Practical Travel Clothes: Anti Mosquito and Convertible Zip-Off and On Trousers

 

Tropical Countries

I was shocked when I went to Bali and found that they had mosquitos. We were warned to keep our bedroom doors shut We had mosquito nets over the bed.

In Singapore, insects are known in condos, even up in the air, on the 12th floor.

Singapore - Insect Attacks

Even in flats and condos up in the air, in Singapore, insects fly up there. When there's a spate of cases of dengue fever in your area, government inspectors come round to check you have no breeding places such as water in saucers under plant pots.  Insects could get carried in, are born and breed on plants on balconies, get everywhere. 

One person I knew caught dengue from mosquitos breeding in the gutters of brand new houses in the street where she was living. Another friend of mine came down with dengue after being bitten when she chased after a golf ball into long grass. She was wearing shorts. 

Maybe she would have fared better with convertible shorts.

Convertible shorts-trousers

Zip off trousers. Photo from Wikipedia. Author Mabalu.

Companies such as Craghoppers and others who specialize in outdoor wear, often have a line or two of 'convertible pants' which zip off trousers lower legs to make shorts. To me it is more important that you can zip on the lower leg. If you are out in the countryside after a morning in town. 

Also if you stop at a mosque or mausoleum, as we did on holiday in Cyprus. There they had a dress code of trousers for men (and long dresses over the knee for women).  No shorts allowed.

Dengue Fever Warning

Dengue alert in Singapore. Photo by Angela Lansbury.

Dengue alert. Photo taken and cropped by Angela Lansbury.

Singapore Mosquitos

 Insects fly up high rise buildings to your residence in condos. Insects can get carried in. The little devils are born and breed on plants on balconies, get everywhere. 

If you get heat rash, and mistakenly think you must have been bitten, you rush to find protective clothing. 

Useful Websites

Craghoppers

https://www.craghoppers.com/womens/trousers/zip-off-trousers/

Check the temperature at your destination: charts, clothes, insects, fans, timers

32 degrees centigrade. Photo by Angela Lansbury.

 Temperature

Today in Singapore the temperature is just under 32 degrees centigrade which is over 90 degrees fahrenheit. How do we know and remember that?

Charts

You might like to print out a temperature chart and stick it in your diary. 

Check your diary's information pages. Some diaries have a conversion chart which you never noticed or have forgotten.

Many newspapers have temperature charts worldwide on the back pages. In the USA some papers show the temperature in the different states. In winter in the north, traditionally the Canadians fly south to Venezuela, which is on the north coast of south America. We used to fly from the UK via Singapore and Australia to New Zealand in the long summer break in July or August to take our son skiing in New Zealand. The Australians fly in their long summer over Christmas to London in the UK.

Packing For Heat and Cold

What does this temperature mean when you start packing? Firstly, if you are flying to a tropical country or packing for a holiday, have some layered clothes so you can be cool at your hot destination. This includes a protective hat.

(See later post.)

Warm Wrap

However, pack a light, warm wrap so that at night, or in an air conditioned hotel, you can cover up. 

You might also want to cover up against insects. In Singapore we have signs warning about malaria and dengue from mosquitos. (A friend of mine has just come down with dengue.)

It is handy to have a unisex jacket in case your partner complains that their restaurant seat is under the air conditioning whilst you are fine in your seat.

We Wipes And Tissues

You may want to shower or wash frequently, or carry disposable wet wipes. Or tissues so you can wash and dry.

Quick-Dry Washable Clothes

In the fortnight before I pack, I note which clothes dry quickly overnight, or feel cool in hot weather.

Folding Umbrella

You might want to carry a small folding umbrella in your hand luggage. Especially if your handbag or backpack is not waterproof or you want to protect a mobile phone or computer as well as passports and documents.

Printed Documents

I print out my travel documents, the ticket, airline seat, any directions to the lounge, the regulations on the amount of wine and perfumes you can import. 

Flower & Fruit Regulations

Check if you can take flowers, or potted plants, or corsages, if going to or from a wedding or birthday party. 

Insects, Repellents and Perfumes

To avoid attracting insects in tropical or hot months You might prefer insect repellent perfumes. Consider lavender, or lemon (citronella).

You might also want to pack some kind of insect repellent, suncream, and sting relief. Preferably not a large spray which might be confiscated or explode. A small cream, ideally in main luggage. Rather than in hand luggage where it could get confiscated. 

But what if hand luggage goes missing or is delayed, with your insect repellent inside? 

Hotels And Insect Protection

Heat means insects. We arrived at our hotel in Bali, Indonesia, and insects flew straight into our bedroom. The time was too late at night to unpack because we were tired and it was bedtime. Or you wait for luggage to be delivered by the porter, before you have time to unpack? Ask for insect repellent (which might be a burning coil) and protective nets.

In a home or hotel room it may be cheaper to open two doors or windows to create a draft, or to use a ceiling fan or floor fan rather than running the air conditioning.

