Sri Lanka – quick travel guide

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Island country off India’s southern coast, and very similar to in culture and geography to south India.

Known as one of the cheapest and most convenient travel destinations. Because it’s a small country, easy to get around (since everything all in one island), very inexpensive. Lots of transportation…cheap trains and buses, taxis are cheap enough for foreigners to take 2-hr rides. The locals are friendly and many speak enough English. Internet is good enough. Everywhere feels very safe and accessible.

As a foreigner, you’ll find Sri Lanka to be very undeveloped and wild. Wild beaches, train-tracks running all over the country (past beaches, through jungles, around mountains), people walking on train tracks, people hanging out of train cars, very local vibe in many places and not overly touristy as other countries. Nature everywhere and you feel like you’re living in it (whether for good or for worse), rather than looking at it.

The default VISA period is one month and that’s a good amount of time to comprehensively immerse yourself on the Sri Lankan island. If you need to extend, you can do it easily enough online or through the tourist office.

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Korea – quick travel guide

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Ultra-modern, super developed Asian country. Fun, great, hyper-stimulated environment.

On paper and to a Westerner, Korea could best be describe as another Japan…or like a cheaper, less-developed, less-cool version of Japan. And despite the hate you’d get from Japanese or Korean people for saying that, you wouldn’t be so unreasonable.

Both of these countries have been battling each other for a long time. With a feud debating events back as recent as 50 years ago to 2 millennia ago. Both with their own version of historic events. Both with their take on who was the aggressor. Fueling ultra-nationalistic pride in their citizens and even corporations. Whereas Japan has Sony & Panasonic, Korea has Samsung & LG. Japan has Toyota & Honda, Korea has Hyundai & Kia. And so forth and so forth. They even argue which one evolved from the other.

And as much as they’ve hated each other the years, there’s no denying that they are ultimately more alike each other than with any other nationality in the world. Korea is super safe and modern like Japan. Things are high-tech, clean, more expensive. Public spaces are visually over-stimulated and colorful.

But that’s where it ends. Whereas Japan has stayed very collective and by-the-rules, Koreans are developed their own sub-culture. More individual and unique. They stopped copying Japan things less and less and became more unique like the west. Their own TV shows and music, dancing and arts, are now worthy of being copied (ripped-off) by even Western/American industries. Korea is more unique if you know and appreciate where to look. They have their own food, culture, vibe, their own thing. They are not just a lesser version of Japan. Korea is super cool and worth seeing on its own unique merit.

1 week for just Seoul & maybe 3-5 days Busan, and another 3 days for Jeju Island. 1-2 days here and there for smaller towns. So at a minimum, 2 weeks for main spots and 1 month for comprehensive tour. One thing is for sure…you’ll probably wish you spent more time. Korea is a cool place to live, not just to see and leave.

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Ashland (Oregon) – quick travel guide

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One of America’s favorite small towns…cute, charmy, artsy, nature, peaceful.

Ashland is a common midway stop between San Francisco and Portland. If you’re not staying Mount Shasta, Ashland makes a great pitstop if even for only a couple hours. That’s the limit of how I’ve ever known it.

Couple hours is enough. Couple days if you absolutely love it.

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Tello vs US Mobile – comparing USA mobile carriers

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Which MVNO (mobile virtual network operator) offers the better plan for your cell phone in America?

If you’re here, I assume you want a cheap plan. Maybe you’re trying to save money or are visiting the US for a short time. I didn’t personally try both but here’s what I found from my research:

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Belo Horizonte – quick travel guide

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A big friendly friendly city in Inland Brazil. Known for good food from Minas Gerais region, modern architecture and art.

You could easily pop in and out of this city in 2 days and felt you saw all the highlights. But if you stayed longer, there’d be plenty of everyday niceties and nearby towns and attractions to make it worthwhile.

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Curitiba – quick travel guide

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A smaller Sao Paulo. Modern, techie, safe, hip, arts, parks, eco-friendly, LGBT-friendly, and has capybaras.

Curitiba is probably Brazil’s hippest city…although labelled as the “world’s smartest city” (IMO nowhere near that but I appreciate the effort). Take the cool parts of Sao Paulo and compact it down to a smaller, more manageable version, making it overall cleaner and more modern, and you have Curitiba. It’s very green. Even things that are not a park, will have lots of trees and water and will look like a park. The weather here is among the nicest in Brazil, not too hot or too cold. Curitiba is also a good size for a city…not too big, not too small.

Curitiba is famous for parks and museums, and events…music, arts, theater, film. From what I see, it looks like your typical non-destination city (because it doesn’t have beaches or touristy things) that got gentrified and reinvested for tourism and quality of life. Many people say it’s boring in terms of tourism, and it’s a fair point. It seems tourists stop in Curitiba mainly for the capybaras, and as a stop between Florianopolis and Foz do Iguazu.

