The Travel Thread

[Banz]

On 11/18/2024 at 1:32 PM, KunjanPSD said:

Guys, any recommendations for a good resort in Andaman?
Absolutely no goal other than sitting beside the beach and chilling. Looking for something which has private access to the beach and a decent pool.

 

Here's what I did.

 

Flew to Port Blair, took a same day boat to Havelock. Immediately hired a scooty from an agent near the jetty @ Rs 500 per day. 

If you want a beachside resort, I highly recommend the east side of the island. Radhanagar beach on the west is nice, but only worth one sunset, not much more.

You can instead spend the entire day chilling at Kala Pathar beach on the east side. The edge of the beach has thick tree cover and beds you can lie down on. There are food stalls nearby that serve good seafood.

 

In my case I stayed at De Foret which is on the middle of the island. Radhanagar Beach was about 5 mins away and Kala Pathar beach was 20 mins away. Nice pool and food was excellent too.

My first choice was Silver Sands Resort next to Kala Pathar beach but it was slightly over budget. A friend stayed at SeaShell resort and he highly recommended it but it was even more expensive.

 

 

 

 

[Ne0]

3 hours ago, Ne0 said:

Visiting Sikkim/Darjeeling, en route actually, spending the next 7 days there.  Itinerary is mostly made with the help of travel agent, but if there’s any must see spots please let me know. 

Reposting for new page !!

[Houndini]

12 hours ago, Ne0 said:

Reposting for new page !!

 

Pelling is a must go town. While a lot of hotels have cropped up since I went last, it's still a small picturesque place - and you can get up seeing Mount K2 in front of your eyes every single morning. They run 2-3 day tours for sightseeing at nearby places (waterfalls, rocking bridge etc). 

When you head to Gangtok, go via Namchi (Char Dham), Samdruptse Hill (angry Buddha), Timi Tea etc. 

At Gangtok, you can enjoy the food, mountain wine, get a pass to visit Nathula pass, Tsomgo Lake, Baba Mandir etc. All of these are 1 day up and down. 

If you're feeling adventurous, go to Lachung Lachen - it's pretty high, and you will need to trek a bit. Homestays and all - but worth it. 

You can spend a couple of days for sightseeing around Gangtok.

Try going to Hanumantok at 4-5 am for seeing an amazing sunrise above Mount Everest. 

[playstationdude]

Excluding shopping, how much budget should one keep for traveling to Hong Kong alone? Around November or December, and plan on visiting Disneyland and areas with good markets to purchase figures etc

Around 5-6 days should be sufficient?

[dylanjosh]

1 hour ago, playstationdude said:

Excluding shopping, how much budget should one keep for traveling to Hong Kong alone? Around November or December, and plan on visiting Disneyland and areas with good markets to purchase figures etc

Around 5-6 days should be sufficient?

 

Hey bro i had gone to hk last May.. Will post the details by tomorrow.

 

 

Edited April 22, 2025 by dylanjosh

[playstationdude]

10 minutes ago, dylanjosh said:

 

Hey bro i had gone to hk last May.. Will post the details by tomorrow.

 

 

That will be helpful, thanks

[SuperT]

For those who have been to Japan I am planning to go for 14 days and plan to cover - Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto and Nagoya. Any other city you guys recommend visiting from Osaka or Tokyo and are accessible by train ? @Turd Turd Turd @Snake
Not really interested in amusement parks/studios.

Edited April 22, 2025 by SuperT

[Snake]

2 hours ago, SuperT said:

For those who have been to Japan I am planning to go for 14 days and plan to cover - Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto and Nagoya. Any other city you guys recommend visiting from Osaka or Tokyo and are accessible by train ? @Turd Turd Turd @Snake
Not really interested in amusement parks/studios.

nara, hakona, kawagoe, hiroshima

[Houndini]

3 hours ago, SuperT said:

For those who have been to Japan I am planning to go for 14 days and plan to cover - Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto and Nagoya. Any other city you guys recommend visiting from Osaka or Tokyo and are accessible by train ? @Turd Turd Turd @Snake
Not really interested in amusement parks/studios.

 

Have only been to Osaka and Tokyo - BUT PLEASE DO NOT FORGET TO GET NUMBER SUGAR CARAMEL FROM TOKYO. 

IT IS THE BEST THING YOU'LL EVER EAT EVEN IF YOU DON'T LIKE CARAMEL. 

