Li Hui Cham / notes

On 10 October 2026, I landed in Budapest. Finally, my two-week solo trip was about to begin. I’ll admit I was a little nervous.

While packing, I wasn’t particularly excited. Work had been stressful, and I had just finished a major presentation the day before. But I hadn’t travelled in over six months, and it was driving me crazy.

Anyway, the trip kicked off on a windy afternoon in Budapest.

Budapest

Danube River at night

What I love most about the city is the stunning Hungarian Parliament Building, right on the Danube. Every night, I hung out by the river. Either I strolled along the Pest side to admire the grand architecture glowing in golden light, or I rode Tram 2, which runs along the river, to take in the night view of the city from one end to the other.

A morning run on Margaret Island

The next morning, I went for a run on Margaret Island. The loop around the island is roughly 5 km, and the track is rubber (much kinder to my knees). The beauty of travelling solo is that I had complete freedom to choose how to spend my time and energy!

Some people like to run along the water by the Parliament, but I find it too distracting with all the tourists passing by. Personally, I prefer the Margaret Island loop. The island itself was very quiet, so I had the morning run all to myself. I even saw some deer!

Rudas Thermal Bath

I spent half a day at Rudas Thermal Bath. Another first for me, but damn, now I understand why the snow monkeys in Japan spend hours soaking in hot springs lol. I tried the traditional Turkish bath, which caught me off guard: Hungarian grandmas just gossip in the warm pools (almost) naked, with only a white cloth covering their private parts.

Then I did a contrast bath. Basically: the 42°C thermal pool (50 seconds), a cold plunge at 18°C (10 seconds), then back into the thermal pool (10 seconds). I repeated this 2–3 times, then went for an hour-long swim.

After that, I headed up to the rooftop to chill in the thermal pool. It was the most relaxing moment of my whole trip, with a panoramic view of the Danube skyline and its iconic bridges and landmarks.

Sunset at Castle Hill

I also visited both Gellért Hill and Castle Hill while I was on the Buda side (I didn’t climb up, I took the bus up and walked down lol). Gellért Hill is nice in the morning, when you can spend some time at the Citadella in daylight. Castle Hill, though, is best at sunset. I was extremely lucky to watch the sky shift from yellow → orange → pink → purple, and to see the city change colour as the night sky slowly blanketed it.

Hungarian State Opera House

One of the highlights of my trip was watching a pirate-themed ballet, Le Corsaire, at the Hungarian State Opera. It was my first time in an opera house, and I was definitely underdressed :(

While packing, I realised I could no longer fit into my travel dress, so I left it behind. Plus, it was only my second night in Budapest, so I didn’t have time to shop for a proper evening dress. What a shame not to have taken gorgeous pictures in the opera house. I WILL BE BACK

Hunting for Kolodko statues

On my final night in Budapest, I went hunting for mini statues. They're made by the artist Mihály Kolodko and are scattered all over Budapest. I couldn't find many because it was late at night, but I still had loads of fun tracking them down on Google Maps. I also found that some of them are tucked away in good, hidden spots for photography!

Slovenia

Ljubljana, the dragon city

After Budapest, I headed to Ljubljana. It's a very small city, and I pretty much finished exploring it in 3 hours, including photo stops.

This is where I met Ari, after I wandered down the streets and randomly walked into the Olivers & Co shop. We had such a long, lovely chat. He taught me how to pronounce “Škocjan” (as in Škocjan Caves) properly.

He also told me about Prevoz, a carpooling app that's popular there (much cheaper than taxis or Uber), since I was struggling to figure out how to get to the caves the next day.

We talked about travelling in Japan too :) Solo travel can be lonely at times, and encounters like that really brightened my day and fuelled me to keep going (as expected of an extrovert).

A night behind bars

In Ljubljana, I stayed in a very unique hostel - Hostel Celica, a former prison turned hostel. They've kept the original bars on the doors (which gave me a little surprise when I opened mine), so it really was a night behind bars.

At reception, I met Ajda, who introduced me to the city. She told me the area around the hostel has one of the highest rates of drug use in Slovenia, but it's still extremely safe. Slovenia is generally chill, and the police patrol quite often.

She also said Bosnia was the prettiest Balkan country she'd ever been to, and even walked me through the history of the former Yugoslavia. Visiting all of those countries is definitely on my travel wishlist now.

Btw, Hostel Celica was VERY clean, cleaner than any hostel (I dare say even any hotel) I’ve ever stayed in. The halls and dining area are spacious too, so I loved just chilling there at night after a long day. The breakfast included in my stay was really good as well: simple yet fresh (fruit, yoghurt, toast, cheese, banana bread).

