Travel/Asia

A first-hand account of the Discover Doha Transit Tour, including visa tips, a visit to the Katara Mosque, and a relaxing stop at the Al Mourjan Lounge before flying to Barcelona.

Day 9 of the trip to the South Caucasus region in Georgia featuring a sunrise at Mt. Kazbek, a visit to the iconic Gergeti Trinity Church, the Jvari Monastery overlooking the confluence of the Aragvi and Kura rivers at Mtskheta, and the monumental Chronicles of Georgia.

Day 8 of the trip to the South Caucasus region with a scenic road trip along the Georgian Military Road featuring stops at the Monument of 300 Aragvians, Ananuri Fortress, the confluence of the Black and White Aragvi rivers, and the Russia-Georgia Friendship Monument.

Day 7 of the trip to the South Caucasus region exploring the cultural heart of Kutaisi, featuring a visit to the Gelati Monastery, a walk across the Chain Bridge, and sweeping city views from the historic Bagrati Cathedral.

Day 6 of the trip to the South Caucasus region on a road trip day featuring Soviet history in Gori, panoramic views from Gori Fortress, and an evening stroll through the parks and sculptures of Kutaisi.

Day 5 of the trip to the South Caucasus region sightseeing in Tbilisi featuring a city tour, the beautiful Bridge of Peace, the ancient Anchiskhati Basilica, and a delicious Georgian lunch at Bazari Orbeliani.

Day 4 of the trip to the South Caucasus region with a cross-border journey from Armenia to Georgia featuring the stunning vistas of Lake Sevan, a lunch stop at the Tsovagyugh Food Court, and a drive through the lush landscapes of Dilijan.

Day 3 of the trip to the South Caucasus region full of Armenian culture featuring the Khor Virap monastery, the ancient Garni Temple, the monumental Mother Armenia statue, and an evening at the Singing Fountains in Republic Square.

Day 2 of the trip to the South Caucasus region with a cross-border road trip featuring the UNESCO-listed Haghpat Monastery Complex, views of Mount Aragats, and a traditional Armenian dinner at Tavern Yerevan.

Day 1 of the trip to the South Caucasus region features a transit through Kazakhstan, exploring Almaty’s iconic monuments and parks before arriving in Tbilisi to collect a Mercedes Metris for the road trip.

We left from Mumbai on TG318 for Bangkok at 11:35 PM, a little before midnight. There was a meal service onboard and the rest of the flight was comfortable. We landed on time around 5:35 AM. During transit at Bangkok Suvarnabhumi Airport, we visited the Miracle Lounge near Gate D5 for a quick breakfast. ...

I had always wanted to do the Pacific Island Hopper after reading about it many years ago. It was operated by Continental Micronesia, and after the merger, by United Airlines. One of the best and probably the only practical way to experience this was with an award redemption ticket using miles. I have been collecting miles on United MileagePlus for quite some time and this was one of the best ways to use them. ...

We started our day with a nice breakfast at the Long Hostel. The banana pancake was especially good, as was, of course, the Vietnamese iced coffee. We had booked the Mekong River Day Tour from Ho Chi Minh on klook.com. They contacted us via WhatsApp and picked us up on the main road right outside our hostel. There were a couple of other stops to pick up more people before we started driving out of the city and into the countryside. ...

After our fourth day in Bali yesterday, we had a relaxed morning and went to Aeni Spa Wana for a Balinese massage. It was nice and refreshing after the 4 days of sightseeing and activities. Coming back to the hotel, we enjoyed a leisurely breakfast. We got ready and walked to the airport for our flight to Ho Chi Minh City. It was the first time we were flying VietJet Air. The line for check-in was quite long and it took a while for us to get to the counter. ...

We got up early and walked to the beach for our “swimming with dolphins” and snorkeling tour. We had booked it with Saraswati Lovina Dolphin for IDR 500,000. We met our boat operator and we were off. At first, there seemed to be a plethora of boats all heading out to sea, but as we went further out, everyone dispersed in different directions. Soon after, we started seeing dolphins around us. ...

