The Travel Thread

[roun90]

Just now, Joe Cool said:

 

Was this recent? 

 

I took around 7-8ish PM for Night Safari. Animals were moving and kind of added more fun. Agree with everything closing (mainly streets) around 9pm but for food I never had issue. Resort was pretty much open whole night and people were chilling outside till 3-4 am. Didn't have issue with Sentosa island either. The show alone made the trip worth it. 

 

I went in 2018, so you can kinda call it recent. Thing about animals moving around - it's a gamble. You can either see some, or you can see nothing at all - in which case you would have just enjoyed a boring jeep trip and seen some grass and trees, while the speaker announces to the left you can see rhinos etc. That happened to my friend who went in 2017 and with me when I went first time in 2008. Even when animals are resting it is still very fun. Hearing elephants trumpet (and maybe even lions roar) in the absolute silence of the night is deafening and absolutely awesome. Plus, you should be able to see everything (and no - the animals were not sleeping, some were moving and others sitting and looking at us).

 

I don't think anything would have changed since 2018, so yes - almost everything closed by 9 m. Some might juuust be open till 10 pm, if you're lucky. Other than the Mustafa Center, and the Night Safari resort, everything just shut down, including at Sentosa (and all malls ofc).

 

We stayed at the Orchid Country Club, which was a premier club and resort, and even around that - everything shut down (Look at staying there btw @Chirag2001. It's a beautiful, relaxing place and very much worth it)

[Heaven Angel]

2018 is pretty recent. Fair enough. My trip was long before that when Marina was pretty new. Night Safari and Sentosa were my favorite though.

 

Back then Mustafa was expensive for every little thing. Was good for window shopping though. Time flies there. 

[roun90]

@Chirag2001 Oh yeah, if you're visiting Singapore, visit Gardens by the Bay (Including the attached Cloud Forest and Flower Dome - you have to buy tickets for all three). It's absolutely amazing. It was established in 2015, but the Singapore Govt. has managed to create an artificial rainforest. It was an absolutely amazing experience for me, and it even featured on BBC Planet Earth 2 (where I first heard about it). Do keep an evening free to visit it. 

 

@Joe Cool If you went when the Marina was new, I assume it was 2008 - 2010 ish. You should know that the laser show in Sentosa has changed (I saw it in 2008). The 2008 one was amazing. The new one, though is kinda meh (Though I'm not sure if it's the show itself or me growing up). But they still keep the original Pirate movie in the Sentosa 4D theater - which is still absolutely amazing and a must watch - still the actual OG 4D experience. They also show a 4D special Rock (Dwayne Johnson's) movie - Journey 2: The Mysterious Island (This version is made specially for 4D and not the Theater/TV version) - and it's kinda pathetic. Which shows the OG attractions had some magic about them.

Edited January 17, 2020 by roun90

[North]

I appreciate the Singapore tips, will hopefully get to put them to use soon enough.
But eyes on Australia for now.
I can do about 7-8 nights, and wanna stick to Melbourne and Sydney.
I have a friend in Sydney with who I plan to explore around a good bit, but need stuff I can do with my parents and they cant walk around a ton.....

Also I haven't looked into how to get started on finalising this vacation. Can somebody tell me the procedure and what steps do I need to get done?

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[Banz]

Leaving for Jaipur tomorrow evening. I'll be staying there for a month for work related training. What are some places I should visit? Recommendations for any nice restaurants? 

[Madmage]

3 hours ago, Banz said:

Leaving for Jaipur tomorrow evening. I'll be staying there for a month for work related training. What are some places I should visit? Recommendations for any nice restaurants? 

There this small chain of restaurants called tapri...

[The Wolfy among us]

I am starting a blog / website for travel specifically targeting Indians and encouraging Indians to travel more. 

How we look to be different from the 1000s other blogs out there is that we will be focusing on educating the interested Indian public on the whole economy of frequent flier points, how to use them and claim them right and how high end credit cards fit into this. 

