Where should I go next?

"Tchiowa" wrote in message
oups.com...
"Hong Kong is kind of dull."

It's only dull if you stick to the skyscraper part. There are a lot
of
interesting places and things in other parts of the city, in Macau,
and
in the "outlying islands".

Macau isn't in Hong Kong, is it? Macau was much more interesting than
Hong Kong, IMO..

Macau is fun, too, but if you think Hong Kong is dull you
just didn't get to the right parts of Hong Kong.


"Taipei is worth a trip."

Maybe if you've already visited the other 172 countries in the world.

I'd take Taipei over Tokyo or Seoul.

And you'd be welcome to it. I've been visiting all three cities
regularly - at least once/year and generally twice - for the last
15 years or so, and I'll still take Tokyo, Seoul, and Taipei in
that order. And Taipei isn't just third, it's a DISTANT third.

Bob M.

wrote:

Seoul has no good points.
Every place has *some* good points. (Except maybe Singapore.)

Been to Lagos?

Not for roughly 3 months. :-) And I'll be back again in another month.
I think I've been there about a dozen times.

Singapore has good food at least.

Lagos has a good Mexican restaurant (Bottles).

Now try Port Harcourt. Or Warri. Then Luanda (Angola). Then Muanda
(DRC). You'll learn to appreciate Lagos. :-)

If you're on a Eurrail pass all that extra train, bus cost is
already
there. I rented a car in Tangier and drove around.

Yeah, but you will waste endless hours getting from Madrid or
Barcelona
to Algeciras to Tangier to Fez and then back, and probably have to
stay
overnight at least once in somewhere completely uninteresting like
Algeciras. Unless you're really counting euros it doesn't pay.

True. But if it's part of a 3 or 4 week "wandering around Europe" trip
then why not?

Casablanca was useless. I had to go there so I could say I'd been
there, but that was about it. Fez is the top attraction.

I don't mean staying in Casablanca, I mean using it as your entry
point
since it's much closer to the "Imperial Cities" than Tangier is.
Casa
has the Hassan Mosque and that's about it.

I'd take Taipei over Tokyo or Seoul.

Tokyo has MUCH more to offer than Taipei or Seoul, but you need to
have
at least a moderate budget and really know where to go.

Taipei is much cheaper than Seoul or Tokyo. I expected high prices in
Tokyo but I was surprised how expensive things were in Seoul. A room at
the Marriott was over $200.

" I expected high prices in Tokyo but I was surprised how expensive
things were in Seoul. A room at the Marriott was over $200."

I found Seoul pretty cheap - plenty of reasonably priced hotels, cheap
food, inexpensive admission to sights, and you can take the subway
everywhere.

"Lagos has a good Mexican restaurant (Bottles)."

I would find Lagos interesting if security were not an issue - for its
markets, music and food, and its role as a cultural center for the
region.

I mentioned Lagos since it has a reputation among international bankers
and other expats as being the worst city in the world.

"Now try Port Harcourt. Or Warri. Then Luanda (Angola). Then Muanda
(DRC). You'll learn to appreciate Lagos. :-)"

That's why I'm not in the oil business! In corporate finance, you get
sent to London, Hong Kong, and Tokyo, not Riyadh, Luanda, and Tashkent!

" I expected high prices in Tokyo but I was surprised how expensive
things were in Seoul. A room at the Marriott was over $200."

I found Seoul pretty cheap - plenty of reasonably priced hotels, cheap
food, inexpensive admission to sights, and you can take the subway
everywhere.

"Lagos has a good Mexican restaurant (Bottles)."

I would find Lagos interesting if security were not an issue - for its
markets, music and food, and its role as a cultural center for the
region.

I mentioned Lagos since it has a reputation among international bankers
and other expats as being the worst city in the world.

"Now try Port Harcourt. Or Warri. Then Luanda (Angola). Then Muanda
(DRC). You'll learn to appreciate Lagos. :-)"

That's why I'm not in the oil business! In corporate finance, you get
sent to London, Hong Kong, and Tokyo, not Riyadh, Luanda, and Tashkent!

ludfer wrote:
I'm Australian. I generally travel alone.

I like mid-level comfort: 3 stars, taxis, some Western food, some
local.
Touristy stuff and some relaxation around the pool. $AUD120 ($US95)
per day
after airfares and transfers is the normal budget.

