Awesome!
Bhaktapur was well worth a wander when I was last there (2008, so pre-earthquake).
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Thanks. Do you mean Durbar square? If so we’re headed there on Tues. We’re doing a flight over Everest on Monday morning, and some white water rafting in Pokhara.
No not Durban Sq, though that is also worthwhile. Bhaktapur is a separate city that was swallowed up by Kathmandu. It is labyrinthine & medieval in feel with no cars. Lots of artisans. Was badly damaged in the quake tho so don’t know how it has recovered. Was a highlight for me in 2008.
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Brings back some real happy memories, have a blast
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Bhaktapur is a must-do, even if only a day visit. Has already been seen in the current season of Amazing Race Australia. In March 2019 some bits were still propped up or being rebuilt, but very very many cool bits were still standing/restored (starting below with a famous peacock).
Got up early for the mist:
From my hotel balcony:
Here’s someone else’s report and many more photos from 2018:
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It always depends on your interests and if Mrs tht will be there with you.
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Koh Samui - beaches are its best feature, but not as good as in Australia - even Port Philip Bay ;-). They have some tourist attractions but not that exciting. You will get harrassed by real estate touts if you try to walk around the towns. Best thing is having a night time dinner on the beach - if Mrs THT is going too. Otherwise, local markets etc typical of Thailand
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Dubai… hmm. Totally manufactured environment. Of course you would know they have the tallest building in the world. It’s so big the top of it even gets above the air pollution. If you like fake everything, this is the place to visit.
YMMV.
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Pretty much echo your thoughts.
We love Dubai even though as you said it’s all manufactured
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Change your flight.
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Thanks everyone.
I might just check out some high end sports car dealerships in Dubai. And keep it FIFO for the work stuff.
Cyber attack on a few major European airports this morning. We fly out this evening from Gatwick so hoping we’re all good.
@Wanderlust All houses at HHN done and although I have nothing to compare to, many people I spoke to said it was better than last year. My favourite houses were Jason ( jump scares galore) Terrifier ( don’t take the wet path its pointless) and probably Fallout. FNAF was the only disappointment with not many scares. If you haven’t already, the fast pass or even the RIP tours are a must. It was super busy both nights I went with standby lines 1- 2hours.
Really loved Seaworld and Busch Gardens for awesom coasters and the days we went it was low crowds so walked on every ride. Epic Universe was a bit of a let down. Theres simply not enough rides for the amount of people. Stardust racers was great and I loved the whole experience of Darkmore with Monsters being a quality ride. Battle at the ministry kept breaking down but we eventually got on & its very good but not wait in line 2 hours good. Berk was great visually as was Mario land but we didn’t bother with the 2+ hour queue for Mariocart or minecart. Islands of Adventure is still the best park in Orlando.
Hope you have a great trip.
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Fantastic, thanks so much for the update!
Glad for the tips with HHN - we got a frequent fear pass because we’re staying at the universal for 11 nights when it’s on. Got the express for two nights so we don’t need to wait in line. Some nights I think we’ll just enjoy the scare zones - which ones were the best for you??
I’ve heard a lot of stuff about Epic and I think it sounds like it’ll be a few years until they get all the kinks out and maybe expand further? We have two days there - luckily did the Mario part last year in Universal Hollywood so won’t be upset if we miss out.
Are you doing any of the Disney parks?
We did Disneyland and CAP in Cali so there wasn’t a great deal at any park we hadn’t done. I would have liked to do Epcot again but the kids showed very little interest so we only did Animal kingdom. Every Disney park is visually spectacular and this is no exception but there’s just not enough quality rides to spread out the crowds. We did flight of passage which is the best of those motion simulation rides I’ve been on but we lined up for 30 minutes to do the Navi river only for it to break down. Once back up the lines were never under 90 minutes. Expedition Everest was a good coaster and we managed to get a few rides but the river rapids is the same at every park. Beyond that the safari was decent but the one in Bali is way better. We watched the Nemo stage show and I enjoyed it but my 11 year old rolled his eyes the whole time. No interest in lining up for character meetings so I guess I just didn’t raise Disney kids, he much preferred HHN.
The scare zones were a fun way to break up the walks between houses but the cat lady one was the only really emersive area. The costumes weren’t really scary but the area was darker and had a different feel to the rest. The chainsaws around the Simpson area were funny to watch. I sat and had some delicious tacos and laughed at teenage girls running away screaming in genuine terror. I really want to get a chainsaw with no blade for my own Halloween haunt.
There’s an area that has a masquerade theme which was fun. They do a bit of a dance around a centrepiece every 10 minutes or so which was good. The prohibition era had some great costumes.
Not sure if you heard about the guy dying on the stardust racers at Epic but I believe its been closed down pending investigation. Something to keep an eye on.
Jeez, last day in Dubai on the way home, and the forecast was “ 38 feels like 47”. Very very hot. Heat haze made photos pointless. Spent all afternoon by the hotel pool bar drinking pints of Heineken at 26$ Aus a pop 
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You are coming into the cooler part of the year!
We are often in the ME from May to August as thats when we often go to Europe and the heat can be unbearable there so yeah a lot of time spent in the hotel pools 
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Coming into the cooler part? We fly out in the morning back to Tas 
Yes, Dubai starts cooling down and will sit around the low 30’s until January and then it will be low to mid 20’s for a couple of months.
We have copped days of heavy rain and cool conditions in Feb/March
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Wow!! Nice one.
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On our way home. If it was a football match it would be PSG over Arsenal every time. Flew Emirates this trip, business class lounge is like being in a motorway cafe on the M1. Qatar has it beat hands down. Not dressed for it but just been told snow in Hobart