Need a 3rd destination for a solo trip

[Spankytoes 1743]

I’ve decided that I’m going to deviate from the normal Western Europe path next year. I’m going to cash in some miles and fly Royal Jordanian to Amman. Then I’m going to make my way over to Petra. Then I’m going to go down to Istanbul and do the 3 nights I was supposed to do a few years back. I need another destination to tie the thing together.

If I put it at the front of the trip, I’m debating Jerusalem or Dubai. I’m not Jewish, or religious, so Jerusalem doesn’t grab me. Outside of the Burj Khalifa, Dubai doesn’t really excite me either.

If I added at the end if the trip, I’m stumped. Common sense says Athens, but I don’t have a huge interest to go there and I’m fairly certain I’ll take the Mrs to the Greek Islands in the next few years. I’ve got a myriad of places that Turkish Airlines flies, so Western Europe would be feasible. (Preferably somewhere new) I’m strongly considering a trip to Tehran, but I fucking hate tours, which would be required. If I did Eastern Europe, Bucharest and St. Petersburg are tops. I haven’t been to the latter since 1996, but I’ll have plenty of chances with the Mrs once we become empty nesters.

Any ideas of must see places in the area? I can spend up to a week after my solid choices.

 

 

[Shaddie 1651]

Been 20 years but I remember the Red Sea has some great scuba opportunities. Israel is easy not sure about Egypt.

[midtown 3348]

39 minutes ago, Spankytoes said:

so Jerusalem doesn’t grab me

I think the food is pretty awesome. 

[Firemans4Horn 18123]

Cappadocia is pretty amazing

 

 

[Thetexashammer 1062]

So I've traveled enough by now I sometimes have to asked "have I been to this town before?" and sometimes I can't remember for sure. Point is, I see you "going places" but not so much on the "doing things". I am reasonably tired of seeing things, especially one more hotel room, and I want to do things. So my question is, what do you like to do? I like to hike, fish, and drink coffee or adult beverages and just relax., preferably after a long hike or something that made me tired. I prefer primitive over fancy. 

Cyprus, and the rest of Turkey, are both in between Jordan and Istanbul. Tons of things to do up in there. Turkish Riviera seems nice. Ephesus is on my list. I hear Syria is lovely. Overnight in Wadi Rum.

I'd probably do Egypt simply because I know the wife couldn't handle the body odor and all around swarthiness and Egypt is supposed to be amazing. 

But again, I'd choose things I wanted to do first, then locations. I like diving and hiking, so beaches with mountains nearby. See: Corsica or Cyprus.

Edited November 9, 2018 by Thetexashammer

[Bernard 879]

3 hours ago, Thetexashammer said:

 Ephesus is on my list.

Ephesus is nice, but Termessos is better. Do both. Thank me later. 

Bernard

[52-80 19252]

great seafood in cyprus, but boring.  great everything food in turkey and quite diverse as well.  if its warm weather time id probably sprawl out in izmir

[Spankytoes 1743]

I may have found a solution last night: Skip Petra, do 3-4 days in Istanbul and then on to Johannesburg. I found a ridiculously good option for South Africa for 30K Citi Thank You Points + $55 from IST and JNB-JFK direct for 40K CTY Points + $73. Then BA to Victoria Falls to inch closer to a safari.

That sounds like a winner.

[Firemans4Horn 18123]

How long is your trip? That’s a lot of flying for a couple of days in South Africa. If it were me I would stick to the Middle East/North Africa on this trip and do a separate Safari trip in the future  

 

If if you want to do a safari I would fly direct from JFK to Nairobi and then take a 30 minute flight over to Tanzania. Ngorongoro Crater and Sarengeti are amazing. 

[52-80 19252]

Ngorongoro is bae

[bluto 4942]

Mexico City?

[Spankytoes 1743]

55 minutes ago, Firemans4Horn said:

How long is your trip? That’s a lot of flying for a couple of days in South Africa. If it were me I would stick to the Middle East/North Africa on this trip and do a separate Safari trip in the future  

 

If if you want to do a safari I would fly direct from JFK to Nairobi and then take a 30 minute flight over to Tanzania. Ngorongoro Crater and Sarengeti are amazing. 

