[aravind84]

Hi All,

Am planning for an overseas vacation in Feb for my first year wedding anniversary.

As always am looking forward to the expert guidance from the members here on the choice of places / Approx cost / guidance.

Following are my concerns

1. I do not want to include ( Singapore , malaysia , Thailand , Dubai ) in my list of places
2. I am interested in Bali , Maldives , Mauritus or need help
3. The trip is planned for 5 days and 4 nights
4. Total cost that i can incur could be between 75K -1L
5. Is it worth going through Make My Trip or Yatra on the packages they offer?

Thanks all for the help that is going to pour in

[Technocrat]

While people reply you might want to check out the following thread

Mauritius, Maldives, Seychelles Suggestions (Mauritius or Seychelles In Month of August ?)

[phamilyman]

JFYI a friend spend 4 days, 3 nights in Westin Langkawi (which is a gorgeous place) thru Air Asia and spent 85k all included - he just chilled out at the resort!

So try looking at Bali similarly via Air Asia - last year a friend went there for her honeymoon and kept it just around 80k odd all inclusive (stay was at either of
grand istana rama located rt on waterfront along Kuta Beach.airport=15mins,shopping area=5mins 3953
harris river view located in centre of Kuta City, abt 10 - 15 minutes to Kuta Beach 3773

[ramkya1]

I would second the Langkawi Island, I know of friends who have spent wonderful time, researched it for going with family. Perfect Honeymoon place, there's a bungy jumping place there, one can even take a diving package there.

I've also evaluated Mauritius, not value for money IMO, most things there can be had in Goa.

--Ramky

Originally Posted by phamilyman

JFYI a friend spend 4 days, 3 nights in Westin Langkawi (which is a gorgeous place) thru Air Asia and spent 85k all included - he just chilled out at the resort!

So try looking at Bali similarly via Air Asia - last year a friend went there for her honeymoon and kept it just around 80k odd all inclusive (stay was at either of
grand istana rama located rt on waterfront along Kuta Beach.airport=15mins,shopping area=5mins 3953
harris river view located in centre of Kuta City, abt 10 - 15 minutes to Kuta Beach 3773

[ninjatalli]

In line with the thread name, and not the thread owner's requirements need clarity on a holiday trip to Thailand in the coming months

- Planned month : January 2012
- Any update on the floods - how much is Bangkok & Pattaya affected by the floods?
- I'm assuming the situation might come to normal by January, or should I be looking at alternate locations?
- Is it worth going for package trips via websites (Makemytrip, Yatra) or via agents, or should I be doing the preparations myself?
- Budget is open between 50k - 75k (for a span of 4-5 days)

Awaiting inputs from Tbhpians. Thanks!

[ArunV]

I had been to Bali in May this year. We started our travel from Singapore and back to singapore. We spend 5 days and 4 nights and our total expense came to around 85K.(One side travel was business class and we stayed in Grand Mirage which was costly compared to other hotels there).

For Bali, if you can book the tickets and hotels online, and u have 4 - 5 days in hand, you can make your own plan once you reach there. There are many agents who can do all the booking for you or chart an entire days plan for you.

[ramkya1]

I would not go to Bangkok just now, transited through Bangkok on 20 Oct and came back through BKK on 11th, aborted 3 days stay there and only used it for transit as I was commited and changing would have invited penalty.

Have done an awful lot of research on the BKK situation, the Suvarnabhumi Airport itself is OK and is not LIKELY to be affected even with the worst flood. About 7-10 KM perimeter of the Airport including the city center is behind a dam of sandbags, there's a flood out there, water is seeping through in many places. Any time there's a high tide from the Sea the water volume would raise and seep into town, there's water stagnant in drains everywhere breeding vermin out of sight. The North provinces are flooded out and threat of epidemic is real, lots of tourist who have done the city tour and Pattaya have gone scot free without knowing anything. I have taken a calculated risk and saved ourselves with mosquito repellants in BKK.

There are other places in Thailand that are safe, would suggest spend time on Trip Advisor and go to Forums of the country / city you want to visit see what people on the ground are saying and not trust the press or telly for specific information, they dish out sensational and generic ones.

--Ramky

Originally Posted by ninjatalli

In line with the thread name, and not the thread owner's requirements need clarity on a holiday trip to Thailand in the coming months

- Planned month : January 2012
- Any update on the floods - how much is Bangkok & Pattaya affected by the floods?
- I'm assuming the situation might come to normal by January, or should I be looking at alternate locations?
- Is it worth going for package trips via websites (Makemytrip, Yatra) or via agents, or should I be doing the preparations myself?
- Budget is open between 50k - 75k (for a span of 4-5 days)

Awaiting inputs from Tbhpians. Thanks!

