Its December and time for my yearly trip to visit family in India again. I always try to do some side trips during my vacation for this time of the year. In our last trip (2016-2017) we did Australia – New Zealand and the one before that (2015-2016) we did Egypt and Kenya Safari and previously in (2014-2015) we did South East Asia (Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia). Well this year we will do a short one week trip to Siem Reap, Hanoi and Singapore. This will check off at least two items on my bucket list – Angkor Wat in Siem Reap …
Asia Destination Trip ReportsDec’17 – Jan’18: India, Cambodia, Vietnam and Singapore Trip – Introduction
Destination Trip Reports North America US, Canada, MexicoSeptember 2017 – Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks Trip Report
Day 1: During the Labor day weekend we planned to do a quick weekend getaway to the Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks. Its only about a 5 hours drive from our home. We started the day fairly early and made our first stop for lunch at Three Rivers, California. There was about a 1 hour wait to enter the park and after paying the park fees we made our way through the Sequoia park. We had planned on covering the Sequoia Park on our first day so we drove towards the Giant Forest. It was fascinating to drive with …
Destination Trip Reports EuropeJune 2017: Berlin Trip Report
Day 1: There are many places in Berlin where you can still see the remnants of the Berlin Wall but the two most popular ones among them are the East Side Gallery and Berlin Wall Memorial Park. We wanted to start our Berlin trip with East Side Gallery and took S-Bahn to Ostbahnhof station. After coming outside the station, within about 5 minutes walk you get to the wall. After walking along the wall by the river Spree, we reached Oberbaum Bridge. After crossing the bridge we walked to Markthale Neun market. I had TripAdvisor reviews about the place and …
Destination Trip Reports EuropeJune 2017: Prague Trip Report
Day 1: We bought a day pass (110 CZK per person per day) from our hotel front desk for each of our days in Prague. The pass allowed all 4 of us to travel together on tram and metro for unlimited trips. We started the day by taking the tram to Charles Bridge. Standing on the Charles Bridge over Vltava river gives you a great view of the Prague Castle in the distance. After spending an hour on the bridge looking around at different statues, we walked back towards the Old Town Square. We walked on narrow cobblestone streets through …
Destination Trip Reports EuropeJune 2017: Budapest Trip Report
Day 1: We took the metro M1 line from Oktogon stop to Deak Ferenc Ter and switched to Bus 16. The bus crosses the river Danube and turns by the Funicular and goes uphill all the way to Buda Castle. After exploring Buda Castle for a couple of hours we walked towards Matthias Church. The exterior structure of this church is simply stunning and even though you can see it across the Danube from Pest side, nothing beats seeing it up close. From Matthias church we walked across the street to Fisherman’s Bastion. After spending some time taking pictures …
Destination Trip Reports EuropeJune 2017: Vienna Trip Report
Day 1: We took the hotel shuttle to the city center where it dropped us off in front of the Vienna State Opera. Right next to the opera is the busy shopping street of Kartner Strasse. We walked along the street and came across the beautiful Donner Brunnen Fountain. After taking some pictures we walked further along the Kartner Strasse to the very busy Stephansplatz square. The square sits right in front of the St. Stephen’s Cathedral. The exterior of St. Stephen’s Cathedral is very impressive. After spending about half an hour inside the church we proceeded on Graben street. …
Destination Trip Reports EuropeMay 2017: Munich Trip Report
Day 1: We arrived in Munich early morning on our flight from Houston. The S-Bahn station is right outside the airport served by both S1 and S8 lines. We were staying right next to the Munich Central Railway Station (Munich Hauptbahnhof) and so the S-Bahn was the best way to get to the city. A lot of European cities have group day tickets which is more economical than personal daily tickets. A ticket from Munich Airport (Flughafen Munchen) to city is under “Entire Network” option and so I bought a group day ticket (valid for up to 5 travelers) for …
