Justin Applefield | Blog

Justin Applefield

Trip Report: Dharamshala to Jaipur via Delhi (Spicejet)

My plan for today was to fly from Dharamshala to Jaipur. Normally people who go to Jaipur travel via train from Delhi or Agra, but seeing as the bus from Dharamshala to Delhi already takes so long, I decided I’d fly. The Dharamshala airport is so small so there is no direct flight, so I’d booked a flight with a layover in Delhi. Because my flight wasn’t departing until 2pm, I had some time to relax and get a nice breakfast in Mcleodganj before heading to the airport, so I went back to The Other Space cafe where I had breakfast yesterday to enjoy the great views and food once again.

I woke up in the morning with some anxiety because I had given my passport to Rohit the night before, and I wanted it back. He had told me the check in would open at 9:30am and then I could pay and retrieve my passport. I went upstairs and asked to check-in but Rohit said I needed to wait for the manager who wasn’t there yet, so I decided in the meantime to go look for a place to eat breakfast.

Amritsar Part 2

I was able to knock out all the main attractions in Amritsar yesterday. I had originally planned to take a bus today to Dharamshala today in the afternoon, but it seems like that bus doesn't exist anymore, so I bought a ticket for an 8pm bus, and planned to just spend the day hanging out in Amritsar and catching up on some blogs from Australia.

Amritsar Part 1

I woke up early because I wanted to visit the Golden Temple before it got super crowded. The Golden Temple is a major Sikh pilgrimage destination because it is the holiest site for their religion. The Guru Granth Sahib, the holy book that Sikhs believe is the final, sovereign, and eternal Guru that followed after the ten human gurus, is kept inside the Golden Temple during the day. I started my day by walking about ten minutes from my hotel to the Golden Temple ROad, which is a pedestrian street lined with many shops. Even though it was only around 9am it was still surprisingly busy, with lots of people standing outside and drinking chai. I opted to have a glass of piping hot masala chai as well.

Trip Report: Singapore to Amritsar (Scoot)

My flight to Amritsar was scheduled to leave in mid-afternoon, so I had some time to kill in the morning in the city. I went back to Nanyang Old Coffee for breakfast again, and then took the MRT to Raffle's Place and walked to Merlion Park, home of the iconic Merlion fountain, a famous symbol of Singapore.

February 28, 2023

Today was my only full day in Singapore, and I had three main objectives: the first is to buy some more clothes, because I had learned that in India, they don't really have laundromats, people instead typically have machines at home or they hire a laundry service, and since I would be moving around a lot, I wanted to have some extra clothes (especially undergarments) in case I wouldn't have a good opportunity to do laundry. The second objective was to buy a new pair of shoes because I was starting to wear down my current pair and my shins and knees were sore. The third objective was to visit some of my favorite food spots in Singapore. What I didn't realize was that Chinatown Food Centre, located right around the corner from my hostel, was closed for cleaning for the weekend, so I wouldn't be able to visit any of the stalls there.

Trip Report: Melbourne to Singapore (Scoot)

February 27, 2023

Last night while riding the tram back to the hostel, I got a text message that my flight to Singapore on Jetstar was cancelled (it turned out that yesterday's flight was also cancelled). They offered to rebook me for free onto a Jetstar flight the next day and pay A$100 for a hotel, or I could get a full refund. Because I didn't really have much left I wanted to do in Melbourne, and I wanted to have more time to spend in Singapore, I decided to take the refund and booked a last minute flight to Singapore on Scoot, a low-cost subsidiary of Singapore Airlines, which only cost about A$100 more than my original flight, which seemed reasonable considering this was a last minute purchase. The Scoot flight departs a couple hours earlier than the Jetstar flight, so I would have to leave for the airport around 10am, so I didn't have much time in the morning.

