In major Myanmar cities they pretend like the Muslims just don't exist at all. It's really weird. There's zero acknowledgement that anything is even going on
There's certainly no acknowledgement by the people or the government. I saw a few Muslims in Yangon, but that city is massive. Didn't notice any in the other cities I was in, but there's probably a reason for that.
Doing a two week trip next year and plan on hitting Zurich, Munich and Salzburg ... don't want to spend too much of the trip traveling but am considering adding either Prague or Venice. Anyone done something similar?
I’m not sure why I have two accounts or how I switched, but here’s what I meant to say: One trip I did Amsterdam, Prague, Munich, Interlaken, Milan, Venice. I was in Zurich, too, but only for a few hours. Loved Interlaken though. Venice is worth visiting, but 1 day is enough and it’s kind of a treck from Zurich, if I remember right. Would definitely make it out to Prague if you can, but best not to stretch a 2 week trip beyond 4 cities, imo.
When I was talking to that guy I met during the world cup yesterday he was telling me that in Georgia up in the mountains they still have a tradition that stems from the silk road where you can just knock on anyone's door, give them like 5 bucks and stay the night, eat, drink their home made wine etc. He said he spent like a week hiking in the mountains staying at different random people's homes getting drunk with Georgians who spoke no English
Last year did Munich, Salzburg, Vienna, Budapest, and Prague. If it was me I would add Prague over Venice. With those cities in particular it worked out well to do night trains. Saved a lot on travel time and basically money on travel as well as your kind of knocking out two birds with one stone.
How long was your trip to hit all of those? Thinking about doing Budapest/Vienna/Prague next year, but wasn’t sure how long I should stay in each city (was thinking at least 3 days, if not 4). Thanks for the tip on the night trains.
Agree. Everyone says dont take taxis for a reason. You have to be firm but polite. Istanbul was the same exact way wanting you to go into their carpet shops. Still need to go back and check out upper Egypt.
Did 3 in Vienna and 4 in Budapest. 3 is plenty for Vienna. Wouldn’t have minded another day in Budapest instead of Vienna but 4 would be the minimum I’d spend there.
I was in Myanmar/Burma some years back on a business trip to Yangon. The tourist trade was not very developed, so anything for a hotel 3-star on up was pretty expensive. Perhaps now there are more options. As you are in HK, do you get the Cathay fanfares sent out every Tuesday morning? They will often feature flights to Yangon at a decent price. I have been in HK since 96, originally from California, welcome to contact me if you'd like to grab a beer with an old-timer in Wan Chai or TST some time...
Yeah lemme get that write-up later please. Potentially looking into going to Costa Rica over the holidays or early next year.
We did 2 in Salzburg, and 3 full days in the rest. For me that was plenty to hit up all the main stuff and not feel rushed. My wife and I are probably a little on the extreme side for go-go-go though, so if you know your not quite like that then maybe a little more time for all of them. Night trains really did work out well for us. They usually leave late at night so we just get dinner and drinks and then head over to the train station, then they would arrive early the next morning, and trains in Europe are super easy with getting there and just hopping on. Basically can get there 30 minutes before at the max so really don't hardly lose any travel time with that strategy.
My HS roommate from my international school in England just married a girl from Georgia and invited me to go. Seriously thought about it. I quoted him your post via FB, curious what he says.
Bout to start doing this once the divorce is over & done with - I’m a loner at heart so it won’t bother me too much, plus life’s too short to sit around & wait to travel if you don’t have anyone to go with.
Good hostels are the most inclusive communities there are. You can always find people to do stuff with if you want, or just to hang out with briefly and get some ideas from if you just want to do shit by yourself.
If you keep an open mind and have a modicum of social awareness, you'll easily make friends. I've met numerous people abroad, and have re-connected with many of them on subsequent trips all over the world. One of my favorite things about traveling--more than the sights, food, or history--is the people you meet and connections you make. That's when good stories start to happen.
