Holidays abroad ....my bucket list

[shingle]

Would thoroughly recommend India, been there many times. If you're short on time I would go for a particular area of India, say Rajasthan, (Jaipur, Udaipur, Bikaner, Pushkar and Jaisalmer). Also Delhi and Agra and Fatehpur Sikri are all close by. As someone has already said, TURKISH AIRLINES have excellent fares and they're really good these days. Book directly with them on their website for peace of mind

 

[shingle]

I am currently in Ethiopia..........another great place to visit, cheap as chips, nice peeps, historical north and tribal south. Just popping off to Haile Gabre Selassies 5 star hotel (at $73 us a night it's out of my price range) to use the pool and have my usual Salad Nicoise whilst overlooking Lake Hawassa. mrs loves it too......whats not to like

Sorry to be a pretentious arse

 

[surrey jim]

Would well recommend visiting Cuba before the sanctions are lifted and it becomes Americanised. Fantastic country/people and culture. Havana is like walking around a museum with all the 50s cars and fantastic architecture.

One of the only countries where a chocolate bar is more expensive than a packet of fags!

 

[The Merry Prankster]

Would well recommend visiting Cuba before the sanctions are lifted and it becomes Americanised. Fantastic country/people and culture. Havana is like walking around a museum with all the 50s cars and fantastic architecture.

One of the only countries where a chocolate bar is more expensive than a packet of fags!

Another vote.

 

[Raleigh Chopper]

I prefer Sri Lanka.

 

[The Spanish]

Would well recommend visiting Cuba before the sanctions are lifted and it becomes Americanised. Fantastic country/people and culture. Havana is like walking around a museum with all the 50s cars and fantastic architecture.

One of the only countries where a chocolate bar is more expensive than a packet of fags!

there is a reason why it's like a museum and it's not for liberal left western tourists amusement.

It will be awesome in a couple of years. It was always americanised until Fidel and his gang stole everything off his own people.

I wished I had seen East Berlin before the wall come down as well, that's the same morbid curiosity just without the mohitos.

I never get this csanctification of Cuba as a destination from liberal western tourists with a hint of anti Americanism thrown in.

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

Would well recommend visiting Cuba before the sanctions are lifted and it becomes Americanised. Fantastic country/people and culture. Havana is like walking around a museum with all the 50s cars and fantastic architecture.

One of the only countries where a chocolate bar is more expensive than a packet of fags!

Very much this. I've been twice and the second time I back-packed across the island for 3.5 weeks with Cesar Chavez. Fascinating country, great people, lovely architecture, varied landscape and via the Casa Particulars and Paladares you get to see a lot more of the country than normal.

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

there is a reason why it's like a museum and it's not for liberal left western tourists amusement.

It will be awesome in a couple of years. It was always americanised until Fidel and his gang stole everything off his own people.

I wished I had seen East Berlin before the wall come down as well, that's the same morbid curiosity just without the mohitos.

I never get this csanctification of Cuba as a destination from liberal western tourists with a hint of anti Americanism thrown in.

Sun, sea and socialism.....what's not to like?

PS I don't always agree with what you write but your style does make me chuckle.

 

[portlock seagull]

Happy New Year, Mr Whelan!

Ahh but they do! Having travelled extensively there, I thought I had atm printed on my forehead. Lovely people but the average 10 year old could teach experienced negotiators a thing or two. It was wearing when all you wanted was a bottle of water I.e. Low value and the price was £100....thirty minutes later you were down to £1. Contrast that with Thailand where they'd try the same thing but if you walked away they'd instantly drop the price to a more sensible level. That used to make me giggle in the end, it was sort of just cheeky. But in India, it was just tiresome. Said I'd never go back but strangely would now love to. There's a mystic about India and the sheer volume of noise and people is something you just have to experience so definitely go if haven't been. Just be prepared to pay for everything. And a bit more!

 

[Guinness Boy]

Ahh but they do! Having travelled extensively there, I thought I had atm printed on my forehead. Lovely people but the average 10 year old could teach experienced negotiators a thing or two. It was wearing when all you wanted was a bottle of water I.e. Low value and the price was £100....thirty minutes later you were down to £1. Contrast that with Thailand where they'd try the same thing but if you walked away they'd instantly drop the price to a more sensible level. That used to make me giggle in the end, it was sort of just cheeky. But in India, it was just tiresome. Said I'd never go back but strangely would now love to. There's a mystic about India and the sheer volume of noise and people is something you just have to experience so definitely go if haven't been. Just be prepared to pay for everything. And a bit more!

