Confessions of a YYC Travel Junkie

[getbak]

Originally Posted by cmyden

I'll try to write up a full report at some point, but just off the top of my head, I would say the highlights for me were...

Thanks a lot.

Did you have any problems communicating with the locals, or is English pretty common?

[no_joke]

Originally Posted by getbak

Thanks a lot.

Did you have any problems communicating with the locals, or is English pretty common?

I'm in Turkey right now and if you are travelling on the well worn tourist trail, I then you will be fine with English alone. I've asked a few questions in Turkish so far and usually get a reply in English.

[no_joke]

Chris, I can *try* to pick up a goblet for you. Where did you get yours? I am hoping any gift shop in Istanbul?

[cmyden]

Originally Posted by no_joke

Chris, I can *try* to pick up a goblet for you. Where did you get yours? I am hoping any gift shop in Istanbul?

Haha, I was just kidding, well, sort of (I am still kicking myself for packing it in my checked luggage!). Unfortunately, despite Efes being practically the only beer in the country, and an abundance of souvenir shops selling seemingly everything a tourist would be looking for, the only place I ever saw Efes goblets were at the restaurants/bars themselves. So I just offered to buy it at one of the restaurants for 10 lira, and they told me not to worry about it and just take it, so I just left 10 extra lira in my tip.

[cmyden]

Someone on Facebook asked me about Istanbul, where I stayed, etc. Maybe this info will help some CPers heading to Turkey...

Turkey was great! Istanbul is where we tried out AirBNB, since it's the one place in Turkey where hotels can be expensive. We stayed in an apartment in the Cianghir district for about $50/night. It's just across the bridge from the Sultanhament district which is where all the major tourist sites are concentrated.

Cianghir is full of a ton of great restaurants and places to grab drinks. I'd call it their trendy/modern area. Istiklal street is not too far away, and is a gong show at all hours, but Cianghir is just far enough (at least where we were) to get away from the noise.

On our last day we visited the Asian side of Istanbul, by taking the $2 ferry (which is an amazingly good deal for an intercontinental cruise!). We really enjoyed this side of Istanbul, as you get away from the tourist crowds, but there are still plenty of great restaurants, nightlife, places to grab drinks, and we noticed a ton of amazing bakeries and candy shops that didn't seem to be present on the European side.

I remember thinking that if we did it over again, it wouldn't have been a bad idea to just stay on the Asian side and take the $2 ferry into the European side on the days we wanted to check out the tourist sights. The ferry dock is really close to all the sights. The downside would be that the last ferry is around 11 PM, so if you were on the European side late at night, you'd have to figure out a different way to get home (ie: take a taxi all the way around). Not sure what the hotel prices are like on the Asian side but it could be worth a look.

I've also updated my Google Map of Turkey with the ferry stations that we used. It can be a little confusing, with the European station (Karakoy) having a name that sounds similar to the Asian side (Kadikoy).

http://tinyurl.com/7moz2s9

[cmyden]

Calgary to Honolulu, Hawaii - $474 roundtrip after taxes - Los Angeles for $272

There's an interesting offer over at Flight Centre for $50 off U.S. destinations served by Air Canada.

Taking another $50 off of prices to Hawaii and Los Angeles that are already at their usual bottom makes them pretty attractive. New York at $407 roundtrip is also pretty decent.

It looks like you have to call into Flight Centre to get the deal.

Details: https://www.flightcentre.ca/air-cana...g-from-calgary

[Ozy_Flame]

http://www.businessinsider.com/ryana...ntless-2012-11

"Seatbelts are useless!"

But here's the best part:

He is currently seeking to create “standing room only” cabins for students and budget travellers, selling £1 tickets to European destinations.

[no_joke]

Originally Posted by cmyden

Someone on Facebook asked me about Istanbul, where I stayed, etc. Maybe this info will help some CPers heading to Turkey...



I've also updated my Google Map of Turkey with the ferry stations that we used. It can be a little confusing, with the European station (Karakoy) having a name that sounds similar to the Asian side (Kadikoy).

http://tinyurl.com/7moz2s9

Sorry Chris, amongst the plethora of information out there I can't figure out the difference between the ferries (or is it sea buses?) that depart from Karakoy and Eminonu. If one only had time to do one round trip between the European and Asian sides, what would you recommend for departure stations/ports?

[cmyden]

Originally Posted by no_joke

Sorry Chris, amongst the plethora of information out there I can't figure out the difference between the ferries (or is it sea buses?) that depart from Karakoy and Eminonu. If one only had time to do one round trip between the European and Asian sides, what would you recommend for departure stations/ports?

The one we took from the European side was from Karakoy (north side of the Galata bridge) over to Kadikoy.

(find Karakoy on the Google map above, and then look South-East on the map, across the river to find Kadikoy).

It's only a short walk across the bridge to the other European station, which is called Eminonu. I'm not sure exactly where leaving from Eminonu gets you to on the Asian side, they might even have ferries to Kadikoy as well.

UPDATE: Looking on TurkeyTravelPlanner, it looks like you can get from Eminonu to Kadikoy as well...
http://www.turkeytravelplanner.com/g...inonu_dox.html

As far as I know, Eminonu is the 'major' ferry station in Istanbul, with ferries to practically everywhere you'd want to go. But like I say, we just left from Karakoy, and I think there's ferries every 20 minutes, so it's nothing that requires any real advance planning. Just show up and head on over. It's practically like a shuttle bus in Istanbul.

At the end of the day, I think you just want to get to Kadikoy (which seems to be the 'place to be' on the Asian side), from either Eminonu or Karakoy, both of which are right across from each other on the Galata bridge, and both of which have plenty of ferries that leave every 20 minutes. Just choose whichever one is more convenient for you to depart from.

