Planning your travels, part I

Do you really want to do a whistle stop tour of 6 countries in 6 weeks? You'll experience little to no culture and purely be hotfoot-ing from one tourist destination to the other. If you're going to go travelling, there's a lot to think about:

Location. Where do you really want to go? Where might your travel partner(s) want to go? Are you willing to compromise? If you don't know about the country before you say you want to go (name me three cities in Vietnam?) then you don't *have* to go there. Everywhere isn't for everyone. But don't waste your time and money pretending to remember the cultural significance of Angkor Wat if you aren't bothered...skip it.

Time. How much time can you afford to give? Are you going to be able to do all of a country in X weeks? How long is it going to take you to get from country A to country B? I coincided my trip with my contract work finishing and knew I wanted to be back in time for my Mum's 50th so that gave me 10 weeks. You don want to end up booking a 6 month trip, knowing you'll be homesick and rescheduling this flight one month in. 

Money. How long can you afford to take out of work? How long can you afford to travel for? You might have to budget for expenses at home whilst you're travelling like paying rent, or car insurance. You want to make sure you don't have to cut your trip short because you've run out of money. For some indication of how expensive different things are, my location guides should help!

Companion(s). Do you want to be in a group? Is taking your boyfriend/girlfriend a bad idea? Do you want to mix your partners country to country? Do you want to go it alone? Understanding who to travel with is complex, there are lots of things you need to account for; being a guy going with a girl (or vice versa) might mean sharing a double bed sometimes, going alone means, unless you stay in dorms, you're going to incur more of a cost in accommodation. And that's just the practical side of it. Then there's actually deciding who would make a good travel buddy from your friends/partner/family. I'm already planning a longer blog on 'Who to travel with' so stay tuned!

What is your dream itinerary? Has this made you think twice?

x

Mount Bromo and Ijen Crater

Tour of Mt Bromo and Ijen Crater, inclusive of accommodation and transport 755,000 IDR
Entry to Mt Bromo 75,000 IDR
Dinner on the first night 15,000 IDR

Entry to Ijen Crater 50,000 IDR
Upgrade to see the Blue Flame at Ijen 100,000 IDR
Buffet dinner on second night 55,000 IDR

An additional 70,000 IDR for snacks

As this was a tour, I was expecting it to be expensive but it comes out at  1,120,000 IDR for three whole days and nights (approximately £19.33/day). Considering the first day we were travelling for 14 hours, 7 hours on the second, and another 4 hours on the third day (not including trekking time!), I didn't really have a lot of time to spend any money I guess!

The tour was a huge rip off (Kresna Tour, but they just sell the tour, it's all done by someone else). Every day there was a new corner for them to cut, or a way to get more money from us. If you can, do this privately, it will be worth the (possible) extra cost. Having bought tickets to Denpasar for our final drop off and then being dropped off on the West Coast of the island, no where near. Total tourist rip off.

The sights though were great, and although you're very tired, you are able to appreciate everything. The Viewpoint was overrun with tourists and their tripods set up ready for sunrise, meaning you can't see it unless you look through their lens. Climbing Mt Bromo was great though and the view into the mountain was fantastic. The trek to Ijen Crater was much, much harder. A really tough 2 hour uphill hike in the dark. But again, the blue flame was something you'll never see again. The 'path' down to the flame was extremely dangerous and unsettling - I really didn't enjoy it and it tainted my experience. My favourite part of the whole trip was after sunrise, seeing Ijen with it's lake in full glory. 

Now for what it's all been building up to...BALI!

Jogjakarta

Flight from Jakarta to Jogyjakarta 294,200 IDR (not included in total)
Accomodation for 2 nights, and cancellation charge on a 3rd night 800,000 IDR (by 2)
Private tour to Borobodur and Prambanan, inclusive of transport 225,000 IDR
Entry to Prambanan 198,000 IDR
Entry to Borobudur 220,000 IDR
Dinner at Pizza Hut 50,000 IDR

Dinner at hotel restaurant 28,000 IDR 

An additional 50,000 IDR for taxis

All that rounds out to 1,175,000 IDR for two whole days and nights (approximately £30/day) which isn't too bad considering the entry fees to the temples and the private car hire was very expensive. But we didn't do anything on the second day so they must have been really expensive...