I'm going to do 2 weeks at most. Haven't decided when yet. Next year is my really busy year at work and I have to get the youngest moved down to Dallas and setup for college. So I'm thinking about doing something over Labor Day to save on a few vacation days and I won't get killed for being out of the office. Late July is the earliest I could consider but that sounds like a miserable time in the ME heat. Not so bad for Africa.

You're right, that's a shitload of flying. However, Petra is a 3rd tier destination for me. Even when I get to AMM, it's still a 10 hour ride round trip to see an ancient carved rock that I only mildly care about. (And 100% due to Indiana Jones) All the flights from AMM to Aquaba have lengthy layovers with a night time arrival, so I don't save anything there. Nothing else in the area really moves the needle for me. That's why I considered lopping it off. It's either 10 hours on a plane to J'Burg or 10 hours on a bus. An openjaw from JFK to Nairobi and out of J'Burg is intriguing. I could use Avianica Lifemiles for one leg and United miles for the other to fly South African Airways. Victoria Falls would be a must, so Capetown and J'Burg would be included somewhere. 

I will need to book at the end of the month when my Miles post and to grab my airfare. Will consider some itineraries this weekend. In the end, I think you're right. It needs to be 8-10 days in the ME or 2 weeks in Africa, but not both.

[Js1 85580]

Definitely recommend Jerusalem even if not Jewish or religious.  It's steeped in history and the dynamics of being a city divided into 3 distinct sections. Food is awesome. Go out on Jaffa Street.  Go to the Souk.

[Spankytoes 1743]

25 minutes ago, Js1 said:

Definitely recommend Jerusalem even if not Jewish or religious.  It's steeped in history and the dynamics of being a city divided into 3 distinct sections. Food is awesome. Go out on Jaffa Street.  Go to the Souk.

My only objection would be that I plan to go to Iran at some point and my passport expires in 2022. Can't do both with the customs stamp from Israel.

[conVINCEd 21469]

If you’re going to Victoria Falls, just hop over to Botswana, rent one of these, and spend a week in the bush.

https://bushlore.com/toyota-land-cruiser-79-4x4-camper-cruc2/

 

[texasdago 7580]

Do you ski?  Go ski in the Alps... find a place with massive vertical and amazing views and go nuts for a few days.  You can do it somewhere like Chamonix where you have access to all kinds of terrain and a fun town.  So many options in France, Italy, Austria or Switzerland.  Knowing your desire to get your dollar to stretch, Italy cheapest, then Austria, France then obviously Switzerland.  You could stay in Cervinia and ski both on the Italian and Swiss side of the Matterhorn but the Italian side is drastically cheaper.

So, that or Mexico City.

[gecko 1104]

You don't have to be a religious person to find Jerusalem to be one of the most awesome places on earth.  Don't miss it if you are in the neighborhood.

[gecko 1104]

27 minutes ago, Spankytoes said:

My only objection would be that I plan to go to Iran at some point and my passport expires in 2022. Can't do both with the customs stamp from Israel.

Also, Israel will not stamp your passport.  They will issue you a small authorization "slip" to be in the country that you should keep with you as you travel about.  You surrender it when you leave....

Edited November 9, 2018 by gecko

[LonghornJones 837]

15 minutes ago, gecko said:

You don't have to be a religious person to find Jerusalem to be one of the most awesome places on earth.  Don't miss it if you are in the neighborhood.

You sound Jewish.

[Js1 85580]

22 minutes ago, gecko said:

Also, Israel will not stamp your passport.  They will issue you a small authorization "slip" to be in the country that you should keep with you as you travel about.  You surrender it when you leave....

Correct.  Basically a visitor visa on a piece of paper.  There's no stamp in your passport. 

[Firemans4Horn 18123]

Have you seen the pyramids of Giza? Pretty easy to get to from Istanbul. Cairo is a cool city for a couple of days but I didn’t really feel like doing a week long Nile river cruise so I moved on to Istanbul. 

 

Southwest Turkey is pretty awesome if you want to do something similar to the Greek Isles. I was on a little 14 person sailboat for 4 days with people I met at my hostel and we island hopped around the med. Very affordable, fun and relaxing. 