Melbourne Part 3

February 26, 2023

On my last full day in Melbourne I got to sleep in a little before heading out. The first thing I wanted to do was visit Mork Chocolate Brew House, a specialty hot chocolatier with a shop northwest of the Melbourne CBD. I headed to the tram station and then realized that the next tram arriving would be Tram 35, the City Circle Tram, which makes a loop of the Melbourne CBD and narrates what you are passing, so I decided to hop on that and take it around the long way. I wasn't aware that there was some construction and eventually the "City Circle" tram made a u-turn and started heading back the other way, so I wasn't able to make the complete journey around the city.

Melbourne Part 2

February 25, 2023

I woke up early on Phillip Island because I knew I had a lot more driving ahead of me. It would be minimum two hours to get back to Melbourne, and I had to drive all the way to the airport to return my rental car (I booked to return the car to the airport because the additional cost to return the car in the city was excessive). I had until noon to return the car, but I wanted to have more time to explore the city, so I ended up dropping it off around 10am. Then I had to wait at least half an hour for the shuttle to the airport to come, then I had to take the SkyBus from the airport to Southern Cross Station, so the entire process was very time consuming. I made it to the city around noon, and walked about five minutes to my hostel, Melbourne Central YHA, and was able to check in and leave my stuff in the room right away.

Wilson's Prom & Phillip Island

February 24, 2023

I had planned to spend the entirety of today on Phillip Island, which is an island located south of Melbourne and famously home to a large colony of Little Penguins. Wai Chung had told me there wouldn't be a ton to do on Phillip Island and he suggested I go to Wilson's Promontory National Park, which is located about an hour east of Phillip Island. I decided I would first drive to Wilson's Prom, go on a short hike or two, then head back to Phillip Island to see the Penguin Parade, a nightly event where a subset of the penguins return home after sunset after a couple of days spent hunting at sea.

Great Ocean Road Part 2: West

February 23, 2023

I woke up early because I had a very long day of driving ahead of me. My plan was to drive the remainder of the Great Ocean Road, west from Apollo Bay all the way to its official end point in Allansford, then drive all the way back to the east side of Melbourne and meet my friend Wai Chung for dinner.

Great Ocean Road Part 1: East

February 22, 2023

I woke up early to depart on my Great Ocean Road road trip. I wanted to make sure I would be able to drive to the other side of Melbourne before the traffic got bad.

Trip Report: Cairns to Melbourne (Virgin Australia)

February 21, 2023

The last dive got out of the water before noon yesterday, meaning we were able to take flights in the afternoon today. I had booked a 12:20pm flight from Cairns to Melbourne on Virgin Australia, but I woke up to find out the flight was delayed by an hour because the inbound flight from Melbourne left an hour late. I didn't really have enough time to do the major tourist attractions in Cairns, which are to visit the Daintree Rainforest, the oldest rainforest in the world, or to take the scenic cable car above the rainforest or an open-air train through the rainforest. So instead I took a relaxing walk to a nearby coffee shop before grabing an Uber to the airport.

Great Barrier Reef Part 3: Fish Identification

February 20, 2023

We woke up an hour earlier than yesterday so we could get in three dives before lunch time. For our first dive we wanted to be in the water by 6:30am, just as the sun was rising. This would be the final certification dive for the Advanced Open Water certification, and my buddy was Sara again. It was the Fish Identification dive, and we went down unguided, with the objective of being able to tell Veronica the names of at least five fish that we saw when we got back to the boat. We were diving in a different dive site on Flynn Reef called Little Tracy. There were a few hiccups getting my gear ready as my tank wasn't refilling, and my computer battery was low, so we got in the water a few minutes after we would have liked, so the dive would have to be a bit short. I thought fish identification would be difficult because I had been really bad at knowing the names of fish, but it was easier than I thought. We saw: bicolor angelfish, pencilled surgeonfish, harlequin tuskfish, bumphead parrotfish, humbug, green turtles, surf parrotfish, coral cod, and some unknown type of jellyfish.