If the fan makes a noise, you can use the fan before and after your zoom call. You can improvise a paper fan from a concertinered piece of paper. You can stiffen it with a lolly stick.

Crumbs and Wrappers

In the UK in winter and in cold countries you could leave the wrapper from a chocolate bar on the table, an unwashed cup, an empty drinks can, or crumbs on the work surface or under the dining table. In Singapore you would come back an hour later in your hotel bedroom or your home as an ex-pat and find a line of ants. 

I disturbed a cockroach having a drink or bath in my wet swim shoes.

Hot weather is great for sunbathing, having set your phone alarm to limit the time. Hot weather is great for swimming outdoors, (having set your phone alarm or counted the number of widths and timed them).  

In Singapore it rains in the afternoon in April and May. So you need to swim in the morning. I swim before breakfast so as not to swim on a full stomach. 

Once you know the temperature, day and night, indoors and outdoors you can prepare and pack well.

Useful Websites

http://www.weather.gov.sg/weather-currentobservations-temperature/

https://www.calculateme.com/temperature/celsius-to-fahrenheit

How To Protect Yourself Against Mosquitos

Mosquito. Photo from Wikipedia article on dengue fever.

Mosquitos bite and spread malaria and dengue.

Where?




In Singapore, Indonesia, and now even threatening cold UK.
Signs show you outbreaks.

Whether its the weather, global warming, it's a problem and there are several solutions.

Prevention is better than cure.

Mosquito Nets
Provided at some hotels in Bali. Make sure you close the bedroom door and windows. Pull the mosquito nets aroound your four-poster bed so the nets overlap, no gaps. Nets are not there to add romance but to protect you from bites.

You can also buy your own mosquito net to take with you. Invest in mosquito proof clothing with long sleeves and long legs.

Clothes
Wear long  sleeve and long leg clothes, or carry wraps to cover yourself at dusk or when you hear an ominous sound.

Note which of your clothes are knitted and which are woven. Carry a large wrap. Certain plants are known to repel mosquitos and can be bought for your balcony or garden.

Shut windows before you turn on the lights.

Camping shops sell suitable clothing. You can also buy sleeping bags which zip up and have drawstrings or velcro to cover you.

Aussie hats with corks attached to brims were designed to keep off mosquitos. You can also buy baseball style hats with added neck protection at the back or all around. If you need to improvise, add a scarf over the hat or under it.

Mosquito Areas
Keep away from water and long grass. Don't sit outside at the restaurant but enjoy the virew from a window seat behind glass. go inside at dusk. The dengue mosquitos are daytime. The malaria mosquitos are night time, dusk and dawn. Avoid grassy open areas around car parks and motorbke parking.

Perfumes
Pefumes designed to attract humans also attract insects.

Repellents
Instead opt for lavender or lemon.

You can buy anti-mosquito creams and sprays. Carry them with you on walks so you can apply them to yourself and the family. Some wear off after a few hours so you may need to apply them later in the day. You might also need to re-appy after swimming.

Fogging
Fogging (spraying), take place in Singapore around the vegetation at the base of skyscraper residentital blocks, hotels and so on. You should see the announcements about fogging on notice boards. Shut doors and windows as the white mist makes you cough.

Mosquito coils. If the coil is under the desk in your bedroom in Thailand or Indonesia but nobody has bothered to light it, at dusk or when you arrive, ring rception and ask them to light it.

Insect repellent. Carry with you or buy insect repellent. Also sting relief.

Nets
If you are the nervous type or moving into a news home, buy your own nosquito net and a hook to attach it to the ceiling above your bed. Also ask the landlord or landlady if you can have crened windows and patio doors. Unlike the USA, in Asia not all home and buildings have them.

Mesh
A hire car may be provided with mesh over the side windows. If not, consider whether to install it in your new or hired car. Mesh does get in the way of taking photos.

To Stop Insects Breeding
1 Empty or upturn vases, and pot underplates daily or regularly or bring them indoors.
2 Gutters should be cleared and insert anti-mosquito products.
3 Consider calling rentokit to fumigate the place. This is done a couple of times, an inital visit and follow up visit. Can be costly. Might be done by landlord rather than tenant if there is a demonstrable problem.

Useful Websites
https://www.nea.gov.sg/dengue-zika/dengue
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dengue_fever

Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker.

Bali - Best Advice To First Time Visitors

Flag of Indonesia from Wikipedia. Photo author AWG97.

Advice regarding Bali: 

Are you thinking of a holiday or honeymoon in Bali?

What is so wonderful about Bali?

Aromas
Nearby: 
The aroma of the tuberoses in the lobbies of the larger hotels and buildings.
The rose petals on the steps leading to temples and shops.

Distant Views
Admire views of stepped rice terraces. High Hindu temples. 

Music And Dancing
Now, what of the people. The plaintive and exotic gamelan music comes from musicians sitting on the floor.