Curitiba’s strongest point is that it’s a nice place to live. Good quality of life due to the aforementioned qualities above. But from a tourist standpoint, it will definitely pale in comparison to a more majestic beach destination like Rio, big city metropolis of Sao Paulo, or a small charmy colonial town. Even within the southern states, Curitiba would probably rank lower to Florianopolis…a more picturesque beach city with lots of beautiful people and seemingly “fun vacation vibes” everywhere.

3 days is enough to see tourist highlights.

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Goiania – quick travel guide

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Interior posh city, nice to live but not much in terms of tourism. Good food and bar scene, friendly sexy locals.

Goiania was historically known as Brazil’s city with the highest socioeconomic disparity, having the richest of the rich and the poorest of the poor. Today, it seems like a very safe and well-off city. Everybody dressed up well and nice restaurants and bars everywhere. Very lively, very posh. Tons of nice apartment buildings to live in, trendy gyms, shops, etc. It’s known as a popular city for bachelor parties to mingle.

Stay for a couple days, a week, forever. Again…it’s not a touristy city. It’s always good weather.

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Ilhabela – quick travel guide

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Beautiful island of beaches on the Sao Paulo coast, with mostly only Brazilians.

A family-friendly beach destination, developed infrastructure with city comforts (shopping, stores, etc), nice beach boardwalk, many levels of accommodations to choose from, nature and trekking. If you want to hit a full island instead of just mainland coastal beach area like Ubatuba, then Ilhabela is for you.

3 days minimum considering that there are many areas to check out, and also for the effort you spend getting there. As with many Brazilian beach destinations…5-7 days is more what people spend. Soak in the vibe and feel like you have time to enjoy more different beaches.

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Jalapao State Park – quick travel guide

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Big state park in Brazil’s interior countryside, full of many beautiful natural attractions and activities.

Jalapao is a huge park with at least 50 activities, some more popular than others. So your experience varies depending on how many days you stay, without or without a tour guide, and of course which attractions you pick.

I’d recommend a minimum of at least 4 days (3 nights) to get enough variety. This makes sense since getting there already takes so much time, and then traveling between different parts also takes lots of drive time.

I had local friends who knew it well and took me around, and I loved that the most since we spent as long as we wanted and never felt rushed. I’m sure other people going with a professional tour probably enjoyed it as well but didn’t have the freedom and flexibility we did. Flexibility is absolutely key if you have time, and/or want to alternate plans based on how you feel (e. g. wanting more X and less Y), or based on the weather.

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Do NOT book with Traveluro (SCAM COMPANY)

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Don’t fall for the low prices of this Israeli-owned BAIT-AND-SWITCH booking scam company!

  • You see low prices for hotel, linked from Google or some other price comparison sites.
  • You book and everything seems fine.
  • At last minute, they contact you with some excuse saying it’s no longer available and now you have to accept another one of their partner hotels.
  • You’re stressed and panicking last minute so you accept.
  • Of course, the replacement hotel is nowhere near as good and you don’t find out until you’re arrived and pissed.

Tons of horror stories online. Research and see for yourself.

Do NOT book with Vio.com (SCAM COMPANY)

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Their (skeptically low) prices are linked through Google Maps so it SEEMS legit, but they are not.

  • Tons of online research show endless complaints and the word “scam” and “fraud” again and again.
  • It’s the classic scam booking company where they take your money but no reservation is made.
  • You don’t find out until the day you arrive at the hotel to a surprise-surprise…YOU HAVE NO ROOM AVAILABLE! No reservation made under your name.
  • Calling their support does nothing. They might say they’ll fix it in 15 minutes, or get back to you, but nothing ever happens.

Whatever you do, do not fall for their low prices. Or else your vacation/stay can be ruined!

Kandy – quick travel guide

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Popular cultural tourist city in central highlands. Great food, variety of shopping, good mix of city accommodations or nature lodging.

Great food, lots of things to do and see. And still carries a very local vibe. I enjoyed my time in Kandy a lot. The more you stay, the more you find things to do.

Kandy and nearby tourist attractions can be seen in 2-3 days but with all the farther-out sights, I think 4 days might be better to fully enjoy it.

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Negombo – quick travel guide

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Popular beach city just north of capital city Colombo (and next to the airport). Very westernized, touristy with all big city comforts, and creditcard accepted everywhere.

Feels like a proper beach city with many hotels, restaurants, shops, and westernized touristy area. Everything is very comfy and convenient. The price is expensive compared to the rest of Sri Lanka, but still very cheap by western standards. I also noticed this area tends to be much more full of Germans, rather than Russian (in the south).

The best reason to go here is to be close to the airport and out of Colombo (which everyone recommends you skip). If you check the map, you’ll see CMB airport is actually in Negombo. Making this your perfect final stop in Sri Lanka. It’s not a necessary destination at all (very low unique tourism value).

But can be a nice stop for some days before you fly out of CMB. Luckily, they accept card everywhere here so you don’t have to pull out more cash.

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Trincomalee – quick travel guide

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Northeast beach city, with small beach towns adjacent. Very local and conservative vibe, with pockets of tourist areas during high season.

