My first move in many foreign cities is to take the open top bus tour. This serves several purposes:
It gets me out of my hotel room when I am jetlagged.
I see lots of photo-stop sights.
I can be sure of English commentary.
You usually get a map with tourist sites and landmarks clearly marked.
You can get off near the landmark you want to see.
You can go back later for no extra charge.
You meet other tourists.
Problem
For years I was scared of buses. For a start, I didn't like them. You have to sit in the sun. You might get bitten by mosquitos. The bus lurches. You might go past your stop.
Answers
Now I am more organized and more confident. Here are the steps I take, metaphorical steps.
Google or google maps for the location, then click to get directions.
Click on bus. If you are doing this at midnight or during the wee hours it might tell you no buses so change the date or time to tomorrow.
If you don't like walking, or it tells you a twenty minute walk at the far end, change to less walking.
Send directions to your phone. There's a symbol at the top which lets you do this. Click on all the symbols.
Look For Leaflets
At the bus station, collect bus leaflets.
If none, get the directions on your phone or pick up a leaflet on the bus, or print off the directions.
Print the reverse as well.
Use a highlighter to mark your home and location and draw a line connecting them.
Write the bus stop name or number in large letters in black felt tip, and the stop before in smaller letters.
Ask the driver the direction and to tell you where to get off and stay sitting near him or her.
Ask people sitting near you. Likely one is going to get off nearby or even at your stop.
Bus Guide
If you make the mistake of picking up a bus guide in Chinese, keep it and learn to recognize your stop or a sign or two in Chinese characters.
On the journey learn the landmarks and shopping malls in case you ever want to go back to those places and so that next time you are no you are on the route.
Notice the railway stations on your bus route.
Ask if anybody at your meeting is going back on the bus or knows your stop because the bus stop for your return journey will be on the opposite side of the road. Alternatively, when you get off the bus, ask people at the bus stop where the return bus stop is on the other side of the road.
If you cross your road to the destination, check the bus stops as you pass to see your return bus stop.
In Hong Kong when I asked my hotel receptionist to call me a taxi she gave me the hotel business card and on the back of it she wrote my destination in Chinese with the words, please take me to ,,. On the front of another card she wrote, please take me to this hotel or call them if there is a problem.
You could do something similar with buses and trains. Ask somebody at an office hotel reception, tourist desk, enquiry desk, to write suitable instructions in Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese, Tagalog (spoken in the Philippines) Russian, Greek, Hebrew, or the local language as appropriate,
An alternative if you are staying in a rented homestay or with friends and family, is to walk to the nearest large restaurant or department stor or other landmark. Ask for their business card or pick up one of their advertising leaflets. Ask if they have a map or can mark their location on your map of the dity. (Print one off from Google showing your location.
Then when you want to return from your destination, get directions or a bus or train or taxi - or walking directions - back to the landmark. From that point you can find your way home on a map.
Station Maps
In Singapore location maps are in underground railway stations showing all the road names and landmarks for several blocks in all directions. You could photograph this map and use it to find your way, or show a passer-by your direction.
Bus-Hopping
Another point to note is that sometimes you can do a journey more quickly or more easily in two or more stages. Some major roads have several buses going most of the way along the road. The important thing to note is whether any buses turn off at a junction. If the junction is just ahead of your stop and the weather is fine, you could walk across the junction in the direction you are going beyond the turn-off point. You then know that any bus will be taking you in the correct direction.
Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer.
It gets me out of my hotel room when I am jetlagged.
I see lots of photo-stop sights.
I can be sure of English commentary.
You usually get a map with tourist sites and landmarks clearly marked.
You can get off near the landmark you want to see.
You can go back later for no extra charge.
You meet other tourists.
But, after you have done this, or run out of money, or want to go to a meeting, what do you do?
Problem
For years I was scared of buses. For a start, I didn't like them. You have to sit in the sun. You might get bitten by mosquitos. The bus lurches. You might go past your stop.
Answers
Now I am more organized and more confident. Here are the steps I take, metaphorical steps.
Google or google maps for the location, then click to get directions.
Click on bus. If you are doing this at midnight or during the wee hours it might tell you no buses so change the date or time to tomorrow.
If you don't like walking, or it tells you a twenty minute walk at the far end, change to less walking.
Send directions to your phone. There's a symbol at the top which lets you do this. Click on all the symbols.
Look For Leaflets
At the bus station, collect bus leaflets.
If none, get the directions on your phone or pick up a leaflet on the bus, or print off the directions.
Print the reverse as well.
Use a highlighter to mark your home and location and draw a line connecting them.
Write the bus stop name or number in large letters in black felt tip, and the stop before in smaller letters.
Ask the driver the direction and to tell you where to get off and stay sitting near him or her.
Ask people sitting near you. Likely one is going to get off nearby or even at your stop.
Bus Guide
If you make the mistake of picking up a bus guide in Chinese, keep it and learn to recognize your stop or a sign or two in Chinese characters.
On the journey learn the landmarks and shopping malls in case you ever want to go back to those places and so that next time you are no you are on the route.
Notice the railway stations on your bus route.
Ask if anybody at your meeting is going back on the bus or knows your stop because the bus stop for your return journey will be on the opposite side of the road. Alternatively, when you get off the bus, ask people at the bus stop where the return bus stop is on the other side of the road.
If you cross your road to the destination, check the bus stops as you pass to see your return bus stop.
In Hong Kong when I asked my hotel receptionist to call me a taxi she gave me the hotel business card and on the back of it she wrote my destination in Chinese with the words, please take me to ,,. On the front of another card she wrote, please take me to this hotel or call them if there is a problem.
You could do something similar with buses and trains. Ask somebody at an office hotel reception, tourist desk, enquiry desk, to write suitable instructions in Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese, Tagalog (spoken in the Philippines) Russian, Greek, Hebrew, or the local language as appropriate,
An alternative if you are staying in a rented homestay or with friends and family, is to walk to the nearest large restaurant or department stor or other landmark. Ask for their business card or pick up one of their advertising leaflets. Ask if they have a map or can mark their location on your map of the dity. (Print one off from Google showing your location.
Then when you want to return from your destination, get directions or a bus or train or taxi - or walking directions - back to the landmark. From that point you can find your way home on a map.
Station Maps
In Singapore location maps are in underground railway stations showing all the road names and landmarks for several blocks in all directions. You could photograph this map and use it to find your way, or show a passer-by your direction.
Bus-Hopping
Another point to note is that sometimes you can do a journey more quickly or more easily in two or more stages. Some major roads have several buses going most of the way along the road. The important thing to note is whether any buses turn off at a junction. If the junction is just ahead of your stop and the weather is fine, you could walk across the junction in the direction you are going beyond the turn-off point. You then know that any bus will be taking you in the correct direction.
Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer.
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