Departure Lounge
Share your travel information, advice, hints and tips. Please choose from one of the countries or regions below.
Americas - Canada
Maple leaves and Mounties, Tim Hortons' and hockey, Hollywood North and more shoreline than the Caribbean
Asia - Indian Subcontinent
Not only elephants, snake charmers, price rises, immodium and curry in a hurry
Asia - South-East Asia Islands & Peninsula
Brunei, East Timor, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore
Australasia & Pacific - Australia, New Zealand & Antarctica
Do they speak English? Is there a bridge to NZ? Are kangaroos poisonous?
Australasia & Pacific - Pacific Islands & Papua New Guinea
Sun-drenched beaches, swaying palms, rising ocean levels...
Europe - Scandinavia & the Nordics
Fjords and hiking, meet some Vikings - Nordic Europe will be to your likings!
Recent threads in this category:
Oct 6, 2012 6:52 PM
amerimex
last reply
Oct 12, 2012 11:31 AM
european83
6 replies
822 views
location:
Germany
Christmas in Berlin/Frankfurt - Pilgrimage to Wittenberg
Hello everyone,
My husband and my parents are going to spend Christmas away from home for the first time and we chose Germany. We fly in to Berlin on the 23rd and stay through the 27th. We are looking to day trip to Wittenberg for Christmas service before heading to Frankfurt until the 31st and flying home.
We are looking to enjoy the markets, taking it slow, and doing some museum viewing.
Lucky for my parents, they have plush Hyatt points so my husband and I are looking for a hotel that feels homey and not sterile. Kitchenette not necessary. Any suggestions for this time of year? 80-100 range US.
Thanks all.
Edited by: amerimex
Wearing jewellery
Wondering how safe it is for wife to wear jewellery around the streets of BKK ?
Oct 11, 2012 1:45 PM
JonMW
last reply
Oct 12, 2012 11:24 AM
JonMW
4 replies
954 views
location:
Albania
Northern Albania Trip Report
TR with info for Shkodra, Lake Koman, Valbonë, Zla Kolata (Montenegro's highest peak), Kukës, Radomirë, and Mount Korab.
Cheers.
Jon
Oct 7, 2012 6:17 AM
chagas96
last reply
Oct 12, 2012 11:22 AM
malaebulak
4 replies
1,645 views
Kupang to Dili
Has anyone recently traveled from Kupang to Dili and back? Or would it be easier to fly to Dili and travel overland into Indonesia? I've read from Denpasar the flights are very expensive. Looking at Google maps West Timor (Kupang) does not seem to have any roads. My South East Asia on a Shoestring does not help much either. Information on that part of SEA is very rare. Any troubles for female travellers in East Timor? And could someone recommend the diving there?
I really would like to go there even if it was just for one week.
thanks heaps for all the helpful replies in advance.
Oct 12, 2012 11:09 AM
la_crisis
last reply
Oct 12, 2012 11:20 AM
montyman
1 replies
384 views
location:
Myanmar
excursions from kawthaung - with 10$ visa-upon-arrival?
hi there,
i want to cross by boat from ranong to kawthaung for a couple of days. i read here
http://www.lonelyplanet.com/thorntree/thread.jspa?messageID=19478243#19478243
that this is quite possible now. maybe without a visa or i'm not sure how to understand it.
but then - is it actually only kawthaung? no village around, no island nearby and so on?
or is it a small area that we can visit?
i want to give my boyfriend a short impression of myanmar; i've been there before, but this time we have only 2 1/2 weeks so i'll mostly stick to thailand.
but i'm not 100% sure if the kawthaung trip really works - and is worth it.
Edited by: la_crisis
Border crossing Hungary - Croatia by car
Hey guys,
I've got the following dilemma that I hope someone can help me with:
x I am a dual citizen of Australia and Germany
x I entered the Schengen zone on my Australian passport just over 2 months ago (had forgotten German passport in Germany)
I will be flying to Budapest to visit some friends next week, and was planning on driving to Zagreb for a day in order to leave the Schengen zone and reenter on my German passport.
The question I have is: Will I have an opportunity to get 'stamped out' with my Australian passport when leaving Hungary, and then enter Croatia on my German passport? I.e. are there two passport controls when travelling from Hungary to Croatia by car?
Oct 3, 2012 10:24 AM
rksh029
last reply
Oct 12, 2012 11:15 AM
rutaagayire
1 replies
212 views
Companion at pushkar
Hi..i am an indian guy. Planning to visit Pushkar for the spectacle Camel Festival to be held from 20th november to 28th november. If anyone interested in giving me the company?
Thnx.
Oct 10, 2012 10:56 AM
bajabre
last reply
Oct 12, 2012 11:11 AM
ban_janti_return
10 replies
1,235 views
Using my debit card
Next month I will be leaving for a four month trip backpacking around South America. I went into my bank (Chase) the other day to let them know that I would be using my debit card outside of the country. They told me that more than likely I wouldn't be able to use it in Colombia, Peru, Bolivia or Chile. I'm worried because I'm going to three of these countries in a row and I don't want to have to plan ahead for three different currencies or carry a month and a half worth of money on me at all times. Any advise from anyone who has been there recently? Even better if you also bank with Chase. I do have a credit card that I will be taking also but I was told that the issue is that they're issued by Visa.