[mayankjha1806]

Has anyone tried flying to Bhutan, seems like a lovely place to go. Here are few threads. Although folks have driven one could fly and get there from down south.

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/travel...arjeeling.html

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/travel...en-dooars.html

[sansvk]

Try Bali, going through Singapore is the best option from India.
Lots of things to see from temples, volcanoes, farm estates, forests and of course beaches (water sports, scuba diving etc), also people over there are very friendly. If you like sea food you will surely enjoy the place.
One more thing, when I went there in early 2010, over the one week period we came across only one Indian family which was a great thing, most other places are crowed with Indians.

[aravind84]

Originally Posted by sansvk

Try Bali, going through Singapore is the best option from India.
Lots of things to see from temples, volcanoes, farm estates, forests and of course beaches (water sports, scuba diving etc), also people over there are very friendly. If you like sea food you will surely enjoy the place.
One more thing, when I went there in early 2010, over the one week period we came across only one Indian family which was a great thing, most other places are crowed with Indians.

Hi,

Can you PM the details of your trip if possible. I mean i need the info on which tour operator did u select and how did u plan and what was the approx cost for 2.

Thank you so much

[Fauji]

Originally Posted by aravind84

Hi All,

Am planning for an overseas vacation in Feb for my first year wedding anniversary.

Arvind,

Why don't you look at Sri Lanka - Amazing beaches, Beautiful hills and heritage. Your planning of seven days is ideal to cover all the places. Moreover, you can hire a "Self drive" car in Colombo which are reasonably priced and move around as distances are small. Ofcourse, you can hire a taxi as well.

Look at this google map link

Colombo, Sri Lanka to Colombo, Sri Lanka - Google Maps

You will get very good deals in hotels in February. No need to go through any agent and you can plan it yourself. There is direct flight from Bangalore via Madras to colombo. If you want to have some adventure, there is a luxury cruise operating from Tuticorin to Trincomalee as well and not very expensive.

[Thamizha]

Originally Posted by aravind84

Hi All,

Am planning for an overseas vacation in Feb for my first year wedding anniversary.

As always am looking forward to the expert guidance from the members here on the choice of places / Approx cost / guidance.

Aravind, May be you should try Andaman this time. I feel you will have great time.

[aravind84]

Originally Posted by Fauji

Arvind,

Why don't you look at Sri Lanka - Amazing beaches, Beautiful hills and heritage. Your planning of seven days is ideal to cover all the places. Moreover, you can hire a "Self drive" car in Colombo which are reasonably priced and move around as distances are small. Ofcourse, you can hire a taxi as well.

Look at this google map link

Colombo, Sri Lanka to Colombo, Sri Lanka - Google Maps

You will get very good deals in hotels in February. No need to go through any agent and you can plan it yourself. There is direct flight from Bangalore via Madras to colombo. If you want to have some adventure, there is a luxury cruise operating from Tuticorin to Trincomalee as well and not very expensive.

Thanks Fauji, but my high command (read wifey!!) has clear orders of no to Srilanka , Malaysia, Singapore (Though this is going to be my first international travel). Poor me(huh!). Left with not much of choice.

[Spinnerr]

Hello,

Has any Bhpian been to Seychelles of late?
I have planned a trip next month, April 2017.

I was casually enquiring about Seychelles rupees at the exchange houses, to my surprise all 3 which I had checked, did not have the currency.

They suggested carrying USD or EUR.

So, I have been researching a bit on TripAdvisor, most of the posts are old, but then the suggestion was to carry EUR and exchange some locally for petrol, bus tickets or small shopping.

If any of you guys have visited Seychelles in the recent months, plz do share your inputs.

Thanks!

[Spinnerr]

UPDATE:

EUR and USD is widely accepted in Seychelles. EUR gives us better exchange rates. CashPoint money exchange has the most competitive rates, and some smile and sweet talk will get you atleast 0.05 more than the displayed rates.

A very tourist friendly place, everyone speaks English and French. Some Indian crowd too, Tamilians run a lot of the small grossary stores and mini marts.

NOTE: I stayed in Beau Vallon. All the ATMs I came across in this area are VISA ATMs, if you have a MasterCard affiliated card, you would have to draw cash from the Airport. That was the only place where I could see a MasterCard ATM.

Tropical climate, noons are super hot and during some hot days expect an evening shower. As far as what I could gather, it is the same all year around.

Sun and sea water = tan. Real dark ones. Do carry sun screen, not that it helped us much after taking a dip in the sea. But, I could see most of the whites using spray on sunscreen, not the rub-on kind. So, maybe, that would help.

Bottled drinking water is pricey, just like Europe, approx 1EUR per liter. If you are OK with taking water off the hotel's filter, do ask around, the friendlier staff are more than happy to direct you to these water coolers.