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midtown

Certifiably Surly
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Everything posted by midtown

  1. This is the most aggression from spurs on the day
  2. So you're in St. Ignacio?
  3. Just a heads up that people will name their crabs the most vulgar things and the ring master will call every single name out. "slimy pussy" and "cock and balls" etc
  4. Jesús. Left to do a school pickup and bam. This team is painful to watch
  5. Pretty sure you were the blue tang recommender. Ritchies (asian) and Caye Mart (arab). For some reason I end up in the Caye Mart unless Im buying more cooking stuff. Right around the corner going north is a better fruit/veggie stand FYI. Tino recommended it.
  6. I'm not a big cocktail kind of guy (I normally just drink my 11.2 oz Belikens) but like cooter when I've been in the water and need to get that salt water out a cocktail hits the spot. All the mixed drinks at Palapa are good and strong. I have never in all my visits seen a dog nor have I ever even had my bags opened. I carry on so I am usually one of the first few in customs even if I am not in the front at immigration. Once I was asked a close ended question. Do you have only clothes in your bag? Yes and that was that.
  7. Please post some photos and color on St. Ignacio. It's 100% on my next visit. Are you driving over there or flying? @Buzzrock
  8. Did I tell you about the time in Hue when I couldn't find my hotel for the life of me. I have a crazy great sense of direction. I never ever get lost even in brand new cities and never forget what hotel room I am in. (Back then GPS and google maps didn't work in Viet Nam) Even in an intoxicated state. What I didn't know was that in smaller towns in Viet Nam they turn off all the lights to the hotels, buildings and houses to conserve energy after about 10pm. At least they did. Its surreal. The whole block looks abandoned. I walked up and down the same street and the two streets paralleling my hotel street at least 4 times looking for a lit up hotel. Finally some guy who must have been watching on a motorbike saw me confused AF and told me he would take me to my hotel. Jumped on the back and he's going exactly where I had been. He pulls up to what looks like an abandoned building only for me to realize its my hotel. At least when I got to Hoi An I was prepared to be walking down pitch black streets after about 10pm. So when I left this brits room at 11pm in Hoi An at least I knew I was in for a 45min walk in the dark.
  9. In a lot of places it's camouflage
  10. It is and its much easier today than it was 8 years ago. Viet Nam, Cambodia, and Laos all have e-visas. I think it took me a 3-4 weeks to receive it by email.
  11. Welp. No manager no director. Just blow this fucker up
  12. This must be where the term pee shooter came from
  13. What we really need is a pinned post with links to the thread for each different countries/regions as a travel guide vs having to search. The amount of travel knowledge and experience on surly is pretty deep
  14. Lots of countries on the level 3 that do not give me pause. Level 4 yes. Btw Chicago should be level 5 but I took my kids their last year. The problem with those travel warnings is that they are general for the entire country and not granular. There are simply some regions and towns that you would have no reason to go to and in most touristy areas security and police is pretty beefy.
  15. I will admit that there are certain levels of comfort I want to have when I travel at my age. I don't need a five star hotel but I'm also not down with sleeping on a dirt floor when its 90 degrees in a mosquito net. Nor am I going to spend 18 hours on a train with a squat toilet to save $100 on a flight. I will admit though that one of the most fun days I had was finding the backpakers in Hue and hanging with them. They welcomed this old dude into their flock
  16. When we were in Laos we stayed at a very nice hotel with a beautiful pool. We turned in our laundry for $10 a bag and sat by the pool and sucked down drinks. Came back to our rooms with folded laundry. In Bruges I found a laundry mat two doors down from a little restaurant/bar a few blocks from my hotel. Put my clothes in. Went and had lunch. Went back and put them in the dryer. Went back to the bar and read while they dried. Easy peasy
  17. I think there are a lot of ways you can get into international travel and make it easier. First is baby steps. Don't try to go to Mongolia on your first intl trip. Try a place a little closer to home but where you still are out of your comfort zone. Learn to deal with customs, locals, public transport, language barriers, exchange rates. Two. Learn to travel light. Lost luggage and the lack of flexibility can ruin your experience. Invest in good luggage and by that I mean backpack. Attempt to alleviate all things that can irritate you. ie pay for clear, pre, and global. Realize you can wash clothes everywhere. I always pick a spot half way and look for laundry or hotel laundry. Usually coincides with a rest and or work day. Third. If you traveling with someone be absolutely sure you have similar travel styles. Traveling with women is a whole new ballgame. They come with too much luggage (see light travel comment) and generally don't want to take public transpo or have to deal with issues and they stress out. Because eventually something is going to go sideways.
  18. Put me in the "as long as our owners see the club as a money making machine vs winning it doesn't matter" camp. Esp in the this area with mega rich clubs spending with abandon.
  19. I will add this story. On my first trip to Viet Nam I was on the top deck of a boat in Ha Long Bay and it was just me and this Long Beach cop. We were just sitting there in awe of the scenery. He says to me "do you know why we are on this boat right now looking at this?" I thought he was going to say something like really philosophical but he just said. "We pressed enter" That has stayed with me. So many people dream up a trip and then get to the point of actually committing and bail and exit out of the flights etc.
  20. I can address the language barrier. Of all those countries I mentioned only in 3-4 did I find language to be an issue. And I speak a little bit of Spanish Colombia sans Cartagena. Not even the hotel staff at our hotel in Bogota spoke English Panama was 50/50 Tokyo. Very little English at all Laos. Hit or miss
  21. My take is that I am saving this for when long haul travel becomes less appealing most from physical limitations and I'm getting there. My back and knee are getting closer to where a 12 hour flight will be less and less desirable. Although I have seen a decent amount of the US. The parks and big sky areas I have not. There are country specific threads and I have posted lots of pictures etc there. But I can throw a few more out.
  22. In all my travels with all the people I've met and even on this board. When asked. Almost every single person has said Viet Nam is their favorite country. It is mine. Cambodia is right up there as well so if you go I'd definitely look at shooting over to Siem Reap from Sai Gon. Flights are super cheap.
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