Day 1: We arrived at the Don Meuang International airport from our Air Asia flight from Bali around evening time. We took a cab to our hotel Ramada Plaza Menam Riverside. By the time we checked into our hotel and freshened up it was already dark and time for dinner. We took the hotel tuktuk to the neighboring Asiatique Night Market. The Asiatique night market is located next to the Chao Phraya river (and approximately a 10 minute walk from the hotel). There are a huge number of shopping and dining options here. Even if you are not interested in …
Asia Destination Trip ReportsJanuary 2015: Bangkok Trip Report
Asia Destination Trip ReportsJanuary 2015: Bali Trip Report
Day 1: We arrived at Ngurah Rai International Airport at Bali around 10 in the morning by Air Asia from Kuala Lumpur. I had already booked Sanny from Sanny Bali Tours for our 2 days stay in Bali to drive us around in his Toyota van. He came highly recommended by the posters in Tripadvisor Bali forum. Sanny was waiting in arrival hall for us and after a brief stop to pick up some local currency, he drove us to our hotel (Sheraton Bali Kuta Resort). After checking in and freshening up, we had lunch at a local cafe. Next we …
Asia Destination Trip ReportsJanuary 2015: Kuala Lumpur Trip Report
Day 1: We arrived at Kuala Lumpur by Air Asia early in the morning. After passing immigration and customs, we made our way to the Air Asia Skybus desk. We were staying at the Le Meridien right on KL Sentral train station and I had booked an airport transfer from KLIA2 terminal to KL Sentral on Air Asia Skybus for 9 RM/person one way. One can take the KLIA Express to the same train station or take a cab but since we were in no rush, the bus seemed the best option for us. Pretty soon we were on our …
Asia Destination Trip ReportsDec’14 – Jan’15: India and SE Asia Trip – Introduction
Its December again which means its Vacation Time !! This trip I am leaving for India 10 days before Karen and will spend some alone time with my family before Karen will join me. During the second week of January, we will be going on a 9 day trip to South East Asia (Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand) with my parents. I have been to both Bangkok and Phuket before (Bangkok trip report and Phuket trip report) but it would be the first time for Karen and my parents. There will be a lot of trip reports, airline reviews and hotel reviews following this trip. Airline …
Caribbean Destination Trip Reports North AmericaSeptember 2014: Aruba Trip Report
We visited Aruba for a weekend trip in September. I have always wanted to go to this small Caribbean island (located less than 20 miles off the coast of Venezuela). Lying outside the hurricane belt, this dry, desert island is perfect to visit any time of the year. Our Itinerary: Flight: Los Angeles – Orlando on Delta Airlines and Orlando – Queen Beatrix Airport, Aruba on Southwest 2 Nights at Radisson Aruba Resort, Casino & Spa 1 Night at Holiday Inn Resort Aruba – Beach Resort & Casino Flight: Queen Beatrix Airport, Aruba – Orlando on Southwest and Orlando – …
Destination Trip Reports EuropeJuly 2014: Paris Trip Report
We arrived in Paris Orly Airport by EasyJet from Rome pretty late at night (around 11 PM). The Orly Airport is much closer to the city than Charles De Gaulle airport. Even though a cab is a perfectly economical mode of transportation for 4 passengers, we wanted to use the public transportation. The OrlyVal train was already closed by the time we got out of the terminal. We took the OrlyBus shuttle from the airport to Denfert Rochereau and took the RER B from there to Charles De Gaulle Etoille station (after transferring in between to Paris Metro). The exit …
Destination Trip Reports EuropeJuly 2014: Rome Trip Report
Day 1: We took the FrecciaArgento #9423 train from Venice Santa Lucia station to the Termini station in Rome. The Termini station also has the Metro station outside the train station. Rome has only two metro lines, Line A (Red) and Line B (Blue). Our hotel for our stay in Rome was Holiday Inn Express, San Giovanni which is closest to the Ponte Lungo stop on Line A. We took the Line A metro outside the Termini train station to the Ponte Lungo stop and walked for 10 minutes to get to the hotel. After checking in and freshening up, we …
Destination Trip Reports EuropeJuly 2014: Venice Trip Report
We got on a FrecciaBianca train bound for Venice from Milan Central station in the late afternoon. There were luggage racks at the end as well as mid compartment. I had read warnings on online forums regarding putting luggage at the end of the passenger car so we kept it in the mid-compartment luggage racks. The train had a dining compartment too but we had already had lunch at the Milan station. We arrived at the Venezia Santa Lucia station in the early evening. The weather Gods were not kind as there was a thunderstorm going on in Venice. Heavy …
Destination Trip Reports EuropeJuly 2014: Trip Report – 4 Hours in Milan
After breakfast, we got to the Lucerne Train station. We picked up some more sandwich supplies from the Coop store at the train station. We were heading to Venice and had a 4 hour connection in Milan. The journey to Milan was on Eurocity (EC 253) train, a 4 hour trip. I had opted for the shortest route from Lucerne to Milan, not necessarily the most scenic route. There are other scenic routes available between these two cities (although not as direct and more time consuming). Since we had around 4 hours in Milan, we wanted to utilize the time …
Destination Trip Reports EuropeJuly 2014: Lucerne Trip Report
We arrived at Zurich Airport from London in the evening. After clearing immigration, we walked towards the train station which is at the airport itself (there are plenty of signs). The automated kiosks and ticket booths are at the ground level and the train platform at the lower levels. This was the only train journey (Zurich Airport – Lucerne) for which I didn’t have a reservation and so we paid the regular fare which came out to be 24 Euro/person. The train journey from Zurich Airport to Lucerne train station only takes about 1 hour. Some trains go directly from …