10/10 experience!

What really made me fall in love with Slovenia was the people. Coming from Asia, we tend to have the impression that Europeans keep to themselves (a bit "cooler") and are less warm. Maybe I was just lucky, but I met quite a few friendly strangers who were happy to help me or point me in the right direction. One of them even drove me to Škocjan Caves.

Hitchhiking to Škocjan Caves

I basically hitchhiked my way to the caves. After a 3-hour train ride from Ljubljana on a foggy morning, I arrived in Divača. From there, it's roughly an hour's walk to the caves. It took me 10 minutes just to get from the train station to the main road, and after another 5 minutes of walking along it, I gave up.

Walking alongside the cars wasn't dangerous (they weren't driving too fast). I just wanted to save my energy for the 1.5-hour guided tour later. So I walked into a restaurant to ask about a taxi.

The taxi driver quoted me 20 euros for an 8-minute drive and said he could be there in 20 minutes. Frankly, it's really not a long drive (walking just takes ages because it's uphill), but I sucked it up and agreed to the price.

The lady working at the restaurant was quite shocked when she heard the price over the phone, and said something in Slovenian to her colleague. She sized me up for a moment, then said, “We can just drive you up now, if you want.” I was surprised they offered (maybe the price was just outrageous for such a short distance, and they weren’t that busy at 8.30am).

I gladly said yes and thanked her when I got out of the car. THANK YOU, and may God bless you forever.

After the tour, a nice Singaporean family who happened to be visiting the caves drove me back down too. I'd helped take their photos after the tour and casually mentioned that I'd have to walk back down, since someone had driven me up in the morning haha. So yeah, I guess it all worked out!

When I got back down, I returned to the restaurant and ordered a prawn salad. It was one of the best lunches I had on the whole trip. It was so fresh, and nothing beats a good meal after a cave tour.

Inside the caves

While planning the trip, I debated between Škocjan Caves and Postojna Cave. I ultimately chose Škocjan because I wanted to avoid the crowds and wasn't really a fan of riding a man-made train through limestone caves. From photos online, I still think Postojna could be an amazing visit, since it definitely looks grand. But DAMN, ŠKOCJAN CAVE WAS JAW-DROPPING.

There are no pictures here, as photos aren't allowed during the guided tour, not even without flash. First of all, how are the caves so BIG and TALL ? Pause here and google it NOW! I still can't wrap my head around how an underground cave system can be so extensive, with such huge chambers.

Then there's the river running through it: the Reka River. Since "reka" means river in Slovenian, it's literally the "River River". In 1965, a massive flood raised the water level in the cave by 108 metres and destroyed the old tourist paths, which is why visitors now walk on a newer path. The cave still floods after heavy rain, with the water often rising more than 30 metres, because the underground channels and siphons can't handle such a huge volume of water.

Lake Bled

This place is literally postcard-perfect. I was drawn to Lake Bled by a Taiwanese YouTuber I follow, who filmed how calm it is in winter. Hmm.. I guess reality is a little different from what we see online.

There’s no doubt Lake Bled is picture-perfect, but I also noticed a huge number of tourists around the main part of the lake. For some reason, it felt like Lake Bled is Europe’s Phuket. It’s a nice getaway from the busy cities, not too far from Budapest or Vienna, and people generally spend 2–3 days here before moving on to Croatia or Italy. Because of that, the restaurants around the lake are pretty expensive (and busy), but you kinda have no choice, since that’s probably the only place to get food in such a quiet town.

The first thing I did when I arrived at Lake Bled was head to the tourist information centre to grab some maps. The staff explained that there are many ways to explore Lake Bled and the nearby towns: cycling routes, walking and hiking trails. During the summer peak season (July–August), there are plenty of water sports too. I was there in late October, when most activities were closed or only running at certain times.

I did a short 30-minute hike up to the Ojstrica viewpoint and got back down before sunset. The trail is steep and rocky, and it gets slippery after rain (it had rained the day before).

Getting lost on the way back

I went to Vintgar Gorge the next day. On the way out, I pretty much got lost trying to find my way back to the main entrance (I'd planned to take the shuttle bus back to Bled station), and somehow ended up in a small village called Zasip.

Public transport in Slovenia isn't very frequent, and the gaps between buses are even longer on weekends. I gave up looking for the bus stop and decided to walk back to Lake Bled. The walk took about an hour, but man, I enjoyed every minute of it and took so many great pictures.

Lake Bohinj

That afternoon, I really wanted to go somewhere with fewer tourists, but with buses back to Bled’s main station that still ran often enough. So I ended up at Lake Bohinj, an hour’s ride from Bled on the public bus (Arriva).

