Travelling - Any reccomendations?

[TW]Fox;21186724 said:
It's possible to appreciate and love both Skyscrapers and epic canyons, mountains and other fantastic natural wonders.
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I really appreciate trees aswell, but why visit the one that isn't the best when you have the choice of either. Go visit the best.

Upto you but I know which makes the best holiday.
 
rofl really?

You do realise that most countries have both :o it may come as quite a surprise but they do!
You would spend a holiday walking around business districts looking purely at the skyscrapers? I couldn't think of anything duller.
Ok some are pretty impressive but other than that what is there in those areas? You don't even get to see the real Country you are visiting by doing such things.
 
FeFiDoh said:
rofl really?

You do realise that most countries have both :o it may come as quite a surprise but they do!
You would spend a holiday walking around business districts looking purely at the skyscrapers? I couldn't think of anything duller.
Ok some are pretty impressive but other than that what is there in those areas? You don't even get to see the real Country you are visiting by doing such things.
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Places with skycrapers are usually cities with much more to do., restaurants, bars, people, theme parks.

Citys are better than the middle of nowhere, and you should go on a plane too as that is the best form of transport. No roadtrips.

Only my opinion, I cant expect evveryone to agree. I do enjoy skiing which isn't in a city for example, but it wouldn't be in a 3rd world country.
 
starfighter said:
Why visit a skyscraper and a tree when you can visit 2 skyscrapers.
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Have you ever actually been anywhere? Your posts are hugely bizarre. The best trips are varied.

My last trip included both epic skyscrapers (New York) and stunning scenery without a skyscraper in sight (The Keys). Only doing one would have sucked.


Because doing the best stuff makes the best holiday.
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lol
 
you obviously the kind of person that wants to go to a holiday and do exactly what they do every weekend.

Get ****ed.......

I want to go and see something that I cant go and see in a weekend or do in a weekend. What dull holidays you must have.

ANyway stop stealing this guys thread!
 
[TW]Fox;21186115 said:
People rave about STA travel but frankly they offered me nothing I couldnt do myself, for less money, using the internet. They couldn't even do the promised 'best price' on flights.
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Agreed. Grab some brochures for the pretty pictures and then get the flights on skyscanner or similar and avoid paying the agents commission. And definitely don't buy travel insurance from STA.

Oz and NZ are so geared up for backpackers that most cities have hostels that advertise at airports and will send a minibus to come pick you up. Almost every hostel you stay at will also be a travel agents so you can book tours in your jimjams and go back to bed if you feel like it :D
 
starfighter said:
Places with skycrapers are usually cities with much more to do., restaurants, bars, people, theme parks.

Citys are better than the middle of nowhere, and you should go on a plane too as that is the best form of transport. No roadtrips.

Only my opinion, I cant expect evveryone to agree. I do enjoy skiing which isn't in a city for example, but it wouldn't be in a 3rd world country.
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Well I stayed in a little place called West Railay over Christmas for 4 nights. It is part of the Thai mainland but only accessible by boat and about a mile wide. In that little place we had:

- Huge limestone cliffs that make skyscrapers look boring.
- Stunning sunset on the beach with the cliffs surrounding us.
- Bars/food places on the beach edge with cocktails brought to us watching the sun go down.
- Good food whever we chose.
- Good cocktails wherever we wanted.
- People wise there were Brits, French, Scandinavians, Italiens, Chinese and good fun young Aussies and Americans to party away with!

And a 10min walk to the other side of the island we had E. Railay, the less pretty but much better party area with:
- The Last Bar - one of my favourite bars be it city, town or rural, epic fun, great music, stupid amazing cocktails for £3 a pop, decking over the sea and a fire show, the likesof which you have never seen before. Many other cool bars along the beach and restaurants then a short stumble back to our amazing bungalow back in W. Railay.

You need to get out more and look past you blinkered preconcpetions, there are some amazing places out there that you MUST see in your lifetime.
 
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A Couple of useful links for Thailand as well I forgot to add earlier.

http://www.seat61.com/Thailand.htm - All the info you could ever need about trains in Thailand
http://www.thairailticket.com/esrt/Default.aspx?language=1 - Train tickets
http://www.urbanrail.net/as/bang/bangkok.htm - Transport links in Bangkok
http://www.travelfish.org/board/post/thailand/16932_my-packing-list - A packing list. I used pretty much everything I took with me.

