Reliable Driver in Siem Reap

I made a trip to Siem Reap one week ago with tons of happiness. Visiting the temples at the best time of the day escaping from the crowds, adventuring into the relics exploring the concealed scenes, experiencing the local culture with local people, the trip marked something unique. I was lucky that I had a reliable local driver - Pros. He is honest, friendly, fluently English speaking, flexible with your own itinerary, and on top of all, charges a reasonable price. It warmed my heart to have him as my local companion throughout my trip.

Pros Bou

Pros' full name is Pros Bou. He drives Tuk Tuk (from 2005) and car (from 2009) with years of experience, always offering you a steady and safe journey. To improve his own language skills, he spent two years to learn English and is now learning Chinese at night school as well. He is a good example of local young people who love their jobs and strive for a bright future.

A sample quotation from Pros is as follows:

Small Circle Tour (one day, by Tuk Tuk): USD 12
Small Circle Tour (one day, by car): USD 25
The tour includes: Angkor Wat, Angkor Thom, Ta Phrom, Phnom Bakheng

Big Circle Tour (one day, by Tuk Tuk): USD 15
Big Circle Tour (one day, by car): USD 30
The tour includes: Thommanon, Chau Say Tevoda, Ta Keo, Banteay Kdei, Srah Srang, Prasat Kravan, Pre Rup, East Mebon, Ta Som, Neak Pean, Preah Khan

Outer Circle Tour (one day, by car): USD 65
The tour includes: Banteay Samre, Banteay Srei, Beng Mealia, Rolous Group

Seeing Sunrise (by Tuk Tuk): USD 3
Seeing Sunrise (by car): USD 5

The quotation above is valid until 31 Dec 2016. Tips is not included in the quotation.

I booked a three-day tour with Pros, he offered me free transportation between the airport and the hotel. The itinerary above is an example only, Pros is very flexible. Do feel free to ask him for a quotation based on your customized itinerary. The price will not vary much from the benchmark above.

Another bonus for booking with Pros is that you can get really local information. Pros is well-educated and speaks excellent English. From food to native products, from history to culture, Pros will be your cool guide!

Below is the contact of Pros:

Handphone: +855 12 733 075 and +855 93 733 075
WhatsApp: +855 12 733 075
Email: prostuktuk@gmail.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/pros.bou.7
WeChat ID: boup936

He has a smart phone so he is quite responsive to your request unless he is driving.

Travel Tips: How to deal with the language barrier when you travel

I have wanted to post something on over-coming language barriers when you travel for a long time.

Obviously, if you speak English and stick to the 'touristy' area of travel.. it is rare that nobody could understand you at all.. also if you have WIFI and a decent programme for translation.. it may not be perfect but it will get you going... but if you are off the beaten path.. this gets tricky.. but not impossible and most of all- NEVER LET IT STOP YOU!!

1. Sticking to the tourist areas

Japan... did I tell you I love Japan? I am consistently feeding myself with a staple of anime and manga (don't judge, a creative adult is a child who survived!) and knew this was a place I wanted to visit. My first trip was in 2005 then 2012, 2013, 2014 - yes, it is that good. During my first trip, I did everything a tourist would do.. I visited Tokyo and Kyoto and took a tour to Mt Fuji and Hakone (all in English of course), we ask for where to eat at the hotels and rest of the time pointed at menus with pictures.. or those realistic food display on the window... uurrgghh I can't find a picture.. but it is a window display of the menu and price and you can't go wrong (unless if you want to know if it is beef or pork... or.?)... Train stops had both Japanese and English signs and the tourist map was clear enough for first-timers to find their way...

Hotel staff are especially 'useful'/helpful, they would speak English and would more likely recommend you a place that speaks English and can help guide you on the public transportations system.. I didn't particularly feel that language was a barrier... save for the time I couldn't find the flush button on one of those fancy Japanese toilets (it was concealed on the wall ಠ_ರೃ).

There is always a way to get around... if you like to be adventurous but not too adventurous, just stick to the main tourist areas.. and they are the main tourist area for a reason - it would be still 'exotic' enough until you are ready for more...

somehow.. my friend and I managed to book a day trip with
Japanese Rail to Atami, a hot spring village which included
access to the hot spring and a delicious lunch... (May 2005)

What has difficult is to buy a 'charm' from the temples
though.. many had no clear sign what they are for..
I also found out that for some odd reason the charm
for easy child birth is much more expensive
than the rest.. (May 2005)

2. Prepare yourself.. do your homework..

In my later trips,  I grew older and bolder.. Fred and I started venturing to areas with much less international tourist.. and things started to in a sense harder... but at the same time.. it gives fun and excitement to the trip.