Great Barrier Reef Part 2: Peak Performance

February 19, 2023

We woke up bright and early just after sunrise to get our first dive in before breakfast. The water was pretty rough early in the morning, with a swell that was 2-3m high. For the Advanced Open Water course, this was our Deep Dive. We were accompanied by instructor Veronica (Vero). This time I was accompanied by Sara, who has spent the past couple of years working at the US-Australia joint defense base in Alice Springs, and was on the dive trip with her friend Karen, who works at the US Embassy in Mexico City. The dive was not pretty interesting, since our objective was just to go down to a very deep area (23.2m) and experience how we perceive color differently. We didn't see much interesting fish, except for a Khul's stingray. At the bottom of the deep area, Veronica filled up a bottle with air from her regulator, and later when we got back on the boat to debrief she opened it and it made a loud popping noise to demonstrate how much air pressure had built up during the ascent, as a reminder to never hold your breath, especially when going deep.

Great Barrier Reef Part 1: No Drama

February 18, 2023

I woke up early because Pro Dive would be picking me up around 6:15am to depart on our dive trip. I had bought an iced coffee and a muffin the previous day at Woolworths so I could have some breakfast, but I wasn't too hungry when I woke up. I went outside the hostel gate to wait for the pickup, and they were only a few minutes late. I was picked up by Veronica, one of the instructors who would be on the boat, and in the bus were Zach, Nathan, and Kevin, three students who were enrolled in the Open Water certification course.

February 17, 2023

This morning I would be flying to Cairns, in Northern Queensland, the Gateway to the Great Barrier Reef. I was booked on a noon flight, so I had time to grab a coffee before heading back to Central Station to take the train to the airport.

Sydney Part 3: Culture

February 16, 2023

I had a really busy final day in Sydney planned to try to squeeze in all the things I had left to see. I started out by heading towards The Rocks to go to the Museum of Contemporary Art. On the way, I stopped to get a slice of Strawberry Watermelon Cake from Black Star Bakery, which is advertised as the world's most Instagrammed cake. The cake is beautifully decorated and features a slice of watermelon in the center. The cake was really tasty and made a good breakfast, although all the little leaves were a little strange to eat.

Sydney Part 2: The Beaches

February 15, 2023

I started the day off nice and early by walking through the Surry Hills neighborhood east of my hostel to go get breakfast from Bill's, which is famous for their scrambled eggs and ricotta-honey pancakes. I opted for the Full Aussie breakfast, which had scrambeled eggs, toast, sausage, bacon, and tomatoes. The scrambled eggs were very good, and the rest of the breakfast was fine, but I don't think it is deserving of the hype.

Sydney Part 1: A Rainy Day

February 14, 2023

I planned to be in Sydney for 3 days but had not really planned what to do on those three days, so my priority for the start of the day was to find somewhere to sit and plan out the next three days. I walked a couple blocks away to a coffee shop called 6oz Coffee and sipped on a Flat White while I did some research.

February 13, 2023

We woke up just before sunrise, but the sky was mostly cloud covered, and you could just barely see the sun peeking through the clouds. The original plan was to eat breakfast at the bush campsite, and Adam would be making bacon and eggs as a special treat for our last morning. But even he was fed up with the flies, so we just quickly packed the bus and headed back to the Ayers Rock Resort campsite to make breakfast there. While Team Snake made breakfast, I took a shower and rearranged all my belongings in preparation for my flight later that day.

February 12, 2023

We woke up nice and early to depart for King's Canyon at 5:15am. We would be doing the full rim walk, which required us to start by hiking up Heart Attack Hill, and we wanted to do at least the beginning of the hike before it got too hot.

February 11, 2023

We agreed to leave the campsite at 5:30am, so I woke up at 4:30am to use the bathroom and eat some cereal. We then drove about half an hour to a dune near Kata Tjuta to watch the sunrise. From the angle there, the sun rose near Uluru which illuminated Kata Tjuta. It was pretty difficult to take photos because even as the sun was barely rising the flies were already out to harass us.

