Jean-Ralphio - how familiar are you with Norway? Trying to find the best way to get from Bergen to the Shetland Islands.
Generator is fine... The bar area is huge, and everything is nice. My biggest issue with it was that it was less social with regards to meeting people outside of your own room. When looking at reviews, look for places that grade the atmosphere very high, and then go through the comments to make sure they meant it was a great atmosphere because the hostel itself was very social. (That's because everyone has a different definition of atmosphere).
This is good advice. Wife and I have done 3, 2 for just us (honeymoon and anniversary) and another for a wedding. the wedding one was big, family and awful. Too many people, restaurants weren't good etc. However, the 2 we did were top of the line, with INCREDIBLE food, service and amenities. If you are wanting to relax on a beach, have nice things in the hotel, good food to eat, I would recommend either option below. Both are more expensive as you get personalized butler service. They both still have good concierge services if you want to do any of the excursions nearby. You can go into town and do anything like that you would want as well, but you'll likely feel the urge to drink/eat at the place to get your money's worth. http://www.sandals.com/main/plantation/rp-home/ - Royal Plantation Jamaica. (TripAdvisor) Don't be scared that it's owned by Sandals. It was a struggling small resort next to one, that Sandals bought and took over. It is NOTHING like the generic sandals, of which there is even one right next door. This is small, adults only, much more quiet and personalized, we did our honeymoon here. Not as much to do on location but incredible meals, service, and options for excursions. http://www.leblancsparesort.com/ - Le Blanc Spa Resort. (TripAdvisor) Cancun, bigger resort, has 3 top tier restaurants outside of the generic buffet option, where you make reservations and such. Adult only, spa paced resort so more relaxing too, keeps the partiers away, and concierge services to go on excursions if you want. My wife and I travel a lot, and I book and plan everything from restaurants, to-do lists, all day long and it's extremely fun but tiring. When I want to just go relax and not worry about having to plan a damn thing on a trip, an all-inclusive is awesome. I am picky about the upper end amenities as it keeps certain patrons away, and have had excellent trips to both of those and look to go back at some point.
Has anyone used BlaBlaCar while travelling? Considering trying to make portions of my trip more flexible.
they are all pretty damn well located but the top one has the best one. 2 is right next to istedgade which is like the red light distrect. It gets a little annoying by night but its not a big deal. 3 is right next to the queens "castle" it should be a little more quiet around there but not really a big difference. but yea you'll be right where you wanna be with any of those 3.
unless I'm mistaken I priced out Royal Plantation in mid june and it was about $1800 which includes air fare. What all can you expect to pay beyond that. How far from the beach were you? Walking distance? The beach is pebles and what not , not white sand correct? But the water is obviously awesome.
We land at Narita at 3pm on Friday 4/21. We're staying at the Park Hyatt in Shinjuku so will head straight there, and then to the Yomiuri Giants' game against the Hanshin Tigers (Osaka), which apparently is the Yankees-Red Sox of Japan. We already got tix. Do you have any recos for Tokyo Dome city? Given that we're staying near Golden Gai, Omoide, and Kabuchiko, we might stop in for drinks after the game depending how tired we are. We're gonna start Saturday at Tsukiji, then walk through Ginza and then into the imperial gardens. We might stroll from there back to Shinjuku depending how tired we are, but plan to spend Saturday night drinking in Golden Gai and Piss Alley. We'll do Ueno Park and Meiji Shrine + walk through Shibuya and then dinner in Roppongi on Sunday. We're flexible too, so will gladly follow our noses and change plans if we get into something cool. We go to Takayama on Monday, then Kyoto on Thursday, and then Hakone the following Monday before going back to Tokyo on Wednesday May 3. We'll stay at the Conrad then bc it's near the fish market and we want to do the 3am auction on our last night - not only will it be cool, but it will start to get us back on US time. We fly out at 5 so hoping that we'll be tired enough that we can fall asleep as soon as we get on the plane and then wake up when we land in Portland at 10am. Mom will then head down to Eugene and I'll fly onto NYC at 12:30.
BamaNug how was India? I know you posted a few things but this thread moves fast and I don't always keep up. What did you do in Mumbai and Jaipur? Like them? Did you make it to Kerala?
