Denpasar Souvenir Shopping 🛍

Our last port of call in Bali was Denpasar, not far from the airport. Here we had just one day and night before taking a Cathay Pacific flight back to London, via Hong Kong. Our plan for this 24 hours was to get in as much souvenir shopping as possible, since we had discovered that Denpasar is know

Read more... https://www.sandspice.com/denpasar-souvenir-shopping/

Checkout Our 360 Degree Panoramas

Using Google Street View and some post processing software, its possible to produce some pretty nifty 360 degree panoramic images from a standard smartphone, without having to splash out on an expensive dedicated 360 degree camera. Having said that, a 360 degree camera is definitely on our

Read more... https://www.sandspice.com/free-independent-travel/360-degree-panoramas/

Turkish Airlines Hotel Desk Istanbul - Beware Scammers!

For many years we had heard a lot about the complimentary hotel services offered by Turkish Airlines for unplanned Istanbul layovers exceeding 10 hours. Many people try to game the system in order to qualify, but the rules are quite specific. If you are not a truly genuine candidate, the Turkish

Read more... https://www.sandspice.com/turkish-airlines-hotel-desk-istanbul/

Georgetown Penang - A Cultural Smorgasbord

Following our island hops through Phuket and Langkawi, we planned to spend 7 days on the southernmost island in our itinerary - based in Georgetown Penang.

Although it is an island, Penang is connected to the Malaysian mainland via a very long and narrow 13.5-kilometer bridge. We would travel

Read more... https://www.sandspice.com/georgetown-penang-a-cultural-smorgasbord/

Sri Lanka 21-day Budget & Costs

Our Sri Lanka 21-day round trip started and ended in Negombo. From there we traveled inland to Sigiriya to visit the Lion Rock.

We then took a bus to the central highlands, taking in Kandy, Polwaththa ECO lodges, a tea plantation and the Knuckle Mountains.

Following a dizzying descent from

Read more... https://www.sandspice.com/sri-lanka-21-day-budget/

Apartments at Sri Lagenda, Kuah Langkawi

Looking more like the location for a post-apocalyptic movie than a condominium in a tropical paradise, Sri Lagenda is a prominent 13-storey apartment block located close to the center of Kuah in Langkawi, Malaysia.

Here it is possible to rent apartments for short or long-term lets, either

Read more... https://www.sandspice.com/sri-lagenda-apartments-kuah-langkawi/

13 Weeks in Langkawi - Where to Stay and What to Do

Our plan for this trip to Malaysia was quite unlike our other adventures to date. Having spent many years touching the surface of different Asian cultures through shorter visits, we now wanted to understand how it feels to live in just one locality. Spending 13 weeks in Langkawi seemed an ideal

Read more... https://www.sandspice.com/13-weeks-in-langkawi/

Langkawi Long-Term Stay - 3 Months in Malaysia

Ever considered a long-term stay in just one location in South East Asia?  An opportunity to get an in-depth feel of the region at a more relaxed pace, while actually saving on your daily budget? We did just this on the chilled-out paradise island of Langkawi in Malaysia: An excellent destination

Read more... https://www.sandspice.com/plan-your-travel/langkawi-malaysia-long-term-stay/

London City Stopover 💂 What to See & Do in just 6 hours

We arrived back in London Gatwick at the end of our multi-stop flight to Hong Kong and Bali, courtesy of Cathay Pacific. With just 12 hours between our arrival at Gatwick and our onward flight home from London Luton airport, we were optimistically hoping to cram in some essential sightseeing on o

Read more... https://www.sandspice.com/london-city-stopover/

Malaysia My Second Home - Our Personal MM2H Application Experience

Our interest in the Malaysia My Second Home (MM2H) program started after several visits to Malaysia and some long trips through the Malay Peninsula and Borneo, all spread over a 5-year period.

