hotels | Jason Around the World

Hiking in Dominica, enjoying nature, and DOM-ANU (Angitua) on LIAT

6 Countries in 6 Days Caribbean Trip, Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Flights, hotels No Responses »

Jul 172012

Landed in Dominica, and that’s where the drama started. Immigration was a snap, and soon found the small shack/hut that housed the rental car companies. Went over to the Avis “desk” (which, seriously, is an overstatement. It’s a small wooden podium, with a rather nice, but disinterested man who may or may not be behind it.) Nope, no reservation. Showed it to him. “Oh, how interesting. Can’t help you.” He had no car, and while he could get me one from another agency, no matching the rate, etc etc. Chatted with the (much more) helpful lady from the other agency, and she told me for what I was doing in Dominica, I would be much better with her “friend’s” taxi. He would take me round-trip to my resort, and make sure things were happy….all for the same price as my rental car. Since I only planned to hike and chill here, I went with it.

I’d chosen to stay at the Hotel Beau Rive – and in summary – it was an awesome choice. I normally prefer locations much more in the middle of it all. Places to go out to eat, walking distance to cool things to see, etc etc. You get the idea. Beau Rive? Well, it was absolutely none of this. What it was, however, was set in the middle of Dominica’s awesome natural beauty with the most amazing hosts and staff you could ask for. This is all made very clear on their website, online reviews, etc. If you’re not ready for an “at home” atmosphere, pets on premesis who are quite friendly, and a home away from home…this isn’t the place for you. Yet, despite being from from my normal “style” I absolutely loved it here. I’ll go into more details, but the pics will do much more talking here.

My taxi driver was awesome….on the approximately one hour drive to Beau Rive he told me all about his island, the people, the locations…it was like a mini guided tour. Plus, the roads were seriously harpin and pretty tricky. Much less stressful not to drive on them! Got to the hotel, checked in (I was one of two rooms occupied!) and immediately took this awesome shot from my room’s balcony:

Another shot from the hotel’s veranda:

Barbados, the Hilton Barbados, beach time and BBQ, and BGI-DOM (Dominica) on LIAT

6 Countries in 6 Days Caribbean Trip, Barbados, Dominica, Flights, hotels, Restaurants No Responses »

Jul 142012

The Barbados airport was several times the size of any one I had encountered yet on this trip, which meant I actually had to wait for my baggage a good bit…but it was an air conditioned area with “modern” baggage belts….unlike some of the previous islands whose baggage reclaim areas cum customs cum immigration areas felt like you’d traveled back in time many decades. The Barbados airport felt modern, efficient, and decidedly different…aka everything the average tourist loves.

While waiting for baggage, I chatted a bit more with the guy who’d been sitting near me. He was from Barbados, home for a month to visit during the summer, and would return to Canada for university in the fall. He’d been in Grenada for business, so was back home now to enjoy the rest of his vacation. I was offered (and accepted) a ride to the hotel, “as long as you don’t mind a few stops along the way.” Hmmm, I was going to save a $25 taxi and have a fun adventure…why not? In retrospect, yeah, it’s everything you’re advised not to do…but once again, taking a chance paid off! After a quick, very bumpy, and bat-out-of-hell style ride in a jacked-up old Hummer, we were at his house where he swapped clothes and dropped off luggage while I waited. Was nice being in an actual neighbourhood far away from what any tourist ever see, and to see how the locals actually live.

The next part I hadn’t expected. It was a series of at least four or five stops to pick up friend after friend who was joining him at the beach party. It was especially cool to get a real view into the diversity of Barbados. People had come from everywhere, and everyone was some mix of different cultures that blended into something truly local and unique. Eventually, there were seven of us in the car, and we were off to the hotel. Right before dropping me off, I was told if I could hurry I should join them for the beach party. Um, sure, why not! Luggage dropped off, checked in quickly, and a quick photo from the room:

Back downstairs, and we were off for a five minute drive to the party on the beach. I’m honestly not sure I’ve ever been to a sunset Sunday night party on the beach before. It was a completely local crowd, everyone seemed to know everyone, and it was lots of dancing, rum, and just enjoying a Sunday evening. I checked out after a couple of hours, because I had dinner plans at the Brown Sugar Restaurant near the Hilton.