Worked in Chennai for three months in 2001 and loved it. Would go back tomorrow if asked. However, when we first flew in our very first experience of the country was having someone lift our luggage off the belt for us (unasked) before holding their hand out and then us and our drivers being chased out to the car by several small boys who wanted to "carry" our laptops for us.

Three months later, same airport we passed two lots of x-ray machines and the form stamping area before getting to a lounge. When the flight was called there was a final layer of security to re-check your passport and examine your hand luggage and pocket contents. Anything with batteries in had them removed as batteries were "forbidden" as were cigarette lighters. Round the corner was a bloke selling batteries and lighters from a tray.....

 

[BRIGHT ON Q]

love Asia,once you have been you wont look back, and as for partying, have friends in the Philippines and got sent a load of pictures through from their NYE yesterday and it is one big street party!

 

[Vegas Seagull]

Amazes me how people think they need to fly 8 hours more than to say Sardinia, Amalfi, Pompeii, Rome etc etc bypassing, better beaches, amazing architecture, history, food & wine. Just because it's a long flight doesn't make it better

 

[Guinness Boy]

Amazes me how people think they need to fly 8 hours more than to say Sardinia, Amalfi, Pompeii, Rome etc etc bypassing, better beaches, amazing architecture, history, food & wine. Just because it's a long flight doesn't make it better

What about flying 10 hours or more to the middle of the desert just to stick coins in slots, play cards and pay over the top to watch fat ugly people enjoying second rate pastiches of the rest of the world?

 

[Man of Harveys]

What about flying 10 hours or more to the middle of the desert just to stick coins in slots, play cards and pay over the top to watch fat ugly people enjoying second rate pastiches of the rest of the world?

Well said.

 

[BRIGHT ON Q]

Amazes me how people think they need to fly 8 hours more than to say Sardinia, Amalfi, Pompeii, Rome etc etc bypassing, better beaches, amazing architecture, history, food & wine. Just because it's a long flight doesn't make it better

well i have been to 3 of them and i can confirm the beaches are better in Palawan.

 

[herecomesaregular]

I would never say "No" to anyone expressing an interest to visit India! Flew into Delhi in 1997 and backpacked through to Nepal (also imo an essential place to visit before you die) then again in 2006 to Calcutta and up to Darjeeling for a mini trek back into Nepal again (although still technically part of India). India is an amazing experience although probably suited to the young/ young at heart/highly tolerant. Not a place for the inflexible/impatient/highly strung for sure.
Would go back in a heartbeat.

 

[BensGrandad]

Whats wrong with Majorca or Costa Brava? Sunday roasts or a full English in the sun.

 

[The Spanish]

Sun, sea and socialism.....what's not to like?

PS I don't always agree with what you write but your style does make me chuckle.

thats very nice of you to say mate, i would say the same about your good self.



Poster boy revolutionaries for silly spoilt people and some old cars, wow. Throw in a dose of patronising people as they are a bit latin and like a cigar and a dance, but if you can ignore the misery that regime has wreaked on its own people (assisted, granted, by draconian sanctions from the US) to dip your toe into a fantasy you dont live day to day, then perhaps you are not seeing the whole picture.

I am sure there are places in Pyongyang you can get great kimchi and see funny old Soviet era limos. And by God they give the Americans a pain in the arse. Doesnt stop them making their populations life a total misery though.

 

[easynow]

well i have been to 3 of them and i can confirm the beaches are better in Palawan.

Indeed. Spent 2 weeks in el nido. Went on all the island tours there. Stunning place.

 

[The Spanish]

Indeed. Spent 2 weeks in el nido. Went on all the island tours there. Stunning place.

Philippines is the most underrated destination on earth. I would like to say it's great its unspoilt and ramshackle, but I am not an self indulgent idiot and I want the Filipinos to do well from it.

Did 100 Islands earlier in 2014, fantastic, even before you start flying off Luzon there are still fantastic places within a day's drive of Manila. As I am sure you know!