Monday 2 November 2015
Thailand *Jul 2013* by ...vale vale...
04-29 Jul
2013
I have
started back to travel together with my friend Klaudette. In these past year I have
been travelling with her to Malaysia, Tanzania and Peru, but unfortunately she
cannot have vacation at the same time as I do, so either I do not go on
vacation or I do leave on my own. As you might have imagined I did live on a
solo trip, for the first time in my life, at the age of 31.
When I was
a teenager I travelled on a yearly basis, but I wasn’t really on my own, I was
part of a Youth Exchange Programme.
I looked at
Skyscanner and
I really didn’t have a clue on where to go to. At the end Thailand seemed to be
pretty cheap and safe to go to. Thailand hasn’t been the best trip of my life,
but it is the trip which changed my travel experience and which made me meet
many many friends from all around the world.
I do not
wanna mention them all, but I do know that sooner or later I will meet some of
them somewhere on earth.
It hasn’t
been that easy to identify the kind of itinerary I was going to do. A
preliminary study was done, but then everything was set each previous day.
It was
quite a tiring journey and that’s why I decided to spend half of the time at
Koh Tao, scuba diving. I didn’t want to move anymore and I just wanted to
relax.
Travel Book: Thailand
by Lonely Planet
Flights: Operated by Emirates
(Total price EUR 543.18)
MXP - DBX - BKK EK0092 + EK0372
BKK – DBX – MXP: EK0377 + EK0101
Travel
Map:
Mean of
Transport: bus
Destinations:
Day 000 Departure
Day 00 Arrival in Bangkok
Day 01 - 02 Bangkok (Grand Palace, Reclining
Buddha Wat Poh, Wat Arun, Gold Mount (closes at 5 pm), Indian District;
Standing Buddha, Gold Mount)
Day 03 - 04 Pak Chong
Day 05 Pak Chong – Korat – Phimai – Korat –>
Chiang Rai
Day 06 Chiang Rai (Temples)
Day 07 Chiang Rai Tour (White Temple, Golden
Triangle, Hill Tribe Village)
Day 08 - 09 Chiang Mai (Temples, Doi Sutherp,
Sunday Market)
Day 10 Elephant Camp
Day 11 Chiang Mai – Suko Thai (Not gone) – Bangkok
Mo Chit -> CKK – Chumpon - Ko Tao
Day 12 – 23 Ko Tao
Day 24 Departure
Day 25 Arrival
Accommodations:
Day 01 – 02: 3Howw
Hostel Khaosan, Bangkok
Day 03 – 05: Green
Leaf Guesthouse, Pak Chong
Day 05: night bus
Day 06 - 07: Baan
Bua Homestay, Chiang Rai
Day 08 – 10: Mint
House, Chiang Mai
Day 11: night train to Chumpon
Day 12 – 23: Ko
Tao, Big Blue Diving
Day 24: night train to BKK
Tips:
-
Long
distance and night buses are well recommended to save on
o
Accommodation
cost
-
Buy
many bottles of waters and do carry them with you
-
Do
carry magnesium and potassium, in order to overcome all the loss you might
face, due to the extremely humid weather
-
Do
eat as much fruit as possible
o
You
find plenty of it along the street (mango, pineapple, paw paw)
-
Credit
card
o
Spread
all over the country (please have a look at the places I did visit)
-
Phimai
§ Nice place to be visited, absolutely
off the beaten path
-
Chang Rai
§ One of the craziest site I have ever
visited
-
Chiang Mai
§ Amazing tour
§ Amazing people
o
Cheapest
place where to buy souvenirs
§ Thai trousers
§ Paintings
§ Wooden crafts
-
Ko Tao
o
Big
Blue Diving
o
More
expensive and tourist place
o
Diving
Industry
o
Coral
Reef: not well preserved
o
Too
crowded and too touristy
o
Too
young and drunk folks
Total Trip: ~ 1.300 €
·
Flight tickets
·
Accomodations
·
Food
·
Tranport Cost
·
Souvenirs
·
Diving
Friday 30 October 2015
Colombia *Oct 2015* by ...vale vale...
09-25 Oct 2015This year I had to go on vacation during the last week of July and the first of August. Unfortunately the company gave just two weeks off. That said it had been pretty difficult to find something on the budget side for such a period. Nonetheless I had decided to get back to Turkey and to visit Bodrum, Cappadocia. Everything was almost done when the company asked to get my vacation postponed to an unknown date.
Until the beginning of September I didn’t know
when my vacation were and then I got to know that they were in the mid of
October. I looked at Skyscanner and the flight to Colombia were
dramatically low (~ 560€ vs the standard 1.000-1.300€), so I had to buy them in
order to get to visit my Colombian friends Carolina and Carlos, met during a
couple of tourist trip in Thailand.
Because of
the period, because of the busy time at work and so on, I didn’t really have
the time to plan my trip. I roughly knew that I wanted to have a relaxing
vacation, I didn’t wanna move too often and I did want to scuba dive. In the
meanwhile I had otitis just before leaving, so my idea of itinerary had changed
several times.
Anyway at
the end I didn’t book anything. I got on my planes and I knew that Carolina was
there waiting for me. This and that the following days I was in Villa de Leyva
were my only certainties!
I had one
of my best rewarding trips so far. It was a different experience from the
others, I knew I could count on friends, I knew they were anyway there to help
me for whatever thing I might have needed. I lived like a local for roundabout
a bit less than a week, I got to know the real culture and habits, things that
you don’t get to know unless you live in a foreign country.
For a
European, at least at the time of writing (x-rate 1€ ~ 3.000 COP), Colombia is
very cheap. On top of this I have really got to visit the country in an
extremely low budget way, let’s say as far as accommodation, and meal concerns.
