Istanbul is absolutely gorgeous - I've had an awesome 2 days here, really sad that I couldn't stay longer and see more of the sights Never once felt unsafe and the people are awesome. Thanks for all the advice from the posters that have previously visited... Highly recommend this city
There have been the it will close within 5 years thing for like 5 years or so because the foundation is sinking. But there isn't any definite yet I don't think
Like Ark said, there have been talks about closing it for a long time. But it's also pretty constantly undergoing restoration projects, so who knows.
Have a friend who's in Cape Town right now, really good vibes. Starting to lean towards Cape Town next year. Folks that have been there, if I only had 7-8 days, would you spend it primarily in and around Cape Town? What else is easily accessible from there?
Yes. Day to a winery. Overnight safari is with an PM and AM ride then back to Cape Town Day to the Indian Ocean for Sharks. Day to hit up Robin Island (Get tix well in advance) Rent a car and drive to the southern cape Hike Lion Head Get wasted in Camps Bay alfresco beach bars
Fam, if you go to Portland in the summer and have to rent a car, do it well in advance. Just spent 140 a day for a economy car bc I guess they do t have enough like most major cities
Yeah, did atl to London to joberg to Cape Town. Had a 13 he layover in London. It was long. All on virgin. Red Eye, day in London Red Eye, 2 he lay over in Joberg then Cape Town. There were recently some 800 tickets going for Atlanta to Doha the Doha to Cape Town that was a softer overall time.
Just rented like Thursday to Sat. Back in Portland now, headed to Olympia provision before the wife leaves tomorrow
You tried Great White cage diving and didn't have a good experience, correct? Looking into some preliminary stuff now, says the best time to go is March through September---so July 4 would be pretty perfect. And you do NOT have to be scuba certified, correct?
So Emirates has pretty good routes from Cape Town to the US, by way of Dubai. Fucking 9 hours from Cape Town to Dubai, then 14 1/2 from Dubai to Seattle. Only 2 flights and 24 hours, though. I really want to do at least one leg in first class, even willing to spend some dough (+ points). Would probably want the return trip in first rather than the trip there, though.
It was awesome. The only "bad" part was the visibility wasn't great, but still really awesome. The water is more clear in the winter, less visibility in the summer. It's just hold your breath and go under and look at a shark. July would be their winter so it would be good. There are specific times you can go and they will breach the water and jump. I'd try an go swim with seals. Ours got canceled because waves
Headed to Europe next month and doing Berlin, Brussels and Copenhagen. Have time to hit up one more city for a few days, any suggestions? Would be most interested in a place with hiking/outdoor attractions
Prague's an easy train ride from Berlin. Hamburg is in between CPH and Berlin, supposed to be really cool. Amsterdam is also very accessible from Brussels, just depends on your route. CPH is awesome, should be great this time of year. Berlin is massive and requires at least 4-5 days.
Stay at wombats Berlin, and downtown Copenhagen hostel. Look up Swiss saxony near Berlin. I spent two nights in bad Schandau and went to bastei and konigstein. If you have a few extra days, I couldn't recommend Prague enough, plus bad Schandau is right in between Berlin and Prague on the rail.
We did a day trip to Bruges while we were in Brussels and definitely wished we spent more time there. Incredibly beautiful, everything accessible by canal.
Think this would be too much? Hitting up only 2 places seems very doable. Wed-----Leave US Thurs----travel Fri--------arrive in Nairobi, bus/flight to Masai Mara (safari)---or fly into Botswana/Uganda/Tanazania Sat-------Safari/stay on game reserve Sun------Safari/game reserve Mon------Safari---maybe fly to Cape Town Tues-----Cape Town (maybe fly here on Tues) Wed-----Cape Town Thurs----Cape Town Fri--------Cape Town Sat-------fly back to US Basically, spend the first Fri-Monday on a game reserve, then Cape Town for the next 5/6 days.
Do we have anybody in here that has actually done a safari? Trying to gauge prices. Reached out to one company, they quoted me at $1,800 for this place: https://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_R...ra_National_Reserve_Rift_Valley_Province.html Arrive Friday afternoon, depart Monday morning Which includes: -flight from Nairobi to Masai Mara -all meals -all drinks (it says alcoholic beverages, but I'm skeptical) -2 full day "Game Drives" -1 night "Game Drive" -Daily fees to enter the park -1 "Bush Breakfast" Seems reasonably priced, from what I've read.
