Melbourne Virgin lounge a bit of a zoo this morning, kids everywhere
Try the Rooters lounge.
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■■■■ cruises suck
Singapore would be grouse for kids. Avoid peak hour though, the locals will happily steamroll through you at the train stations.
Clarke Quay is up near their casino. It feels like Chapel St or Southbank.
Very concrete, very flashy, very expensive.
And yes the food halls are spotted around the joint. That’s where most of the locals seem to eat. Better food, more genuine and much much cheaper.
The Chinatown is kinda half gentrified version of a hawker food hall. A little bit touristy but still very very good.
Their train system is amazing. Everything’s in English. Cheap. Fast. Reliable.
100% do that.
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We did about 2 weeks around rajasthan (wrong direction): delhi, Jaipur, udaipur, agra, pushkar, Jodhpur, a huge big wildlife park, and I’m forgetting something, back to delhi. Then tacked Mumbai on the end.
They were all good, but we were all templed and forted and buddhad out by the end of the tour.
definitely do the Taj Mahal, but get out of Agra as soon as you can after that cos the rest of agra is poopy
Consider going veg while you’re there. I got sick eating meat, Mrs P went veg and was fine.
You could spend months there without scratching the surface.
In hindsight I wish we’d gone down to Goa & Kerala. And also up into the mountains. And…
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South India is nothing like the North is nearly every aspect - people, geography, pace of life, food. Makes for a much more relaxed time as a tourist.
A day at Sentosa island with the kids and they will love you forever. Make sure you stay for the laser show at dusk.
Any chance of a tour including Egypt just went pear shaped. I’ve been to regions where civil unrest was occurring but if they’re actively targeting tourist buses that’s it. According to the article it’s the third fatal bus attack in a few months. It would probably be safer to freewheel as we usually do but our kids would go bananas if we did. I reckon we were about a week away from booking if there’d been a spot left. Probably be quite a few spots opening up now. Such a shame for all sorts of reasons, least of all selfish ones.
Probably very low risk in truth, but not worth ruining your trip through worry.
Would you still look at Jordan / Israel? People speak highly of Iran for a visit.
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Unless you are confident of travelling solo or with family I’d definitely recommend a group tour if it involves Israel. The whole visa thing can still be a PITA without a fair bit of planning.
We are currently planning a trip to Oman and the UAE with potentially Yemen next year and had hoped to do a side trip to Egypt but the wife wasn’t keen on the Egypt idea even before these latest dramas. Doubt I’ve got any hope now.
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The trip we were looking at was Egypt Jordan but I’ve heard the Jordan Israel combo is good. Not sure at present, Egypt was the lure.
I’ve been pushing for Iran ever since Ben Groundwater in the Age started highlighting it but my better half put her foot down long ago and said that’s fine for him, he’s not a woman, and it’s hard to argue with that.
Perhaps something closer to home then…
Which bit, or just all of it?
She’s not keen on Egypt but is considering a trip to country in the midst of a civil war???
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I live in Balnarring near three camping/caravan grounds and deadset the same people arrive each year and many literally hang round till they get kicked out in March. We know an aging couple who live in nearby Somerville and drive home every day to water the garden and feed the dog, which is banned from the camping grounds.
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Hence the word potentially. I have been researching it for awhile and have been hoping for a change in situation but I just don’t see things changing anytime soon unfortunately.
I think we will eventually fly into Muscat and just do Oman and the UAE and fly out of Dubai or Abu Dhabi.
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Reckon Egypt is fine to visit, lots to see, just normal security stuff, it is quiet on nasty stuff at present.
Been to Muscat and Dubai and Abu Dhabi, and reckon Iran is much more interesting, pity about Iraq still being a mess, as it had some wonderful sites.
We have been to Muscat, Dubai and Abu Dhabi before but I was looking at getting away from the cities and spending some time along the Gulf and make our way to the Musandam Peninsula. At this stage nothing in concrete yet but I have a couple of options just depending on any flight sales. I’ve got 4-6 weeks at the EOY that we are tossing up between the US/Canada or Scandinavia and I will have 4 other weeks to spread out during the remainder of the year which I’m looking at the Oman/UAE trip for 2 of those weeks.