I'd suggest a couple of things. One, you might consider North Korea;
honestly I've never been and it is probably out of your price range.
Still, I've known people who've gone and most enjoyed the trip. You
could combine this with a general East Asia tour, hitting China, North
Korea, South Korea, and Japan. Folks here will complain that these last
two are too expensive, but depending on time of year and where you go
you can manage the trip for $100 US a day. Certainly it's not quite as
easy as a trip to SE Asia, but it can be done. And there's more to
Korea than Seoul, and more to Japan than Tokyo/Kyoto. (I find it
amazing that folks who love to get off the beaten path in the world's
third world countries tend to stay on that path when they go to
developed nations....)

John W.

ludfer wrote:
I'm Australian. I generally travel alone.

I like mid-level comfort: 3 stars, taxis, some Western food, some
local.
Touristy stuff and some relaxation around the pool. $AUD120 ($US95)
per day
after airfares and transfers is the normal budget.

I'd suggest a couple of things. One, you might consider North Korea;
honestly I've never been and it is probably out of your price range.
Still, I've known people who've gone and most enjoyed the trip. You
could combine this with a general East Asia tour, hitting China, North
Korea, South Korea, and Japan. Folks here will complain that these last
two are too expensive, but depending on time of year and where you go
you can manage the trip for $100 US a day. Certainly it's not quite as
easy as a trip to SE Asia, but it can be done. And there's more to
Korea than Seoul, and more to Japan than Tokyo/Kyoto. (I find it
amazing that folks who love to get off the beaten path in the world's
third world countries tend to stay on that path when they go to
developed nations....)

John W.

Tchiowa wrote:

Taipei is much cheaper than Seoul or Tokyo. I expected high prices in
Tokyo but I was surprised how expensive things were in Seoul. A room
at
the Marriott was over $200.

Is the Seoul one 5-star? That's much cheaper than Marriott in NYC
anyway.

"ludfer" wrote in message ...
Thanks everybody for all the suggestions, all of which are under active
consideration.

I would recommend Sri Lanka having been there a few times.

If you do go there book with JNW Tours of Sri Lanka - great bunch and
cheapest for quality service

I paid 800 US dollars or about £420 for 20 nights accommodation plus
5 transport transfers. The transport was either a people carrier or a
high wheel based land rover with just me and the driver. Hotels were 4
star.

More details aT srilankadirect.org

Best wishes

Graham

wrote:
" I expected high prices in Tokyo but I was surprised how expensive
things were in Seoul. A room at the Marriott was over $200."

I found Seoul pretty cheap - plenty of reasonably priced hotels,
cheap
food, inexpensive admission to sights, and you can take the subway
everywhere.

"Lagos has a good Mexican restaurant (Bottles)."

I would find Lagos interesting if security were not an issue - for
its
markets, music and food, and its role as a cultural center for the
region.

I mentioned Lagos since it has a reputation among international
bankers
and other expats as being the worst city in the world.

"Now try Port Harcourt. Or Warri. Then Luanda (Angola). Then Muanda
(DRC). You'll learn to appreciate Lagos. :-)"

That's why I'm not in the oil business! In corporate finance, you
get
sent to London, Hong Kong, and Tokyo, not Riyadh, Luanda, and
Tashkent!

Of course there are other benefits. Yes, you get sent to London and I
don't. But I've been to London (love it, by the way) many times.
However in addition to that I've been to Luanda and Lagos and Budapest
and Moscow and Jakarta and to little villages in Angola, DR Congo,
Papua Niugini, etc. Just that much more of a life experience.

And they're sending me to Beijing and Bangkok, next. Beijing is new for
me. Bangkok I've been to nearly 100 times.

Oh, one other thing. The oil company stock in my 401(k) has been
slaughtering your bank stock. At least recently.

:-)

wrote:
Tchiowa wrote:

Taipei is much cheaper than Seoul or Tokyo. I expected high prices
in
Tokyo but I was surprised how expensive things were in Seoul. A
room
at
the Marriott was over $200.

Is the Seoul one 5-star? That's much cheaper than Marriott in NYC
anyway.

Yes, it is 5-star. I compare Seoul with the JWM in Bangkok (better
hotel) where I can get a suite on the Executive floor for around $120
US. Or Singapore where an Executive room is $200 Sing. Or Jakarta where
the same room is about $140 US. Both the Bangkok and Jakarta hotels are
nicer than the Seoul, IMO. And the Singapore is roughly the same
quality.