Dancing
Girls and couples in gorgeous costumes perform dances. The woman have high head-dresses and spread their fingers.

Dancing in Bali. Photo from Wiki.

Shadow Puppets 
I like action. Read up the stories in advance.

Music concerts
Great for a short while. My musical family can sit for three house listening to a concert of gamelan music. To me it is a great atmospheric background music to a meal, but three hours sitting on a low seat listening to all the same music, no tune to sing to, is a waste of time - I would rather talk to my companions. 

The buildings with open sides and open roofs so the vegetation and sounds of the birds are all around you. Magic. The architecture imitates the traditional temple style.

Where should you go and when?

Let's take a quick look at the map. The airport, Denpasar, is in the South, south of Kuta.

Denpasar
The capital is not a top tourist attraction. However, the museum for the arts festival is on the East side, and an upmarket tourist area on the East coast convenient for the festival is Sanur.

Kuta
West of the capital, Denpasar, is Kuta, a beach area, a good place to stay. On a somber note, see the monument to the Bali bombing.

Nusa Dua
The popular and busy beach area is near to Denpasar, Nusa Dua, but more remote, in the south.  Nusa means island. Dua means two. 

Language
Now you know two easy Indonesian words, dua, for two, like dual carriageway in English, or a duo, or a duet for two singers. T and D are similar sounds. Two and Du. Nusa Dua, which rhymes, means two islands. Nusa contains the letters n and s and so does the word island. If that memory aid is not enough, you might also think of a circular island, shaped like a noose, with a bridge linking it to the mainland.  

Sports
The island is volcanic and the black sand beaches are in the north. Climbing groups climb the two volcanoes in the north: Choose from either: Agung in the West with three little lakes and a temple or two or more; Batur, the big lake on the East. 
Water sports include scuba diving.

Ubud
The expensive hotels are in mountaintop Ubud in the middle, hotels on clifftops with infinity pools where you seem to be swimming  to the edge and looking over the cliffs to the valley and other cliffs opposite. Similarly, restaurants have spectacular views.

Homestays
Indonesia also has small homestay places where you get to stay in somebody's house with breakfast on a tray at bargain prices. Fresh fruit. Lovely. 

Cheap Restaurants
Little restaurants give home cooked food. Watch out for crumbs or you will soon have lines of ants.

Temple - Tanah Lot
On major tours, Tanah Lot, a temple on a rocky outcrop, (which was crumbling and at vast expense has been restored with a clever imitation of the real rocks). The name is in the local Balinese language, but most Balinese are bilingual and speak Indonesian.  The entry price of Rupian 60,000 (about 5 US dollars) is usually not included in tour prices.  The entry price for children and locals (who earn less) is lower.  

From a distance it looks romantic and remote. In late evening you might get a silhouette pictures. However, by day it can get crowded and you might also be surprised that the walkway to the temple is lined with souvenir stalls. If you are with a group, this photo stop will take longer than you thought.

Advice On Locations

One frequent visitor says:

"Don’t stay at Nusa Dua, the resort strip on the east coast of the Bukit (that’s the southernmost blob on the map of Bali). Reason is that although it’s very nice it isn’t near anywhere else i.e. airport, Kuta, Denpasar, Ubud and the north, some or all of which you should try to visit. It may not look far, but traffic in Bali is quite slow (which is part of the charm)."

Trip Timing & Festivals

Your timing is good if  you can be there during the annual Bali Arts Festival runs 16^th June to 14^th July this year (2019). The main events take place at the arts centre in Denpasar, the capital.https://www.hellotravel.com/events/bali-arts-festival

Music And Dance

You should go one afternoon/evening and catch both a dance/drama and a gamelan concert. You will be excused for then thinking that once is enough, but none is not enough.

Sun Protection And Mosquitos

What about being on the beach? Is it dangerous?

Take sun cream and mosquito repellent. If you cannot take it in hand luggage, then double wrap it in a spill-proof container in your main luggage, or budget to buy it on arrival.

Australian sun is more dangerous than the tropics, because of the hole in the ozone layer caused by the ingredient (later replaced) once used in refrigerators. However, posters in hospitals in Singapore show the effects of skin cancer, so take it seriously.

You can buy clothes designed to keep out the sun's rays and insects, as well as hats which have both brims at the front and neck cover at the back.

Bedrooms in hotels often have mosquito netting around a four poster bed which looks romantic but is there for a practical purpose. Keep the bedroom door shut and close or overlap the curtains around the bed.

After showering or swimming, re-apply your anti-insect creams.

Health And Water

Take out health and travel insurance. 

Pack some over the counter medicines including sticking plasters.

Drink bottled water from bottles with sealed caps, or boil water. 

Clean teeth with bottled water. 

Wash and cut up your own fruit and vegetables. Avoid plates which have just been washed with visible tap water. 

Wash your hands regularly. 