We got up early and checked out of the hotel; we would be coming back here after a day. Our driver arrived at the hotel at 7:00 am, and we were on our way. We picked up some breakfast and coffee to go from a Mini Mart nearby and continued to drive on. Our first stop was Tanah Lot. This is a traditional Balinese temple located on a small, rocky island. It can be accessed on foot during low tide. Again, we had the advantage of being there relatively early and avoiding the crowds. The entrance fee for the two of us and parking was around IDR 120,000 and IDR 5,000. We were able to visit a small shrine at the base, but the main shrine at the top was closed to visitors. The tide started coming in while we were there, and we could see the water level slowly rising. We also saw the Enjung Galuh Temple nearby. ...

We got up early and got ready for our second day here. We booked a car and driver for the remainder of our stay in Bali. Our driver arrived at the hotel at 6:30 am, and we were on our way. We picked up some breakfast and coffee to go from Circle K and continued to drive on. Our first stop was the Besakih Great Temple. It is the most important, largest, and holiest temple of Balinese Hinduism. The entrance fee, including the sarong rental for both of us, was IDR 180,000. Having left from Kuta very early in the morning, we had the advantage of being one of the very few visitors there. It was a huge site with multiple temple complexes to explore as we climbed higher. We got to see everything at our own pace and then headed back down. As we were leaving, we could see more and more people coming in. ...

After arriving from Singapore yesterday, we got up early for the visit to Nusa Penida today. We booked a ride to Sanur Port using the Gojek app, and it cost IDR 141,500 to get there. We reached and located the Sanur Port building and were told that we had to go to the Semabu Hills Fast Boat counter to exchange the voucher for the ferry ticket. There was a long line at the counter. The looked at the reservation details from Klook and gave us each a badge with lanyard and also a voucher for the return trip. We walked back to the Sanur Port building and then proceeded to board our ferry to Nusa Penida. ...

Our flight, SQ 423, left from Mumbai a little before midnight. We had exit row seats towards the end of the lower deck and we were able to get priority boarding thanks to my United Premier Gold status. The meal service was dinner, more than an hour after take-off. We were able to catch a little sleep and before long we were starting our descent into Singapore. ...

KrisFlyer miles generally follow a fixed-expiry policy where they remain valid for 36 months (3 years) from the month they were earned. Unlike many other loyalty programs, this expiry is not extended by account activity; even if you earn or redeem miles regularly, the old miles still expire on their original schedule. My parents-in-law had some miles on Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer from their earlier travel to the USA. These miles were now close to expiry. They had no plans to use them, so that gave me an opportunity to look at what I could do with them before they expired. ...

We got up early to get ready to pass through immigration and customs to join the transit tour from the airport. I had a great day in Istanbul 🔗 with touristanbul the last time I was here in transit. We had a quick breakfast of scrambled eggs, cheese, pastries and Turkish coffee. There were, of course, many other things to choose from, like sandwiches, a live omelette station, fresh juices, etc. But we were rushed and didn’t have the time to enjoy a leisurely breakfast. The day long tour was scheduled to depart at 8:30 AM, so we left the Turkish Airlines Miles & Smiles lounge at around 7:00 AM to find a way to exit the departure level. ...

My flight from San Francisco via Hong Kong landed around noon and I had just short of 7 hours before my connecting flight. I decided to take the Free Singapore Tour from the airport. Indian nationals in transit through Singapore are visa-exempt for 96 hours, provided they hold a valid visa issued for USA. I registered for the 1:30 PM Heritage Tour and it was fully booked soon after. I would not have been able to take the 4:00 PM tour so it was good that I signed up just in time. ...

We checked out of Nine Hours Narita Airport and headed to the terminal for our flight to Mumbai. We were able to use the priority check-in counters thanks to my Star Alliance Gold Status on United MileagePlus. We had missed seeing Mt. Fuji during this trip and also hadn’t been able to see it from the Shinkansen the previous day. Looking at which runways were used for take-off for the last few days for this flight I took a calculated guess and asked for seats on the right side of the plane hoping to catch a glimpse of Mt. Fuji from the air. We got assign a middle and window seat on the right side. ...

Today was the last day of the trip and we would spend most of it travelling back to Tokyo. I had a couple of options in mind. One option was to take a break at Himeji and see Himeji castle. The second was to take a break at Shin-Fuji and go and see Mt. Fuji. Getting to see Mt. Fuji trumped visiting the Himeji Castle. But based on the reading of travel blogs and websites, it seemed that being able to get a good view of Mt. Fuji was subject to local weather conditions and/or the time of day. The last thing we wanted was to get there and not be able to see Mt. Fuji. The third option was to break the journey in Okayama and do a side trip to Takamatsu in Shikoku, effectively visiting all the four main islands of the Japanese archipelago. We choose this one and used our Japan Rail Pass 🔗 for seat reservations for the trains till Tokyo. ...