There is nothing to really see in Shetland unless you go in January to Up Helly Aa. Such a long ass ferry ride for basically nothing IMO. My mother in law grew up in Aberdeen and had extended family in the Shetlands. Visited 2x with my wife (this time we flew), once for Up Helly Aa which was pretty cool and unique. If you really want to go, definitely fly. I've been throughout Scotland and the Highlands so if you have any specifics, let me know. In fact, I'm heading there in July with the whole family as they have a huge cottage (10 Bdrs) in Argyll. We plan on going to Glasgow, Edinburgh, some hiking in Glencoe, etc.
royal plantation you get a cell phone at check in, with your butlers phone number you can call at any time and they wait on you hand and foot. Less food options with one primary nice restaurant, and then the main more casual restaurant on the main floor, but both are small (since the whole resort is small) and have awesome food. Pool is very limited since that is not what you are there for, the beach is private and secluded. To the east you have rock cliffs, and to the west is the main Sandals, but you have to have a wristband to Royal Plantation to even walk on your beach, so no commoners walking across. So pretty secluded, if you people watch, you're restricted to the patrons there that week with you. You can visit any of the other sandals resorts and eat/drink their food with your wristband, by walking next door along the beach or the concierge can drive you to the other spots (we did this for dinner a night or two and regretted it). They also have a lunch shack on the beach which serves awesome food (jerk chicken/pork) and has a smaller bar for your beach drinks. The resort sits up on the rocks a bit, so you take some stairs down to the beach, of which there are two. There is one cool/quaint primary bar they have music acts come in and provide some entertainment, but you'd be best to meet some new people and simply relax.
We actually went to the same game. Giants Tigers. It was awesome. There wasn't much that I remember around the stadium. It was a few TGI Fridays style places and that was it. Still is fun to get there early though to people watch, as many people dress up for the games.
Trying to convince my world travel bros to do Brazil this July. I've the reviews in OP, anyone else have any insight on Brazil in July?
Attempted and failed to find Huay Tung Tao Lake today North of Chiang Mai. Ended up trying to enter a military base on accident. Between an offline GPS and the shitty car companies GPS, it was difficult to find shit. Lotta pretty shit real close outside CM. I didn't get murdered today, so it was a good day. I nearly fucked up my elephant trip, booked the wrong day. Going tomorrow, then off to the islands
Yeah drove it with wife and her coworker who was also there. Was real cool and scenic. Got some.bomb ass strawberries. Really disappointed I couldn't find the lake. Missed a turn I guess and it was a massive cluster fuck to turn around. Drank a beer st Post Bar. Didn't do many or three tourist shits
Ill hit you up for sure. The only thing we have planned so far is a stopover in Glasgow to visit a friend. She just moved there for work so she has no tips or anything.
Posted a few things, but I absolutely loved it. My schedule was: -Rishikesh (10/10) -Hampi (10/10) -Goa (8/10---would've liked it more when I was younger) -Mumbai (9/10) -Varanasi (9/10) -Taj Mahal (10/10) -Jaipur (10/10) Didnt make it to Kerala, but the South was so damn hot. I really enjoyed the north more. Mumbai was nuts, I really enjoyed it. Jaipur was awesome too, saw all the forts/tourist stuff and saw some incredible sunsets. Ate some amazing food in both cities. India's just a fucking incredible place. Much different from anywhere else I've ever been, not much of a party scene (except for Goa), and definitely the most culture I've ever experienced. It's really hard to describe, but it's definitely one of my favorite places I've been---for entirely unique reasons. Varanasi is an intense place and not for the faint of heart. I'll be able to post more and post some pics when I get back to the US
Excited to read the write up. You're literally the first person I've heard of raving about India and I've known probably 10 people that have gone.
I think part of it may be expectations. It's certainly not a party spot, youre not gonna be going out hard and staying up late, but it's the best scenery and culture I've ever experienced.
Adding to this, would this hotel work for downtown Toronto? Only there for a night so don't want to pay an arm and a leg but would like to be within walking distance to some cool stuff and in a safer, nicer area- https://www.ihg.com/holidayinn/hotels/us/en/toronto/yyzct/hoteldetail
India is pretty wild. Ajanta and Ellora are some of my favorite places I've been over there. thousands of years old caves with Buddhist/Hindu/Jain carvings and paintings inside.
Anyone have experiences with African Safaris? Extremely early planning but my buddy really wants to hike Kilimanjaro. So next year we're gonna hike that and I want to do a safari. Was thinking Serengeti bc its in the same country or maybe Kruger, but open to others.
