The New Travel Thread: Now with write ups in the OP

Discussion in 'The Mainboard' started by Jax Teller, Apr 8, 2015.

  1. Arkadin

    Arkadin inefficiently efficent and unclearly clear
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    Y'all ever done the flightseeing?
     
  2. tjosu

    tjosu This is kind of like the breakfast club, huh?
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    Temperature wise it’s definitely not hotter than SC or OK. It’s the part where you don’t get a break from the heat by coming home that’s the worst.

    We’re doing that tomorrow up there. Haven’t fully decided on which flight route yet. We were wanting to head further south today but the fire down there is causing major issues on the highway. If you’ll be spending any time in Anchorage I can offer up the main places we like to hit up here
     
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  3. Arkadin

    Arkadin inefficiently efficent and unclearly clear
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    We'll have like a day in Anchorage. RV return time is 11 am but we don't fly out until 1 am or so
     
  4. tjosu

    tjosu This is kind of like the breakfast club, huh?
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    Plenty of time to at least hit up Anchorage Brewing Company. They’re the best one here in town and always have solid food trucks, then on the weekends there’s a bakery right across the street that they have pizzas from that are great. A lot of people are obsessed with Moose’s Tooth for pizza and beer but it’s not quite worth the hype for me. Humpy’s is really popular downtown and I’ve had some decent salmon there. Glacier Brewhouse is also downtown and I’ve enjoyed our meals there, we just tend to not mess with it around meal times because it’s convenient to several hotels and gets really crowded in the evening. There’s also pho and sushi places that gf says are great, I can get those recs later if interested
     
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  5. Arkadin

    Arkadin inefficiently efficent and unclearly clear
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    Big Asian food fan
     
  6. Lyrtch

    Lyrtch My second favorite meat is hamburger
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    always check your buy up offers regularly on delta at least

    had a shitbox plane flight to Houston scheduled that's a 3.5hr flight that I wasn't looking forward to, Delta offered $74 to upgrade to first class which yes

    thats rare though, have $223 offers for Savannah to Atlanta which is ~1hr
     
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  7. Nelson

    Nelson Can somebody please get Ja Rhule on the phone
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    The delta LGA > Omaha upgrade for $49 frequently comes in clutch for football games
     
  8. Nelson

    Nelson Can somebody please get Ja Rhule on the phone
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    ugh European priority pass lounges are soooooo much better than in the US
     
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  9. Fran Tarkenton

    Fran Tarkenton Hilton Honors VIP
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    Cant go wrong with either. Like any metropolis there are gives-and-takes. Just depends on what you prioritize.

    Shoreditch is $ if you want to be closer to the restaurants and nightlife over there. Its cheaper and more vibrant culture. You will be within walking distance of The City, The Tower, and fairly close to Greenwich. But most of the primary tourist stuff you will need to take a 20/30 minute Tube ride....and Shoreditch does not have a great Tube setup. You'd likely need to walk a half mile downhill to Liverpool street to catch the Circle line to do all the primary touristy things. If thats the impetus for the trip - Id look at spots over by Pimlico and Victoria stations. Good restaurants and nightlife there, and youre also equidistant between nightlife in Fulham/Chelsea and Shoreditch. That will put you within better proximity to the Museums, Theatres, Palaces, Parks, et al.
     
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  10. Where Eagles Dare

    Where Eagles Dare The Specialist Show On Earth
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    Flying out of and into Atlanta this is pretty much never gonna happen.
     
  11. Lyrtch

    Lyrtch My second favorite meat is hamburger
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    penciled in the Andaz Liverpool St at the moment, lets me use points and right by a metro station. Don't mind walking up hill to get into the heart of Shoreditch but seems like there's a ton around there for evenings without even going North.

    shits so spread out even if I went with the Churchill Hyatt we'd need to hop on the metro to get to a lot of places, we'll be back to london for a multitude of reasons so aren't going to go balls out tourist spots 24/7 either.

    staying in Les Halles area in Paris, another place where it seems like the sights are relatively spread out so no need to break the bank for park hyatt vendome or anything.
     
