Melbourne Beats

ghetto kitty wrote:yes but you gotta always fly the same airline right?

same group of airlines. qantas is in oneworld with british airways, american airlines, iberia, finnair, lan, and a few others; star alliance has united/continental, lufthansa, sas, and heaps of others; the list for skyteam starts with aeroflot and goes downhill from there.

so if i fly any of ba, aa, iberia, finnair, etc, then i still earn qantas ff points, and i still get all the same benefits (which actually make a fairly big difference).

wow, i never fly any of those airlines though!
i used to fly qantas a lot....

but now its always over to asia, so thai airways or air asia, the cheapies. would totes be worth it if jetting around for work to europe or living the life of a rockstar like quick

thai are also in star alliance: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Allia ... r_airlines

2 weeks till i fly away to the tropics yayayaayya

melb to bangers, one night in bangers, overnight train down south, fast boat to koh tao, then 4 nights of scuba and sweet bungalow action here >>
http://www.sensiparadise.com/

then fast boat and overnight train to bangers, then fly to chaing mai.
anyone got recs for chaing mai accom or stuff to do?
then border crossing into laos or fly, not sure.

then 2 weeks ish in laos - also no plans yet.

any MUST dos people?
then fly back to bangers for a few days of shopping etc...

So jealous, I want to go to a tropical paradise and do nothing for weeks on end. That place looks amazing Bo I'm sure I could fit in your suitcase yeah?

Def get on the FF point scheme though with one of them staralliance looks like it had a better selection of more cost effective airlines compared to oneworld
I have Qantas cause most of my travel tends to be internal and I prefer to fly internal with qantas plus thats who my credit card is with so I earn bucket loads of points off my card every month.

Less than 1 week 'til I head to Penang! yays... 3 nights then off to Kota Kinabalu for at least 5 nights... then ????noplans???? ..Then visit Stray in KL for a weekend (probs be drunk the whole time lol) then home on the 27 June.

need to fill in about 7 days from 17 - 24 june... any ideas? haha, might make my way slowly down to Kuching or something... dunno

W000TTTTT

ghetto kitty wrote:then fast boat and overnight train to bangers, then fly to chaing mai.
anyone got recs for chaing mai accom or stuff to do?
then border crossing into laos or fly, not sure.

then 2 weeks ish in laos - also no plans yet.

any MUST dos people?
then fly back to bangers for a few days of shopping etc...

Chiang Mai, stay at either Little Bird Guest house, great location (so central), cheap as fuk and fun, very fun (bit of a party hostel, but not too intense). Or, Spicey Thai, guy calld Noom runs that joint, awesome place, better but further out... perfect for single backpackers, great staff, great nights out organised: trips to markets, restaurants etc... and easy to organise tours from and more chill, easy to watch dvds when need to chill etc... either are great though.

Try and get to Pai from Chiang Mai, wasn't sure if i should, but was so worth it, best place to chill and great food...

If you go overgound to Loas, make sure its in a coach not a mini bus/van... to small for assive trip but it is shit loads cheaper than flying. Skip Vientiane (capital) and go to vang vieng... i loved it there, some dont though cos it is party central, but so much fun tubing, and then go to Luang Prabang which is real nice... in both VV and LP stay in the Spicey Loas hostels... good places, best staff

also, get to waterfalls in Pai and in Luang Prabang... very nice

Anyone here been to Latvia or Estonia? I will be there next week, have 15 days between them... should be interesting

deviant wrote:Less than 1 week 'til I head to Penang! yays... 3 nights then off to Kota Kinabalu for at least 5 nights... then ????noplans???? ..Then visit Stray in KL for a weekend (probs be drunk the whole time lol) then home on the 27 June.

need to fill in about 7 days from 17 - 24 june... any ideas? haha, might make my way slowly down to Kuching or something... dunno