February 10, 2023

I woke up nice and early because I had booked a 4 day, 3 night trip to the Outback through Mulga's Adventures, and the pickup was at my hostel at 6am. I got up to pack my things around 5:15am. Two of the girls in my dorm room were also going on the tour, so they made lots of noise at the same time as me and it was easy to wake up. I went to the hostel kitchen to eat a blueberry muffin and iced coffee that I had purchased the previous day. A few minutes before 6 I noticed that a bus was waiting outside the gate, so I headed out. Adam, our tour guide for the next few days, introduced himself. I put my bags in the trailer attached to the back of the minibus, and hopped on board. In total we had 8 people, including Adam, in the bus as we headed out of Alice Springs towards Uluru / Ayers Rock National Park, and we would pick up the rest of our group at the Ayers Rock Airport.

February 9, 2023

I woke up uncomfortably early around 5am because I had to catch a 7:15am flight to Alice Springs. I decided not to mess around with the bus because I did not have a metro card for Adelaide, and I called an Uber. There was a guy sitting outside the hostel also trying to get to the airport, and he asked if he could join me, and I welcomed him to hop in. He was heading to the Gold Coast to go surfing, but he said that he was born in Alice Springs, which was a fun coincidence. He warned me to "keep my wits about me." We got to the Airport pretty quickly as it is only about ten minutes away from the city center, and the guy offered to chip in for the ride, I told him he didn't need to, and he gave me A$10, which was very generous because the ride was only A$15.

Kangaroo Island Part 2

February 8, 2023

Today was the second day of my Kangaroo Island tour, the "highlights" tour (normally people only do this part, or they do this part first). Since the tour wouldn't start until after people came on the ferry, I got to sleep in a bit later than usual, and enjoy a breakfast that was included at the hotel. I got some very nice eggs benedict with salmon.

Kangaroo Island Part 1

February 7, 2023

One of the main reasons I came to Adelaide was that there were convenient flights to Alice Springs, but another reason was to visit Kangaroo Island which is located nearby. Today was day one of my 2-day trip to Kangaroo Island that I had booked. There are two parts: a "sip and see" tour where you visit various local farms, and a "highlights" tour where you see nature and animals, and the two are offered on alternating days. Most visitors do the highlights first, but I would be doing the sip and see first because it worked best for my schedule.

February 6, 2023

The original iteration of my itinerary had me in Brisbane today, and I did not have much planned in Adelaide. My legs were still sore from Tongariro, and the top tourist attraction in Adelaide, the Adelaide Central Market, was closed because it was a Monday. So my plan was to just take it easy, catch up on blogging, go to the store to buy a new power bank, and go to the South Australia Museum. All of this could be accomplished easily.

North Island Part 8: Auckland

February 5, 2023

Because I did the Tongariro Crossing yesterday, I only had one day to explore Auckland, so I needed to prioritize. I was also exhausted, so I wanted to sleep in a little. I woke up around 8:30am and quickly departed Lylo and headed to Mount Eden, a dormant volcano whose summit is the highest natural point on the Auckland isthmus. The crater is also tapu (sacred) to the Maori because they believe an important deity lives there. There is a parking lot not far from the top, which was nice because I was still in a lot of pain from the hike the previous day. It is so interesting to see a volcanic crater right next to a large city, and views of Auckland from the top are fantastic.

North Island Part 7: Tongariro

February 4, 2023

There is a famous meme of Sean Bean from a scene in the Lord of the Rings where he says "One does not simply walk into Mordor." Ngauruhoe, located in Tongariro National Park, was used as a stand-in for Mount Doom when filming the Lord of the Rings, and today I would be hiking the Tongariro Alpine Crossing, which goes over its neighboring volcano Tongariro, right past Ngauruhoe, so you could say that I would simply be walking into Mordor.

