Travel Tips - including Being Safe

Image by Getty Images via Daylife

This will be my last post for the day, and it is one that concerns travellers and tourists, since the coming months are holiday months.

With little introduction needed, here's to say that let us all be safe, at home, or abroad.

Enjoy your vacation, but equally important, too, is to be safe at all times.

Read on!

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33 Travel Safety Tips

Traveling to unfamiliar destinations can bring to you the sort of troubles you do not want to experience while on the road namely: robbery, rape, or murder. Tourists often fall prey to perpetrators because they do not prepare properly before embarking on a trip. Let's examine some things you should do to prevent your travels from becoming a tragedy.

1. Never list your home address on the luggage tag. If on business, put the company's address on the tag; if visiting friends you can list their address. Use covered luggage tags as well.

2. Stay with your luggage until the luggage is checked. If you must put your bag down, keep one foot on the handle.

3. Carry important papers with you; NEVER check anything that you simply cannot afford to lose. Photocopy your passport, driver's license and credit cards.

4. Bring a small flashlight. You never know when you'll suddenly be "in the dark" and find yourself in unfamiliar surroundings. At night, keep your flashlight by your bed.

5. Make sure that your prescription medicines are filled properly and labeled accurately. In some countries certain prescription medicines are forbidden.

6. Never wear anything that projects affluence. No gold chains, expensive watches and rings, luggage, or other paraphernalia should be in easy view. Better yet: leave your jewelry at home.

7. If possible travel with only one or two credit cards.

8. Women particularly should never accept a drink from a stranger. Keep an eye on your drink at all times.

9. Vary your schedule; try not to come and go at the same time everyday.

10. Only stay in a hotel that uses cards to open room doors and make sure your room has a peephole and a deadbolt lock. Secure the chain and secure the door by pushing a rubber stop under it.

11. Stay in a room near a stairwell. Never take the elevator if a fire or smoke is detected. Always stay in a hotel where the doors enter the hallway and not directly from the outside.

12. Do not wear name tags in public.

13. Do not use unmarked taxi cabs.

14. Sit behind the driver so you can see him, but he cannot see you.

15. Pay the driver upon arriving at your destination and while you are still sitting in the vehicle.

16. If you must rent a car, rent only from a reputable company. Any operating problems that occur could signal sabotage.

17. Be aware of 'staged' car accidents meant to catch you off card.

18. Back into your parking spaces to facilitate a quick exit.

19. Park only in well lit and well traveled areas.

20. If your cell phone does not work outside of the country, consider renting one that does for the duration of your trip.

21. If detained for whatever reason by an official, ask for identification. If in doubt, tell them that you want to see his superior. Keep your emotions in check.

22. If traveling with children, bring along an updated photograph of each child in the event that you become separated from them.

23. Write your child's name and your hotel number on each card; include a close friend's or relative's contact information on the card. Give a card to each child which they will carry with them as long as you are away. Destroy once home.

24. Discuss with your family what they would do in event of an emergency while away from home, e.g. whom to call, how to contact emergency personnel, etc.

25. Do not discuss travel plans, your room number or any other personal information in public within earshot of strangers.

26. Bring along a basic first aid kit with bandages, iodine, mosquito repellant, sunscreen, alcohol packets, dramamine, pepto bismol, diarrhea medicine, etc.

27. Familiarize yourself with train and bus schedules before traveling. Have an alternate plan in place in the event your transportation plans change.

28. Do not flash your passport in public. Discreetly show important documents to officials only.

29. Consider purchasing portable alarms that emit a loud sound.

30. Watch for scams on the street. Children working with adults are notorious as pickpockets.

31. Never flash your money in public. Exchange funds with reputable and recognized exchangers only.

32. Have tips ready in advance for service personnel.

33. Consider renting an escort [security] service if traveling in areas where crime is high.

The key to safe traveling in any area is situational awareness. Distractions because of luggage, children, hotel personnel, strangers, etc. can put you at risk. Know your surroundings and stay in control of every situation.

Matt manages the Corporate Flight Attendant Community a comprehensive resource center for business flight attendants who travel throughout the world. You can visit the community at http://www.corporateflyer.net or http://www.cabinmanagers.com

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Taken from Ezine article directory:
33 Travel Safety Tips
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Into the cold

Image via Wikipedia

Need a nip? Add fjord sighting and Xmas shopping to your winter holiday

Norway: Stare into the abyss

Most tourists look at Norway's breathtaking fjords from the bottom up, as they slide along the country's narrow inlets on cruise ships.

For a really intimate experience, you can choose to see a fjord, a channel long gouged out by a glacier, from a cliff staring straight down 600m into the azure water.

Hiking up to Preikestolen, or Pulpit Rock, on the south-west coast of Norway near Stavanger can be an unforgettable experience.

Adventurous visitors have been climbing to the top - from inland, not straight up - for about 100 years. Now it's one of the more popular hikes in southern Norway, drawing more than 90,000 people a year.

The rock surface looks like a pulpit overlooking the Lysefjord far below. It is a natural rock plateau, about 25m by 25m, where hikers can get a spectacular view of the 40km-long Lysefjord, the southernmost fjord in Norway that's connected to the North Sea.

Oslo fjord

There are well-worn mountains as far as the eye can see, the gray broken by dark patches of hardy trees as well as light-green meadows on rare flat spots. It's too far south to see glaciers here.

Some visitors who aren't afraid of heights lie on their stomachs and look straight down to the saltwater below. (This is Norway - there are no safety railings.)

Only near Preikestolen itself do hikers need to worry about falling into an abyss, so people who are afraid of heights could probably handle the hike itself and appreciate the view from a safe spot.