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  12. Fran Tarkenton

    Fran Tarkenton Hilton Honors VIP
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    Yea I stayed in that same area in Paris, just impossible to be close to everything. Have to pick your poison. Make sure to look for my posts on Paris restaurants. So many good rooftop bars with incredible vistas. This was my favorite http://leperchoir.tv/.
     
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  13. bro

    bro Your Mother’s Favorite Shitposter
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    Loved my time in Jasper, Banff, lake Louise. Absolutely stunning
     
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  14. Lyrtch

    Lyrtch My second favorite meat is hamburger
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    added the one in Marais to the list, like 4 minutes from the hotel
     
  15. Nelson

    Nelson Can somebody please get Ja Rhule on the phone
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    May need recs from you in next year or so
     
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  16. AptosDuck

    AptosDuck Pedantic Hausfrau
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    We stayed one block west of the Pompidou, and we thought it was very convenient - quick walk down to the river, and Les Halles is a good metro hub for getting to places that are too far to walk quickly.
     
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  17. Lyrtch

    Lyrtch My second favorite meat is hamburger
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    thats very near where we'll be, relais des halles
     
  18. AptosDuck

    AptosDuck Pedantic Hausfrau
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    California Golden Bears

    FWIW, we had kids, so we weren't doing the fine dining or bar scene, but we had decent dinners at La Regalade Saint Honore near the Louvre, and Hall 1900 Bistrot Corse. A few evenings we just got falafels from street vendors - cheap, filling, and everybody could find something they liked.

    Ashamed to say that we had a dinner at the Indiana Cafe, too. American sports bar experience, but after several days of French cuisine the kids just wanted a burger. Plus, I wanted to watch Sweden/Ireland Euro2016 soccer from St.Denis on a big screen.

    (Our airb&b was on the Rue Quincampoix)
     
    #18468 AptosDuck, Jul 6, 2019
    Last edited: Jul 6, 2019
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  19. Nug

    Nug MexicanNug
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    Did you camp? Where’d you stay?

    Deets, por favor
     
  20. tjosu

    tjosu This is kind of like the breakfast club, huh?
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    Did a flightseeing tour to Denali yesterday out of Talkeetna. Absolutely unbelievable experience, we could not have had any more perfect weather. We wanted to go in the afternoon but their booking system online was wrong so they put us on the 7pm flight. Pilot said the late evening flights are generally better and the weather was so nice that we flew into some smaller areas that are normally too rough to get to. Landed on a glacier and got great views of everything; it’s so warm lately that I just wore my shorts and short sleeves and was perfectly comfortable. Expensive adventure but well worth it

    E9A7A703-5C79-444B-8D4F-D75E13468AD5.jpeg 2C7D0FE0-EAE2-4E15-A0D1-FA66DAB03B2F.jpeg F641AF21-B095-4889-8460-E8CFE204C3A3.jpeg 247BCBE6-15C5-4572-8D82-E9B1E066765D.jpeg B83C7C86-AF16-44A9-8703-D927D4AFE216.jpeg
     
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  21. Arkadin

    Arkadin inefficiently efficent and unclearly clear
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    Mine is scheduled for the morning out of necessity. Stoked about it
     
  22. tjosu

    tjosu This is kind of like the breakfast club, huh?
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    You with K2 or another company? Which tour?
     
  23. Arkadin

    Arkadin inefficiently efficent and unclearly clear
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    Talkeetna air taxi, mountain Voyager with glacier landing
     
  24. Nug

    Nug MexicanNug
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    damn that's awesome
     
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  25. tjosu

    tjosu This is kind of like the breakfast club, huh?
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    Looks pretty comparable to the one we did with K2. Pretty cool seeing so many small planes up in the air too, lots of traffic in there. I wasn’t really needing to do the glacier landing but I’m glad we did. We landed right by the Sheldon House which was land claimed during the Homestead Act so it stayed private when the land became a national park. You can stay there for something like $2k per person per night. Several other planes landed near us as well. We ate at the Wildflower Cafe in town, it was solid but I think I would have preferred the Denali Brewpub right across the street
     
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  26. Arkadin

    Arkadin inefficiently efficent and unclearly clear
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    Yeah. I just went with the one that the banks linked me to because they all looked about the same. When I was reading reviews everyone who did the glacier landing raved about it so I figured it was a must do
     
    #18476 Arkadin, Jul 7, 2019
    Last edited: Jul 7, 2019
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  27. tjosu

    tjosu This is kind of like the breakfast club, huh?
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    When you’re first getting set up you can ask to fly co-pilot. I was annoyed because there were two private pilots on my plane who got the nod over me but I was still front row
     
  28. RJF-GUMP

    RJF-GUMP Daubert Qualified in Cooler Thermodynamics
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    hotel recs for Rome/Venice/Florence?
     