Carry hand sanitiser or make your own using bottled water. 

Planning, Packing and Clothes
What is the dress code? For Hindu temples you need button up shirts for men; covered shoulders and upper arms for ladies, full length trousers, not Bermuda shorts or shorts.

Even if you were not planning a temple visit, your guide or tour might change the itinerary or include a stop at a temple. If you are on a tour, you are likely to stop at a temple. A lightweight cover up would be handy. Also consider trousers which zip off to convert to shorts.

Sarongs to cover up are handy in many situations. These range from temples to restaurants with air conditioning. Indoors and outdoors, in some places you want protection from insects and  mosquitos and too much sun. 

Carry clips or brooches with a fastener to keep scarves and sarongs securely in place. Or sew on ribbons to tie your sarongs in place. Practise the ways to tie a sarong. 

Some temples worldwide require a top with sleeves and ban strapless tops with just scarves because the scarves keep slipping off and are a distraction. 

You may also have to remove shoes when entering temples. So quick-release shoes are handy. I take a spare pair of slippers and a bag for shoes which are wet or dirty or sandy from a beach or puddles.

Getting Around
If you hire a scooter, make sure you have helmets for driver and passenger.
If you hire a driver guide, the person taking your booking probably speaks good English. Make sure that you are passed over to a driver whose English accent you can understand.

Travel
The national airline is called Garuda. A garuda is a mythical winged creature.

An old-timer recalls: "At one time I think Garuda was banned from Britain because they had some accidents. But that has changed now. You have lots of choice of carriers."

I am a frequent flyer on the award winning Singapore Airlines so I always like them and hold them as my standard.

Happy Holidays.

Accommodation
Airbnb
Just b and b, no distractions nor temptations.
Booking.com
By using booking.com which also offers hotels; you can see how much money you are saving comparing to hotels; and hotels if no b and b in that area.

Useful Websites
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_Indonesia

Health
https://www.covermore.com.au/blog/travel-tips/bali-belly

Travel, Airlines & Events
Garuda Indonesia

Low cost carriers

Air Asia

https://www.worldairlineawards.com/worlds-best-low-cost-airlines-2018/
Flight Comparisons
skyscanner.net
traveloka.com

singaporeair.com
visitsingapore.com
indonesiatourismboard.com
https://www.hellotravel.com/events/bali-arts-festival

Useful, detailed advice on centres and safety.
https://en.wikivoyage.org/wiki/Bali

Author

Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker. Please share links to your favourite posts. 

What is masl? Mystery solved!

The caption reads:
At the summit of Gunung Raung, Indonesia, 31100 masl at 6 am on the crater rim, the usual route, not the highest point on the rim, 3332 meters, which is beyond.
Photo courtesy of Trevor Sharot.

Problem
I got an email accompanying a photo from a climb up a volcano in Indonesia. The caption read, ... masl ... I puzzled over this. I looked up mas and Indonesian and discovered that mas in Indonesian means sir or brother (to a man the same age or older) or gold.

Eventually, I gave up and had to reveal my ignorance. I wrote back:
What is Mas1 - a mountain, a peak, an area?

Straight away an email came back. It wasn't a one but a lower case letter l.
masl means metres above sea level. Initial letters.

As they say, learn something every day.


Useful Websites
In case you want to go climbing in Indonesia, many miles above sea level, some links:
In case you were wondering:
www stands for World Wide Web (a website, as opposed to an email or fax or phone contact)
The dot coms are international and / or for the USA.
GB stands for Great Britain.
in stands for Indonesia.
Home is the home page or landing page which then directs you to other pages contact page (email, address, tel); or hotel or restaurants or things to do or events or transport or buy now.

More photos:
trevorsharotphotography.com
indonesia-tourism.com
indonesiatourismboard.com
balitourismboard.or.in
https://www.facebook.com/Visit-Indonesia-Tourism-Office-Singapore-436644356438445/
http://www.indonesia.travel/gb/en/home (Official tourist board in the UK)

Author, Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker. Please share links to your favourite posts.

Following Family And Friends Online: Mapping and Tracking Their Trekking From Grand Hotels to Gorgeous Guest Houses

What can you tell from this map?

The capital of Java, and Indonesia, is Jakarta, in the North-west. The plane symbol tells you that you can fly into Jakarta. On the far East of the island is the ferry crossing at Banyuwangi, to Bali.

The word Nusa means island. (You sometimes see Pulau, which also means island.)

Problem
You follow family and friends online. But you could go further. Map and track their treks. Note where they stayed, from Grand hotels to gorgeous guests houses. Maybe homely hostels or horrid Hostels. Some people put everything about their travels on Tripadvisor. That's enormously helpful.

A friend or family member tells you about their travels. 

Six months later they or you have forgotten that wonderful resort and hotel. They see you. 

You ask, "How was Bali?"

They answer, "It was Java."

Or you say, "You promised to take me to that wonderful hotel on Bali."

