You sure they're still not actively trying to burn their own country down? Just because it's not on the news here doesn't mean it isn't...
Headed to Europe in July with the family. Our only set plans are flying into and out of London, the 5-6 days in between are up in the air. Leaning towards Northwest Italy (Florence, Genoa) and the South of France, a couple of days in each. Input is welcome. But preferably not "Go to Prague!" Or "Go to 'insert random Eastern European spot'".
Florence is a fun city, you won't be disappointed there. The touristy part of the city is centered around the Duomo. If you can, be sure to get out into the Tuscan countryside.
I went to Florence for a few days last September. It was a great city, and the food was fantastic. Like somebody else posted, most of the museum's, touristy stuff is centred around the Duomo, and all within walking distance. If you're only there for a couple of days, I would recommend taking a tour. I'm not much for tour groups, but we used Through Eternity Tours and they were really good. Our guide was an art history major, and he had us put away our camera's while he talked about Michelangelo's Pieta. It was probably the most moving sculpture I've ever looked at while he was talking about it. If you do go to Florence, you have to go to Madova's glove shop and get fitted for a pair of cashmere lined leather gloves. It was a really cool experience and the gloves are super nice (and cheap at $55 euro). I wish we had made it out into the countryside, if we only had another day.
I'm going to be in China and Hong Kong for the next few weeks and, while our days on the mainland are effectively planned to the hilt, our time in Hong Kong is totally free. We are there for five days and I'm wondering if anyone has any "you have to see this!" tips. My parents have given us a ton of suggestions but they tend to lean towards museums and gardens, which, while they have their place, are not what I want the bulk of my time in HK to focus on. We'll be in the Kowloon side but all the islands are close enough to travel to by transit. Also, any good tips for what the fuck to do on a plane for 13 hours? And how to deal with jetlag? At most, I've been at a three hour time zone difference so I expect a full 12 hr flip is really going to fuck with me.
For jetlag: If you're flying east, sleep on the plane. If flying west, do not sleep. Once you get to your destination, only sleep at night, period. "Just a quick nap" when you first arrive is the quickest way to torpedo your sleep schedule for your entire trip. Ambien is your friend, get a prescription if you can. It only works moderately well for me on the actual plane, but if you take it at bedtime for the first 2-3 nights of your trip, you are good to go. The main issue is usually that you'll be really tired when it's time to go to bed, but your body will only give you a long nap instead of a full night because it's confused. Ambien will not only put you to sleep but keep you there for 8 hours. I have tried melatonin, Tylenol PM, and Benadryl - unless you are particularly susceptible to any of the above, trust me when I say big guns are the way to go here! Extra nerd points: you can try to transition your sleep schedule towards your destination time zone in the days before your trip, changing by about an hour a day. My husband has done this and he says it helps, but it's a pain in the ass to live with him while he's doing it, and it probably only works if you're the sort of person who can fall asleep easily/whenever.
I like audiobooks for long flights and drives because they're more entertaining than music and on the plane are also conducive to naps. Same goes for podcasts.
This x1000...I try to make it until at least 6pm..just try to do something when you get there to keep your mind off being tired until it's time to turn in. As far as the plane, movies/books are pretty much it for me...or staring at the seat back for a few hours..
Other than a few exceptions, I don't typically fall asleep on the plane. Similar to DirtyHerk, I've found forcing myself to stay up until about 8-9pm works best. If I go to bed any earlier I'm wide awake by 1am. A fairly robust workout a couple of hours before bed helps me too. Ambien knocks me out and I'll sleep for eight hours, but I still felt tired, groggy and never rested. Restoril (brand name for Temazepam) knocked me the fuck out. I've never felt as rested when I woke up after taking it. However, I slept almost 20hrs straight.
Lan Kwai Fong was the cool bar district when I went there. I heard the big buddha is pretty cool but I never saw it myself. If you are adventurous about food there are a bunch of great hole in the wall Indian places in the Chungking Mansion which is at the tip of Kowloon. The place just oozes diceyness. I hear Macau is sweet too but I never made it there. I'd skip the Avenue of the Stars unless you just have to have picture next to Bruce Lee's statue. The symphony of lights is also pretty lame.
Five days in Siam Reap, Cambodia and seven days in Bangkok...first vacation in two years and Thailand has a coup. Shit. Any suggestions?
Hi all. Long-time lurker here. I received some good advice in this thread on Colombia a few years ago so I thought I'd try again, especially because a lot of you idiots seem to know SE asia pretty well. I'm thinking about going to Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos in August. Does anyone have any recommendations for traveling there during the rainy season? Is it worth it? Any tips on finding the best deals on flights in that part of the world? Any suggestions would be much appreciated. thanks!
Does anyone have any experience with travel insurance? Maybe you can point me to a good company? Thanks.
Do you have benefits through work? You might have some coverage there. Also check your terms with your credit card company. They often have travel insurance coverage, especially if you have a travel rewards card.
Just a small note, credit card travel insurance - and a lot of work insurance - only covers relatively small amounts. For example, my Chase Sapphire card, which has pretty good travel perks, covers $5,000 per trip for cancellations. That's great for free but is usually not the kind of expensive trip that one buys travel insurance to cover. Also, many purchased travel insurance plans cover problems during the trip, e.g. airlift transport to hospitals. I don't know what kind of trip tempest is look at, obviously, but on my trip to Africa last year, $5k would only have put a dent in the trip cost, and would have done nothing if I had to get airlifted off the mountain. I've bought trip insurance twice on very expensive vacations, both through Travel Guard. Haven't had to make a claim so I can't say how good they are - reviews online seem to be mixed, as are many insurance companies, but a lot of the negatives appear to be people who did not understand their coverage. When you do go to buy travel insurance, make sure you know exactly what is, and is not, covered. When I read a review that says, "Company sucks! They didn't cover me! I tried to cancel and my reason wasn't in the coverage which was buried in the fine print..." all it tells me is the person buying was stupid. Read your coverage. Every word.
Thanks for the replies. I'm looking for coverage for trip cancellation, but mostly for emergency medical costs. I'm not expecting either of these things to happen, but it would be nice to not have to worry. I'll check out Travel Guard. Thanks Whatthe and Binary.
Anyone have any tips/tricks, advice, must sees for Dubai? I know of the Burj, the gold market...and that's about it I'm afraid. I will be visiting in the first week of August.
Dubai is a lot like Vegas without gambling and stricter alcohol & PDA laws. However, at the hotel pools and beaches you will see women wearing bikinis that folks in Miami and Rio might think a bit skimpy. The majority of women in most of the bars are on the clock. Unlike Vegas, my hotel's lobby bar was the only place I wasn't propositioned. The desert tours are hit or miss. If you want a little 'culture' the Jumeirah Mosque is open to non Muslims. Architecturally, I found it interesting, but otherwise I was 'meh'. I might've been a little jaded...was on my way home after a year in Afghanistan. http://www.cultures.ae/index.php/ouractivities/jumeirah-mosque-visit It's mostly a novelty, but if you're looking for something to do that'll get you out of the heat for a few: http://www.theplaymania.com/skidubai
My girlfriend's parents live in Abu Dhabi and her recommendation is, if you can, get to Yas Island and drive the Formula 3000 cars. There's also a huge mosque in Abu Dhabi which is a must-see. She's asking her folks about tips for Dubai - I'll keep you posted.