  29. Lyrtch

    Lyrtch My second favorite meat is hamburger
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    not sure what your gameplan is for Rome but we got a good deal and really liked Hotel Albergo del senato, super centrally located and had no issues with noise surprisingly based on where it is
     
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  30. AptosDuck

    AptosDuck Pedantic Hausfrau
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    California Golden Bears

    Our airbnb last November was just north of this hotel. Can confirm that it's a great central location. Hotel looked nice too, at least the front lobby. Great coffee shop right out the front door, cold cut heaven across the square, restaurants galore. Oh yeah, the Pantheon is right there too. When you're that close, you can just hop in anytime and get a morning or evening lighting/vibe.
     
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  31. Arkadin

    Arkadin inefficiently efficent and unclearly clear
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    TO:

    San José (SJO)


    FROM:

    Atlanta (ATL) - $319

    Austin (AUS) - $299

    Baltimore (BWI) - $313

    Boston (BOS) - $255

    Buffalo (BUF) - $335

    Chicago (ORD) - $347

    Cleveland (CLE) - $365

    Dallas (DFW) - $362*

    Daytona Beach (DAB) - $363

    Denver (DEN) - $320

    Fort Lauderdale (FLL) - $232*

    Hartford (BDL) - $373

    Jacksonville (JAX) - $335

    Las Vegas (LAS) - $343

    Los Angeles (LAX) - $359

    Miami (MIA) - $262*

    Montreal (YUL) - $399 CAD

    New Orleans (MSY) - $277

    Philadelphia (PHL) - $323

    Pittsburgh (PIT) - $387

    Providence (PVD) - $385

    Richmond (RIC) - $320

    San Antonio (SAT) - $361

    San Francisco (SFO) - $364

    Syracuse (SYR) - $355

    Toronto (YYZ) - $392 CAD

    Vancouver (YVR) - $405 CAD

    Washington DC (DCA) - $313

    Washington DC (IAD) - $313

    Westchester (HPN) - $385


    * - nonstop / direct


    WHEN: September 2019 through May 2020, including Thanksgiving but excluding Xmas/NYE
     
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  32. NC Wolfpack

    NC Wolfpack Go Pack Go
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    A little late to reply, but Im going to Bali for my honeymoon in about 2 months. Where did you end up settling on to visit? We are staying in Canggu, Ubud, Uluwatu, and potentially nusa L.
     
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  33. Where Eagles Dare

    Where Eagles Dare The Specialist Show On Earth
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    Haven't made plans yet.

    Would be similar but Keramas vs Canggu
     
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  34. THF

    THF BITE THE NUTS, THUMB IN THE ASS!
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    Anyone done St. Lucia?

    Looking at booking this for early October.

    http://www.hideawayroyaltonsaintlucia.com/index.asp

    Also I am looking at this as another option, but leaning towards Hidewaway.

    https://serenityatcoconutbay.com/

    Where did you end up deciding?
     
  35. aspenbuff

    aspenbuff Well-Known Member
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    Finally booked my trip to Japan. 2 weeks during the Rugby World Cup. Got tickets for games in Fukuoka, Osaka and Tokyo. Anyone got recs for those cities or any others?
     
  36. CoastalOrange

    CoastalOrange Well-Known Member
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    Tokyo-
    Street Kart- We did the Tokyo Bay BBQ or something like that and enjoyed it. A different way to see the city and pretty fun. They have plenty of other routes to take as well- https://kart.st/en/tokyobay.html

    teamLab Borderless Digital Art Museum- This was something that was a bit out there but I really enjoyed it. A very different experience and not at all like a standard museum- https://borderless.teamlab.art/

    We also did the Robot Show. I feel like it is something you have to do but be warned that it is really touristy, in a slightly sketchy part of town, and pretty trippy.