I absolutely loved Prambanan, I was a in awe that it looked so majestic, I would totally love to go again. I think because we had arrived so early in the morning (7am) paying the extra for a private, air conditioned tour was definitely the best choice because it let us see the sights and leave our bags with the driver. At Borobodur, most of my time was spent dealing with the locals wanting pictures or to practice their English on me so it wasn't a very nice experience. I literally couldn't turn around without another person asking something of me - because I'm white/female/ginger/taller than them? Who knows. We visited Maliboro Street too but it was a poor excuse for a travellers market.

We stayed at Pondok Gajah Homestay; it was okay, nothing to write home about and we left a day early because we would have rather got on our way. Be aware of expenses like this, fortunately we saved about 200,000 IDR from the room rate of the third night by cancelling that and I'm glad we got out. 

Pizza Hut was okay as well. The meal in our hotel was just because of convenient and neither of us felt too well but it was nice, I had fried tofu and Nasi Goreng (and fries, shhh). 

Onwards to Mt Bromo and Ijen Crater now...

Jakarta

Flight from Singapore to Jakarta $111 (not included in total)
Accomodation for 1 night 430,000 IDR (by 2)
Taxis to/from hotel 220,000 IDR (by 2)
Dinner at the hotel 55,000 IDR
Airport departure taxes 40,000 IDR

420,000 IDR for the day (approx £21) considering we stayed in the hotel (POP! Airport Hotel Jakarta) the whole time, is quite expensive but we were paying for convenience. There wasn't anything of note I did in Jakarta so no recommendations. We wanted to get out to Bogor so hopefully we've got more luck next time!

We got ripped off on taxis twice (one saying he had no change for the original 60k fare, and the other insisting it 150k was as cheap as we would find but we haggled to 120k and gave in). And, although legitimate, we weren't expecting the departure fees at the airport since we were staying within the country.

Our dinner was at the hotel but still nice, I ate the Ayam Bakar and it was basically like a barbeque chicken, really tasty. But please, avoid all orange juice in Asia, it's like pulpy squash, not nice.

Jakarta was only intended as a pit stop so onwards we go for our 5am flight to Yogja.

Keeping costs low

I struggle with the British moral dilemma of not wanting to be cheated out of my money, but also being too polite as to haggle over what is pennies to me, but hundreds to the locals. If you are happy to cut a few corners to get a cheaper experience, here's how I do it:

Tackle the taxi drivers. They're the best to haggle with because they've got thick skin - they deal with tourists (mostly unassuming) on a daily basis - plus, you can tell when they're ripping you off usually by knowing how much you should be paying (emailing your hotel to ask how much they would expect a trip from the airport to cost in advance is useful). On that note, look into your accommodation in advance; they may have a free shuttle you can take advantage of which could knock a few pounds off.

Get street food. Depending where you are (most of Thailand's tourist hotspots are fine, but I was warned against eating anything in Java, Indonesia) street food can be found for a fraction of the price of a sit down meal in South East Asian countries. If you won't go that far, at least try to avoid Western food, it will easily be twice as much for a pizza as it would be for pad Thai.

Stay in hostels. Hostels don't mean that you have to bunk up with 11 other guys; they often have private twin/double rooms that still give you the sense of being social and meeting new travellers, as well as staying private. They will be cheaper than hotels and villas, and some can be really nice. If you're in a big group anyway, you could always look to book out a whole dorm (they usually offer mixed accommodation for 4+).

Don't be taken advantage of, it's easy to think you can live richly in these countries, but saving a little here and there helps, especially when you don't need to pay the extortionate price, even if only pennies in England! In Indonesia I was warned that they really take advantage of travellers, so if a taxi driver quotes 100,000 IDR, I tell him you only paid 30,000 the night before so I'll find another taxi driver who will do it. It's likely he'll come back with 50,000 and you can whittle it down from there. 

Do you think you'd be able to give up your holiday McDonalds for the sake of a few pounds? Or how else might you do it?

x

Singapore

Accomodation for 3 nights $156 (by 2)
Taxi to hotel $25 (by 2)

Lunch at Deli Morrocan $20
Drinks at Altitude's Sky Bar $30
Pimms jug at Prince of Wales $30 (by 2)

Singapore Sling at Long Bar, Raffles Hotel $32
Bubble tea $1.80
Riverside cruise $22
Dinner at Little Saigon $25

Airport McDonalds breakfast, Chicken Muffin $2

An additional $40 for taxis
An additional $20 for snacks

So, $300 for two whole days and nights (approximately £71/day) is fairly expensive, but it was a whirlwind tour of the city and so we crammed in a lot, and it is an expensive place anyway - especially when you realise that most of the prices above include service charge and a good and services tax called GST.