Just look for the crowd of locals lining up to get on the official government run ferry. It's a big boat, you can't miss it. Head to the back, top deck, for the best views. Don't get fooled/pressured into taking one of the expensive private cruises.

The other thing you can do is take a 2.5 hour 'short bosphorus' cruise for something like 10 lira (5 dollars). It doesn't go to the Asian side, it takes you up and down the Bosphorus. There's an all day Bosphorus one too, but apparently that's a bit long for some people.We wanted to do the short one, but it only leaves once a day, at 2:30 from Eminonu, here's the official timetable:

http://sehirhatlari.com.tr/en/timeta...ruise-363.html

Some info on going up and down the Bosphorus:

http://www.wittistanbul.com/magazine...e-in-istanbul/

Oh and if anyone wants to ride in the third oldest passenger terminal in the world, check out the Tunel, which is near the Karakoy station (it's a little tricky to find). It opened in 1875 and is a one-stop funicular that saves a *lot* of steep walking up to Istiklal street from the bridge.

http://www.istanbultrails.com/2009/0...-in-the-world/

At the top of the one-stop funicular you'll hit Istiklal street, where you can also jump on a tram to take it from one end of Istiklal to the other. It's a bit of an experience, especially at night-time (especially on a weekend). Try to imagine a tram running straight through the crowds on the Red Mile in 2004, with a constantly ringing bell to warn people to get out of the way for some idea.

http://www.turkeytravelplanner.com/g...klal_tram.html

All of these things, the ferry, the trams, the funicular, can be accessed with an IETT card. Anyone heading to Istanbul, I would recommend buying one right when you get there, just for the convenience. The card has a 7 lira deposit, and then you just need to find somewhere to add credits to the card (25 lira worth was enough for 4 days of all transportation for two of us). And then no matter what form of public transport you're taking, you just touch the card to the reader when you get on, and it will withdraw the appropriate amount.

[mykalberta]

Originally Posted by Ozy_Flame

http://www.businessinsider.com/ryana...ntless-2012-11

"Seatbelts are useless!"

But here's the best part:

He is currently seeking to create “standing room only” cabins for students and budget travellers, selling £1 tickets to European destinations.

Its like he said though, trains going 120kph dont require seatbelts, and neither does the london underground.

From a safety perspective I think the difference is nominal. The only case I can see it saving your life is sudden depressuraization due to saying the door being opened.

From a business perspective, I guess it would depend on how long the flight. If it was an hour or less I could see myself standing. They could even install lighter seats like foldables.

This all comes from the fact that seats are extremely heavy, and every unused seat uses fuel which is the number 1 cost.

[nomad]

We are hoping to go south for a beach vacation in mid-April and we want a direct flight. From Calgary, I know you can fly direct to Mexico and Hawaii. Are there direct flights to any other beachy places, i.e., in the Caribbean or elsewhere? This question may have been asked in previous years but I'm looking for up to date info. Thanks.

[cmyden]

Originally Posted by nomad

We are hoping to go south for a beach vacation in mid-April and we want a direct flight. From Calgary, I know you can fly direct to Mexico and Hawaii. Are there direct flights to any other beachy places, i.e., in the Caribbean or elsewhere? This question may have been asked in previous years but I'm looking for up to date info. Thanks.

1. http://openflights.org/

2. Enter your home city into the search box

3. Hit Search

It may not have the complete data from charter flights, but it looks pretty accurate for the most part.

As far as non-stop to beach destinations go, I'd say from YYC on the major airlines the options are:

Hawaii
Los Angeles
Cabo
Puerto Vallarta
Cancun
Orlando

And then on the charter companies there are non-stop flights to:

Varadero, Cuba (Nolitours, Sunwing)
Punta Cana, Dominican Republic (Transat)
Montego Bay, Jamaica (Sunwing, Nolitours)
Various destinations in Mexico

There is the odd non-stop charter flight to Central America that comes up, such as to Panama (haven't seen a non-stop one this year) or Costa Rica.

[nomad]

Great - thank you Chris.

[CaramonLS]

I'm looking to travel to Vegas over the Xmas break for 3-4 days, Between the 26th (Dec) and returning sometime before 5th (Jan).

Should I just bite the bullet and pay the prices (looking like 900-1000+ for a decent hotel and airfare) or will it get any better?

[fundmark19]

I doubt it will get better. Isn't new years eve crazy in vegas? I would assume really inflated prices

[CaramonLS]

^ ^ I don't even care about staying over New years.

[getbak]

You might be able to get a decent deal if you're willing to leave on Christmas Day.

[Fueled By Fire]

Does anyone know how much a flight to Colombia normally runs? I'm using the Matrix Airfare search and for 14 days I'm seeing flights from Bogota at around $850 in February.

[kipperfan]

Originally Posted by Fueled By Fire

Does anyone know how much a flight to Colombia normally runs? I'm using the Matrix Airfare search and for 14 days I'm seeing flights from Bogota at around $850 in February.

I'm looking to book a trip to Columbia/Peru myself and have been looking at flights and best as I can tell that is pretty close to the cheapest you're going to get, barring a big seat sale.

[cmyden]

Originally Posted by kipperfan

I'm looking to book a trip to Columbia/Peru myself and have been looking at flights and best as I can tell that is pretty close to the cheapest you're going to get, barring a big seat sale.

I would agree that's pretty much hitting bottom, barring a highly unusual drop. I think the cheapest I've ever seen to Colombia from YYC was around $720 roundtrip, and that was in 2010 on Mexicana (which no longer operates).

On the odd occasion, Lima has dropped into the $600s/$700s.