In Madagascar & Yemen

the many faces of 

TAN WEE CHENG


Tan Wee Cheng, Singapore  weecheng.com

W h e r e     h a v e     I     b e e n     t o  ?
a   t r a v e l   w i s h - l i s t
   
"there are places in the world where one is mysteriously magnified on arrival or departure by the emotions of all those who have arrived and departed before...It is a sadness we do not experience today: our journeys no longer take years to complete, we know exactly where it is going, and our chances of coming back are so much greater." Cees Nooteboom in Roads To Santiago

More Travel Quotations below - click here

Click map to see details

 

I love travelling and have been to over one hundred countries.  There are places where I have spent more than a month and others as little as a day or two.  

Not everyone has the luxury to spend extensive time in a single country. Most people do have to work to support their travels. The important thing is whether one bothers to find out about the places pre-trip or post-trip, and to attempt to appreciate and understand things in the short time he has in each country. 

There are too many people who have spent months in a single place but spend most of their time on beaches or hanging out in backpackers' bars. Besides, there are some countries where you don't need much time, e.g., Vatican City, Monaco.  I also make repeated visits to the same country for business reasons and non-business trip extensions are often made on those trips.  

I have listed below the countries I have been to, with the year of visit and links to my travel reports (which were to only some of my trips).  Have fun reading!

 

  
e  a  s  t     a  s  i  a, s  o  u  t  h  e  a  s  t    a  s  i  a

s o u t h    a s i a

&  a u s t r a l a s i a

South East Asia:
SINGAPORE 
Indonesia: Provinces of Jakarta (1997 & 2005), Riau (1996 & 2003), West Java (2005), Central Java (1997 & 2008), Yogjakarta (1997) and Bali (2005)
Brunei (2004), Malaysia (Many Times: Federal Territory, Johor, Kelantan, Melaka, Negri Sembilan, Pahang, Penang, Perak, Sabah, Sarawak, Selangor, Terenganu), Myanmar (2008)Philippines (2004), Thailand (1988, 1990, 1997, 2002, 2003, 2004 & 2005), Laos (2002), Cambodia (2002), Vietnam (2002 & 2004), Timor Leste (2005)

East Asia:
Taiwan (Republic of China) (1989 & 2008)
China (People's Republic of China): Provinces & Municipalities of Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei, Inner Mongolia, Ningxia, Shaanxi, Henan, Shandong, Jiangsu, Shanghai, Zhejiang, Sichuan, Chongqing, Hubei, Hunan, Yunnan, Hainan, Guangdong and Guangxi. (1986, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005)
Hongkong, before & after reunification with China (1986, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2005) ;  Macau (1995, 2005) 

Japan (2006)

North Korea (2004) ; South Korea (2003) ; Mongolia (2002) 

South Asia:
Bangladesh (2007) ; Bhutan (2006); India (2007) ; Maldives (2007)

Australasia:
Australia (2004): New South Wales and Victoria

 
c  e  n  t  r  a  l     a  s  i  a , 
m  i  d  d  l  e     e  a  s  t 
&  a f r i c a

Central Asia: 
Kazakstan (1998), Kyrgyzstan (1998), Tajikistan (1998), Turkmenistan (2002), Uzbekistan (1998)

Middle East/North Africa: 
Bahrain (2005), Egypt (1996 & 2008), Iran (2008),  Israel (1996), Jordan (1996), Kuwait (2005), Lebanon (2008), Libya (2008)  Morocco (1996), Oman (2005), Palestine (1996), Qatar (2005),  Syria (1996), Turkey (1995 & 2002), United Arab Emirates (2005 & 2008 - Abu Dhabi [Al Ain], Ajman, Dubai, Ras Al Khaimah, Sharjah, Umms Al Qaiwan), Yemen (2007)

