Booking Resources

All journeys need adequate planning. The blog helps sell the destination and experience but the journey is a part that needs to be comfortable physically and financially. Here are some of the sites I use when planning:

The travel holy trinity (Flights, Accommodation, and Car rental):

SkyScanner.com or Kayak.com: Uses an advanced search algorithm to search across all Airlines and travel agencies to bring you options. Now both companies have the options to search hotels and car rentals on the site as well. So this is a great start off point for planning and booking.

Accommodation Specific:

1. Trivago.com: This is my go to website which lists all the hotels in a destination based across multiple companies such as Hotels.com, Booking.com, Expedia.com, Agoda.com, Hotwire, Travelocity, Venere.com, the hotels actual website, and others. The Search functions allow you to sort by ratings and stars among the usual search areas. The Majority of hotels are listed here but not all.

2. Asiatravel.com: This is a new site I have started using across Asia. A lot of the top hotels here are not listed above for the Asian region and for the ones that are sometimes the prices offered here are cheaper.

3. Loyalty Programs: Most of the sites mentioned above in number 1 offer loyalty programs. Like hotels.com offer 1 night free accommodation if you have booked and stayed 10 nights through them. This works out cheaper sometimes in the long run but more beneficial if you travel quite a bit for work so you can reap the benefits from that for your free personal night down the track. Airlines loyalty programs also offer for example star alliance member’s points for staying at partner hotels. I will tell about loyalty programs in a separate article.

Cheaper Accommodation:

4. AirBnB.com: This has changed the game since its arrival and you can score some good deals here in great apartments, houses, or villas. Good for Europe, Australasian, and American travelling options. You can score some great villas in New Zealand and Greece, Riads in Morocco, and apartments in UAE here.

5. CoachSurfing.com: : I have never tried this myself but friends using it have reported that it is safe and works out okay. The occasional weird awkward moments are unavoidable so this is a choice if low budget is your plan.

Flight Specific:

1. Google Flights: Using the Worlds’ biggest search engine’s flight product to search for a flight is simple and effective. The results are fast and it is just as effective as Kayak and Skyscanner.

2. Frequent Flyer Points: : Flying with benefits is a must so make sure you are registered with Star Alliance and Oneworld. Collecting points for flights and hotel stays is a must these days and used correctly results in a free flights, lounge access and other benefits. Please read this article for more on Frequent Flyer Clubs:

3. Airlines Campaigns: A lot of Airlines have campaigns around big events. Expect a January sale and midyear sale. You can score some great deals with Qatarairways.com, Norwegian.com during these sales periods. For example Oslo > Singapore ($500 US return in February).

4. FlightChecker at MoneySavingExpert.com: For European travellers, you can try this site allowing you to choose your destination, and then look for the cheapest dates to travel. Unfortunately, this only searches budget airlines in Europe, but covers a lot of ground. Most options end up out of London.

5. FlyCheapo.com: will tell you who flies from where, and destinations you can get to on a budget airline from anywhere in Europe.

Destination information and Resources:

1. Wikitravel: The go to site for important information around a city and country. Population, currency, language and all the other essential Intel needed before locking the country into the plans.

2. TripAdvisor.com: Travellers reviews and experience for all things travel related. This is touch and go for me, a lot of the reviews are not fair or accurate. Some reviewers are negatively skewed because the reviewer saw a bug on a tropical island in summer, or there was too much fish in the sea while snorkelling, or there was too much sand on the beach. It is a nice comical relief some of the reviews. Stick to top level contributors (Level 4 and above) that tend to have more travel experience and credible reviews.

3. XE.com (Currencies): If you bouncing across countries then this is a good bookmark to have to keep you on top of the exchange rate.

4. Travellers Health : Good site to read and check which vaccinations you need. Also advises against any medical threats in an area like Zika, Ebola etc.

Shanghai

Revolution Cocktail in French Concession

Dinner at M1nt with Bund background view

Set on the east of China with a population of more than 24 million people, it is not that city you go for a quite break. It has a booming economy, it has so much to offer in terms of exploration for the curious and the daring tourist. The sights & smells offers you the good, the bad, and the ugly. You are guaranteed to have shock and awe to your perceptions of China in the first 48 hours but then you get past that phase and you start enjoying it. The city grows on you after time and this is when you get to enjoy Shanghai. To take things to the next level I decided to go in August which is the hottest month with temperatures between 35 and 40.

Here are my top 14 recommendations for Shanghai:

1. Location In Shanghai: Your selection of hotel has never been more important in a city. With the busy streets and craziness out in the city, you need a home base that offers you the comfort, cleanliness, calmness, and one kick ass concierge team. I chose Westin Bund Center for my trip which was close to the bund with a great view and hotel was fantastic. I also spent some time at The Langham Shanghai Xintiandi which is located in the French concession and definitely my preferred number 1 next time in Shanghai. My trusted sources have also informed PuLi Hotel and Spa as a great location. Go 5 star and spend the extra dollars when in Shanghai as you will need it.