We both eat just about everything save for insects and protected animals- so it is not difficult when it comes to food. Usually we do some research on regional speciality and check for famous place to eat it and usually cross check it with the hotels... sometimes you can get let down foreign guidebooks/review sites doing a review of another foreign cuisine.. sometimes it is just hype aimed at the tourist. When you have things in mind, print out the dish or the name of the restaurant or both.. just show it to reception and ask them to mark it on the map or you or even help you make a reservation.. or ask if they know a even better place to go, no harm in asking!

Same thing goes for places you want to visit, print them out or save them on your phone/tablet (to be more environmentally friendly) and ask the people you are staying with.

3. So you are fussy...

More and more people have allergies or due to other dietary reasons avoid some type of food. I always advise my friends to print out a list or a small flash card that list the most basic food type and useful phrases in the local languages. With the internet, this is incredibly easy. Avoid the pleasantries (you will pick them up as you go along) and you don't want to start compiling a dictionary.. just really  basic words you will need:

Yes, No

Chicken, Beef, Lamb, Fish, Prawns 

Nuts, Seafoo, Allergy

Hospital, Toilet 

Taxi, Train

Name and address of hotel

Everything in the local language and your language that applies to you - you might have a good memory but poor pronunciation... so unless you can say them correctly.. have them in writting. When in doubt, just point.

Or just get international roaming/WIFI or an app that works offline... we are usually too cheap to do it.. so we continue with our silly adventures.. 

Here is a funny story, Jayce and I were invited by some fancy friends to attend some horse auction and race in Australia in 2011.We took days off and booked our flight into Brisbane.. only just a couple of days before the flood shut off the roads out of the airport..  there wasn't much sense to go to stay at the airport... so we ended up having the money for the air tickets back but it goes into a fund which allow us to use the money to buy another ticket with the same airline (of course).. as Jayce had already taken her days off, she has adamant that we go somewhere.. with little time to plan, we needed somewhere relative close and with no visa required, she choose KOREA.. (eh?) I was working in Germany at that time and came back with only summer little summer dresses to frolic around Queensland and was looking to escape the cold.. but we went anyways and it was an adventure... nothing was planned saved for the first night of hotel.. we knew nothing outside of her knowledge of Korean gained from Korean dramas.. It was a fun but funny trip.

We visited Seoul and Gyeongju. The average guy on the street can't speak English in Korean- and we spoke 2 words of Korean so hilarity ensues. Just to randomly tell a (there are more) story of how we survive a the language barrier by chance..

We ate in a couple of touristy places in Seoul and they had English menus or menu with pictures, so we wanted an authentic experience of having Japanese BBQ on charcoal.. not a fancy place but a wholesome local hangout... so we asked the guy at the hotel and explicitly said this. He gave us 2 addresses close by in case one way close and it was both in the back alleys of some street... We went into one and everything looks great.. locals on the floor.. charcoal grill.. wonderful.. then we tried to order... the staff spoke no word of English!! None.. Jayce doesn't really like beef and lamb but will usually humour me but we will get a pork or chicken dish too so she doesn't starve...

As the menu was all in Korean, we resorted to sign language.. hands on the head like horns and went 'moo'... Beef? Moo.. we could then understood a nod or a shake to say no.. as we were continuing our stand-up comic, Jayce and I were discussing that maybe we just randomly point at something and just take it.. then a helpful staff that heard us speak in Mandarin walked to us and started speaking to us in Mandarin!! We were saved.. everything else went really after that and we got by with with Mandarin.. So here is what we had (part of it):

delicious Korean charcoal grill.. yum (Jan 2011)

And with our point and wait to find out strategy- just point to the most expensive (but still reasonably priced) item on the menu.. we got this at Gyeongju :

Namsan was worth the climb
(Jan 2011)

Just to end Korea with another funny story, Jayce read that Namsan is a must see spot..'you have not seen Gyeongju if you have not seen Namsan' she said the brochure (only in Korean or Chinese) wrote. The park ranger was a friendly old guy who spoke very little but some English.. we want to know how long the trek will take to see if we could make it... I think he said something like an hour (we think) but at the end it took us 3 hours (up only).. with many pit stops to take pictures and really slippery slops because of the snow... to go up and a bit faster to descend... we ended up spending the day at Namsan.. We are still not sure if we understood him wrongly or we were just really slow.. but plenty of senior citizens were trekking and floating by us.. so, we may not be the fittest one around and most people can make it up in 1 hour.

Would some translation be helpful for us at any of these points.. of course! Less traumatic.. but perhaps less memorable? Good news is though.. recent friends who went to Korea said that information in English is much more readily available now.

I couldn't find my pictures for Korea so I pinched all these
from Jayce's facebook (Jan 2011)

and now for some helpful tips...

Steps on Planning a Trip to Kilimanjaro & Recommendation on Local Guides

In my previous post, I shared some stories during my trip to Kilimanjaro this October. Here are a full set of steps which can help you plan a successful trip to this great mountain, and also, a recommendation on local guides.

Why Kilimanjaro?

