The Travel Thread

[rudebwoy]

Back to maderas village for a few days, and at least a couple of nights in Omatepe. Not sure where in Omatepe yet. Don't think I'll be able to fit Cerro Negro in this trip...maybe another trip for that and corn islands.

Or I'll become a luchador and stay there.

stayed at Xalli Beach Hotel one night Home - Xalli, Ometepe beach hotel on Ometepe, spoiled myself a bit bc i knew the next night would be "rustic" at Finca Magdalena combined with hiking Volcano Maderas in the morning.

c.

ps. Balzz - yup. me = craiger_z

 

[Balzz]

I just liked your IG pic...I still keep checking #maderaslife every day. Thanks I'll check out the place!

 

[Ho||yw0oD]

At least in Europe they understand that not being at work is important too, so people get a LOT more time off; and they actually travel/vacation well (not to mention that some of those places have warmer climates from which people don't feel compelled to escape).

Ridiculously cheap airfare probably helps too!

 

[djfear]

Hitting Morocco this year. What's the scoop on this spot?

 

[Dialog]

Puerto Vallarta is rather awesome at the moment.

 

[dig this]

Puerto Vallarta is rather awesome at the moment.

How come? Flying there on Thursday but going to Sayulita (about a half hour north.) Planning to spend a day in PV.

 

[erika]

Hitting Morocco this year. What's the scoop on this spot?

I haven't been there for a while, but in brief:

You can give Casablanca and Rabat a miss; Fes is wonderful, so is Marrakesh. Essaouira was sympa. And I liked being way further down south, around Tiznit.

It has pretty well everything: atlantic ocean, Mediterranean, snow-capped mountains, and desert. And, having been a French colony for years, the food is pretty great too, both the classic Moroccan dishes and the French influenced ones (I remember that the street from the room I was renting in Essaouira to the beach had 17 patisseries!).

 

[erika]

I'm sorry, I didn't mean to generalize. But I will do it again:

Australians are a bunch of backwards twats. This I say not out of distain, but of experience. I have no interest whatsoever to go to Australia, its culture is simple, useless, and dying. That's even recognizing that it may in fact even have a culture, which I think it does not. An empty baking oven that rests upon its deserts and kangaroos. Thank you, but no thank you.

Now, there are parts of the world that are cultured. Let's ignore western Europe as an obvious target. Let's talk instead about Jordan, and Dubai.

Well I've been drunk in both places and let's not like them just because they're muslim. Rationally speaking they're both terrible places, kingdoms, relics from an ancient age. They are video games, slaves, backwards pfiefdoms.

I give up.

-jM
A&D

And there you go again: I have met as many backwards Canadians as Australians, and as many very cool people of each nationality. It may be a baking oven, but Canada is really the symmetrical opposite that way. Each has its own advantages and disadvantages.

You can't ignore Western Europe, that's just too easy (not to mention discounting a large population). I won't comment on Jordan or Dubai; went through the former only briefly and never went to the latter (nor have any desire to).

 

[erika]

In other news, in 4 days I head to Nicaragua! via Houston finally; vamos a ver...

 

[Dialog]

How come? Flying there on Thursday but going to Sayulita (about a half hour north.) Planning to spend a day in PV.

The weather, the company, the everything! We're in Old Town. Did a taco tour Monday, ziplining tomorrow, and there's a gay bear party happening of which we're hitting some events. My partner's sister is with us, and we randomly bumped into this crazy chick from TO we met here two years ago the other night. So far so good. Going to take a side trip to Marietas Island.

I recommend you get as far south as you can in PV to experience the older streets and architecture, the north end is all glitzy new stuff. Zona Romantica!

 

[ravinjunkie]

Has anyone landed at a Cambodia airport and gotten their visa on arrival?

It is a long lengthy process? I don't have time to do an e-visa, it says that it would take 7 business days here.

Pls&Ty

 

[djfear]

Has anyone landed at a Cambodia airport and gotten their visa on arrival?

It is a long lengthy process? I don't have time to do an e-visa, it says that it would take 7 business days here.

Pls&Ty

Easy peezy in 2008. Assuming it's the same process as before, most people do it on arrival. It's nice to have a passport sized photo with you when you arrive there though (I could be mistaken, check their website). Personally I carry several passport sized photos with me when I travel to SE asia in case they need one to put in the visa. Look online and check their requirements.

Also, I'm assuming you're not retarded, but trafficking drugs is punishable by death, so make sure you pack your bags!

Edit:
From Travel.gc.ca - http://travel.gc.ca/destinations/cambodia

Visas

Tourist and business visas can be obtained at a Cambodian embassy abroad, upon arrival at the airports in Phnom Penh and Siem Reap, or at certain land borders. Tourist and business visas allow entry to Cambodia for 30 days only, counting from the date of entry. When issued outside Cambodia, visas have an expiry date, which refers to the date by which the visa must be used, not the length of time allowed in the country. Visas must be renewed for stays in excess of 30 days and may only be extended once. Travellers must pay a fee of US$20 for tourist visas or US$25 for business visas (cash only) and provide two passport-sized photos. Single-entry tourist visas may also be requested online through an e-Visa service provided by Cambodia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation. For additional information, consult the Ministry of Tourism.

Thirty-day visas can be obtained at six legal international border crossing points at the Cambodian-Thai border: Cham Yeam (Koh Kong), O'Smach, Poipet, Prum, Dong and Caom. The fee is 1,000 Thai baht for tourist visas and 1,500 Thai baht for business visas.

If entering Cambodia from Vietnam, a visa can be obtained at the international crossing points at Bavet in Svay Rieng Province and Khmorm Samnor on the Mekong River.