Sub-Sahara Africa: 
Benin (2008), Burkina Faso (2008), Cape Verde (2008), Comoros (2003), Cote d'Ivoire (2008), Djibouti (2008), Eritrea (2008), Ethiopia (2008), The Gambia (2008), Ghana (2008), Guinea (2008), Guinea-Bissau (2008), Kenya (2008), Liberia (2008), Madagascar (2003), Mali (2008), Mauritius (2003), Mayotte (2003), Niger (2008), Reunion (2003), Rwanda (2008), Senegal (2008), Seychelles (2003), Sierra Leone (2008)Somaliland (2008), The Sudan (2008), Togo (2008), Uganda (2008)

 
e  u  r  o  p  e

Central & Eastern: 
Albania (2002), Armenia (2000), Azerbaijan (2002), Belarus (1999), Bosnia-Herzegovina (2002), Bulgaria (1995), Croatia (1995 & 2002), Czech Republic (1993), Estonia (1999), Georgia (2000), Hungary (1995), Kosovo (2002), Latvia (1999), Lithuania (1999), Macedonia (2002), Moldova (1999), Montenegro (2002), Nagorny-Karabakh (2000), Poland (2001), Romania (1995), Russia (2002), Serbia (2002), Slovakia (2001), Slovenia (1995), Transdniestria (1999), Ukraine (1999) 

Western Europe:
Andorra (2001), Austria (1993, 1995 & 2001), Belgium (1993), Cyprus (2001), Denmark (2000), Faroe Islands (2002), Finland (1999), France (1993 & 2000), Germany (1993, 1999 & 2000), Gibraltar (1999), Greece (1993 & 2002), Guernsey (2000), Iceland (2001), Ireland (2001), Isle of Man (1999), Italy (1993, 2000 & 2001), Jersey (2000), Liechtenstein (2002), Luxembourg (2000), Malta (2001), Monaco (2001), Netherlands (1993 & 2000), Norway (2001), Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (2001), Portugal (2001), San Marino (2001), Spain (1993, 1999, 2000 & 2001), Sweden (2000), Switzerland (1993 & 2002)
United Kingdom (England, Northern Ireland, Scotland & Wales)  (Many Times - Have lived there)
Vatican City State (1993 & 2000)

 
t h e     a m e r i c a s

United States of America:
Florida, New York, Mass., Penn., Washington D.C. (1998, 2002, 2006 & 2008)

Anguilla (2007), Antigua & Barbuda (2007), Aruba (2007), Bahamas (2002), Barbados (2008), Bermuda (2006), British Virgin Islands (2006), Cayman Islands (2009), Cuba (2001), Dominica (2008)Dominican Republic (2009), Greenland (2001), Grenada (2008)Guadeloupe (2008), Haiti (2009), Jamaica (2009), Martinique (2008), Montserrat (2007), Netherlands Antilles (Curacao & Sint Maarten 2007), Puerto Rico (2006), St Barthelemy (2007), St Kitts & Nevis (2007), St Lucia (2008)St Martin (Fr) (2007), St Vincent & the Grenadines (2008), Trinidad and Tobago (2008), Turks and Caicos Islands (2009), US Virgin Islands (2006)

Belize (2002), Costa Rica (2002), El Salvador (2002), Guatemala (2001), Honduras (2001 & 2002), Mexico (2002), Nicaragua (2002), Panama (2001)

Argentina (2000), Brazil (2001/2), Ecuador (2002), Chile (2001 & 2002), Colombia (2002),  French Guiana (2008), Guyana (2008), Paraguay (2002), Peru (2002), Suriname (2008), Uruguay (2001), Venezuela (2009)

 
p l a c e s     s t e p p e d     o n

Mere stopovers:
South Africa

 
p l a c e s     t o     v i s i t:
m y     w i s h - l i s t

wish me luck in lottery !

        Parts of Russia (Tuva, Kamchatka, Altai, Northern Caucasus, Volga region) 
          Eastern Turkey 
     Western Iran ; Afghanistan (The Great Game & Silk Road) ; Iraq (Mesopotamian civilization)  
      Tunisia 
     Sicily ; Campania & Calabria ; Sardinia ; Corsica ; Canary Islands ; Balearic Islands 
     Sheltland Islands
     Nigeria: Kano, Sokoto, Ibandan, Benin City 
     South Africa & Namibia ; Lesotho & Swailand 
          Northern and Central Brazil 
     India (Maharastra, Tamil Nadu, Hampi, Northeast, Sikkim and Buddhist monuments of India)  ; Sri Lanka
         Following parts of China: North-West/Silk Road, Guizhou, Tibet) 
     Kachin State & Eastern Shan State of Myanmar ; Parts of Thailand: Isan ; East Malaysia
     Parts of Indonesia: North Sumatra, East Java, Nusa Tengarra, Sulawesi, Irian Jaya

An issue some may raise is, how do you define what's a country/territory, and what's not ?  What's considered a visit and what's not ?  My definitions are:

1) Sovereign internationally recognised countries and those which are recognised as separate territories by the UN - for example, Western Sahara is treated by UN as a separate territory from Morocco, and so is West Bank & Gaza currently controlled by the Palestinian Authority, i.e., Moroccan and Israeli occupation treated illegal and hence these two are considered separate entities.