Looking for recommendations for either a cabin or resort in Colorado, near Denver, where my wife and I can go during the winter. i dont give a fuck about skiing or any of that shit, just want a nice snowy peaceful, get drunk and bang type of week . Close enough to Denver or CSprings we can go do things too. Vancouver could work too TIA
Depends on how the application process goes but if I pursue/get it think my wife and I are looking at doing a two year international rotation within my firm. Excited for the possibilities.
In the pretty early stages of the process so tough to nail down. My largest client's biggest operations are in China/Brazil but ultimately wouldn't want my wife in either situation. So through the beginning discussions with upper management someplace in Europe as they have large locations over there. Thinking maybe the Netherlands or a similar type location but all kind of depends on client/office needs when the application process starts.
Some super cheap Singapore deals https://slickdeals.net/f/10029196-j...-from-327-rt-on-japan-airlines-travel-aug-nov
This sounds so awesome but I don't know if I could sack up and do it. Gf and I both work for an oil and gas company with large offices in Aberdeen and Stavanger and I've looked on our internal site at openings there just out of curiosity. She would do it in a heartbeat. I might be more on board for it after our trip over there in May
Yeah we were on the fence but after talking with some partners found out a bit more about it and the likely office is Barcelona (EY you pick 3 target locations based on your business case) too good to pass up given we don't want kids for a couple of years.
En route from Yangon to Hanoi right now, then immediately catch a flight to Danang (Hoi An). All joking aside, flying Emirates in economy and it's pretty legit. Free (good) wifi, decent food, entertainment systems on all seats for just an 1 1/2 hour flight. Myanmar was incredible, really awesome place. Hit up Mandalay, Inle Lake, Bagan, and Yangon. Not much nightlife, but the scenery and culture is amazing, everyone is so interested in Western tourists. Bagan was probably my favorite. Even if youre not a temple person, seeing the sunset over 3,000+ temples over several square miles is something else. And as of right now, there is pretty much no regulation or security anywhere around the temples, you can climb and monkey around the temples everywhere, we climbed several for sunrise and sunset. Apparently UNESCO is putting a stop to that in November, which is probably for the best. Glad I went when I did. Toured Yangon some, but it was just absurdly hot---105-110 my entire time there. Gigantic city, actually has some bars, and best Burmese food I had in the country. But after Noon me and my new Estonian wife would just go back to the hotel to get in the AC and wait until night. The heat is some of the most intense I've ever experienced, but was a good excuse to lounge around in bed with her for the good part of 2 days. Was supposed to be in Vietnam a few days ago, but loved Myanmar (and that girl) too much. Still have 12-13 days. Rest of itinerary: Apr 9-12---Hoi An Overnight train to Sapa Apr 13-16---Sapa Overnight train to Hanoi Apr 17-19---Hanoi Apr 19-21---Halong Bay and Cat Ba Island Apr 21-22---Hanoi, back to Seattle on the 22nd On the home stretch.
Little update on my travels. Never made it to Sweden or Denmark. Have since gone to Amsterdam, Berlin, Prague, Rome and currently in Florence. Tuscany wine tour tomorrow then I'm off to Venice for a few days. Then meeting up with some people in Split that I had met during my stay in Rome. A bit upset I missed Budapest, but I may loop back around. Prague chewed me up and spit me out; still had a blast though. I'll be in Barcelona in about 10 days. Debating doing a few days in Mallorca. Another option would be traveling south along the coast then taking a ferry over to Morroco for a couple days.
I'm open ended. Basically as long as I have enough money to cover my expenses I'll continue traveling. Close to subleasing my apartment, but don't know if I'm there yet. Honestly think I'm getting a little burned out with all of the museums, monuments, galleries, cathedrals, etc. that Europe has to offer. Hopefully Croatia and traveling along the coast of Spain will help reenergize me. Living out of hostels for nearly the last two months has take a bit of a toll on me, but every now and then you experience something so incredible you think to yourself why you would ever want to stop traveling.
Pics? The most incredible thangs I've ever seen were on an Estonian stripper in Germany. Actually, she might have been Latvian.
Room 15 and other guys who have been to Iceland, what car rental companies did you use? The reviews I've been reading about all the companies are unsettling.
Made it down to D.C. for the first time in my life. Did all the monuments yesterday and saw some of the Cherry Blossom Festival. Today I went to the museum and saw the Yayoi Kusama infinity rooms exhibit. So damn cool.