Lithuania

jerambatu

Lithuania bukan destinasi pelancongan popular rakyat Malaysia. Mungkin ada jugak yg tahu wujudnya negara ni. Sebuah negara bekas jajahan Soviet Union. Salah satu negara Baltic, merdeka pada 1990. Bandar utama ialah Vilnius dan bandar kedua is Kaunas. Negara amat sejuk, winter boleh cecah -28 C, waktu kami ada kat sana (minggu lepas) suhu 2 C - 4 C. Makanan halal susah gile. Kami ada pinned few location halal restaurant, tapi bila pegi, kebnyakkan nya dah tutup. Mungkin Restoran halal kat Vilnius ni tak boleh survive sebab jumlah penduduk Islam terlalu sikit. Penduduk Islam kebanyakkan dari bangsa Tatar dan sdikit Turkish Immigrant.

Total area: 65,300 km2

Population: 2 980 000

NationalCurrency: Euro

Local time: GMT + 2 hours

Internationaltelephone code:  +370

Geographicallocation: The Republic of Lithuania lies on the eastern coast of the BalticSea.

Neighbourcountries: Latvia, Russia, Poland and Belarus

Independence:  Independent from the 16th  February 1918(till 1940-). 2nd independence 11th March 1990.

Government: Democratic Republic

Internationalpartnership: NATO, EU and Schengen area

Resorts: Palanga, Neringa, Druskininkai , Birštonas and Anykščiai

Ethnicity: Lithuanian , Polish , Russian , Belarusian , others

Religion:  Predominantly, Roman Catholic (approximately 80% of the total population).Others  include Orthodox, Old Believers,Lutheran, Reformat, Jewish, Sunni, Karaite and other communities.

Kami terbang dari Schipol Amsterdam menuju Vilnius by Baltic Air, a budget airlines based in Riga, Latvia (another Baltic Country). Flight selama 3 jam on turbo propeller Bombardier.

jerambatu

Sampaibandar Vilnius dlm pkl 2.00 ptg. Suhu dlm 3 deg C, yg tak tahan angin sepoi2bahasa, sejuk sampai tulang. Airport Vilnius tak lah besar kalau nak comparedgn Schipol. Dan agak lengang, even KLIA2 lagi busy. Few airlines terbang kesini like Turkish Airlines, KLM, Ryan Air, Lufthansa, Norwegian, Baltic Air,Ukrain Airlines and few more.

Location Vilniusis quite strategic, dekat dgn :-

Stockholm –1 hr flight

Helsinki –boleh naik ferry + bus

StPetersburg – Train + bus or flight

Warsaw – busabout 8 hrs

Moscow –Train or flight

Riga -  bus

Tallin-  bus

jerambatu

Selesai collect luggage (suprisingly luggage collection was very efficient, less than 10 minutes), kami pun ambik Bus No 2 untuk ke Panorama Hotel. Bus ke pusat bandar ada banyak, but kami pilih No. 2 sebab berhenti dekat dgn hotel. Salute dgn public transport depa, very punctual, kalau kat board kata arrive in 3 min, memang betul2 3 min bus akan sampai. Typical public transport in europe.


Tambang bus pulak consider murah compare to other europen city. 1 euro per ride, tak kira jauh atau dekat, mana2 destinasi dalam bandar. Cuma kena sediakan syiling 1 euro, sebab driver tak ada masa nak tukar duit besar.

Hotel yg kami duduk is Panorama Hotel.



Hotel ni ok, bersih, dekat dgn Mc D, dekat dengan stoti (bus stop), dekat dgn train station, about 10 minutes walk ke old town. Harga 45 euro per night utk 2 orang.

midori888

thank u for sharing jerambatu.....

jerambatu

Cara paling baik utk explore Vilnius ialah dgn jalan kaki,sebab bandar dia tak besar sangat, attraction pun dekat2, sekitar old town.Tapikalau nak naik bus atau trolleybus pun ok. Public transport diorang superb dan murah. . Satu perkara yg kitaorang salute, Vilnius is a very clean city

Makan kita org balun Mc D aja, order fish fillet and chips.Tawakkal he..he..

Vilnius ni penuh dgn gereja, every few hundred meters akan nampak gereja, samaada kecik atau besar.

Satu perkara lagi gadis2 Lithuania memang cun, cantik2belaka, aku tak berani nak tengok sgt, bini aku ada sebelah. Seriously, even mywife pun setuju perempuan2 Lithuania memang cantik, mix between European and Russian look.

Satu lagi masaalah ialah language barrier. MajorityLithuanian tak tahu English, mereka cakap Lithuaninan atau Russian. Tapi mereka ramah, ada beberapa orang menegur kami tapi kami tak paham. Kami pun tak tahudia cakap Luthianian atau Russian, sounds the same.

TravellingBear

Tq tt for the info

jerambatu

Vilnius is well connected to any part of europe. Boleh aja nak selitkan Vilnius dlm itinerary.

Possible route :

1.  Fly in to Prague
     Take train + bus (Leo Express is good option) to Krakow
     From Krakow take bus to Warsaw
     From Warsaw take bus to Kaunas
     From Kaunas train to Vilnius
     From Vilnius fly to Stockholm or Istanbul.

2.  Fly in to Stockholm
     Ferry or fly to Helsinki
     From Helsinki take fast train to St Petersburg
     From St Petersburg take train to Tallin
     From Tallin take bus to Riga
     From Riga to Vilnius by bus
     From Vinius, fly out to Istanbul     or from Kaunas fly out to Copenhagen by Ryanair.

