ive got to get from Australia to Turkey to view, photograph & experience *again* the most remarkable feeling..seeing..*other than childbirth* of the Total Solar Eclipse in Turkey, in 2006.
I would like to travel the surrounding areas for 3 months, and many goals to achieve before i can go..
But i start by manifesting Dreams ~ into Reality, today.
Visit
ECLIPSE 2006 for full Eclipse/Turkey feature.
Travel Insurance : 3 months comprehensive cover for under $250 AUD
TRAVEL INSURANCE : best deals with comprehensive cover found!
The time has come for me to get myself some Travel Insurance for my 12 weeks travel covering from Australia to Europe and back. I was going to purchase it earlier, but decided to leave the money in the bank for the interest benefit :)
At first i was pretty set to get my Travel Insurance thru WorldNormad who are backed up by the Lonely Planet crew/website. It has a good price, $200 AUD for 3 months. However i needed to make sure that i had insurance on my digital camera and my laptop -- with WorldNomad i could get extra cover for the Loss of Personal Belongings, at $50 per item (added to base price of insurance) but it only covered up to $1000 per item. Which meant total price of quote would be $300 AUD ...
so i kept searching around to see if i could find a better deal...
And i think i have at
1Cover.com.au a Sydney based office -- with insurance backed by Allianz. Their comprehensive cover is at $247 AUD - for 3months in Europe area - and the personal loss/damage payout is $5000 - with up to $3000 for laptop and camera.
I downloaded their
Policy Wordings (in pdf) - and read thru, and it seems alright. Some areas have access fee of $100
Click on the banner up top - if you want to check their rates out, and get a quote.
travel safe ~
Posted by Spidey at 9:29 PM
Lost in Transit / Bags of worries - SMH
Sourced :
The Sydney Morning Herald Blogs: Lost in Transit Bags of worriesHere's a disturbing tale about security and your travel bags.
Two members of a Sydney family recently departed London Heathrow for home on different days, flying with different airlines. Mum arrives home first, only to discover that two mobile phones tossed into her suitcase at the last moment prior to departure are now missing.
Her teenage daughter follows from Heathrow a few days later. And when she arrives in Sydney she notices that plastic tags tied around the zips of her checked-in bag are now broken. A ski-mask placed on top of her clothes is gone.
In both cases persons unknown must have rifled through the bags and stolen the goods. This is most likely to have occurred at Heathrow although it's possible both thefts took place en-route or in Sydney.
The point, however, is not where these thefts might have occurred; it's that such things are happening at all.
It goes without saying that if someone can tamper with your luggage and take something out, then they can just as easily put something in, perhaps something dangerous. These two recent incidences suggest a serious security flaw in current baggage handling procedures.
Are these two unusual cases? Or is theft and tampering of aircraft luggage more widespread than we think? Have you had a similar recent experience, or do you know of one?
Go here for anti-tampering measures:
Wrap in up | Seal it | Zip Lock it
Posted by Spidey at 4:22 PM
Eating Kebabs - How much they cost -
just at every corner: a vendor selling sesame rings, here in front of the old streetcar which commutes between Taksim Place und Tünel Station all over the shopping street
Istiklal Caddesi. This tram is not only a tourist attraction, but many citizens use it for faster transport, when the street is crowded with people.
btw, at that time there was no chicken döner available "Tourist guides say, you should be careful with every mobile vendor except those selling sesame rings. Acutally, it is just bread, so flour and water. What should happen anyway?
However, I wonder, who actually eats these amounts of food, offered nearly everywhere. And it is said only a few Turks (explicitly below 10%) suffer from overweight.
I did not try these ones here as it was shortly after breakfast, but I had one at another place and on the ferries. They are yummy and about 0,25 Euro ( = 0,4 new turkish Lira).
You might know *doner kebab*. That is probably, what we call Döner: a sort of Burger with bread outside filled with salad, usually green cabbage, yoghurt dressing and kebab meat from lamb or chicken
Posted by Spidey at 3:46 PM
istanbul set by widderson ( photos)
Posted by Spidey at 2:00 PM
19 days before i fly~~ !!! *eeeeeeeeeek!
I arrive in Istanbul March 23rd -- meeting up with others arriving same day, so maybe better get hostel for the two nigths and hangaround the city sights?
- or Couchsurf?
- erwan & purple has booked double room at Hostel
Gotta be at the airport early (7am) on Sat 25 March to catch flight to Antalya ~~
- BeautifulWorld (warwick) is on same flight with me.
also Ben (msn:blackmagic) and a few of his friends.
**confirm who/how many ppl that i know of are on same flight at Antalya airport the Soulclipse Crew Shuttle bus will take me to the Festival site.
I dont know what the rest are going to do yet, but i presume they will get together with some of the others that would have arrived earlier and headed to Olympus and such -- as a pre gathering, as discussed in forums over the last months..
the gates will offically open March 26th, to allow the festivalers to start setting up their temporary homes ----- the party/music begins March 27..
children of the dark sun -- are we ready? i start packing on monday --- this is going to be interesting ~
*stupid grin on my face* *butterflies in my tummy*
Posted by Spidey at 12:54 PM
Travel and Technology
Come fly with meFebruary 18, 2006
Airline passengers can now use their laptops for live TV and to stay in touch using the net, writes Lia Timson.Connectivity junkies take note. You can now email, surf the net, watch real-time television and even phone friends on Skype aboard those long-haul flights between Asia, Europe and the Americas.
