Hello 965 | 2015 July

Your Playa Del Carmen, Mexico Guide

July 31, 2015/0 Comments/in Destinations, Hotels, Mexico, Restaurants, Travel /by Toomzie

Playa del Carmen is a city located along the Caribbean Sea in the state of Quintana Roo in Mexico. I can’t get over this place. B-E-A-U-T-I-F-U-L.

1. How to get there?

– You arrive at Cancun International Airport – airport code: CUN

– Arrived at the airport? Passengers first clear Immigration then collect luggage for Customs and a possible inspection. Wait for instructions to press the red or green light that will determine whether you have been chosen for a search.

– Avoid offers for transportation inside the airport.

– To Playa Del Carmen, its around a 45 minutes to one hour drive (I arranged for a taxi pick-up from Cancun airport to Playa Del Carmen, driving is an option)

– Renting a car is a good idea for those who wish to tour areas such as Tulum, Cobá, etc. You must rent in advance and pick it up upon arrival. (contact us if you need us to help you reserve a car!)

Taxis:

Vouchers for taxis rides to Playa Del Carmen are on sale inside the main terminal. Taxis are private rides (quoted prices vary from $60-$90). Returning to the airport in a taxi is often less than the trip upon arrival.

(If you need further recommendations on what private companies to use for transportation, please feel free to drop us an email or contact us at our Contact Us form)

2. Where to Sleep?

Banyan Tree Mayakoba
The Fairmont Mayakoba
Grand Velas Riviera Maya
Pueblito Luxury Condo Hotel
Viceroy Riviera Maya
Blue Diamond Riviera Maya
Casa Rebeka – Ocean Front Villa
Luxury Villas

3. Other than staying at the hotel all day and enjoying my friends/spouse/significant other.. What to do?

Cenote Chaak Tun (Cenote means the hole in the cave filled with water/ sink holes – you can swim)
Cenote Chikin Ha
Rio Secreto
Xcaret theme park (excellent for families too!) – Underwater Trekking is awesome!!!
Flyboard, and all other activities
See Playa del Carmen’s main street, La Quinta Avenid. It runs parallel to the shore and serves as a pedestrian walkway
Diving tours (Playa is one of the best places on the coast to dive)
Xel-Ha day trip
Tulum Day Trip
Xplor Adventure Park
Go to Mamitas Beach during the day (Fun, music, sun)
Indigo Beach (beside El Taj Condo Hotel)
Take a boat and go Snorkeling in Isla Mujeres
Chichen Itza

For more, and personalized itineraries please drop us an email or contact us here.

4. Food

Diablito cha cha cha (loud, music, food) q
El Tacombie (tacos, not a restaurant)
Los Aguachiles (Mexican, seafood, casual but good food)
Yaxche (Mexican)
Chez Celine (Breakfast/Brunch)
Como Como (Mediterranean)
Mosquito Blue Restaurant

5. Other Stuff

– Whats near Playa Del Carmen?

Tulum
Cozumel
Akumal
Puerto Aventuras

– Withdraw money from a local ATM as you will get the exact current exchange rate. Almost all stores will give you an unfavorable conversion rate

– If you love snorkeling, purchase your own gear and bring it with you on vacation. At many locations you can snorkel right off the beach anytime you want, saving tour fees

– When going out, put your money in an inside pocket or pouch, where it isn’t visible

– Phone? There is a “data” phone. I got mine from Mexico City, and used it in Playa Del Carmen and different parts of Mexico

6. Switch off your phone, switch on your camera, and e-n-j-o-y.

Hello965 Team

Hello965 in Colombia

July 30, 2015/0 Comments/in Colombia, Destinations, Hotels, Restaurants, Travel /by Toomzie

Traveled in: August, 2014

Currency: Pesos

Country Code: +57

Getting there: Flight from Buenos Aires 6 hours 15 minutes, Flight from Caracas 2 hours, Flight from Lima 2 hours 55 minutes, Flight from Panama 1 hour 40 minutes, Flight from Quito 1 hour 25 minutes, Flight from Mexico 4 hours 35 minutes, Flight from Los Angeles 9 hours 44 minutes, Flight from NYC 4 hours 35 minutes, Flight from Miami 3 hours 40 minutes, Flight from Madrid 9 hours 40 minutes, Flight from Paris 14 hours 10 minutes, Flight from Roma 14 hours 45 minutes.

Do you need a visa? If you’re a Kuwaiti national, yes you do. You can apply via Colombian Embassy in Abu Dhabi or in Egypt.

This post is about my trip to beautiful Colombia. The first question that I keep on getting asked is: Is Colombia safe? Honestly, everywhere in the world is not safe. However, back to Colombia and to be fair, my personal experience was very safe in the places I’ve visited in Colombia. You need to choose the places you go to, and avoid places that are known to be dangerous. If you do so, you’re good to go.

