What I am most impressed with is the transportation system. Someone must’ve had just one use case – I should be able to buy a ticket to go from place A to place B. That’s what they implemented – a point-to-point ticket, it really doesn’t matter whether you take a bus, train, tram, boat or cable car.
Not that there is a single operating company, Continue reading Integrated public transport in Switzerland
I’ve been lucky to visit Switzerland thrice this year, adding bits to my Swiss experience each time. A post on this pristine and picturesque country can be concluded at the very beginning – its outright beautiful!
At least for us Indians, some credit does go to Yash Chopra for the glamour he has attached to this mountainous nation. For him, the returns have not only been monetary, but also honorary: Interlaken’s Victoria Jungfrau Grand Hotel offers the ‘Yash Chopra Suite’ at $2,000-per-night. As our Swiss client had warned, the peaks of Jungfrau & Pilatus are flooded with Asians – particularly Indian, Chinese & Japanese. The Restaurant Bollywood atop Jungfrau – the top of Europe – hints at the same.
Swiss people are absolutely fantastic: well mannered & very helpful. People will go out of the way to find you answers, whether on the street or at the post office. Their manners, put together with the importance of privacy, are what make you feel so safe. The latest I’ve taken a train in Switzerland is 23:30 with full baggage, reached my hotel at 01:30 and not once was I worried. At least between my train journeys on the European continent, I don’t think it gets safer than this. Everything from watches Continue reading Pristine & Picturesque Switzerland
After posting the itinerary for Bali and our experience, I have received a lot of emails with questions – primarily – around the budget, airlines, hotels, car rentals and general tips. I’ve put them as a FAQ below; hope this helps fellow travelers.
Honestly, we were traveling on budget. We had planned about Rs.70,000 per head and wanted to make the most out of it. We did.
This is naturally going to differ, but here is an idea.
Absolutely! There is always a first time for everything. Just plan well. Here are 10 great tips for international travel.
Most of the forums said Feb wasn’t a great time to be in Bali, but I think that’s more applicable to surfers.
While Bangkok was an option Continue reading Bali – FAQs: budget, airlines, best time, hotels, car rental, tips
More from the Bali diaries: Itinerary | Experience | FAQs
Bali had for long been on our minds as a honeymoon destination and we finally managed to work out a decent itinerary after much planning.
We landed at 00:00 and we a bit worried about getting to the Guest Villas in Kuta. But from the moment we touched down, Bali seemed very friendly and safe. It was only until we realized that our villa was a 4 min walk to the bustling Legian street which had everything upto Indian restaurants. Since water sports are subject to weather conditions, I had managed to check the tide schedule and confirmed it was a good day. Our driver drove us – free of cost – to his preferred vendor where we bargained our to the possible extent! Scuba diving & Jet Ski were really worth it. On the way back, we exchanged currency at the bank which had a pretty reasonable rate. I suggest don’t fall prey to the shady money exchanger shops that showcase a rate they don’t offer. Evening was for us to relax.
Considering places of our interest were all around the island, and travelling to the north takes a good 3-4 hours, we checked-out without our luggage in the car. We intentionally skipped the early morning Mt Ubud tour, and instead caught a glimpse of it en route. A lot of temples, cat-pooh-chino tasting sessions and local food happened on the way. We booked a villa at the Mumbul Guest House in Lovina.
We had booked a Dolphin tour early morning. At 5:00am, the boat captain informed us of bad weather and scared the s#!t out of us. We went back to bed. Post breakfast, we started off with the black sand beaches of Lovina beach Continue reading Bali – Vacation Notes & Experience
More from the Bali diaries: Itinerary | Experience | FAQs
Planning a trip there was quite a experience as I’ve already detailed here. But after much research, we finally had a plan for Bali and I want to share the detailed itinerary so you don’t have to go through the drill. We were traveling on budget – not the usual honeymoon splurge – so using the services of an agent was not going to help. I still checked with a couple and on hearing my budget (more on this here), they said I should look at another place as the airfares itself very quite expensive for Bali. But I was determined to work something out.
Dolphin tour (missed due to bad weather)