We came during off-season months of Dec & Jan, also stayed in the outer area of Nilaveli Beach, and felt like we were the only foreigners we saw everyday.

Definitely the least fun place we’ve been on our whole Sri Lanka tour. Beach nearby us was ugly. Everything was far and remote, needed to rent a bike to buy daily food and water. I guess it was nice in that we had time to focus on work stuff instead of getting distracted by tourist stuff. But that’s not why we go places, right?

I’d say 3 days is enough. But also, you need to have a reason to come here. Are you sure you want to see a more conservative part of Sri Lanka? A part that doesn’t have so many westernized food options and tourist things to do? A part that may not be a great place to visit during off-season? Because you might be better just skipping this place.

If you’re simply looking for the least touristy major city of Sri Lanka, skip this and go further north to Jaffna.

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Anuradhapura – quick travel guide

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Many historic sites and ruins inside a big green bicycle-able park with lots of nature and wildlife.

Anuradhapura is the most iconic city in the Sri Lanka’s cultural triangle, and also its first capital before being destroyed by the Cholas in 993 AD. And lucky for you, all the main tourist sights are situated close together (within the “Sacred City”) and easily reached with a bicycle.

There’s also restaurants with GREAT FOOD, and some lakes and other things to see outside of the sacred city. In case you were looking for city comforts or specific conveniences, you can also find it here. Plenty of stores for electronics, clothing, upscale grocery stores, etc.

2 days is the perfect amount of time. You technically could do it all in one daytrip (5-hours of biking), but we felt it was best to have an extra day so there’s no rush, and also you have more time to try different restaurants.

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Morro de Sao Paulo – quick travel guide

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Popular party beach town in northeast Brazil. Many nice beaches, shops, restaurants, and party vibe.

Most Brazilian towns tend to lean towards more posh or more chill. Morro de Sao Paulo (or “Morro” for short) gives you a mix of both. It’s also nice that everything all conveniently located next to each other. You can easily choose what vibe you want to have. And if you wish for something more remote, just go a little further out and you’ll easily find your peace.

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Georgia (country) – quick travel guide

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Another Caucasus mountain country, but with friendly people…unique language and alphabet, incredible food (no exaggeration), incredible wines, and lots of interesting foreigners from countries I don’t know well.

Generally, Georgia is known for their mountains, food, wine, beautiful girls, and homes that looks incredibly old (and abandoned) from the outside but beautiful and super modern inside. As a foreigner, you’ll probably know just Tbilisi…which is a cool hip city with lots of charm, and things to do. As with mountain countries, all locals will insist that you visit a mountain place.

7-10 days would be enough to see Tbilisi (with a day trip outside), and at least one mountain town.

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Sigiriya – quick travel guide

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Tiny town where tourists come to see Sigiriya Rock aka “Lion Rock” (UNESCO site).

Go here for the big UNESCO ancient fortress palace on top of a giant rock sticking out of the jungle. Many cheap and nice nature accommodations to stay. And it’s close enough to several other destinations (between Kandy & Trincomalee). You have no excuse not to visit here.

Come as a day trip or stay the night. Maybe add a day if you just want to chill in a tiny tourist town.

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Ella – quick travel guide

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Sri Lanka’s touristy mountain town. Lots of mountain views, nature hikes, waterfalls and caves, and the Nine Arch Bridge. Oh and good food!

It’s a mountain jungle place where accommodations have you staying right in nature. See birds, monkeys, and green all around you as you wake up to nature everyday. Take little hikes and enjoy picturesque mountain viewpoints all around you. The food is also the best we had up to this point, especially since coming from the south of Sri Lanka (which really didn’t have great food).

2 days is enough to see all the main points. Stay longer to relax more, eat good food, or give yourself more time with nature.

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Athens – quick travel guide

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Big city metropolis of Greece. Full of historic sights and chaotic crowded city centers.

Even though Athens population is only 4 million compared to much bigger Roman cities (like Rome), it’s very densely populated. While you won’t find the stereotype Greek beach destinations here, you’ll definitely find a cool hip metropolis full of great food, hip bars, nightlife, shopping, and endless choices of apartment buildings with city skyline views. In short…a very authentic urban Greek city life experience.

Athens is a love it or hate it. Comes for 2-3 days to check out the historic sites and museums and eat well, then leave. Or if the busy city life attached instantly to you…well then, you can sit out here for months!

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Tangalle – quick travel guide

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Relaxed beach town with beachside restaurants and remove beaches for a more local atmosphere. It’s still has touristy things like restaurants and bars, but not overly commercial with endless shops.

Tangalle can be a nice 2-day stop to relax and enjoy the long peaceful beachfronts. Or a 6-day stay to fully relax and also take tours to nearby national parks (Udalaware & Yala) to see wildlife, and Africa-like landscapes. We stayed here six days and loved it, but if you’re looking for things to do…then you should continue on to Ella.

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