North Island Part 6: Waitomo

February 3, 2023

It was another early morning, as I booked a 9:30am tour to visit the Waitomo Glowworm Caves, which are about a 2 hour drive away from Rotorua. I woke up around 6:30am again since we were told to get there thirty minutes early. I have a feeling that in New Zealand they always say to be half an hour early to things because Kiwis are so laid back, they must usually run late. I arrived at 9am at the Waitomo Caves Visitors Centre and got to relax for a while before the tour started on time.

North Island Part 5: Rotorua

February 2, 2023

I have not seen the Lord of the Rings films, but it seems that a visit to the Hobbiton set in Matamata, about an hour drive away from Rotorua, is one of the top things to do when visiting New Zealand, so I figured I might as well go. I woke up at 6:30am so I could leave by 7 and arrive nice and early for the 8:30am tour. You can only visit the Hobbiton set as part of a guided tour, and I signed up for the first group of the day. I arrived to the Shire's Rest, a parking lot with a cafe, gift shop, and ticket office, and from there visitors get onto a bus for an approximately ten minute ride to the set. On the bus, there is a special video that plays featuring Peter Jackson (the director of the films) and Russel Alexander (the owner of the land) welcoming you to Hobbiton, and playing a couple of clips from the film.

North Island Part 4: Taupo

February 1, 2023

One of the primary reasons I came to Taupo was to go to the nearby Tongariro National Park, home to the Tongariro Alpine Crossing Hike, a very famous hike that goes through a volcanic crater, with views of many Lord of the Rings filming locations. The hike is about 19km long and goes over the mountain, so most hikers park in a parking lot on the north side, then take a shuttle to the south side and hike back to their cars. However, as I was driving to Taupo I got an email that due to weather conditions the service would not be offered today, so I had to spend a while last night coming up with some alternate plans.

North Island Part 3: Wellington III

January 31, 2023

I tried (unsuccessfully) to wake up early because I was planning to drive to Taupo, about 5 hours north of Wellington. Instead, I got out of bed around 9am and hurried to get all my things packed up and headed to my car. Before driving to Taupo, I wanted to stop at Zealandia, a nature reserve in Wellington, and did not know how long I would want to spend there. On the way to Zealandia I stopped at Tomboy, a bakery known for their pillow donuts, which were good but probably overpriced and overrated.

North Island Part 2: Wellington II

January 30, 2023

I took advantage of having no early plans and slept in. I didn't wake up until hostel staff came in to change the sheets of people who had checked out in the morning. After getting up I went down the street to Best Ugly Bagels, a chain with a couple of locations in Wellington and Auckland that makes fresh Montreal-style bagels (they are boiled in honey water and baked in a wood-fired oven). I got the "King Salmon" which is your typical lox bagel with onions, cream cheese, and capers.

North Island Part 1: Wellington I

January 29, 2023

I woke up very early to catch a 6:45am flight from Christchurch to Wellington, the capital city of New Zealand, located right on the southern tip of the North Island. There are no direct road links between the two islands, only a car ferry, but most rental car companies do not allow people to take rental cars on the ferry. The ferry is also very expensive (more expensive than the flight). Today I'd be flying on Jetstar, an Australian low-cost carrier with not the best reputation, but luckily it would only be a 50m hop over the Cook Straight to Wellington.

South Island Part 7: Tranzalpine

January 28, 2023

I woke up very excited, as today I'd be completing my South Island journey by riding on the Tranzalpine, famous for the scenery along its route. It is a five hour journey from Greymouth to Christchurch, but first, I'd need to make the drive from Franz Josef up to Greymouth to return my rental car and board the train.

South Island Part 6: West Coast

January 27, 2023

My time on the South Island was coming to a close. My final objective was to ride the Tranzalpine train, which connects Greymouth on the west coast with Christchurch on the east coast. Many tourists spend the whole day riding the train as a round-trip journey (it departs Christchurch in the morning, takes an hour break in Greymouth, then heads back to Christchurch), but I really only wanted to ride it one-way, so when planning my trip I deliberately started in Christchurch, picked up a car that I'd drop off in Greymouth, then booked a one-way train back to Christchurch and a flight departing the following morning. In order to catch my train, I'd need to drive all the way from Queenstown to Greymouth, which is a seven hour drive. I decided to break this up, so today I'd be driving about 5 hours from Queenstown to Franz Josef, a small town adjacent to Westland Tai Poutini National Park.