Oct 1, 2012 4:11 AM
rebecca_amelia
last reply
Oct 12, 2012 10:59 AM
marlajfish
10 replies
903 views
California whale-watching
Hello,
I'm looking to go whale-watching in Monterey Bay next year, then travelling up to San Francisco for a few days. I was thinking of going around January/February, as I've read this is quite a good time for sightings. Has anyone been and have advice on when to visit or companies to use?
Additionally, I am flying from London, and prices to the West coast are, as ever, significantly more than East. Is there any way around this or to reduce costs - does anyone have experience of flying to the East coast, then connecting flights to West, or the like? I'm planning to do this trip over a week-10 days. I'm aiming to head to the nearest airport, which is San Jose.
Thanks!
Oct 7, 2012 5:11 AM
Kevinnkn
last reply
Oct 12, 2012 10:58 AM
ban_janti_return
9 replies
436 views
Anyone has an experience with BOA?
Hi. I am planning to book round trip flights with BOA between Buenos Aires and La Paz.
As it is a relatively new airline, I can hardly find information on it.
I want to know how it is like especially with regard to "punctuality".
An answer is oblige.
Oct 9, 2012 8:46 PM
traveling_porcu...
last reply
Oct 12, 2012 10:54 AM
havemoneywillgo
8 replies
1,236 views
Best rates in Bangkok, currency exchange shops.
I'm looking for a currency exchange shop having a good rate (w/o commission) for converting AUD to USD, i am going to Myanmar, and i have a lot of AUD, and i want to convert them to new, crisp, clean looking US bills of all denominations, without marks, ink, stamps, or CB serial numbers, basically they should look brand new, does anyone know where I can find such a place, near a MRT, or BTS station? Today's rate, 1.00 AUD = 1.02134 USD, but i am satisfied to convert at 1:1 ratio. Thank you.
Paris to Berlin using Eurail Pass
Hi,
I want to get the train from Paris to Berlin on Wednesday October 17. When I was back home in Australia, I used www.railplus.com.au to book my Global Flexi Eurail Pass, as well as my first reservation for another train trip. However, now that I am in Europe, I can't book from that site any more. The railplus.com.au website allows me to make a reservation as a passholder for the Paris to Berlin trip for $30AUD. Using the www.bahn.de site (redirected from eurail.com), I can't seem to find how to just make a seat reservation, they are all coming up as full fares or a 'savings' fare which still costs 109Euro.
Am I doing something wrong? Thanks for any help.
Oct 10, 2012 10:31 AM
dosgitanos
last reply
Oct 12, 2012 10:51 AM
dosgitanos
17 replies
1,193 views
location:
India
Transportation in India
Hi,
We're planning our fist trip to India Dec/12. We've been following all the new (and previously) posted blogs and making notes.
Many thanks to all the regulars, like joegoosy and pirate-at-50 for taking the time (and for your patience) to answer questions from
first-time travellers like us.
Our question is this: do we have to pre-book train trips and purchase tickets in advance? (we also intend to takes buses).
To give you some background: we've been backpacking for many years - to central & south America, Asia and last year all through
the Phillipines. We prefer to go as we please with a rough itenerary. We don't want to be tied down to schedules; if we find a place we love, we'll hang out there for a couple of weeks, then decide, okay time to move on in a couple of days. We'll check travel schedules and off we go. Now, India sounds like a huge challenge and headaq...
more »
Oct 2, 2012 10:47 PM
tony_ttt
last reply
Oct 12, 2012 10:49 AM
marlajfish
14 replies
1,426 views
California in early October
I'm planning a 16 day trip to California and have the following wishlist of places to visit
San Francisco - 3 nights
Napa Valley - 2 nights
Carmel - 2 nights
Big Sur - 1 night
Yosemite (Mammoth Lakes??) 3 nights
What would be the best route to carry this out? San Fran to Napa to to Carmel?
Which is the best town to base yourself in around Big Sur? We would like a bit of luxury, but would also like to go to the beach weather permitting.
Are there any other recommendations for a few extra nights on this trip? We could fly into San Fran and out of another major city that serves NYC direct.
Are there any other places that you'd really recommend in this region of California? We like walking but nothing too extreme. We also like to visit diverse, beautiful areas and want to make this a really special and romantic trip, so if there are any tips they would be most welcome
more »
Oct 10, 2012 3:40 AM
Albin_2
last reply
Oct 12, 2012 10:37 AM
havemoneywillgo
31 replies
2,473 views
A tourist experience in Bangkok.
Awful it was.
I had been to the Burmese embassy applying for a visa. Then I took the Sky Train back to Taksin Bridge to hop on the orange flagged river ferry back to Phra Arthit.
As I walked down to the pier people asked me where I was going, and when I said Phra Arthit they told me the boat was just leaveing and that I could get a ticket onboard. So I ran for it. I did realize that this boat was larger than the ones I usually travel with on Chao Phraya, but it was indeed just about to leave, and it did have an orange colour flag.
I was whisked onboard and we pulled out right away. It was 98% whities onboard, one though was a Thai man in uniform, soldier or whatever, he did not bother anyone. But unfortunately there was also a woman tour guide, with a microphone and very poor pronounciation of the English language. She kept babbling, almost shouting, about various places we p...
more »
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