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The tram system in Krakow imposes heavy penalties on unsuspecting tourists. The inspectors are completely intolerant of tourists ignorance and are very aggressive. It is a particularly nasty and unpleasant experience. Be warned, and don't make innocent mistakes. They take no prisoners and it appears that they treat tourists as easy targets.
Charlies popped up a few years ago as a sort of fast food Chinese restaurant and there are now three or four of them about the centre of town. The food is standard Dublin prices, or in other words a bit more than it should be, and is all right if you get it when the place is quiet. Other than that stay the hell away from them. It's a magnet for the drunk and serves up the vilest food when it gets busy. I've been ill the last two times I've eaten there, and won't be returning.
The main problem is that for the same money you could get a decent enough meal elsewhere.
Around Temple Bar
I am in Varna every other month. I have a villa some 20 minutes up the motorway. I feel safer in Varna than ever I could in the UK. I walk the streets at night and do so quite happily. I have never been hassled by a Bulgarian. After spending half my life in Egypt where hassle is the order of the day, I walked out of my hotel on my first morning in Bulgaria and couldn't believe it. I was totally ignored by everybody, including the local street dog. Bulgarians are polite, courteous and let you do your thing, but if you need any help they will go out of their way to help you.
Money changing is against the law in Bulgaria. When approached by a street money changer, just say, "No thank you". They won't hassle you, because they don't want to draw attention to themselves. I have not heard of changers snatching money and running off. What they would do is give you out-of-date Bulgarian or Russian money that is worthless or count out 10 notes into your hand in full view. It is only later that you find you only got six notes.
Change your money in the city centre, where you get a much better rate than at a seaside resort. And lastly, don't change your money in the UK, especially at the airport where the exchange rate is really bad, for you. I love Bulgaria, I love Varna, and I love its people. They are like the British used to be. Courteous, well-mannered, polite and a credit to their country.
Avoid the scruffy and dangerous streets in Grenoble city centre which stretch from the cable car station on the quayside beside the Isere river to
the Cathedrale de Notre Dame. Thiefs loiter here - especially at night, so women don't walk alone in this area!
You are sent photos of a beautiful modern apartment "newly refurbished" and when you get there you are conducted to a completely different flat filled with cheap and nasty reproduction furniture, artificial flowers and glass tat.
On top of this there is a lovely view from the balcony of major building works in progress in the street opposite. The 'owner' Andrea Scarpi tells you that the 'other flat' is unavailable but still expects you to pay the same price you were quoted for the smart one. The breakfast is not worth having - all long-life products, nothing at all fresh, and three people share coffee from an espresso maker for one. A complete rip off.
e-mail:bbmestrina@fastwebnet.it
www.bbmestrina.com
photos & video: www.picasaweb.google.it/mestrina/MESTRINA
Beware the hustlers and beggars in Sudder Street. They are persistent with a capital P - once they latch on to you, they just will not take no for an answer.
Avoid either arriving, departing or simply moving out of your hotel during Holi... (Indian spring festival)
The local lads gather in the streets and have water fights - with coloured water and western tourists are a prime target.
The papers were full of warnings about the chemicals used in the colouring (I wrote off a pair of trousers and T-shirt) They contain some pretty nasty chemicals that can cause skin complaints.
All the taxis and rickshaws (if you can find one) will charge three times the normal rate as "danger and damage" money.
Sit tight (it's only one day) and watch the mayhem from a balcony or rooftop!
Buenos Aires is one of the most remarkable places I have ever been. It's clean, classy, safe, and dirt cheap. The leather bags are at least 400 pounds cheaper than what you would buy on the high street.
Also they have miles and miles of shops on Florida and Avenida Santa Fe where you can buy anything for one third of the price in the US or UK.
We stayed at the art hotel in Recoleta which was a boutique hotel with contemporary art in the foyer, free internet access, great rooms and wet room bathrooms.
Beware the fake taxis in Buenos Aires. Because we'd been there for four days we realised that if they don't have a proper meter in the right hand corner and photographic id on the back of the driver's seat then don't get in. We used a taxi which charged us three times the price of a journey from the airport. We refused to pay and threatened to call the Policia!
If this happens to you get to your hotel and ask the concierge to translate... avoid at all costs.
Otherwise, BA is one of the safest cities in the world and the people are very nice. Palermo is great and so is Recoleta. Avoid San Telmo if you have to. Use taxis rather than buses as they are very cheap and the metro is great for getting around centrally. In taxis from the Newbery internal airport it should cost you no more than $14 and to the international around $50.