"Which one?"

"You must remember.

Malaysia mainland to the left.

"I don't know. I stayed in a dozen. I've thrown away all the brochures."

We went back to a clifftop hotel in Bali called Kupu-Kupu Barong, meaning butterfly. A repeated word is a plural in Malay-Indonesian (same language like British-American English). The swimming pool was small. I would have preferred the grander hotel with the big infinity pool but that was out of our price range.

Answers

You can ask for a copy of your friends' and family members' route in advance. Or help by making them a map.

Years ago my late father tracked me as I went around the USA on a Greyhound bus and sent home postcards.

Tracking
My parents were surprised to find that after travelling anti-clockwise, New York, San Francisco, LA, New Orleans, I reversed direction.

When I got home to London, I explained. I had waved goodbye to a British boy, flatmate of my boyfriend in London, who went south to Machu Pichu in South America. I linked up with a French girl who wanted to go clockwise and accompany me back to San Francisco!

Keeping a record, including research and photos, as they go, also helps watchers if you don't like the photo of place your traveller loved.

Look at a trek across Java. You might be thinking, "Yes, after your night on the mountain, a cold shower and a bench to sit at seems like heaven. But I would prefer a proper hotel with hot showers, mosquito nets and tablecloths."

Here's a record I've made, now I have time to gather together some of the hotel and homestay photos I have been sent and match them up with research on the names of the locations.

Banana Homestay

Several countries have accommodation called Banana Homestay. This one has wifi.

Bamboo Tales And Benches
On closer inspection, I find one interesting detail of local life. The wooden tables are made of lengths of bamboo. So are the benches.
The wall is painted yellow "like bananas" the photographer says. To copy the theme of the name of the homestay, Banana homestay.

Open Ceilings and Back Walls
The ceiling is covered with cloth. I presume this covers the open to the sky roof. This photo reminds me that you see open-to-the-sky roofs in Indonesian bathrooms. (We had one at the Kupu-Kupu Barong hotel in Bali). Public room buildings in Bali and Indonesia have an open roof.

Other rooms have an open side, sometimes next to a fence or wall covered with plants. The ladies toilets in the Night Safari in Singapore were this style. So was a Ladies toilet in a Community Centre in Singapore.

Researching Bali and Java's Nayuwangi
Banyuwangi is your stop in Java, after arriving on the ferry from Bali, or catching the ferry back to Bali.

Banyuwangi Regency is not a five-star hotel but a place.

Wikipedia enthuses:
Banyuwangi Regency is a region on the eastern tip of Java, Indonesia, just west of Bali over the Bali Strait. It has diverse nature areas with protected jungle and marine life. The volcanic Ijen Crater features a turquoise lake 1 kilometre in diameter. The crater's naturally igniting sulfur creates distinctive blue flames that can be seen during nighttime hikes.

Sounds really interesting, if you are into hiking.

Banana Homestay
I looked at the photo of the Banana Leaf Homestay. I need a chair with a back.

I looked up the Banana Homestay guesthouse on Tripadvisor. People have such different experiences of the same place. One said you have to get a taxi or Uber. Another said the hotel owners picked them up personally.

Several spoke warmly of the trip to Ijen. I went onto Wikivoyage and found a photo. Unfortunately, it said that due to volcanic activity the night excursions are banned, and daytime hikers see nothing inside the crater because it is filled with smoke.
However, in July 2018 my friends planned a trip. They also scheduled climbing Raung. They were hanging around the guesthouse overnight, waiting for other members of the group to fly in next monring.

Ijen Crater from Wikivoyage.

I read the accounts again, paying more attention to every detail. You need torches, okay, and gas masks! Not okay.

That's the great advantage of being the stay at home armchair traveller. You can enjoy seeing all the sights, well away from the inconvenience of cancelled trips - and potential danger!

On the other hand, I went hitch-hiking in Madeira. After we had booked, I read that we need torches to walk through the tunnels. I was alarmed. But I never went near a tunnel. The serious hikers marched along the longer trails through tunnels. I stayed with the slow group, plodded along the easier paths, stopping to take photos as I went.

Scheduled Travel Posts
Meanwhile, I schedule my posts so they come up a few days or weeks later, for security reasons. Also to be sure I have posted every day even when I am away and can't write. 

Time Needed To Write Reports And Posts
You'd be amazed how long it takes to edit a post. Up to three hours. You can't do that on holiday.

TripAdvisor Reviews I am a keen reviewer on Tripadvisor. I like to be able to look back at my own reviews.

 Your Reviews Are Your Records - But For How Long?
I hope the Tripadvisor management won't take down old reviews. One person in the audience at a session on Tripadvisor at the World Travel Market, said that reviews over a month old were out of date and not relevant. 

