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Re: GRcade Travel Topic

Posted: Mon Apr 24, 2023 9:00 pm
by Tomous
SandyCoin wrote:I just got back from a 6 week trip in Mexico (plus 3 weeks in Ecuador) and had great time. We went to Mexico City, Guanajuato, Puebla/Cholula, Oaxaca, Puerto Escondido, San Cristobal, Palenque, and in and around Merida before flying out of Cancun (where we only stayed overnight for our flight). It was amazing seeing the landscapes change as we travelled across the country, seeing sparse deserts, volcanoes, forests, jungles, and beautiful beaches. We saw a lot but some of the highlights were Cascadas de Roberto Barrios (a less busy version of Agua Azul), Palenque and Teotihuacán archeological parks, and the beaches at Puerto Escondido.

We travelled everywhere by bus, which for the most part worked perfectly fine except for when a protest blocked our route for 9 hours, meaning we were stuck on a bus for 24 hours... :x Other than the only bad things to happen were the obvious and expected stomach issues, as well as me losing my sense of taste/smell after about 3 days due to the lack of humidity and pollution in Mexico City.



Nice! I did a month in Mexico in 2016 and we did a similar ish route:

Mexico City > Taxco > Puebla > Oaxaca > Palenque > Tulum > Playa Del Carmen

I feel like we stopped at more places between Oaxaca and Tulum but I'm struggling to remember :lol:

Its a great country to travel. Teotihuacán was definitely a highlight. And the food...although I'd had my fill of it after 4 weeks I have to say. I survived a pickpocketing in Mexico City too.

Re: GRcade Travel Topic

Posted: Mon Apr 24, 2023 9:02 pm
by Moggy
Vermilion wrote:
Victor Mildew wrote:Thanks. It's more for my Mrs to use as she's got a side gig being a travel agent, so she can use these things.


Whatever you were using to film it with, i wish my equipment could do that.


I think it's called a camera.

Re: GRcade Travel Topic

Posted: Mon Apr 24, 2023 9:13 pm
by Vermilion
Moggy wrote:
Vermilion wrote:
Victor Mildew wrote:Thanks. It's more for my Mrs to use as she's got a side gig being a travel agent, so she can use these things.


Whatever you were using to film it with, i wish my equipment could do that.


I think it's called a camera.


Image

Re: GRcade Travel Topic

Posted: Mon Apr 24, 2023 10:33 pm
by Victor Mildew
Vermilion wrote:
Victor Mildew wrote:Thanks. It's more for my Mrs to use as she's got a side gig being a travel agent, so she can use these things.


Whatever you were using to film it with, i wish my equipment could do that.


Gopro hero 10 black. I had some overly aggressive image stabilisation on which I didn't notice when filming, which is why some of it sticks while panning. I dialed it back when using it on our last holiday and it gives great crisp images.

Re: GRcade Travel Topic

Posted: Tue Apr 25, 2023 8:23 am
by SandyCoin
Tomous wrote:Nice! I did a month in Mexico in 2016 and we did a similar ish route:

Mexico City > Taxco > Puebla > Oaxaca > Palenque > Tulum > Playa Del Carmen

I feel like we stopped at more places between Oaxaca and Tulum but I'm struggling to remember :lol:

Its a great country to travel. Teotihuacán was definitely a highlight. And the food...although I'd had my fill of it after 4 weeks I have to say. I survived a pickpocketing in Mexico City too.


While the food was on the whole very tasty, I've got to say that there were a fair few duds throughout my travels. Everyone raves about the street food there, but I found a fair amount of it quite bland, and nowhere near as spicy as I was expecting, especially compared to say...Thailand. There were a few instances where my gf looked at me and said she finds the Mexican food I make at home better. One thing I also noticed about Mexico and Ecuador is that they are keen on really thin cuts of meat that are invariably overcooked and chewy :| .

Re: GRcade Travel Topic

Posted: Thu Apr 27, 2023 1:38 pm
by Ecno
I think there's a few forumites in Nottingham. Can anyone recommend a decent restaurant for lateish on Friday (i.e will take a sitting at say 9pm)- and can anyone recommend somewhere nice to watch the football on Saturday?- Nothing 'sticky' or too far away from the Motorpoint Arena.

Re: GRcade Travel Topic

Posted: Fri May 05, 2023 11:05 am
by Tomous
Anyone ever been to Hawaii? Eying up a possible trip this year, 16 days with a day either side for travel. Might not be doable but trying to get an idea of cost and itineary. Initial thoughts are Oahu, Big Island and Maui. Quite a bit of flying though.

Re: GRcade Travel Topic

Posted: Fri May 05, 2023 9:41 pm
by No:1 Final Fantasy Fan
https://flights.cathaypacific.com/en_GB ... nners.html

Fancy a free ticket excluding taxes to Hong Kong? There is an initiative to get tourists back to Hong Kong so they are giving away 3260 return flights from London/Manchester to Hong Kong. All you have to do is answer a quiz and the first 3260 correct answers will get a ticket.