Try and go to the best steak restaurant in the Palermo area called La Cabrera, it's economical but BOOK AHEAD as it gets very busy.
Various.. please email me if you want any tips neillhenderson@hotmail.com(no spam)
Beware some of the tango shows in Buenos Aires that are recommended by your hotel. Bar Sur in San Telmo and Mandera Tango in the port area of BA are a rip off and are tourist traps.
For example, they will try and give you a poor seat with a bad view for you to upgrade to the 'VIP' area. They include a poor dinner with horrible house wine then con you to have a photo taken with two of the tango dancers who they say appear in the show then you never see them again.
They'll also offer you a cocktail for 40 pesos which is three times the price of any cocktail anywhere else. Bar Sur charges 210 pesos per person for the dinner and show in one of the tightest floor spaces in BA. Then the drinks are double the price of anywhere else in BA. If you want to see tango choose very carefully.
Very disorganised, catered chalets. Poor food, phone bills and internet disconnected for 1/3 of the season, heating and hot water not available twice throughout season with no alternative offered.
Not ATOL or ABTA registered (be warned).
I am a 28-year-old female who has been forced to live in somewhere worse than a male university digs (and that's truly saying something! When doing a season, go self-catered (as Nielsons, Crystals, Thomson unfortunately do not do seasonal accommodation).
Look out for pickpockets - one trick is to hop on the metro, stand in the doorway (look confused) whilst 2-3 conspirators close in behind and go through you stuff as you try to get by before the doors close (when they make a fast exit and you're minus your valuables). Similarly crowded trams can be a problem and notices warn the unwary.
metro tram buses
Trakai is really nice resort, nice guests. But the country is quite poor, and there're lots of thieves watching for tourists. Never leave your bags unattended as it can be removed (not destroyed, lol!).
Some of them are so cheeky - they try to take your money out of your pocket hoping you don't notice! So bear in mind where you are while admiring wonderful nature.
The air quality plummets to dangerous levels every March in Chiang Mai due to slash-and-burn farming in the surrounding countryside. You can check the daily pollution levels here before setting off, at earthoria.com.
www.earthoria.com/air-pollution-levels-in-chiang-mai-rising.html
I went to Marrakech for a girls' holiday last weekend, for four days and it was terrible. I had been before with my husband and really enjoyed it, but this time the annoying experiences outweighed the good ones. We were harassed to the point of being sworn at in Djemaa el Fna’s souks, especially the shops near to the square. We had a good idea of how to bargain; they quote a price, you quarter it, and the haggling begins. This was possible in the souks further inside, but the shopkeepers nearer the square were so hot tempered and arrogant that we couldn't be bothered to explore half the time.
Also, at the weekends, medicine is impossible to find. I fell ill and every pharmacy I walked past was closed. When I asked the hotel where I could find one that was open, they directed me to a pharmacist (a short walk away) and told me to read the sign showing which pharmacies were open. But not knowing French made it impossible to decipher this list. I walked 20 minutes in one direction with a hotel bellboy (who I requested to come with), only to find the pharmacy had closed down. And shops and supermarkets sell everything from TVs to nappies, but no aspirin or paracetamol! Our hotel was useless in this situation and showed no sympathy or support.
On our last night one of my friends was robbed as we were waiting for a taxi. Two young boys came up to her and with a knife while she was holding her camera, she gave it immediately. We tried to call for help but we didn't know who to trust. After making our way back to the hotel, the receptionist couldn't even call the police and ask them to come to the hotel to take a report (for insurance). Instead we were advised to get a taxi to the police station (bear in mind we didn't want to go back out because we all felt angry and upset). Having spent an hour in the police station we couldn’t wait to get back to London. We know robberies take place everywhere but the lack of support, care and sympathy in Marrakech was outrageous!
Having been driven nuts by incessant requests to buy something or taste food at Jemma El-Fna I pulled my mobile and pretended I was talking. People are much less likely to pester you. Obvious, but I've seen a many distressed tourist trying to untangle themselves from the charms of 10,000 sellers.
For some reason or other, superstition or plain dislike of being actors in our holiday snaps, Moroccans hate being photographed. Makes any street photography a nightmare, although most people prefer to quietly step away or lurk in the shade as opposed to making a scene. If you need a close-up portrait, do ask and expect a request for money. I strongly suggest not tipping even at the expense of not having that colourful mint seller in your album. Some folks do agree to be photographed for nothing, but bizzarely, while tuning my lens on one seller I had a policeman coming by and checking that I've got my subject's consent. Children on streets are ready to put a price tag on their father's footprints, so expect some young chap proudly demanding a price. Gently send them away.
