5 Things to See on Suomenlinna

(This is a throwback post to September 2018)

Suomenlinna is a bastion fortress situated on the islands off the coast of Helsinki in Finland.

Its irregular shape and unique history in serving the defence of three sovereign entities, i.e. Sweden, Russia and Finland makes it a top tourist attraction in Finland.

Contruction of Suomenlinna first began in the mid-18th Century when Finland was still part of Sweden.

The fortress was inducted as a Unesco World Heritage site in 1991 for its unique military architecture of its era.

If you get a chance to visit Suomenlinna, you'll need to visit these five attractions:

1) Suomenlinna Church

The Suomenlinna Church was built as a Russian Orthodox garrison church in 1854. As Finland took cotrol of the island in the 1920s, it was converted into a Lutheran place of worship. A lighthouse, serving both air and sea traffic still operates in the steeple.

2) Great Courtyard

Designed by the fortress' founder Augustin Ehrensvard, the Great Courtyad was completed in the 1760s and served as the main square. It was badly damaged in the Crimean War in 1855. The square contains an impressive memorial to Augustin Ehrensvard, the architect of the Suomenlinna fortress.

3) Dry Dock

Suomenlinna's dry dock is one of Europe's oldest operational dry docks. In the 1760s, ships for the Swedish naval fleet were built here, under the supervision of naval architect, F.H. af Chapman. Nowadays the dry dock is used for renovating old sailing boats.

Here's more info about the Dry Dock:

4) Kustaanmiekka

Kustaanmiekka is home to Suomenlinna's original bastion and a late 19th Century Russian defence line, complete with sand enbankments and artillery points. The Kustaanmiekka bastion area provides stunning seascapes all the way to the mainland.

5) King's Gate

The monumental King's Gate is the iconic symbol of Suomenlinna. It was built between 1753 and 1754 as a ceremonial gateway to the fortress. The gate was built on the site where a ship carrying the fortress' founder, King Adolf Frederick of Sweden, was anchored while he inspected the construction of the fortress.

Getting to Suomenlinna

The most convenient way to get to Suomenlinna is to take the ferry operated by the Helsinki Region Transport Authority (HSL). The ferry departs from the Market Square (Kauppatori in Finnish) in Helsinki:

The Presidential Palace (right side of pic) overlooks the Kauppatori. Operators set up stalls at the harbour selling local food and handicraft.

This is the HSL ferry:

A return ticket (adult) from the ticket machine costs 5.00 Euro:

I opted to use the HSL app to purchase tickets using credit card. It's convenient and you don't have to deal with small change which can be a hassle at times. The app is really useful and I recommend you use it if you're visiting Helsinki.

When I was in Helsinki in September 2018, a one-way ticket to Suomenlinna was 2.20 Euro. After checking the current price for this post, I discovered that the price has increased to 2.80 Euro.

Ljubljana to Bled by Bus

(All information is correct as at October 2019)

Lake Bled is a lake located in the northwest of Slovenia. Due to its location in the Julian Alps of the Upper Carniolan region, Lake Bled boasts of serene landscapes making it a popular tourist destination in Slovenia. 

I visited Lake Bled on a day trip from Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia by taking the public bus, and I'll show you how to do it.

Buses to Bled depart from Ljubljana Bus Station: 

There's only one bus station in Ljubljana. So all buses (interstate and inter country) come and go from this station.

Here's the counter to purchase bus tickets:

A return ticket (adult) from Ljubljana to Bled is 12.84 Euro:

Buses leave every 30 min during peak hours, 7 days a week. Not sure though whether they operate during major holidays like Christmas and New Year. Best is to check with the station if you're travelling during those times.

After purchasing your ticket, go to Platform 7 where buses to Bled departs:

The bus left the station 1 minute before departure time, so it's good to arrive early at the bus station.

The distance between Ljubljana and Bled is approximately 55km, and the bus ride to Bled took approximately 50 minutes. 

The last stop on the ride is at the Bled Bus Station:

There were not many people around when I reached the station as it was autumn. I reckon the place would be busier in the summer.

Here's the timetable for buses from Bled Bus Station to Ljubljana Bus Station:

The return journey took approximately 1.5 hours as the bus made many stops at small towns along the way back to Ljubljana.

Bled Bus Station is located approximately 400 metres from Lake Bled.

Here's a map of Bled Centre by the Bled Tourist Office:

This map which I snapped at the Bled Bus Station gives you an idea of where the bus station is in relation to Lake Bled.

It was untimely that when I visited Lake Bled the weather was gloomy and cloudy with intermittent drizzles. That explains why my pics in this entry is rather drab, because lighting was bad.

Lake Bled is surrounded by a walkway where visitors could walk the entire 6km circumference of it. 