If you have the time, then taking an extended multi-week break in Malaysia works out much cheaper

Read more... https://www.sandspice.com/our-mm2h-application-experience/

Getting Gringoed in Isla Colon Bocas del Toro

After spending a couple of days in Bocas del Toro, we decided to spend some extra days in a more secluded spot where we could enjoy beaches and jungle. The Tesoro Escondido Guesthouse seemed to be the answer, located by the sea just 5 kms north of the town, but still on Isla Colon Bocas Del

Read more... https://www.sandspice.com/getting-gringoed-in-isla-colon/

Malta Saint Julians Penthouse for Sale - Seafront with Roof Garden

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Malta Saint Julians Seafront Penthouse for Sale
South-facing luxury penthouse apartment overlooking the fishing boats of Spinola Bay - on sale for the first time.
€1,790,000

Contact U

Read more... https://www.sandspice.com/malta-saint-julians-penthouse-for-sale/

Rome - Inexpensive Start for a Long-Haul Flight

Rome is not exactly South-East Asia, but this is where our journey to the Philippines began, following a short flight from Malta.

The reason for this was our discovery of some very reasonably priced Emirates flights running from Rome to Manila (€528 return). Since Italy is a small hop from our b

Read more... https://www.sandspice.com/rome-inexpensive-start-for-a-long-haul-flight/

Cherating Accommodation: Will you choose Top-end or Budget?

After our first night in Kuala Lumpur, we made an early start: We needed to get to the bus station to take an early coach to Cherating, on the east side of the peninsula. Cherating accommodation options are a little limited, but for this occasion we'd decided to choose one of the larger beach

Read more... https://www.sandspice.com/cherating-accommodation-top-end-or-budget/

The Soná of 'Prison Break' Fame

Any fans of the mini-series will be familiar with the infamous Soná of 'Prison Break' fame. This fictional prison featured in much of Season 3 of the series.

The good news is that if you're planning to travel by bus from Panama City (or from Boquete) to Santa Catalina, you will get to visit S

Read more... https://www.sandspice.com/sona-prison-break/

Venice Off Season 🎭 Save Time & Money

How much should a short 2-night break in Venice off season really cost?

With low-cost airlines flying from numerous destinations, the return flight is possibly one of the cheapest items of a trip to Venice. However, even this can be deceptive: The budget airlines fly to Venice Treviso, not to

Read more... https://www.sandspice.com/venice-off-season-saves-time-money/

Madrid Budget Break 💃 Where to Eat & What to Do

Our 9-day tour around the Canary Isles started and finished in Spain. We spent a few days at the beginning of the trip in Girona, and finished off with a few days in the capital - Madrid.  So - as the finale to our trip - we were keen to find out what there is to do, see and eat during a short

Read more... https://www.sandspice.com/madrid-budget-break/

Our Turkish Airlines Inflight Experiences 💺

How the mighty have fallen... Considering they were once the No.7 airline in the world, Turkish Airlines dropped to No.12 in 2017, No.18 in 2018, and then to No.27 in 2019 (see SkyTrax World's Top 100 Airlines). The jury is still out for 2020, but you can see where this is heading. We were quite

Read more... https://www.sandspice.com/turkish-airlines-inflight-experience/

Karimunjawa Snorkeling Excursions 🤿

Welcome to the ultimate guide for Karimunjawa snorkeling excursions, where pristine turquoise waters and vibrant marine life await avid adventurers. Nestled in the heart of Indonesia, the Karimunjawa archipelago beckons with its untouched beauty and exceptional snorkeling opportunities.

Whether

Read more... https://www.sandspice.com/karimunjawa-snorkeling-excursions/

A Sri Lanka Travel Plan - Central & South

Our Sri Lanka travel plan comprised a 21-day rollicking rollercoaster of a ride to the World’s End and beyond, taking in the Central Highlands and the South Coast. It promised to be an eventful trip, with all content published from a tiny Samsung smartphone.



