Travel for the Over 30s

What are the scariest places you’ve landed? I went to check one of the local newspaper’s lists of ten scariest runways - and none of my four were on it. My scary airports list may be shorter: but its real. I’ve landed at all of these scary airports!

In fourth place: Old Hong Kong Airport

This was best appreciated by sitting on the right hand side of the plane - which I did.  I knew that the flight path involved a steep left hand turn over high rises - but I really didn’t expect to be able to identify the items on the balcony’s washing lines - without binoculars!  Lucky for you the airport was re-located in 1998  - longer transfer to your flight though now! Love the music on this clip

Third Place: Queenstown Airport, New Zealand 

This is a truly scenic airport - but when you take off you do appear to fly directly into a hillside - they miss, normally! It would be higher up the list but as a regional airport its often closed if the weather is extreme so you don’t generally get the combined effect of landing sidewise when the wind is up, instead you get the 5 hour coach ride to Christchurch.

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Second Place: Lukla Airport, Nepal

I walked all the way into Everest Base camp, but on the way out decided to try and get a flight out - saving myself another week of trekking. The Lukla airport is  on a hanging valley - perched serveral 1000m’s above the main valley. On arrival I was looking for where to buy a ticket - I saw a windsock so I knew the airport was close - but  I walked right past it - you see I expected the runway to be flat! These day’s its more obvious as they have sealed what was a grass runway - but its the same runway - its at about 20degree slope and at the bottom there is a very, very long drop!

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My winner though for most scary airport:

Wellington, New Zealand 

Maybe its my home town so I have flown into it a LOT. And its a major airport with good air traffic control so they rarely close it even in high winds. Wellington has a lot of that - commercial planes routinely land in 100km /hr winds. But if I ever get worried - I always check out the Australians on the plane - they are usually petrified!

This historic footage from the 1958 opening of the new airport - my partner saw it as a small boy. The runway has only been extended marginally since then, but there has never been a crash landing there - this is probably as close as it got on the opening day’s air show!

If Thailand is the travel bargain of 2009 , then Phuket is the best of the bargain! Just 5 years ago the beaches of Phuket where destroyed by the 2004 Boxing Day Tsunami. But the more recent political problems which closed the airports in December have also destroyed Phuket’s tourist arrivals just as the rebuilt hotels of the Andaman coast are open for business.

The Asian tourist market seems spooked by the political unrest - while the Europeans are happy to enjoy the half empty tropical beaches, the Americans are stuck at home with all their economic doom and gloom.

2009 is certainly the year to grab a travel bargain in Phuket.  In 2004 pictures of Khao Lak’s beach littered with debris and bodies were beamed around the world. Khao Lak lost 75% of its hotels to the massive wave, nearby Koh Phi Phi nearly 67% but with a rapidity unlikely to have been matched in the West the Thai’s have rebuilt it all, but better, cleaner and more luxurious.

Bargains are easy to find in Phuket - especially in the luxury end of the market which you normally can’t afford. A last minute deal will see you in a beach front villa at Ramada Resort in Khao Lak for less than $150/night

The super deluxe Anantara Phuket, opened in October on Mai Khao Beach at the north end of Phuket the resort mimics a floating village and every villa has a private pool.

Angkor Wat is a city lost in time. One of the biggest archeological sites in SE Asia it was not re-discovered by the west until the 19th century, though the local people always knew it was there.

It was therefore spared the ravaging and reuse which has destroyed so much of our archeological heritage: but believe me you it is very,very well discovered these days!

Be warned that the main site with the famous moat surrounding the huge palace is just the start. The standard tour with the local taxi and tuk-tuks is 3-days - but some sites are as far ways as 50km - which can be along way in a 2-stroke tuk-tuk with top speed of not very much!

Try to go early morning to avoid all the tour groups: sunrise is a lot less crowded than sun set, and a lot cooler too! There is little cover at most of the sites so the extreme heat and humidity can be an issue. Hope you like these photos!

I am starting to see lots of good news for those who want to get a travel bargain in 2009.

The recent political trouble in Thailand, which led to the peaceful occupation of the Bangkok airport seems to be having a terrible effect on the Thai tourist industry.

Air Asia has been offering free seats to Thailand from its other Asian destinations.

This should be peak season for Thailand but luxury hotels are reporting occupancy rates of less than 20%! Locals say its worse than Christmas season the year after the Tsunami - probably because the airport sit-in happened so recently. Its  crazy that foreigners are staying away though - I mean only in Thailand could protesters occupy an airport for weeks and when they left even the government admitted there was no damage done! Can you imagine that happening at Heathrow or JFK airports!