We stayed in an 8 bed female dorm at Pillow Talk hostel, it wasn't bad but it didn't blow my mind either. All accommodation is expensive in Singapore so we settled for this.

I'd highly recommend the Singapore Sling at Raffles Hotel, if not just to say you've done it, it's a lovely little bar and the drink is, as it should be, the best Sling I've ever had.

The view from Altitude is great (the drinks being served in plastic cocktail glasses, not so much). We wanted to do the Southern Ridges Walk which has great views of the city as well, so if you don't want to pay for Altitude - and you're active enough - do the walk instead. 

Deli Morrocan (on Bussorah/Arab Street) was my favourite meal, and cheap considering the price of everything else. It is a little out of the way for most (unless your hostel is close like ours was) but the street itself has a great atmosphere so definitely worth a trip.

Now to catch a flight to Indonesia!

Getting by when your luggage is delayed

When I arrived in Singapore at 9pm, I was told my luggage was still in Dubai and I could expect it delivered to my hotel the by 2pm the next day. I slept in the same clothes, had nothing to wash my face or brush my teeth with, no deodorant to use, and went out the next day looking awful - 36 hours in the same outfit and 18 of those hours on a plane doesn't not make anyone look/smell good. It wasn't my greatest moment. In hindsight, here is what to do:

Ask for clarification on reimbursement of expenses. We were sure we could have done this but having no towel or clean clothes rendered the idea of buying shampoo and shower gel redundant for us.

Claim on your travel insurance as soon as you can. I did this straight away but all this happened on Good Friday so my email won't be seen until the following Tuesday, and if I'm told I should have done something differently, it's too late. 

Be optimistic. It's not the worst thing and I actually coped quite well. We laughed it off mostly ("it could only happen to me"), it wasn't ideal but the bags arrived in the end. That shower, when you finally get it, is HEAVEN.

Pack your hand luggage for times of crisis. Once I got my bag, rejoiced and had my shower, I set about reorganising my hand luggage. My deodorant, sun cream and toothpaste replaced some books and trivia games that were clogging up my hand luggage. 

What would you do? Do you think you would have been able to cope?

x

Surviving an 18 hour plane journey

Flying into Singapore meant a 7 hour flight to Dubai, with an hour stop over, then another 4 hours to Colombo with a 2 hour wait on the plane, followed by 4 more hours to Singapore. Since I was flying with Emirates, I was excited and settled into my seat with my first G&T of the holiday in hand, not being put off by the robust gentleman to my right. Other than drinking all the alcohol, here's how I survived the flight:

Don't always order alcohol just because it's complimentary. I got ahead of myself, I had a Gin and Tonic and fell asleep, which meant I wasn't hungry when I woke up for the next meal. Water and fruit juice is probably better for you most of the time, or at least alternate.

Walk if/when you can. If you have a connection to make, giving your legs a stretch and having to pelt it across terminals is actually great (if you make it). Similarly, even if you don't need the toilet, spy no queue and take advantage for the walk.

Take advantage of the films/TV shows if you want to stay awake. I'd almost always choose television programmes as they are shorter and more likely to keep your interest for 40 minutes than a previously-unheard-of film is for 120 minutes. 

Sleep. My party trick is being able to sleep anywhere; coach, floor, train, plane, and surprisingly hardest of all but still successful, the bed. My mind whirrs when I go to bed with so many ideas and worries so I do sometimes struggle to get to sleep. But put me on a plane and I doze within minutes, upright as well. It's a bit weird to watch. You'll need to have a nap or two to fight off tiredness and adjust to the time zones.

Do you have any tips?

x

Off I go!

Another day, another travel blog throws up on the webisphere.

I'm off travelling for (nearly) three months and throughout the planning of my trip, I really struggled to find practical advice. I'd been to Thailand before, so knew what to pack and what to (kind of) expect. But in terms how much money to take and all the other specific idiosyncratic difficulties with travelling, I fell short on information. So I'm making a blog of my experiences; staying in dorm rooms, surviving the Full Moon party and all the rest of it. At the very least, I'll use this blog to look back on when planning my next adventure!

If you want to see the photos, they'll be on Facebook, this really is about practically travelling...you'll complain of hearing the stories too often when I'm back.