Soon you will be able to use your own mobile phone, too, and it won't cost you the earth. But unfortunately you can't do this yet on flights out of Australia.
Scandinavian Airlines (SAS, http://www.scandinavian.net) has launched live TV directly to passengers' laptops via a satellite internet connection first installed on its fleet last year.
Start your wireless-enabled laptop, let it detect the network, then use a log-in code provided by the crew and pay with your credit card or use a pre-established account or frequent flyer points. Once logged on to the SAS portal, go wherever you like including corporate intranets and TV channels at an average speed of 512kbps.
read more :
Come fly with me - Technology - smh.com.au
Posted by Spidey at 2:50 PM
GREAT PRICE! : Qantas & Turkish Airlines Fantastic Fares to Istanbul With FREE domestic flight in Turkey!
Qantas & Turkish Airlines Fantastic Fares to Istanbul With FREE domestic flight in Turkey!.... Feb-Nov06!Price: From $1449 Return plus taxesDescription:Qantas and Turkish Airlines have just released this great fare to Istanbul with a FREE return domestic flight within Turkey! You are spoilt for choice with 23 exotic cities to choose from.
You will fly with Qantas from your Australian city to either Singapore, Hong Kong or Bangkok and then pick up a Turkish Airlines flight to Istanbul.
You can then choose to fly onto any of the following cities...
Adana-Agri-Ankara-Antalya-Batman-Bodrum-Dalaman-Denizli-Diyarbakir-Elazig-Erzincan-Izmir
- Kars-Kayseri-Konya-Malatya-Mardin-Mus-Samsun-Sanliurfa-Trabzon-Van.
Stopovers are not allowed on this fare.The maximum stay on this ticket is 6 months.Fuel & currency surchargesPlease note that there may be fuel and/or currency surcharges to pay on top of these featured prices. These charges are being imposed by many suppliers without any prior notice being given. Your final price IS NOT guaranteed until paid in full. Best Flights can not take any responsibility if you have not paid in full and there is an increase in your purchased price."
The taxes vary and are determined by your final routing. | Departures on or between | Sydney | Melbourne | Brisbane | Adelaide | Perth |
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FULL INFO & BOOKINGS :
BESTFLIGHTS.COM.AU
Posted by Spidey at 7:35 PM
Istanbul - getting from Istanbul airport into the city / hotels
Plane TalkAtatürk International Airport is located in Yeşilköy, 25 kms from Taksim. The new International Terminal is one of the busiest hubs in the region as a major transit point from East to West and. It also features Duty Free Shops in the Arrivals area so you can load up on cigarettes and liquor. Upon arriving, landing to customs is usually a quick process taking no more then 20 minutes to a half hour. Visas for U.S. and residents of EU countries can be obtained upon arrival. Departure is a more lengthy operation involving passing through extra security checks that could take up to 90 minutes.
Connections to the CityTransportation options from
Atatürk Airport into town include:
Bus Shuttle – The Havaş bus company provides service from airport to Taksim Square and Taksim Square to airport, charge is 7.500.000 TL (5 USD-4.5 Euro-3 Pound) between 05.00-06.00 every hour, between 06.00-23.00 every half an hour.
The Havas buses depart from a bus stop located outside on the street at ground level at International Arrivals. They stop at the Sea Bus station Bakırköy (for transfers to Bostancı and Kadıköy on the Asian side), Aksaray and Taksim Square.
Taxi - typical minimum charge into Taksim is USD 18.00 - 14 Euro- 10 Pound- - 25.000.000 TL (25 million Turkish Lira)
Hotel shuttle buses - Many of the major hotels provide shuttle bus and van services to and from the airport. A typical average charge is USD 85.00 + V.A.T.
Limousine - typical minimum charge is USD 110.00 + V.A.T.
There is another airport, Sabiha Gökçen Airport, on the Asian side in Kurtköy. It is currently used by low-cost and charter airlines only.
Links:
Atatürk International Airport, Yeşilköy Istanbul
Turkish AirlinesSabiha Gökçen Airportinfo sourced :
Time Out Istanbul
Posted by Spidey at 6:51 PM
Flight booked : Istanbul to Antalya ! Great price air ticket found!
Thought i had initially planned on taking the bus/coach to from Istanbul to Antalya, today i booked a flight with Turkish Airlines.
I was told that it takes approx 13 hours on the bus - which wasnt an issue to me, as i wanted to absorb & view the country ( and take photos of course!) - however i was told that most the buses depart Istanbul around 8pm onwards... which meant most of the travel would be during the night ~ so not so much of a photo vantage there eh?
So i started checkin out current flights and WooHooo found some -- for 69 and 79 TYL (turkish lira) one way with
Turkish Airlines and
Onur AirYou can book and pay online too :)
im booked now to fly out of Istanbul international on Saturday 25th March @ 8.25am (gotta be at check in 1 hour before) - and will get into Antalya at 9.40am! Just over one hour flight - very good.
By the way its interesting to note that 79 Turkish lira converts to approx $80 Australian dollars (converted at
Ozforex)
Posted by Spidey at 6:07 PM
Places i would like to visit in Turkey
Lonely Planet | Bluelist:
"Taurus Mountains (Turkey)
Snow capped peaks in August the hottest months in Turkey offer the adventurous traveller a chance to expeirnece cooler weather with snow if lucky followed by 2hr drive to Antalya to swim in the clear, turquiose waters of the mediterranean... joyous !"
Posted by Spidey at 2:35 PM
