April 15, 2013

Addicted to travel: Dromomania

I have always wanted to define my passion for escaping and wandering, an urge to travel and explore this world of ours. Finally, after investigating and much research I came across this this thing called dromomania, for those with an insatiable urge to travel. At last my condition has a name and something I can understand better.

Dromomania, is an uncontrollable psychological urge to wander or travel. People with this condition spontaneously depart from their routine, travel long distances (and sometimes take up different identities and occupations). The term comes from the Greek: dromos (running) and mania (insanity). The term is sometimes used to describe people who have a strong emotional or even physical need to be constantly traveling and experiencing new places.

I've been called worse things, and besides, there are worse conditions to have, but I can safely make a self diagnoses  and officially call myself a dromomaniac.


A post by Joe Mendonca


February 17, 2013

Tickets to Macchu Picchu, the easy way to book in advance


Visitor numbers to Machu Picchu are restricted to 2500 people per day, even less if you want to explore Huaynapicchu or Machu Mountain with only 400 per day. Planning ahead and booking tickets is a complicated process as the official tickets are issued by the Peru Ministry of Culture only. The official website struggles to function, only reservations can be made online, and payment is due within 6 hours, something that cannot be completed on the official website, only locally through registered banks and tourist offices. After 6 hours the reservations are released.

I wanted to do both Macchu Picchu and Huaynapicchu I didn't want to wait for a last chance opportunity to visit. After many tries and research I found an excellent online service, Ticket-Machupicchu.com, that will buy the tickets on your behalf (for a small surcharge). Your required to provide the date your visiting along with your passport name and number, as this will be checked upon entry onto Machu Picchu. In fact, you need a entry ticket just to buy a ticket for the bus up to the site.

The booking process is easy and professional, they even have an online chat should you have any queries about ordering. Payment can be made online and you will be sent an email to track your order. It takes approximately 30 days to issue, but you will be informed by email along with a link to print your pass/entry - this can also be confirmed by checking your ticket with the official government website.

Relief. I'm going to Macchu Picchu and Huaynapicchu with a 7am time slot. Planning ahead ensures my entry. If your struggling to buy tickets Ticket-Machupicchu.com is the easy way to book your ticket in advance.


Ticket-Machupicchu.com
Peru Ministry of Culture - Machu Picchu Official Reservations System Online


February 2, 2013

Hetero Friendly Axel Hotel Berlin Review


After the success of Barcelona and Buenos Aires, Axel Hotel, the world's first heterofriendly hotel chain opened the third location in the heart of the gay district of Berlin, a niche upmarket intimate hotel serving mostly gay clientele, and definitely one of the most unique hotel experiences I've had.

Dark and stylish, floor to ceiling mirrors, black painted walls in corridors, bedrooms balanced by white cotton and red accents with upward lighting. The real difference is discovering the room layout has an open plan bathroom where shower and sink area are exposed (except toilet). Immediately when you walk in to your room a red tinted glass reveals the jacuzzi tub and shower behind it, opposite a wall with floor to ceiling mirror, means all is visible to watch whoever may be in the shower or bath. If your traveling with someone you have to be comfortable in your own skin, and not afraid for others to watch.

The spa area on the 6th floor had fitness equipment as well as a wet and dry sauna, with a jacuzzi outside overlooking the city. The whole spa area is glass windows to watch the world outside. The spa is open till 2am.

Rooms have a luxurious and sexy appeal, but there are some things that score low to make this a repeat experience. The wifi signal and network was difficult and unreliable, connecting on a mobile practically impossible, and the iPad struggled to stay connected. Not included in the room rate is standard TV channels, instead of opting to pay for selected movies Axel Hotel Berlin charges extra to activate even common TV, which in my book should be standard.

Axel Hotel Berlin is in a class of its own and very different from conventional hotels. It is an experience and a destination in itself. This is not a place for the conservative individual but rather one who is willing to be more exhibitionist for a change. It is sexy with upmarket appeal, cosmopolitan design with high standards and specs. No sleaze here, rather sophisticated kink.



Axel Hotel Berlin - Booking.com
Axel Hotel Berlin - Tripadvisor
Axel Hotel Berlin

February 1, 2013

Tegel: from gate to taxi in less than 60 seconds

The quickest exit ever, from the plane to entering my booked airport transfer in less than 60 seconds. Über efficient!


