Travel Tips

Most effective way to bring money to India and Nepal

11/23/2015 7:33:59 PM I am in Nepal right now. Almost every ATM in Nepal can provide you maximum 10,000 rupees once for a commission of 500 rupees (5% commission). I’ve just found out today there is one bank in Nepal which allows you to withdraw 35,000 rupees once for the same charge of 500 rupees […]

Why would an aircraft take off earlier than the planned departure time?

4/13/2018 1:10:00 PM Weather can be an issue here. If planners are aware of an oncoming storm, it makes sense to get planes out before it hits the airport, or to get planes down a window between weather systems. In the extreme case of this, you have Delta flight 431, and balls of solid stainless […]

What exactly is the Bahnhofsmission? What do they do and who uses their services?

What exactly is the Bahnhofsmission? What do they do and who uses their services?

12/7/2017 6:16:55 AM As Thorsten pointed out in his answer, the Bahnhofsmission is a charity. From their historical origins, they have become one of the main sources of support for those homeless people who do not want to deal with the welfare bureaucracy for some reason. Some travelers may not feel comfortable with the other […]

What's the best time to get "last-minute" discount hotel prices?

8/21/2012 7:26:17 PM Hotels, like most travel services, work very much on a supply-and-demand basis. If the demand is high, then prices will go up, and eventually hotels will sell out even at the higher prices. If the demand is low, prices do sometimes come down over time – although frequently the hotels themselves will […]

Should I book flights and accommodation before applying for a Russian visa?

5/17/2012 7:32:25 PM Yes, just apply for it with a few days buffer either side. I’ve done this twice. The first time I entered as expected as it was very much a holiday. The second time I was travelling up Finland to the arctic circle, and then crossing there. The buses from Rovaniemi were not […]

Exchanging cold hard cash internationally for the best rate

4/5/2012 2:14:07 PM Probably not the exact answer to this question, but here’s what I would do: Assuming you have a bank account in New Zealand, I would deposit the vast sum of cash with them. If you don’t have one already, apply for a no-annual-fee credit card, either with the bank, or with any […]

Where lies the closest tropical rain forest to Mainland Europe?

Where lies the closest tropical rain forest to Mainland Europe?

5/14/2012 7:54:07 AM Some people put Azerbaijan in Europe. In that case, with 3250km, this would qualify India as the closest tropical rainforest from mainland Europe. Unfortunately, the shortest flight I found is 7h45 from Baku to Mumbai with a stop at Doha. Is it too far to go to Eastern Europe on a 5-6 […]

Best visa for the UK if buying a holiday home

2/26/2018 5:57:39 PM Our much-missed member-on-sabbatical, Gayot Fow, has answered this on his blog. With permission, and for the benefit of the OP, I post the text of his answer here. Essentially the OP wants to purchase a house in the UK to attend cultural events and otherwise enjoy the offerings of this island. The […]

Where can I eat a cobra (or any snake) in Hong Kong?

Where can I eat a cobra (or any snake) in Hong Kong?

6/24/2012 9:57:12 PM I found an article on SFGate that gives details of a locality in Kowloon (emphasis mine): And that’s where Kweilin, in Kowloon’s teeming Sham Shui Po, comes in. Known far and wide as Snake Street, it’s the place to find the freshest snake in town. How fresh? Fresh enough to try to […]

How to obtain the return flight boarding pass?

1/5/2018 12:41:24 AM The simple and, uh, comprehensive answer is: (A) you get it at that departure airport from a human (B) you get it at that departure airport from one of the kiosks, (C) you get it online, and print it (D) you get it online, and you actually don’t bother printing it; you […]

Is it too far to go to Eastern Europe on a 5-6 week holiday if I land in Paris?

9/6/2018 5:03:56 PM Actually there is plenty of time until September and if you book flight tickets from now they will turn out to be really cheap even with the normal airways, perhaps whey could be cheaper than the train tickets you would get when the time for travelling comes. And fling to any of […]

Will luggage offices in Japanese train stations hold bags overnight?

4/2/2012 2:04:32 AM Yes, most luggage counters will hold your bags overnight or longer, eg. the one in Tokyo Station can hold them for up to 15 days. 410 yen/day for the first five days, 820 yen/day from the 6th day onward. Ask for the “Rail-Go Service” (レール・ゴー・サービス); the weird name is because you can […]

In California, is it always legal to drive with your car headlight on?

10/25/2017 2:27:43 PM When entering a guarded military base gate you may be required to turn off your headlights at night, so as to not “blind” the guards. I did not find a specific law or regulation, but it is often posted on signs and customary. Gate etiquette US Driving – pulling onto a busy […]

Is it OK for an openly Muslim person to travel to the United States post-2017?

4/6/2017 3:59:18 AM Given all the news out of the US right now with the new president and potential travel restrictions, is my friend who is going to look very Muslim, going to have any hassles being there? Not really, there are muslims everywhere. If you stay in urban areas you are less like to […]

How to deal with insurance excess when renting a car abroad?

3/28/2012 7:02:05 AM There’s a number of options, depending on your exact circumstances. 1. Your own car insurance. If you own your own car, and it’s insured, then your insurance MAY cover you when you are in a rental car. Often there are fairly strict rules around what is covered, especially as you’re asking about […]

Walking Hadrian's Wall

Walking Hadrian's Wall

5/14/2012 5:51:38 PM My fiancé and I hiked the Wall last year. We took 9 days and walked the entire way, and we did a series of blog posts about it. I can’t recommend this journey enough, it was amazing! We were roughly following the trail laid out in the best book we could find […]

US Driving – pulling onto a busy highway using on/off ramp

US Driving – pulling onto a busy highway using on/off ramp

10/20/2017 1:45:18 PM My driving instructor explicitly told me that, when one doesn’t succeed in weaving from the acceleration lane onto the outermost lane, there is a difference between what one should do in theory and what one should do in practice. This applies to the situation where the enter lane ends and does not […]

Is there a video game museum anywhere in Europe?

6/23/2018 6:37:34 AM The Centre for Computing History in Cambridge, UK has an extensive selection of old computers and gaming consoles, many powered on and set up ready to be played. Sri Lanka as a tourist: Are there regions I should avoid? 6/22/2018 2:06:55 PM Arcade Planet in Seville, southern Spain, is open every weekend […]

What cityscape is this picture of?

5/9/2012 2:31:48 AM Definitely Hong Kong, with Victoria Peak in the background. Most likely taken from somewhere around North Point – based on the angle I’d say from the top of one of the high-rise buildings in that area. The original photo is posted on Flickr, although without any details of exactly where it was […]

How did the Dublin airport immigration agent know that I was refused entry to the UK after visually inspecting my passport?

3/25/2019 3:20:05 PM The “cross” drawn through the stamps means leave to enter was refused. And the number doesn’t need to be blurred out, as it’s the officer that processed you, not anything to do with you Because the UK and Ireland operate a semi-open border agreement called the Common Travel Area (CTA), Ireland has […]

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