The reason for climbing Kilimanjaro may differ from one to one. Many people whom I met on the mountain told me that it was their dream. If you need a reason, the following facts may help you:

• Kilimanjaro is the highest mountain in Africa, at 5,895 metres above sea level.
• It is the highest free-standing mountain in the world. Free-standing means it stands alone and is not part of a mountain range.
• It is one of the world's largest volcanoes.
• It has permanent glaciers covering the summit area, while it is only three degrees of latitude south to the Equator.

Can I Make It?
The first step is to check whether your are physically suitable for the climb. Although climbing Kilimanjaro is not technical, I still advise you to take a medical checkup before you decide to climb Kilimanjaro. Consult your doctor with your medical checkup report. Your doctor should be able to advise whether you can proceed and if you can, what should be noticed before and during the climb.

Time to Climb
To avoid the two rainy seasons, the good periods to climb Kilimanjaro are mid of December to end of February in the next year, and June to October. The former is a bit warmer than the latter in terms of temperature.

A Dream Tour to Kilimanjaro

During my high school time, I read a short story by Ernest Hemingway, The Snows of Kilimanjaro. The story centers on the last memories of a writer who lies on the safari near Mount Kilimanjaro, awaiting his slow death caused by an infected wound. His memory is full of regret that he has not been doing what he should have as a writer. In a dream before he dies, a plane takes him to the top of Kilimanjaro. The story impressed me and forced me to think about the meaning of life. It sowed a seed in my heart to keep on my own way, to be the true myself, and be dare to fulfill my dreams without any regret. Before I graduated, I wrote a to-do-list for myself to celebrate the start of my real life. One item in the list is to climb up Kilimanjaro and view its snow cap on the Equator.

I marked this item in October this year, five years after I wrote it down in the to-do-list. The Seven-day Machame Route on Kilimanjaro was like a dream, interleaved by moments of excitement, pleasure, fantasy, achievement and thankfulness. What I would like to share here are the pieces of memories that I will never forget about.

Into the Forest
After Machame Gate, I stepped into the forest and shook my hand with Kilimanjaro. The mountain welcomed me with towering old trees and sporadic wild flowers. The trees blocked the afternoon sun light, as well as the snow cap high above. For the mountain, I was a child, excited by every single plant which I saw for the first time in my life, breathing the fresh air released by the aged lives. For the mountain, I was also a pilgrim, although uncertain about what would happen in the following days, still walking every step with faith.

Kilimanjaro Impatiens *

Above the Sea of Clouds
It was a bit foggy in the morning. I left the forest behind and climbed up a ridge of heath land. The route was steep and continuously heading up. Looking up to the top of the rocks, a bunch of everlasting flowers was smiling under the sunshine.

Soon after a while, the fog dissipated. I realized that I was already above the sea of clouds. The snow cap of Kibo was clearly showing her face. Taking a deep breath, the pleasant air flowed into my heart. I felt that I was at a higher level of the world, one step closer to the heaven.

A Torch Lily growing above the sea of clouds,
with Mount Meru, the second highest mountain in Tanzania

Tips & Tricks for Travelling (cheap) in French Polynesia

The biggest challenge of French Polynesia, FP (or usually called the Islands of Tahiti) for the average traveller is cost. This place is freaking expensive. The main reason as you could imagine is that it is in the middle of nowhere and there is hardly any livestock farming or consumer goods manufacturing.. this means most things are imported from their closest neighbours New Zealand, Australia or US - coupled with the cost of shipment, storage and low demand (there is less than 300,000 inhabitants!),  the most basic offerings can cost an arm and a leg.

For our own trip, here are some tips and tricks to save some cash and little stuff that will hopefully make small but meaningful difference in your trip..

It is all about the money, money..

1. Salon du Tourisme

Find friends in Tahiti.. if the concept of 6' of separation holds through.. you should know someone that knows someone in Tahiti.. or make new friends.. this is crucial as there are travel fairs that targets locals/residents of Tahiti to visit the other islands. Here is the link: http://www.salondutourisme.pf/

Unfortunately you need to be physically there to make find deals and bookings, hence the need for a local friend.. some packages might explicitly require you to be a resident of FP but lots of them don't.

The best deals are usually for expensive over-water bungalows in these luxurious resorts that goes from usually USD 1000/night upwards.. you can get something which is like a 50-70% savings which still doesn't make it cheap.. but at least it is within reach for a few nights of stay. There are of course also the regular accommodations and mixing them up will keep the cost under-control. With the special deal we had, we spent 3 glorious nights in Sofitel Moorea.

>> Watch for basic comforts

Word of caution though, if you are on a shoestring budget ask yourself what are the basic comforts that you need.. once out of the main islands, air conditioning, electric mosquito repellents and even hot water can be a luxury!! So do ask in advance and don't take it for granted that you will have it.