Destination Trip Reports EuropeSummer 2017: Central Europe Trip Report – Introduction
My parents are visiting me in the US this summer and after their month long stay we are going to be visiting Europe for a 2 week trip. I was in Europe for the first time during the summer of 2014 when we visited Amsterdam, London, Lucerne, Milan, Venice, Rome and Paris. This time around we will start in Munich followed by Vienna, Budapest, Prague and finally Berlin. In the following weeks I will publish the following reviews and trip reports. Airline Review: United Airlines Business Class – Houston to Munich Trip Report: Munich, Germany Hotel Review: Aloft Munich Trip Report: …
Destination Trip Reports OceaniaJanuary 2017: Melbourne Trip Report
Day 1: After checking into our hotel (Radisson on Flagstaff Gardens, Melbourne), we walked to Queen Victoria Market which is located just 2 minutes away. Victoria Market is a fantastic place to do some souvenir shopping as well as trying out different ethnic cuisines. In addition to souvenirs, they had a variety of shops such as clothing, fruits and vegetables, artwork and handicrafts. After having some delicious Gozelme at a Turkish shop, we decided to do some late afternoon sightseeing. All the trams in the Melbourne CBD are free as designated by the free tram zone. Therefore it won’t cost anything …
Destination Trip Reports OceaniaJanuary 2017: Auckland Trip Report
Day 1: We arrived from Queenstown in the afternoon on our Jetstar flight. After collecting our checked-in luggage we found our way to the Skybus counter outside the terminal building. By purchasing Skybus tickets online, you save a little bit of money in comparison to showing up at the airport counter. We took the airport shuttle all the way to the terminus at Queen street and from there we transferred to another complimentary shuttle service to take us towards downtown. After checking in at the hotel (Crowne Plaza Auckland) we had an early dinner at Elliott Stables which was right …
Destination Trip Reports OceaniaJanuary 2017: Queenstown Trip Report
Day 1: We arrived at Queenstown International Airport around early afternoon on our flight from Sydney. In case you don’t already know, New Zealand exercises very strict bio-security at its airports (with huge fines for non-compliance) so we declared every single item that we were bringing in from Australia (packaged food, snacks etc). After clearing immigration and customs we took a cab to our hotel (Hilton Queenstown). We decided to walk along the trails leading from Hilton towards Kelvin Heights that ran beside Lake Wakatipu. We came across a mother teaching her daughter how to catch fish. After walking and …
Destination Trip Reports OceaniaJanuary 2017: Sydney Trip Report
Day 1: We arrived at Sydney Kingsford Smith Airport early in the morning. After immigration and customs we lined up for the taxi line for a cab to the hotel. We were staying at Sheraton on the Park which is located right opposite of St. James station by Hyde Park. I had researched that we could take the airport train straight to St. James station but it would be cheaper to take a cab for the 4 of us and also avoid having to carry around our luggage. In fact throughout our Sydney trip, for short distances it came out …
Destination Trip ReportsDec’16 – Jan’17 – India, Australia and New Zealand Trip: Introduction
Its December and once again time to visit India. For the last few years, I had planned our trip in such a way that after visiting India, we could add some other destinations before returning to the US. In 2013 we visited the Maldives, 2014 was a short trip to Phuket, Thailand, 2015 had us visiting South East Asia (Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand) and in 2016 it was Egypt and Kenya African Safari trip. This year we are planning on visiting Australia and New Zealand for 12 days. Both countries are big enough that you need almost a month to …
Destination Trip Reports North America US, Canada, MexicoSeptember 2016: Maui Trip Report