    Walk around some of the different parks and enjoy the views. The people are not intrusive at all but are very helpful if you ask them for help. Drink all the saki. The two liquor stores in Japan that I visited allow you to sample just about anything and everything for a small fee so if you want to bring something home you can give it a taste test prior.

    I only visited Osaka for 24 hrs and I was pretty sick during that portion but be aware that it can get really crowded there. My understanding is that a lot of Chinese tourists flock to Osaka to purchase different items they are unable to purchase in mainland China. The example I was consistently provided was beauty products.

    If you end up heading to Kyoto or Kanazawa I can provide a few recommendations for those cities as well. Another general FYI- if you are taking the train, get there early. When they say the train or subway leaves at 12:57 pm, that bad boy leaves at 12:57 pm. I was there for two weeks and I can't remember a single train or subway that was late.
     
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  37. herb.burdette

    herb.burdette Meet me at the corner of 8th and Worthington
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    We stayed here in Rome for less than 200 euros a night and had a partial view of Trevi Fountain out our window and a breakfast rooftop deck/bar with fountain view.

    http://www.relaistrevi95.com/it/index.php

    Took this from our hotel window:
    B3D9BED2-F3B4-433A-9637-7ECB666CD909.jpeg
     
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  38. Arkadin

    Arkadin inefficiently efficent and unclearly clear
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    That crowd :laugh:
     
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  39. herb.burdette

    herb.burdette Meet me at the corner of 8th and Worthington
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    Ohio State Buckeyes

    We never had to deal with it because we could go to Trevi any time and the primary tourist routes to the Spanish Steps led opposite our hotel.

    We were there last week. Peak tourist season.

    I liked this place because almost everything was walking distance—forum, colosseum, Vatican, obviously Trevi.
     
  40. Lyrtch

    Lyrtch My second favorite meat is hamburger
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    pane e salame is like a block from trevi fountain and probably the most enjoyable meals we had in rome
     
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  41. allothersnsused

    allothersnsused Wow that’s crazy
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    Anybody have Victoria/Vancouver recs? I've searched for a thread but anyone asking for Vancouver recs never gets a response.
     
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  42. Room 15

    Room 15 Mi equipo esta Los Tigres
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    BamaNug

    I liked the gastown area of Vancouver. Their massive park whose name is escaping me was cool
     
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  43. Nug

    Nug MexicanNug
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    Stanley Park.

    I haven't spent as much time in Vancouver as I'd like, mainly stay with the GF's parents like 30 minutes north of downtown for hiking. Can provide a shitload of hiking recs between Vancouver and Whistler if you'd like.

    Some notes:

    -Gastown is my favorite neighborhood. Cobblestone streets, tons of restaurants and bars, can get pretty rowdy at night. Walking distance to downtown
    -Yaletown is good too, a little bit of a younger crowd. Downtown, right on the water, is good and centrally located. I'd recommend Gastown or Downtown for a first stay
    -Chinatown is amazing, but pretty sketchy once the sun goes down. Go for the food, but I would not stay in Chinatown
    -Speaking of China -- Vancouver probably has the best Chinese food in North America (not surprising with like 1/2 of Van's population being of Asian descent)
    -Some of the best Chinese restaurants I've eaten at: Bao Bei, Sai Woo, Peaceful
    -Like most of the PNW, you'll have amazing beers (if you like hops), but it's not as much of a brewery scene as Seattle/Portland. Postmark is probably my favorite. More of a bar culture than brewery scene
    -BC Place is the Olympic Stadium, right on the water, is amazing. If the Whitecaps are playing (MLS team), I'd highly recommend going
    -I have not been, but there's a suburb/neighborhood called Richmond a little south/southwest of the city. Everyone raves about the Chinese food and Asia culture. Going to try it when up there in a few weeks: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/04/travel/richmond-bc-asian-chinese-food-restaurants.html
    -Vancouver, and moreso British Columbia, is one of the most beautiful places I've been. Worth it to just drive a little north of the city, towards Whistler (which is only a 1, 1 1/2 hour drive). It's unreal. Try to get outside, regardless of white time of year it is.
    -***I have not been, but have heard great things about "Dark Table" - http://www.darktable.ca/about.html -- it's a restaurant that only hires blind/visually impaired individuals, and the entire restaurants is almost completely dark (within reason). You are lead to your table by hand through a dark restaurant, and this takes place throughout the entire meal. Really cool concept, and it has amazing reviews. Will try sooner rather than later. My GF's parents have been a few times and love it

    If you have some more specific questions I can probably help out.
     
