and yet be just 20-30 minutes of comfortable and affordable travel away from the main tourist / business areas. 

The tram no 2 thru Helsinki centre 

This is quite unlike in India. In India, do NOT stay in the suburbs of ANY city. Spend more and stay comfortably near the main tourist or business hubs. Else, be ready to spend 1-3 hours in commuting- and not the best quality, to boot. 

In Helsinki, we were booked at the Scandic Meilhati, which would be located in the equivalent of , say, Goregaon in the northern suburbs of Mumbai. It was about 5 km from Helsinki Cathedral and 25min by Tram no 4. Time and distance like these don't matter to a citizen of Suburban Mumbai where commute time of 45-60 min is not worth even a mention. The tram and bus stops were right outside- literally on the door step- of this hotel, and it was all amazingly comfortable for travel within Helsinki. Takes less than 15 min to get familiarized with it all , and start using the app. 

I will be covering the Helsinki travel app later in this series. 

Helsinki Airport

We landed Helsinki around 6pm on a summer's day this year.  For any Indian typically, two things hit you when you land in Europe: the lack of noise, and the lack of crowds. Lack of crowd was an understatement at Helsinki Airport. There was none! In fact, perhaps the immigration authorities also came in when we walked up to the counters ( clearance was very quick). Guess our arrival time was a bit off the rush hour.

Helsinki airport is a simple enough one- I dare say the airports in Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore especially are now better than many of these airports. We had a kilometer walk thru the corridors of Helsinki airport to exit. But quite painless- just a bit dated. 

This was the only time we used a Finnish airport. We exited Finland by sea to Sweden a few days later. 

If anything, this was a trip where we used ships more than aircraft! 

En route to HELSINKI via Istanbul

The views, from Mumbai to Helsinki, Via Istanbul. Our flight took an unusual route, flying from Mumbai to Dubai, Qatar, then turning left to cross into Saudi Arabia, then into Egypt, overflying Cairo (clear skies but couldnt spot the Pyramids!) , then straight across the meditarean sea to touch Turkey at Anatolia, and then straight to Istanbul.  This was to avoid any Iran, Iraq, Syria airspaces.

Over the Arabian Desert 

Landing at Istanbul 

Overflying Dubai ! 

Scandinavia : Our travel itinerary - Indigo- Turkish Airlines code share !

We had Scandinavia on our minds for years.  Finally decided to go for it in 2024. 

Its certainly not the cheapest or easiest to plan- that became starkly clear on day of the planning( more on planning later) . In terms of information flow, clarity, and completeness, the region could benefit from masters of the game, like Switzerland. Nevertheless, it was fun planning and even more pleasing to actually land up there. 

Code Share - an experience by itself! 

We flew Indigo- Turkish Code Share from Mumbai. The Istanbul- Mumbai flight about 1 hour late (to be fair it may have been delayed because of the longer flight path to avoid much of Syrian, Iranian airspace), and boarding for 6E 17 Mumbai - Istanbul was chaotic (second time we had such an experience with Indigo) , with the result that we landed in Istanbul with less than an hour to our flight to Helsinki. 

Funnily enough, when we first flew Indigo-Turkish to Prague in 2023, the aircraft were less than half full. But in 2024, 100% full. The combo is currently the cheapest to Europe and people seem to have cottoned on! The downside is that you lose the entire day in travel both ways as the Europe flights leave at 3-330pm Turkish time and you always reach Europe around 7pm local time. But then the fares are nearly 50% of Lufthansa, which surely has the best timings to Europe from India. As a good sensible Indian, time has less value than money! 

Remember , though, you cannot do web check in for a code share flight as the Indigo- Turkish systems aren't interconnected. And if you want AVML, you need to call Turkish. Indigo won't tell Turkish. Quite quixotic. Also, remember, if by chance you dont get your second boarding card at origin in Europe, then at Istanbul, you have to go to the transfer desk, get your cards, and then clear security. If you already have the second boarding card, then you straight to the concourse. Peculiar! 

Istanbul Grand Airport is nice and glitzy, but huge and very expensive! If you ever transited thru Frankfurt with just an hour between flights and panicked, you haven't experienced Istanbul yet! After landing (not at an aero bridge, so don't go blaming India all the time- happens overseas as well), it took nearly 25 min to reach a remote bay, from which another 10 min to the arrivals and then another 15 min to the concourse. That left us precious little time - about 40 min to the next flight. This, out of a total scheduled stop over of 3.5 hours. Istanbul airport is certainly nice, but if you get delayed, be prepared to run.  