South Island Part 5: Milford Sound

January 26, 2023

Today I planned to go to Milford Sound, on the coast of the South Island, deep within Fiordland National Park. There is a road from Te Anau to Milford Sound, and Google Maps says it is a two hour drive, but to save myself some driving and because I'd heard the Milford Road could be a bit difficult to drive, I booked a day tour from Te Anau. The tour included a round-trip bus from Te Anau to Milford Sound, a boat cruise in Milford Sound, and a box lunch.

South Island Part 4: Queenstown

January 25, 2023

I originally planned to do the Queenstown Hill Time Walk this morning, which goes straight up a hill behind Queenstown with good views of the town, but I woke up not feeling very well so I decided to do a shorter hike instead. I drove about twenty minutes down the shore of Lake Wakatipu to hike around Bob's Cove, which goes around an inlet of the lake. The hike took about an hour, and finished by climbing up a smaller hill to Picnic Point, which has good views of the cove I had just walked around.

South Island Part 3: Aoraki

January 24, 2023

My plan today was to visit Aoraki / Mount Cook National Park, home to Aoraki (English: Mount Cook), the tallest peak in New Zealand. I woke up early, around 6am, and left just after dawn. It was about an hour drive, mostly along the shore of beautiful Lake Pukaki, before reaching Mount Cook Village inside the park.

South Island Part 2: Christchurch

January 23, 2023

I was not in much of a rush to wake up this morning, as I planned to just see a few things in Christchurch before hitting the road. I set an alarm for 8:30am but was woken up by everyone else in my room waking up even earlier than that: it seems they did not plan on sticking around for long either, as all of them took all their belongings with them. My plan for the morning was to just explore central Christchurch before heading to the Art Gallery, which didn't open until 10am. I parked near the Art Gallery and got a flat white from Lux Espresso, a cute cafe down the street, before heading to the Riverside Market Area. Located next to the Avon River, Riverside Market is a cute area with shops and a food court reminiscent of the Food Market at the V&A Waterfront in Cape Town: basically an up-market food court. When I weas there, not much was open. I got an Almond Croissant at a bakery called Bellbird inside the market.

South Island Part 1: Kaikoura

January 22, 2023

I woke up at 4:45am and grabbed the few belongings I bothered to bring inside and headed out to my car. This morning I had booked an excursion to go out into the Pacific and swim with wild dolphins, and I had to be at the store at 5:20am. Upon arrival, I checked in and sat down at a table in the cafe area. After about ten minutes of waiting, one of the guides, Simon, came over and invited a portion of those who signed up to swim to head back into the gear room and get fitted for wet suits and other snorkeling gear. We were all given two-piece wet suits (I think they were 7mm but could have been 9mm) with hoods, masks, snorkels, and fins. I had also brought my GoPro along. After trying on the gear to make sure it fit, we stayed in our wetsuits and headed to the auditorium, where they played beautiful footage of albatrosses and dolphins in the nearby waters. Once everyone was ready, they played a video explaining how the dolphin encounter would work. We would be swimming with wild dolphins, and the dolphins are naturally curious so we may attract their attention, but they aren't trained so they won't stick around if they don't want to.

Trip Report: Melbourne to Christchurch via Queenstown (Virgin Australia and Air New Zealand)

January 21, 2023

I woke up bright and early around 4:45am to get ready to head back to Melbourne Airport. This time in Australia was only a temporary detour to see the Australian Open, I will return in a couple weeks to explore the country more. For now, it was off to New Zealand for the next 16 days.