The city centre is currently a maze of closed or temporary roads (sometimes even closed to pedestrians) while a large new shopping and residential centre is being developed.
Albert Dock is very difficult to reach at the present and the new main bus station is virtually out of use because most of the buses and passengers can't get there. You won't be seeing the river from the Pier Head because it is closed off for construction of a canal right in front of the landmark riverfront buildings, which also means that they cannot be seen in their proper perspective.
It's a shame but I'm posting this warning because too many people are raising false expectations of the 'experience' to be had wandering the city and to disappoint visitors' expectations is not clever.
'Nuit Blanche' is an annual event in Paris, whereby (so rumour would have it) everything stays open all night for revelry and awe. Imagine touring the Louvre at 2am, followed by a quiet 4am brunch in a streetside cafe watching the crowds walk past, and the carnival-like atmosphere.
It would be great - if it were true!
Last year's was a shambles. The authorities didn't (wouldn't) release guides until the night itself (and then didn't explain how to get them) and most Parisians had no idea what was open, or where.
We joined the crowds milling outside the Louvre (closed), tried the Musee d'Orsay (closed) and settled for a Bateau Mouche - which turned out to provide the long awaited guidebook once you'd bought your ticket.
The boat trip itself was pleasant, during which we could read the guide - to discover few places indeed were open at all, and the promised 'all night opening' of the Metro only applied to certain lines in certain directions.
The only bar we could find open and not crammed with similarly baffled tourists was Australian (not very Parisian). When we finally gave up, we joined the thousands of others equally trying to desperately get a taxi home in the sub-zero temperatures, and ended up huddled in a Metro entrance (closed) for warmth until the hordes had thinned enough for us to try and get back.
It can't be blamed on our being tourists - as we have French friends who live in Paris and who we'd joined to spend the 'event' with!
Hopefully this year's will be better, but I'd definitely check every detail out in advance, just in case!
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuit_Blanche
www.paris.fr/portail/Culture/Portal.lut?page_id=6806
goparis.about.com/od/events/p/Nuit_Blanche.htm
This farm is not huge, but has a choice selection of snakes, with informative shows twice a day. It's about 60 baht if you go at the time of the show, otherwise it's free. Watch out, it can be gory if you go at feeding time. Also go here if you get bitten by a dog or snake during your stay - the Institute Pasteur on site provides anti-rabies vaccinations and other anti-venoms - bring the offending snake or a description of it if you can.
At one end of Henri Dunant road; take a short cut from Saladaeng Skytrain station across Soi Thaniya and cross Rama 4 road. Also near the subway station - the stop before Hua Lampong station.
This a warning for all of those intrepid travellers venturing to Sarajevo. Be wary of a 40-50 year old woman who loiters around the bus and train stations hoping to entice naive backpackers into staying at her house for the night. She claims all of the hostels are full and that she's been sent to the station to offer people a bed for the night. In reality, this is a lie.
The Hostel Ljubicica (highly recommended) has enough rooms dotted around the city to cater to Sarajevo's visitors, even in the peak season. Her ruse is to take you back to her flat (supposedly 20-30 minutes from the centre) and show you to a bed - separated from her bed by a curtain! Suffice to say, it's a very uncomfortable stay and an hour or so later she'll ask you if you are ok and would you like me to try and find out if any hostels have had a cancellation? She then leads you back into the city, dumping you at a hotel/hostel and does one with your money.
This is a real danger; I was in Sarajevo for three nights and met two groups of lads (one from Wales, the other from Japan) who'd fallen for it. The tale gets stranger. She has a thing for Asian males and makes her best effort to keep them around, hoping for something extra. The two Japanese lads had to unlock a window and drop themselves down to get away! Once again, this is no joke so be warned.
On a happier note, Sarajevo is a brilliant city. For those into their beer, try the Sarajevsko Pivo brewery for a fun day out. The market place is also always worth a walk around (try some burek, a pastry full of meat, which is delicious). The more adventurous types might like to walk into the hills surrounding Sarajevo and check out the little villages up there. I did and it was a great experience. Friendly locals (unlike some of their inner city counterparts!), beautiful views and a peek into real Bosnian life, shouldn't be missed.
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