Travel Tips

Is the water potable in Swiss mountain huts?

6/26/2015 11:54:36 AM Yes. It is safe to drink water in Swiss mountain huts. Huts are generally high in the mountains and the water comes straight from melting snow and ice or from springs. It may not bear the certificate of the Swiss authorities, but pretty much everybody who visits mountain huts drinks this water. […]

Getting from Tajikistan to China

1/25/2014 4:09:21 PM There is no other pass from Tajikistan directly to China which is open to tourists on the Chinese side of the border. The suggestion is generally to use Kyrgyzstan for land crossings, however, the border between Kyrgyzstan to Tajikistan is currently closed. The other possibility is to use Uzbekistan as a intermediate […]

Where is the closest to western Europe to see desert mountains with slot canyons?

Where is the closest to western Europe to see desert mountains with slot canyons?

6/10/2015 2:10:10 PM There are many other landscapes in the Sahara, although I am not sure whether any of them really fits the bill. I suspect most of it is actually more arid than the American West (but you could perhaps find some similarity with the Death Valley). Here are a few suggestions (not that […]

Trans-Siberian railway to Tajikistan

Trans-Siberian railway to Tajikistan

12/3/2014 12:17:23 PM There is actually a direct train from Moscow to Dushanbe, at least in June 2014 when I was in Dushanbe. According to information on Caravanistan the train leaves Moscow at 12.08 and arrives in Dushanbe at 16.14 5 days later. They also write that you need several visa, in Addition to Russian […]

Drive to US, fly from there to Hawaii without passport?

6/1/2015 5:33:25 PM You said in comments that you have an enhanced driver’s license, so you can enter the US. While a foreign driver’s license normally isn’t enough to fly in the US, a Canadian license is on the TSA acceptable ID list, so your license is all you’ll need to drive across the border […]

How can an American get a Maestro Debit Card?

11/2/2019 3:59:29 PM September 2019: It appears to me that the PayPal Cash Card will work for maestro vending machine purchases (and ATM withdrawals). I haven’t tried it yet; I will update this post in November with results from my upcoming trip. Full details on the card are at https://www.paypal.com/us/webapps/mpp/ua/cashcard-agreement Added November 2019: I didn’t […]

US Customs when coming through Canada

3/3/2018 8:22:33 PM The US has preclearance at the following Canadian airports: YVR Vancouver YYC Calgary YEG Edmonton YWG Winnipeg YYZ Toronto Pearson YTZ Toronto Billy Bishop (not yet implemented, but in progress) YUL Montreal Trudeau YQB Quebec City (not yet implemented, but in progress) YHZ Halifax If you board a US-bound flight at any […]

What curfews, if any, exist in Myanmar at present?

3/22/2014 8:46:43 AM In big cities like Yangon,Bagan and Mandalay, I don’t see any night-time curfew. But since electricity is limited, most of lights are off. Are official airport sites more accurate than flight tracking sites? 1/16/2014 1:29:37 AM The UK Foreign & Commonwealth Office note that night time curfews still exist in many areas […]

Visiting the Eiffel Tower — going early to avoid queue

5/21/2015 3:13:32 PM I went after dark. The line was short, the tower wasn’t crowded, and the city looked amazing. I only went to the second level; I’m not sure if the top level was open or not. Strategy to improve seats on a flight? 5/22/2015 11:24:21 AM You can queue for the lifts, however […]

Are official airport sites more accurate than flight tracking sites?

1/15/2014 3:12:53 PM The delay is partially accurate there is data that is fed to the app delayed. But the tracking of the flight is still real time. Flight Radar 24 specifies 3 sources of data of which one: FAA is 5 minutes delayed, which means that most flights by major airlines will still be […]

Strategy to improve seats on a flight?

5/13/2015 6:18:53 PM Almost always, I find the best approach is “gradual improvement”. Almost all the seating changes you need to make can be made most effectively through the airline’s own website: Firstly, always check if you can pick your seat as soon as your ticket is booked. Most full-price airlines, typically if you have […]

Discrepancy in address on passport and DS-160 form

1/13/2014 1:00:55 AM Don’t worry about it. Most countries’ passports do not have addresses at all, so the passport address is not a part of your application. Also, the officers processing your application will understand that the address printed on the passport is the address you had when you received the passport, not necessarily your […]

What's the closest one can get to North Korea from the South on public road?

5/5/2015 12:25:44 PM You can also catch a glimpse of North Korea on the Jayu-ro highway, for instance around 37.802870, 126.683044. Nothing very interesting though, just some hills across the sea. The tour I took to DMZ (you can’t get there without a tour) took us via that road, because it’s one of the easiest […]

e-cig on board 18 hour flight

1/9/2014 1:34:41 AM It depends on whom you’re flying with. Qantas, for example, does not allow e-Cigarettes to be used on board. e-Cigarettes The use of e-cigarettes is not permitted on any Qantas aircraft. If carried, they must only be packed in carry-on baggage, together with all spare batteries. Spare batteries must be individually protected […]

Singapore events and attractions open at Chinese New Year

1/9/2014 8:27:41 PM The island does indeed slow to a crawl, however, Arab Street & Little India as indicated above are both open for business. My wife’s family (about 2/3 of which live in SG including her mom) have made a point of taking me (the only Gwai-lo in the family) out to see the […]

How to calculate when Ramadan finishes?

How to calculate when Ramadan finishes?

4/15/2015 3:21:35 PM Ramadan Dates Ramadan occurs in the ninth lunar month of the Islamic calendar. It’s start and end thus depend on the moon phases. Moreover the lunar calendar is 10-11 days shorter than the solar calendar, hence Ramadan never falls on the same dates over two consecutive years. Indeed it is anticipated by […]

Will TfL's plan to close all Tube ticket offices affect (US) tourists?

Will TfL's plan to close all Tube ticket offices affect (US) tourists?

7/31/2016 10:30:03 PM Another option would be to use contactless payments through your smart phone via Android Pay or Apple Pay or similar. See Other methods of contactless payment for details of currently supported schemes. Some points made on the TFL site to bear in mind however would be If you use [either scheme] with […]

How can I remove highway vignettes and other miscellaneous stickers from the windshield of my car?

How can I remove highway vignettes and other miscellaneous stickers from the windshield of my car?

5/4/2019 7:31:40 AM There are two types of situations, in my opinion: You have to stick the vignette yourself; Someone else has done it, and now you have to undo it, without leaving adhesive marks on the windshield, where they can be naggingly obvious. As I travel a lot through Europe and these things are […]

What are possible reasons for this strange flight pattern?

What are possible reasons for this strange flight pattern?

3/11/2015 1:22:27 AM After the plane exited the circular holding pattern, the jump in position is probably just an erroneous transponder report (could be data corruption, inertial reckoning vs. GPS source, etc) and the plotting software decided to fit it on the line instead of rejecting it. This is relatively common – for a particularly […]

Travel time from Burj Khalifa observation deck to DXB Terminal 3 without taxi

1/2/2014 6:49:06 PM The elevator ride down should be less than two minutes, but there may be lines getting in. There are buses between Dubai Mall and the Burj Khalifa metro station, but from the Burj Khalifa itself to the station it is quicker to walk. Google maps shows a 25min walking route, but I […]

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