15 countries, 1 month – eastern europe trip (DRAFT)

Date	Country	City	Description	Stay
11/7/2015	Germany	Frankfurt	lost luggage	Frankfurt City hostel
12/7/2015	Germany	Frankfurt	city tour. Took overnight bus to Berlin	overnight bus
13/7/2015	Germany	Berlin	Brandenburg Gate, Berlin Wall, Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe	Couchsurfing
14/7/2015	Poland	Wroclaw	Reached on 13th night.Market Square,Wrocław Multimedia Fountain,Japanese Garden.	Couchsurfing
15/7/2015	Poland	Krakow	Walking city tour, the Cloth hall	GlobArt Hostel
16/7/2015	Poland	Auschwich	full day concentration camp tour	GlobArt Hostel
17/7/2015	Poland	Zakopana	feincular	Villa mediasite, slovak paradise
18/7/2015	Slovakia	Poprad	slovak paradise trek	Downtown bratislava hostel, bratislava
19/7/2015	Slovakia	Bratislava	cycling towards Vienna, reach Prague by late night by bus	Couchsurfing
20/7/2015	Czech	Prague	Charles bridge, old town, nightlife	Couchsurfing
21/7/2015	Czech	cesky Krumlov, Cesky budejovice	Lovely little town, ate at Restaurace U Kalicha	Couchsurfing
22/7/2015	Austria	Gmunden	city tour, lake . Amazing food, amazing host	Couchsurfing
23/7/2015	Austria	Hallstatt	Salt mines, lake, fenicular ride,  beautiful park. Drove to Lake Bled	Ace of Spades, Lake Bled
24/7/2015	Slovenia	Lake Bled	amazing lake, Bled Castle, travelled to Divaca, limestone caves (Skocjan Caves)	Rooms and Apartments Kvasic, Krka
25/7/2015	Croatia	Krka -> Zadar	walked around, drove from Krka to Zadar, stopping at Kuterevo bear sanctuary	Marco Polo rooms, Zadar
26/7/2015	Croatia	Zadar -> Split	Plitvice Lakes National Park. swam in the lake, did the hike.	Guest house Vujevic, Split
27/7/2015	Croatia	Split	Wandered around Split city. Took a bus from Split to Dubrovnik	overnight bus
28/7/2015	Bosnia and Herzegovina	Dubrovnik -> Sarajevo	booked at a car (chevrolet spark) +GPS at 35 euros per day for 7 days.  Drove to Sarajevo	Hotel Story,Sarajevo
29/7/2015	Serbia	Cacak -> nis	Ate in café pizzeria, visited museum, park
30/7/2015	Bulgaria	Sofia	did a walking tour of the city. Saw excavation, hammam, different types of churches, Ate at a desi place -indian restaurant Kohinoor, finally!	Couchsurfing
1/8/2015	Macedonia	Skopje	couchsurfing at Oslo	Couchsurfing
2/8/2015	Macedonia	Ohrid	Amazing scenary, lovely drive, hiked randomly on the way, churches, met wonderful folks who were cycling across europe, did camping with them	Accomodation Jovan
3/8/2015	Albania	Tirana -> Budva	Nothing much to see in the city. Lunch break and moved to Montenegro	Mojo Budva
4/8/2015	Montenegro -> Croatia	Budva, Kotor Bay	Wandered in the city, Did cliff jumping with localites. Did the Kotor Fortress hike in Kotor bay	Villa banana, Dubrovnik
5/8/2015	Croatia -> Serbia	Dubrovnik, Belgrade	Walked around the city and castle. Famous for games of thrones shooting. Flew to serbia and Stayed in Belgrade. Did escape room	Shine hostel, Belgrade
6/8/2015	Greece	Athens	we stayed at Kamdev yoga center 😉 … Walked around acropolis, necropolic, amphitheater, pagoda, partheneon , went crazy in one of the sweet shops and tried all the varieties of sweets. Ate at an indian restaurant – indian chef	Couchsurfing
7/8/2015	Greece	Athens	we stayed at Kamdev yoga center 😉 … Walked around acropolis, necropolic, amphitheater, pagoda, partheneon , went crazy in one of the sweet shops and tried all the varieties of sweets. Ate at an indian restaurant – indian chef	Couchsurfing
9/8/2015	Turkey	Istanbul	DolmaBahce, Blue mosque , hagia sophia, park	Couchsurfing
10/8/2015	Turkey	Istanbul	Topkapi palace museum, Grand Bazaar, Hammam	Couchsurfing

Scotland in 5 days

Highlights:

• Glenfinnan duct
• Fairy pools
• Neist point lighthouse
• Quiraing hike
• Driving through amazing landscapes (especially in Isle of Skyye)
• Edinburgh city
• Whiskey distillery tour (we missed it)

Detailed day-wise plan:

Day 1:

• Land in Glasgow in morning. Pick up rental car from the airport
• Drove to Cameron House hotel for lunch (this is on Lake Lochmond and has a nice view) – can also take sea planes here
• Drove to Glencoe (nice views/ hikes)
• Slept at MacDonald hotel and Cabins (near Glencoe) – pic below – cheap cabins with a great setting but basic rooms

Day 2:

• Drove via Fort William
• Glenfinnan viaduct (Harry Potter fame – pic below): can try to take Jacob’s train but need to book beforehand
• Stayed at Balmacara mains (very nice B&B, overlooking a lake)

Day 3:

• This is when we reached Isle of Skyye (major part of our trip) – took 2 days to reach here but amazing views on the way. Even better views and drive on this island
• Fairy pools (recommended but requires a bit of walk/ light hiking) – pic below
• Neist point lighthouse (Pic below) – highly recommended, small trek to reach this place
• Stayed at Dunvegan at a cheap B&B. Can also consider staying at Achalochan B&B (looked pretty nice)
• Keeps raining lightly almost everyday

day 4:

• Coral beach in the morning – nice walk on the beach but not a must do
• Castle Ewen Fairy Glen – recommended but short visit. unique structure of small hills and nice views
• Quiraing hike – highly recommended. one of the best views but requires some hike. LOTR was partly shot here
• Did a really long drive to reach back to Perth (1 hour from Edinburgh) – roads all through are excellent
• We missed it but try to visit a distillery on the way

Day 5:

• Edinburgh (nice city). Key places:
  • Edinburgh castle (decent)
  • Scotch whiskey experience tour (Great if you missed visiting a distillery)
  • National museum of scotland (very nice)
  • St Giles Cathedral (great views from outside and inside)
  • Royal botanical garden (okayish  – can skip)
  • palace of holyroodhouse (we missed it as it was closed)
  • Arthur’s seat – great hike which we missed because we didnt have time
• Fly back to London

South Africa in 11 days (A road trip)

Budget – INR 3,00,000 for 2 people

Highlights:

1) Scuba dive with Sharks
2) Swimming with Penguins
3) Safari with Giraffes and Zebras
4) Visiting the Southernmost point of Africa continent
5) Drakensberg and Lesotho trip
6) Cape town – Tabletop mountain (one of world’s 7 wonders of nature), Cape of Good Hope
7) Surfing at Mossel’s bay
8) Beautiful beaches, amazing roads, and scenic drive (drove 4000kms in 11 days)

ITINERARY

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How a wrong google map time estimation helped me in achieving my longest trek #VellagaviTrek

Location: Kodaikanal : Dolpin nose – Vellagavi – Kumbakkarai falls trail (India)

Total distance – 25kms (return)
Duration – 12 hours+
Difficulty level – Moderate/Difficult
Elevation – Highest point(dolphin nose)- 2000m.
Lowest point (kumbakkarai falls)- 400m
Best time to visit – Sept/Oct

First statement after finishing the trek – “F**k! Lag gai”

Things not to expect:

New Zealand In 10 days

Budget: 5 Lakhs (including flights)

Day	Place	Accomodation	Activity
1	Auckland	SKYCITY Hotel	Sky Tower visit + city visit
2	Auckland	SKYCITY Hotel	Waitomo glow worm caves and Hobbiton Experience
3	TE ANAU	The Distinction Luxmore Hotel	Fly to queenstown. Rent a car and go to on the way to te anau
4	TE ANAU	–	Scenic Cruise in milford sound
5	QUEENSTOWN	Hilton	Onsen pool spa , shotover jet, sky dive
6	Wanaka	Wanaka Edge water lakeside	Enjoy the lake, scenary and learn to fly a plane at Southern Lakes (Learn-to-fly)
7	Franz Josef	Glenfern Villas	Heli-Hike 3hrs + Glacier Hot pools
8	Arthur’s pass	youth hostel near Arthur’s pass.	Arthur’s Pass trek
9	Christchurch	Novotel	Antarctic Centre XPRESS PASS

Hampi in May – A Roadtrip

Budget – INR 9000

Highlights:

1. Camping at Hippie Hampi
2. Stone Chariot temple
3. Virupaksha temple
4. The Hampi Bazaar
5. Queens’ bath
6. Lunch at Orange County

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Gokarna and Dandeli in 3 days [draft]

Budget: INR 5500

Jordan In 6 days (draft)

Highlights:

1. Petra Museum (Treasury, ruins and amazing cave walls- siq)
2. Wadi Rum – a night stay in an open desert with tribal people doing Sheesha and eating food cooked in Sand
3. Wadi El Ghuway ( A trek in the mid of nowhere. The best and toughest trek of my life so far)
4. Floating the in Dead Sea
5. Scuba Dive in Aqaba

Cambodia and Bali in 10 days (draft)

This, as usual was a fast track trip. Owing to the price hikes during new year and lack of proper planning (as usual), we decided to go from  India -> Malaysia -> Cambodia -> Malaysia -> Indonesia -> Malaysia -> India. We skipped visiting Malaysia as we already covered it during our New Zealand trip.

The highlights of Cambodia were:

1. Phnom Peng :
   1. Royal Palace
   2. Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum (Recommended to take a guided tour of it)
   3. Wat Phnom 
   4. A private boat ride in the Mekong river.
   5. beautiful landscape during bus ride from phnom penh to siem reap.
2. Siem Reap:
   1. Stay in Pub street (dirt cheap beer, extremely cheap massage centers)
   2. Half day cycle tour to Angkor Wat
   3. visit to the floating village Kompong Phluk
   4. icecream of the french chef

The highlights of Bali were:

1. Pro Surf hostel at Kuta
   1. Right next to Kuta beach.
   2. Had pool where we learned how to do summersault
   3. Surfing lessons provided for extremely cheap price with guarantee that we will be able to stand of the surf, if not, next class free. (we failed and went for the next free class)
   4. Trek to Mount Batur, an active volcano.

THE BEGINNER’s GUIDE TO TRAVEL HACKING

1) Tickets:

Most important things are tickets. Trust me, they can be the costliest part of your trip if not planned properly. One should always try to book the tickets as early as possible. The sites like kayak and skyscanner come very handy. Search for options like from “Bangalore” to “anywhere” , “anytime” and see if any place suits your budget. You can also check for certain months and then plan your travel accordingly.

2) Say no to weekend travels:

Try not to travel on a weekend. The weekends tickets are usually more costy than the weekday tickets. Also the weekends differ from one country to another. For eg, in India, saturday and sunday are treated as weekend while in Egypt, Friday, saturday are weekends.Try to make use of such differences.