It was a date for one….me, a good book on my iPad, and a delicious dinner. Brown Sugar gets very mixed reviews online, but due to location I decided to give it a go. It was exactly what I expected – not superb, but fun, somewhat local, and good food…even if I did have to sit next to a family from Jersey who kept complaining about things instead of focusing on the things they were liking about their vacation. Enough said! After multiple drinks on the beach, I was starving, so went with the Caribbean Jerk Porn appetizer. Nothing fantastic, but it was tasty, and went well with the rum punch. (Sensing a theme here? I mean, I really had to compare how each island did them!)

Then, it was time for the main course. I decided to go all out and get the Martin’s Choice, described as “A bountiful seafood platter with fried flying fish, grilled Mahi-Mahi Dolphin, breaded shrimps & a crab cake.” It was rather tasty, but also rather more fried than I would have expected. I still don’t know what “Mahi-Mahi Dolphin” is, but I’m gonna hope it wasn’t really dolphin. It tasted like Mahi Mahi so I’m going with that.

Moldova, TransDniester, and Romania

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Jun 152012

Since I’m in a small lull between trips (I don’t think anyone really needs to hear about my upcoming trip to Cedar Point, Ohio to ride roller coasters) I figured this was a good idea to catch up and post a few trips from the past. First one will be my May, 2010 trip to Moldova, TransDniester, and Romania.

What, you’ve not heard of TransDniester? According to Wikipedia, it is: “a breakaway territory mostly on a strip of land between the Dniester River and the eastern Moldovan border to Ukraine. Since its declaration of independence in 1990, and especially after the War of Transnistria in 1992, it is governed as the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic (PMR, also known as “Pridnestrovie”), a state with limited recognition which claims the territory to the east of the river Dniester, the city of Bender and its surrounding localities located on the west bank. The Republic of Moldova does not recognize the secession and considers the territories controlled by the PMR to be part of Moldova’s autonomous region of Stînga Nistrului (“Left Bank of the Dniester”).”

Wait, breakaway region with its own military, currency, parliament, border control, etc? Sounds like a de-facto country to me…and of course I had to visit. Naturally, you get there from Moldova…but since you can’t fly in, you get to take a sketchy mashrutka minibus. I’m up for adventure! Flights booked, it was time to head off!

United Flight 950
Washington, Dulles (IAD) to Brussels, Belgium (BRU)
Departure 17:44, Arrival 7:30 next day, Flight Time: 7:46
Boeing 767, Registration N654UA, Manufactured 1992
Seat 2A

One of my first flights in a newly-configured United 767 in first….and I was nervous how I’d sleep on such an early flight. I’d learnt to pass out cold on the 10pm flights to London, but not sure how I’d manage on such an early departure. Not to worry, however. After meal service, plenty of wine, it was 8pm, and eyes shut…and I dozed all the way to Brussels. I searched in vain for a lounge with a shower…no luck, and just killed time in the terminal. Was my first time at BRU in several years, and I wasn’t terribly impressed. Of course, considering it was 2am eastern time and I’d just gotten up from a 5 hour nap…that’s understandable.

Austrian Flight 352
Brussels, Belgium (BRU) to Vienna, Austria (VIE)
Departure 10:25, Arrival 12:15, Flight Time: 1:50
Airbus A319, Registration OE-LDG, Manufactured 2005
Seat 2F

Short hop over to Vienna, with very little to say on it. This was my first every short-haul flight with Austrian, and honestly it felt a lot like Lufthansa with cheerier colours. I dozed on and off the whole flight, and there was nothing overly special about it even though the load was 100% in the entire plane.

Austrian Arrows Flight 655
Vienna, Austria (VIE) to Chisnau, Moldova (KIV)
Departure 13:45, Arrival 16:30, Flight Time: 1:45
Fokker F70, Registration OE-LFG, Manufactured 1995
Seat 2F

This is where the fun started! Only 90 minutes in Vienna, but had to exit the Schengen Area, and then hang out in the Austrian Senator Lounge. Decent food like any Senator Lounge, plenty to drink, but was hotter than a Turkish Bathhouse. I was unimpressed! I tend to get extremely warm on long haul flights, and going on 12+ hours at this point I was less than impressed. Oh well, almost there!