We used our Japan Rail Pass 🔗 to travel to Ibusuki. We boarded the 7:51 AM Nanohana Rapid Service at Kagoshima-Chūō Station and travelled on the Ibusuki Makurazaki Line along the eastern coast of Satsuma Peninsula till Ibusuki Station. It took us a little more than an hour to get there. Ibusuki appeared to be a quite, laid back town. We walked through the peaceful local neighbourhoods which had very rustic feel and were very different that anything we had seen in Japan thus far. Saraku Sand Bath Hall was about a 20 minute away by foot away from Ibusuki Station. ...

We got up early and got ready, it was too early so we skipped breakfast again. We walked from Piece Hostel Kyoto to Kyoto Station. We used our Japan Rail Pass 🔗 for seats reservations for the long distance trains for today. The plan was to visit Hiroshima and Miyajima (also known as Itsukushima) and then head to Kagoshima. Our first journey would take us from Kyoto to Hiroshima on the Hikari 491 which operated on the Tōkaidō Shinkansen line till Shin-Osaka and then on the San’yō Shinkansen line till Hiroshima. This was the fastest Shinkansen ride during our trip covering a distance of 380.6 kms in 1 hour 44 minutes with average speed of 219.58 kmph. After reaching Hiroshima Station, we visited the Hiroshima Tourist Information to buy the Visit Hiroshima Tourist Pass for the day. Seeing that we were foreign visitors who had just arrived by train, the staff confirmed that we could use the Hiroshima Sightseeing Loop Bus to visit all the placed we had planned and that it was included with our Japan Rail Pass 🔗. We then went to the baggage lockers to leave our bags there before heading out and taking the Sightseeing Loop Bus. ...

We got up early and got ready, it was too early for breakfast. The plan was to go and see the Arashiyama Bamboo Forest as early as possible to avoid the crowds. We walked from Piece Hostel Kyoto to Kyoto Station. We used our Japan Rail Pass 🔗 for the 6:04 AM train on the JR Sagano Line towards Sonobe. It took a little more than 15 minutes and we reached Saga-Arashiyama Station station. ...

We got up early, got ready and went down to have breakfast. Breakfast the next morning was basic but adequate. We walked to the Hakodate Morning Market which was only a couple of minutes away. The market area spanned a few city blocks and was open from early morning till about noon. There was a lot of local Hakodate produce on display, vegetables and fruits. But the main attraction was the large variety of fresh and preserved seafood, including crabs and salmon roe. A few stores had freshly-caught squids swimming in tanks, you could fish them and then have the chef prepare it for you to eat. There were many restaurants in the market area that offered Seafood Rice Bowl. Having eaten (a more western) breakfast of eggs, toast and coffee already we were not sure if we would fancy seafood so early in the morning we decide to give it a miss. Overall it was a nice experience to walk around. ...

We got up early and got ready. We checked-out of the Pearl Hotel Yaesu and walked to Tokyo Station. Our journey today would take us from Tokyo in Honshū to Hakodate in Hokkaidō. We used our Japan Rail Pass 🔗 and had made seat reservations on Hayabusa 1 service from Tokyo to Shin-Hakodate-Hokuto and after that we would take the Hakodate Liner to Hakodate. We were looking forward to our first journey on the Shinkansen. When we reached Tokyo Station we saw lines drawn on the platforms for First and Second Class passengers to organize the boarding process. The passengers in the Second Class line would wait till all passengers in the First Class line had boarded. While we waited for our train, we saw the E7/W7 Series with E2 Series Shinkansen trainsets. ...

After a comfortable flight 🔗, we landed on time at Tokyo Narita Airport; fresh and ready for our week in Japan. Immigration and baggage claim was fairly quick. We headed to the JR East Travel Service center and exchanged our vouchers for the actual Japan Rail Pass 🔗 after showing them our passport and visa. We used it right away and booked tickets on the Narita Express 10 at 9:45 AM reaching Tokyo at 10:44 AM. ...

