If you have the time, you could get to some sweet places in Europe for under $400. https://thepointsguy.com/2016/10/deal-alert-us-to-europe-from-358/
First trip to Asia, for work. Three weeks. Week 1 - Pattaya Week 2 - Shanghai Week 3 - Suzhou Leaning towards spending the the first weekend I have in Pattaya, second in Shanghai. Seems like I would lose a lot of time traveling otherwise and I'd be better off exploring those places more. Would it be worth it to try to go to Phuket or Chiang Mai for a quick visit or would that waste too much time? especially since there's already beach in Pattaya, though not nearly the same.
Has anyone ever been to Armenia? Sounds kinda dangerous with terrorists and all but I was on its Wikipedia page this morning and it looks sick, particularly the capital Yerevan. All the cool ass buildings on a plain at the base of snowy Mount Ararat. Can Westerners travel here?
Had a friend that went and heard great things but their grandparents were from there. Beautiful scenery, incredibly friendly people and great wine and brandy. I don't think its supposed to be dangerous outside of some of the out of the way border areas that are in conflict which you would would never go to anyways and I think westerners have no problems getting into the country. I've been interested in a trip to that area. A Georgia/Armenia trip would be awesome.
I'm actually going to Armenia in December for a week. I'll be sure to report back, although I think it would be better to go in summer. From what I hear, English is not widely spoken there so there may be some language barrier. Everyone speaks Armenian and Russian and they apparently think Russian is THE world language. I wouldn't worry too much about terrorism. Other than probably some political protests, there isn't much danger of that. It's probably as safe or safer than Western Europe. Also, if you're in that part of the world I strongly recommend Georgia. If you end up going I'll put together a mini travel guide for you. Some pictures of Georgia: Spoiler Kazbegi Spoiler Svaneti Spoiler Tusheti And a good travel guide to the country with some amusing anecdotes: http://georgiastartshere.com/
It's amazingly beautiful and this is coming from someone who lives in Colorado. The people are also amazing. Their culture is based around welcoming foreigners so I ended up becoming friends with some Georgians and having a big feast and a shitload of wine and vodka the first day I was there. They wouldn't let me pay for a thing, which was really nice, although everything is so cheap there by western standards anyway. I also left my iPhone in a taxi and the taxi driver found it and circled back in a busy area of town and managed to find me, even though the phone was probably worth a couple months salary for him. I really think there is pretty much something for everyone there. The history of the place is really interesting, having been conquered by so many different people while still maintaining their culture. The scenery is beautiful. Tbilisi is an interesting city, although it's definitely got some developing to do in areas. The sulfur baths are a must. The wine there is good (Mukuzani was my favorite), but more importantly it's something different. They're actually the birthplace of wine (they found wine jugs there dating to 6000 BC) and they have their own unique wine making process where they store it in clay jugs underground. They also have their own varieties of grapes and Tbilisi probably has more wine shops per square mile than anywhere on earth. You can literally just walk down the street wine tasting and get wasted. Obviously the hiking is awesome. I didn't do any fishing but I hear that is really good. The food is pretty good and fairly unique. Lots of meat and cheese.
$344 dollar flights on Delta from Nashville to Havana the week of my birthday. Be still my beating heart
Can you just fly straight to Cuba now or are there still any special restrictions you have to go through?
Not sure. Got an email from delta saying flights to Havana open in 34 days. Went to their website and it will let you book one.