The sparsely populated islands are a treat.. there is more sea life, the beach is usually more pristine, life is more natural.. with less humans - there is just less disturbance to nature. However.. it is all about the money money.. the cost goes exponentially up with these island.. there would be no petrol station.. some small islands within the islands still uses a generator for electricity and everything is brought in by plane or ship weekly or even less frequently.. So you could be staying in something REAAAALLY basic for USD 200/night and something for luxurious doubles the price.. so do gauge what you think are minimum comforts that you need and if the cost doesn't correspond to that.. well, perhaps you need to skip it or do very minimum number of nights stay.. 

2. Air Tahiti multi-island tours

There is only one way to fly.. Air Tahiti is the only commercial airline doing local routes. There is a multi-island pass that will save you some money if you want to visit beyond Tahiti and Bora-Bora. See here:

https://www.airtahiti.com/multiisland-fares 

This is very important.. you need to plan where you want to visit then check back to see if the connections are feasible.. many small island do not have daily flight so you need to be able to plan accordingly.. we took the Bora Bora-Tuamotu Pass and visited Tahiti, Moorea, Raiatea, Maupiti, Bora Bora, Rangiroa & Tikehau in 3 weeks. We wanted to visit Marquesas Islands, but alas, cost was a barrier..

3. Stay with the heard

So contrary to the 'normal' instinct to stay away from tourist areas - Tahiti, Bora Bora and Raiatea offers more cheap accommodations and cheap eats simply because there are more people there and enough for them to have supermarkets for example. I found Raiatea to be the cheapest in terms of what you can get for quality over money.. but I'd make another post on the islands that we visited and their 'characteristics' later. Rule of thumb.. more people, cheaper.. but with less people and no major hotels, these islands are far more rustic and fits into your image of:

In the world of FP, this:

is more expensive than this:

Europe on a shoestring - How to travel on budget around Europe

Many people always tell me how expensive it is to travel Europe. There are many ways to cut cost, but it will require some advance planning.

Also, Europe is a continent, please do not try to visit 'Europe' in one or two weeks. When you do this, you are essentially spending most of your time on the plane/train and this is expensive as well as taking time away from the real sightseeing. Focus on what you want to see. If you do feel that this is a trip of a lifetime and you must visit multiple countries cramped into a short period of time- a lot more planning is required or you will need a holiday after your holiday due to sheer exhaustion...

As a rule of thumb, Eastern Europe is usually cheaper (Prague in Czech Republic is especially popular recently but countries such as Croatia, Poland, Hungary, Russia seems to be gathering momentum etc), Southern Europe is reasonable but tourist areas are suicide during peak seasons (Italy,Spain, Portugal, Greece etc), Western Europe is what most people know and do (London/UK, Paris/France, Berlin/Germany etc) and the most co$tly is Northern Europe (Iceland, Sweden, Norway etc).

Try to avoid travelling during summer holidays (end Jul- August) because everyone is travelling and it will be crowded and costly. If you can afford it, avoid winter too, Nov- Jan especially as day light hours is very short. When it starts to get dark and cold.. you can't do some sights, it is hard to take nice pictures and you might be bored etc etc.. but things especially accommodation is the cheapest in winter. when the hotels are empty, the prices go down. And the que to see famous sites are shorter too.. a good balance I find is to visit in spring and autumn. Not too cold, not too many people, not the cheapest.. but not the costliest.

While every country is different, but some important tips remain the same. So here's mine for your budget travel to Europe.

1. Getting there

Find cheap flights. The best is to book during promotions but perhaps you are never really in the know and often miss them. Use a flight comparator. I use mostly www.kayak.com and www.skyscanner.com.What these sites do is trawl other websites offering flight tickets and compare them, this way they can very quickly show you what is the current best deal. However, this only works if they partner with this site.. so use both to compare. If you have a bit of flexibility, use the options to see the flights +/- a few days ahead or after your chosen travel dates, also other alternative airports close-by. 

Generally flights that require transits are cheaper and airline from countries (I am being kinna mean here, it is not completely true) that not that many people want to visit in the first place but wants to develop a market as a regional air-hub will be the cheapest. Look out also for deals with the airline/airport of the transit point - usually they organize some short tours which they will bring you out of the airport, tour the city and return for very little money and you get to see something extra.

A bit of additional advice, if you take route that requires you to change flights - don't do it yourself unless you are saving a substantial amount of money. The reason being- if you first leg of flight is late and you miss your connecting flight, you will be in a foreign country and with lots of trouble. Even if you have insurance, the hassle of getting the next available flight, the lost time, the aggravation, trying to claim you insurance afterwards.. is not worth it. If you bought it as a package (on the same airline or their coach share partners), any delay will have the airline try to get you on the next flight out, in the event the next flight is longer than a certain hours they will give you food vouchers or one night hotel etc.. it is still a big hassle but someone else is taking care of it for you until you cab leave. Hmm, also try not to transit in French airports.. employees go on strike and tada.. you are stuck.. It is not that often, but France is a great end destination but a horrible transit point.

