Xela Posted November 20, 2016 Share Posted November 20, 2016 Doesn't 12 months go quickly! Its time for a new thread for 2017 So, what has everyone got planned? Only added one new country in 2016... well, I will do, when I fly to Iceland next week! Plans for 2017... undecided at the moment. Depends on my health more than anything. It is the one big obstacle stopping me at the minute. Hopefully, all being well, I'll get a long haul trip in. Be it China. Or Japan. Or even back to Thailand for old times sake. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NoelVilla Posted November 20, 2016 Share Posted November 20, 2016 We are looking at New Zeeland in November-17 so nearly a year from now. Have already a rough plan. Flying into Auckland and then onto Queenstown. White water rafting and a cruise in Milford Sound on the absolute to-do list. Thinking on adding Sydney on the way back as we are already in the area Must add a shorter weekend trip in the spring. Birmingham is my suggestion for that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StefanAVFC Posted November 21, 2016 Share Posted November 21, 2016 Want to do a city break in Feb. Thinking Bratislava or Prague. Will drive Was going Gran Canaria but can't justify the flight cost + 6 hours on Ryanair. Then got Majorca planned for the summer with Sweden probably jammed in somewhere in the spring! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonyh29 Posted November 21, 2016 Share Posted November 21, 2016 Kids have got to that age where they don't want to spend 3 weeks in Hungary with Mrs H in the summer so I can't get away with my annual summer jaunt any more , good run whilst it lasted , but now it will be sedate beach type holidays with the family saying that I'm hoping to go to Turkmenistan at some point in 2017 ,looks an interesting place and looks Like I may be going to South Africa for work next year so I'll see if I can sneak a short 4 or 5 day visit to Madagascar whilst I'm there 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chicovilla Posted November 21, 2016 Share Posted November 21, 2016 Managed to travel to 9 countries this year.....Morocco, Italy x 2, Sri Lanka, India, Hong Kong, Qatar, Japan, Spain (Majorca-fly out this week) and finally finishing off the year in Italy. Flying into Rome on December 23rd and travelling to Florence, Bologna, Venice (will be there for NYE) Verona and flying out of milan on January 6th. Sri Lanka, Qatar and Japan being new countries. Going to Nepal late Jan/Feb for a couple of weeks travelling. Going to Hong Kong, Malaysia (Borneo) and Taiwan in late March and April. Weekend City break to Madrid in May. These are all booked and paid for :). Later in the year hope to get to Mongolia or Kyrzgstan and a few random city breaks. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xela Posted November 21, 2016 Author Share Posted November 21, 2016 33 minutes ago, chicovilla said: Managed to travel to 9 countries this year.....Morocco, Italy x 2, Sri Lanka, India, Hong Kong, Qatar, Japan, Spain (Majorca-fly out this week) and finally finishing off the year in Italy. Flying into Rome on December 23rd and travelling to Florence, Bologna, Venice (will be there for NYE) Verona and flying out of milan on January 6th. Sri Lanka, Qatar and Japan being new countries. Going to Nepal late Jan/Feb for a couple of weeks travelling. Going to Hong Kong, Malaysia (Borneo) and Taiwan in late March and April. Weekend City break to Madrid in May. These are all booked and paid for :). Later in the year hope to get to Mongolia or Kyrzgstan and a few random city breaks. That's some going! Interested to hear what Taiwan is like. Always been on the 'to do' list but never made it there. Always ended up back in Hong Kong instead! You must have a decent job for all the time off 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chicovilla Posted November 21, 2016 Share Posted November 21, 2016 1 minute ago, Xela said: That's some going! Interested to hear what Taiwan is like. Always been on the 'to do' list but never made it there. Always ended up back in Hong Kong instead! You must have a decent job for all the time off My other half is from Hong Kong, so get a lot of insider information on that neck of the woods! (she is very familiar with most of SE Asia) Will be flying into the south of Taiwan and travelling up the country for 2 weeks and flying back to Hong Kong from Taipei in the North. Heard the scenery is great and the street food is immense! Cheaper than Hong Kong, but nothing like Thailand/Vietnamese cheap! Will give you my verdict when I get back I work a lot away from home, with a lot of driving about in UK, so build up a lot of lieu time on top of my 26 days annual leave. So lucky to get about 10+ weeks off per year. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonyh29 Posted November 21, 2016 Share Posted November 21, 2016 1 hour ago, chicovilla said: Kyrzgstan other than hiking and mountains there isn't a lot there tbh ... if you've not been previously then focus on Kazakhstan , fantastic place You can always get a car to drive you from Almaty to Bishkek in a few hours , and have a couple of days there At the border you walk over a bridge with all your luggage and a bun fight border crosssing and it's about 40 mins into town from there ... pre-book it all though I wouldn't fancy your chances of finding a taxi at the other side of the bridge On our way back the bridge was shut , which was lucky as we were actually flying out and our driver had taken us to the wrong place , the joys of communication ... we did aeroplanes noises with the wings for him and he got the message in the end Mongolia - have a look at the train out into China if you have time , Gobi desert was a bit of a let down but it's still an interesting enough journey Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonyh29 Posted November 21, 2016 Share Posted November 21, 2016 (edited) 1 hour ago, Xela said: Interested to hear what Taiwan is like. Always been on the 'to do' list but never made it there. Always ended up back in Hong Kong instead! Taiwan is worth a visit , Taroko Gorge , was a long day but well worth the visit and of course you go up Taipei 101 , which having gone from the tallest building in the world , is now sold as the tallest green coloured building in the world (or something like that) Edited November 21, 2016 by tonyh29 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chicovilla Posted November 21, 2016 Share Posted