I disagree. If you had a bad or good impression of a place a year ago, you need to recall what upset you and whether that issue has since been addressed. When I wrote regularly fora Trusted Places, I assumed my reviews would last forever. It was like a blog, a record of my trips. Then the company was taken over by Yell (Yellow Pages) who decided to concentrate on the UK and drop all the foreign reviews. 

I had not taken the precaution of writing them all in draft on my laptop before loading them up, but wrote them directly onto their form. As a result all those hours of work vanished forever. The photos. The amusing descriptions and funny phrases. All gone.

A relative of mine does not write on Tripadvisor. He treats it like Ebay. He thinks if you have a complaint you should first approach the management privately and give them a chance to put things right. Not tell the world.

Tracking Trips On the other hand, having everything duplicated on your laptop or phone means you soon run out of space. So how else can you keep track of your trips and those of family and friends?

Mapping and Tracking Trips and Treks

You can download and print a map to follow a friend's journey. Or make an online map.

I am a member of the AA. My father was for years. The sent him a certificate when he was in his nineties.

For planning my next trip, I like to keep a record of the tourist boards:

Also check the Tripadvisor reports on scams, such as a car driver-cum-trip-organizer refusing to go unless you pay a surcharge for photos when the location has no such charge.

• Banyuwangi Government Culture and Tourism Service, Jl. A. Yani 78, ☎ +62 333 424172, e-mail: pemasaran@banyuwngitourism.com. edit

• Tourist Information Centre, Ketapang Harbour (ASDP), Jl Gatot Subroto, Ketapang.

• Alas Purwo National Park Head Office, Jl A Yani 108. ☎ +62 333 428675.

USEFUL WEBSITES

AA Route Planner

theaa.com

http://www.theaa.com/route-planner/index.jsp

Travel Timeline in the TripAdvisor app, but I can't find it.  

These people want from £9 a month

https://www.breathehr.com/holiday-management-software

Author

Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker.

The Cheapest Hotel Rooms In The World?

Problem
After air fares from Europe to Bali  in Asia, we are running out of budget. Where are the cheapest bedrooms?

Answer
So far the cheapest we have found are on Bali. £3, about 5 Euros, for bed and breakfast. Yes, breakfast included.

Breakfast arrives on a tray. You can eat on your patio or balcony.

Or have it set down next to your bed. Go back to bed. Stay in bed. Breakfast in bed. No extra charge.

You stay with a family. Muslim hospitality. Probably vying with their neightbours.

They will arrange for a cab to take you to and fron the airport. That costs extra.

On the other hand, if you want to stay somewhere more convenient, you are in for a whopping £12. (That's what you might pay for a hotel breakfast near Heathrow airport of many hotels around the world.)

We found these prices on booking.com

Useful Websites
booking.com

Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker.

What to see and do in Denpasar and Bali, Indonesia

Denpasar
Denpasar - BALI
Denpasar is the capital. Yes, that sounds a good place to start. I love Bali. Doesn't everybody!

Flower petals are on the steps of temples. The perfume is supposed to be released as you walk up the steps into the temple.

The smell of Tuberose wafts around from the huge flower arrangements in the lobby of five-star hotels.

Exotic local women about the same height as me so I don't feel small and can make eye contact.

I love the open-sided hotel lobbies and restaurants.

The bathroom adjoining your bedroom with its open roof showing the sky and leaning trees.

Bali in Indonesia
1 Temples
2 Hotels - especially clifftop hotel and restaurant Kupu Kupu barong meaning butterfly, but also cheaper guesthouses. When you see a repeated word that is a plural in both Malay or Indonesian languages (which like American and British English are almost identical apart from some vocabulary extras).
3 Massage
4 Gamelan music performance

WARNING!
Honest Afterthoughts
Bali - watch out for mosquitos!
Buy and apply insect repellent. Big hotels provide nets over beds. When you go to bed at night, shut the nets so there are no gaps.  But what about when you are unpacking, undressing or just sitting waiting reading a newspaper? Shut the bedroom door quickly! Shut the door onto the balcony when not sitting out. Shut the windows or shut the mesh.

Mosquito coils will be provided. But you might have to ask for them - check when checking in. Or ask the person who carries your luggage or shows you the bedroom to show you where the coil is - perhaps hidden under the bedroom desk or on the floor hidden by a chair or curtain. You will want it switched on if it is electric or lit if it's a small flame with visible oil.

After you've had a shower you will want to re-apply your protection. You could get bitten just waiting for the staff to arrive with the coil.

If you want extra protection against buzzing insects and their bites you might want to buy your own mosquito repellents before leaving for your trip.

Useful Websites:
GENERAL TOURISM
http://tripadvisor.com.sg

See previous post for
BULGARIA
http://bulgariantouristboard.com

BALI, INDONESIA
http://balitourismboard.or.id

Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer.
More text and photos later. Come back.

TripAdvisor offers to Plovdiv and Denpasar? Where are they? Why go there?