 

They have 3 shops in Tokyo - and all of them are sold out before 4 pm. So plan accordingly. One is near Shibuya. 

[dylanjosh]

12 hours ago, playstationdude said:

That will be helpful, thanks

 

I booked from Make My Trip. 5N HK 1N Macau.

 

I think it came to 2.2L Total for 2 people including flights and hotel and tickets and private bus travel to some places like Ocean Park. 

 

Obviously they overcharge with convenience fees and sh*t so I think you can make it way less. 

 

Turns out make my trip doesn't give you breakdown of costs so i can't give you that

 

I stayed at BP International Hotel in Tsim Tsa Tshui. Fantastic location, great hotel.

 

The public transport is amazing. Very easy to understand and navigate. English is an official language so English signboard are everywhere. everyone speaks it, just like India most will know at least some broken English to help you out. 

 

The metro connects everywhere and there's even a station at the airport. You will need an OCTOPUS card. Just tap the card on entering the metro station and exiting it. The money gets deducted based on distance between the stations. You can also use it on buses (only tap once when you enter) and convenience stores. You can buy one at 7/11. There are tons. When you leave HK there is a counter at the airport where they will refund whatever remaining balance there is after taking a small fee. 

 

It's such a great system.

 

Other than that for food there is a lot of beef and pork there so be careful (or not if you're ok with eating that). 

 

I think each meal was like 50-100 HKD depending on place. 

 

I remember seeing lots of figurines at Tsim sha sui market but it had a very roadside stall feeling so idk if you would like quality. There may be better shops but i wasnt interested so didn't go searching

 

Edited April 22, 2025 by dylanjosh

[dylanjosh]

Macau is worth a visit too. It's only a 1hr speed boat ride away. Lots of people do a day trip and go back to HK at night. It counts as different country though remember to bring your passport and do the online form thing. 

 

Very different vibes from HK. Portuguese history so you will a lot of their oldish colorful architecture. Reminded me of Goa. It's also the biggest gambling city in the world, recently overtook Las Vegas. Lots of too 

 

 

 

Edited April 22, 2025 by dylanjosh

[playstationdude]

31 minutes ago, dylanjosh said:

 

I booked from Make My Trip. 5N HK 1N Macau.

 

I think it came to 2.2L Total for 2 people including flights and hotel and tickets and private bus travel to some places like Ocean Park. 

 

Obviously they overcharge with convenience fees and sh*t so I think you can make it way less. 

 

Turns out make my trip doesn't give you breakdown of costs so i can't give you that

 

I stayed at BP International Hotel in Tsim Tsa Tshui. Fantastic location, great hotel.

 

The public transport is amazing. Very easy to understand and navigate. English is an official language so English signboard are everywhere. everyone speaks it, just like India most will know at least some broken English to help you out. 

 

The metro connects everywhere and there's even a station at the airport. You will need an OCTOPUS card. Just tap the card on entering the metro station and exiting it. The money gets deducted based on distance between the stations. You can also use it on buses (only tap once when you enter) and convenience stores. You can buy one at 7/11. There are tons. When you leave HK there is a counter at the airport where they will refund whatever remaining balance there is after taking a small fee. 

 

It's such a great system.

 

Other than that for food there is a lot of beef and pork there so be careful (or not if you're ok with eating that). 

 

I think each meal was like 50-100 HKD depending on place. 

 

I remember seeing lots of figurines at Tsim sha sui market but it had a very roadside stall feeling so idk if you would like quality. There may be better shops but i wasnt interested so didn't go searching

 

Thanks, i think this helps to start planning. I want to include Disneyland which will be an additional expense

[North]

We spent 1L total each in HK. We went for 5 days, and we spent a full day in Macau. and we went for Christmas and New Years. 

We went to Disneyland Day 1, HK/Kowloon exploration on Day 2, Day 3 we hiked Dragon's Back (highly recommend), Day 4 we went to Macau, Day 5 we did some shopping and Victoria Peak. 

We were 4 people, we booked a massive family room/suite in Lantau Island. Hotel was good, can find the name if you need. We took mostly public transport with buses/metro + we took cabs. Get the HK taxi app, its cheaper than Uber. @playstationdude

[dylanjosh]

21 minutes ago, playstationdude said:

Thanks, i think this helps to start planning. I want to include Disneyland which will be an additional expense

 

This was the guide i referred to when planning 

 

 

https://www.neverendingfootsteps.com/four-day-itinerary-hong-kong/

 

 

 

Edited April 22, 2025 by dylanjosh

[playstationdude]

11 minutes ago, North said:

We spent 1L total each in HK. We went for 5 days, and we spent a full day in Macau. and we went for Christmas and New Years. 

