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Chiangmai viewIf you open Thailand Travel Guide, you’ll find that in northwestern part of Thailand lies the old city of Chiang Mai which bounded by partial walls and moats. The recommended time to visit this lovely place is between October and April, as daily rain often washout the area in the other months.

Some great sights and places to go in Chiang Mai are Anusawari Sam Kasat (Bronze Sculpture), night safari, night bazaar (market), Tribal Museum, Chiang Mai City Arts & Cultural Centre, Th Phra Pokklao, etc. Chiang Mai’s temples (over 300) would probably exhaust you with its own charmed aura. Some people enjoy to spend sometimes in the city garden below a palm tree, either for a simple relaxation or to practice your Buddhist calm.

Bicycle is the most common vehicle to get around the city area. You’ll find this type of vehicle very cheap to hire, environmental friendly, and will give you chance for a workout. Saamláw (three-wheeled pedicabs), hordes of sawngthaew, túk-túk (three-wheeled motorised taxis) are another cheap alternatives for going around.

Never worries about accommodation in Chiangmai , as about 300 hotels and guesthouses are ready to serve and give its best staying experience for you. Homes that already converted into a simple guesthouse offer you great atmospheres which give you the unique Chiang Mai stay and living experiences.

Everybody who went to Chiang Mai would be agree that its one of the best place to find best restaurant in Thailand outside of Bangkok. Anusan Night Market for example, provides the best seafood and authentic Thai food. Most of them provide menu in English version.

As any other places in Thailand, bars, pubs, live music, cinemas, discos, and cultural show are common options to spend your night time and get entertained in Chiang Mai. It really depend on the venue that you’re choosing, the crowded can vary from locals, expats and backpackers.

Do not believe what I’m saying; prove it yourself by visiting Chiang Mai yourself :)


I was going to Barcelona full of bad thoughts as some of my friends didn’t get the best of their vacation because of poor service they were offered in Spain.

Quick I realised that they must have had tons of bad luck as my Barcelona hotel was nearly perfect. The hotel staff were extremely helpful and changed my room as my TV wasnt working. The initial room (with shower) was quite small but fine for 1, the Classic room with a bath was lovely and big - much better for a couple. The decor was beautiful and I would definately recommend it and stay there again.

On the next occasion (when I was going to Europe) I had decided to try some of Rome hotels, and I must say I was not disappointed. Also my friends (those who had received bad service in Spain) decided to use Europe Cities which I recommended to them and booked some Zurich hotels.

They were very happy with their holidays this time and thankful to me.


Saint Maarten Dutch SideIf you plan to spend your holiday in a Caribbean tropical island, you might want to consider the beautiful island St Maarten. It’s the smallest island that inhabited and shared between 2 countries France and Dutch Antilles / West Indies. The two main towns Philipsburg (Dutch side) and Marigot (French side) offer you a complete gratification, with its own uniqueness. You’ll find numerous boutiques that sell high quality duty free goods, which many people refer these places as Shopper’s paradise.

The French side, St-Martin, is known with its shopping, nude beaches, clothes with lots of Indian and French cuisine. While the Dutch side, St Maarten, is known with its casinos, rum-base guavaberry liquors (which is very exotic), jewelry, beaches, and festive nightlife.

St Martin and St Maarten Vacation Villas give you world-class accommodation and exclusive touch of Caribbean Tropical Island. You can find huge properties with more than 200 rooms or private properties with less than 20 rooms instead, so you decide which you prefer most.

More people nowadays prefers St Martin and St Maarten Villa Rentals compared with quality stars hotels, as these villa rentals services gives you more exclusivity of luxurious communal areas like swimming pool. Families, groups and couples can expect to spend more quality time together with no disturbance of other guests and or hotel staff.

Primary mode of transportation for visitors staying is rental cars. 4-wheel drive is recommended when you expect to drive off the main road and go to the secluded beach areas. However, long traffic jams between the 2 main cities Philipsburg, Marigot and the airport are common.

Saint Kitts, Nevis, Saba, St Eustatius, Anguilla, and St-Barthelemy are neighboring islands which can be seen easily on sunny day of St Maarten. Make sure to check the local weather information before going to this lovely area, especially on late summer and early fall as tropical activity storm is occasionally menaced.

Enjoy the beauty of St Martin and St Maarten.


