I went last November, Thanksgiving. Weather was nice in both. Do both and go to the water falls in between
Buenos Aires is a top 3 city in the world for me. Rio also great, but I prefer BA. Went in June, so can't help on weather, but Rio is going to be warmer.
The hostel in Cairo was surprisingly good. Met a good crew which I’m sure helped. Just wish Egyptians didn’t sour my experience. Yea, finished it while I was in Ethiopia. Awesome book, appreciate the rec. I’ll get write-ups and some pictures soon.
See yall later, going to work for NatGeo Spoiler Getting a real camera was a great investment. Highly recommend.
Close The Danakil Depression is the hottest place on Earth in terms of year-round average temperatures. It is also one of the lowest places on the planet (100 m below sea level[6]), and without rain for most of the year. Here, the Awash River dries up in a chain of salt lakes such as Lake Afrera, never reaching the Indian Ocean.[7] Mount Ayalu is the westernmost and older of the two volcanoes at the southern end of the Danakil Depression. The other active volcano, Erta Ale, is one of several crater lakes of lava bubbling from the Earth's mantle. Additionally, the area contains the Dallol sulfur springs, or hot springs. These wet environments at the Danakil Depression are being investigated to help understand how life might arise on other planets and moons.[2][6] Any microorganisms living here will be extremophilic microbes of a major interest to astrobiologists.[2][6]
So BamaNug you still head the prayer calls in Ethiopia? Surprised to hear that considering Wiki says it's 2/3rds Christian. I've only been to one place with the prayer calls. (Istanbul)
Yea, it was everywhere. Even in the small villages. Both Istanbul and parts of India had Calls to Prayer. Ethiopia was the most annoying, and then Cairo was even worse. Unless you sleep with ear plugs, you're waking up at 3 AM in Cairo every fucking night.
Yeah, one of my good friend’s BIL was a missionary there for a while not too long ago...not gonna take that trip until shit calms down there
Only Muslim country I’ve been in was the UAE (Dubai) - they were fairly chill about the drinking thing, all of the good restaurants were in/next to hotels because hotels were the only places that could sell alcohol by the drink. They had liquor stores too, don’t remember it being too big of a pain outside of them having weird hours or something.
Currently in Costa Rica for meetings so last week I took the wife for an impromptu vacation to take advantage of my flight being paid by work. Decided to try someplace really off the beaten path so we headed down to the Osa Peninsula and had one of the best vacations we've ever had. Kayaking in the mangroves, hike in Corcovado National Park, canyoning across the bay outside of Golfito, etc. Corcovado is considered one of the most biologically intense places on earth in terms of types and quantities of species of animals. Can't even list all of the animals we saw, including a Fer de Lance (no I did not shit my pants but I might have peed a little). It took us maybe 8 hours to cover 9 miles of hiking because we stopped so much to look at one new animal or another. Highlight for me was seeing hundreds of scarlet macaws in flight constantly. Looked like an acid trip. I've been to many different places in Costa Rica and this was far and away my favorite. In fact, having been all over the world together my wife declared that she wants to retire there. Don't have time for a full write-up now but can later if anyone is interested. Can't recommend it enough.
What camera do you have? Thinking about getting one & learning how to use it pretty well before my next big adventure.
Entry-level Nikon D3300 that was recommended by many ITT. You can get a package that comes with memory card and 2 lens (one zoom) for about $500.
My girlfriend will be doing Spain and Portugal then I’ll be meeting with her to do Croatia and Greece. All should be easily covered with a SIM card but it really just seems like hassle. It also seems easier for her, not that I don’t trust her switching SIM cards, but...
Finally getting around to do a little write up on my last trip. Got back 2 weeks ago. Russia: Spoiler Did 3 nights in Moscow, 4 nights in Saint Petersburg. Obviously the focus was world cup and did a lot of soccer watching, but given the games were later in the day, was able to get a lot of sightseeing in. For Moscow, the main things to see are Red Square/the Kremlin/St Basils cathedral. Going to the Kremlin, the big draw is the armory, which has the largest collection of fabrege eggs in the world (10). Would have liked to see them, but you had to book tickets way in advance, so if going to Moscow, I'd pre-book tickets to that. Walking around red square was awesome after seeing pictures of it and St. Basils my whole life. My favorite thing we did was going to Gorky park. The weather was perfect, so we just walked around, there were thousands of people, multiple food stalls, and some cafes along the water for drinks. Would be my #1 rec for Moscow if the weather is good, just go kill a couple hours there. Also, get Georgian food. It's big in Moscow and so good. My favorite thing was Khachapuri which we had like 3 times. Its a fresh baked bread bowl kinda thing with Butter, cheese and egg in it. Also, I had never had Borscht before. That shit is amazing and had it a lot as well. For anyone who is single, I highly recommend Moscow. Holy shit were there so many beautiful women. Of all the places I've been, Denmark is my #1 for beautiful women, Moscow may actually beat it. Kinda strange was that Saint Petersburg really didn't have tons of good looking women. Something about Moscow. We took the Sapsan train to SP. Much more European feel than Moscow, and more of a tourist destination. Hermitage museum is one of the top museums in the