Melbourne Part 1: The Tennis

January 20, 2023

I landed on time around 7:30am at Sydney. I had a connecting flight to Melbourne that departed in about 2 hours, and my plan was to then spend the day at the Australian Open in Melbourne. As our plane from Bali was landing they informed us that there was some disease in Indonesia and the Australian government was concerned it would spread to Australia, so we had to walk across some mats that had been soaked in a pesticide as we got off the plane. Then, there was an automated kiosk that arriving passengers had to use. One of the questions was "Have you been to Indonesia in the past 7 days" to which I answered yes, and then the machine immediately spit out a ticket that you had to take with you to present to the customs officer later on. I used the smart gate for immigration, and then because I had no checked luggage, proceeded right to customs. I haded my immigration form and ticket ot the customs officer, who sent me through on my way; I'm not sure if there was meant to be any extra screening since I came from Indonesia, but obviously the officer didn't really care.

Bali Part 3: Welcome to the Jungle

January 19, 2023

I had one final day in Bali, with a flight to Australia departing from Denpasar at 10:30pm. I did not have a real plan, but the weather outside looked really nice and I was a few days behind on blog posts, so I wanted to find a couple of cool cafes to do some work and take some time walking around the rice terraces. I left my large backpack at the front desk at my hotel, but brought my laptop with me in my small backpack, and set out for the day. The first cafe I went to was called The Suku and was located less than ten minutes walk from Pulu Sari Suites.

Bali Part 2: Tulamben Bay

January 18, 2023

I woke up nice and early at 5:30am and packed my bags to get ready for a day of diving. The dive trip was arranged through Adventure Scuba Diving Bali (ASDB), a highly rated dive shop on the island. They emailed me the night before letting me know I would be picked up at 7:10am, but because of the traffic in the Ubud area this ended up being closer to 7:20am. I got in the car and met Chad, who is an instructor at ASDB and who would be diving with me today. It was a 2.5 hour drive from my hotel to Tulamben Bay where we would be diving. Chad slept the whole time.

Bali Part 1: Monkey Business

January 17, 2023

I woke up on my first morning in Bali without much of a plan, and spent a couple hours doing research online to decide what to do. I planned to be in Bali for three days, and had booked a diving excursion on the second day, but did not have any plan for the first or third day.

Trip Report: Siem Reap to Denpasar-Bali via Singapore (Singapore Airlines)

January 16, 2023

Today is a travel day. I will be trying out a new airline, Singapore Airlines, flying from Siem Reap to Bali via Singapore. I've heard many good things about Singapore Airlines on the internet so I am excited to fly with them.

Siem Reap Part 2: Angkor What? Khmer Who?

January 15, 2023

Today I planned to go to Angkor Wat. In order to watch the sunrise, I had arranged with the hotel for a driver and a tour guide to meet and leave at 5am. I woke up around 4:30am and took a quick shower before heading downstairs. My driver for today, Shwet (definitely spelled wrong, Khmer names are very hard to spell and pronounce for me), was the same driver who had picked me up from the airport yesterday. Waiting outside was also my tour guide, Arn (again, name definitely spelled wrong).

Siem Reap Part 1: Amok Time

January 14, 2023

As mentioned in yesterday's blog post, I woke up in the capsule hotel around 3am with only 2 hours of sleep. I laid in bed for a while trying to fall back asleep, but eventually decided to bite the bullet and get up to shower and get ready for my flight. After a refreshing shower, I made my way to the check-in area for my flight.

Trip Report: Dubai to Kuala Lumpur via Jeddah (Saudia)

January 13, 2023

I'm excited for today's flight because I will be flying in business class on a brand new airline, Saudia. Saudia is a member of the SkyTeam alliance, and I will be able to credit today's flights towards my Delta status. Additionally, I paid in cash for today's flight at a really good price: about $750 for an open jaw ticket (Dubai to Kuala Lumpur and Delhi to Dubai, both via Jeddah). This comes out to a price of 9 cents per mile flown (in BUSINESS CLASS) which is cheaper than many of the flights I had booked on this trip (in economy).