Flight was maybe 2/3 full, but I was the only one in “business” class if you can fall it that on a Fokker! Landed, taxied up, and immigration was pretty much a non-event. Surly immigration officers assured us this was definitely still closer to the ex-USSR than it was to the West, and we’d arrived for a bit of fun!

Took a taxi for 100 Lev which was no drama at all, and soon we were at the hotel!

Hotel was the Hotel Nobil which had been recommended by coworkers, and definitely lived up to its billing as the “only boutique hotel in Moldova.” It wasn’t super fancy, but it was definitely approaching 4-star quality, which is something I never would have expected to find in Moldova. First night we got dinner at Symposium Restaurant which was pretty awesome! Local Moldovan wine which was nothing to write home about (but decent) and lots of small plates, and we were definitely full for the big trip ahead! On the way to dinner we’d checked where the minibuses ran from, and with a bit of help from my Russian managed to determine they ran about hourly to TransDniester, the price, and we were more or less ready!

Up early the next morning we found a cafe for some coffee, and it was time to head on the adventure! We easily found the minibus station again, and with help from a couple grandmotherly types easily purchased tickets (although, it would have been quite a bit harder without speaking Russian) to Tiraspol, TransDniester for 29 Lev (about US$2.25) each! Remember, our taxi the previous day had been 100 Lev! It was a rather large bus – definitely a coach. The lady “working” the bus was quite grumpy to see US passports, since it would definitely mean more work at the “border” to TransDniester. She probably would not have let us on had I not spoken Russian…she was seriously worried we’d hold up the whole bus at the border, but not to worry!

The bus was….WARM! It was 25C out and rising, and there was nothing even remotely resembling climate control on the bus. It was a very warm ride! The ride, and border was a relative nonevent. We got a bit of questioning from the TransDniester authorities, but were not required to pay any bribes or “visa fees” as others have reported, and were quickly through. We definitely didn’t hold up the bus more than five minutes total, and from that point “bus mother” was much kinder!

Just upon arrival we verified that return buses ran every hour, and we were off to wander. Just after arriving, there was a torrential downpour, which caused us to hide under overhangs for a good 30 minutes.

Cultural Walking Tour of Sofia, Bulgaria

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Jun 082012

After landing about 1pm, first chore was to get cash from the ABM and head to the hotel. Based on advice from Wikitravel, I decided to get a taxi from the soothingly named “OK Taxi” – and true to name, they were ok! The lady at the counter walked me out to a taxi, who didn’t speak English but we did just fine in French, and he was very curious why I’d chosen to visit his city – even more curious when he found it was for just one day! Wikitravel had told me to expect 10-12 leva for the taxi, and it came to 9,20…wow, a city with an honest taxi system, I was liking this place already.

This is a good place to mention…I was seriously impressed with Sofia, which given how tired and jet lagged I was says quite a bit. Although it was a brief trip, I was perhaps more impressed than with any other place I’ve visited in eastern europe. I can’t wait to go back for a longer trip, and explore more of the country. Everyone was friendly and helpful, and between English, French, and Russian I never once had any trouble communicating…and not just getting what I “needed” but asking enough questions to get what I was really looking for. Huge thumbs up!

That said, in deference to points collecting and status whoring, I decided to stay at the super-cheap and affordable Sheraton Sofia. Was upgraded to a fantastic junior suite which was amazing for the one short night. Friendly, helpful staff that answered all the questions I had, went out of their way to help me find things, and all-around were awesome. Highly recommend this place based on my brief experience!

By this time it was around 3pm, and I headed out for a few hour walk in advance of the 6:30pm tour I was planning to take. Walked a total of around 8km around the city, just taking in sights. Stopped for a couple espressos (I confess, one of them was at Starbucks for all-too-predictable and needed caffeination) and then just camped out for a little bit at a small cafe near the start of the tour for a couple local beers and people-watching.