As soon as I landed I was notified my driver and car was waiting via an email, along with the drivers name and contact number, but it wasn't long after we arrived at the gate and got off the plane, passed passport control, exited, find my driver and get on my way - all in less than 60 seconds.



Airport transfer from Berlin Tegel airport with Blacklane Limousines. Book your car with chauffeur on their website, smartphone app or by phone at a binding fixed price. Billing is handled automatically using your preferred cashless payment method.



January 23, 2013

Travel Trends: 100 Most Visited Cities



Figures released from Euromonitor International Top City Destinations Ranking, covering 100 of the world's leading and most dynamic cities in terms of international tourist arrivals have just been released for 2011. Report shows emerging city destinations located in Asia Pacific saw an increase due to a strong economic environment.

While many cities remained in the same rank, Vietnam showed a particularly strong performance with Ho Chi Minh and Hanoi experiencing 40% growth for the second consecutive year, with future demand is likely to be driven by other Vietnamese cities including Hue, Hoi An, Nha Trang and Phu Quoc emerging as international tourists look to discover more new places.

Uncertainty in the global economy still exists, especially in the US and Europe, future growth will be driven by Asia Pacific, the Middle East, Africa and Latin America.

Top City Destinations Ranking 2011

Country City Rank 2011 Growth (%)
Hong Kong, China Hong Kong 1 8.8
Singapore Singapore 2 8.7
United Kingdom London 3 2.7
Malaysia Kuala Lumpur 4 16.0
China Macau 5 8.4
Thailand Bangkok 6 12.5
Turkey Antalya 7 13.3
China Shenzhen 8 6.8
USA New York City 9 3.5
Turkey Istanbul 10 20.2
China Guangzhou 11 8.9
France Paris 12 3.5
United Arab Emirates Dubai 13 -0.1
China Shanghai 14 -5.8
USA Miami 15 7.1
Saudi Arabia Mecca 16 4.7
Thailand Pattaya 17 10.5
Italy Rome 18 4.5
USA Las Vegas 19 4.2
Spain Barcelona 20 4.0
Taiwan Taipei 21 51.3
China Beijing 22 5.1
USA Los Angeles 23 8.1
Thailand Phuket 24 9.5
Hungary Budapest 25 8.5
Netherlands Amsterdam 26 12.8
Russia Moscow 27 11.5
USA Orlando 28 4.1
Czech Republic Prague 29 0.0
Germany Berlin 30 7.5
Austria Vienna 31 4.8
Turkey Mugla 32 11.9
Vietnam Ho Chi Minh 33 45.1
Spain Madrid 34 0.8
Ukraine Kiev 35 6.6
Poland Warsaw 36 35.0
Ireland Dublin 37 -6.7
Egypt Cairo 38 -35.0
Turkey Edirne 39 9.3
China Zhuhai 40 -2.2
India Chennai 41 14.0
China Hangzhou 42 14.2
Argentina Buenos Aires 43 9.2
USA San Francisco 44 2.9
Russia St Petersburg 45 16.0
South Korea Seoul 46 1.7
Mexico Mexico City 47 3.7
Japan Tokyo 48 -28.0
Canada Toronto 49 0.3
India Delhi 50 15.0
Australia Sydney 51 0.2
Indonesia Denpasar 52 0.5
Mexico Cancún 53 9.1
Peru Lima 54 30.0
China Suzhou 55 14.0
Romania Bucharest 56 10.0
India Mumbai 57 7.0
Belgium Brussels 58 2.1
Dominican Republic Punta Cana 59 11.0
South Africa Johannesburg 60 8.4
Germany Munich 61 4.0
France Nice 62 2.6
New Zealand Auckland 63 7.7
Portugal Lisbon 64 5.4
India Agra 65 15.0
Italy Milan 66 4.8
India Jaipur 67 16.0
Morocco Marrakech 68 1.2
Egypt Sharm el Sheikh 69 -21.6
Saudi Arabia East Province 70 6.4
Syria Damascus 71 -18.4
Canada Vancouver 72 -6.6
Indonesia Jakarta 73 0.3
Bulgaria Burgas 74 7.7
Syria Aleppo 75 -12.3
Italy Venice 76 4.7
Philippines Manila 77 23.0
Italy Florence 78 4.5
Bulgaria Varna 79 7.4
Kenya Nairobi 80 40.3
USA Honolulu 81 2.8
Greece Athens 82 2.0
Vietnam Hanoi 83 41.5
New Zealand Christchurch 84 -0.5
United Arab Emirates Abu Dhabi 85 6.3
Brazil Rio de Janeiro 86 7.0
China Guilin 87 14.3
Australia Melbourne 88 14.4
Brazil São Paulo 89 3.0
Thailand Chiang Mai 90 6.3
USA Washington DC 91 2.6
Saudi Arabia Riyadh 92 6.5
Azerbaijan Baku 93 8.6
Turkey Izmir 94 27.1
China Nanjing 95 14.4
Bulgaria Sofia-City & Greater Area 96 9.7
Kyrgyzstan Issyk-Kulskaya Oblast 97 57.6
Belarus Minsk 98 2.8
India Kolkatta 99 9.0
Switzerland Zurich 100 3.3