Grab a deal or upgrade yourself anywhere in Thailand: my favourite are the islands but Bangkok is a fun city too.   With so few tourists I would probably just grab some tickets and get accommodation once you arrive - be prepared to bargain - hard! After all getting something for a room is better than getting nothing!

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There is currently a siege at Bangkok’s International Airport. The official smarttraveller website of the Australian government is advising:

• Demonstrations and violent incidents at Suvarnabhumi International Airport and Don Muang Airport in Bangkok have disrupted services. Suvarnabhumi International Airport is currently closed and the duration of the closure is not known at this stage.
• Before travelling to Suvarnabhumi International Airport or Don Muang Airport, Australians should check with their airline on the status of their flight and the situation at these airports. They should closely monitor developments and follow any instructions issued by local authorities.

Anti-government protesters appear to have disrupted the airport and now the army, who have never understood they don’t have a political roll, have stepped in and demanded that the government resign.

So what do you do if you are about to jet off to Thailand for some sunny weather. Well first off, as Douglas Adams said: Don’t Panic!  This particular problem in Thailand is purely internal politics.  The trouble spots until now have been government offices and political headquarters: avoid them - they shouldn’t have been on your “must-see” list anyway.

If you are flying direct to another destination in Thailand e.g. Koh Samui or Phuket - you are NOT affected - don’t clog up your airline’s phone lines by ringing them!

IF you are flying to Bangkok in the next 48 hours: contact your airline, actually check their website for updates first and then call them.

IF you are already in Thailand and in Bangkok, it might be wise to keep a low profile, avoid the airport and head out of town by bus or train. Its not really that dangerous being in the middle of a revolution but the restaraunts tend to close down which is a real bummer.

If you are not in Bangkok, then have another green chicken curry for the rest of us and chill out to see what happens.

The politics of official travel warnings and advisories is always interesting. For years the Australians have been telling their citizens to avoid travelling to Bali, except on essential business. Now of course hardly any Australian goes to Bali except on non-essential travel: well essential work on the skin tan, the surfing technique, the cheap drinking and the essential spa experience. Not what Foreign Affairs consider “essential” I am afraid. To be honest nothing short of a major tsunami is going to stop Australians looking for a cheap holiday at places where their dollars will go further

Five years after the horrific Bali bombings which killed many overseas tourists, including 88 Australians the execution of the Bali bombers has finally increased the death toll by another 3 to a total of 205. Interestingly although the papers are full of “warning” about Australians travelling to Bali the official alert is still at level that means the airlines do not have to refund tickets, and they aren’t. The major airlines: Jetstar, Qantas and Virgin Blue are waiving fees for delaying air travel to Bali, but you still are probably going to end up paying extra for the difference of the new fare – which coming into December is always going to be higher aren’t they! Garuda are not even waiving the fees - and good on them – at the end of the day there is either a threat or not – and despite the newspaper hysteria, there appears to be no credible threat.

At the end of the day every tourist who doesn’t travel to Hindu Bali, is giving another victory to the terrorists – they win everyday we change our behaviour because of fear.

I need a crown on a tooth: the quote I got in Australia was A$1500 (say around US$1300 when the exchange rate isn’t stupid i.e. a month ago!) and that seems to be around the same as the US price. Now I am not used to paying this sort of price for fairly routine dental care: in fact the same procedure would cost be around $700 at “home” in New Zealand. Unfortunately New Zealand is an expensive flight away from Perth. So I took to the internet to see where I could find some cheap dental care: and the answer was Malaysia.

I got on the phone, we share a timezone which helps, and discovered that the same procedure would cost me somewhere between US$250 to US$600 - the high end was with the Prime Minister’s dentist in the spectacular Petronas Two Towers in downtown Kuala Lumpur, the cheapest still spoke fluent English on the phone (that’s the receptionist not the dentist) and was recommended in expat forums.

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Interestingly compared to the rest of South-East Asia, with the exception of Singapore and Brunei, Malaysia is one of the most expensive destination and is easily much more expensive to travel in than its near neighbours such as Thailand and Indonesia and nearby Philippines.

In other words I could probably around US$150 for the same procedure: especially if got out my old Bahasa phrase book. There is a lot of cheap dental care in Malaysia and elsewhere in Asia.

Am I going to go there for my dental work? Probably I am waiting for the best

The question is why are not more Australian’s going there for it? I think because it just hasn’t occurred to them. Its not a question about training standards, most of the practices I contacted had dentists who had been trained in Australia, New Zealand or the UK.