The Turkish flight to Helsinki, about 3.5 hours, was nice and smooth ( the Mum- Istanbul one was also smooth). Most surprisingly, the AVML ( Asian Veg Meal) was really good- in fact, far better than anything we had on Indigo (very poor).  The peculiar thing is that international airlines want to have max inroads into India, and currently, Indigo is the market leader. So the international class travel product jars badly with the total barebones Indigo product. 

AVML meal, Turkish Airways Istanbul-Helsinki

For the Indigo leg, expect nothing and you wont be disappointed. Just bring your own, and get off at the destination like a bus- AirBus! Thats fair enough, so long as you are aware of this. 

This was our itinerary. May or may not suit your style! We would have loved an extra three days, but every day extra was a disproportionate jump in costs ( mainly hotels and local travel). Food is an entirely different story! 

Why this particular routing? Its to do with the total airfares and visa. This routing had lesser air fares than the reverse; and we were reliably told by the trade that a Schengen visa from Finland was faster to get than from Denmark, which would have been our first port of entry in the reverse flow. As it turned out, visas from both were quickly received ( we heard about Denmark from a friend who followed the exact reverse flow as ours). 

So there we were. All set ! 

New series starts soon : SCANDINAVIA !

The Marble Mountains: a revered site definitely worth a visit, in Da Nang, Vietnam

View from Marble Mountains

The marble mountains are a collection of 5 limestone mountains in Da Nang area, which is otherwise flat. These mountains are full of caves, and now these have been organized and made accessible. There’s a lift that goes to the first level (chargeable) , beyond which there are staircases to the various parts of the mountains.

There are 5 “karsts”- mountains- named after each of the 5 elements: metal, water, wood, fire and earth. Over the years, Cham culture made the marble mountains a revered site in Vietnam, and several Vietnamese emperors also visited these mountains, giving it a special place in the culture of the country.

Huyen Khong Grotto

The highlights of the marble mountains are the caves, and the pagodas and temples hidden in thick foliage, and beautifully maintained as well. The largest cave that must be seen is after a long staircase, called Huyen Khong. 

This is a dramatically large cave, housing one huge buddha on a pedestal (see photo), and two smaller shrines on two sides. It’s a cool, quiet place. This cave at one time also housed the Vietnamese revolutionaries during that conflict, leading to bombing that left openings in the vast high roof (see photo).  The entrance is guarded by two warriors statues.

The other grotto is called Tang Chon, on water mountain, and which has a beautiful lady Buddha statue (see photo). Elsewhere on the marble mountains, there’s the beautiful Tam Thai Pagoda with a nice laughing buddha in the forecourt. 

The other nice temple not to be missed is the Linh Ung Pagoda (see photo). And down the walk from this Pagoda is the tall Xa Loi Tower, which has 200 Bodhisatva statues.

Just going around in this area gives peace of mind. Its quiet, wooded, and when we went, in December, drizzling and cool, though could become humid fairly quickly. 

The Marble mountains also have a lot of stonework shops around the base, with large statues of various deities and Lady Buddha.

The marble mountains are a must visit when in Da Nang. Quite easy to reach and can easily spend 2 hours there. Just time it right ( early morning or later towards evening). 

Lady Buddha

The marble mountains open at 7am (best time to visit) and close at 530pm. The entry fees are not too high- 40,000 Dong, and 15,000 Dong for the lift (about INR 186 per head).We reached about 3pm and left at 530pm, and went off to Hoi Ann the same evening.

The Thang Long Water Puppet Show- Unique highlight of Hanoi, Vietnam

The water puppets

One of the unique places in Hanoi is the Thang Long Water Puppet show, near the old quarter, which holds a record for the longest running such show in Asia- all 365 days for years on end.  Water puppetry is very old – 11^th century onwards and was practiced by the farmers of the Red River of North Vietnam.

The interesting thing is that these are puppets on the water surface , handled by their artists behind a screen. The official website describes it the best, “The puppets are made out of wood and then lacquered. The shows are performed in a waist-deep pool. A large bamboo rod supports the puppet under the water and is used by the puppeteers, who are normally hidden behind a screen, to control them. Thus the puppets appear to be moving over the water.”  

