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An anecdote from our last day, shopping in Mumbai before heading to the airport. We had gone to a large mall, but it was all Western brands at pretty much Western prices (say $40–50 for a cotton/linen shirt). Then we found an Indian department store where the same shirts were around $15, and...

We had to pinch ourselves when we saw our price. We just got home and are still pinching ourselves at the value for money that we had.

DM sent. 😉

In restaurants both tipping and sales taxes were very variable. Regarding tipping: One or two more tourist-oriented places added a service charge, but more commonly there was nothing added. We had read that 7-8% is an OK tip. Often our bill for lunch (one soup, one bread, one main dish, two...

This is a good description of what we had. On about 4 days each (me earlier on, DW later in the trip) we had "rumbles", but a prophylactic loperamide and a night's sleep fixed it. We put it down mostly to our body's reaction to different cooking fat (most dishes use ghee, which is clarified...

Taj Mahal: Yes. We had the same driver for Delhi (where the traffic is insane), Agra, and then on to Jaipur. It was about 3½ hours drive from Delhi to Agra where we first went for lunch (the driver recommended a place — of course he got a free meal out of it in the back room, that's how it...

We were umming and ahhing (is that a British expression?) about how to start the process. We had a couple of addresses of agencies from friends who had been, but they weren't answering their WhatsApp. We had the address of the place in London that my sister used, but we knew they would be more...

We (DW and I, mid-60s) have just had the most fabulous holiday of our lives in India. I'm writing this at the gate at Mumbai airport. We had 13 nights: 5 in the Delhi/Agra/Jaipur "golden triangle", 4 in Kerala, 3 in Goa, and one (but with nearly two days to visit) in Mumbai. It was a completely...

I guess we Europeans have a different take on it. We don't tip waiters (or if we do, it's a small amount of money, not a percentage) because their salary and benefits are built in to the price of the meal. Likewise when we book a tour with a guide, it's made clear that the guide's time is paid...

$20 per person per day for a 12-day tour with 20 people on it would be $4800 for the tour guide, which is probably about three times what they are making in salary for that period. That seems like quite a lot, especially since each person will have had 1/20th of the guide's individual attention...

We are off to India on Monday for two weeks. Our tour program has been put together just for us by a local incoming tour operator at what we think is an excellent price. Of course the individual day tours will mostly be standard, but we told them roughly where we wanted to go and they have...

Was that the Azamara Baltic cruise in August? We were on that one. The Åland Islands were the highlight, I think.

The blurb for the "Other topics" forum has a line that says "Popular Topics - Technology, Military, Cooking, Eldercare, Cost of Living". However, none of those links works.

When I went to New Zealand I had to use their app to read my passport - there was no web option where you could enter your details. So I let it take a picture of my passport's photo page and it showed what looked like correct information, although I could only see my first and last name. When...

EES was planned to start in November 2024 but was put back as a couple of major countries did not think the IT infrastructure was ready. It may well launch in phases over the next few months. I haven't seen any official announcement saying that ETIAS will only start 6 months after EES. It was...

Taxis in Spain are well-regulated. Your ride will almost certainly be on the meter. About the only thing you have to watch out for is the driver pressing the button to add on an extra that you didn't use, such as an extra Euro for a booked ride if you jumped into the car at the airport. There...

After complaints from the airlines, the requirement for the UK ETA has now been removed for transit passengers. Although quite what happens if your connecting flight is cancelled and you need a hotel landside is not clear. Maybe they arrange a UK ETA for you. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Especially if you have a FIRE mentality, don't stay in Venice. Stay in Padova - a wonderful university town - and go to Venice on the train. Similarly, don't stay in Milan. Stay in Bergamo and again make train trips.

And the EU will have its own version, probably starting some time this year.

Well, yes and no. Most people you meet in a tourist situation in Europe will be able to help you in English, and this has certainly noticeable in, for example, France. You can't have a serious career in a French company without good English these days, whereas when I moved to France in 1990 some...

Where did you get £78 from? The UK-ETA costs £10 ($13). It mirrors the US "ESTA", which all visa-waiver travelers to the US have needed for at least 15 years, and costs $21. Note also that the EU is bringing in a similar system called ETIAS, from May 2025 (but it will not be mandatory for the...

I have a back-burner project to offer US visitors a tour of Europe that goes to wonderful cities that they have never heard of, and where at any given moment they may be the only Americans in the town square. For people who have done the bucket-list destinations and now want to see Europe as...

There is a nice mountain town/resort area called Nikko about two hours train ride north of Tokyo that is well worth visiting. It's popular with Tokyo residents for weekends. There are some amazing trains to get there, for example

A joke and satire together... Report: Most Americans Have Enough Saved For Absolutely Incredible Single Day Of Retirement (The Onion). https://theonion.com/report-most-americans-have-enough-saved-for-absolutely-incredible-single-day-of-retirement/

MBTI is universally regarded by psychologists as a hot, steaming pile of garbage, but for some reason (probably because it appeals to our need to tell ourselves simplified stories about ourselves and others) it remains amazingly popular. If anyone asks me in person for my type, I hope I have...