Day 1: We arrived on our flight from Kauai early morning. After picking up rental car, we drove from Kahului airport to Hyatt Regency on Ka’anapali Beach. After checking in, we drove to the Fish Market in Lahaina. Karen ordered some Shrimp Burrito while I had Pork Tacos. Both were very delicious. After lunch, we drove back to the resort and decided to spend rest of the afternoon on Kaanapali Beach. We walked along Ka’anapali Beach all the way to the end where Sheraton Maui Resort & Spa is located. I had read on various forums that just off the beach …
Destination Trip Reports North America US, Canada, MexicoSeptember 2016: Kauai Trip Report
Day 1: We arrived at Lihue International Airport, Kauai around just before noon on our morning flight from Los Angeles. We took the Hertz airport shuttle to the car rental lot and were soon on our way to our hotel. We were staying at the Grand Hyatt Kauai Resort & Spa for 2 nights. After checking into the hotel and freshening up, we decided to go have lunch first. I had read great Tripadvisor reviews of Da Crack in Poipu area in Kauai (very close to the Grand Hyatt). So we decided to go there to grab some lunch-to-go and …
Destination Trip Reports North America US, Canada, MexicoSeptember 2016: Hawaii Trip – Introduction
During the 2016 Labor Day weekend, Me and Karen took 2 extra days off from work and went to Hawaii for a mini-vacation. We visited 2 islands on this trip – Kauai and Maui. While this was my first time in Hawaii, Karen had already been to Oahu on her previous Hawaii Trip in 2014. In the following weeks, I will be posting these trip reports. Trip Report: Kauai, Hawaii Hotel Review: Grand Hyatt Kauai Resort & Spa Trip Report: Maui, Hawaii Hotel Review: Hyatt Regency Maui Resort & Spa Cost (Total for 2 travelers) : Transportation: $60 for gas in …
Asia Destination Trip ReportsJune 2016: Hong Kong Trip Report
Day 1: We arrived at Hong Kong International Airport on our flight from Osaka around noon. After clearing immigration, we proceeded to the Airport Express counter and booked discount package of 4 tickets from airport to Kowloon. The train ride from airport to Kowloon took less than an hour. After reaching Kowloon we took the complimentary shuttle to our hotel (Hyatt Regency Hong Kong). In the evening we decided to walk from the hotel to Hong Kong Cultural Center along Nathan Road. We passed by the notorious Chung King Mansions and exchanged some US dollars for local Hong Kong dollars. …
Asia Destination Trip ReportsJune 2016: Osaka Trip Report
Day 1: We planned on taking a day trip to Nara on our first day in Osaka. Karen wanted to go see the deer park and me and my parents wanted to see the Todaiji temple so there was something for everyone. We took subway to Tennoji station and then took the JR line to Nara. After arriving in Nara we took the bus to Todaiji temple. There are plenty of buses that run on a loop in the town. The first thing you see while riding the bus are the deer all around the city – in the parks, gardens and …
Asia Destination Trip ReportsMay 2016: Kyoto Trip Report
Day 1: We stayed the previous night at Hotel Nikko Kansai Airport after arriving late night in Osaka. In the morning I went to the JR Train station outside the airport and grabbed the ICAOCA + Haruka combo ticket. One of the best deals in getting to Kyoto from Osaka/Kansai is the ICAOCA + Haruka combo ticket which costs 3600 JPY (approximately $36 USD) per person. This includes one-way trip from Kansai JR station to Kyoto JR station and a reloadable ICAOCA card with 2000 JPY (including a refundable deposit of 500 JPY). The Haruka Express train takes about 1 hour 20 minutes …
Asia Destination Trip ReportsMay 2016: Tokyo Trip Report
Day 1: We arrived at Haneda International Airport on our flight from Beijing around 9 PM. After clearing immigration, we purchased Limobus tickets to Shinjuku area (where we were staying in Hilton Tokyo). Since there was not much traffic, so we reached our hotel within an hour. Day 2: It was raining and foggy early in the morning and we scrapped our plans to visit the Tokyo Metropolitan Building because of poor visibility. Instead we took the subway to Asakusa. Arriving at Asakusa we walked towards Senso-ji Temple which is very close to the subway station. After leaving Exit 1 …