Image

Re: GRcade Travel Topic

Posted: Sat May 06, 2023 10:13 pm
by Grumpy David
No:1 Final Fantasy Fan wrote:https://flights.cathaypacific.com/en_GB/offers/world-of-winners.html

Fancy a free ticket excluding taxes to Hong Kong? There is an initiative to get tourists back to Hong Kong so they are giving away 3260 return flights from London/Manchester to Hong Kong. All you have to do is answer a quiz and the first 3260 correct answers will get a ticket.

Image


How unusual, these sorts of competitions are normally just a raffle ticket system rather than "first 3,260 people to complete the quiz win the tickets".

Could see the website crashing on Tuesday 9am.

Re: GRcade Travel Topic

Posted: Sun May 07, 2023 11:32 am
by No:1 Final Fantasy Fan
Grumpy David wrote:
No:1 Final Fantasy Fan wrote:https://flights.cathaypacific.com/en_GB/offers/world-of-winners.html

Fancy a free ticket excluding taxes to Hong Kong? There is an initiative to get tourists back to Hong Kong so they are giving away 3260 return flights from London/Manchester to Hong Kong. All you have to do is answer a quiz and the first 3260 correct answers will get a ticket.

Image


How unusual, these sorts of competitions are normally just a raffle ticket system rather than "first 3,260 people to complete the quiz win the tickets".

Could see the website crashing on Tuesday 9am.

I also heard it was going live at 8am. But will check at midnight too. I don't believe this is the first time they have done such a giveaway so their website should be ok hopefully. As the Hong Kong government has bought like 50,000 tickets and they have been split between different countries around the world.
Hope I get it then I will also hop over to Tokyo whilst I'm there on a local low cost carrier.

Re: GRcade Travel Topic

Posted: Sun May 07, 2023 12:52 pm
by Lagamorph
Me and my wife started planning our visit to Japan for March next year.

Hotels, flights, theme park tickets and rail passes are going to be about £7,500 from just quick checking on Skyscanner/Expedia :dread:

And that's before any food or spending money.

Re: GRcade Travel Topic

Posted: Sun May 07, 2023 1:07 pm
by poshrule_uk
No:1 Final Fantasy Fan wrote:https://flights.cathaypacific.com/en_GB/offers/world-of-winners.html

Fancy a free ticket excluding taxes to Hong Kong? There is an initiative to get tourists back to Hong Kong so they are giving away 3260 return flights from London/Manchester to Hong Kong. All you have to do is answer a quiz and the first 3260 correct answers will get a ticket.

Image


I can't see what time this starts, is it midnight?

Re: GRcade Travel Topic

Posted: Sun May 07, 2023 1:13 pm
by Grumpy David
Lagamorph wrote:Me and my wife started planning our visit to Japan for March next year.

Hotels, flights, theme park tickets and rail passes are going to be about £7,500 from just quick checking on Skyscanner/Expedia :dread:

And that's before any food or spending money.


JFC. :dread: How many days is that spread over?

poshrule_uk wrote:
No:1 Final Fantasy Fan wrote:https://flights.cathaypacific.com/en_GB/offers/world-of-winners.html

Fancy a free ticket excluding taxes to Hong Kong? There is an initiative to get tourists back to Hong Kong so they are giving away 3260 return flights from London/Manchester to Hong Kong. All you have to do is answer a quiz and the first 3260 correct answers will get a ticket.

Image


I can't see what time this starts, is it midnight?


T&Cs says this Tuesday 9am BST. But no harm checking at midnight or 8am if you're not yet asleep / already awake.

You'd find out if you won on the 5th of June and then have 9 months to book a flight (the return flight can be up to a month after the departing flight).

Re: GRcade Travel Topic

Posted: Sun May 07, 2023 2:01 pm
by Lagamorph
Grumpy David wrote:
Lagamorph wrote:Me and my wife started planning our visit to Japan for March next year.

Hotels, flights, theme park tickets and rail passes are going to be about £7,500 from just quick checking on Skyscanner/Expedia :dread:

And that's before any food or spending money.


JFC. :dread: How many days is that spread over?

Well it was for 3 weeks, with several days at Universal Osaka and Disney Tokyo.

Re: GRcade Travel Topic

Posted: Sun May 07, 2023 2:22 pm
by poshrule_uk
Lagamorph wrote:
Grumpy David wrote:
Lagamorph wrote:Me and my wife started planning our visit to Japan for March next year.

Hotels, flights, theme park tickets and rail passes are going to be about £7,500 from just quick checking on Skyscanner/Expedia :dread:

And that's before any food or spending money.


JFC. :dread: How many days is that spread over?
Well it was for 3 weeks, with several days at Universal Osaka and Disney Tokyo.


It will be worth every penny

Re: GRcade Travel Topic

Posted: Sun May 07, 2023 2:33 pm
by Outrunner
Lagamorph wrote:Me and my wife started planning our visit to Japan for March next year.