We were able to use the business class check-in counters thanks to my Star Alliance Gold Status on United MileagePlus. I had originally chosen seats 13A and 13C in the first row of economy hoping that the middle seat would remain empty. The check-in agent was very nice and offered to seat us separately in the same row with two empty seats next to each of us. Of course we accepted and were assigned 14A (with 14B and 14C unoccupied) and 14D (with 14E and 14F unoccupied). We also got invitations to visit the GVK Lounge before departure. The lounge was nice and had a very good selection of food and drink. We had a quick dinner before heading to the gate for boarding. ...

When we decided that Japan was going to be our next holiday destination, it was certain that we would be using the Japan Rail Pass there. It was quite expensive, considering that it costs about half the price of the standard return airfare from Mumbai to Tokyo per person. I ordered the Japan Rail Pass vouchers from www.japan-rail-pass.com and they were shipped to us by FedEx. These vouchers were to be exchanged for the actual Japan Rail Pass from a JR Travel Service center. ...

Since I had decided the destination of our last trip to South Africa 🔗, this time it was my wife’s turn to decide, and Japan was the destination of choice. My job now was to figure out a way to get us there. There was a transfer promotion going on, so I transferred points from my Citibank Rewards credit card to the Jet Airways JetPrivilege program, and I did the same for my mother’s credit card. We eventually didn’t get the transfer bonus as per the promotion, but nonetheless, we had just enough miles for two round-trip tickets to Japan. ...

Ever since I found out about touristanbul I was eagerly waiting for the opportunity fly Turkish Airlines and visit Istanbul in transit. My red-eye from London to Istanbul on Saturday night landed early morning and I had a 15-hour layover before my flight to Mumbai. There were kiosks at the airport where people could apply for a visa.The Republic of Turkey issues e-Visas for Indian passport holders who have a valid visa for the USA, the UK, or the Schengen countries. I had applied for the e-Visa in advance to avoid any last-minute complications. I headed to immigration, where the officer checked my e-Visa and also my visa for the USA, and stamped my passport. My bag was checked through to Mumbai so I walked past baggage claim and customs and proceeded to the Hotel Desk in the International Arrival Hall (next to Starbucks). I submitted my boarding pass to them, and they asked me to wait around until they called for the tour. There was still lots of time so I found an empty bench and took a nap since I hadn’t really slept well on the overnight flight. ...

The plan for today was to make a day trip to Milan and add Italy to my travel map. I had started thinking about this two weeks before but the train tickets from Zurich to Milan were already quite expensive. So I decided to go by bus. I booked my onward journey on FlixBus for €19,00 and I found a good price of £22.10 on loco2.com for the return by train. My journey would take me over the Gotthard Pass by road and return via the Gotthard Tunnel by rail. The Gotthard Base Tunnel was still under construction and only opened in 2016 so I didn’t get to experience that. ...

Today was the last day of our trip and we were looking forward to going home. My initial plan was to go for a swim at the pool and then enjoy a nice breakfast. After packing all our luggage, it was a pleasant surprise to know that we still had room left for some more. So we changed our plan and visited MBK again to pick up stuff which we had liked the previous night but couldn’t buy because we weren’t sure if we could carry it back. So, after a quick breakfast we were off to MBK and took the metro from Nana to Siam. I missed the chance to enjoy the great swimming pool at the Ambassador Hotel. We came back in time for lunch but our car to the airport had arrived early. So we decided to get to the airport early and have lunch there. We checked out of the hotel and we were off to Bangkok Suvarnabhumi Airport which I had read so much about on airliners.net. It was very huge and impressive. ...

After visiting Safari World yesterday, today was another full day outdoors. We set off in the morning to visit the famous Damnoen Saduak Floating Market. We drove for a while away from Bangkok city after picking up passengers for today’s tour. We were dropped off at a canal from where we boarded boats which would take us to the floating market. We cruised through the canal passing by many houses and buildings and seeing the residents go about their everyday life. ...

Today we were all set to visit Safari World. We were picked up by a mini bus and we stopped by at a few other hotels to pick up more people for the tour. On reaching there, we first went for the drive through the Safari Park. We saw lots of wild animal along the way and it was nice to see that even if not free, at least they were not caged. ...