2. Getting Around

Now that you are there, you would have notice that local transportation is costly. But more frequently than not there are many tourist passes or transport passes that you can use. The best way to get this information is to visit the website of the train/bus service provider of the country/city that you want to visit.

There are plenty of offers. For example in Germany, you can buy a daily ticket so you pay a flat rate and hop on and off as much as you want. There are other offers for people travelling in groups, students, etc etc.. In the UK for example, you have off-peak/super off-peak/advance tickets etc which offer a lot of saving. Each city will also have their own 'scheme' for example London have their Travelcards and Oyster. There are also plenty of discounts for students/young people, you need proof age or a internationally recognised student card..

For example, do you know that there is a German Rail pass that lets you hop-on all trains (also their high speed train), buses and such for EUR 269 for 7 days. With this you can easily cover 3-5 cities. Which can be a steal if you want to do Berlin- Hamburg- Munich (some day trips in between) and then perhaps go to Austria.. But if you are just doing just one city in that particular country.. hmmpphh.. you'd be better off with other offers. So research and find what fits you best.

Actually, if you are travelling within one region/country only and there is 2 of you at least, I find that it is often cheaper to book a car. A small car is cheap and gives you the freedom to stop in places in between. But you need to plan it in such a case that you pick-up and leave the car from the same spot.. or there will be hefty charges. Also, automatic cars are more expensive than those with manual gear box. :(

City deals are best found on the tourism website of the city you want to visit. Sometimes it comes as a pass for the city that is bundle with offers for other attractions for the city like The Cologne Welcome Card or one which is for transportation only. It can also get quite complex but research online and you shall find! For example here is a break down of the various options that you can find in Paris alone. Life is more complicated in countries where different companies run different services, different trains, distance trains vs metro/subways etc and passes might not always be interchangeable - so do check. But google with key words like 'one day pass NAMEOFCITY'/ 'tourist pass NAMEOFCITY' it would usually give you something to read.

Of course, one can also always walk. 

3. Crossing Borders

If you need to fly, I suggest again checking with www.kayak.com or www.skyscanner.com. Skyscanner trawls a number of budget airlines in Europe.

Same applies to trains. Here's a summary of what's out there from one reseller. 

You will notice that the trend is early booking, cheaper prices but it usually means no change, no refunds etc.. so if your plans change you are pretty done for. Last minute deals aren't that good in Europe but you could look them up.. most of the time advance booking is what gives you the best rate.

If you need to travel last minute and don't want to pay too much, there is a new scheme these days where travellers/drivers heading a certain direction and for little money, they let you go along. Quite a few people found this to be cheap and convenient and they love the company. But personally I'd rather not take the chance to be stuck with someone in a car for hours whom which I may not like... mm... also most of these sites are in the country's native language... so if you can't speak it.. your stuck.This arrangement can also be useful for inter city travels as well as cross border travels - and I know many people that liked it.. Here's an example:

Two Days to Touch the Heart of the Inca Culture

It always takes a season to know about a season. But sometimes we just can't afford that. If you are going to Lima, Peru for a business trip but you only have two days (normally a weekend) for spare, you may not be able to go for an Inca trail. However, you still have an opportunity to touch the heart of Inca culture if you plan it well in advance. My two-day-one-night trip to Cusco and Machu Picchu this year may help you on your planning.

Target

I could only leave Lima on the morning of Day 1 and had to come back to Lima on the evening of Day 2. The trip must cover the historic capital of Inca Empire - Cusco, and the "Lost City of the Incas" - Machu Picchu.

Planning

The first thing to plan was the flight. The flying duration between Lima and Cusco was about 1.5 hours. And there were frequent daily flights operated by LAN between the two cities. So it was not difficult for me to book a ticket to bound the trip. Based on my situation in Lima, I decided to arrive at Cusco at 8.25am on Day 1 and depart from Cusco at 5.45pm on Day 2.

When I arrived at Cusco, half of the target was met. Then the following question was: when to visit Machu Picchu? I decided to visit Machu Picchu on the early morning of Day 2, because the sun light was best for photos and it was less crowded. There was a limit of 2,500 visitors per day to Machu Picchu. Although the tickets were seldom sold out, I insisted to purchase the entrance tickets on-line in advance because it saved my time for queuing during the trip. The official website to purchase the entrance tickets to Machu Picchu was:

http://www.machupicchu.gob.pe/

Unfortunately this website was not very user-friendly. Although it provided four languages as displaying options, I could only finish my booking with the default setting - Spanish. When it came to the payment, I had to use a credit card that supports Verified by VISA. I failed to make the payment in IE and Chrome, but finally I made it in Firefox. The price of an adult ticket was about USD 50.