Here, I took the best picture of my trip.

A picture is worth a thousand words.

I AirDropped the pictures to this British couple after they came back out of the water, and they were so happy.

So much more happened at Lake Bled. The guesthouse I stayed in (Turistična kmetija Grabnar) was absolutely fantastic. It was super cosy, with stairs up to an attic, so a family booking the room can pay the price of a double room and have beds for the kids up in the attic.

Meeting people from home

Then, by a rare coincidence, I met a group of Malaysian friends who were stopping by Lake Bled as part of their trip to the Dolomites in Italy. They're much older than me (but still such a fun group!), with kids around my age, and they travel the world together. (Tbh it's hard for me to find even one person to travel with, so I definitely envy their bond haha.)

They invited me to dinner, and it warmed my heart to meet people from home in a faraway country. That meant even more when travelling solo, since some days felt lonely, especially when I saw families having a great time together at the lake. We talked about so many things and shared our views on life, travel, investing and careers across generations.

The painter by the lake

For the rest of my time there, I just chilled by Lake Bled. I wanted to do a Triglav National Park day tour, but none were running on Sunday (they couldn’t get the minimum number of people).. I guess that’s a hint that I should come back to Slovenia. Next time, I’ll come in summer and definitely DRIVE, so I can explore beyond Lake Bled into the beautiful Triglav National Park.

At one of the bends along the lake, I came across an old man selling his paintings. His name is Bobi. They were small paintings of Lake Bled and the church on its island, each in different colours, selling for 4 euros. I didn’t hesitate to pick the one in blue shades (though I regret not buying the yellow/orange one too, which showed a beautiful sunset over the lake).

What surprised me was that he stopped me after I paid. “Wait a minute, I do memories.” I was puzzled. What did he mean by “memories”?

He told me that we must live in the moment: “memories” means “now”.

Bobi then drew me, capturing how I looked in that moment. He even asked whether I felt cold in just a sports bra and leggings. I told him no, where I come from, we love cool weather.

It was the first time in my life that someone had drawn a portrait of me. Watching him finish it with just black ink and a brush left me in awe. I was so touched by his kind gesture.

When I got home, I put the painting on top of my piano, and it will always be a fond memory of Lake Bled for me.

Rowing solo

On my last day in Slovenia, I ran out of things to do. As I was strolling around the lake (again), I realised I still hadn't visited the church in the middle of the lake. To get there, travellers can either row a wooden boat themselves or hop on a much bigger boat that seats about 18 people, operated by a pletnar. (A pletnar is a traditional oarsman who rows a handcrafted, flat-bottomed wooden boat called a pletna.)

I stopped by a dock where a young guy, around 20, was helping tourists (usually families or couples) dock their wooden boats, and asked him how hard it is to row one yourself. He said it wouldn't be too difficult and the round trip only takes about 20 minutes.

He hyped me up, and I paid 25 euros. Voilà, I was on the boat by myself.

Truth is, I had close to zero rowing experience (I’ve only kayaked twice in my life), and it was hella scary once I started rowing on my own. Not only could I barely control my strokes, my arms were IMBALANCED (fuck).

He’d taught me how to get the boat going, but because one arm was stronger than the other, the boat just wouldn’t go in a straight line towards the church. In the end, I didn’t make it to the church… It was also super scary because I wasn’t wearing a life jacket, and the boat could get a little rocky at times. If I’d capsized and fallen into the lake, I might actually have drowned.

From now on, I shall do more rows at the gym.

Gostilna Pri Planincu

During my three days at Lake Bled, I kept going back to the restaurant right by Bled’s main bus station, Gostilna Pri Planincu. On my last day, I sat at the bar and had a long chat with Uroš. Over a small glass of Slovenian wine, he told me some stories: why there are so many licence plates on the restaurant’s ceiling, how he met his wife in Bled, what Bled looks like in winter, and more.

I also had another sweet conversation with Lara, who travels a lot to Southeast Asia and had recently returned from Vietnam. I gave her some tips on where to visit next in my region. Hopefully, we’ll meet again someday.

Vienna

A city where the only line in my travel plan was: "watch musicals, orchestras, operas. watch as many as i can".

Since I already had seated tickets for the opera houses in Budapest and Prague, my plan for Vienna was to buy a standing ticket, just to take a peek inside the Vienna State Opera.

The last ticket

When it was finally my turn at the standing-ticket window, I was told mine was the last ticket. That night’s show was Il barbiere di Siviglia (The Barber of Seville), Rossini’s Figaro opera.

