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When you go to Sharm do not book your tours through your hotel operator because you will get ripped off. Take some time and go directly to the Sun Fun office (located near one of the Hiltons in town) and book there. The costs are nearly half of what is charged in hotels.
A great backpacker hostel. Possibly the cheapest yet most well-developed place to get all sorts of information.
Decorated with IKEA furniture, free kitchen use, free breakfast and free internet use. Excellent service and location in Little India district.
73 Dunlop Street, Singapore 209401
Tel: (65) 6296 9169
Fax: (65) 6396 6694
www.the-inncrowd.com
Email Information
Inquiry: inquiry@the-inncrowd.com
Reservations: reservations@the-inncrowd.com
MRT
Bugis (green line)-from the airport
Little India (purple line)
It is a friendly backpackers' place for those who are on a tight budget and want somewhere clean to crash. They also organise activities for their lodgers and there are people from all parts of the world.
Owned by 2 Singaporeans, Hai & Ping, the place is always fully booked. So booking in advance is definitely recommended!!
73 Dunlop Street
Singapore 209401
Tel: (65) 62969169
www.the-inncrowd.com
Located right in the heart of Little India and just a 10 minute walk from the "Little India" MRT station.
Cave Creek is a small town about 25 miles north of downtown Phoenix and 40 miles north of the airport- but I'd strongly recommend Villas of Cave Creek if you're visiting.
The villas are large two-storey houses with big living rooms, kitchens and king size bedroom/bathrooms downstairs. Another bedroom, bathroom, living room is upstairs. Hot tub outside plus washing machine/dryer.
Incredibly comfortable with great restaurants nearby (try Cartwright's) but the big plus is the value. We used them for two days rest after flying from London before heading north to the Grand Canyon - and through Expedia it cost about £65. That was for two of us - but would be incredible value for a family.
Villas of Cave Creek
38001 N. School House Road
Cave Creek
Arizona 85331-8633
Phone +1-480-595-1200
Fax +1-480-595-1034
www.starwoodvacationownership.com/resorts/villas_of_cave_creek/welcome.jsp
Malacca is a historic Malaysian town with a less sanitised atmosphere than Singapore. You can see it in a day on a fully escorted coach trip run by RMG Tours. Considering the distance, you get a reasonable flavour of the place as well as an excellent hotel lunch, for a very good price.
The same company do a tour to Kukup but this is comparatively disappointing, with three stops en route and inadequate time at the destination. They offer other tours within Singapore itself, which are less worthwhile as the public transport system is so good and taxis plentiful and cheap.
RMG's address is 109C Amoy Street, Singapore 069929. It has booking desks in the Orchard Road Visitors' Centre and various hotels, or see the website at www.rmgtours.com
The night markets offer delicious food on a budget and a great atmosphere. Pick up some great satay to share with friends and then wander along the waterfront after a couple of tiger beers.
Little india is also a great place to buy some amazing cheap food and is often thriving in the evening
Various hawker centres tinyurl.com/cu2st
Little India's nearest station is Little India
Singapore Airlines periodically offer 'Stop-Over Holidays'. These are heavily subsidised rooms in 4 and 5 star hotels. As part of the offer, you also get a range of free coupons -these include things like free entry to museums, the night zoo, the bird park as well as half price Singapore Slings in Raffles.
The hotel will try to sell you transport to the attractions, but you can easily go there on your own using the MRT and are perfectly allowed to do so.
Singapore Airlines offices and website www.singaporeair.com/saa/
If you go to a restaurant with massive portions don't be shy about asking for any food (e.g. Schnitzel) that you don't eat to be wrapped in foil so you can take it away with you. Lots of locals do it and there's no shame attached.
There are a series of hotels in the Geylang area of Singapore which are part of a chain called Fragrance.
True, this is in the red light district but staying there will give you a 'real' view of Singapore. Even better, the rooms are really cheap - and even cheaper if you have an ISIC or IYIC membership.
Geylang area
For the budget traveller and for those who want to eat where the locals eat, you find them all over the city! Don't be afraid to sample exotic delicacies, you will be pleasantly surprised for just a few dollars! Oh and, if you like to chew gum don't forget to bring your own because Singapore law prohibits the sale of chewing-gum all over the city including the airport!
Everywhere in Singapore but especially in Chinatown.
An independent bookstore in the heart of Florence. They sell new and secondhand books in Italian, English, German etc. Check out their bargain baskets which have well-loved books available at maximum 1 euro or even free!