[52-80 19252]

fuck everything about cairo tho

[Spankytoes 1743]

4 hours ago, Firemans4Horn said:

Have you seen the pyramids of Giza? Pretty easy to get to from Istanbul. Cairo is a cool city for a couple of days but I didn’t really feel like doing a week long Nile river cruise so I moved on to Istanbul. 

 

Southwest Turkey is pretty awesome if you want to do something similar to the Greek Isles. I was on a little 14 person sailboat for 4 days with people I met at my hostel and we island hopped around the med. Very affordable, fun and relaxing. 

I did Cairo for a day when I was 19. So the pyramids got crossed off. Marrakesh or Casablanca could be doable if I couple it with Spain. I've never done Madrid, just Barcelona and Pamplona. Valencia would be cool, but I need an airline hub for Star or Oneworld. 

Southwest Turkey intrigues me. Turkey is one of those places where I'm a little apprehensive traveling away from big cities, which is ironic because of where I'm going next fall. (On a Russian passport) I'll check it out. Thanks

Edited November 9, 2018 by Spankytoes

[Spankytoes 1743]

4 hours ago, gecko said:

Also, Israel will not stamp your passport.  They will issue you a small authorization "slip" to be in the country that you should keep with you as you travel about.  You surrender it when you leave....

Understood. They do the same thing in Cuba. I'd want the stamp. They are my "trophies".

I'm considering it. 3 years isn't the end of the world to wait for Iran.

[TornACL 7722]

What about the Turquoise Coast?  I know you said you're apprehensive traveling away from big cities but it looks awesome. If this trip ends up being in August I'd stay away from Greece.

What about Beirut?

Going from Jordan to Turkey all the way to J'Burg seems a little incongruous. A 1-2 hour flight out of Istanbul to another interesting region seems like a lot better fit than flying 10 hours down to the tip of Africa and turning the end half into a safari.

[TexasHooch 5142]

I haven't done Turkey but I have done Jerusalem, Amman, and Petra.  Jerusalem is amazing.  Best place I've ever been and I've been around.  Between the old city (little of everything), West Jerusalem (Jews) and East Jerusalem (Muslims), it's really 3 distinct locations.  Throw in Palestine (West Bank) to really experience the full effect.

One word of caution.  It's true that Israel doesn't stamp the passport- I don't think a stamp is even an option anymore- but the countries that care obviously know that, so they'll be looking really closely at for indications of crossings at the Jordanian and Egyptian borders.  It goes both ways by the way.  Israel won't deny you entry based on the stamps you have, but prepare for a long hard time if you have some unfriendly stamps.  I did ok but I have a buddy who spent 8 hours at Ben Gurion over it.  

[Butch Had Not 2993]

Croatia, but it sounds like you are looking toward the mid east.  

[Rockwell Torrey 1298]

Try Taiwan.  Foods amazing, people are warm and friendly, very safe., really cool history.  It is everything we want Communist China to be.

[Js1 85580]

On ‎11‎/‎9‎/‎2018 at 11:48 PM, TexasHooch said:

One word of caution.  It's true that Israel doesn't stamp the passport- I don't think a stamp is even an option anymore- but the countries that care obviously know that, so they'll be looking really closely at for indications of crossings at the Jordanian and Egyptian borders.  It goes both ways by the way.  Israel won't deny you entry based on the stamps you have, but prepare for a long hard time if you have some unfriendly stamps.  I did ok but I have a buddy who spent 8 hours at Ben Gurion over it.  

And those mofos are thorough.  Hope your buddy's butthole healed quickly.

[texasdago 7580]

On 11/10/2018 at 3:54 AM, Rockwell Torrey said:

Try Taiwan.  Foods amazing, people are warm and friendly, very safe., really cool history.  It is everything we want Communist China to be.

Taiwan is pretty bad ass and I like Taipei a lot more than people led me to believe.  Great great street food, you can get into the jungle/mountains easily as well as to the coast.  

[Spankytoes 1743]

I pussed out and booked a friend I for Oktoberfest, Salzburg, Amsterdam and probably Rome. The prospect of doing a solo trip looked less and less appealing. Plus, it’s his first time overseas so I get to play tour guide a bit.