A young boy was queueing behind me, and his mom was panicking because they only had one seated ticket (they'd bought it a few days earlier, and pretty much every seat was sold out). They were from China, and I know how Asian parents are: they always want their kids to experience the things they never could when they were young. According to the opera house rules, children under 12 must be seated with a guardian. From their conversation in Mandarin, I understood that the lady at the ticket window had refused to sell the mom another ticket, because it wouldn't be next to her son's seat.

The mom was very anxious. I also learnt that she was thinking of buying a ticket from a guy at the entrance, who was obviously a scalper (fuck him), for twice the original price. A standard ticket was 139 euros, so that’s close to 300 euros.

I did something young me would have been very proud of: I asked the mom whether she wanted the last ticket. It was a standing ticket, but if she wanted it, it was hers. In the end, she bought it.

I know it was against the rules, but her son seemed well behaved (and honestly, he was just a few months away from turning 12). So I told her to have him stay quiet and try his luck getting past the staff. I’d also noticed they didn’t check IDs at the door. In the end, they both made it in.

Before we parted ways, she felt so bad that I couldn’t watch the show. I told her it was fine, since I’d already been to one, and that she should enjoy it.

Museums

During the day in Vienna, my itinerary was pretty much all museums.

Vienna was the second-last stop of my trip. Ngl, I was feeling super lazy by day 10+… I slept in and went out for a slow breakfast at a coffee house.

Late-night jazz

That same night, I visited ZWE, a jazz club in Leopoldstadt, and caught my first intimate late-night jazz performance over a cocktail called Touch Down (shaken with vodka, apricot brandy and citrus juices).

Musikverein

The highlight of my time in Vienna was an orchestra performance in the Golden Hall of the Musikverein: the New York Philharmonic, conducted by Gustavo Dudamel, playing Mahler's Symphony No. 5 (21 October 2026).

I was lucky I happened to check the website a month earlier, right when the general sale opened, just a few days before it sold out completely.

Here I met Helene. She was sitting next to me and told me she’d come to the concert alone too. She spoke English quite well (the main language in Vienna is German), so we had a lovely chat before the performance and during the intermission.

She told me she’d worked for a long time before retiring, and had been awarded the title “Kommerzialrat” (Komm. Rat). It’s an honorary title the Austrian government gives to business people who have run a company for many years or made a notable contribution to the economy. Impressive, right?

A year after retiring, she went back to work and set up another business, because she was bored and believed people her age need to keep their body and mind moving to stay active!

I told her all about Singapore and what I’d learnt from this solo trip. Unexpectedly, she told me I was doing the right thing. In her twenties, she travelled to many parts of the world, for both work and leisure, and she said I should do more of it. These days, she doesn’t have the stamina to go too far, but she still takes short trips to nearby cities and enjoys orchestras and operas in Vienna.

Before we parted ways, she gave me a kiss on the cheek haha. Honestly, it was my first time ever getting a greeting like that (even if it was a goodbye). My encounter with Helene left a deep, warm impression on my heart.

Prague

Prague was pretty chill, honestly. It was my last two nights in Europe before heading home.

My most memorable moment was the fermented grape juice (burčák) I had at the farmers’ market on Saturday morning. It was sweet and tangy. I got two glasses and paired them with a pesto toast.

The Estates Theatre

My last show of the trip was Mozart’s opera Le nozze di Figaro (The Marriage of Figaro). I chose the Estates Theatre, which is much smaller than the national theatres people usually go to in Vienna and Budapest. Its interior is also uniquely blue. It’s one of the few opera houses still standing where Mozart himself performed.

Gosh, the opera was 3.5 hours long. Yes, it was a comedic opera set in modern times, but my stamina (and patience) was almost gone by the 2-hour mark. Towards the end, it was just pure chaos, like people throwing cakes at each other. LOL.

The thrill of not knowing

A week after I got back, I had dinner with a friend.

“So, what was your biggest takeaway from your solo trip?”

I paused for a while. So many memories flashed through my mind that, for once, I didn’t know where to start.

When we travel, the days feel longer. Back in my normal routine, two weeks fly by in a blink. On the road, two weeks felt like a month. Maybe it’s because everything was new to me. Or maybe it’s because I was spending my time more intentionally, choosing what I did and didn’t want to do.

For the first time in a long while, I had the space to slow down, listen to my inner voice and reflect.

“I guess my biggest takeaway is that I love being challenged. Staying put here made me forget the thrill of not knowing what’s next, and the excitement that comes after it.”

So I made myself a promise: to do this at least once a year.

“So, any recommendations for my next big trip?”