Someone at my work went to Cuba recently and said there's tons of tourists but very few Americans. Apparently it's been a hot spot for Japanese and Europeans for years though
From what I understand they need a revamping because it's pretty shit outside of a couple spots, and those are maxed out with the clientele pre us. I get what you're saying, but they need stuff that isn't just terrible with the influx that is coming
Cuba is a place to go where it is kinda forbidden, you wanna act like it's worldly to hang with impoverished folks, eating beans and rice every day and untouched land by capitalism is way cool, yeah!.... But really it's a shit place to visit due to the poverty and lack of business. you can go to numerous places that are low key, not corporate mega hotels, etc ...but there are actually places to eat good food, do shit and still see pretty water. No one wants to go to Haiti, but it isn't cool cause there wasn't an embargo
Lots of people say the food isn't really anything special in rural Cuba either. They're too poor for it
Cuba and Haiti aren't really comparable at all in terms of poverty. According to the UN as of 2014: GDP per capita of Cuba: $7274 GDP per capita of Haiti: $813 It's never been forbidden for non-Americans yet has been a pretty popular destination for other Westerners. The facts don't really fit your "forbidden shithole" narrative at all.
So sorry Castro. Of course I'm talking about Americans. It has been forbidden for us Yes, shit hole is a bit extreme. It's a very poor country lacking any culinary delights. There really isn't anything interesting about cuba outside of "untouched by Americans"....but there are a million cooler places to go to get that experience. I looked into it a bunch earlier this year, nearly booked tickets. Talked to a lot of people and not many came back very impressed. Excited about everything I posted in my initial post...but after looking into it came back very underwhelming
I have to echo this. I say with a caveat that I do want to visit Cuba, but after a good bit of research came back very meh. Everywhere outside of Havana was almost no reastaurants, no bars, and very little accomodation (family stays). Food is reviewed subpar, too. I was really excited when I found cheap flights for NYE, but after trying to plan an itinerary and looking into what to do, didnt look that fun
LOL "Castro". I'll spell it out for you in the very simple terms you apparently need. Europeans and Canadians haven't had it forbidden to them yet they still find it a fairly appealing destination. If the main appeal of Cuba were it being a mystical, forbidden place, it wouldn't appeal to them as it has never been forbidden to them. If Cuba is too poor for you, I guess you won't be visiting Thailand, Peru or China either and you definitely won't be finding too many places "untouched by Americans".
Yeah. I was super pumped and ready to go, but decided to go elsewhere. I despise massively commercial, mega resort type shit....but this is about the complete opposite and for how bad it is, it is extremely expensive. Seem real I'd go, but it's no where near the top of my list of places
This is a pretty terrible post and you should feel bad. Canadians are pretty worthelss. Don't really care where they go and Euros go to a lot of other better Islands vs Cuba. I specifically stated there are million other better places than Cuba that are low income, but actually offer entertainment, culture, food, etc. You named a few of them.
We're not worthless but I'm pretty sure we mainly went to Cuba because it was cheaper (and maybe less crowded?) than some of the Dominican/other island resorts.
#NewYork to #Ibiza or #PalmaDeMallorca, #Spain from $466 R/T [SkyTeam] (spring 2017) https://t.co/RMnk8lSmSr Love mallorca
Delta is now offering 1 mile per $ spent on Airbnb. Gotta book through their link: https://www.deltaairbnb.com/
I imagine you are flying into and out of Bangkok, then driving to Pattaya yes? If your first trip to Asia, why not spend your free time in Bangkok then? If you don't have much time, that might be better than heading to Chiang Mai or Phuket. I believe also they will relax the conditions one month after the passing of the King. Also if you are spending a couple weeks in Shanghai/Suzhou, Hangzhou is not too far south from Shanghai.
Excellent, thank you. Consistent with recommendations I received from a Chinese coworker. He also recommended I take a train to Beijing to see the forbidden city and the great Wall the second weekend. is this worthwhile and/or possible if I have to leave Friday evening and return Sunday evening ?
Guys I added the first one i could find to the OP. Any help with big write ups to the OP would be great!
Is this a trip you are unlikely to repeat anytime soon? I would recommend exploring closer to Shanghai/Suzhou if you think you are coming back. If you really want to see Beijing, check the train vs. domestic flight cost and time. I've only flown, no idea what taking the train would be like.
Done. Any help with finding other big posts would be great. I'm swamped at work and too busy with video games and football this weekend (and kind of lazy) lol.