If entering Cambodia from Laos, the Lao side of the border crossing at Dong Krolor/Veun Kham is often closed to foreign travellers with little notice. Cambodian and Lao visas cannot be purchased at the border.

Tourist visa: Required
Business visa: Required
Student visa: Required
Important requirements

An onward or return ticket and proof of sufficient funds are required to visit Cambodia.

 

[dig this]

The weather, the company, the everything! We're in Old Town. Did a taco tour Monday, ziplining tomorrow, and there's a gay bear party happening of which we're hitting some events. My partner's sister is with us, and we randomly bumped into this crazy chick from TO we met here two years ago the other night. So far so good. Going to take a side trip to Marietas Island.

I recommend you get as far south as you can in PV to experience the older streets and architecture, the north end is all glitzy new stuff. Zona Romantica!

I heard the south end was better, even for the beaches....

interested in the taco tour. We did one in Playa del Carmen last year. Let me know of any suggestions. Bonus points for pork!

 

[Dialog]

I heard the south end was better, even for the beaches....

interested in the taco tour. We did one in Playa del Carmen last year. Let me know of any suggestions. Bonus points for pork!

Carnitas! We took the Signature Taco tour from Vallarta Eats Food Tours. Memo was our guide, and he prefers pork.

Waves were big today.

 

[ravinjunkie]

I came across this website, want to share with others.

Koh Kood | South East Asia Backpacker Magazine

http://www.roughguides.com/

 

[Rocky]

Hitting Morocco this year. What's the scoop on this spot?

We are there right now. It's pretty great here. Hash is top quality and cheap in the north (they will ask for 5 times as much, but you should pay no more than 10DH per gram). The south has a lot of sand, sun and palm trees. We're currently in Merzouga, which is pretty awesome. We've been in Morocco for three weeks now, and we will probably be back in Spain in two to three more weeks. If you need to know anything about the place, I can try to give details of our experience here.

Here's a photo of our camping spot just off the highway in the middle of nowhere in the south of the country:

 

[Primavera]

Did a 10 day, 1700km road trip in the US South-West with my older brother at the beginning of the month.

Arrived in Phoenix, drove to Sedona, Arizona, then drove to Grand Canyon and camped there for 2 nights, then drove to Hoover Dam, Las Vegas, Joshua Tree National Park, San Diego and LA.

Biked at the Grand Canyon, hiked at Joshua Tree, gambled in Vegas, saw a Cirque show, saw a Padres game, lots of frisbee tossing on beaches in San Diego and Laguna Beach, saw Maynard James Keenan's 50th birthday concert in LA. Good times.

Joshua Tree and Grand Canyon were the highlights.

Love the States, love roadtrips, love Hertz for letting us take out a Mercedes SUV for only $20 extra a day.

 

[Metal Morphosis]

has anyone been to Panama?
thoughts?

 

[glych t.anomaly]

I havent but want to go so i can where my linen suit and be Panamanian Chique in Panama.

It worked marvelously in Brazil

 

[dig this]

May go in February... What I hear:

Hot!
flat
Panama City = Manhatten
Good roads
Pretty Westernized (shops, hospitals, ex pats)
Affordable
Not a lot of good beaches (but some)
Bocas province is hip.

d

 

[Metal Morphosis]

thanks
I think we're going to go elsewhere - like grand cayman.
we only want to stay five nights and it'd be two days of travel with only 4 days to do stuff. so that's kinda rotten.

 

[dig this]

The bonus of Panama is that there are direct flights for pretty reasonable prices, but then it may take you an extra day to travel throughout the country. If it's beach what you want, then I know you can get some great deals (all inclusive packages) with very limited travel. Just going on what others have said though.

d

 

[djfear]

I just came back from Morocco.

I haven't been there for a while, but in brief:

You can give Casablanca and Rabat a miss; Fes is wonderful, so is Marrakesh. Essaouira was sympa. And I liked being way further down south, around Tiznit.

It has pretty well everything: atlantic ocean, Mediterranean, snow-capped mountains, and desert. And, having been a French colony for years, the food is pretty great too, both the classic Moroccan dishes and the French influenced ones (I remember that the street from the room I was renting in Essaouira to the beach had 17 patisseries!).

So we didn't go north of Marrakech. Basically saw Marrakech, Talouine for trekking, Merzouga for camels, Ouarzazate, Agadir, Taghazout, Essaouira, and a bunch of stuff all between those places. Trekking in the anti-atlas was my favourite part. There were flash floods and like 60mm or rain during a 36 hour period so our taxi and buses were going through these washed out roads 2 dozen times at the least.

We are there right now. It's pretty great here. Hash is top quality and cheap in the north (they will ask for 5 times as much, but you should pay no more than 10DH per gram). The south has a lot of sand, sun and palm trees. We're currently in Merzouga, which is pretty awesome. We've been in Morocco for three weeks now, and we will probably be back in Spain in two to three more weeks. If you need to know anything about the place, I can try to give details of our experience here.]

I've never been offered so much hash than in Essa. That place... every 5 steps it's "My friend, hash?" I do not partake in any illegal substances when in a different country so it was getting annoying real quick.

Getting lost in Marrakech's medina at night was also fun.

 

[Rocky]

Getting lost in Marrakech's medina at night was also fun.

We ended up riding out motorcycle (without panniers) through the narrow paths of the medina trying to find our way out of there. That was tonnes of fun.

 

[shanekingsley]

Just got back from a 6000km moto trip from here to Maine via the Adirondacks, Vermont and New Hampshire. From there went south through the Appalachian Range down to North Carolina and the Smoky Mountains via a whole bunch of states. Then headed home through Kentucky, Ohio and Penn.

Maine and New Hampshire are quite beautiful for fall colours. It was my first time in the Adirondacks and I will be going back for sure! West Virginia and Virginia are two of my favourite states as well.