Source: Euromonitor International’s Top 100 City Destinations Ranking (2001 Results)

January 8, 2013

Houston - Enjoy The NASA City!

In collaboration with / and guest post by farebuzz.com.


It was on one fine weekend evening when I received a mail from my head office. They asked me to go to Houston to solve some issues pertaining to my Company. This city is one of the major cities in the United States of America. Besides, NASA, it is well known for its energy sources such as oil and natural gas. The city is well known for its energy production and it also houses many prominent corporate houses. It has a reputation of being one of the most visited cities in US. Thus, our company has a good market there with immense business opportunities. There are many flights to Houston and my tickets were booked on British Airways.

My office people looked for cheap tickets and this was not very difficult. On the very first day I reached this destination, I got busy in my official work. For the next two three days, I could not see any attractions in the city as I was busy. On the very first day, when I got free, I visited NASA. I came to know about the remarkable feats achieved by this Space Agency. I saw various documentaries regarding the achievements of this agency in the past few decades.



Since it was not a preplanned trip, I could not wait for cheap tickets to Houston. Being a busy route many major airlines such as Air France, British Airways etc are plying flights to Houston in this area. Hence the city is well connected with rest of the world and I was lucky enough to fly in one of the cheap flights to Houston.

After reaching there I was quite busy for two three days solving the issue. Long discussions and negotiations have lasted till midnight and hence I could not visit the city. After the third day, I got relieved a bit and I used the evenings to visit many places in the city.

The first place I have visited was the Port of Houston. It is the largest port in US and the tonnage of the material being shipped from this port is more than that being done in any other ports in US. There is a small town ship around the port and most of the residents are living up on the port doing some odd jobs connected to the port. There you have a good chance for shopping too. There I saw many wayside vendors who were selling food articles and souvenirs. I have purchased some good handicraft pieces as a souvenir of my trip to Houston.

Houston is most visited by foreigners during events such as Car Art Parade and Houston Live stock Show. There are many events which attracts a large number of visitors. The city has many venues for performing arts too where different cultural activities are being conducted throughout the year. Thus the life in Houston is always busy and the visitors are enjoying the crowd too.


December 7, 2012

PJ Hotel Review - Seoul, South Korea

Traveling with two friends and having to fit three in a room can be challenging when it comes to searching for a hotel, often it means two have to share a bed while one is lucky enough to have their own.  With PJ Hotel they had arrangements and rooms which are perfectly suited for sharing, even when there is more than two of you.

I was highly impressed by the rooms which are large and spacious. Having three single beds meant we all could have our own sleeping space. In addition, there is a small entry hall to leave shoes or jackets, a large bathroom with separate glass shower and separate bathtub, and the obligatory electric toilet seats founds in most of Asia (I especially like the heated seat). Particularly nice is a small elevated living space with low table and chairs, an air cleaner, Nespresso coffee maker and coffee capsules, electric kettle and tea (though hot and cold water can also be obtained in the hall area just outside the rooms),  safe, and a small fridge supplied with three bottles of water.

As well as a 32 inch HD flat screen TV in the bedroom, the living area also had a small 19 inch TV for separate entertainment. Wifi also enabled and ready to use throughout the hotel, free.

This four star hotel really did deliver comfort and quality, exceptionally well. I wouldn't hesitate to stay again as it is nicely located within walking distance of historic sites and attractions, as well as shopping and unique markets and streets founds near its steps.