2. Getting into Shanghai: 2. From Pudong airport you can get to the city by taxi/private driver which can take up to an hour and costs between 150-300 yuan depending on taxi or private car. However when of the must do event in Shanghai is ride the Shanghai Maglev Train. At 430km/h , this is a great ride especially when it hits the corner in the end run. The train costs 50 yuan ( 40 yuan with boarding pass) and takes 7 minutes to get to Longyard road station. You can take a taxi from this station to your hotel. Here is some more details regarding Train times

3. Moving around: 3. Travelling within the city is not as easy as it looks. Traffic is a bitch here and you can be stuck on a 100 meter stretch for 15 minutes. Drivers don’t like or simply respect the red lights and just hustle through the inner city traffic. Even when crossing on a green as a pedestrian there is a high chance of getting run over so eye contact and universal stop sign with your hand helps when crossing. So in terms of travelling within Shanghai, the metro is a good option off peak as it gets you there faster. Avoid it during peak hours as it is about a million or more people travelling. Taxi’s are great as well during off peak and quite cheap. Always get the hotel concierge to write your location down in Mandarin to show to the taxi driver. Also for metro services, get a top up card for 20 yuan and pay as you go. Each train ride costs about 3 yuan. Here is more details on the Metro Services

4. French Concession: : Start of at Xintinandi and work your way to Xiangyang Lu area. Yongkang Lu is one of the streets full of good bars and expats. It is a totally different vibe to the rest of the city especially over the weekend and a great place to make friends. Also while you there try the passion fruit mojito and Blood Mary’s at Revolution Cocktail.

5. SmartShanghai App: Google Services, Facebook and Instagram are not available in China unless you hook it up via a VPN. So to stay on top of things download the SmartShanghaiapp on your smart phone as it has most of the restaurants, clubs, bars and attractions listed on there with the address in Mandarin. It will save you time when navigating through Shanghai.

6. Day trips to other cities: If you have time make a day trip to neighboring cities Wuxi, Suzhou, Hangzhou, or Chnagzhou. However you will be travelling with a million plus people so count that as part of the experience.

Dinning & partying in the hot spots:

7. The Nest:Visit theNest for some great oysters, dining menu, and drinks. The place turns the music up later for some good partying.

8. M1nt Restaurant & Club: Visit theM1nt for dinner with a great view. However the food quality was below par for what I was expecting. So oysters and champagne is a good option at the mint before you visit the club next door, which is okay and overhyped. The music was too loud to speak to anyone and this was at midnight.

9. Bar Rogue: The main nightspot is Bar Rogueso expect a lot of good music and great views here close to the Bund.

Sight seeing:

10. Yu Garden and Markets: This is one of those more green areas of Shanghai with a beautiful garden but to get to it you will need to go through the markets. At peak time this area is chaos so go early. Opens at 8.30am and costs 30 Yuan to get in during the off season. The garden is a nice breath of fresh air and decent view of the garden. So it is worth it. However getting to the gardens can be a mission as it is inside the markets and easiest entry is at Gate 3 next to KFC. The markets are great as well but people are all up in your face. So go early to avoid the crowds. Bargain for everything in the markets, usually 40% off is a great deal.

11. Jing’an Temple next to the PuLi Hotel: Take a taxi here or the train to the Jinag’an stop. The area is quite nice with some malls as well. The entry fee for the temple is 50 yuan and take about 30 minutes to walk around and check it out.

12. Spa: There are many spa options in Shanghai, some are great and some are interesting with not enough information. If you going for a cheap and easy massage option then go with Green Massage. However these will require advanced booking as most tourists end up in the different branches of this company. If you want something more of a spa, try the Chuan Spa at Langham Hotel (Xintiandi) or the The Banyan Tree Spa at the Westin Bund. If you staying at the hotel then check for the discount voucher at reception of the hotel to get up to 20% off. The 2 hotel spas were amazing and worth the extra bucks.

13. Shanghai Museum and Nanjing Road: The museum is over 4 floors and offers quite a lot on Chinese history which is a good to take in between all the wining & dining. Takes about 30-45 minutes to get into unfortunately and can be done under an hour. Nanjing road is long and features a lot of things to see. Shopping is perfect on this street if you looking for mainstream shops. The markets like Yu garden is where you get the local produced goods and can bargain for. There is a West and East Nanjing Road subway station if you need to turn back or get away from walking in the heat. The green line also leads to Jing’an temple station.