2) Constitutionally separate territories, i.e., colonies and dependent territories like Bermuda, Jersey, Guernsey, Isle of Man, Faroe Islands.  Hong Kong and Macau are considered separate territories before their reunification with China and since I was there before 1997, I regard them as separate territories.

3) Territories enjoying de jure or de facto independence though not recognised by most of the world, e.g., Taiwan, Nagorno-Karabakh, Transdniestria and Abkhazia are examples.

4) Territories that are merely culturally different or merely aspire independence but enjoy neither de facto nor international recognition are NOT considered separate entities, e.g., Quebec and Tibet.  Their inclusion will bring about excessive disagreement and a temptation to include every province and district.

5) Places I have not done any sightseeing are treated as mere stopovers.

See further elaboration at the end of this page.

Favourite Places

Favourite Country/Regions
- Iran
- Italy

- Libya
- Mongolia
- Peru
- Spain
- Thailand
- Vietnam

- Yemen
- Yunnan Province, China

Favourite Large Cities (population >1 million)
- Bangkok
- Beijing

- Esfahan
- Hong Kong
- Istanbul

- Kathmandu
- London
- Mexico City
- Rome
- Singapore

Favourite Small Cities/Towns (population <1 million)
- Antigua (Guatemala)
- Cusco (Peru)
- Bukhara (Uzbekistan)
- Hoi An & Hue (Vietnam)
- Jerusalem (Israel/Palestine)
- Lijiang & Dali (China)
- Marrakesh (Morocco)
- Melaka (Malaysia)
- Oaxaca City & San Cristobal de la Casas (Mexico)
- Sarajevo (Bosnia & Herzegovina)

- Thimphu (Bhutan)
- Yazd (Iran)

Unique "Small" Places/Sites (Culture & Heritage) -exclude those already listed elsewhere
- Angkor (Cambodia)
- Easter Island (Chile)

- Dogon Country (Mali)
- Dubrovnik (Croatia)

- Ghadames (Libya)
- Karakorum (Mongolia)

- Khoima (Nagaland, India)
- Palmyra (Syria)

- Pushkar (India)
- Sapa (Vietnam)
- Titicaca, Lake of (Peru)

- Wadi Hadramawt (Yemen)
- Zhongdian (China)

Unique Places (Nature)
- Amazon Peruvian (Peru)
- Atacama Desert (Chile)
- Galapagos Islands (Ecuador)
- Greenland, Glaciers & Icebergs (Greenland)
- Guilin (China)
- Iguacu Falls (Brazil & Argentina)
- Libyan Sahara
- Mongolian Plains
- Patagonian Glaciers (Chile & Argentina)
- Tierra del Fuego (Argentina)
- Todra Zorge & Sand Dunes of the Sahara (Morocco)

Weird Regimes
- Adjara (Georgia)
- Kosovo
- Montenegro
- North Korea
- Somaliland
- Srpska (Bosnian Serb Republic)
- Transdniestria (Moldova)
- Turkmenistan

Epic Journeys
- Baltic To The Black Sea
- Inca Trail
- Reunification Express (Vietnam)
- Trans-Siberian Railway
Various quotations from  John Simpsons in A Mad World, My Masters:

"Once we had a planet.  Now… we’re left with a suburb." 

"There are three bad times: the night before you leave for somewhere difficult, and you sit with your lover or your family trying to behave entirely normally in order to show how safe everything is going to be; the following morning, when the car comes to take you to the airport; and the moment when the plane touches down at your destination.  Of all these moments, the last is by far the worst.  It is also more unpleasant than anything you are likely to experience later." 