For a tour, and to see as much as possible in a short time, I’d decided to go on a walking tour with Free Sofia Tour – which was also ranked the number one thing to do on Tripadvisor! Let me just say, it was definitely an excellent choice! They say the tour is about two hours, but our guide was fantastic, and at the urging of our group of approximately 10 he went for nearly 3 hours. That combined with my earlier walk definitely had my feet sore, but it was well worth it! If you get a chance to take this tour I highly recommend it, and our guide Kiril was fantastic!

So, on to the tour! Hopefully I get the names of all the sights right…it was lots to see in three hours!

First stop was the Sveta Nedelya Church.

Mahe, Seychelles (SEZ) to Sofia, Bulgaria (SOF)

bulgaria, Ethiopia, Flights, Germany, hotels, Indian Ocean and South Asia 2012, seychelles, Sudan 1 Response »

Jun 072012

Common route right? Lots of people just happen to fly From Seychelles to Bulgaria 😉 There was a route with two stops, but I chose to add a third one in so I could maximize my time on nicer airlines. However, even before I got started, there was some rather serious drama. Flight didn’t leave Seychelles until mid-Afternoon, so after waking up, I went for a 5 mile or so run on the beach. Absolutely amazing running right along the water lapping on the beach, some serious waves crashing…it was definitely paradise! Got back to the room famished, pounded over a liter of water, and gave in to the diet coke in the minibar. It was listed as 500ml for $7 which was a ripoff, but I was willing to pay it. However, the can was only 300ml. I figured I’d take my changes. Make note…

After a shower, I packed my bags, and when leaning over to put the scuba gear away, heard a loud POP in my back, and collapsed to the floor. Fortunately, I was near the bed so I could break my fall, but still scary. Sitting there dazed for maybe 15 seconds, I finally used the bed to lift myself up to sitting and assess the damage. Didn’t feel awful, just really stiff and swollen, and I wasn’t going to miss my flight, so popped some serious anti-inflammatories and called the buggy to take me to check out.

Was honest about the mini-bar, and the agent called the manager on duty. He offered to reduce the Diet Coke to $6.50. Let me get this straight…it’s 40% smaller than promised, and you offer me approximately 8% off. I asked the agent to please call him back and thank him for his extreme generosity, and to please let him know he has an unhappy platinum member whose stay will always be remembered for this act at check-out. I only honestly wanted a fair price (even $5 would have worked) but the sarcasm was duly noted, and the item was removed completely. Above and beyond, tho a bit disappointed I had to go through such extremes.

Taxi came for the airport, and the driver requested 600 Rupees. I was in a negotiating mood at this point, and had put all but 500 rupees to the hotel bill….so I offered 500. He took it immediately when I said it was all I had, which I was mildly proud of, considering I’d paid 600 for the airport.

Check-in at the airport 30 min later was pretty painless, and immigration was pleasantly air conditioned, and soon I was in the lounge. No decent food to speak of, but a few Seychellois rums and diet coke eased a bit of back pain, and the slow internet was adequate for some browsing and e-mail checking. Soon, it was time to board!

Ethiopian Airlines Flight 878
Mahé, Seychelles (SEZ) to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (ADD)
Departure 16:25, Arrival 19:40 Next Day, Flight Time: 4:15
Boeing 737-700, Registration ET-ALK, Manufactured 2003
Seat 4A

The most notable thing about this flight is that business only had 3 people in it, and economy might have been 33% full. The route had just started a week before, so maybe it will take time to come up to speed. There was a rather cranky family that boarded at the last second, and basically demanded to the station manager to be upgraded, and he gave in. I’d seen them in the lounge, so assume they were some sort of local VIPs, Ethopian frequent flyers, etc. To their credit, although they were a bit demanding, the small child was perfectly behaved, and having an extra 3 people in the 20 seats was no big deal at all.

The other strange fact was just how early we were going to be! I guess everyone got boarded early, so why not!

Upon boarding, one of the stranger amenity kits I’ve ever seen was waiting for us!