The shows- around 6 separate subparts- depict Vietnamese culture, wet rice agriculture and farmers’ daily life, accompanied by music – vocal and instrumental. It’s quite a show, one that you couldn’t find anywhere else- not water puppetry at least. For more on the show, visit https://thanglongwaterpuppet.com/ .

One of the water puppet dances

Tickets sold out quickly, and we were lucky to get three right in the front row. Sometimes though, because its tank and the front page is level with the water surface, seats in the third/ fourth row may afford a clearer view. The ticket prices are different per row. Our front row tickets cost 200,000.

The artists taking a bow at the end of the show

There are a lot of tourists coming to see these shows, so its best if you book it early. They have online as well, but we booked early, then strolled around the market and cafes and then went in for the 7pm show.Vietnamese Dong (about INR 672 per head). Other rows are VND 150,000 and VND 100,000.  

Music accompaniment 

 The show is about 1 hour but all shows are in Vietnamese language, which is odd, if they proudly announce that over 40 nationalities come to see these shows. Perhaps a background screen describing the shows would add to the charm and enjoyment. Nevertheless, don’t miss this show when in Hanoi!

The Mausoleum of Ho Chi Minh- Hanoi, Vietnam

In Hanoi, one of the places to visit is the mausoleum to Ho Chi Minh, the leader of Vietnam who led the North and later unified the country at the end of the Vietnam conflict (which the local Vietnamese call the American war).

The mausoleum is set in a large area, but we couldn’t see it the day we were in Hanoi as a parade was underway and the area was cordoned off. Still, the streets, houses and areas around it were nice to walk about, giving a great feel of the culture, architecture and history of the city of Hanoi. For Indians, the whole area would look very familiar, as it looks quite like Delhi in many ways.

Da Nang- historic center of Vietnam

Beach front , Da Nang , Dec 2022

Our next stop from Hanoi, a 1 hour flight from HaNoi , was Da Nang. This is a beach side city in the center of Vietnam, with a distinctly different weather than Hanoi, which is the far north, and has a distinctly colder feel to it. That said, Da Nang is the closest an Indian can get to Goa in Vietnam. The beach is long and wide and clean, bordered by a road like Marine Drive of Mumbai, and beyond which the skyscraper hotels have sprung up.

Our hotel was in one of those series, the Radisson blu. There’s the option of staying near the beach, or near the river with a view of the Dragon Bridge. We chose the beach.

Da Nang is famous for the Hue-Da Nang campaign, when the PAVN (People’s army of Vietnam/ North Vietnam) attacked these two cities and area to take them over on March 5, 1975. The campaign ended with a victory for PAVN by April 2, 1975. Another slice of history is that on March 8, 1965, units of the US army landed at Da Nang ostensibly to defend the airbase there, but that marked the start of active US involvement in the Vietnam conflict.

That was of course part of the history of Vietnam. Today, Da Nang is a modern city, with all the trappings thereof. It’s the largest city in central Vietnam, and a big port and commercial center.

Da Nang, looking out at the Lady Buddha ,
Linh Ung Pagoda, Son Tra Peninsula

You visit Da Nang for several attractions. Hue, the ancient imperial capital of Vietnam (1802-1945), lies about 90 km to the north of Da Nang, and it’s a nice day trip clubbed with the Tomb of  Khai Din and the Thien Mu Pagdoa. (each will be covered in subsequent posts).

Another attraction is Hoi Ann, a very beautiful and well-preserved ancient village is about 20km to the south. Another attraction, which we decided not to visit, is the Ba Na hills, which is a large amusement park reached by two cable car journeys, and at which you can walk on the famous “Golden Bridge”, so often shown when you look for Da Nang.

A great attraction not to be missed are the Marble Mountains, a series of 3 mountains in an area which otherwise is flat. These are several caves and temples which are inside the mountains, reached by a series of staircases. Nice place to take a stroll around and see the surroundings.

The Dragon Bridge, Da Nang

Along the way south to Hoi Ann, you can see a series of empty shells of hotels and casinos which were started to cash in on the tourism boom planned but got derailed in the covid years. When we visited this area in December 2022, there was a whole series of hotels under construction and incomplete.

The Dragon Bridge is another sight, a bridge in the shape of a dragon. Every night at 9pm there's a fire works and light show which attracts large crowds. You can see it from the road, or from a boat ( for a price). Its a well marketed attraction, like Hoi Ann and The Golden Bridge. But an undiscovered gem still remains Hue and its surrounding areas. Dont miss it when in Da Nang.