"Even if you find yourself under long intensive shelling, which is the nastiest thing I know, or are attacked by an angry crowd, which is the second nastiest, it never quite matches that dreadful sense of foreboding when the plane jolts, the tyres scream, and the trip begins to unfold: the separation from the comfortable, safe, familiar world of an aircraft, the cold air, the uncertainty of standing in line at the immigration desk, defenceless against all the fears you have been suppressing.  And of course if shelling, arrest, or angry crowds materialize – and they usually don’t – you are much too busy to worry about the outcome."

"Serious traveling is never comfortable or safe, and is very rarely accompanied by champagne, unless, that is, you have brought your own.  Serious traveling is difficult, and the enjoyment is in direct proportion to the degree of difficulty.  By which I mean, it only starts to be really enjoyable once it’s over."

Icons of Travel

Zhenghe Ibn Battuta Marco Polo Lawrence of Arabia Bruce Chatwin

  Aspiring Nomad

Kykkos Monastery, Troodos Mountains, Cyprus Helsinki Bay, Finland Georgian Military Highway, near the Russian/Chechen border Train, Ukraine, near the Moldovan border Torres del Paine National Park, Chile

Further elaboration on countries & entities:

Wikipedia's List of sovereign states
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_sovereign_states
This list derives its definition of a state from Article 1 of the Montevideo Convention of 1933. According to the Convention, a state should possess the following qualifications: (a) a permanent population, (b) a defined territory, (c) government, and (d) capacity to enter into relations with the other states. In respect of the last qualification, the role of recognition by other states can often be crucial since it implies acceptance into the international community.[62] The list includes all states which are often regarded as satisfying these criteria and claim to be sovereign and independent. However, in many cases, whether an entity satisfies the Montevideo Convention criteria is disputed. It is also important to note that there is a divergence of opinion in international law on whether the Montevideo Convention criteria alone are sufficient qualities of statehood. Links to different theories on this question are provided below.
On the basis of the above criteria, this list includes the following 203 entities:
* 193 sovereign states with general international recognition:
- 192 member states of the United Nations
- One state with general international recognition, governed by the Holy See (a United Nations permanent observer): Vatican City
*10 sovereign states lacking general international recognition, none of which are members of the United Nations:
- One state with diplomatic relations with more than 100 states and informal relations with 25 others, governed by the Palestinian National Authority and the Palestine Liberation Organization (a United Nations permanent observer): Palestine
- One state, recognized by 63 United Nations member states and by Taiwan, informal relations with six others: Kosovo
- One state, recognized by 46 other states, a member of the African Union, in partial control of the Western Sahara (listed by the United Nations as a non self-governing territory): the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic
- One state, competing for recognition with another state, currently recognized by 23 United Nations member or observer states as the state representing China, but no longer recognised by the United Nations as of 25 October 1971: the Republic of China
- Two states, recognized by three United Nations member states, by Transnistria and by the other of the two: Abkhazia and South Ossetia
- One state, recognized by one United Nations member state and having informal relations with 19 more: Northern Cyprus
- One state, recognized by Abkhazia and South Ossetia: Transnistria
- Two states not recognized by any other state: Somaliland and Nagorno-Karabakh

Wikipedia has a list of "Dependent Territories"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_dependent_territories
A dependent territory, dependent area or dependency is a territory that does not possess full political independence or sovereignty as a State.
There are varying degrees and forms of dependence, commonly distinguished from other subnational entities in that they are not considered to be part of the motherland or mainland of the governing State. In most cases they also represent a different order of separation. A subnational entity typically represents a division of the State proper, while a dependent territory might be an overseas territory that enjoys a greater degree of autonomy. For instance, many of them have more or less separate legal systems from the governing States. Varying among different legal and constitutional traditions, these territories may or may not be considered part of the States.
There are 60 dependencies on this list and I have excluded those without permanent population from my list of "Countries & Political Entities". 

In addition, I have also included Reunion, Guadeloupe, Martinique and French Guiana, which are part of Metropolitan France (and hence excluded on either the Wikipedia list of dependent territories or from the UN list of non-self-governing territories), though located in different continents.

Hong Kong and Macau are integral parts of China since 1997 and 1999 respectively. I visited these territories before their integration with China and have hence included them as among the entities I have visited. Any visit that takes place after their unification with China should be excluded.