 
Researching the Trip - Sr

Read more... https://www.sandspice.com/sri-lanka-travel-plan/

Terravision Rome Airport Bus

Getting from either of the airports outside Rome to the city center can be an expensive business. Fortunately, there are some inexpensive and efficient alternatives to taking a taxi. On different occasions, we've used the Terravision Rome airport bus service to travel between both Fiumicino and

Read more... https://www.sandspice.com/terravision-rome-airport-bus/

Miserable in Mersing Malaysia

Mersing Malaysia is the gateway to Tioman Island, a very popular destination for travelers. We had a pleasant coach ride down to Mersing from Cherating, on a very comfortable Adik Beradik coach.

The 240 km trip took around 4 hours, including a 20-minute stop along the way where we could eat and

Read more... https://www.sandspice.com/embassy-mersing-malaysia/

Indian Railways Sleeper Class to Kochi

Travelling north along the West coast of India, our next destination after Varkala was Kochi. 5 days earlier, while we were still in Kovalam, we had purchased our train tickets from a Travel Agent. He had explained to us which ticket classes were available for a trip from Varkala to Kochi. He also

Read more... https://www.sandspice.com/indian-railways-sleeper-class/

Philippines Best Beach Destinations? 50 Shades of Pink

If getting a suntan is high on the priority list, then unless you want to stay pale pink you need to choose your Philippines beach destinations carefully.

Our 3-week trip around the Central Visayas - Cebu and Bohol - presented us with several unexpected challenges, one of these being to find a

Read more... https://www.sandspice.com/philippines-beach-destinations/

Isla Bastimentos Bocas Del Toro - Panama

Following our 5-day tour of Isla Colón, we were ready to venture further afield to one of the other large islands of the archipelago - Isla Bastimentos Bocas Del Toro. We were looking forward to pristine beaches and fascinating jungle trails, similar to what we had discovered on Isla Colón.
Isla B

Read more... https://www.sandspice.com/isla-bastimentos-bocas-del-toro-panama/

Valencia Eating Out? Eating Late is the Norm

For our 4-day trip to Valencia, we selected in advance a number of interesting restaurants with good reviews. The only problem was these restaurants were dotted around the outskirts of the city and not particularly easy to get to. Our Valencia eating out plans therefore had to be revised to fit in

Read more... https://www.sandspice.com/valencia-eating-out/

Tropical Travel Plans

Tropical Travel Plans
Free independent travel is rapidly becoming the preferred way to arrange trips for many adventure-seeking holidaymakers. The abundance of enticing destinations advertised on the Internet makes the prospect of going it alone even more tempting. Most of the time though you'll n

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Makunudu Island Paradise, Maldives

Travelling with Emirates from Europe to Makunudu Island, we had an initial stop in Cyprus. We then had another stop in Dubai for our connecting flight to Male - The Maldives capital.
We had a couple of hours to kill in Dubai, so spent most of it queuing up to spend a penny in a toilet not big

Read more... https://www.sandspice.com/makunudu-island/

Vaporetti Essentials: Get a Day Pass

One of the reasons we all go to Venice is to travel on their unique vaporetti water transport system. And unless you are particularly flush with cash, you’ll want to do this in the easiest and most economical way possible. For a short weekend, a Vaporetti Day Pass is the answer.
Vaporetti Day P

Read more... https://www.sandspice.com/vaporetti-day-pass/

Budget Accommodation Highlights

Traditional & cost-effective budget accommodation: The hotels and guesthouses you book will have a dramatic effect on your overall travel experience. Check out our recommendations for some of the best, most cost-effective budget accommodation we've discovered in our recent

Read more... https://www.sandspice.com/free-independent-travel/budget-accommodation-highlights/

Get Inspired - with Free Independent Travel

Free independent Travel (FIT) brings many advantages over a standard packaged holiday deal: Even within a modest budget, there are no limits. Go where you want, when you want - and tailor the trip to fit your own personal aspirations. Get inspired with some of our own favourite travel

Read more... https://www.sandspice.com/free-independent-travel/

Doha Airport Layover

Our Qatar Airways flight from Rome to Jakarta included a lengthy 10-hour Doha airport layover. There was really no way of avoiding this when we booked the flight.