Hotels, flights, theme park tickets and rail passes are going to be about £7,500 from just quick checking on Skyscanner/Expedia :dread:

And that's before any food or spending money.


Which pass did you go for? They're hiking the price of the general JR Pass by quite a lot so unless you're doing a lot of travelling it might be worth checking alternatives. The overwhelming consensus tends the be that the JR Pass (general) is not really worth it any more unless you are travelling a lot of the country

Re: GRcade Travel Topic

Posted: Sun May 07, 2023 2:53 pm
by Lagamorph
Outrunner wrote:
Lagamorph wrote:Me and my wife started planning our visit to Japan for March next year.

Hotels, flights, theme park tickets and rail passes are going to be about £7,500 from just quick checking on Skyscanner/Expedia :dread:

And that's before any food or spending money.


Which pass did you go for? They're hiking the price of the general JR Pass by quite a lot so unless you're doing a lot of travelling it might be worth checking alternatives. The overwhelming consensus tends the be that the JR Pass (general) is not really worth it any more unless you are travelling a lot of the country

The standard 21 day pass. We're planning on at least getting the Bullet Train between Tokyo and Osaka (Though from what I understand that's not hugely great for taking suitcases?). We were also planning on travelling around Tokyo quite a bit and I think the pass let's you use the subway doesn't it? We were also thinking of things like day trips when we go back for a week and a half in Tokyo to places like Mt Fuji.


We haven't booked anything yet, just starting to get an idea of an itinerary and rough costs. We'll probably head to a travel agent next month and see if they can price up something better, but we absolutely want to avoid those pre-arranged tours since they're very restrictive on where you can go and what you can do outside of the planned stuff.

Re: GRcade Travel Topic

Posted: Sun May 07, 2023 3:10 pm
by Victor Mildew
Lagamorph wrote:
Outrunner wrote:
Lagamorph wrote:Me and my wife started planning our visit to Japan for March next year.

Hotels, flights, theme park tickets and rail passes are going to be about £7,500 from just quick checking on Skyscanner/Expedia :dread:

And that's before any food or spending money.


Which pass did you go for? They're hiking the price of the general JR Pass by quite a lot so unless you're doing a lot of travelling it might be worth checking alternatives. The overwhelming consensus tends the be that the JR Pass (general) is not really worth it any more unless you are travelling a lot of the country

The standard 21 day pass. We're planning on at least getting the Bullet Train between Tokyo and Osaka (Though from what I understand that's not hugely great for taking suitcases?). We were also planning on travelling around Tokyo quite a bit and I think the pass let's you use the subway doesn't it? We were also thinking of things like day trips when we go back for a week and a half in Tokyo to places like Mt Fuji.


We haven't booked anything yet, just starting to get an idea of an itinerary and rough costs. We'll probably head to a travel agent next month and see if they can price up something better, but we absolutely want to avoid those pre-arranged tours since they're very restrictive on where you can go and what you can do outside of the planned stuff.


Sent you a PM :shifty:

Re: GRcade Travel Topic

Posted: Sun May 07, 2023 3:42 pm
by PatSharpsMullet
Lagamorph wrote:The standard 21 day pass. We're planning on at least getting the Bullet Train between Tokyo and Osaka (Though from what I understand that's not hugely great for taking suitcases?).

If you get a Green Car pass you get more room in the carriage. We got a Green Car Pass on both occasions and there was no problem with putting three large cases on the overhead storage. You will need to reserve seats which you can do when you exchange your pass.
We were also planning on travelling around Tokyo quite a bit and I think the pass let's you use the subway doesn't it?

You can't use it on the subway, but in Tokyo foreign visitors can get a 72 hour subway pass for ¥1500 which works on both the Tokyo Metro and Toei Subway lines.

Re: GRcade Travel Topic

Posted: Sun May 07, 2023 3:56 pm
by Outrunner
Lagamorph wrote:The standard 21 day pass. We're planning on at least getting the Bullet Train between Tokyo and Osaka (Though from what I understand that's not hugely great for taking suitcases?). We were also planning on travelling around Tokyo quite a bit and I think the pass let's you use the subway doesn't it? We were also thinking of things like day trips when we go back for a week and a half in Tokyo to places like Mt Fuji.


The JR Pass can be used on the JR trains in Tokyo but not the subways (different companies). They've introduced limits on suitcases (you have to book if your suitcase is a particular size) on the bullet trains now. If you're getting the pass just for the Osaka trip it's probably cheaper to just buy the tickets after October when the pass price goes up. For the side trips I'd look at getting a regional pass which (at the moment) aren't getting a price increase.

We haven't booked anything yet, just starting to get an idea of an itinerary and rough costs. We'll probably head to a travel agent next month and see if they can price up something better, but we absolutely want to avoid those pre-arranged tours since they're very restrictive on where you can go and what you can do outside of the planned stuff.


FWIW my first two trips with Intrepid had a good mix of free time and planned stuff, though you are obviously stuck with the itinerary and how long you stay places.