Car travel preparationBreakdown could happened anytime and ruin your lovely summer plan. These tips might prevent your car from the unexpected breakdown:

1. Emergency Kit - Never forgot to bring some basic items in case of any emergency situations. Basic tools, windshield washer fluid, gloves, jumper cables, flash light, first aid, and a gallon of gas are some items that you might want to consider as your emergency kit. If you’re using car rental , ask whether they able to provide some of these emergency stuff.

2. Cooling system - check your coolant (remember to do this only when the engine is cold) and make sure that the radiator fins is not clogged by debris or dirt. Also keep an eye on the oil and fluids level for brakes, power steering and transmission.

3. Tires - Check the recommended pressure rating for your car in the owner’s manual and make sure the actual tire’s pressure are within this recommended range. Tire pressure that outside the recommended rate could easily blow out by overheating. Ask the vendor to check this for you if you use service from a car rental.

4. Temperature Gauge - Always keep an eye on the temperature level of your temperature gauge, when the indicator shows red zone immediately stop your car in a safe area. Do not open the radiator’s cap while the engine is hot. Overheated can caused a serious damage on your car.

5. Synthetic oil - gives you extra protection on high temperature for your engine

6. Lights - Always check your headlight’s low / high beam, turn right-left signal, brake lights, side marker lights and also emergency flashers.

7. Windshield wipers - wiper’s blade made of rubber which gets susceptible by summer heat. Investing a new (if necessary) set would always make sure your windshield wipers in a prime condition.

These tips might useful whether you use your own car or even use a car rental service. Have a great summer vacation.


CarHire vacationMany people having their dream travel around Europe by using rail transportation. But have you ever considering of driving your own car around Europe, where you can drive where ever you want and whenever you like?

Train prices are always goes up every year and car hire is a good option for every traveler in Europe, especially when you got limited budget. Below are few tips when you try to find car for hire to enjoy your vacation:

  1. Surf the Web. Internet is like a giant shopping catalogue where you can find and compare car hires on different rates, companies, car types, pick locations, schedule, etc. Many car hire companies also provide discount to anybody who rent through internet. The best thing is that You can get the information 24 hours a day, 365 days. It’s also regardless you want to find car hire Spain, England, Denmark or where ever you want.
  2. Travel on weekend. Most of car hire companies would provide cheaper rates at weekend (although this is not always the case).
    Hire weekly. It is most likely that all car hire companies would give you better rate if you hire weekly, rather than daily. One of the car hire france companies even gives 30% discount if you rent for the whole week, so it will be a pocket saver.
  3. Take look insurance carefully. (CDW) Collision Damage Waiver and (LDW) Loss Damage Waiver are common type of car hire insurance that offered to you when rent car. Both are good coverage for you, but not if they duplicate with your own existing insurance policy. Some Credit Card provider even also offer this coverage if you paid using their CC. Double check with your credit card provide before proceed with the Car’s insurance.
  4. Avoid airport pickups. Due to its additional fee and taxes, most of airport car hire / rental are 11.5 percent more expensive than at nearby neighborhood.
  5. Be Careful on bigger vehicle upgrade. Some car hire companies will give you free upgrade into bigger vehicle, which sounds like a good deal. But remember that bigger vehicle consumes more gas. So this ‘free upgrade’ is not really free, as you must pay for the extra gas. But this feature can be really a good deal, especially when you do need extra spaces on your car, to more enjoy your vacation.

By following those tips, I hope that you can more enjoying your vacation through Europe.


Travellers useful references

If you often have back-to-back business trips, you’ll know that sometimes you completely have no idea what day or time it is and what’s going on. Take my advice, check out these websites before setting out on you next trip.

www.LowFares.com Find cheap airline tickets , hotels, rental car and any vacation packages at low fare on this website. Don’t buy any tickets, book hotels or rental car before visit, search and compare deals on this great website.

www.TimeAndDate.com is a nice website that shows the time in different parts of the world. It also provide time converter to calculate your local time based on a date and time in another location. In case you need to call someone, this site also has a listing of international dialing codes.

www.babelfish.altavista.com/tr The web free translation service comes in handy when you’re faced with information in a foreign language. It can help you to translate short passages of text (150 characters at a time) or entire websites among 19 language pairs.

www.weather.com Check this site before leaving your home or even pack your suitcase. You can also download a tool from the website that lets you receive local weather updates and alerts.

www.google.com/gmm If you have a GPS-enabled phone, you’ll love Google maps mobile. It’s still same great site to find locations, but with GPS running, it can pinpoint exactly where you are standing. Get directions on how to get from point A to point B or select a contact from your address book and find his/her address on the map.


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