The two-hour hike up isn't overly difficult, but it does take some stamina and sturdy footwear. You don't have to be a Norwegian or a mountain goat, but that would help. Some sections of the trail require climbing up rock steps or picking your way through boulders.

Oslo bound

Preikestolen is an easy day trip from Stavanger, an oil centre on the west coast. The city is a one-hour flight or eight-hour train ride from Oslo.

Thai Airways recently launched affordable flights from Bangkok to Olso, so you can warm yourself up with some tom yum soup before you go sightseeing in cold climes.

Christmas market on the Munich Marienplatz - Stall with christmas decorations

Germany: Xmas stuffing

Christmas may be months away but to embark on the ultimate Christmas shopping trip, now's the time to plan, especially when the destination is Germany and euros need to be stocked up.

Every year, more than 130 places in the country are lit up by multitudinous lights, showing wooden stalls that sell Christmas ornaments ranging from wooden toys to nativity displays. The markets draw tourists from all over the world.

In Munich, the Christkindl market is held from Nov 27 to Dec 24 on Marienplatz square, which will have a towering Christmas tree covered in lights.

In Dresden, the "tree" is 14m high and made from wood with decorated tiers. The Striezelmarkt is the oldest documented Christmas market in the country, dating to 1434. Meanwhile, the fair in Nuremberg attracts some 2 million visitors annually, including those from Japan and China.

All this, plus sausages, gingerbread and mulled wine. In Germany, Christmas begins in November.

Munich bound

For details on Germany's Christmas markets, visit tinyurl.com/5c9n9d.

Lufthansa flies to Munich and other cities in Germany.

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From TODAY, Living – Weekend, 29/30-Aug-2009

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A lush lesson in spices

PENANG

Step back into the island’s illustrious past at the Tropical Spice Garden

Valery Garrett, traveller@newstoday.com.sg

A waterfall runs down the hillside at the Tropical Spice Garden.

Think of Penang and what comes to mind? Lazy days under palm trees, hawkers calling to passers-by to try their curries and always the scent of spices: Nutmeg, cinnamon and cloves.

Famous as one of the Spice Islands, the British founded a base here in the 18th century to grow this precious commodity. Now a short bus ride from Batu Ferringhi’s beach hotels, the award-winning Tropical Spice Garden celebrates Penang’s importance in producing these little seeds.

Brainchild of the son of a Chinese mother and an English rubber planter, Frederick Walker went to boarding school in Britain, graduating from the prestigious Royal Agricultural College. He and a partner opened the garden in November 2003.

Previously a small rubber plantation on a hillside overlooking the sea, Frederick struggled to clear over 40 rubber trees to form terraces and allow more light for plants.

View across the bay

Three trails wind through the 3-hectare garden: Yellow for Spices, red for Ornamental plants, and green for Jungle plants, each taking a leisurely 20 minutes. The paths are cool and shaded from the sun, meandering up and down the hillside with seats at intervals to rest and reflect on the garden’s beauty.

The air is infused with the pungent scent of crushed spices; hidden amid foliage of myriad shades of green, waterfalls trickle down the hill. Overhead is the koel bird’s incessant call.

There are over 500 exotic varieties of plants in the garden from tropical regions around the world. Given their importance, the spice plants look surprisingly insignificant.

Used nowadays mostly to improve flavour, spices in earlier times were vital in preserving foods and were part of many medicines. So, in centuries past, European sailors headed east in search of the legendary Spice Islands.

Dish of dried ginger, limes, pineapple flower, nutmeg, fresh turmeric, red ginger, betel nut and lemon grass.

Tropical Spice Garden Open: 9am to 6pm daily www.tropicalspicegarden.com

Spices can also be bought in the streets around Lebuh Pasar and Lebuh Penang in Georgetown.

In 1786, Captain Francis Light, a British East India Company trader, took possession of Penang and the Company formed a 53-hectare spice plantation in Ayer Itam valley, near the centre of the island.

Pepper was Penang’s first major crop, introduced in 1790 from Indonesia. One of the oldest and most valuable spices, its use as a currency in Roman times gave rise to the term “peppercorn rent”.

The Government Botanical Gardens were established in 1822 to supply seed for the Company’s plantations and vegetables for the officers’ tables. At the same time, private landowner David Brown had large plantations of nutmeg and cloves at his Glugor House estate south of Penang’s capital, Georgetown.

Dried nutmeg seeds produce the spice, while the outer skin is mace. Cloves come from dried, unopened flower buds, the oil used in perfumes and medicines. One of the most important spices grown in Penang, cloves were among the earliest and most valuable spices to be traded, used by ancient Egyptians and Romans to flavour food and freshen the breath.

There are edible plants on the Jungle trail too, like the palm, whose Malay name “pinang” was given to the island. The betel nut inside its fruit is mixed with lime, tobacco or cloves, wrapped in a leaf and chewed. The tamarind tree has long seed pods in a sticky brown pulp which go into making curries and chutneys. The cinnamon tree, one of the oldest spices, is mentioned in the Bible and ancient Sanskrit writings.

All three paths end at the hilltop Spice Museum which traces the trade’s history and houses displays of spices and harvesting equipment. Next door in the Spice Café, a one-time rubber planter’s home, freshly picked spices are sold in little packets. Sit and savour a selection of coffee and teas made from spices, ginger or lime, together with some home-made cakes, and enjoy tranquil views across the bay.

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Valery Garrett is the author of Discover Hong Kong, a City’s History and Culture Redefined, published by Marshall Cavendish.

SilkAir flies to Penang twice daily. For details, visit silkair.com

From TODAY, Traveller – Thursday, 11-Jun-2009

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