14. Shanghai hustle: There will be people constantly approaching you in the streets offering you watches, suits, women, and all other sorts of crazy services. Ignore and keep walking. Watch out for personal belongings in crowded areas especially subways for pick pockets. Watch where you step as you may find all kinds of strange content on the pavements. Also avoid escalators when possible and take the stairs.

Westin Bund

Jing’an Temple

Mexico's Yucutan Peninsula: 13 Useful tips

1. You are safe: The Yucutan Peninsula is safe despite all the negative publicity Mexico occasionally receives in the media & The Government Travel Advisory. Some areas in Mexico are very dangerous but you can’t generalize the whole country based on those areas. So be street smart but no need to be afraid. There are police and military presence in most areas to protect tourists. The emergency phone number is 066. (Always good to know)

2. Learn Spanish: 92.7% of the Mexican population speak Spanish according to the CIA. So learn your Spanish phrases, and basic words. It will help in your communications. The more fluent you are the better as you will start getting offered local rates in Mexican pesos rather than American dollars.

3. Visa: Countries from the Schengen area, UK, Canada, Japan, USA, Australia, and NZ can enter with the visa free access and stay up to 180 days. Customs and airport transit are straight forward.

4. Cancun Airport Hustle: Once you exit customs you will see a lot of tour sales staff standing in your path on the way out of the airport. There is also a lot of taxi offers here. So on the transportation front, either have a driver pick you up or take a taxi from a registered taxi stand. As for the tour sales, skip it despite how good the offer sounds. The tour will get you to the same location as other vendors selling outside the airport, but the quality of the service is a important factor here so outside vendors are better. My other articles have more details on some of the good and bad tours.

5. Respect: Family, Religion, and respect are big things in the Mexican culture. So try not to get into any debates about religion with the locals. Always extend a request/question with a please (por favor). When being introduced to someone, tradition requires the kiss on the right cheek once. This is only between men-woman, or woman-woman. Man-man is usually handshakes or the man hug (hand shake leaning into each other on the shoulder area with opposite arm reaching over the back of the other person but maintain the 10-15cm gap between both men’s front facing hips).

6. Bank Fees: If you are in deep in the tourist zone like Cancun or Playa del Carmen, make sure you take cash out from ATMS in the hotel or actual banks. Most machines are in English. Ensure that they are not charging a service fee of $50 US Dollars. Fees should be around $3-5 US dollars.

7. Pesos or US dollars:This is the common question for the first time tourist. While both currencies are accepted here, the important part is knowing when to use the correct one. The exchange rate is usually 100 pesos which equals to approximately 6.5 US dollars (April, 2015 rates). General rule is to use pesos for taxis, markets, groceries, restaurants, and tipping. For day trips/excursions try to start with Pesos and negotiate. This is why the Spanish language makes life easier. A lot of the time the tour rates are fixed in US prices but it’s negotiable. Hotels can be prepaid or done in US dollars.

8. Island time: The Mexicans run on the Island time system, which means be patient and expect things to run delayed from 15 to 30 minutes.

9. Negotiate: The Mexicans are willing to negotiate for a lot of the services/tours. Never ever negotiate for food items. As for tours you can always have a chit chat about the schedule and customize it to your preferences. Rule of thumb for tours, tip your guide in advance 20- 50 US dollars depending on length of trip and expect the deluxe VIP service.

10. Taxis: Always take registered taxis wherever possible. If you find a good driver with a good vehicle, take his details and use him as your regular driver for the rest of your trip. If you coming home from clubbing this helps to have your driver come pick you up. Otherwise you need to find a taxi and then negotiate a price.

11. “Taxi Collectivo”: This is the Collective taxi which is very popular among the locals. It is ideal for the long hauls as you are transported in a 10 person air-conditioned new van. I used this to travel from Playa Del Carmen to Tulum. It cost me 40 Pesos for the ride and 40 pesos entry into the Tulum Ruins. The tour group price for the same ride but with a guide at Tulum was $90 US dollars.

12. Rip Tides: For all those who don’t know this, it is the ocean current that can pull you out while you are swimming or just chilling in the water. Don’t try to swim against it if you do get caught in it as it will drain your energy. So preserve your energy and make a swim for it once the currents have faded. Check with the life guards if in doubt. Not fun to be stuck in one of these, after several incidents in Australia and New Zealand I strongly recommend you research the beach before jumping in, especially for evening dips.

13. Chilli Peppers: Some of the best chilli peppers + food combo. You will drop some tears but continue eating because it is that good. However know your Chillies and remember that most Chillies are mild and will just shake you but the Habanero will shake you & break you with a heat index of 100,000 – 350,000 Scoville units. The most common green chilli used is jalapeño which is 2500-10,000 Scoville units.

Enjoy the explorations

Just blend in like a local ;)