Please check it out and leave comments here. Yes the content is sparse, but will be updated frequently. 

 

Filter To Flat White

 

I am especially proud of my analysis on the AMEX platinum

Edited February 17, 2020 by The Wolfy among us

[North]

I know its mostly China, and Korea and certain parts of Europe like Italy etc which are affected most.

But green light for Australia? That's where I planned to go this summer, thankfully seems okay with respect to the Corona Virus epidemic but since most flights go through SE Asia, and usually have lay-overs I'm kinda worried.

 

Flights these days are getting cancelled left and right right now, although I plan to go in June. 

Please advise. 

[KunjanPSD]

21 minutes ago, Chirag2001 said:

I know its mostly China, and Korea and certain parts of Europe like Italy etc which are affected most.

But green light for Australia? That's where I planned to go this summer, thankfully seems okay with respect to the Corona Virus epidemic but since most flights go through SE Asia, and usually have lay-overs I'm kinda worried.

 

Flights these days are getting cancelled left and right right now, although I plan to go in June. 

Please advise. 

It's mostly those places for now but the virus travels. I will advise to not make any firm plans right now or atleast book flights and hotels which are refundable because the way it has been spreading, it's not too far fetched to imagine that more countries will report it especially with the new measures going in to increase screening accuracy.

And since Singapore is probably gonna be the spot for transit, it's better to be safe than sorry.

 

I myself had plans for Australia in May but I am not going through with them. Plus, don't let anyone tell you that hot Australian weather will help because May/June is Winter season in Australia and many studies are coming up with showing resistance to weather for the virus.

[North]

8 hours ago, kunjanp said:

It's mostly those places for now but the virus travels. I will advise to not make any firm plans right now or atleast book flights and hotels which are refundable because the way it has been spreading, it's not too far fetched to imagine that more countries will report it especially with the new measures going in to increase screening accuracy.

And since Singapore is probably gonna be the spot for transit, it's better to be safe than sorry.

 

I myself had plans for Australia in May but I am not going through with them. Plus, don't let anyone tell you that hot Australian weather will help because May/June is Winter season in Australia and many studies are coming up with showing resistance to weather for the virus.

 

No the weather is favourable, I prefer colder temperatures. Not snowy, but the 10-20 degrees is what my family likes. 

Yeah I'm not booking anything yet which won't be refundable. Who knows what might happen? But as of now Australia is looking okay, why did you cancel though?

 

Transit spot will be either Singapore or KL.Though my aunt had tickets to Vietnam in this first week of March, Singapore Airlines cancelled but they refunded the money minus convenience fee. 

[KunjanPSD]

2 hours ago, Chirag2001 said:

 

No the weather is favourable, I prefer colder temperatures. Not snowy, but the 10-20 degrees is what my family likes. 

Yeah I'm not booking anything yet which won't be refundable. Who knows what might happen? But as of now Australia is looking okay, why did you cancel though?

 

Transit spot will be either Singapore or KL.Though my aunt had tickets to Vietnam in this first week of March, Singapore Airlines cancelled but they refunded the money minus convenience fee. 

By favourable temperature I meant about the reports which says Coronavirus will slow down in areas with warm temperatures. Many new studies and reports are saying that virus will still end up spreading.

But in cool/cold temperatures like 10-20 degrees, the virus will certainly be more active.

 

I cancelled because the stop was in Singapore and Australia is a tourist place, people come from all over. The chances of contamination are high.

 

Airlines are refunding the amount but as far as I know, only for the tickets which were booked before the outbreak or which has travel in March. If you are buying your tickets now while knowing the risk, airlines might not give you refunds. 

 

I will advise to not plan your trip but if you do, pay more for the fully refundable tickets and hotels. 

[North]

3 hours ago, kunjanp said:

. I will advise to not plan your trip but if you do, pay more for the fully refundable tickets and hotels. 

 

Yeah I'm still in the planning phase. Im not risking any money at the moment anyway.