Destination Trip Reports EuropeJuly 2014: London Trip Report
We flew from Amsterdam Schipol Airport to London Heathrow on July 7 late evening. We met up with my parents at the airport who had flown in from Kolkata about 2 hours earlier and were going to be with us for the rest of the Europe trip. It was pretty late at night around 11 pm and we took a cab to the nearby Renaissance Heathrow Hotel where we were going to stay the night. I had researched about free public buses to the local hotels around Heathrow but it was very late at night (some buses don’t run this late) …
Destination Trip Reports EuropeJuly 2014: Amsterdam Trip Report
We arrived at the Schiphol Airport around 9 PM from our flight from London. After immigration, we proceeded towards the train station which is located at the lower level of the Arrivals section. The fare from the airport to Amsterdam Centraal station is 4 Euro. I tried to purchase the tickets at automated kiosks at first but was unable to do so with my chip and signature card. I then went to the ticket booth and the same credit card worked fine this time. In my experience, the chip and signature cards work most of the time at the credit …
Destination Trip Reports EuropeJuly 2014: Our 2 Week Europe Trip – Introduction
Question:1.1 million miles and points !! What does it get you? Answer: A once in a lifetime two-week trip for four people to Europe !! 🙂 Yes, we are going on a 2 week Europe trip starting the 4th of July. We will visit 6 cities on this trip, starting with Amsterdam, then London, Lucerne, Venice, Rome and finally Paris. My parents will be skipping Amsterdam and will join us in London to travel with us for the rest of the trip. There will be no airline reviews on this trip as we are flying coach for the entire trip …
Destination Trip Reports North America US, Canada, MexicoMay 2014: Hawaii Trip – Day 5 and 6 – Hanauma Bay, Luau
Day 5: One of the most popular places in Oahu to go snorkeling is Hanauma Bay Nature Preserve. Wanting to beat the crowds, we headed out around 8 AM. There is a $1 per vehicle parking fee and a $7.50 per person entry fee. We didn’t wait long to get our tickets but were then ushered into a small waiting area (interesting reading) before going in to see a 15 minute video. The video explains the history and rules of Haunama Bay. Once that is done you are headed down the hill to the beach. There is a rental stand where you …
Destination Trip Reports North America US, Canada, MexicoMay 2014: Hawaii Trip – Day 3 and 4 – Dole Plantation, North Shore, Aloha Swap Meet
Day 3: Wanting to get an early start for this longer trek to North Shore, we checked out of the Hilton around 8 AM. We arrived at the Dole Plantation around 9 AM. Unfortunately, it doesn’t fully open until 9:30 AM. So we roamed around and looked at the Pineapple garden and took pictures. There are a few attractions available: the Pineapple Express (train ride through the plantation $8.50), a Garden Tour (guided tour through the garden so you can learn the history $5), and a Pineapple Maze (wandering through a plant maze $6). Keep in mind you can see …
Destination Trip Reports North America US, Canada, MexicoMay 2014: Hawaii Trip – Introduction
Disclaimer: The trip report and hotel reviews for 2014 May Hawaii trip are solely the work of my wife Karen. I was not a traveler on this trip. During the second week of May, Karen is going on a 6 day trip to Hawaii with her sister Danny. Since I am running low on vacation days especially with a mega-trip coming up in July and then again in December, I had to opt out of this one. Bummer !! Itinerary for the trip: Flights: Los Angeles – Honolulu – Los Angeles (American Airlines) Hotels stays and reviews for this trip …
Destination Trip Reports North America US, Canada, MexicoMarch 2013: Las Vegas Weekend Trip Report
Even though I have been to Vegas over two dozen times over the past decade or so, I still like to visit this city whenever I get a chance. I had some Southwest vouchers that were expiring in mid-March and this gave us the perfect excuse to plan a weekend trip. We had already attended the Celine Dion concert in our previous trip and this time we wanted to see a Britney concert at the Planet Hollywood. But a few visits to the Ticketmaster website put that notion to rest when we saw how expensive the tickets were !! Finally …
Asia Destination Trip ReportsJanuary 2014: Phuket, Thailand Trip Report
Day 1: I arrived at the Phuket Airport around noon and after looking at the various published fares for different taxi companies negotiated one down to 500 THB. I am not sure if I overpaid by a little or by a lot but I wasn’t going to let that ruin my vacation. 🙂 The cab ride is a short 15 minutes and after passing the other two Marriott properties (JW Marriott Phuket Resort & Spa and Marriott’s Phuket Beach Club) I arrived at the Renaissance property. Hotel Review: Renaissance Phuket Resort & Spa After getting to my room, I took a shower …
Asia Destination Trip ReportsDecember 2013: Vizag – Araku Trip Report
For the last 2 years my parents (and our extended family in India) have decided that we will take a short 3-4 day trip when I visit India each year in December. This is one trip where I don’t use any miles or hotel points. In fact my parents and rest of the gang don’t even let me take my wallet out for anything, not even meals. This year the plan was to take the night train from Kolkata (my home city in India) to Visakhapatnam (Vizag for short) on Christmas Eve and stay there till December 29 and then take another …
Asia Destination Trip ReportsDecember 2013 – January 2014: India – Thailand Trip Introduction
I will be traveling for about 3 weeks for my yearly family visit to India starting mid-December 2013. Towards the end of the trip I will stop by at Bangkok and Phuket for 4 days. I earned 2 Marriott Category 5 certificates during our Portland and Fort Lauderdale trips with the Marriott quarterly promotions. I will be using those to stay at the Renaissance Phuket Resort for 2 nights. I will be doing several reviews on both airlines and hotels during this trip. Airline Review – ANA Business Class – Los Angeles to Tokyo (Haneda) Airline Review – Singapore Airlines Business …