world and did not disappoint. My fiancee wanted to go to the Fabrege museum there, where 9 are held, and it was actually really awesome. There's tons of bars/cafes around the city and a big nightlife scene, but the best area we found was Rubenstein street. Lots of bars and restaurants, and much less touristy than the areas off Nevsky Prospekt. Was able to get beluga sturgeon caviar in restaurants for like $50, so partook in that a few times. Even though I don't normally like/drink Vodka, obviously had a decent amount there. Their really good super smooth ones were very cheap. like $2-3 a shot. Did a couple vodka tastings as well. Highlight of the time there was being in SP during the Egypt-Russia match. The city was going nuts and everywhere was packed. We were lucky to find a place at a bar full of Russians. Every time Russia scored, the entire bar got free vodka shots. After the game, the streets were packed with people celebrating. I found myself rooting for them, because after meeting some Russians, they really aren't much different than us and were actually super friendly. Talked to some people who said don't believe what you see in the news. Most Russians really like American. Basically all young people hate Putin and their politics, but there's not a whole lot they can do as the system is corrupt and the old people are more pro Putin. Israel Spoiler Then we flew to Israel and spent 3 nights in Tel Aviv, 3 in Jerusalem. Tel Aviv was super modern and young. You wouldn't really know you were in the middle east. Very few religious looking people. Great nightlife, everyone stays out super late. Got free tickets to see Ringo Starr our first night from a friend, so that was a cool experience. I have a friend from college who married an Israeli and moved there so she was able to show us around some. Had some great meals here. Abu Hassan for hummus. Only 3 things on the menu- hummus, spicy hummus, and fava beans. Not many tables in the place, but they turn them over like every 10-15 min. Place was delicious. Also went to Dr. Shakshuka. That may have been my favorite meal of the trip. They bring out like 10 other things besides shakshuka including hummus, soup, beef, schwarma and some other stuff. Highly recommend this place, even though its touristy. Also had a couple great high end meals. Went to a place called Topolopompo. Pricey but amazing food if you're looking to splurge. Also went to a place called OCD. Its pretty new and the head chef is like 25 but has a ton of great press. Its tasting menu only and they have 2 seatings a night. I love doing tasting menus and this one was super reasonable. I think it was about $90/person. Worth a trip if you are in Tel Aviv and want to try something different. Overall, food was definitely the highlight of Tel Aviv. Then went and spent 3 nights in Jerusalem. Probably my favorite overall place of the trip. Much more religious feel than Tel Aviv. Did some walking tours but mostly loved wandering around the old city at night once the crowds had dissipated. I love history, so probably why I liked Jerusalem so much. Grew up Catholic even though I'm not religious now, so was really interesting to see where a lot of the things I had learned about supposedly took place. Did an afternoon trip to the dead sea one day to see it and float in it. Would recommend doing it but don't kill a whole day. 2 hours there was plenty. Didn't really do any high end dinners like we did in Tel Aviv. Pretty much ate schwarma every day which I was totally happy with.
Today I learned if you’re an idiot and forget to buy a tourist visa for Australia, the nice people at baggage check will do the whole thing for you while stand there in shame .
Doesn’t apply to U.S. citizens but Canada requires something along the lines of a visa now even if you’re just laying over.
Just like anything else with airlines, once one does it they all follow suit. Whats ridiculous is that British Airways charges a fee to select your seat, in business class. When I flew them they wanted an extra $150 per leg to select a seat. That pissed me off. I got a super cheap fare, but the thought of someone paying $5k for a ticket and being nickle and dimed to select a seat is shitty.
I will say that after being spoiled in business class for my 12 hour flight back to the US, I don't know if I can go back to coach for long-haul flights. Could probably do coach for 6-7-8 hours, but anything longer than that I may just have to spend $$$. Like my creature comforts too much, especially after traveling around undeveloped areas.
They're so aggressive and just try to rip you off at every opportunity. I hate to stereotype an entire class of people, but everyone I dealt with had ulterior motives. We were with an Arabic guy that would translate a lot for us, and they were similarly rude to him as a foreigner. Every time a bill shows up there's mysteriously 100-200 pounds added to it. When he confronted them in Arabic, they would say "we don't care" and not even give an explanation. Sometimes we would pay it just to leave, sometimes when we got angry they relented. Just walking down the street people will grab your arm and try to lead you into b/s souvenir or rug shops. Walking around the pyramids and museums, locals and guides come up and just ask for a tip--don't offer any services or even a faux-tour, just hold their hand out and ask for money. I was touring one of the lesser pyramids and a guy saw me take a picture (outside) and ran up to me demanding $300 US. I laughed at him, he followed me for a bit until the tourist police saw him and chased him off. Surprisingly, the police were very friendly and didn't seem corrupt; it was all the locals. Really sucks because the museums and pyramids/ruins were fucking amazing. Had a really fun Friday night out until early morning, but that was all with foreigners more than locals.
