Great night time views of the Burj al Arab right at your side and the Dubai skyline from the Jumeirah Grand Mosque to the Burj Kalifa. The bar sports a dance floor and decent decor and music. It’s located on a circular extension out on the water at the end of a long walkway encircling the Jumeirah Beach Marina.
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Zeta at the Address Downtown, Dubai
May 18, 2013 by Arthur
The Zeta restaurant at The Address Downtown has decent food, which is a mix of Japanese and random fusion, a nice decor and if you sit on the patio, great views of the amazing fountain display that takes place every half hour at the base of the esthetically magnificent and architecturally impressive Burj Khalifa. It blows the Bellagio fountains out of the water (corny pun intended.)
I’d recommend grabbing an evening drink, snack or even dinner here.
Category Uncategorized | Tags: , Dubai, Restaurants, UAE | No Comments
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Nasimi Beach, The Palm, Dubai
May 18, 2013 by Arthur
Nasimi Beach had great view of parts of the Dubai skyline, a good vibe, good music, great food, shisha and a white beach club decor. The beach has beds, loungers, couches and tables. We really enjoyed for a dip, a drink, a snack and even a little dancing.
Category Uncategorized | Tags: , Beach, Dubai, UAE | No Comments
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Club Mina Beach at the Le Meridian, Dubai
May 18, 2013 by Arthur
The Club Mina Beach Club at Le Meridian gets a resounding two thumbs down. It’s probably an ok place for families with kids, as we saw a lot of those there, but that doesn’t excuse the poor service and the unimpressive beach, food, decor and view.
The entry cost is around $100 per person for that money you have to walk around the outside of the hotel and through and back entrance behind the parking lot to access the beach, because got forbid you use the hotels main entrance and mix with the exclusive clientele of the Westin and Le Meridian brands. For that money you get a lounger and two towels if you’re willing to wait 10 min for the towel guy to show up. Then you might get a fine server like Binod who is under the strict impression that smiling to a paying customer would literally kill him, but giving customers attitude, rushing them when taking an order and repeatedly moving a tray with the receipts and credit card machine to your lounger despite your best efforts to move it to a nearby lounger so you can rest comfortably while he takes the 15 minutes to prepare the receipts and run off midway on a random errand, is totally ok.
There was more to raise my ire but I think you get the idea.
Category Uncategorized | Tags: , Beach, Dubai, UAE | No Comments
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Butterfly Lodge, Pokhara
May 14, 2013 by Arthur
The Butterfly Lodge in Pokhara is a great option. Rooms run the gamut from shared bathroom in the old building to private bathroom and balcony with a lake view in the new building range from $6 to $60. It has a garden with swings, tables and loungers. It’s a great place to rest and relax. The lodge is a family run establishment and they are extremely friendly and helpful and have a great sense of quality service. Showers have good water pressure and temperature.
We’d highly recommend the place and came back here twice.
Our only beef was with the Spa. It seems they rent out some space in a small building on their property to semi-associated spa. The spa sucks. The towels and sheets are dirty to the point of disgusting and the masseuses don’t redeem it one bit. They are poorly trained both in the physical aspects of the art of massage and the metaphysical aspects such as service. To add insult to injury its extremely overpriced. The higher price probably deceived us into thinking it would be a “luxury” experience. It was not. The lodge needs to find a new spa operator or at the very least disassociate themselves by recommending another spa off the premises.
Category Asia, Uncategorized | Tags: , Hotels, Nepal, Pokhara, Spa | No Comments
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Air India and Delhi Airport
May 14, 2013 by Arthur
Air India flights are often disgusting. As in their cleaning crew, if they have one, neglected to show up for work. The passengers often have no sense of personal space and the flight attendants no sense of service. But hey it’s often half the price of the competition. So if you’re a world traveler looking to save a buck and can hold down the squeamishness. Go for it. (As I write this, the gentleman sitting next to me just decided to share his satisfaction with the inflight meal by regurgitating it to me in gaseous form right from his mouth with substantial force and volume.) If you have standards and are not in the mood for “budget travel” spring for another carrier.