After a nice day in Pattaya yesterday, we left in the morning and headed back to Bangkok. We were dropped off at The Ambassador Hotel. We waited to be checked in and eventually they managed to find a room for us on a non-smoking floor. The room was nice with a small balcony overlooking the swimming pool. The swimming pool looked very inviting, and I should have gone for a swim right then and there instead of keeping that for later time. But at that time I didn’t know that with all the activities we had planned in Bangkok that later time would never come. ...

After arriving in Pattaya yesterday, we got ready in the morning and went down for breakfast. As usual, even this hotel had a great breakfast spread. We were scheduled to take the Coral Island (Ko Laan) tour today. A tuk-tuk arrived to take us to the beach. We reached there and had to wade through the water to reach the speedboat which was going to take us to Coral Island. There were about 20-25 people with us. Our first stop was parasailing. We had to climb aboard a floating platform where parasailing could be done at extra cost. We were, of course, more than willing. We watched in awe at the precision and timing with which the people were handling the activities. As soon as a person came in for a landing, a group of people would attack him/her and get the harness off, one person would lead the person who has just landed away, while another group would attach the harness to the next person waiting in line who would be lifted off his/her feet almost instantaneously. And all this within a time frame of 5-10 seconds while the boat pulling the harness and parachute is still moving ahead in the water. Soon it was my turn and before I knew it I was in the air being led by the boat for a loop round; it was like flying really. ...

Traveling overnight from Malaysia yesterday, I got up as our train was approaching Hua Hin railway station. All the coach attendants put on their coats and hats and waited at the door of each coach. The halt wasn’t too long and soon we resumed our journey to Bangkok. One thing we didn’t notice the previous night was that our coach was the last coach on the train. And there was a door with a big glass window at the end, so I spent some time standing there and watching the track fly backwards. ...

After a relaxing day yesterday, we got up in the morning and went down for breakfast. The hotel had a great breakfast spread and we really enjoyed it. Even the restaurant setup and ambiance were great. We then went for a walk around the hotel. We wanted to stock up with a few food items for our journey to Thailand. We decided to be a little adventurous and take the bus from our hotel to the jetty to take the ferry to Butterworth on mainland Malaysia. We didn’t have to wait at the bus stop for long. The bus ride was nice and we were treated to some great views of the Andaman Sea on the way. We also caught a glimpse of Georgetown. ...

After a nice day in Kuala Lumpur yesterday, we got up in the morning and got ready to leave for Penang. We were to depart on Air Asia flight AK6310 from the LCCT. Our ride to the airport was arranged and we were picked up from our hotel after breakfast. The drive to the airport was nothing spectacular. But we did manage to view the developments in and around Kuala Lumpur. The high-rise buildings, elevated tracks for the mass transit system, the roads and highways all seems very impressive and almost on par with developed countries. As we drove towards the airport, the road ran alongside the high-speed train tracks from Kuala Lumpur International Airport to KL Sentral and one of the KLIA Express trains just zipped right past us. The non-stop trip takes around 28 minutes to cover the distance of 57 kilometers. Would have liked to try that. As we approached the road to the LCCT we also saw the way to the Sepang International Circuit (SIC), venue used for the Formula One Malaysian Grand Prix, etc. ...

After a nice day yesterday, we had a quick breakfast at our hotel and waited in the lobby to be picked up for the Kuala Lumpur city tour. When the driver arrived, we recognized him as being the one who drove us from Genting and we also met the couple from Mumbai who were also on the city tour with us. Our first stop was the Istana Negara (or National Palace). ...

After arriving here yesterday, we woke up and decided to hit the Genting Outdoor Theme Park nice and early to avoid the crowds and more importantly long lines for the rides. After a wonderful buffet breakfast at our hotel we started off following directions to get to the Outdoor Theme Park. After walking for what seemed like forever through corridors and escalators we finally reached the entrance of the Outdoor Theme Park. As we stepped outside we realized that it was really cold and very foggy. Forget the crowds, there was hardly anyone in sight. The first thing I tried was the Spinner. It was a nice ride but it made the cold seem even worse. I was the only one who tried this. ...

As I woke up and gazed outside my window, I realized that we were somewhere over the Malacca Straits as we approached Kuala Lumpur International Airport - KLIA (KUL). Soon the captain made the announcement asking the cabin crew to return to their seat as we were about to land. The one thing I did notice was how incredibly green the landscape below was: lush green palm plantations as far as we could see. The landing was nothing out of the ordinary and we were soon taxiing our way to the assigned aero-bridge for docking. ...