Problem
Tripadvisor keeps sending me offers of cheap flights from London to places I don't know. However often I do those quizzes on Duolingo on the capitals of Europe, up comes another offer. By the time I get around to checking the country, two days later, the offer will be gone. Anyway, let's check out today's offers. If they sent me a feedback form, I would tell them to add the country.

Answers
Plovdiv - second city of Bulgaria.
BULGARIA  - WELCOMING!




Here's the flag, horizontal stripes of white, green and red.

On the map of Europe, it is East of Italy, beyond Greece, bordering the Black Sea, south of Russia.

Plovdiv - BULGARIA
Plovdiv is the second largest city. Bulgaria is on my list. I like to add a new country. I am working on learning the Cyrillic alphabet through Duolingo.

You can see from the map of Europe that Bulgaria is on the inland sea so it has beaches.

The Ethnographic Museum, Plovdiv, Bulgaria. 

The Synagogue, Plovdiv, Bulgaria.

PLOVDIV
1 Greek Names
Originally Philip's town, in Greek Philippolis (Philip - polis meaning city, as in the modern English words politics and political - matters affecting the governing of the entire city). Incidentally, the name Philip comes from Philos, as in Philadelphia, meaning love, and lipos meaning horse. A lover of horses would have been a wealthy nobleman. When you look at the map and see Greece is close by, and so is Macedonia, the invasion by Philip of Macedonia is not so surprising. Plovdiv is in the south west of the country, not terribly near those beaches on the East coast, more of a cultural trip unless you have time for a two-centre trip or some travelling.

Meanwhile, what's to see nowadays in Plovdiv?

2 Roman Ruins
After the Greeks came to Bulgaria alon came the Romans and the city has major Roman remains to see.
 Wiki says: preserved ruins such as the ancient 
Plovdiv Roman theatre, 
a Roman odeon, 
a Roman aqueduct, 
the Plovdiv Roman Stadium.

3 Russian Alphabet
The Russians up north brought the Cyrillic alphabet, which two priestly brothers, one called Cyril, created using letters from the Hebrew and Greek alphabets. From the Bulgarian point of view, creating a script using the alphabet from nearby neighbour Greece seemed a handy, obvious idea, good for travelling or if you already spoke the neighbouring language.

Catch up on the Cyrillic alphabet using Duolingo, and you can use it again later if you ever go to Russia, as well as reading captions on monuments and railway stations in photos of Bulgaria and Russia.

4 Bulgarian Balkan Backdrop
The city is surrounded by seven hills. Plovdiv in Bulgaria is called The City of Seven Hills. You can see that in photos.

5 Modern

For Denpasar in Bali see next post.

These offers have probably gone already. But next time around, I'll be in the know and ready to click on the link.

I am adding a top one, three, five, seven or ten sights or types of sights to see in each country:

Useful Websites:
GENERAL TOURISM
http://tripadvisor.com.sg

BULGARIA
http://bulgariantouristboard.com

BALI, INDONESIA (See next post.)
http://balitourismboard.or.id

Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer.

Bargains in beautiful Bali: budget homestay with breakfast on the balcony

Problem
How do I enjoy Bali without paying for expensive flights, car hire and a five star hotel?

Answer
My family has stayed in one of the top hotels in Bali (when we were younger and employed and well paid and saved all our money for top holidays). Now we are looking for more trips and cheaper trips.

The latest holiday by one member of the family was a short side trip to Bali. Yes, first you have to pay for a flight to Bali. We are members of Star Alliance loyalty scheme which includes Singapore Airlines. For long haul flights, when you want to sleep in comfort, we like Singapore Airlines. However, if you are based in Asia, or want to add on a trip to your existing trip, to Bali or Java, in Indonesia, here are some alternative and cheaper options using the cut price airlines.

Cheap Airlines
Using Skyscanner you can come up with dozens of options, the equivalent of the UK's and Europe's Ryanair using local small airlines such as Air Asia, Garuda, Jetstar, SilkAir, Lion Air and Tiger Air. Instead of paying about £600 return on a regular large airline route, by doing short hops you can do two outward bound and two back home hops for about £40 each section. For example, for return from Singapore to Bali, a return flight in June cost 4223 Singapore dollars for a two hour flight each way. We also booked a family member on a trip to Java.

Light Luggage
Taking just a backpack for a long weekend, you not paying extra for checked in luggage. That means quicker check in, plus you are out of the airport first and fast. You have extra time, time enough to take slower and cheaper transport to your destination.

Travel By Scooter
On Bali you can hire a scooter. Petrol for the scooter was cheap. The engine is small and you need to keep filling up. A long weekend cost £5 for the petrol.

Home Stay
You don't have to use airing to get a home stay. Using booking.com, produced a home stay for about £16 in a back street in the main tourist areas in the south near the airport and the centre. It was even cheaper, only about £9 up north where you find the black volcanic ash beach.

Showering Under The Sky
What do you get in your home stay? My family member had a single room, a big room with double bed and a shower room - with part open air (no roof), but partly roofed over the toilet so you are covered when it rains.