November 21, 2016 26 minutes ago, tonyh29 said: other than hiking and mountains there isn't a lot there tbh ... if you've not been previously then focus on Kazakhstan , fantastic place You can always get a car to drive you from Almaty to Bishkek in a few hours , and have a couple of days there At the border you walk over a bridge with all your luggage and a bun fight border crosssing and it's about 40 mins into town from there ... pre-book it all though I wouldn't fancy your chances of finding a taxi at the other side of the bridge On our way back the bridge was shut , which was lucky as we were actually flying out and our driver had taken us to the wrong place , the joys of communication ... we did aeroplanes noises with the wings for him and he got the message in the end Cheers, will take this advice on board. Looking to spend some time in the mountains and plains living in yurts and hiking/horse trekking, and some of the time exploring the towns and cities. Although now you mention it, the idea of flying into Almaty and home from Bishtek is definately an option. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
villa4europe Posted November 21, 2016 Share Posted November 21, 2016 istanbul in feb, krakow in june, iceland in december im down to 2 stag dos next year now too, mine in cologne late september and one in july that was benidorm but i think they've gone back to the drawing board just waiting for villa to announce a game in hong kong on the last weekend in july, been invited to a wedding out there that i said no to, if i can do a villa game at the same time that'll need another look Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xela Posted November 21, 2016 Author Share Posted November 21, 2016 2 hours ago, tonyh29 said: Taiwan is worth a visit , Taroko Gorge , was a long day but well worth the visit and of course you go up Taipei 101 , which having gone from the tallest building in the world , is now sold as the tallest green coloured building in the world (or something like that) From a purely misogynist view, from what I have seen researching Taipei bars and clubs, they also seem to have the hottest girls in Asia! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonyh29 Posted November 21, 2016 Share Posted November 21, 2016 3 minutes ago, Xela said: From a purely misogynist view, from what I have seen researching Taipei bars and clubs, they also seem to have the hottest girls in Asia! We went to a bar , and suddenly 2 girls appeared at our side , I just sat there looking at my feet but my mate whose into that scene , got chatting with one , bought them a few drinks , and then bulked at her asking price at the end of the night ... meanwhile our drinks bill was a few hundred quid , partly as we'd done a huge session , but partly as it seems my mate brought these girls quite few drinks as it turns out all part of the adventure so no harm done , but tread carefully if you go from memory one was minging and the other one was ok'ish .... not a patch on South Korean girls in the looks league ( IMO ) 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chappy Posted November 21, 2016 Share Posted November 21, 2016 Booked flights to Belize in the summer, will probably spend half if not longer of the three weeks in Mexico. Also visiting friends in Hamburg and Berlin in February. Looking for a short European break for April too but not sure where yet. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xela Posted November 22, 2016 Author Share Posted November 22, 2016 (edited) On 11/21/2016 at 15:52, tonyh29 said: not a patch on South Korean girls in the looks league ( IMO ) I got chatting to a stunning South Korean girl in a Hong Kong bar a few years back when I was at the bar ordering a drink. She was dressed professionally and didn't have the feel of a freelancer (which are predominantly south east Asians in HK - maids, and girls on tourist visas earning a quick buck). Anyway, I'm giving her the old Xela charm and she's loving it. Laughing at my jokes, plus she seemed well educated. I'm thinking perhaps she's over here working for a large corporation and needs to let off some steam. Then she drops the bombshell. "Its $3000 for 2 hours. Extra $1000 if you want my ass" Thank god she took Amex! I jest, I was disappointed as she was obviously just humouring me. Told my mate who was watching from our table and he responded with "of course she's a hooker, no normal girl that hot would give you a second glance!" Cheers mate! Edited November 22, 2016 by Xela 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
villa4europe Posted November 22, 2016 Share Posted November 22, 2016 $4000 is a lot of money for an hour and 58 minutes worth of awkward silence 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xela Posted November 23, 2016 Author Share Posted November 23, 2016 15 hours ago, villa4europe said: $4000 is a lot of money for an hour and 58 minutes worth of awkward silence i'd be fast asleep after 120 seconds of robust lovemaking! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Giro Posted November 24, 2016 Share Posted November 24, 2016 Looking at booking Toronto soon for May, anyone been? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
villa4europe Posted November 24, 2016 Share Posted November 24, 2016 yeah last year, spent 2 and half days there before moving on, really nice place, stuff going on everywhere, think there was something like 3 different food festivals, a beer festival, a party for the pam am games, pretty much every public square had something on, ate at the CN tower revolving restaurant which was ok, its expensive, wish id had a bit longer so i could have done the theme park and the missus wanted to do casa loma, think the only disappointing thing i did was the distillery district which wasnt as lively as id hoped i moved on to niagara falls which didnt disappoint, spent half a day at the little town niagara on the lake (who also had some sort of street festival on) then travelled to ottawa which was ok at best but on the way i went to kingston, if you wanted to stretch toronto out to more than a couple of days then the thousand islands i think if you could find a decent lake house would make for a brilliant jaunt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NoelVilla Posted November 24, 2016 Share Posted November 24, 2016 Last year I was to. Wrote some in the Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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