Via Delle Oche, 4r
Tel: 055 293460
www.papex.it
If you are staying at a hotel in LA they can organise for one of the many bus companies running shopping trips to Mexico to come and take you for the day. It's a long day out for the return trip to Tijuana, Mexico.
Cost?
Varies but allow USD$40-$50 return
Why go?
Tijuana is a paradise for bargain shoppers! Browse for leather goods, clothing, jewellery, pottery & more.
Note - a multiple-entry visa and passport are required for non-U.S. or non-Canadian citizens.
Tijuana Mexico - south of the border
Good hotel in the heart of Lhasa. Comfortable rooms which are clean and which sometimes have working heating. Great restaurant downstairs - try a yak burger for novelty, momos for pleasure and yak butter tea for punishment. Great place to stay. If you're starting off in Lhasa, it's a gentle introduction to Tibet. If you've crossed Lhasa to get here it will seem like the most luxurious hotel in the world. Reasonably priced.
Central Lhasa the address is:-
Yak Hotel
100 Beijing Dong Lu, Lhasa, Tibet, PRC
Tel: +86 891 6323496 ext.0 / 6364078
Fax: +86 891 6336845
Email: yakhotel@shigatsetravels.com
I love this store, it sells everything from electronic items to fashionable very reasonably priced clothes and shoes. I lived in Long Beach for 16 years and went here weekly as do the majority of americans!
Chinese restaurant, large and looks upmarket, but is very reasonable and the food is good! Try their 'eat as much as you want' buffet at lunchtime.
It's also on Church Street (off M G Road) and it's a good place to know becuase this street is full of restaurants, all sorts of food and nearly all very good).
Price: Buffet lunch, around 215/Rs per person (about 3 and a bit euros).
Mainland China, Church Street.
Phone: 2559 7722 / 7755
www.mainlandchinaindia.com
This is one of my compulsory stops in LA especially late nights. I understand that the breakfast is legendary - perhaps next trip - but this is one place where the t-bone is large and the coleslaw legendary. It claims that it has never shut since it opened its doors in 1924. Open 24 hours a day all year round.
Old fashioned cafe with minimal decor that looks like a cinema set for a b-grade movie. Even the cashier is behind a wired cage! Be warned - no credit cards.
Corner of 9th and Figueroa, in downtown L.A. (next to LA Convention Centre)
www.pantrycafe.com
For $3 an MTA daily travel pass allows you to range as far and wide as you like via bus and metrorail train. Riding the bus is not only by far the cheapest way to get around (and out of) LA, it's also the best way to experience the city's fantastically complex social, racial and cultural mix. Passes can be bought from bus drivers or at Metrorail stations. Journeys can be planned in detail ahead of time by using the MTA's excellent website (www.mta.net).
Although LA is known as the city of the car the whole area has got a well developed public transit system consisting of light and heavy rail, subway and buses. It's cheap too -- you'll pay a fraction of the cost of comprable journeys in England. It pays to plan in advance, though, because it can be quite confusing if you don't live there (the fare structuring is very different from the UK as well). Also, tourists seem to get pushed onto high cost transit - for example, there's a light rail station adjacent to LAX but you'd never know it from the signs at the airport, all which would much rather have you use a cab or shuttle bus.
(Sitting in a hire car in heavy traffic on a freeway rapidly loses its gloss. Think "M25 with poor quality concrete surface"!)
www.mta.net -- it links into other transit systems, also try web searches.
This is the kind of hotel that backpackers stumble upon in their dreams and I myself discovered almost entirely by accident.
For a very affordable price, you get the kind of accommodation many hardened Asia travellers have almost forgotten existed.
The all-but brand-new rooms are beautifully set out with carved ebony furniture and the bathroom alone is worth the charge.
That’s before you taste the food. Hoi An is not only Vietnam’s best-preserved old town but one of its culinary capitals too.
If you tire of the hotel restaurant, check out Tien’s just across the road for an even better choice of cheap but sumptuous Vietnamese fare.
144 Cua Dai
Tel: +66 3 836 4700
Fax: +66 383 64 802
A fish'n'chip joint par excellence! Situated on the PCH (Pacific Coast Highway), you sit at tables overlooking the ocean eating superb freshly-cooked fish and seafood from an extensive menu. Line up at the cooking shack, choose your food, and it is cooked to order. Those in the know bring their own plates and cutlery, wine etc. Watch the sun set over the Pacific, it's magical - or go anytime for a cheap delicious meal.
PCH (Highway 1), Malibu.
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