Dubai Part 5: The Royal Scam

January 12, 2023

On our final day in Dubai we planned to go out into the desert to get an authentic cultural experience by partaking in a Desert Safari. We originally planned to get lunch at a Japanese restaurant before leaving, but seeing as we were up until 5am the night before, that plan was out the window. Instead, many of us woke up around 1:30pm and ate lunch at home. Murt's housekeeper Jean had prepared some lunch for us: spaghetti bolognese and garlic bread, which was some much-needed energy before we hit the road. While we were eating, Murt's younger sister Jannat arrived home from school. Murt's mom called her out early so she could join us in the desert.

Dubai Part 4: Hello, It's Me From Murtistan

January 11, 2023

I woke up around 9am, still tired because I had gotten used to Murt's nocturnal sleep schedule. I sat in bed on my phone until Irena barged in to wake me up around 9:30. We had agreed that we would aim to leave around 10 to drive to Abu Dhabi to visit the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque. We ended up leaving the house around 10:20, which is not too bad given our typical schedule the past few days.

Dubai Part 3: Zoomerango

January 10, 2023

Dubai is well known for its land reclamation projects that have transformed the coastline with a series of creative (though often unfinished) projects. One of the most recognizable (and completed) projects is The Palm Jumeirah, a group of man-made islands in the shape of a palm tree. At the center of the furthest island is the luxury resort Atlantis The Palm, Dubai, home of Aquaventure Water Park, recognized in October 2022 by Guiness as having the most water slides of any water park (at 50). Murt seemed to have many positive childhood memories of going to the various water parks in Dubai, so we were eager to see if it lived up to the hype. After waking up around 11am we left the house around noon to head to Aquaventure...

Dubai Part 2: The Desi Experience

January 9, 2023

Murt is Pakistani, and today he wanted to give us the full Desi experience (Murt defines Desi as simply South Asian, South Asia being India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh). I woke up at 2:30pm since we were up so late the previous night. Around 3, Murt's housekeeper Jean helped us make breakfast, and around 5pm we finally left the house to go out for the day. This time, Murt's mom was accompanying us (and drove us!) We intended to head to Meena Bazaar, a Desi shopping area in Bur Dubai, the old part of town, but seeing that the traffic was so bad, we instead debated on where to eat as we wanted to stop for food on the way. Since all of us decided we didn't want Western food (or as Murt's mom called it, "white food"), we decided to get "brown food" instead. (it is unclear to me if "brown food" specifically means Desi/Indian/Pakistani food or if Arabic food would also be included)...

Dubai Part 1: The Beach

January 8, 2023

According to my friend Murt, people in Dubai try to avoid being out during the day due to the sun and the heat. It makes sense considering the weather easily breaks 100 degrees for half of the year, although the weather today is quite comfortable. At around 72 degrees it is a beautiful day. I woke up at 11:30am but everyone else was still asleep so I hung out and worked on my blog entry for the flight to Dubai while I waited for everyone else to wake up. Finally around 1:30pm everyone was awake, although it took Mel and Irena a long time to get ready so we did not leave the house until 3:30pm...

Trip Report: Paris to Dubai (Air France)

January 7, 2023

This blog entry picks up where the last one left off. I had just arrived at Paris Charles de Gaulle airport on a flight from Detroit. Our flight arrived at the Terminal 2E Hall M, and my flight to Dubai was scheduled to leave from Terminal 2E Hall L, so this transfer required a train ride from M to L, then a long security line. Despite having Sky Priority, there was still a considerable wait for sercurity...

Trip Report: Detroit to Paris (Air France)

January 6, 2023

My 2023 trip began on January 6, 2023. Mom and I left the house around 6:15pm and headed to Detroit Metro Airport. Check-in was a breeze. Passengers flying Air France can check in at the standard Delta check-in counters, or at the designated Air France check-in counters, and there was no line at the latter (for Sky Priority or for general passengers). Note that the Air France counter was also staffed by Delta employees. The woman asked multiple times if I wanted to check any bags, perhaps she thinks my bag may be too large...