Kupu Kupu Barong
The topless shower rooms are common in Bali. We  had one years ago on our first visit to Bali in the upmarket hotel called Kupu Kupu Barong, meaning butterflies.

The wet room shower room gets all the floor wet, but has the advantage that you get the floor cleaned every time you have a shower.

Breakfast on the balcony
At both of the home stays cooked Western style breakfast was included. The evening before, the host or hostess asked, "What time do you want breakfast? How would you like your eggs cooked?"Next morning at the appointed time, up came coffee or tea as requested, on a tray, with eggs, sausage and toast. To eat breakfast on the bedroom's balcony.

A  l o s m e n  is a very basic hotel, with wooden chairs, a trestle table, no heating, no air con, and probably only cold water. If you are used to camping, sleeping bags and trekking, you'll probably be happy. If you are used to 5 star hotels you might not be so happy.

To Like and Not Like
Apart from good prices, what else is there to like or not like?

Days in the tropics are hot, hot, hot. Up on the black sand beach, hot as hell. The days are short. Day lengths are the same all year, twelve hours of sun, only twelve hours. In Singapore daylight is about 7.15 am to 7.15 pm. Bali is further east so it's about 6.30 am to 6.30 pm.

No long light evening (which you would enjoy in summer in London, England). On the other hand, if you were thinking ahead, of planning a Christmas or winter trip, Bali won't get dark at 4 pm in winter the way it does in Scotland.

Language
In the tourist hotspots such as Ubud the shopkeepers speak English. However, going north on Bali, or off to Sumatra you might find locals speak only Indonesian. Your vital words are:

English - Indonesian
basic - accommodation - l o s m e n
makan - food
room - r u m a h
restaurant - r e s t o r a n
hotel - hotel
r u m a  m a k a n - bistrot, cafe, small restaurant (room food, or food room, adjective after the noun)
hostel - a s r a m a
guest house - r u m a h   t a m u
accommodation - l o s m e n (memory aid - like lodging for men)
shower - mandi

Use google translate. List a few words you are likely to need.
Use duo lingo.com which is free on the internet to learn Indonesian. Indonesian is the same as Malay - with just a slight additional vocabulary - like American English and British English.

Indonesia consists of lots of island

Extra Costs
Bali is like a top heavy figure of eight, or an eyeball with a hanging tear drop, with the airport at the neck.

Flying back to continental Europe where weather is cooler, you might want to wear a lightweight cowboy or cowgirl shirt. Take with with a vest to put on underneath when you are on the air condoned flight home, or to don at the airport before coolly venturing out into the relative cool.

TIPS
Flights
To compare flight prices, eg from New York to Singapore, including non stop and others such as Singapore Airlines; Emirates:
FareCompare.com
google.co.uk/flights
skyscanner.com

Hotels
booking.com
TripAdvisor

Tourism, Sights, Attractions
bali tourist board

Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker. Please share links to your favourite posts.

Hotel lobbies and bedrooms viewing an aquarium

Tripadvisor has a list of stunning hotels. These include the Berlin hotel with a cylindrical aquarium in the lobby.

I stayed in a similar hotel, with a cylindrical aquarium in the lobby, in the Silken Grand in Bilbao facing the Guggenheim Museum.

Another aquarium view, this time from the bedroom, is in the suites of bedrooms in a hotel on Sentosa Island, Singapore. You can sit in your sunken bath watching a giant plaice and other fish swim past the picture window looking into the aquarium. Your place or mine? If you were on honeymoon it could be quite distracting. On the other hand, if you were waiting for your partner who was out at a conference or business meeting, or playing sports, it's one way to while away the time pleasantly when stuck in the bedroom.

In the USA at Las Vegas, one hotel has an aquarium behind the reception desk. Most of the big hotels in Las Vegas have fantastic lobbies. No need to book entertainment. You can just go hotel hopping, and shopping and have drinks of coffee in different hotels, seeing animals, birds, flower displays, fountains and more.

If it's waterfalls you want, try Disneyland hotels. Or hotels in Singapore such as the Shangri-la and the Hyatt and Shangri-la.

If you want to go in the water, hotels with infinity pools include one on Bali. (Again, check out Triapadvisor.) My favourite is in Singapore, the Marina Bay sands, on top of the towers. The rooftop bars and restaurants have great views too, for special occasions.

In London, England, restaurants offer views over the Thames. The Shard and the Oxo Tower have
restaurants with views. Be sure when booking to ask for a window seat.
Angela Lansbury, travel writer, photographer, speaker and author.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/hotels/9692706/Hotel-rooms-with-unusual-views.html (Berlin hotel)
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/hotels/11360010/The-worlds-best-hotel-pools.html (Shanghai hotel)
http://www.radissonblu.com/hotel-berlin (Cylindrical aquarium in Berlin hotel lobby)