Qantas, known as “The Spirit of Australia” has been around for more than a century, and in that time it has proven itself to be one of the safest and most dependable airlines in the world. The excellent safety record of Qantas is a reflection of the company’s dedication to safety, which is a core value. Qantas pioneered the long storytelling safety video, and they have now produced a number of them. I have loved them all. As a Qantas passenger who has flown them over 470 times earning me Gold for Life Frequent Flier…
Paris
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Asian Rail Voyage Kuala Lumpur to Bangkok: Arrival
Bang Sue to Bangkok, State Railway Thailand (SRT) Second Class Scheduled Departure: 16:35 Scheduled Arrival: 17:00 25 minutes Total distance: 7 km (5 miles) After 1,500 km (900 miles) of train travel from Kuala Lumpur, I rode the last section from Bang Sue, Railway Junction, in the northern suburbs into Bangkok, the Capital of Thailand. Bang Sue, is one of the Bangkok’s fifty khets (districts), home to 125,000 people. Currently, the suburb is a construction zone as SouthEast Asia’s biggest railway station is being built with an anticipated open date of 2019. With 26 platforms, the station will be 171,000 square metres in…
My 10 Worst Travel Experiences
Create your own visited countries map or check out the JavaScript Charts. I have been to or lived in sixty-two countries. Most of my experiences have been wonderful and magical. There are a very few that were pretty awful: Being threatened with being tortured or shot by the army in El Salvador just after the Civil War- they had not made their mind up what to do to me. Clearly, I survived. Having my bus blown up in the Middle East two stops before mine. I still reflect carefully on life as six on the…
London to Paris for only $42
There is something very civilised about catching the Tube to Kings Cross/St Pancras station for the Eurostar journey between the English Capital and French capital. One moment you are using pounds, speaking English and enjoying a Cornish pasty and the next you are whizzing under the water emerging 2 hours 16 minutes later in Paris, my favourite city in the world ready to start speaking French, using Euros and hunting for the best Croissants! Eurostar is offering a £58 ($US84) round trip from London St Pancras or Ebbsfleet or Ashford to Paris, Brussels & Lille in Standard…
Left & right: 7 tips for Safe Road Crossing
I measure how successful a pedestrian you are by your ability to handle crossing roads in Ho Chi Minh city, Vietnam! Faced with multiple lanes filled with cars, bikes, motorbikes, buses and scooters, weaving in and out of lanes, I have seen people freeze with fear. I have escorted people across these roads while they quietly whimper with fear! In many cities, pedestrian crossings and traffic signals mean nothing when pedestrians are involved! It is a serious issue for travellers, however. A UK study found that one fifth of UK road deaths involved pedestrians. 61 per…
Paris locks bridges down to stop love locks
“Paris is the capital of love, and we are all proud of that…But there are other, more beautiful ways of showing love than attaching padlocks.” I have said a few times in this blog how I hate people damaging the things they visit. Nothing riles me up as an example of this than the vandalism of Parisian bridges! What started as a romantic symbol on one bridge in 2008 has become a blight on bridges across Paris and seems to be spreading to other cities. After part of a bridge railing collapsed on the Pont…
When to use City and Museum passes
The Paris Musee Pass is one of the best kept secrets of the city. At most Museums in Paris, the pass allows me to skip the lines. I most relish, being able to avoid the ghastly long Louvre queue and pop through a mysterious back entrance and into the centre of the gallery. Tres bien! Most cities have some sort of pass that covers the main attractions. In some cities I will grab one and in others I spurn the option. Whether I buy a pass or not buy a pass depends on…
Where you will find the Concorde
As mentioned yesterday, it is 11 years since Concorde last flew. Sadly, the closest I have ever got to Concorde was at the Seattle air museum, Heathrow airport and CDG airport in Paris. I have the germ of an idea of going to visit all of the remaining Concordes around the world. As most are in the UK and France, that should not be too hard! Adding Barbados in, is a little trickier. 001:F-WTSS Prototype – flew 1969 to 1973 Museum of Air and Space, Le Bourget, France 002 – flew 1969 to 1976: Fleet Air Arm Museum,…
Paris -New York in Business for 30% less- LaCompagnie
Fuel prices must be down because people are launching all business class airlines again. I blogged about London based Odyssey airlines last month. (Still unsure if they have a chance or not). At a Manhattan news conference last Tuesday, LaCompagnie was launched. The company has raised approximately $US41 million) from investors and is the brainchild of a former executive of India’s Jet Airways Peter Luethi and Frantz Yvelin, the founder of a previous all business class airline L’AVION. L’AVION operated between Orly Airport, Paris and Newark in the USA from 3 January 2007 to 2 July 2008 when it was taken over…
Yell No
In 40+ years of travel, I have only had one incident where I felt I could have been mugged. As I changed money at a Paris railway station, I realised I was being observed. Worse, the group of three followed me onto the metro and into my carriage. They then carefully watched me at each station to see when I got off the train. I spontaneously hopped off the train at a busy station just as the doors were closing. They jumped off too and trailed me down the platform to the exit. I turned…
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