Also, how hard is it to keep the light on in cabin? I’m not talking “Ladies and gentlemen we’ll be dimming our lights for take off and landing” or “to allow passengers to get a good nights rest.” I’m talking about randomly shutting off all of the cabin lights in one fell swoop a dozen times over the course of a flight for durations varying from 10 seconds to 15 minutes. I fly a lot. I can’t say I’m scared of flying but seriously intermittently shutting off power to a flying tin can 30,000 feet in the air, like its a shack on the outskirts of a third world town with a faulty electrical grid, is not very reassuring. Oh and maybe you could train your stewardesses not to slam down the platter of mixed goo containers you call the in-flight meal on my kindle. And here’s another brain busting idea. It’s ok to turn on the air conditioning before the plane hits 30,000 feet even on short hall flight, especially if its 90 degrees outside (and 100 inside for that matter.) In the interest of honesty I must counter-disclaim though that the goo marked as “Non-Veg Main” is generally surprisingly edible. I can’t say the same for the one marked “Dessert.”
Note that in my experience Air India flights to/from the United States seem to be a little better as they are often co-shares and at least they have some shame. When you fly inside Asia, its a free for all.
As far as transfer hubs go, Delhi is actually pretty good. The airport is new and well laid out. The Eaton Hotel right in airport has decent clean rooms and is a great option when your transfer requires an overnight stay and you don’t want to waste time and money on obtaining a transit visa and leaving the airport. The airport even sports sleeping pods for the more budget conscious. The Nature Spa at the Ishana outlet is also excellent and reasonably priced for the level of quality. Go for the 30 minute foot massage or add on the 60 minute full body massage which incorporates yoga stretches if you have the time. The treatment quality is far superior to what you’ll find at most airport spas and the decor complete with floor to ceiling views out onto the tarmac is great.
Category Airlines, Uncategorized | Tags: , Airlines, Airports | No Comments
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Nepal Guides and Porters
May 14, 2013 by Arthur
The Annapurna Circuit is a pretty well traveled trekking route and though it takes you to some pretty remote places that may require evacuation by donkey and helicopter if shit goes bad and sport the sort of accommodations and culinary options that will have you wishing for a tuna steak and some wet wipes by the second week, its pretty touristy and easy enough to travel without a guide. That being said, I’d highly recommend getting one. It’s worth the money.
We started out simply looking for a porter to carry one of our packs mostly because Ford was being a little bitch after breaking an ankle yachting and tearing up some knee ligaments skiing (“man up, you got another leg” I said, but then she briskly reminded me that she was actually a girl and “Ford” was just a pseudonym she got dibs on by offering me sexual favors and promptly proceeded to shove said other leg… well you get the picture) oh and I was being lazy.
So we got to Pokhara, went to every single sporting goods store on the strip along Lake Side, realized they all sold the same bootleg shit gear made in China and that neither the brand or the volume size marked on the outside of a pack had anything remotely to do with reality or physics based on Euclidean geometry as we know it and bought the biggest lack we could find for $40. We then proceeded to fill it to the brim with both of our stuff. Somehow at the end of the procedure I was still carrying my own 75 liter pack weighing in at 30 lbs and we ended up leaving Ford’s full 65 liter pack and my day pack with out hotel in Pokhara for storage. But I digress.
So following some recommendations or recommendations we hired a porter to carry our newly purchased pack. Some of the established agencies will offer you guides who generally refuse to carry a load but speak english and know the route for about $25 a day and porters who barely speak English and barely know where they are going for about $15. We got incredibly lucky with a Porter/Guide who ended up costing us $17 a day. Not only did he carry our enormous pack with gusto, often out running us with our comparatively measly loads an resting under a shady tree along the way waiting for us to catch up but he proved to be an experienced guide, having been in the game for over 13 years and gone over the Throng La pass close to 100 times. He was extremely knowledgeable about the routes (something vital when you realize that no single accurate map or guidebook exists and the trail options change constantly due to road construction, landslides and varying degrees of trail maintenance or lack thereof), the flora, fauna and farming methods employed, the various lodges and their quality of lodging and cuisine. He was superbly friendly and helpful, knowing when to hangout with us and when to hang back and give us some space, he served as a personal waiter taking our orders and bringing us food wherever we we went and on several occasions even served as our personal chef. He was great.
