I’m always interested in other countries’ transport system. The design, the route map, the facilities.

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👇 France’s transportation. Like another developed countries, France had a great transportation system. Regional train takes you to suburbias, €15 from Dreux to Paris, one way 😛 There are cheaper options for longer periods, multiple tickets, weekly and monthly. However, for weekly and monthly you’d need to provide a photo to the train counter staff aaaannndddd…. it’d only effective from Monday to Sunday, not say Thursday to Thursday next week. Too bad. 

Gare Montparnasse was one of the bigger stations linking regional trains to metro. You can see the ticket counter below at Gare (Station) Montparnasse. Usually metro tickets also allow you to board the buses and trams. So when you board the bus or tram, you’d need to stamp it at the machine. The same with regional trains, people were quite discipline to stamp it before boarding. Sometimes they did random checking, and fined people if they didn’t. 

Metro Paris was complicated, vast, the lines were twisting, looping, and merging. The older wagons have different knobs to open the door from the inside. The structures of the stations were not always updated. There were older stations without lifts, so good luck if you carry big luggages 💪nonetheless you’d see many kind hearted people helping older people with their luggages climbing the stairs. Those stairs could be endless… 😶

👇 I also hunted for metro with art nouveau style and got one 😆😆😆

👇 Metro at Rome. You can buy tickets at the machine, counter or small independent kiosks. If you’re planning to travel around the town for the day, go for the 24 hours package for €7. 

One thing, at our metro stop Bologna, they played Italian pop music at the Metro station! Super! Great idea 👍

You can also download an app called CityMapper, it helped us to know of bus and metro schedules, also which lines to take. Give it a try 🚌🚈 

Uber didn’t work in Rome, so you’d need to order a taxi. 

👇 Rome International Airport tour to historical site nearby. 

 

👇 Palermo. We didn’t take public transportation.

👇 Transport at – to Czechia. Taking the train from one country to the next, it might be a good option for you to buy the 1st class to confirm your seat. Otherwise you might need to look for unreserved seats. The train made few stops where people hop on and off. The conductor of the train will go around and check your ticket, everytime the train left a station. Just in case, bring your ID. There was a group of policemen also patrolling the train. The scenery was beautiful, especially when you’re at Czech area, the river side was beautiful.

 

👇 Transport at Berlin.

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👇 Going around Berlin by bicycle is also great. The street is flat, there’s a special lane for cyclers, cars and buses are respectful. The best rate we had was at €7 per day for 24 hrs. You just need to show your passport, deposit a €25 per bike. It was called the Prenzelbarger Orange Bikes. Opens from 12pm to 6pm. Comfy seat, pretty decent and maintained. What is great about them is that the profit goes to support the park for children and children’s activities just behind their office. What more can you hope for? Cheapest deal while supporting the local cause!

Cruises around Museum Island canal.

👇 Bus stop, underground stops, bus itinerary. We got the weekly pass with the rate of €30 for 7 days. Buy it from the ticket box vending machine, after that validate the card by stamping it at the machine near-by, it will stamp the date of your purchase, then you just calculate the ticket’s expiration date manually. When a staff do a random check, just show it to her/him. Monthly plan is available, gets cheaper when you calculate it by daily. My cousin said some people sell their pass on FB group, it gets cheaper as well.

👇 Berlin main train station. 

👇 Trams at Berlin. Short distance.

👇 Frankfurt main train station. When getting into the city from airport, you have to buy train tickets at airport. You cannot buy at every station. Except if you’re already in the city. There’s a customer service available and even at early morning  they’re quite friendly ☺️We had to continue our trip with a tram, so we went outside across the building at the tram stations. The train station was big, had a lot of restaurants, cafés, small shops.  Here are few shots inside of a tram, from Frankfurt.

Another interesting observation is that at early morning nobody chats, even people who know each other. They whispered and talked briefly. My friend said, it’s because it’s very early in the morning and raining and cold. So people weren’t in the mood to talk. So we also whispered haha! 😅 What a contrast to Asia, especially the Chinese.

👇 Information board at Berlin Main Station telling timetable of long distance trains.

👇 Seating chart of the wagon. It states  where your wagon is, then when on board you can look for your seat number. 1st class gets a seat number, 2nd class has to search for an empty seat. There is free WiFi on board, a small restaurant with more expensive price.

View of platform for the long distance train. Food kiosk selling all kinds of coffee, tea, sandwiches, bakeries, are available at Frankfurt main station

Deutsch Bahn male staff at Customer Service, complete with his hat and mustache.

👇 Inside the tram, short distance.

Frankfurt main station.

👇 Frankfurt International Airport. We arrived at Terminal 2 and took Skyline to get to Terminal 1. It’s free and fast. Terminal 1 is where you can take the public train, long distance and regionals. The station is just below Terminal 1. There are ticket box machines where you can place money and coins. We bought a one way ticket to the city for 4.8 Euro. They don’t stamp or directly check  your tickets here, they just expect you to be responsible and obey the rule. What a disciplined  society!

👇 Ho Chi Minh’s airport.

👇 One way to get to the airport at Hong Kong is by taking MTR, Airport Express. Costs $170 HKD for 2 people from the MTR Central Station. It took less than 30 minutes, airlines and their terminals are displayed on the TV screen inside the wagon.

👇 Ferries are a great alternative to achieve a destination faster. Ferries going back and forth to/from Macau and Hong Kong are clean, comfortable and fast. Takes around 1 hours to get across. At Macau side, there are 2 harbors: Taipa and Macau. Hong Kong has several harbors.

👇 Well, coming from Indonesia where the public transportation tends to be a mess, Macau’s public transportation is a nice change. Though the drivers in general drive like the busses don’t have a brake, the buses are relatively new and very comfortable. The fees? Cheap. At most less than 4 MOP. Taxi meters? Start from around 17 MOP, when you have baggage, there’ll be an extra fee. Taxis are relatively easy to find.