Bhutan, Day 2

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May 312012

Up early to check out of the hotel to drive back to the town of Paro for our big day hike to Taktsang Monestary. The monastery is at approximately 3,100 metres above sea level, and the hike up starts somewhere around 2,200 metres so it’s a pretty steep hike! We drove the one hour from the hotel in Thimphu pretty quickly, and soon were at the base of the hill to begin our hike.

It was approximately a 2.5 hour hike pretty much straight uphill, with a stop at the canteen halfway to buy water, etc, and take a brief rest. A few pics from the hike up:

Washington DC, National (DCA) to Delhi, India (DEL), Transit in Delhi, and the ITC Sheraton Maurya

Flights, hotels, India, Indian Ocean and South Asia 2012 No Responses »

May 242012

Even before the trip began…there was to be drama. Storms were forecast in the DC to NYC corridor late afternoon, and when that happens flights tend to get really messy really quickly. Today was to be no exception…my flight was preemptively delayed early morning for 2 hours…pretty much ensuring my 2 hour, 16 minute connection was going to be REALLY close. However…when it came down to it…the delay shrank to 90 minutes, then 1 hour, then just 30 minutes a couple hours out. We boarded on time…pulled away from the gate on time…and waited. Pilot came on 15 minutes later telling us that for flow control, and “confusion with ATC” our new slot time was 90 minutes away…but maybe we’ll get lucky!

In the end, we did get lucky, going wheels up only about 45 minutes after scheduled departure time.

ExpressJet Flight 4695, Operating as United Express
Washington, National (DCA) to Newark, New Jersey (EWR)
Departure 16:59, Arrival 18:14
ERJ-145, Registration N17196
Seat 1A

I know lots of people don’t like the BDJ-145 as it’s affectionately known (Barbie Dream Jet), but I actually don’t mind it at all for short flights. I almost always have been getting my preferred seat 1A for my regular hops up to Ottawa lately, and it’s a pretty comfortable ride. With nobody sitting in front of you it’s private and quiet, and all in all…can’t complain. Crews are usually excellent, and this one was no exception. I think I got 3-4 refills of Diet Coke, and the 50 minute or so flight was over quite quickly. Really not much to say – parked at the A gates at Newark, took the shuttle over to the C gates, and had a good 45 minutes in the Presidents Club…er…”United Club” to recharge the iDevices before the long flight.

United Flight 82
Newark, New Jersey (EWR) to Delhi, India (DEL)
Departure 20:30, Arrival 20:15 Next Day, Flight Time: 14:25
Boeing 777-200, Registration N76010
Seat 2E

This was my first time on the ex-Continental 777s with flat bed, and overall I was pretty impressed. They certainly beat business on the ex-United 777s, mainly because there are no “middle” seats. For me, most important thing on an overnight is aisle access with nobody climbing over me. Hence, I don’t like the window sections of two (either I have to climb over someone, or they have to climb over me) and the ex-Continental 777s with two seats in the middle are perfect. Overall, the hard product here is excellent. It’s too bad the ex-United planes screwed up business so badly.

Also, this was to be my longest flight ever. At 7,323 miles it would top my previous longest flight that I had done four times (San Francisco to Hong Kong) which clocked in at “only” 6,914 miles. With 14:25 of flight time, there would be plenty of time to eat, sleep, watch tv, etc. One of the most amusing parts of the plane was the entertainment system still was all Continental:

Tour of Cairo, Egypt

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Feb 082012

As I mentioned earlier, we’d hired a tour company here to maximize the one full day we had. I’m usually pretty opposed to organized tours, but in this case it sounded like a good idea to fit as much as possible into a one day transit. This turned out to be an excellent choice, especially when we saw how terrible the traffic was in the city. I’d highly recommend the company we used (Memphis Tours, linked in a previous post) to anyone wanting a similar experience.