100% go down to kuching dan. its beautiful down there. you can fly for not much, dont go overland as you gotta go through indo or brunei and its a major hassle. way less touristy than KK - bit more of a locals doing their thing thing, and kuching means CAT CITY!!!! how could you not go ??!!!!
go kayaking down there, the river has been truly fucked by palm farming up near KK but down south its pristine and granite waterfalls an amazement! alsol we did a rafting trip from KK and that was awesome funs, pretty hairy rapids tbh!
from kota kinabalu take at least a day to go to the islands just off the coast - well worth it!
mad love for borneo - WAY better part of Malaysia than KL, even if its not really the jungle paradise one imagines.

quick wrote:[
Chiang Mai, stay at either Little Bird Guest house, great location (so central), cheap as fuk and fun, very fun (bit of a party hostel, but not too intense). Or, Spicey Thai, guy calld Noom runs that joint, awesome place, better but further out... perfect for single backpackers, great staff, great nights out organised: trips to markets, restaurants etc... and easy to organise tours from and more chill, easy to watch dvds when need to chill etc... either are great though.

Try and get to Pai from Chiang Mai, wasn't sure if i should, but was so worth it, best place to chill and great food...

If you go overgound to Loas, make sure its in a coach not a mini bus/van... to small for assive trip but it is shit loads cheaper than flying. Skip Vientiane (capital) and go to vang vieng... i loved it there, some dont though cos it is party central, but so much fun tubing, and then go to Luang Prabang which is real nice... in both VV and LP stay in the Spicey Loas hostels... good places, best staff

sounds okay quickster. i dont really do tours and i dont hang out with other backpackers if i can avoid it though.
im definately more of a stay out of the way and go hang with the locals if possible kind of traveller when im solo.
but wil check em out!

decided agaisnt the ziplining in bokeo forest - wet season means a 9 hour hike in and out of jungle on muddy track and only one day in the actual jungle for $300 USD - not worth it.
so i reckon ill fly from chaing mai to luang prabang and them perhaps do a boat trip south. why no vientiene?
tbh i might give vang vieng a miss - not into loads of stupid tourists drawing on each other and taking shrooms, have plenty of that in melbourne hahaha. if i had a friend - maybe. but alone - dunno!
will check out the places you said though!
and YES to the waterfalls, my friend who was just there said he saws the best water hole/fall in the WORLD and he has bene a lot of places!!!

4 sleeps.

got to sort 1 night in bangkok - might be here
http://www.silom-serene.com/

Latvia is sick... a lot more exe than I thought but beautiful country... seen some cool as fuk castles, proppa ones, and stayed 2 nights at a local families house 2 hours out of the capital, Riga, middle of nowhere, town of no more than 500 people... proppa food.

Estonia is next, the womens in these parts are too much to take sometimes... just ridiculously hot ones EVERYWHERE!

quick wrote:Latvia is sick... a lot more exe than I thought but beautiful country... seen some cool as fuk castles, proppa ones, and stayed 2 nights at a local families house 2 hours out of the capital, Riga, middle of nowhere, town of no more than 500 people... proppa food.

Estonia is next, the womens in these parts are too much to take sometimes... just ridiculously hot ones EVERYWHERE!

:insert The Hostel 3 trailer here:

already did that... but i beat them

proppa beat them?

C.I.A. wrote:

quick wrote:Latvia is sick... a lot more exe than I thought but beautiful country... seen some cool as fuk castles, proppa ones, and stayed 2 nights at a local families house 2 hours out of the capital, Riga, middle of nowhere, town of no more than 500 people... proppa food.

Estonia is next, the womens in these parts are too much to take sometimes... just ridiculously hot ones EVERYWHERE!

:insert The Hostel 3 trailer here:

good movie tbh.

hey peeps...

advice please.

so im taking lots of cash when i go to thailand and laos - tired of only being able to withdraw like $80 AUD and getting charged like $5-10 per withdrawal.

if i need USD for Laos, do i change here before i go or there?
better exchange rates here for thai baht and usd or in thialand from aussie dollars?

im confused since our dolla is so good...

Watch the posted video on YouTube.

You don't need USD for Laos, well at least i didn't when i went.

I have always found that exchange rates are better OS than they are here.

