Travel

Tokyo isn’t a city per se but a prefecture. A prefecture is more akin to a county in the US. Japan has 47 prefectures. I would recommend two important cities in Tokyo to spend your time in - Akihabara Electronic District and Shinjuku (fancy) District. While public transport is great, payment requires cash, iPhone, or Suica cards. Unfortunately, Android phones sold outside Japan do not have the appropriate NFC to pay. There are multiple different types of rail companies operating in Tokyo. When you buy a JR pass (please don’t) or a 24-hour pass, it isn’t obvious where you can use it. ...

Sri Lanka is a small island country near the southern coast of India. My trip was heavily focused on Ramayana and Hinduism. While I loved it, those who have little interest in Hinduism might find the trip. Like Kerala and Sikkim, I had a chauffered guide for the trip. I would highly recommend doing that, otherwise, a packed trip becomes harder to pull off. You can see a list of recommended guides here. ...

Granada Granada is one of the oldest European settlements in the Americas. While it has nice Spanish-era architecture, there isn’t a lot to do in Granada. I would recommend starting your day with a walking tour. Afterward, consider visiting the Chocolate Museum of Granada to learn about the chocolate history of the region. In the evening, do the tour of an active volcano, Volcan Masaya for USD 22 per person. The volcano is good and one can see a fair bit of magma. If, however, you have seen active volcanoes before, then it can be a bit boring. ...

I reached Aswan, Egypt after an overnight train journey. The city is not exactly tourist-friendly, and I wouldn’t get any signal on my Google FI connection. This has happened before but this was the breaking point. I quickly ran to a nearby store and got a local SIM. The plan was cheaper than my Google FI plan (10 US$/GB). It is 2021, SIM cards are activated in a matter of minutes and data is cheap. It might take you ~30 minutes of bureaucracy to get a SIM but the coverage one gets is well worth it. Especially, if you travel in remote areas where international roaming might only provide limited coverage. Further, only buy a pre-paid plan, so, the amount you are going to spend is limited. ...

Day 1 - Guadalajara city Start with a walking tour to see the center of the city. Compared to Mexico City, Guadalajara appears safer, cleaner, and more well-maintained. Do check out the largest gold market and the largest covered market in Latin America (“Mercado San Juan de Dios”). ...

One core aspect of traveling is figuring out where to sleep. Barring more exotic options like sleeping in a tent or an RV, most people end up choosing either a hotel, an Airbnb (or VRBO), or a hostel for a stay. Read on to see what I like/dislike about each of these and what’s my favorite. Hotels Hotels are designed for tourists and not travelers. Hotels, especially big chains, are great for consistent and high-quality service. ...

El Calafate is the gateway to Argentina’s Patagonia region. However, there isn’t much to do in this city as such beyond the Perito Moreno Glacier. If you are flying into El Calafate, then I would recommend first going to El Chaltén. And then spend your last day in El Calafate before flying out from the airport that’s less than 20 minutes away by taxi. I took an 11500 AEP guided bus tour to Perito Moreno Glacier that included a pick-up and drop-off back to my hotel. Alternatively, one can take a bus from the bus terminal for 8500 AEP. Apart from that one has to pay 5500 AEP for glacier entry. There is an option to do a 1-hour boat tour of the glacier for 8000 AEP. And for 70,000 AEP, one can hike on the glacier. However, I had done that earlier in Alaska, so, I decided to skip that. ...

El Chaltén, a small town in Patagonia, Argentina is a hiking heaven. There are three major hiking paths in El Chaltén, and all of them are easily accessible from the town. One is located in the south, the other two are in the north-west and north-east side of the town, respectively. Here’s my recommendation on how to do all those hikes in three days. Day 1 - Tower Lake (Laguna Torre) Start the day with a 20-km round-trip hike to Laguna Torre. If you plan it well, you can even take a walk on the Glacier at the end. The hike is pretty well-marked, and it is hard to miss the trail. It took me about 2-1/2 hours to reach the lake. And a further 30 more mins to reach the final viewpoint, Mirador Maestri. It takes about 6 hours to finish the hike. ...

Ushuaia, the southernmost city in the world, is located in the remote Tierra Del Fuego region of Argentina. Despite its remoteness, unlike Alaska, the city is gorgeous and prosperous. The whole city is mostly oriented around one single street (Ave. San Martín). And I would recommend staying close to it. Day 1 - Penguins Ushuaia is a natural home to Penguins. What else could be a better way to start this trip? There are three varieties of penguins - Gentoo, King, and Magellanic. There are only a few King penguins in Ushuaia. Magellanic penguins migrate to Brazil during winter (April onwards). While Gentoo stays in Isla Martillo in Ushuaia year-round. ...

There isn’t a single city in Latin America that’s as gorgeous as Buenos Aires. The city is aptly termed Paris of Latin America. The city has relatively good public transport. There is a single SUBE card that one needs to use in the expansive bus and metro system of the city. There are two major airports EZE and AEP. EZE is used primarily for flights in the South American region and AEP for international flights outside this region. ...