My sister did with kids (10 and under). I also did it with my parents as a teenager
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Iād say youāre never too old to stay in backpackers if you enjoy the experience. For me it was 30, but I travelled with my wife and then with kids from then on, so wanted to fork out for better accom for them.
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Never.
But I do say that for most questions phrased that way, and donāt give a flying what people think.
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Stayed at the Hilton Hotel which had good views over the city and of course watched the flame towers at night.
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The Flame Towers certainly look impressive
Pretty easy City to navigate and whilst not as cheap as some of the other former CIS countries it was still fine. $15-20 will get you a decent entree and mains for 2 people and the Hilton was $170 a night. Bugger all tourists and as such hardly any English so best learn a few phrases and use your hands. Had a day trip outside of Baku and the country side is quite pretty. Definitely want to return and get out into the countryside.
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Wow, how did I not know of this place??? Baku, Azerbaijan has now firmly rocketed into the top 10 of places to go toā¦
Add the Stans too if you want something unreal. Some of the scenery is simply stunning and some great museums and historic buildings/churches in the cities. Dirt cheap and you wonāt be jostling with a million other tourists. Some great ski resorts that are cheap and easily accessible if you are into that aswell
How did you get around in this area - car, buses, trains? Youāve really piqued my interest, but any trip I do will undoubtedly end up being a family effort (so will require ease of getting from A to B). In Europe, and places like Japan, Hong Kong, Scandinavia etc. itās a piece of cake due to public transport being so efficient and far-reaching. How would these areas compare?
The task of entering the Sri Lankan and Indian e-visas is just a tad different. Sri Lanka, done in five minutes; India, they want to know what you had for breakfast the last seventeen days.
Hilarious that they ask, for example, for all of the countries youāve visited in the past ten years and then provide you a very limited number of characters to list them.
Luckily the countries Iāve visited in my current passport fitted in ā I guess they donāt need to know about the previous six yearsā¦
India has always loved a bit of bureaucracy
I travelled to India on business for many years and sometimes two or three times in a year. All I could ever get was a single entry visa that lasted 5 years, which was crazy.
Finally I got a multiple entry visa, that lasted for three months!
Thatās the India that I remember 
Iām at the age where Iām looking at top cover travel insurance and itās doing my head in. We used Insureandgo with the seniors card discount when we went to Laos last year but nothing happened so weāre none the wiser on their service other than a Choice recommendation. So I saw RACV have travel insurance and weāre members. Their top cover to Jordan and Israel at around $260ish for three weeks for 2 60+ers is a bit more than InsureandGo but they appear to provide better cover for some things eg accidental dental, and old blokes like me with big mouths are prone to things like that apparently. And itās RACV, the same mob who started my dead piece of crap car numerous times. What could go wrong? Well I just googled RACV travel insurance reviews and WOW?!
Now Iāve got no idea. My better half says āwhateverā as long as they cover you for a flight home if elderly parents get sick, or worse, which is precisely the negative scenario I saw on one review for a respected insurer.
Anyone out there ever had to claim and have some reliable view on this issue? Iām not interested in the quality of the website or whether they have good prices, I want to know if they are absolute ā ā ā ā ā ā about coughing up. Letās face it, travel insurers are in the fast lane to hell, I just want one towards the back of the queue.
Feel free to name names.
My experiences with travel insurance - all of them, irrespective of company, are tightarses when it comes to coughing up. They will eventually, but thereās a whole lot of chasing you need to do. The bigger the sum, the more chasing is required and the longer the timeframe before you get your money.
I honestly donāt think thereās much between themā¦
My parents had to cancel a trip a week out, when Mum fell down the back stairs and broke her hip. This was well over 10K worth and it took over 6 months to get it back. The deferrals and delaying and handballing was extraordinary. This was with whoever Hello World use as their default insurer.
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I just made enquiries today for 3 weeks in Italy and Malta. Agents said QBE were best at about $180.
That was budget, which gives $15K on cancellation which roughly air fare plus tours.
Paid the early bird balance today but the S Italy and Sicily tour hasnāt been confirmed. Still nearly 9 months away.
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We have a policy with RAA (pretty much the SA Equivalent of RACV) and they have coughed up in the past for numerous things. We have the 12 month annual policy of unlimited travel. Cost around $700 and seems to have pretty good coverage. Coupled with booking everything with the Amex or NAB Platinum visa for piece of mind in case of cancellations, delays etc
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What did they cough up for and are they the agent for someone else?
Some Tokyo mob are the insurers. Have made 3 claims and all paid ASAP.
We had baggage damaged and they paid up within 10 days. My wife hit a kerb in the rental cars a few years back and they stumped up the $500 rental excess promptly. They also paid for a minor medical incident in Austria on the spot
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