  44. Nug

    Nug MexicanNug
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    Re: Victoria, I've only been once. Beautiful scenery, expensive AF (even more than Van). Longer to get to from Vancouver than I'd expect. Can't provide much help with that, unfortunately.

    Tofino, north end of Victoria Island, is supposed to be out of this world.
     
  45. AptosDuck

    AptosDuck Pedantic Hausfrau
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    Isn't that right next to a church? I recall there was a church in that corner of the plaza.

    Crowd doesn't look that bad. First time we walked over there from the Pantheon it was a lot crowdeder, early evening. Two days later wife and I walked there before our morning coffee, and we had the place to ourselves.
     
  46. allothersnsused

    allothersnsused Wow that’s crazy
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    Thanks for the info. Only staying in Victoria one night on our way from Port Townsend to Vancouver. Will definitely check out a couple of the spots you listed in Vancouver above
     
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  47. Nug

    Nug MexicanNug
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    bro did you prefer Jasper or Banff? Just spoke to a co-worker that said Jasper >> Banff, emphatically.

    Still want to camp in the middle on the Icefield Parkway and try to do a little of both, but it's longer than I thought in between. Maybe do Jasper the first two days and save the last day for Banff/Lake Louise/etc.
     
  48. bro

    bro Your Mother’s Favorite Shitposter
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    Will get to this tonight.
     
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  49. RJF-GUMP

    RJF-GUMP Daubert Qualified in Cooler Thermodynamics
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    we stayed here:
    https://ansechastanet.com
    Would definitely recommend that resort. St. Lucia is more of a mountainous jungle island than your typical Caribbean location. It's breaches are pretty small and the sand isn't the nicest and the water doesn't blow you away compared to many islands. They are still great, just aren't elite tier compared to , for instance, Antigua or Turks and Caicos. But the pitons are really cool and the terrain is unique. It is definitely beautiful. We took a ferry to a fishing village that had all these street stands and lobster etc cooked right there for sale. That was really cool.
     
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  50. Arliden

    Arliden Well-Known Member
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    So belatedly getting around to some photos and write ups.

    This portion will be on the Seychelles, which was apart of a much larger trip.

    How we traveled:
    Seychelles has a reputation as a very ritzy place and for the most part it is, we on the other hand tried our best to do it the back packer way. There are no real hostels to stay at so we rented 2 different airbnb's for around $100 a night and tried our hand at the local takeaway spots for food with the occasional splurge at nicer restaurants.


    We stayed on the islands of Mahe and La Digue only, Mahe is the largest island and where the airport is located. We stayed on Mahe first, relaxing after our safari in Kenya/Tanzania which was much needed. After 4 days there we moved onto the island of La digue, which is a much smaller island and the location of the majority of the Seychelles pictures you see on travel sites. La Digue is a slower pace than Mahe with a majority of the inter island travel being done on bikes. There weren't many places you couldn't be in under 30 minutes, with well paved paths to 75% of the island. Spent most of our time on La Digue doing some diving courses and checking out a new beach pretty much daily.

    Bikes are the only way to get around La digue, this through the old coconut/vanilla plantation on the island of La Digue.
    IMG_9119.PNG

    Obligatory beach shots. Best beach on La Digue in my opinion Petite Anse.
    IMG_1612.jpg
    IMG_1553.jpg

    Sunset from a oceanside bar looking toward the island of Praslin
    IMG_7749.jpg

    Most of the islands geared towards ritz living, but if you wanted to do it on a backpacker type budget you'd go eat at a takeaway. This is Mi Mums on La Digue, probably cost $5-8 dollars depending on what you got+ a beer. I cant remember what this is but they'd have things like octopus curry with the typical sides of lentils, rice, and salad. They also had soft serve ice cream which was fantastic since its hot all the time.
    IMG_1846.jpg

    The rocks around the islands were really cool, but maybe thats the inner nerd in me.
    IMG_1727.jpg