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Missed flight: how to get a refund of airport taxes?
This is a little-known possibility: if you miss a flight, you can get your airport taxes refunded even if you have not taken out cancellation/missed flight insurance.Here is a little feedback. The context To spend a few days in Luang Prabang in Laos, Anh booked a round trip Chiang Mai – Luang Prabang via the website Kiwi.com, without taking out any insurance.The outward journey went smoothly.On the way back, Anh had the wrong schedule and missed her flight.The company did not make any mistake, the fault is 100% ours. Airport taxes: what are they? In addition to the price of the plane ticket invoiced by the airline company, there are…
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Our long stay in Hanoi (Vietnam)
After a month in Chiang Mai, we are in Ha Noi – MY hometown, to celebrate the Vietnamese New Year. As soon as we arrive at the airport, we realize that the wait at the immigration office will be long. Vietnamese living abroad are slowly starting to return to Vietnam. After 45 minutes of waiting, we finally manage to get out. JB quickly buys a SIM card while I withdraw money next door. 50 000VND fee to withdraw only 3 million VND (1.6% fee) – at VPBank, there is no fee, but their ATM isn’t present at the airport. We then take a cab to my parents’ house, who lent…
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How to celebrate Tết (the Lunar New Year) in Ha Noi, Vietnam? – Travel Diary 2018
Sorry to disappear for so long. You know, sometimes I get a little bored when I travel (especially at night), and I take the opportunity to blog. But when I’m in MY city, MY country, I’m not bored for a second. There are so many things to eat, so many friends and cousins to see again, so much shopping to do… that I let go of my blog. After Chiang Mai, JB and I went to Hanoi, my hometown, the best of the best of Vietnam, of Asia, finally of the world. This is only my personal opinion because most tourists (and especially JB) don’t agree with me. Of course,…
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I live with 77 objects: Contents of my Backpack Around the World (for Men)
Note: this is the content of my men’s backpack, for the content of Anh’s women’s backpack, it’s over here. When you go around the world, one of the constraints is the number of objects you take with you. The airlines limit the weight of our luggage (usually between 15 and 20 kg) and we have to fit everything in a bag. If it may seem difficult at first, this forced minimalism is finally a pleasure, almost a liberation. If I were to return to a more sedentary life, I would try to keep this philosophy as I think it contributes to my happiness. These first 6 months of experience show…
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Everything in my (women’s) Backpack for the Round the World Tour – 26L + 10L – 7/8kg
I am often asked what I put in my bag to have only between 7 and 8kg of luggage. After 6 months of traveling and extreme temperatures (from 2 degrees in New Zealand to 42 degrees in Qatar), I finally have the ideal bag with exactly what I need, I stabilize between 7.3kg (when I wear the trail shoes on me) and 8kg (when I wear the sandals and leave the trail shoes in the bag). For the contents of JB’s man bag, it is here. Note: my everyday backpack can be stored in my main bag at any time. This is especially useful when there is a risk of…
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Mai Chau (Vietnam): an alternative to Sapa
That’s it, we are in Vietnam, in Hanoi at my parents’ house. For our first getaway in Vietnam, we chose to go to Mai Chau, a valley nested in a mountainous zone still little exploited Part 1: Travel Diary Part 2: Practical Tips Part 1: Travel Diary Ba Vì As we are by car, we make a small detour to Ba Vì, an area known for its cow’s milk and dairy products. It’s not easy in Vietnam to find an area suitable for raising dairy cows. Milk cows don’t eat the same food as buffaloes. Farmers have to trade their rice fields for grass to feed their cash cows We…
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Chiang Mai (Thailand): Silk and paper umbrellas, Silver Temple: continuation and end
In spite of our 4 weeks in Chiang Mai, we spend so many weekends in the surroundings that we have the impression that we have not visited anything of the city So, we take advantage of our last 2 days in Chiang Mai to visit the top attractions in our wish list First of all, you have to go and see the famous handcrafted umbrellas of Chiang Mai Umbrella Making Centre We first go through the souvenir store which is extremely tempting because the prices are very correct (between 2€ and 10€, depending on the size of the umbrellas). Super cheap for handmade umbrellas In the garden, beautiful umbrellas are…
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Pai (Thailand): Canyon, Mountains & Zenitude
Just back from Luang Prabang, I’m getting ready to go to Pai for the weekend with JB. We would have liked to leave early in the morning, but as I missed my plane, we leave only in the afternoon around 3 pm. We have just enough time to make the trip by scooter before the sun sets at 6pm. Note: Recently, I have had questions about the accessibility of a particular location for people with reduced mobility. As tourist guides don’t always talk about it, from now on, I will add details about the accessibility of places in the “Practical advice” section. Part 1: Travel Diary Part 2: Practical Tips…
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I tested the Face Care in Chiang Mai: addresses of institutes, advice, opinions, best face care Chiang Mai
I seem to be travelling around the world to test the best massage addresses, beauty salons and cosmetics. My pretext would be to give you the best addresses and beauty secrets from all over the world. Hehe 😀 To see my favorite addresses in Seville, please click here My favorite addresses in Hanoi, it’s this way My favorite addresses in Budapest, it’s this way Medical tourism is developing more and more in Asia, especially in Thailand where the prices are rather soft and the know-how recognized. Many Americans come here to get botox injections, lip filler, laser stain removal or to beautify their eyebrows. Girls from other Asian countries come…
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Ticket Belt Review – Eagle Creek Secret Bag
Since I’ve been traveling, I’ve been using an Eagle Creek belt every day and I’m very happy with it.Here are these interesting features: It has no holes. Thanks to its clip, you can adjust it perfectly to your size. Very practical for the weight variations you will have during your trip 🙂 No metal buckle, the clip is made of plastic. The advantage is that you won’t have to remove your belt during security checks at the airport, your belt will not ring when you pass under the security gate. A secret pocket that allows you to hide documents (copy of passport for example) or tickets. In case of a…
