Taxi/ Uber/Gab/rent a car in Thailand

If you are planning to visit Thailand then this blog will certainly prepare you for the possible taxi scammers.

First of all, there are different color of taxis in Thailand, meter and non meter taxis, UBER and GRAB taxis, and illegal taxis.

Just keep it very clear that the METER taxis is the CHEAPEST option for you in Thailand. Usually driver will try to negotiate for LUMP SUM amount, DO NOT FALL IN TO IT, the meter amount in any case is still the cheapest option. 

The foreigner who visit Thailand usually trust the app based taxis services like UBER and GRAB and from my experience they are twice the cost of the METERED amount. But people usually have a long trust in the app and hesitant to take the actual taxis they still prefer the app service.

Rent a car or Motorbike

Taxis are available abundantly and I do not recommend the renting option for 2 reason, the Unclear insurance system if car is stolen or damaged, secondly the parking. If still very necessary to have a car for yourself then take it with driver and it wont cost much extra.

" I asked the renting person what happen if the car is stolen or damaged and he said me with big smile , YOU PAY IT"

AIRPORT Taxi

Both the airport in Bangkok has improved taxi service, there is a single counter and the customer takes the taxis one by one, the address is informed to the counter and receipt is given to the customer and the driver, you need to pay the total amount end of the journey.

IT looks simple BUT there are many issues later on, which you must know it.

1- Buy a sim card with internet service and use mobile internet for mapping ( Google map works online only and Sygic is a good software to use as offline in Thailand) most of the drivers are not sure about the way and sometime I think they just like to be stuck in traffic.

2- HIGHWAY ISSUE, 

This is one of the biggest issue if you are taking taxi from or To airport, you need to inform the driver if you agree to take highway or not, this can be an easy option if you have google map and you can see the traffic condition, there are 2 portions of highway involved and both parts cost 70 and 50 Baht respectively, this money need to be paid by the customer. If you do not say him to take highway , the driver will take normal way and possible to stuck in traffic for minimum 1 hour. sometime its just enough to take one part of the Highway and then back to normal road. just keep checking your gps traffic condition. Or just say driver to take highway and pay the money, which is hardly 3 Euro in total and does save a lot of time.

3-AIRPORT fees

There is fixed airport fees of 50 Baht, which must be given at the end of journey to the driver, this is also written on your receipt. Just be prepared for it as many tourist think this as a scam and fight with the driver.

4- Taxi commission

If you are single, its high possibility that the taxi driver will try to show you some parts of Bangkok, usually red lights areas, they get some commission from these places so be very clear about your address and DO NOT fall in to this offers.

5-Taxis at the islands like Krabi or Phuket

Meter Taxis on the islands are hard to find and usually illegal taxis ( I think its a monopoly of some car renting agents) run in this area and rate is fixed before the journey. The fare is abnormal high and cars are limited so usually people prefer to rent BIKES here, but the driving style and parking issues makes it a night mare, I recommend to use hotel tourism service and there are few websites that gives great fare for transfer from airport to the hotel or any other place. I recommend this service for Phuket transfer( http://www.phuketsrctravel.com/transfer_service.php ). I find them cheapest and professional.

6-TUKTUK

It is more like a tourist ride and are much more expensive then other car services, better fix a rate before and use your bargain skills.

Lastly, when you still in Meter Taxi, make sure the starting price is 35 and its counting as the car start running.

Finally its a quite safe and interesting city, wish you a safe travel. 
and short distances the bike taxis are best deal in traffic conditions.

Osaka to Kyoto, Japan

Kyoto is one of the famous places to visit in Japan. I would say if you want to see the modern and advanced japan then go to Tokyo and for real cultural and historical Japan then visit KYOTO.

Kyoto doesn't have his own airport and its necessary to arrive at the OSAKA airport and then there  are a lot of complicated options to reach Kyoto. Complicated in a way as your choice of transport is really dependent on how long you stay in Japan, what is your future travel plan and how much you can afford.