I did end up buying 2-3 more t-shirts though as you do get through them quite quickly. One during the day ends up covered in sunscreen, then when you go out in the evening you want another one so thats 2 that day. You will end up washing them all the time if you go with only a few.
I took 3 pairs of shorts and 1 pair of trousers, my shorts however (well 2 pairs) were pretty bulky and I could have done with some not quite so thick so they were easier to roll up.
Anything else clothes wise you can buy whilst out there for a few £ or so.

I went away with a 55l bag which had a 10l zip off day bag which I used every day when out and about.
An Osprey Farpoint 55, it seemed decent enough and I had enough space for everything I took with me.
 
Don't forget about getting your jabs also, you'll be a pin cushion in no time! Plus you get the fun of anti-malarials and the frankly bizarre dreams that accompany them. I took Doxycycline and didn't have any problems with it.
 
Holy thread resurrection batman!

I finally fly in 3 weeks!!

Jabs sorted
Money sorted
Flights sorted
Big-arse travelling bag sorted!

Just sorting a couple of VISAs and BOOM I'm good to go!!!

I'm getting confused about the New Zealand VISA, here it says;

http://www.gapyear-newzealand.co.uk/essentials/new-zealand-visas.php

"As a UK citizen you are allowed a six month tourist visa on arrival in New Zealand. You do not need to apply for this in advance, just turn up in NZ and you will receive it in the airport. You must have enough funds for the time you wish to stay in NZ and in some cases this visa can be extended. For full details and updates check out the official government site at www.immigration.govt.nz ."

But it was posted a few years ago! Does anyone know if this is still the case?

MUCH APPRECIATED for any help, am pulling my hair out here! I've just rung the NZ embassy who want me to phone a NZ number for any customer services, at £1 a minute, and they don't accept calls from mobiles, so I'm stuck!

Magnolia, maybe you know? :p


First stop, SYDNEY! (Visa sorted and approved!)
 
To echo what someone said above definitely do not organise this all through STA. By all means go to them, trailfinders etc and get quotes for round the world tickets prices but I think you can get these tickets cheaper through the airlines. I didn't know this when I booked mine :(

Hostels you can book yourself though hostelworld and hostelbookers.

Travel insurance and Visa's you can sort out yourself.

Stuff I would recommend.

Oz
Great Barrier Reef
Whitsundays
Fraser Island
Great Ocean Road
Uluru
Surfing Lesson
Grampians / Halls Gap

NZ
Tongariro Crossing
Skydive Lake Wanaka
Waitomo Caves
Stewart Island
Milford Sound
Doubtful Sound

Thailand
Don't make the mistake of staying too long in Bangkok.
Find yourself a nice lady ;)

A good thing to do in Oz is to look at campervan relocations. People hire them and leave them at the end destination. These then need to be re-located back. You can normally hire these for a pittance, get some money towards fuel as long as you get the vehicle back by a desired date. We did this for the Great Ocean Road and it was awesome :)
 
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Thanks Bigney, as per the blog i've not actually set in stone any dates for trips or destinations, but will 100% take in on board, thanks again!


Does anyone know about the NZ visa? From that website, and the NZ Visa bureau which states;

In some cases, you may not need to apply for a Visitor Visa to travel to New Zealand.

You will not need a Tourist Visa if you are:

A New Zealand citizen or you hold a New Zealand Residence Permit;

An Australian citizen, or Australian resident who holds a current permanent Resident Return Visa (temporary or provisional Resident Return Visa holders will need a visa to enter New Zealand);

A British citizen or a traveller holding a British passport who has the right to live in the United Kingdom (eligible for a Visitor's Permit for up to 6 months);

Visiting New Zealand for no more than 3 months and you are a citizen of a country which has a visa waiver agreement with New Zealand.
If you do not qualify as one of the above, and you wish to travel to New Zealand, you will need to obtain a Visitor's Visa. This is a multiple-entry visa valid for a maximum of 9 months within an 18 month period.

But the 'eligible for a visitors permit for 6 months' throws me off, is this applied for, or done when I land in Christchurch from Sydney?
 
Fantastic, mind at ease.

The vietnamese VISA is a buggar though, gotta send off my poxy passport! Thanks again for your help mate.
 
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