If we had arrived early in the day, we could have enjoyed one of Qatar Airways complimentary 3-hour tours of the city. However, we wo

Read more... https://www.sandspice.com/doha-airport-layover/

Malta Saint Julians Penthouse for Sale - Seafront with Roof Garden

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Malta Saint Julians Seafront Penthouse for Sale
South-facing luxury penthouse apartment overlooking the fishing boats of Spinola Bay - on sale for the first time.
€1,790,000

Contact U

Read more... https://www.sandspice.com/malta-saint-julians-penthouse-for-sale/

Istanbul Eateries and Accommodation

We would only have 2 nights and days in Istanbul. To optimize our time in the city, and to find the best Istanbul eateries, we did as much planning as we could before leaving home.

After sorting out our transfers, our next priorities were accommodation and food. Following a good deal of online r

Read more... https://www.sandspice.com/istanbul-eateries-accommodation/

Ceylonica Beach Hotel Negombo

For many visitors to Sri Lanka, Negombo will be your first port of call. This actually makes a lot of sense if you are planning to head east to the central areas. For us also, this was the logical choice since our flight arrived in Sri Lanka in the early evening, and Bandaranaike International

Read more... https://www.sandspice.com/ceylonica-beach-hotel-negombo/

Inexpensive Rome Restaurants

Rome is like one giant restaurant. Every street seems to host a series of eateries tempting visitors with their delicious Italian kitchen aromas. In our experience, it's pretty difficult to get a bad meal in Rome, but if you're looking for inspiration, here are our current favourite and

Read more... https://www.sandspice.com/rome-restaurants/

Tioman Island Ferry

One of the highlights of our trip around Malaysia and Borneo would be our visit to Tioman island on the east coast of the Malay peninsula. To get there, we needed to reach the port town of Mersing from where we could take a ferry across. Although we arrived at the terminal building in the morning,

Read more... https://www.sandspice.com/tioman-island-ferry/

South Goa Beaches - Agonda

When we arrived in Goa, fresh off the night train from Kochi, we hadn't yet decided which south Goa beaches we would visit - Agonda beach or Palolem beach. We had nothing booked, so left it to chance. As it turned out, our first experiences would be on Palolem beach.

After an hours march from

Read more... https://www.sandspice.com/south-goa-beaches-agonda/

Australian Visa Discrimination 🌏 Against ʿNon-Westernʾ Tourists

Australia is known for its diverse landscapes, cultural attractions, and friendly people, making it a popular destination for tourists from around the world. However, before booking your tickets and packing your bags, you might first want to check out the reports of Australian visa discrimination

Read more... https://www.sandspice.com/australian-visa-discrimination/

Australian Visa Discrimination 🌏 Against ʿNon-Westernʾ Tourists

Australia is known for its diverse landscapes, cultural attractions, and friendly people, making it a popular destination for tourists from around the world. However, before booking your tickets and packing your bags, you might first want to check out the reports of Australian visa discrimination

Read more... https://www.sandspice.com/australian-visa-discrimination/

Getting Around Panama by Shuttle Bus 🚌

Panama is a vibrant and exciting country, offering a range of activities for visitors to explore. Whether you're looking to soak up the sun on a tropical beach or explore the lush rainforests, getting around Panama is made easy with shuttle bus services. These shuttle buses provide a convenient

Read more... https://www.sandspice.com/getting-around-panama/

Malaysia West Coast - Open-Jaw Trip

If you're planning a multi-destination road trip, then booking an open-jaw flight can be a godsend. Our Malaysia west coast journey would actually start in Phuket, Thailand - just north of the Thai-Malaysian border.

The trip would end in Kuala Lumpur, after visiting a sequence of destinations

Read more... https://www.sandspice.com/malay-peninsula-west-coast-open-jaw-trip/

Maldives Planning a Break

Maldives Planning a Break: The luxury of some of the smaller islands in the Maldives comes at a price. However - if included as a short addition to a longer trip through other countries in the region - this unforgettable experience can be enjoyed without drastically over-doing the budget.