We went to Disneyland Day 1, HK/Kowloon exploration on Day 2, Day 3 we hiked Dragon's Back (highly recommend), Day 4 we went to Macau, Day 5 we did some shopping and Victoria Peak. 

We were 4 people, we booked a massive family room/suite in Lantau Island. Hotel was good, can find the name if you need. We took mostly public transport with buses/metro + we took cabs. Get the HK taxi app, its cheaper than Uber. @playstationdude

Yup, hotel name helps

[Vamos]

17 hours ago, SuperT said:

For those who have been to Japan I am planning to go for 14 days and plan to cover - Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto and Nagoya. Any other city you guys recommend visiting from Osaka or Tokyo and are accessible by train ? @Turd Turd Turd @Snake
Not really interested in amusement parks/studios.

 

Sendai - if you plan on using the JR pass, or else Tohoku Shinkansen can get super pricey. 
 

Tohoku region is very underrated. I spent my 3 week trip entirely in Tohoku and Hokkaido. There are barely any tourists this side. 

[playstationdude]

8 hours ago, dylanjosh said:

 

I booked from Make My Trip. 5N HK 1N Macau.

 

I think it came to 2.2L Total for 2 people including flights and hotel and tickets and private bus travel to some places like Ocean Park. 

 

Obviously they overcharge with convenience fees and sh*t so I think you can make it way less. 

 

Turns out make my trip doesn't give you breakdown of costs so i can't give you that

 

I stayed at BP International Hotel in Tsim Tsa Tshui. Fantastic location, great hotel.

 

The public transport is amazing. Very easy to understand and navigate. English is an official language so English signboard are everywhere. everyone speaks it, just like India most will know at least some broken English to help you out. 

 

The metro connects everywhere and there's even a station at the airport. You will need an OCTOPUS card. Just tap the card on entering the metro station and exiting it. The money gets deducted based on distance between the stations. You can also use it on buses (only tap once when you enter) and convenience stores. You can buy one at 7/11. There are tons. When you leave HK there is a counter at the airport where they will refund whatever remaining balance there is after taking a small fee. 

 

It's such a great system.

 

Other than that for food there is a lot of beef and pork there so be careful (or not if you're ok with eating that). 

 

I think each meal was like 50-100 HKD depending on place. 

 

I remember seeing lots of figurines at Tsim sha sui market but it had a very roadside stall feeling so idk if you would like quality. There may be better shops but i wasnt interested so didn't go searching

 

Did you book their packaged holidays or chose individually? Flights, hotels, attractions, etc)

[North]

8 hours ago, playstationdude said:

Yup, hotel name helps

Grand Bay View Hotel!

[Houndini]

10 hours ago, North said:

HK taxi

 

HK taxis give me nightmares. Extremely rude. Only accept cash. And their driving skills are same as Indians, only on more congested roads. 

With Uber, you'll likely end up getting a lots of Teslas. Good or bad, depends on your perspective. 

Edited April 23, 2025 by Turd Turd Turd

[kruzzo]

On 4/22/2025 at 9:46 AM, playstationdude said:

Excluding shopping, how much budget should one keep for traveling to Hong Kong alone? Around November or December, and plan on visiting Disneyland and areas with good markets to purchase figures etc

Around 5-6 days should be sufficient?

I went there recently, 5 days should be easily enough to cover all Hong Kong, Disney land if you visit on weekdays, one day should be enough to cover most of the rides but if you want to explore everything then two days is good. Other than that there’s Ocean Park and Lantau island, for shopping we just visited some local markets and a short city tour. Also if possible add a trip to Macau too, the Venetian hotel is worth a visit there.

 

In terms of budget similar to what others have mentioned, local food can cost you around 50 to 60 HKD per meal, Indian food little more expensive. Transport there is very good everything is connected through metro.

 

28 minutes ago, Turd Turd Turd said:

 

HK taxis give me nightmares. Extremely rude. Only accept cash. And their driving skills are same as Indians, only on more congested roads. 

With Uber, you'll likely end up getting a lots of Teslas. Good or bad, depends on your perspective. 

Yeah lol, had the same experience with the local taxis.