Pretty sums up my experience in Egypt too was fucking annoying, one time our cab driver didn’t want to deal with the traffic and pulled over middle of a random spot and kicked us out while haggling over the fare with our suitcases on the side of the road
I've done one before, but I'm sure my gf will find something she wants to do along those lines. I think we'll definitely hit up the elephant sanctuary and if at all possible the giraffe manor -- hoping you can eat breakfast there or something without booking a room. Things I've been told to look into, but haven't yet are Karen, Killi hike, Great Rift Valley, and the Highlands. Will figure out how to get from Nairobi to Tanzinia as well, and hit up the beaches there. Want to have a beer at the bar on the rock (pic 2). I don't know, now that the flight is booked the planning phase begins. Spoiler: Giraffes I'm not going to lie, this video makes me cringe a bit, but you get the idea. Spoiler: The Rock Restaurant
TO: Antigua (ANU) Charlotte (CLT) - $256 Dallas (DFW) - $258 Miami (MIA) - $258 Philadelphia (PHL) - $258 Phoenix (PHX) - $258 TO: Aruba (AUA) Charlotte (CLT) - $189 Dallas (DFW) - $191 Philadelphia (PHL) - $191 TO: Bermuda (BDA) Charlotte (CLT) - $230 Dallas (DFW) - $231 Miami (MIA) - $231 Philadelphia (PHL) - $231 Phoenix (PHX) - $231 TO: George Town (GCM) Charlotte (CLT) - $196 Dallas (DFW) - $195 Philadelphia (PHL) - $196 Phoenix (PHX) - $196 TO: Montego Bay (MBJ) Charlotte (CLT) - $240 Dallas (DAL) - $242 Phoenix (PHX) - $242 TO: Nassau (NAS) Charlotte (CLT) - $218 Dallas (DFW) - $219 Miami (MIA) - $219 Philadelphia (PHL) - $219 Phoenix (PHX) - $219 TO: Punta Cana (PUJ) Charlotte (CLT) - $220 Dallas (DFW) - $221 Miami (MIA) - $263 Philadelphia (PHL) - $221 Phoenix (PHX) - $221 TO: Saint Lucia (UVF) Charlotte (CLT) - $225 Dallas (DFW) - $227 Miami (MIA) - $227 Philadelphia (PHL) - $227 Phoenix (PHX) - $227 TO: Santiago (STI) Charlotte (CLT) - $220 Dallas (DFW) - $221 Miami (MIA) - $221 Philadelphia (PHL) - $221 Phoenix (PHX) - $226 TO: Santo Domingo (SDQ) Charlotte (CLT) - $225 Dallas (DFW) - $227 Miami (MIA) - $227 Philadelphia (PHL) - $227 Phoenix (PHX) - $227 TO: St. Maarten (SXM) Charlotte (CLT) - $179 Dallas (DFW) - $181 Miami (MIA) - $181 Philadelphia (PHL) - $181 Phoenix (PHX) - $181 WHEN: Varies by route. Generally August 2018 through May 2019, some routes including Thanksgiving but all excluding Xmas/NYE.
TO: Kingston (KIN) Charlotte (CLT) - $248 Dallas (DAL) - $250 Detroit (DTW) - $252 Minneapolis (MSP) - $252 Philadelphia (PHL) - $250 Phoenix (PHX) - $250 TO: Port-au-Prince (PAP) Atlanta (ATL) - $207 Charlotte (CLT) - $205 Dallas (DFW) - $207 Miami (MIA) - $207 Philadelphia (PHL) - $207 Phoenix (PHX) - $207 TO: Saint Lucia (UVF) Atlanta (ATL) - $227 Detroit (DTW) - $228 Minneapolis (MSP) - $229 TO: St. George (GND) Atlanta (ATL) - $181 Charlotte (CLT) - $181 Dallas (DFW) - $183
At a brewery watching the world cup. It's super busy and we noticed a couple who had been standing around a while looking for seats. We offered them two seats at our table. Turns out they're digital nomads and live the life I want to live and now I'm full of regret
Anyone been to Myanmar? Dropped it from my list after the Rohingya crisis. I did a quick thread search but didn’t see anything. I’m living in HK right now so lots of chances for travel. Some of my favourites: Great Ocean Road -Amazing, went with a tour group from Melbourne to 12 Apostles and the whole drive was fantastic Ha Long Bay -Long day trip from Hanoi but well worth it. Pay a little extra so the tour group is smaller and you can stretch out. Really enjoyed the chance to see the countryside along the way too. Ubud -Chedi Club is expensive but worth getting a meal or drinks at their restaurant. We did the sunrise hike up Batur, but he warned, it’s not particularly easy and the route is overcrowded. HK hiking trails -Twins is tough, especially you start up Violet Hill, but great views. Only takes a few hours. Less crowded than Dragons Back. Best to go between Dec and March unless you want to die. Corregidor Island -I’ll post some pictures when I get a chance. Sobering experience, especially pulling up to the dock with Bataan in the distance and walking through Malinta Tunnel.
I spent a few weeks there last year before it got much publicity. I didn’t notice a thing in the tourist areas, I think most of the purging has been along the border. Still shitty to know that was going on while in the countrt. But it’s one of the coolest countries I’ve visited. Amazing ppl, good food, so much natural beauty. I did Mandalay—Inle Lake—Bagan—Yangon.