Arrival at the airport.
The airport is modern, before going to the immigration fill out completely the immigration form( most airlines give it during flight) or just take it form the counter before immigration control. I totally recommend to fill the form before landing and save time. As you walk towards the immigration one officer check if you have filled the immigration form and also the custom declaration form. After this there are counters which just scan your passport and finger print and then you stand in for the immigration counter. The process is quick and they just put a sticker on your passport showing the validity of your visa.
After immigration take your luggage and pass through the custom control and hand over the custom declaration form and they will check your passport again.

 Exit the main door and on the right side you will find INFORMATION center, usually crowded with the tourist. Before going there its better to decide what ticket you actually want.Option are
1- Take JR pass for 7 days and travel unlimited on JR lines
2- Take single journey train HARUKA etc card for one time travel
3- Take bus
How to choose
If you plan to visit multiple cities in Japan and stay like a couple of days in each city, then its totally recommended to take the JR pass which cost nearly 217 Euro and travel hassle free to different cities using fast trains.
If you like to travel by train and use prepaid card and then HARUKA and IOCOA is good option, and cost nearly 3000yen for one way and takes 78 minutes to Kyoto station.
BUT
if you are going to stay longer in Kyoto and you don't have plan to visit another cities soon, so the bus is the cheapest option. One way cost 2300Yen and return ticket cost 4000 yen. Which is a cheap way to reach Kyoto station and takes 88 minutes.

 The lines for the bus, First come First serve basis, buses depart every 20 min in day time so do not panic if you don't get a free space.

 The time table and bus time is shown on the screen, remember PLATFORM 8 to get the bus.

There is ticket office just next to the bus station too, encase you just rushed out of airport with out buying ticket.

 After reaching to Kyoto you can take a SUBWAY ticket for 290 yen for one way, 600yen for one day and 1000 yen for SUBWAY+ BUS for one day pass.

Change the currency at the airport, its similar rate as in the city. you can use CARD money in most of the places in Japan but cash is more welcomed, and small vendors you can just use cash.

Below find some useful links
1- For JR pass
https://www.jrpass.com/?gclid=Cj0KCQjw9afOBRDWARIsAJW4nvy31uaiIUC5b69qaJ9Rt-RHbDDMuePf9PvQpG8LrVW1NFKpguiaeJoaAjUZEALw_wcB

2-Kyoto subway
https://www.kyotostation.com/kyoto-subway-lines/

Eindhoven, Netherlands

3 Days at Eindhoven, Netherlands

Eindhoven is 5th biggest city in the Netherlands with population of 0.2 Million. The city has its own airport, well connected railway system and good public transport system. the city is within 100mies from Roterdam, Amsterdam and Cologne( Germany).

Airport
Eindhoven airport is just 5 Km in the north west of the city and connected with the city with bus 401 and 400 the timing and other information can be found here on this website. http://www.oveindhoven.nl/Airport_Eindhoven_Bus_English.htm
The buses are very frequent and no need to check the schedule. After arrival at airport then exit from the right door and the bus stop is just in the front. If you are thinking to rent a car then do it at the airport as the city center offices are always without cars or with expensive options. The car renting offices  are also next to the bus stop.
The bus ticket can be bought from the driver in cash for 3.75 Euro for one way or a 24 hour ticket fro 6 Euro. The bus takes 25 minutes to reach to the main railway station.

Hotel
The Hotels in Eindhoven are extremely expensive so I recommend either do a very early booking or find pension or houses with rented rooms. The breakfast in the hotel usually cost around 9 Euro so it better to eat outside  form some food market or Mcdonalds. The hotels near to Railway station are best option as its possible to walk around all part of the city. The city is safe and  people are usually very cooperative. ( average hotel room cost 30 Euro per night)

This house  has 7 renting room and near to railway station, name: SYCAMORE
Things to see
The town is small and can be seen easily in 2 days. The places of attraction are
1- House of Philips
2- Philips Museum
3- St. Catherine's Church
4- streets near Town center, the architecture is amazing
5- Shopping ( Primark)

The Philips House is one of the most famous place in Eindhoven and people believe that the city is known to the world because of the Philips and hos inventions . the House is located on the street PARLAAN 87.

Philips museum is located near the center and if you have young people accompanying you then can be a worth visit place. the ticket cost 9Eur per person.