3.  This is what we did last week.
     Flew in Amsterdam from Doha via Pegasus Airline (transit IST)
     from Amsterdam flew to Vilnius via Baltic Air
     from Vilnius to Kaunas by train ( 1hr + for 100km)
     from Kaunas flew to Copenhagen by Ryanair
     from Cpenhagen flew back to Doha by Pegasus

sebab kami memang nak visit Amsterdam for the tulip.

Cost of living kat Vilnius is very cheap, hotel pun murah.

     

midori888

jerambatu replied at 27-4-2016 02:21 PM
Vilnius is well connected to any part of europe. Boleh aja nak selitkan Vilnius dlm itinerary.

Po ...

again, thank u for sharing jerambatu....Lithuania mmg ada dlm list of countries i teringin nak visit....kalu pergi, i will combine dgn Estonia and Latvia...pastu trus naik ferry ke Helsinki....tapi tu lah...taktau bila lagi....harap ada rezeki...

jerambatu

midori888 replied at 27-4-2016 02:56 PM
again, thank u for sharing jerambatu....Lithuania mmg ada dlm list of countries i teringin nak v ...

Insya Allah.

It wont take that long for hardcore traveller like you to reach these kind of places, just a matter of time.

You are right, Tallin and Helsinki easily connected by ferry.

jerambatu

Destinasi kami yg seterusnya ialah Kaunas. Bandar kedua selepas Vilnius. Nak ke Kaunas boleh naik bus ekspress atau pun train. Cuma bus ekspress  (Ollex) akan berhenti di Kaunas Aiport, train pulak berhenti kat Kaunas Old Town. So bergantung kpd destinasi.

So selepas checked out kami jalan kaki ke stesen keretapi Vilnius kebetulan dekat, cuma seberang jalan aja.
Stesen dia not so crowded dan bersih.

Station keretapi Vilnius



Tiket tak perlu buat advance booking. Double decker coach, sgt modern dan sgt selesa.





Harga tiket bergantung kapada jadual. Kami dapat harga 4.50 Euro sorang. Peak hours will be 5.70 Euro. Jarak perjalanan 100 km, tempuh perjalanan about 1hr 15 minutes.

jerambatu

Sepanjang perjalanan train dari Vilnius ke Kaunas akan melalui kawasan2 perkampungan dan pendalaman yg cantik.

jerambatu

Sedikit tips :

1. Lithuania guna euro. Tukar siap2 sebelum sampai. Sebab kami tak nampk satu pun money changer, mungkin ada cuma lami tak jumpa.
2.  Untuk bus, sediakan syiling 1 Euro.
3.  Makanan halal memang hampir takde, so pandai2lah bawak apa yg patut.
4. Check cuaca/suhu sebelum pegi, winter clothing mesti bawak.

jerambatu

Satu2 nya kedai halal yg kami dapat jumpa ialah Ibrahim Eastanbul.
Untuk ke sini kena naik bus No. 53 dari Stesyen bus dekat dgn stesyen keretapi, atau diorang sebut Stotis. Naik bus dlam 15 minit pastu drop kat Zaliasis tiltas, pastu kena jalan kaki dlm 10 minit.




Untuk self catering boleh dapat ayam, daging lembu, kambing kat sini. Daging burger, sausage pun ada. Runned by Turkish.

jerambatu

Kaunas adalah bandar kedua terbesar, kat sini pun ada international airport. Ryanair ada daily direct flight ke Copenhagen dgn harga yg murah. So another alternative untuk ke Lithuania ialah fly in from Copenhagen to Kaunas, pastu boleh lah smbung ke Vilnius dgn train.


Station keretapi Kaunas.

Kaunas can be easily explore by bus. Depa punya public transport pun very good, very punctual



Station Bus.




Bentuk bangunan dan landscpe lebih kurang dgn Vilnius. Cuma Kaunas ni tak sesibuk Vilnius.

jerambatu

Di Kaunas kami tinggal di Jurates B & B Namai kat area Karmelava. Dekat dgn Kaunas International Airport. Its a Bed & Breakfast, equipped with kitchen. Majority yg tinggal kat sini, yg ada kerja dgn Airport mostly LAE (Licensed Aircraft Engineer) and technician. Ada yg duduk sebulan, ada yg seminggu dan ada few trainees duduk kira monthly. Location so closed to the hangar, about 10 minutes walking. Kebetulan I have some works to do in the hangar, itu sebab kami pilih hotel ni. Hotel basic, but very clean, owner cn speak english and very friendly.

Untuk ke hotel ni kena naik bus no 29 from train station. Satu perkara kena tahu, ialah bus schedule. Kena tahu pkl berapa bus sampai kat stesyen yg kita nak tunggu. Takdelah keras beku terpacak menunggu lama.

Kaunas Airport Hangar - sepatutnya tak boleh ambik gambar
   

jerambatu

Kaunas Old Town.

jerambatu

Akropolis is the biggest Mall di Kaunas.
Sangat bersih dan suka dia punya set-up dan arrangement. Nampak sangat kemas dan tak berserabut.
Beberapa jenama terkenal boleh beli kat sini.

kuihbakar

Wah... Macam best ja... Bila la boleh nak melancong ke sini agaknya

hareeeesah

Seronnoknya. Pernah juga borak dengan orang Lithuania online, teringin nak pergi. Thank you share cerita.

hanydean

Hai jerambatu
tq utk info
just nak tanya kalau route yg saya buat ni sesuai dgn pengangkutan atau x

moscow ke st petersburg - train
st petersburg ke helsinki - flight
helsinki ke kittila - flightkittila ke lapland - bas

atau direct dr st petersburg ke helsinki guna train (finnish rail)

lapland ke kittila - bas
kittila ke helsinki - flight
helsinki ke tallin - feri
tallin ke kaunas - train
kaunas - vilnius - train
vilnius ke moscow - flight