Hell he even picked a mean merijuana harvest along the way (which is harder than it sounds given that most of the plants hadn’t bloomed yet) and slaughtered a chicken at one of the guest houses we stayed at.
If you’re looking for a good reliable guide, porter or both in Nepal, we’d be happy to recommend ours. Just email me at arthur@havetowelwilltravel.com.
(I’d like to add a side not here and assuage my Jewish guilt through Catholic confession and say though I experienced pangs of guilt every time I loaded up our porter/guides pack. That being said it was a featherweight compared to what we saw porters carrying on the trail. What some of the more commercial trekking outfits due to the porters on the large org sized treks just seems inhumane. One porter often ends up carrying the equivalent of two large packs and then some roped together and attached to a band on their forehead which is the locals preferred method of load carrying.)
Guides like ours generally only work a few treks a year and earn somewhere between $1,000 and $2,000 a year. Though that’s more than the average Nepali earns in a year, it still makes for a very hard life. We loved our guide and tipped him 60%. If your guide or porter works hard to do his job and make you happy, do your best to reward them accordingly. Give what you can just don’t forget to put things in prospective. An extra $10 might not make it or break it for you but it might make a huge difference for your guide or porter. Oh and please don’t forget to treat your guide/porter with dignity and respect.
Here’s another tip. Chances are you probably haven’t done much laundry by hand in freezing cold water while squatting over a hose in your day. The good news is, your guide will have plenty of free time while you lick your wounds from the days hike. Try to agree ahead of time with your porter/guide that he will be doing your laundry. Just make sure you also agree on how often and how. (Ex. No rubbing on stone, rubbing by hand only, run with soap, rub stains and high stain areas, rinse 4 times, rinse each peace individually under running water, hang to dry and clip.) Keep in mind that unless you discuss things ahead of time he might not consider how often you want clean clothes “reasonable” and you may not quite consider what he calls “clean” reasonable either.
Always interview your guide or porter before you agree to hire them. Don’t feel bad saying you’ll get back to them after the interview rather than making a rush decision. You’ll be spending several weeks with this person. You want to make sure you’re comfortable.
Here are some questions to ask your guide/porter or agency (and preferable answers):
Does the guide have appropriate clothes and foot ware for the trek?(Keep in mind that it gets quite cold and there may be snow on the ground. That being said, your guide will likely put your $500 Goretex boots to shame by insisting on running up the path in a $12 pair of sneakers. Do make sure they are experienced enough to know that it gets quite cold at elevation and they have enough warm clothes.)
[if working with an agency] Does the agency provide insurance for the guide in case of injury, sickness or death during the trek?
How many times has the guide done this trek before? (Make sure to ask about any and all optional side treks you might want to do, even if you’re not yet sure if you’re going to do them.)
Will the guide be drinking during the trek? (We’ve heard of some guides who get excessively drunk on the trek. We let out guy drink and smoke in moderation when we were already on the trek but its best that you determine beforehand that the general policy is no drinking.)
Who will choose the guest houses where you spend the night? (You want the guide to make recommendations. In our experience they were usually good. But you want to make sure that its clear upfront that you get final say.)
Who will be responsible for the guide’s/porter’s food and accommodations? (Its preferable that the food and accommodations be included in the price you arrange and be the guide’s/porter’s own responsibility. From what we saw the guides and porters generally get to stay and eat for free or at substantial discount wherever you stay and eat.)Category Uncategorized | Tags: , Annapurna Circuit, Guides, Nepal | No Comments
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Oh Shit
May 14, 2013 by Arthur
The below post was meant to go out a couple of days back, but luckily we’ve found most of our trek to be completely devoid of internet access. Since then we’ve seen more cool shit, gone over the snow covered 5,500 meter high Thorung La pass, fantasized about all the restaurants we’ll eat at upon our return that don’t serve rice with lentils, thoroughly debated how many showers would be too many to have per day once we have unfettered access to hot water that doesn’t come from a rusty bucket (thus far there is certain consensus that 4 a day is perfectly acceptable for at least the first week) and learned that at above 3,000 meters if you only need to wear 5 layers of clothing indoors to stay warm, that means its “summer” and there is no need to turn the heat on in the dinning hall.