Give the RBA had a meeting last week and indicated a potential interest rate rise in August, you might want to hold off. When the RBA raises the cash rate you generally see an increase in the AUD as foreign investors become more attracted to our currency. In addition, poor economic data recently released in the US and Greece about to butt fuck the European monetary system you will most probably see an appreciation of the AUD.

In short, I'd hold off. Having said all of that, unless you are changing massive amounts of money the marginal difference will be minimal.

erm, but only currency in laos is thai baht and USd apart from laos money for tiny things i read/heard/was told?

what did you use - only thai baht mainly?

im going and coming back before august..the rest of that finance talk is over my head mr accountant.

im gonna take 3k in cash - so just take AUD and change to baht when i get there?

I used mostly Kip (Laos money). That is what comes out of the atm and from the banks but places will accepts baht and USD. I would stick with local currencies as places won't take US coins and then you end up paying $1 USD for stuff that is worthless etc.

I would caution against taking $3000 in cash. Yeah bank fees suck but i would much prefer to pay $50-$100 in bank fees than lose $3000. Consider it insurance.

But yes, take AUD and change into Baht in Thailand and Kip in Loas.

okay fuck USD then. sweet.

yeah i dunno, i have had really bad experiences with banks OS, confiscating my card in borneo, and had NO money, if that had happened while travelling on my own i would have been truly fucked.

travellers cheques are dumb and often more hassle than they are worth. im just not realyl a person that tends to lose stuff while on the move, must be all that nightclub time, i wach my bags VERY closely!

might take a grand in cash, and hide an extra $500 in case of something shit happening.
get the rest out as i go.

chanks kronz!

kronz wrote:You don't need USD for Laos, well at least i didn't when i went.

I have always found that exchange rates are better OS than they are here.

Give the RBA had a meeting last week and indicated a potential interest rate rise in August, you might want to hold off. When the RBA raises the cash rate you generally see an increase in the AUD as foreign investors become more attracted to our currency. In addition, poor economic data recently released in the US and Greece about to butt fuck the European monetary system you will most probably see an appreciation of the AUD.

In short, I'd hold off. Having said all of that, unless you are changing massive amounts of money the marginal difference will be minimal.

good solid advice
ill be back later with some more financial advice

i tend to never use exchange places cos you get a shitter rate than from bank when doing withdrawal... so to lessen gay costs i withdraw max amount each time... which i think was 5000THB and similar in Loas... even with fees you get a better deal this way than exchanging AUD there...

yep, I got stiffed at the money change joint... shithouse rate

anyone got hints for good, cheap accom in NYC for Sept/Oct?

I've found some apartments for around $200 per night in Brooklyn, which is around the same price as hostels ($165 per night for 2 people in a private dorm).

Will not entertain the idea of sharing a room with people at a Hostel... this is part of our honeymoon.

Direkt wrote:anyone got hints for good, cheap accom in NYC for Sept/Oct?

I've found some apartments for around $200 per night in Brooklyn, which is around the same price as hostels ($165 per night for 2 people in a private dorm).

Will not entertain the idea of sharing a room with people at a Hostel... this is part of our honeymoon.

AirBnB. Look in Brooklyn, I'd suggest: Park Slope, Cobble Hill, Boerum Hill, Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn Heights, Prospect Heights, etc. They are all in the same general area, which is my favourite part of Brooklyn and has easy subway access to Manhattan (10 mins to LES). Rad stuff to do in the neighbourhood, so don't worry about having to 'commute' to Manhattan to have fun. Look at Williamsburg too if you happen to want teh hipsters (general scum factor is a lot higher, though).

Also, depending on how long you are going for, a lot of people sublet apartments if they are going away for anything more than a week or so. This will net you the best deals of all, but can be a bit tricky to negotiate. (Craigslist in amazing and a colossal pain in the arse at the same time.) Let me know if you want to go this path, as there a plenty of tips to be shared.

a quick montage of my Malaysia trip

Watch the posted video on YouTube.

that was pretty sweet Dan, nice one