I paid like 550 for the same thing. Look at Khalaseri River Lodge. That's where I stayed. Great people.
My advice though BamaNug , find one that does multiple days in Kruger Park. It's by far the best park, and I only had one day there but happened to be lucky and see the Big 5. Most people don't have that experience in one day only.
Masai Mara is amazing, granted I was a kid and it was the 80s, but the parts I remember were tremendous.
Any San Francisco recommendations? Doing Alcatraz, the zoo, and a Giants game. Any good drinking/eatingnmusts? Other "touristy" things that are worth it? Staying near downtown, thanks!
Mission Burritos. Cool neighborhood to just walk around and drink in. Piers 54 and Farmers market is alright. There is this Bridge, not sure if you have heard of it. It's pretty neat. Called the golden gate bridge. Muir Woods is like 30-45 min away if you have a Car. Cool redwoods. Get there early. Then drive up the coast to Stinson Beach. Cool scenic drive and some overlooks
My buddy has been looking at the wrong "Cusco" on his weather app for the last four months and has been planning for 90 degrees. We leave Thursday and he just found out it doesn't break 65 in Cusco and goes down to 30. He hadn't packed any pants
https://www.dylanstours.com/ Great tour, see all the neighborhoods, the Muir woods, the GG bridge and Sausalito all in a day. Dropped off at Lombard, guys are cool, it's expensive but worht every penny. Otherwise you are paying for travel, Muir woods entry etc etc and this lets you see all you want to see in a day. Other fun stuff: Bourbon & Branch/Wilson & Wilson - cool speakeasy you need reservations for Toronado - great beer dive bar Zeitgeist - nice beer garden for good weather Buena Vista Cafe - touristy place for Irish coffee, but they are delicious 12 Romolo/Blackbard - sister bars with cool bartenders and great cocktails Smuggler's Cove - small awesome tiki bar Sotto Mare - famous spot for ciopinno, delicious, can split for 2 La Taqueria - cash only burrito spot in Mission, delicious Out of the way but if you like distilleries - St. George spirits is across the bay. Make their own real absinthe that I use for my sazeracs, but have other good stuff too. Just something different if interested but it's a haul over there
backcountry.com is currently having a semiannual sale and the 46L Osprey Porter is $91. I think that was the pack of choice for many in here if I remember right
hawkeyeOUTeast i just did this tour a few weeks ago. highly recommend and you can drink on the bus. go to swan oyster depot
If you like prime rib try to get a res at House of Prime Rib. Go to Top of the Mark for an overpriced drink and check out the views. Nob Hill Café for brunch on the weekends. Cancun taqueria for burritos in the mission, but walk around in (s)nob hill, Russian hill, Mariana, north beach, presido, and Noe valley instead (mission is a dump, similarly stay away from the tenderloin and financial district unless you are into homeless crazies). Crissy field for bridge activities/views. Rent bikes and go across GGB and take the ferry back. Depending on time of year and weather, look into off the grid on Sunday at the presido.
Curious how long ago that mission is a dump thing was. Mission was dope two years ago and my favorite leg of staying in SF.
we stayed here, highly recommend it: https://www.vrbo.com/395723 personal deck overlooking the bay, good spot to get to everything easily with uber/lyft.
So after doing some more research on Africa, really not feasible to try and fit in two different parts of the country. Either need to do only Kenya/Uganda/Rwanda or only South Africa. Delta has a RT flight for just over $3K, direct from Atlanta to Johannesburg (15 hours, but by far the shortest flight I've found), and then back from Cape Town to Seattle---and the return flight is first class. Unfortunately, this deal (Seattle-->Johannesburg, and then Cape town --> Seattle 1st class) is only available on Delta's website and not through the Chase portal. I have almost the equivalent of $2K in Chase points, so would like to take out a huge chunk of it. Unfortunately, it looks like there's no way I can use these Chase points towards a Delta flight (NOT going through Chase's portal)--- Arkadin PJP3 am I correct?
You can transfer them to some delta partners then book using partner rewards. Klm/flying blue and Korean I know can be done
Call Chase's travel center. They frequently help. Friend just got a frontier flight using chase this way
always call to speak to an agent if you cant find something. They can usually see more than whats available (some airlines charge $25 for this, but I think if you find a better flight that they can book for you, its def worth the $25)