TO: San José (SJO) FROM: Atlanta (ATL) - $341 Baltimore (BWI) - $285 Boston (BOS) - $255 Buffalo (BUF) - $364 Charleston (CHS) - $351 Chicago (ORD) - $245 Cleveland (CLE) - $353 Ft. Lauderdale (FLL) - $208 * Houston (IAH) - $253 Jacksonville (JAX) - $319 Las Vegas (LAS) - $341 Louisville (SDF) - $389 Miami (MIA) - $230 Montreal (YUL) - $378 CAD Myrtle Beach (MYR) - $335 New Orleans (MSY) - $265 Oakland (OAK) - $345 Orlando (MCO) - $267 Pittsburgh (PIT) - $351 Providence (PVD) - $381 Raleigh (RDU) - $371 Richmond (RIC) - $351 San Antonio (SAT) - $387 San Francisco (SFO) - $314 St. John’s (YYT) - $474 CAD St. Louis (STL) - $391 Syracuse (SYR) - $381 Vancouver (YVR) - $448 CAD Westchester (HPN) - $387 * - nonstop / direct WHEN: Varies by origin. Generally August 2018 through June 2019, including Thanksgiving on some routes but excluding Xmas/NYE.
It's not creepy to anyone who isn't an American. I've met shit loads of people from other parts of the world traveling alone
God damn a visa for China is $140. You need a shit load of extra documents, you have to go to a Chinese consulate or embassy or send in your passport and pay an online company $80 to process it for you. WTF?
Fuck, really?? I was looking at buying a ticket to Beijing like ASAP. That sort of negates a good flight deal.
Ridiculous. The only decent thing is that its good for 10 years and then you need different ones if you're going to HK, Taiwan or Tibet.
Arkadin here's the response: "That's pretty accurate in new years eve, especially. They have a saying, "guests are from God." And are to be treated as such. Hope the guests are aware they should behave as gracious, if not divine, visitors. The tradition stems from service to God as they hosts His travelers. And yes, abundant food and drink...as if you were serving God's guests. They believe they are."
It's been a long time since I came in as a tourist, but I believe for Americans entering Hong Kong or Macao you simply fill in the arrival card form upon entry and you will get something like a 30 day tourist visa. And yes the visa for Mainland China is expensive, but I think China set the rate about the same as what the US charges Chinese for USA tourist visas. In fact you can apply for a US visa, and if your application is rejected you lose your deposit when you apply.
Didn't want to pay close to $200 for a visa for a 5 day visit to China, I'm sure I'll do it soon in the future just for a longer time. There's a 144 hour (6 day) visa-free entry where if you connect through Beijing, and then fly to a different country after that, no visa requirement. So you couldn't go US-China-US, but could do US-China-XXX and could avoid the fee---but you're limited to 6 days. Something like US -- Beijing -- Mongolia could work, Mongolia's been high on my list for a long time. Japan is another obvious choice to fit in, but also want to devote a trip only to Japan. Good to hear both Taiwan and Hong Kong count as a "different country" to qualify for the free visa. But super pumped about Mexico City. Going to try and get some friends in on it, flights from NOLA are less than $300. I used a chunk of my points and only paid about $100. 8th biggest city in the world, largest in North America. Definitely checking out Xochimilco and Teotihuacan. Probably party way too much. Luchadores.
We loved our trip. So much better than Oahu. Our favorite places were in Hawi and in between Hawi and Waikoloa. Also ate at a little place in Hilo that was great. Very jealous of your move. What town are you moving to again?
Always one of my favorite cities to visit! My cousins have a nice home that’s usually empty in the San Angel area which makes it super convenient when I visit.
Sweet! Hopefully the vog wasn’t too thick and you got to see some good vistas. When Kīlauea isn’t in berserker mode, you can usually spot 4 out of the 5 volcanoes from south of Hawi. You’ll have to make another trip when it calms down. We’re living outside of Waimea.
There was a haze one day. Every other day was clear as hell. One thing that surprised me was our ability to see Maui from our hotel and when we went zip lining in Hawi. They asked us to really talk it up on social media because of the effect of the media and the volcano. Also, the amount of wild goats was really surprising/funny.
Alright Japan traveled people. 14 days, thinking this is what we do: Tokyo: 6 days Kyoto: 4 days Osaka: 4 days Thoughts?
I think that’s too much in Osaka. I spent 2 days in Osaka and was kinda bored. Osaka/Kyoto/Kobe are all pretty much one big city with all the interesting sites in Kyoto. I think 4 in Kyoto is right. 6 is a lot of time in Tokyo too. I generally suggest about 4-5 for most people. You could look at Takayama for a night or two, or Ive also heart Sapporo is cool but haven’t been myself. If you cut some days from Osaka and Tokyo Seoul is an option as well which is awesome.
I thought about the Seoul thing actually, flights just look insane for some reason but I didn’t dig too much. Where would you stay in Tokyo? Roppongi or shibuya?