Flights: Operated by Air France
LIN - CDG - BOG AF9801 + AF0422
BOG – CDG – LIN: AF0423 + AF1012
Travel
Map:
Destinations:
Day 01 Departure -Arrival Bogotà
Day 02 – 04 Villa de Leyva –
Laguna de Tota – Ràquira
Day 05 Bogotà (Zona Rosa) – San Andrès
Day 06 - 09 San Andrès Islas
Day 10 San Andrès Islas – Bogotà – Santa Marta
[a long day]
Day 11 Parque National Tayrona
Day 12 Santa Marta – Uribia –
Cabo de la Vela [a long day: 3h+1/2h+3h]
Day 13 - 14 Cabo de la Vela - Punta Gallinas - Cabo de la Vela
Day 15 Cabo de la Vela – Riohacha
- Bogotà
Day 16 Bogotà (Centro – Museo de Botero)
Day 17 Bogotà – Departure
Day 18 Arrival
Internal
flights: ~ 238,68 €
Accommodations:
Day 05 – 09: Mulata Hostel, Santa Marta
Day 10 – 12: Hospedaje Daniel
Day 13: Pousada Alexandra, Punta Gallinas
Day 14: Hospedaje Daniel
-
Colombia
is divided into different climate zones throughout the year, so that you’ll
always find good wheatear somewhere on the coast
-
Try
to be there when it is not a holiday period in Colombia (check it out on the
web)
-
Take
everything as easy as possible; you will enjoy it more
-
Credit
card
o
Not
too spread around the country; high fees (~ 8% to the seller)
§ Either you bring cash and you do
change it, or you simply withdraw when you are in big cities
-
Villa de Leyva
o
Nice
white colonial village
-
Laguna de Tota
o
Doesn’t
worth the visit; nothing to be compared to Lago Titicaca in Peru
-
Ràquira
o Buy all your souvenirs here
o Amazing colorful village
-
San Andrés Islas
o
Bring
a mosquito net for budget accommodation in San Andrés Isla; I got mosquito
repellent on 24/24
o
Very
bad network coverage
o
Best
beach: Rocky Cay
o
Get
to walk from Hoyo Soplador to San Luìs; do not get around by golf cart, you’ll
miss the best of what the island could offer
o
Get
to the airport well In advance; a couple of friends got bounced, at the gate
o
Get
to try “Fruta de Pan”
-
Santa Marta
o
Downtown
Santa Marta is not that close to the airport (~40min by taxi at night; 28.000
COP, or by bus ~1.500 COP)
§ It is full of clubs and live music
places
§ It doesn’t seem to be that safe
§ It is full of gringos, I wasn’t used
to it anymore
§ If I get back, I will chose a place
closer to Parque Nacional Tayrona or at least on the Santa Marta outskirts
-
Parque Nacional Tayrona – Yellow Fever Vaccination
Recommended
o
Collectivo from El Mercado de Santa Marta to El
Zaino (~7.000 COP; ~ 1h)
o
Admission fee: 39.500 COP
o
Collectivo to el Parqueadero ~3.000 COP
o
EL
Parqueadero <-> Cabo de San Juan (1 ½ h walking vs 2 ½ h stated)
o
Bring
with you plenty of water; in the rain forest it is pretty hot and humid
o
There
are many check points during the path; keep your passport and your entrance
ticket at an easy access
-
Santa Marta
- Cabo de la Vela – Punta Gallinas (06:20 à
~ 13:30)
o
Take
a taxi to the Bus Terminal (~ 7.000 COP)
o
Get
on a bus to Maicabo and get off at 4 vias (Maicabo not Riohacha) (@ 7:00 am ~
25.000 COP) [~ 3h]
o
Get
on a car to Uribìa (~ 8.000 COP) [~ 1/2h]
o
At
the market in Uribìa get on a carro particular to Cabo de la Vela (~ 15.000
COP); arrange with the same people the pick-up to get back to Uribìa [~ 2h]
o
I
haven’t booked any accommodation and I’ve just stopped at the first one [ Hospedaje
Daniel ~ 7.000 COP for a hammock; 12.000 COP chinchorro; 15.000 COP room]
§ I bought the tour to Punta Gallinas
directly here at the Hospedaje [~ 170.000 COP transport]
§ Hospedaje Alexandra [15.000
COP/hammock]
o
Moto-taxi
to Pilon de Azùcar: 8.000 COP return
o
Do
not buy any souvenir in Cabo de la Vela à very expensive
-
Uribia – Riohacha
o
I
got on a car to Riohacha and I asked to get off directly at the airport
o
Pay
attention to the fact that at the Riohacha airport taxes have to be paid (5.700
COP)
-
Bogotà
o
Mean
of transport à
Transmilenio
§ Buy a NON frequent traveler card
o
Zona
Rosa (top class restaurant and boutiques)
o
Centro
§ Museo de Botero (free entrance) does
worth a visit, obviously if you like it
§ Colonian style buildings
§ Mercado Artisanal de Plaza Bolìvar à good place to buy souvenirs
-
Typical Dishes
o
Desayuno
§ Chocolate
§ Scrambled eggs (huevos revueltos)
§ Arepa de queso/de huevo
§ Pan de bolo
§ Pan de queso
§ Tamal con pan
o
Almuerzo
§ Caldo
§ Pescado/Carne
§ Arroz con o sin coco
§
Platano/yucca/fruta de pan fritos
§
Ensalada
§
Refresco
o
Cena
§ Parecido al almuerzo
§
Sino, café con leche + sanduiche
Total Trip: ~ 1.500 €
·
Flight tickets
·
Accomodations
·
Food
·
Tranport Cost
·
Souvenir
· Diving
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