Hello965 Flight: Qatar Airways

Route: Kuwait – Qatar – Sao Paulo – Bogota

Why did I choose this route? Because I wanted to stop by Sao Paulo to see a friend. The flight is super long yes but I was okay with it because I sleep on flights usually. Another reason I took this route is because through the states (which is a shorter route) they tend to remove things in your suite case such as ‘coffee’ and others so I did not want to risk having coffee removed on my way back from Colombia.

My itinerary was as follows:

ALL used Internal flights were via: Avianca Airlines de Colombia

Currency: Colombian Pesos – they sometimes take US dollars.

2 nights in Cartagena (Cartagena De Indias)

– Hotel in Cartagena: Basiton Luxury Hotel (ps. I didn’t love the service nor the Wifi signal in the hotel, otherwise location was great!)

– Things to do in Cartagena:

Rosario Islands
Go on a private tour to a private island, we went to an island called Agua Azul. There another recommended one called Isla Coralina.

Walk around the city inside the walls, and see:
- Torre Del Reloj
- Plaza De Bolivar
- Plaza De San Pedro Claver
- Plaza De La Aduana
- Santo Domingo
- Plaza Santa Teresa
- Teatro Heredia (La Merced)
- Universidad De Cartagena
- Fernandez De Madrid
- Plaza De San Diego
- Las Bovedas
- Plaza De La Trinidad
- Centro De Convenciones
- Playa De Artilleria

I also checked out a cool Museum of Arts while walking around the city. Check it out if you’re into arts.

– Places to Eat:

Juan Del Mar Restaurant
La Vitrola (Local Cuisine)
Don Juan (Pizza & Local Cuisine)
El Gobernador
Oh La La (French)
Marea (Seafood)
Mila (Dessert)

– A place that was recommended by friends but I didn’t have the time to see is: Juan Del Mar Cafe/Bar – Located on top of the wall with a very nice view. Check opening hours before you go.

2 nights in Medellin

Recommended Hotel: The Charlee

Things to do:

Walk around Botanico Garden and have lunch there
Check out the interactive museum
Take the cable car all the way up to Santo Domingo Savio and walk around a bit, see the huge library on top

Walk around Botero Plaza
Play Golf if you’re interested
Checkout Las Luces Square
Drive to Guatape, but before you reach stop at the small towns on your way there. One of the towns I liked which we stopped at is called El Retiro.

Guatape Rock
Paraglide from the mountain in Medellin
Volcan de Lodo El Totumo (Mud Volcano)

– Places to eat:

Cheff Burger (Burgers)
Crepes & Waffles
Tinto Tintero
Carmen
La Provincia
Milagros
El Cielo

2 nights in Bogota (Bogota is the Capital of Colombia)

– Recommended Hotels: Hilton Bogota, Sofitel Bogota Victoria Regia, GHL Hotel Bioxury, Hotel Andino Royal, JW Marriott Hotel

– Things to do:

I didn’t have the time to do a coffee tour in the cities before, but usually, the right place to go and see coffee tours from is Medellin. However, we found a very good coffee tour from Bogota. The coffee tour was in FUSA, where they take you to a coffee planation and show you the whole process from growing the plant until serving you some good Colombian coffee.

Go to the Old Town, walk around, check out the beautiful Graffiti EVERYWHERE. I can’t get over it.

Go to Zona T for restaurants, night life and shopping.

– Places to Eat:

A place that almost everyone recommended me to go is Andres carne de Res. Really good food and the ultimate Colombian touristy experience. A lot of fun, Loved it!
Casa Medina (French Cuisine)

Other recommendations in Colombia:

Santa Marta: The lost city

DONT FORGET, you could always contact us to plan your itinerary for you, and for more details on this trip, or other trips.

Cheers,

Hello965! xx

Wadi Adventure in Al Ain مغامرات الوادي في العين

July 26, 2015/0 Comments/in Bucketlist, Destinations, Travel, UAE /by Toomzie

During one of my weekend trips to Dubai, I wanted to do something different than the usual. A friend of mine had previously recommended that I check out this adventure park and that was I thought of doing for a day.

We had rented a car in Dubai, and drove to Al Ain. The total drive was around 1 hour 40 minutes to Wadi Adventure.

Wadi Adventure Park

خلال زياره من زياراتي الى دبي في عطلة نهاية الاسبوع، كان في بالي أسوي شي مختلف عن المعتاد. صديق لي اقرح اني أشوف هالمكان للمغامرات في العين.