And now the post you’ve all been waiting for:
For those of you still on the fence about coming to Nepal, I’d like to inform you that the place literally has fields of merijuana. They belong to no one and simply grow by the roadside like, well a bunch of weeds.
In all seriousness, Nepal is a beautiful and fascinating country and we’d highly advise everyone to come to Nepal and see all the cool shit they have here. They have cow shit, water-buffalo shit, goat shit, donkey shit, horse shit, sheep shit, cheap shit (mostly manufactured in China and labeled as expensive American and European brand outdoors gear) and yak shit which once you get to a certain altitude you’ll realize is the only fuel source available for heat as no living organisms in its right mind, trees included, are willing to put up with the freezing cold, blistering wind and lack of, that highly taken-for-granted commodity, oxygen. On the topic of shit, I can report that Ford has managed to succumb to 2 of the 4 possible types of diarrhea. Worry not though, we are heading into a region know for its Giardia, a single cell organism highly prized by nature for its ability to relive you of your constipation and your overall water content, so we are hoping that we can get at least 3 out of 4 if not the full quad-fecta by the end of the trip. On that note, I intend to seriously study the market potential of Nepali water as a rat poison and as a weight-loss dietary supplement upon my return to the states.
Though I’ll be happy to share my full 250 item packing list complete with post-trip updates on my return, I’d like to make one specific recommendation. Bring a serious SLR camera and have it mounted at all times to the outside of your pack. Sure its an extra thousand dollars if you don’t already have one and a couple of extra pounds to carry around, but I assure it’ll all be worth it when you won’t look like a complete pussy when you stop every 15 seconds to pantingly catch your breath, under the guise of taking that next National Geographic worthy photo, as you ascent past 3,000 meters. The good news is there are plenty of incredible vistas at every turn in Nepal so no one will suspect a thing. Try to make sure you don’t let more then a minute or two pass between photos lest you pass out from oxygen deprivation. Oh and whatever lens you were going to bring, bring a wider one. The mountains are really really really big. No. Really.
In summary trekking in Nepal is beautiful albeit painful, smelly and cold. Oh and I’d kill for a steak or even a piece of fish, let alone another pack of wet-wipes to “shower” with.
Category Asia, Uncategorized | Tags: , Annapurna Circuit, Nepal | No Comments
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Annapurna Guest House, Kathmandu
May 14, 2013 by Arthur
The Annapurna Guest House in Thamel in Kathmandu is a shit hole roach motel that you couldn’t pay me to stay at again. The sheets are covered is holes and stains. It’s a BYOTP (Bring Your Own Toilet Paper) establishment. The hotel staff spent a lot of time trying to push their “travel advisor” on us but somehow refused to remove the previous tenants’ dirty towel and used soap from our bathroom or provide us with a fresh supply of either.
Sure it’s only $20 a night but even in that category you need not settle for disgusting accommodations and bad service.
It’s a shit hole. Stay away.
Category Uncategorized | Tags: , Hotels, Kathmandu, Nepal | No Comments
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Shambaling Hotel, Kathmandu
May 14, 2013 by Arthur
The Shambaling Hotel in Kathmandu is a peaceful oasis in an otherwise hectic city. The hotel sports clean, well decorated and lovely smelling rooms and extremely friendly and well trained staff. It’s located in a buddhist neighborhood on the east end of the city, walking distance from the Boddha Stupa and quite close to the Pashupatinath Temple Complex and cremation grounds as well as the airport. The neighborhood is a welcome change from the touristy kitsch and clamor of Thamel. The Hotel’s central courtyard is a great place to get some peace and quiet and the restaurant offers decent if not exceptional cuisine. The rooms are very reasonably price with the Standard room coming in between $80 and $100 with all taxes and fees as well as breakfast included.
We’d highly recommend it.
Category Uncategorized | Tags: , Hotels, Kathmandu, Nepal | No Comments