The

Read more... https://www.sandspice.com/maldives-planning-a-break/

The Venice of "Don't Look Now"

If like us you’re a bit of a movie fan, then this section is for you. The Venice of Don't Look Now is encapsulated in a 1973 British-Italian thriller directed by Nicolas Roeg, adapted from a short story by Daphne du Maurier.

It was filmed at a variety of locations throughout Venice, showing a se

Read more... https://www.sandspice.com/venice-dont-look-now/

Girona transfers from airport and onward to Barcelona

Located within sight of the Pyrenees in the northeast of Catalonia, Girona is a great place from which to start a journey to some really exotic locations. This is due to Girona's proximity to Barcelona - a main Spanish hub from where many flights depart in the direction of South America, Latin Ame

Read more... https://www.sandspice.com/girona-transfers-from-airport/

Jakarta Stopover

We'd just had a lengthy 10-hour Doha airport layover on our journey to Indonesia from Rome. Getting to our hotel as quickly as possible when we got to Indonesia was therefore a priority. On arrival at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport, we'd decided to take a short Jakarta stopover in a nearby

Read more... https://www.sandspice.com/jakarta-stopover/

Lion Rock Sigiriya

After spending our first wet night in Sigiriya, it was still raining the next morning. However, our plan was to climb to the top of Sri Lanka's famous Lion Rock Buddhist monument, and a wet day wasn't going to stop us doing that.

Before that, we had a look around the grounds of our guesthouse -

Read more... https://www.sandspice.com/lion-rock-buddhist/

Borneo Wavehunters at WaveHunterAsia

White Water Rafting is a "must do" activity if you are staying a few days in Borneo in the vicinity of Kota Kinabalu. As a result, the Borneo Wavehunters had been on our agenda from the very beginning of our planned trip to Malaysia, and we were lucky enough to experience it.

I say “lucky” beca

Read more... https://www.sandspice.com/borneo-wavehunters/

Dubai Layover - Marhaba Lounge

Taking into account the ever-increasing restrictions and delays involved in long-haul travel, there inevitably comes a time when you're obliged to consider the pros and cons of an extended layover.

Long-haul (10-hour flights or more) usually involve a minimum of one stop before reaching your

Read more... https://www.sandspice.com/marhaba-lounge-dubai/

India Travel Plan - West Coast

Choosing the best dates and flights for a long-haul trip to the tropics involves more than making a quick selection shortly before you leave. When it comes to finding the best travel opportunities, whether the Seychelles, India or the Caribbean, it pays to start making yours plans well in advance.

Read more... https://www.sandspice.com/india-travel-plan/

In-transit through Rome Airports? Try Best Western Fiumicino

Our trip to the Philippines was planned with a return flight to Fiumicino, near Rome. The flights back to Italy from the Philippines hit us a lot harder than the flights going there. Even though we were flying with Emirates, we had a 5-hour stopover in Dubai which just extended the misery.

So

Read more... https://www.sandspice.com/best-western-hotel-riviera-fiumicino/

Istanbul Airport-City Transfer

Planning our visit to Istanbul from the comfort of our living room (using Google Earth as our map reference) seemed straightforward enough. But to avoid the expense of taxis, we decided to arrange our own Istanbul airport-city transfer.

We would be arriving at Sabiha Gokcen - the furthest of

Read more... https://www.sandspice.com/istanbul-airport-city-transfer/

Panama Travel Plan - Our 26-day Itinerary

Apparently, Panama is among the top 5 best-rated countries in the world in which to retire. Facts like this, together with the attractions of a tropical climate and the buzz of a Latin American country are hard to ignore. Throw into the mix really cheap flights with Lufthansa from Europe and we're

Read more... https://www.sandspice.com/panama-travel-plan/

Sandbank Affaire

The Sandbank Affaire Makunudu Maldives is a special experience devised by the Management of the Makunudu Island Resort. This is a private evening excursion to a distant mini-island (the Sandbank). You are accompanied by just your waiter and a chef, and are treated to a Lobster BBQ with a bottle of