For Eating I recommend to go to the North of the station by walking there are alot of international restaurants. the place is next to the University and due to students offera wide variety of foods with relativelt cheaper rates. The street name is Kruisstraat 

Few pictures from the streets of Eindhoven

Visit Van Gogh Village NUENEN
 The VAN Gogh ( Famous Artist) village is near the Eindhoven city and you can reach there by taking he bus number  and 322. This place is truly magical and has beatiful streets and few old houses from the art work of the Van Gogh's work. His200 paintings were made in this city including the famous Potato Eater painting.
The town is just 9 Km from the Eindhoven city and the ticket cost nearly 3 Euro one way
Few of the photos form this town are as below.

 The Bus station is equipped with display screen and easy to see the number of the bus and timings.

 Church at Nuenen

 Van Gogh portrait on a restaurant wall

 Potato eater monument 

The house of his wife

I think its a wonderful city and I recommend it for the tourists
Have a great tay

Milan before the travel

Lets get ready to travel Milan, Issues are
1- Which airport to take
2- How will I reach Center
3- Where to stay
4- How much it will cost
From search on internet and information from friends staying in Milan, I am up to following knowledge
1- Its not actually a tourist city and mostly famous for expo and business meeting, just a church and few ruins form Roman empire can be the tourist attraction.
2- Its not safe in night and Mian people are clever to cheat you.
3- Its highly overrated city and few night stay will cost more then any average EU city.
4- Its mixture of many nationalities and I will experience something mixture for many foreigners living in this city.

First things First>>>>>WHICH airport
MILAN has 3 airports
1-Malpensa airport, (MXP) it is located East of Milan and most of the International flight uses this airport
2-Linate airport, nearest from the  center of the city and often used for domenstic flights in Italy
3- Bergamo airport, its located west of Milan and actually its not for city Milann but many cheap airlines uses this airport and show it as Milan airport in their websites.
So It is decided that I will be using the MXP airport by Czech Airlines from Prague to Milan,
How to reach Center
The train leaves every 30 min from the MXP airport and cost 12 Euro per one way and 18Euro for 2 way. Thejourney takes 30 min without stops and 45 min if train make stops. The train station is located at terminal 1.time table and online tickets can be found here http://www.malpensaexpress.it/it/malpensa-express/home.aspx
The buses are also available and takes nearly 1 hour to reach to the central station and cost 8-10 Euro.
Where to stay
I book hotel from www.booking.com and found Milan really expensive. even 2 or 3 star hotels are nearly 70Euro per night. I like staying near the center so I can see the city in night walking but Milan reviews shows that center parts are not soo safe in the night and it will be a difficult choice to make, but Metro looks like goes every where in the city.
Hopefully 300 Euro for 3 nights with food will be a good deal.
Things to see
very short choice
1- Milan cathedral
2- Roman ruins
3- Sforza castle


Hope to have a good stay. I will share my experience after travel

Barcelona Airport to center

Barcelona airport has 2 major terminals: Terminal 1 and 2. both are 5 Km apart and there is shuttle service and public buses (46) running between both terminals.

Terminal 2 has train station attached and also linked with public and private buses, whereas the Terminal 1 has just the buses to connect.
If you arrive at Barcelona, First thing is to buy the tickets from the machine (ticket vending machines) there are many options from 1 time ticket to Barcelona 5 day pass. The best ticket is Barcelona T10 ticket that cost 9.8 Euros and you can take 10 rides and you can change Metro underground without paying extra ticket. Otherwise each ticket separately cost 2.15 Euro.

The Aerobus is most easy way to reach center, the bus cost nearly 6Euro perway and 11 Euro for return ticket, The ticket can be bought directly from driver or online. The bus has free wifi and runs every 10 minutes from terminal 1 and 2. for returning all the buses start from pl. Catalunya, the bus A1 goes to terminal 1 and A2 to terminal 2.

The other bus option is bus 46. after exit form airport on the left you can see the bus stands( hardly 100 meters) you can buy ticket from driver for 2.15 Euro or use your T10 card. The bus takes nearly 25 minute to reach the center PL. Espanya which is also connected by metro and buses.

The Renfe train station is just under the terminal 2 in Barcelona and ticket cost nearly 4Euro for 1 way and the train goes directly to the Passeig de Gracia, which is walking distance to Pl.Catalunya and also connected to Metro station.