Travel plan idea blog

Share your vacation experiences or plans?

Would you like to see one of your articles published on this travel blog? It's possible if you ahve an interesting travel experience or travel plan to share. Just email your article to jtrotta@gmail.com along with your name so I can give you credit.

Disclaimer: I obviously can't promise to publish every article I'm sent, and I reserve the right to edit articles for spelling. grammar, and style.

Flying this summer?

CNN Travel has an article about the possibility that flying in the this summer will be uncomfortable:

Aviation experts predict the upcoming vacation season could rival 2000, the worst ever for flight delays, cancellations and cranky travelers crammed into airports.

Security checks take longer now than they did then so that will cause some problems.

Brazil Travel Plan – Rio de Janeiro and the Amazon

A guest article from Celine Roque

It is well known that Rio de Janeiro and the Amazon forest are two of the most ideal vacation spots in Brazil. Here is a travel plan for tourists who are attracted to the wonders of Brazil’s culture, forests, music, and beaches.

Day 1-2
Arrival at the Rio de Janeiro-Galeão airport, which is also known as the Antonio Carlos Jobim International Airport. If you arrive early in the day, you can explore Rio’s beaches after you check in to your hotel. The best beaches in Rio are the famous Copacabana and the Ipanema. Admission is free for both beaches. If you are into surfing, it’s best to bring your board or rent one during your day at the beach. Nights in Rio are best spent in bars, especially those which have live jazz performers. There are several bars and restaurants next to the beaches, so you won’t have to go far in order to enjoy Rio’s food and music. You also have the option to spend an extra day of relaxation by spending two days at the beach.

There is also an annual party known as the “Rio de Janeiro Carnival”, which takes place on the Friday before Ash Wednesday. This get-together has parades, colorful costumes, and a lot of samba. If you are interested in the Rio Carnival, you can schedule your visit to coincide with it. Expect the city to crowded with tourists.

Day 3
Take a bus or taxi to Corcovado Mountain. When you get there, you can ride a cog that goes through the Tijuca Forest, which is the largest urban forest in the globe. This ride will take you to the top of the Corcovado, where you will see the grand statue of Christ the Redeemer. It’s best to bring a camera so that you can take pictures of Tijuca, the statue, and the view from the Corcovado summit. The afternoon can be spent in the Museum of Modern Art in Aterro do Flamengo. This museum houses more than 4,000 art pieces. The National Historic Museum is also worth noting, because it will allow you to familiarize yourself with Brazil’s rich history. Both museums have gift shops where you can purchase souvenirs.

Day 4
Switching from the calm waters of Rio de Janeiro to the wild currents of the Amazon River will surely make your stay in Brazil memorable. From Rio de Janeiro, take a flight to Manaus, where you will start your adventures in the Amazon Rainforest. Check into your hotel, and if time allows for it, you may also take a small tour of the city of Manaus. Notable sights include the Manaus Theater and Opera House, as well as the docks and municipal port market.

Day 5-7
The perfect way to tour the Amazon with a guide is by going through the services of the Amazonat Jungle Lodge. It is an eco lodge that allows tourists to explore the forest and rivers of the Amazon – whether individually or by joining a tour group. Exploring the river should not be a problem, since there are several Amazon River cruises available. It is best to choose one that goes through the delta where the Rio Negro meets the Rio Solimones. Dolphin-spotting is also a common activity for tourists in the Amazon. It would also be ideal to stop by at least one of the many villages near the Amazon River.

Full-day forest trips and jungle treks are available for those who are wild at heart. Some tours even allow time for fishing piranha and catfish. Several guides are also available to teach you forest survival tips.

Central Portugal Travel Plan

This report starts off in Lisbon, including nightlife Bairro Alto and cafe life in The Chiado. There’s also the Oceanario (an oceanarium).

Then from Lisbon, travel to the World Heritage city of Evora. Then on to forest of Bucaco and the city of Coimbra.

The next stop is Figueira da Foz and a very big beach. According to the article it “took 15 minutes to walk from the seafront to the water's edge and they even had kiosks halfway along for those gasping for drink or more suntan lotion.”
Finally, visit the seaside resort of Estoril, which is classy and has a lovely beach.

Nepal and Tibet Travel Plan

Here is a travel plan for those who are interested in exploring the wonders of Nepal and Tibet, whether it is for their culture or their mountains.

Day 1-2 in Nepal

Arrival at the Kathmandu International Airport. It’s best to spend your first night trying to get acquainted with local people and cuisine. You can reach most temples via bus or cab. However, if you plan to take a cab, it is advisable to hire one for the day – especially if you plan to do a lot of sightseeing. Visit the Pashupati Temple that pays homage to Shiva, as well as the Changu Narayan Temple that pays homage to Vishnu. Visiting these two temples will easily acquaint you with Buddhism.

Day 3 in Nepal

You can travel to Lumbini by bus, car, or air. Lumbini is the birthplace of Siddharta Gautama, who grew up to be the enlightened Buddha. Several monuments related to the Buddha are well preserved, including images of his family. The Maya Devi Temple is said to be the place where the Buddha was born, and it was therefore named after his mother. The Kapilvastu Museum is also very interesting, since it contains ruins of the old kingdom where the Buddha was growing up as Prince Siddharta.

Flying from Kathmandu to the Gongga Airport in Tibet will allow you to catch a bird’s eye view of the Himalayan Mountains. The view is breathtakingly beautiful and this provides a suitable transition for tourists travelling between the two countries.

Usually, two or three days are enough for tourists to explore the wonders of Tibet. Those who are interested in trekking the Tibetan Himalayas opt for a longer stay.