كنا مأجرين سياره في دبي، فقررنا نروح يوم ونرجع. استغرقت الرحله في السياره حوالي ساعه و 45 دقيقه الى مغامرات الوادي

Activities and things to do:

Surfing
Rafting
Kayaking
Climbing
Airpark
Wakeboarding
Swimming

One of the offered activities: AirPark

I enjoyed the place but definitely NOT in July. They need to work ALOT of making it summer friendly because it was too hot to enjoy anything except the rafting experience.

الجو كان وايد جار فا أنصح زيارتها لمن يكون الجو براد عالاقل لأن الأحبال تكون جاره وماكو أي تجهيزات خاصه للجو الحار

Rafting in Wadi Adventure

PS. Make sure you call them beforehand and make sure the activities are working/operating!

للمزيد من المعلومات اضغط هنا

For more info, click here

Remember.. “Life before work”.

Hello965

Hello965friends: Yamanouchi, Japan

July 22, 2015/0 Comments/in Destinations, Hotels, Japan, Restaurants, Travel /by Toomzie

By @Almallaks

Why we chose this city: This city in particular would be great in the winter (even though it was cold when we went). We wanted to see the hot springs and also, the monkeys! Yessssss.

Duration: One night.

Where we stayed:We stayed at the Shibu Hotel. Although we liked the hotel, we actually wanted to get a very Japanese experience with sleeping on the floor in a traditional Japanese way. The hotel wasn’t like that, but it was still a nice cozy place.

Things to do/see in Yamanouchi:
- You can walk around the small mountain town in traditional Japanese robes (yes walk around outside in it!) with its small shops and of course the main attraction: bath-houses. We really couldn’t muster up the courage to go to the public baths, but we did try the outdoor foot-baths, which are filled by the flowing hot spring water! Very cool experience.
- Monkey Park. It is exactly as it sounds. The hotel was nice enough to arrange for transportation to the location meeting point. But then we had to walk for around 20 minutes to get to the park. It was a gorgeous setting for a walk so we really didn’t mind. And you get to see the monkeys in their natural habitat and even taking baths in the hot spring water! So cute.
Food in Yamanouchi:
- The best thing about our hotel was that it gave us the chance to experience traditional Japanese meals, which were prepared for us in a private room where we sat on the floor!

After all this, we went back to Tokyo for a few nights before heading back home to Kuwait. Do you see why we took as little luggage as we did?

Some random information:

The Japanese do not accept tips. Don’t know why, it’s a thing.
If you’re having your morning coffee and walking around. It could be very hard to find a trash-can. They are mainly next to the vending machines and convenient stores.
If you ever take a bus, which in Tokyo you probably won’t, you pay as you leave the bus not when you get on. We had to take one in Kanazawa.
If you ever take a cab, the doors open and close automatically!
Whenever you go to a store, at the cashier, they will always have a small tray. So when they tell you the total, don’t hand them the money, put it on the tray and they will take it.
We recommend japan-guide.com for sightseeing tips and highlights.

You know, I think we’ve been very specific with our cities and what we want to get out of each one, which was really great to have on such a trip. We got to experience different cities each with its own flavor. This is what we recommend you do to plan your own trip. Research all the cities and what their known for and see what interests you, then plan your route!

This was really a trip of a lifetime for us. It was completely different than anything we’ve ever done and it hands down one of the most amazing trips we’ve ever taken. Unforgettable.

We highly recommend visiting this beautiful country. But do advise to keep an open mind. It can get frustrating at times especially when you’re lost and trying to communicate or get directions, but it really is all part of the experience. Also, don’t worry about the food so much. There are plenty of non-Japanese options. You will not starve.

Happy planning!

@Almallaks

Milano, Italy

July 19, 2015/0 Comments/in Destinations, Hotels, Italy, Restaurants, Travel /by Toomzie

My trip to Milano was short and sweet. I stayed for three days only, so I’ll share with you a small itinerary of things you could do in 3 days..

Sleep.

Armani Hotel Milano

Park Hyatt Milano

Hotel Principe Di Savoia

Palazzo Parigi Hotel & Grand Spa Milano

Hotel Magna Pars

Melia Milano

Things to do.

The thing I did most in Milano is shopping! Haha, their shopping is just beautiful. OK, shopping aside, this is what you could do:

Duomo – go to the top and check out the view

Museo del Novecento

Milan Walking Tour

The Last Supper

La Scala Opera

Citta Nascosta Milano

Cinque Terre day trip from Milan

Via Monte Napoleone

Castello Sforzesco
Lake Garda and Desenzano del Garda Tour by Train from Milan
Other Milan Private Tours

Cooking Classes

Milan Segway Tour

Milan Biking Tours

Verona tour from Milan
Milan City Hop-on Hop-off Tour

Shopping:
- Peck
- Via Della Spiga
- La Rinascente
- Corso Como
- Borsalino
- Via Manzoni
- Via Sant’Andrea
- Via Montenapoleone
- Corso di Porta Ticinese