In order to visit Machu Picchu on the early morning of Day 2, I chose to stay near Machu Picchu for the night. Machu Picchu was hidden from the outside world for many years because it was built high on the mountain. As a result, there was only one luxury hotel next to the entrance of Machu Picchu. It was not what I should consider about. At the foot of the mountain there was a village called Aguas Calientes. There were many hotels in this village and most of them were available for booking via Internet agents like Agoda and Booking.com. Since I was going for a business trip, I booked a single room at USD 110.

Between Cusco and Aguas Calientes, there was a long distance, nearly half of which was only accessible by train. There was a direct train between the two places, but the departure time from Cusco was only in the morning and the departure time from Machu Picchu was only in the afternoon, which was not suitable with my schedule above. Fortunately, between Cusco and Aguas Calientes, there was a small town called Ollantaytambo. It was quite common to travel between Cusco and Ollantaytambo by taxi with one-way price of USD 40 in about 2 hours, and the train time table between Ollantaytambo and Aguas Calientes was much more flexible. The train tickets sold very fast. So I had to purchase them on-line at least two weeks in advance. The official website to purchase the train tickets was:

http://www.perurail.com/

This website was more user-friendly than the previous one. One thing to note was that the train station in Ollantaytambo was named Sacred Valley and the train station in Aguas Calientes was named Machu Picchu. The price of the one-way train ticket was about USD 60 and the travelling duration was about 2 hours. I decided to arrive at Aguas Calientes at 8.43pm on Day 1 and depart from Aguas Calientes at 10.55am on Day 2.

The last thing to plan was the ticket of the shuttle bus between Aguas Calientes and Machu Picchu. The tickets were available only in Aguas Calientes. I had to purchase them right after I arrived at Aguas Calientes so that I could take the early morning bus (first bus departed at 5am) up to Machu Picchu before the sunrise. The price of a round-trip bus ticket was about USD 20. And the one-way travel duration was about 30 minutes.

Based on the planning above, I worked out the transportation itinerary as below:

Day 1
Lima 7.05am -> (flight) -> 8.25am Cusco
Cusco 3.30pm -> (taxi in about 2 hours) -> 5.30pm Ollantaytambo
Ollantaytambo 7pm -> (train) -> 8.43pm Aguas Calientes

Day 2
Aguas Calientes 5.30am -> (shuttle bus in about 30 minutes) -> 6am Machu Picchu
Machu Picchu 9am -> (shuttle bus in about 30 minutes) -> 9.30am Aguas Calientes
Aguas Calientes 10.55am -> (train) -> 12.32pm Ollantaytambo
Ollantaytambo 2pm -> (taxi in about 2 hours) -> 4pm Cusco
Cusco 5.45pm -> (flight) -> 7.10pm Lima

Enough time buffer had been allocated in this itinerary.

The Real Trip

I realized this trip in July 2013. During the journey, I almost followed exactly the itinerary. The transit time was more than enough.

A Glance at Cusco

On the morning of Day 1, I reached Cusco. It was a totally different world for people from Lima as me. Lima was at sea level, while Cusco, whose elevation was 3,400 m, was located at the Andes mountain ridge. The sky was high, the weather was cool and the air was thin. The roof of the houses had the same color as the mountains.

Church of the Society of Jesus

Invaded by Spanish Empire in the 16th Century, the land marks of the city gained typical colonial influence. Located at Plaza de Armas, Church of the Society of Jesus was considered as one of the best examples of colonial baroque style in the Americas.

Alley View in Cusco

However, it was not difficult to touch the Inca culture in its historical capital. From the quiet alleys, from the faces of the local people, from the lovely llamas in the streets, the indigenous culture revealed its vitality.

A Statue at the Centre of Plaza de Armas

Most beautiful Villages of France - Part 1 Provence

By this post I would like to share with you the beauty of some villages in France. Most of foreigners visit only Paris and the French Riviera but one of the treasure of France is its small beautiful and charming villages.

They are all over the country so it's difficult to make a selection. Hence I decided to focus on region of France, let's start first with the "Provence"as this is most probably one of the place in France where the villages have a special charm.

Note: All pictures in this post are unfortunately not mine and taken from the web. If you have a copyright issue with it, please let me know. I have tried to linked it to the original source though.

First of all, let's see on a map, where we are? Provence is located in south-east France, the main city being Marseille (Circled on this Map).

If we are zooming, we arrive here:

Provence became popular thanks to the impressionist painters such as Paul Cézanne or Vincent Van Gogh, who particularly loved the light and the beauty of landscapes and villages of this area.