Read more... https://www.sandspice.com/sandbank-affaire-makunudu-maldives/

Malta Saint Julians Penthouse for Sale - Seafront with Roof Garden

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Malta Saint Julians Seafront Penthouse for Sale
South-facing luxury penthouse apartment overlooking the fishing boats of Spinola Bay - on sale for the first time.
€1,790,000

Contact U

Read more... https://www.sandspice.com/malta-saint-julians-penthouse-for-sale/

Edinburgh City Break

If you ever need an excuse to enjoy an Edinburgh city break, the availability of some great international flight deals flying from Edinburgh to the Far East has to be high on the list. Combine this with a low-cost Ryanair budget flight to Edinburgh from many British and European cities, and you c

Read more... https://www.sandspice.com/edinburgh-city-break/

Bali and Nusa Lembongan - A 2-island itinerary

Bali is a universal favourite with travellers and tourists alike, but it is not so well known for its beaches. If it's clear blue sea and uncrowded white sand beaches you're after, then you need to venture a little further. So why not try a combination of Bali and Nusa Lembongan - one of Bali's

Read more... https://www.sandspice.com/bali-and-nusa-lembongan/

Tsim Sha Tsui Hong Kong Stopover

If you take a flight with Cathay Pacific from London to Bali you'll be making a pit-stop in Hong Kong. Why not then take advantage of this break in your journey to add a Hong Kong stopover to your trip?

As well as breaking up an extended long-haul flight to Bali, this also gives you the

Read more... https://www.sandspice.com/tsim-sha-tsui-hong-kong-stopover/

Honey, the ATM ate my card

What was I to do when an Indonesian ATM ate my card?

We had just arrived at Semarang airport on a Lion Air flight from Jakarta. This was the 2nd day of (hopefully) a 15-day trip to Karimunjawa: An island 88 kms north of Central Java.

Loosing our card at this stage of the journey, with a

Read more... https://www.sandspice.com/atm-ate-my-card/

Borneo Rainforest Discovery Centre

No trip to Malaysia is complete without an extended visit to Borneo. Apart from the wealth of activities this island has to offer, it is fascinating and heart-warming to discover the biodiversity conservation efforts they are making here.

Located within the Kabili-Sepilok Forest Reserve, the

Read more... https://www.sandspice.com/borneo-rainforest-discovery-centre/

Polwaththa Eco Lodge

Our trip through Sri Lanka wouldn't have been complete without a short stay at one of this island's Eco settlements.

So, from Kandy we had arranged a pickup by tuk-tuk to take us into the surrounding mountain jungles to the Polwaththa Eco Lodges.

We were looking forward to a peaceful break,

Read more... https://www.sandspice.com/polwaththa-eco-lodge/

Our Venice Budget 🎭 2 Nights Inclusive - What’s the Cost?

A short trip to Venice is potentially one of the most costly city breaks you can take. Even with a strict Venice budget, why is this city so expensive?

Well, we noticed a few things that might explain this. Apart from the local handiwork of artists and artisans, not much is created or grown in

Read more... https://www.sandspice.com/final-venice-budget/

Mumbai International Transfer to Domestic Terminal

Arrival at Mumbai International Airport (Chhatrapati Shivaji) and transfer to the Domestic terminal was in our case blissfully straightforward and efficient. At passport control we produced our e-Tourist Visas, and were processed quickly enough.

After clearing passport control, we strolled into

Read more... https://www.sandspice.com/mumbai-international-transfer-to-domestic-terminal/

Golf del Sur - Tenerife South

After spending a really enjoyable 2-night stopover in Girona, Spain we continued our journey to our principal destination - the Canary Islands. Our first introduction to these islands was the Golf del Sur - Tenerife South.

We planned to spend 3 nights in Golf del Sur in a self-catering

Read more... https://www.sandspice.com/golf-del-sur-tenerife-south/