In the middle of Lake Bled is Bled Island which which houses the Cerkev Marijinega vnebovzetja church (dedicated to the Assumpton of the Virgin Mary):

A trip to Lake Bled would not be complete without taking mirror pics of it.

During my walk around the lake I saw the locals taking pics and lazing around:

One of the best part about visiting Europe in the fall is that the foliage is usually golden in colour which I love so much:

At the hostel in Ljubljana, a fellow traveller told me that he visited Lake Bled just the day before. 

The weather was bright and sunny and he followed a few locals climb to the top of a hill overlooking Lake Bled. He showed me photos that he took from that hill and they were amazing. 

It was a pity I couldn't do the same walk as he did as I was travelling alone and didn't want to go on forlon forest tracks alone. So that's another excuse to visit Lake Bled again.

Highlights of 2019

This is my customary look back at what happened to me in the past year.


1) Citizen Action for Tiger (CAT) Walk at Sungai Yu in February

I wanted to do some environmental and awareness work at the beginning of the year.

Since tigers are at the brink of extinction in Malaysia, I decided to join this walk to learn more about efforts by the authorities and NGOs to save these magnificent creatures from extinction.

Click here if you wish to learn more about this programme.

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2) South Korea in May

I flew into Seoul and did a considerable amount of shopping. Then I took the bus to Busan and stayed at Haeundae beach for a change from the hustle and bustle of Seoul.

I wrote a short note about my South Korea trip which you can read here.

South Korea was a milestone because it was my thirtieth country. This means I had completed one of my bucketlist to visit at least thirty countries.

I stayed at Haeundae Beach when I was in Busan.

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3) Travelled to the island of Koh Rong, Cambodia in June

Tickets from Kuala Lumpur to Sihanoukville (entry point to Koh Rong) were bloody cheap. Like most things in life that comes cheap, there was a reason for the cheapness and it was because June was the monsoon season in Koh Rong. It rained almost everyday. However there were times when the weather was lovely and we could walk to Saracen Bay and enjoy a swim.

I remember the time when a thunder storm at night caused a blackout whilst I was in the shower. I pulled on a towel, came out to look for my mobile phone, switched on the torch feature and continued my shower. Life is too short to mope in the dark.

Another thing I need to add here is that the town of Sihanoukville was a mess. The place looked like a mini China as casinos were built all over the place catering to the Chinese crowd.

There was construction work going on in almost every corner which stirred up dust whenever vehicles passed by. Rubbish, especially plastic blottles and wrappers were everywhere. The island of Koh Rong was clean and relaxing, but Sihanoukville was bad.

Pristine Koh Rong.

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4) Ran my first 21km in July

I participated in this race as a ghost runner because the venue was changed to near my house at the last minute. The initial venue was miles away and I couldn't be arsed to travel so far just to run a race at the break of dawn.

My mistake was running too fast at the beginning. Naturally I couldn't maintain the pace and fell short of breathe and energy by the eleventh kilometre. In the end I completed the race in an unimpressive three hours.

I've signed up for my first official half marathon in 2020. It's going to be held in March at Dataran Merdeka. This time I hope to be more prepared and wiser.

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5) East Europe in October

I had initially wanted to do Ukraine, Moldova, Romania, Bulgaria, Macedonia and Albania. But flights to Kiev (Ukraine) were pretty expensive when I looked at it. Moreover there were at least two transits which were long and painful.

Then one fine day British Airways had a sale and a return tic from Kuala Lumpur to Prague (via Heathrow) was going for RM2,100. It would have been a sin not to buy it.

My journey began in Prague, followed by Vienna, Bratislava, Budapest and Ljubljana in that order.

Amongst all the cities on that trip, my fav was Budapest. The city had a certain vibrancy to it, and not to mention the weather was almost perfect. Our hostel was located near the stunning St Stephen's Basilica and I spent a good many hours in it looking at the interiors, attending Mass and also a concert.

My only regret is that we should have spent more time in Budapest. Three nights was certainly not enough. Well, there's another excuse to visit Budapest again.

Upon completion of this trip, I had completed 35 countries.

The colours of fall was very pretty in Cesky Krumlov. We made a day trip there from Prague.

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6) A year of attending concerts

I attended six concerts this year, an unusual number compared to previous years.

Concert 1: Euphrasia - the Musical @ KL Performing Arts Centre (April)

Concert 2: Phantom of the Opera @ Istana Budaya (June)

Concert 3: Haydn and Handle Orgn Concertos @ Dewan Filharmonik Petronas (October)

Concert 4: U2 - The Joshua Tree Tour @ Singapore National Stadium (December)

Concert 5: Madagascar: The Musical @ KL Convention Centre (December)

(no pics - hehehe)

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Today is the last day of the first decade of the new millenium. I'm thankful to have come this far and look forward to another decade of hope and love.