One of the part of Provence I prefer is called the "Lubéron" located just few kilometers from Avignon. But let's talk first of Avignon, which is the previous residence of the Pope before Rome. The Pope palace is worthwhile to visit, and the old city itself very beautiful. Avignon can be a good starting point for your journey in Lubéron. Here a view on the Avignon's Pope Palace:

Now take your car and go direction the "Lubéron". This part of France has one of the biggest number of the so-called "plus beaux villages de France" (most beautiful villages of France). You can find more information on these villages all over France here: http://www.les-plus-beaux-villages-de-france.org/en

One of my favourite place is the village of Roussillon. The particularity of this village is the Ochre colour used for the architecture of the town. The light of Provence on these red walls with the Mount Ventoux (well known by Tour de France fans) in background gives you a feeling of Western.

Not bad isn't it?

Very close from Roussillon you will find the village of Gordes. Here is the feeling totally different even if only 10km away from Roussillon. This time is the architecture  based on white rocks made from limestone. The charm of this village is as well its location on a cliff surrounded by a pine forest, just gorgeous. The village was created during the roman time, and is now one of the main touristic highlight of the area.

Traditional housing and streets of this village:

The Eternal City - Rome

Rome, Roma.. The Eternal City.. there is not many people who do not know of this city. A number of friends actually asked for recommendation on what to do in Rome and quite a few who were there gave us pointers too. It seems that this is one of those places that most people have on their must visit list.

Rome is one of the most visit cities in Europe, the capital of the Roman empire, the home of the Pope... the impressive list will go on and on and as we all know 'rome was not built in a day'. It took more than two and half thousand years they say... so you can't really do it in a short few days... But here's what you still can do in 3-4 days.

Best time to visit Rome is when the weather is good - late spring, summer, early autumn.. but obvious the crowd and the cost goes exponentially up. We choose to visit in late November 2013 and took our changes. Flight was cheap, accommodation was cheap.. so why not ;) The trip was still really good but it was raining the the whole time! And when you travel in winter it is dark by 5pm, so hours of sight seeing with daylight is much shorter. The first tip on visiting Rome during rainy season. A good pair of water proof shoes and an umbrella! During peak season.. lots of patience because there will be throngs of people and lots of pre-booking ahead to skip the ticketing lines.

Generally Rome can be divided into 4 'main' areas to visit. Depending on your areas of interest, it can be divided into 4 days for a comfortable visit or combine them for a brisk tour of 2-3 days instead. If you are very interested in history or classic art etc... you could easily spend even more days. Here's a short guide on what you can with 3-4 days.

Rome & Vatican City - Area Overview

Area A - Vatican City & around

This would be the must see for any regular tourist. What some people may not know about the 'Holy See' is that it is an independent state. It is not a part of Rome. In fact, Vatican City is the smallest internationally recognized independent state in the world. How does this effect you? The Roma Pass doesn't work here, you need the buy  a pass intended for the Vatican City or you can just but the tickets online for the museum. St Peter's entrance is free anyways but there is a queue.. so do go early and plan your time well. Also, note the dress code: no shorts, miniskirts or bare shoulders. As we were there in winter, we didn't have this problem. On the weekends look out for time which St Peter's is closed for preparation for Mass.

If you want to see Pope Francis, a nice way is to attend his Sunday Angelus at St. Peter’s Square. You need to go early if you want a place to sit, but otherwise you can watch further away and still see him on the big screen.

We wanted to join a guided tour of the Vatican Museums and Sistine Chapel. Unfortunately if you don't pre-book there was no chance to get an official English tour. There were plenty of other people hawking their own tours but we were not sure of the quality and decided to just give it a miss. If you are interested in taking a tour organised by the museum, do book early with them on their website (link here).

If you like history and renaissance art and such, you could spend easily more than one day just going through the exhibits and the work of many great masters. Leonardo, Michaelangelo, Raphael.. I think all the teenage mutant ninja turtles was there save for Donatello - but I am not too sure.. darn should have taken a guide. Jokes aside, the collection was impressive especially the frescoes. Michelangelo’s frescoes the creation of Adam is perhaps the most well known.. while it was no doubt impressive it was much smaller than I imaged. You practically need to find it amongst a large number of other drawings - it was a strict no photos area with people pushing and swarming all over. Walking while looking up to the ceilings in this condition was not easy.

I'd say spend a whole day here to witness what mankind could so when they set their mind to it. If you are not into this kind of stuff.. 2 - 3 hours will see you brisk walking through everything. At the same time, you could also do Castel Sant'Angelo the fortress and tomb of Emperor Hadrian. Fred said that there is a tunnel from the Vatican for the Pope to escape here if the Vatican City was attacked.

I still say, do it leisurely and take a tour. It is more meaningful if you know the significance of what you are looking at. While it is impressive today, imagine how awe inspiring it was 600 years ago. I guess if I were a peasant and saw for the first time the Vatican City, I would not be able to doubt that God must surely exist to inspire such magnificence. Being an modern day agnostic, I am struck by how much religion can inspire such devotion, fear, love and bring a sense of hope, peace and at the same time cause so much hate, death and destruction of what is perhaps collateral damages for those that got in the way. Rome is incredible in such a way that it offers a brief summary of mankind's religious evolution. The classical Greek gods made way for the classical Roman gods made way for the Christian god - and the Christian church as evolved today as we now know it since what was the beginning of the Catholic faith. How short is our lives compared to what some of these monuments have seen and endured?