Pick-up was at the hotel in the morning, and it was just down the road to the Pyramids and the Sphinx. Anyone who wants to visit Egypt, I highly recommend that you do it soon. The tourist hoards are terrified and staying away at the moment (well, maybe not this week due to the riots again) but this is definite time to go. Things are quiet, you have the place to yourself, and you can really enjoy things. On top of that, lots of the touts and salespeople have given up, and it’s possible to really enjoy things and have a completely un-harrassed experience. For all the negative experiences I’ve had people tell me about Cairo – we really enjoyed it! So – the pyramids and the sphinx:

Juba, South Sudan to Cairo, Egypt on EgyptAir

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Feb 032012

Onwards! The “hotel” arranged a transfer to Juba airport, and check-in was pretty primitive – but completely painless. There was a paper list they were checking names off of, bag tags and boarding passes were handwritten (and I still have yet to receive United credit for this segment) but all in all – it worked. We went through what passed for security, but the x-ray machine was off, there was no real check, and we were soon sitting in some very torn-up lounge chairs in the departure room.

Juba Airport is really just two rooms – one for arrivals, and one for departures. It was packed with everyone for the three departing flights, and despite the fact ours had been changed from a 737 to an ERJ, the room was quite empty. The list of names only had like 20 names on it, so Inshallah it would be an empty flight…and it was!

EgyptAir Flight 860
Juba, South Sudan to Cairo, Egypt
Depart 14:45, Arrive 18:00, Flight Time 4:15
ERJ-170, Registration SU-GDH, Manufactured 2009

The flight was absolutely empty, and less than 1/4 of the seats were taken, so everyone who wanted could have their own row. This was by far my longest flight on an ERJ, and it was as good as can be expected. The crew were quite lazy, surly, and did the bare minimum (even serving drinks in previously-used glasses) but all in all, with the number of empty seats, I won’t complain at all. Plus, the meal was at least edible!

Flight arrived on time, bus to the terminal, where the handler from the tour company we’d booked with was waiting. I decided to book a tour for this trip, because we had one full day in the city and wanted to really maximize the amount we could see. Included were round-trip airport transfers, and the handling of the visa on arrival, no need to haggle with drivers….was well worth it. I would highly recommend Memphis Tours to anyone looking for a similar situation.

Drive to the hotel – the Le Meridien Pyramids was pretty quick, under 45 minutes this late, and soon we were being hassled by the front desk clerk who wanted a bit of baksheesh in order to deliver SPG benefits. UG! Welcome to Egypt! Eventually everything worked out, we got some dinner, a very very slightly upgraded room where the AC barely worked, and it was off to bed in order to maximize the next day!

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia to Juba, South Sudan

Ethiopia, Flights, hotels, New Years 2011-2012, South Sudan 5 Responses »

Jan 262012

As I mentioned earlier, we were faced with a last-minute dilemma: We needed to get from Addis to Cairo, but the only direct flight left at like 3am…and we both absolutely detest redeyes…especially ones that are 1 hour long. No thanks! We had planned to transit for a day in Yemen, but they weren’t so keen on issuing visas at the time…pulling ours at the last minute. For some reason, a spark went off, and I looked into the possibility of connecting via the newest country: South Sudan. Shockingly, the times were perfect, middle of the day, fares were pretty reasonable…and it all ticketed! The only concern was that visa requirements for South Sudan were very unclear. I figured we could wing it at the gate and get away with it…and that’s what happened!

Ethiopian Flight 490
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia to Juba, South Sudan
Depart 11:05, Arrive 13:05, Duration 2 hours
Aircraft: Boeing 737-700, Registration ET-ALM, Manufactured 2004
Seat: 2L

There was a bit of confusion when we got to the airport. Ethiopian’s website now listed this flight at noon, as did a few flight tracking apps, but the check-in agent, the airport monitors, and all other “official” sources still listed it on time at 11:05. Guess what happened 😉 So, we checked in at the international terminal in Addis…only to be sent to the Domestic terminal. Seems that certain flights – with little rhyme or reason – still depart from this terminal. Computers were slow, eventually they checked us in (the walk between terminal is 5 minutes or so max) and immigration was a breeze, and we were in the lounge. Free water and diet coke made us happy while we waited. This whole time – NOBODY knew when the flight would really leave. The lounge was outside security, so we took turns clearing security to check at the gate.

As predicted, the plane had come from Rome, and we ended up boarding around 11:45.

On the taxi, we went past the airplane graveyard/etc in Addis which had a few interesting relics:

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