I do wanna go ahead with it though, so hopefully this cools down by then

[GunnerY2J]

Some 75 KM's away in some village named jaam.

 

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[hope]

Damm yes

 

First time drove 600 kms in a day. Indore to Pune direct.

 

Started 6:15am from Indore and touched pune by 9:10pm.

 

That was an achivement for me. 

 

 

[North]

Opinions about going abroad for a trip this summer? 

 

Not sure what countries are gonna allow tourists, or even if its safe to go but I don't think I'll get much free time after this August, so wanna see if I can make it happen.

 

If you do think its feasible, any suggestions as to what could work? 

[KunjanPSD]

8 minutes ago, Chirag2001 said:

Opinions about going abroad for a trip this summer? 

 

Not sure what countries are gonna allow tourists, or even if its safe to go but I don't think I'll get much free time after this August, so wanna see if I can make it happen.

 

If you do think its feasible, any suggestions as to what could work? 

I am the same boat. I had plans for 2020 and 2021 before Covid struck and have been trying to come up with a plan for summer especially because it's the last one before work starts.

As far as I have searched, almost impossible to visit Singapore, England, Japan, New Zealand and Australia.

You can go to Canada, Ireland but with huge expenses for quarantine, same goes for France and neighbouring EU countries.

US downright impossible if you don't have visa because you won't get one right now and also new order demands quarantine.

Other asian countries like Thailand are closed off as well.

 

Only option left is Dubai. That's open, doesn't require quarantine. But in summer, that place is hot, hot, hot.

 

I think best case scenario will be 2021 Christmas season. I don't see countries changing their policies any sooner.

Regarding safety, well, gotta wait and see.

[North]

1 hour ago, kunjanp said:

I am the same boat. I had plans for 2020 and 2021 before Covid struck and have been trying to come up with a plan for summer especially because it's the last one before work starts.

As far as I have searched, almost impossible to visit Singapore, England, Japan, New Zealand and Australia.

You can go to Canada, Ireland but with huge expenses for quarantine, same goes for France and neighbouring EU countries.

US downright impossible if you don't have visa because you won't get one right now and also new order demands quarantine.

Other asian countries like Thailand are closed off as well.

 

Only option left is Dubai. That's open, doesn't require quarantine. But in summer, that place is hot, hot, hot.

 

I think best case scenario will be 2021 Christmas season. I don't see countries changing their policies any sooner.

Regarding safety, well, gotta wait and see.

 

Ahh yess. Singapore, EU, and Aus/NZ were within budget and comfort, but it doesn't look like they'll be tourist friendly this summer sadly.

 

If you see any updates or think of something which works, do tell me as well. Winter is alright by me but I'm really free in the summer so would be nice.

 

By the way, were you planning to go with friends or family?

 

 

 

Edited February 6, 2021 by Chirag2001

[Ne0]

I see many indian celebs visiting maldives (going by the media), but that's more of a honeymoon destination !

[KunjanPSD]

1 hour ago, Chirag2001 said:

 

Ahh yess. Singapore, EU, and Aus/NZ were within budget and comfort, but it doesn't look like they'll be tourist friendly this summer sadly.

 

If you see any updates or think of something which works, do tell me as well. Winter is alright by me but I'm really free in the summer so would be nice.

 

By the way, were you planning to go with friends or family?

 

 

 

2020 was supposed to be a family trip to Australia while 2021 was with friends, place wasn't decided but we were thinking about Japan. 

I wouldn't even mind going on a trip alone though. I intend to travel a lot in coming years.

[North]

15 hours ago, kunjanp said:

2020 was supposed to be a family trip to Australia while 2021 was with friends, place wasn't decided but we were thinking about Japan. 

I wouldn't even mind going on a trip alone though. I intend to travel a lot in coming years.

 

Yeah, going solo would be fun but after this whole covid thing I'm a bit skeptical.

Will go with more people first, though I hope to solo travel a bit soon after this whole thing blows over.