Area B - City Landmarks

Around the centre area of the map, you will find the famous landmarks which as mostly made famous because they were in one movie or another. So maybe it is worth watching them before going to Rome :)
Try La Dolce Vita and Roman Holiday.

Everything is walking distance and if you are  fast walker, you can easily cover them in 1/2 day if you want just a touch, snap and go. If you'd like to leisurely walk and shop and eat.. you can also spend a whole day to cover these sights. You will usually see all the usual hot spots highlight on your tourist map, but here are the popular ones once again:

i. Trevi Fountain (Italian: Fontana di Trevi)  

It's the site for many classical films. La Dolce Vita is perhaps was most people know or Roman holiday.

We were told to throw a coin for good luck so that we can return to Rome again someday - but the fountain was so crowded, we just looked around a bit and left. I found this tidbit on Wiki though:

Coins are purportedly meant to be thrown using the right hand over the left shoulder. This was the theme of 1954's Three Coins in the Fountain and the Academy Award-winning song by that name which introduced the picture.

An estimated 3,000 Euros are thrown into the fountain each dayThe money has been used to subsidize a supermarket for Rome's needy; however, there are regular attempts to steal coins from the fountain.

ii. Pantheon

This is the favourite of many history buffs. But if you are not into this kind of thing, you'd be wondering what the buzz is all about! This is a 2000-year-old temple which is now a church, the Pantheon is the best preserved of ancient Roman building. It survived as it was quickly turned into a Church in the 7th century and hence survived to this day. It then became an important burial place for Raphael and some kings. Not too shabby. But look out for the dome. Now that's quite the engineering feat in 120 AD.

iii. Spanish Steps

The 1953 film Roman Holiday made the Spanish Steps famous to audiences. Our host told us that the steps were actually designed by Italians and built by the French - but the Americans started calling it the Spanish steps and the name stuck. The Piazza di Spagna is at the base of the steps and there are some nice frescoes and a poor fountain called Fontana della Barcaccia (Fountain of the ugly Boat), house of the an English poet and lots of high end stores. So if you need to get your fix for some luxury goods, you can start here.

Be prepared for people and more people though... If you want to take good photos, go really really early... otherwise what you get is a loads of people and hardly any view of the steps... :)

Weekend in San Diego, California

Note from adelaine: Fred's travelling, so he emailed this in instead - excuse his frenchlish (french english) - I have not altered the terms that he is using and if you need clarifications just leave him a comment. Pardon also his ideas on the 'average Americans' too. Haha.. mm.. everyone knows shamu.. reallYyyy?

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If you have the chance to go some days in South California, don’t forget to pass by San Diego !

San Diego is the 7th biggest city in the US with almost 4 Million inhabitant. This is of course a big city but a city which remains easy to enjoy. First of all, what a nice feeling to wake up the morning and not to be worried on the weather forecast…With 25mm rain per year, you have 90% of chance to have sun, blue sky and the beautiful light which goes with it.

Furthermore Californians are very nice and relax. They are respectful of their environment and take care of the quality of their food and beverages.

Being very close to Mexico (40 Km from Tijuana), there is a strong influence from this country in the city. Lots of Mexican restaurant, Tequila Bars… Spanish language is now becoming very usual in south California.

Speaking about foods, some recommendation if you are there :

Try a Mexican restaurant in the old city of San Diego, it is quite typical and traditional. If you prefer Seafood, go to the Fish market restaurant close to the Aircraft Carrier Museum.

As we are in the US, let’s talk about burgers. I am not a « burger fan »  but I have been impressed by the quality of the burgers from the chain « Burger lounge». They prepare succulent « organic burgers », very tasty !

Now let’s talk about sightseeing. San Diego has a lot to offer, so a minimum of 3 Days is required. You can organize your trip in different ways but here are my recommendation :

First Day in Coronado Island and Balboa Park :

 
Coronada Island is located in the middle of the San Diego Bay. The Island is shared between a military Airport for the US Navy operation, and a Small city for rich Americans. This part is a Small Beverly Hills with a beautiful beach not crowded with a wonderful view on Cabrillo National Park. Coronado Hotel is the major attraction of the area. Here was filmed Marilyn Monroe in « Some like it hot ».  you can have a very nice walk along the beach, so don’t miss it !

Balboa Park is located in the center of San Diego. Balboa Park shares its location with the San Diego Zoo, which is considered as one of the best in the world. The park was created for the Panama-California exposition in 1915-16, and is today the place of culture in San Diego. Several Museums and gardens surround the « Casa de Balboa » which is the main monument of the Park. Have relaxing time in Balboa Park , you will not be disappointed !