Day 1-2 in Tibet

Upon arriving at the Gongga Airport, you may take a bus or cab to Lhasa City. One or two days is enough to explore its many temples and palaces. The most important monument for tourists is the Potala Palace, which is probably the grandest palace in all of Tibet. This palace has been the home of the Dalai Lamas since the seventeenth century. Both its beauty and history make it popular with foreigners, whether they are spiritual or not.

The Drepung and Sera Monasteries also attract tourists because of their historical and cultural significance. Both monasteries provide education for the young monks, as well as maintained as museums for religious artifacts. Statues and murals are some of the highlights, as well as scrolls and scriptures written with gold ink in the Tibetan script.

Day 3 in Tibet

Take a bus to Shigatse, which is the second largest city in Tibet. This city also serves as the seat for the Panchen Lama, whose influence in Tibetan Buddhism is second only to the Dalai Lama. Other than the Tashilhunpo Monastery and the other smaller monasteries in Shigatse, the snow-capped mountains serve as an important highlight to this city. There are several high peaks are around Shigatse, including Mount Everest. If you wish to spend some time hiking, there are several local guides available in Shigatse.

JAL chairman resigns

Japan Airlines Corp.'s chairman will resign to take responsibility for a string of safety lapses, the carrier said Monday, and announced that it swung to a profit for the fiscal year as a recovery in international tourism offset a decline in domestic air travel.

The news that Isao Kaneko will resign May 31 came a day after a drop in cabin pressure forced a JAL flight from New York to Tokyo with 355 people aboard to make an emergency landing. There were no injuries.

The flagship carrier has been under mounting pressure amid a series of embarrassing safety lapses that drew widespread attention in January, when a JAL pilot in northern Japan attempted to take off without receiving approval from air traffic controllers.

JAL spokesman Teiji Murayama said Kaneko's offer to resign was accepted early Monday.

JAL to begin internet access on long haul flights

This will soon be offered on some Tokyo - New York flights:

Connexion by Boeing is a satellite-delivered data service that enables airline passengers to access the Internet via wireless LAN-compatible PCs.

The connection speed is typically about 5 megabits per second downstream from the Internet to the aircraft, and 1 mbps upstream from the aircraft to the Internet. The service supports e-mail, Web browsing, and corporate network access via a VPN (virtual private network), among other features, according to JAL.

Access will be available throughout the aircraft and will cost $29.95 throughout the flight, or for $9.95 for the first 30 minutes and $0.25 for each additional minute. For the complete story, click here.

Ireland

Peter King from Sports Illustrated has some comments on Ireland including a 5 room B&B on a farm that sounds very tranquil:

One lodging recommendation: a B&B on a working farm in the middle of the country, Coolanowle House, in Ballickmoyler, north of Kilkenny about 25 minutes. You stand in the middle of 250 acres and hear either dead-silent nothing or cows or sheep talking to each other. That's it. The husband, Jimmy, farms. The wife, Bernadine, runs the five-bedroom B&B. She makes something called pinhead oatmeal in the morning, and all I can say is it's the closest breakfast food to vanilla ice cream that I've ever had. If you go to Ireland, and you want a placid couple of days walking amid the sheep (not really true; the sheep run away when you get close), you've got to try it. They're reachable at info@coolanowle.com....

Until we got to Dublin for the last two days of the trip, the coffee in Ireland was positively abysmal, the only daily disappointment of the trip. So weak, like coffee-flavored water. But Dublin had a couple of nice coffee bars ("Rio'' was our favorite) with legit dark roast. If that's the biggest complaint you've got about a country, I'd say it's a pretty darned good country, folks.

Posted by James Trotta at 12:37 AM | Comments (5)

This guy knows how to travel

Although this site is about travel plans, and I prefer to ahve some sort of plan when I travel I have always admired the more adventurous people who just go places.

Harold Stephens has been to the Australian outback and met Aborigines and lived with the Negritos (tribe) in the Malay jungle. But perhaps what impressed me the most was that he hitched across the Pacific (from Tahiti to Singapore) on schooners.

His books get good reviews on Amazon: The Last Voyage: The Story of Schooner Third Sea and Who Needs a Road: The Story of the Longest and Last Motor Journey Around the World are two examples.

Children should sit in the back

An important article for those who travel by car with children from Earthtimes:

A research sponsored by The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, the American Academy of Pediatrics and State Farm, stated that children were safer in the rear seat of a car in the event of a car accident as compared to the front seat. In fact, possibilities of getting injured in a crash were significantly reduced if a child sat in the back seat and duly used the seat belt. States like Illinois have gone a step ahead in ensuring children’s car safety by introducing booster seat laws along with specific seat belt laws for children.

Research laws and justice sytem

A tourist from Queensland, Australia, Ms. Corby, is on trial in Bali. She allegedly smuggled in some maijouana. Australians are very upset, not because countries like Indonesia, Malyaisa, and Singapore are very strict and often put drug offenders to death, but because they don't believe Ms. Corby is getting a fair trial.

Tony Foster is a travel agent making the news:

Tony Foster, who is also mayor of Brighton, said he was outraged at the "kangaroo court" trial of Queensland woman Ms. Corby in Bali.

Mr Foster, who expects Ms Corby to be found guilty, said he was horrified at the seven-month saga since she was charged with smuggling marijuana into the tourist island.

It seems that most Australians beieve she is innocent but will be found guilty. If I were planning a trip to Indonesia (or any country with an unfamiliar justice system), I would do some research before traveling.