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Can this be real life? No individual Screen on an 8 hour flight?

As a travel enthusiast. I love reading other blogs of people who are out there, doing what I love doing, but doing it more often.

They are interesting people with some amazing stories and experiences of lands I have been to and those that are on my to do list. I know a couple of them personally and there is something for everyone in the list. Just because I am a guy, doesn’t mean that I’m not interested in what a family’s take on a destination is, or some of the issues that the solo female traveller comes up against. It all makes for great reading, and I frequently read all of these with a hot cup of coffee in hand, either in the back garden or in one of the many coffee shops in Dubai, they always give me inspiration for my next trip too, whether near or far!

Enjoy!

The solo female traveller – Footsteps of a Wanderer – Sam is a good friend of mine and an avid travel fan and blogger. Knowing her personally, I can see how she ends up in some of the predicaments she does. But it’s all very entertaining reading. In fact, I look forward to a trip with Sam in the new year, to maybe somewhere like Yemen. So keep an eye out for that post in the new year.

The Family traveller – Expat Explorers – I know Helen from the blogging scene in Dubai, although her and her family are recently relocated to Singapore so expect plenty more handy hints and insider tips for travel in and around South East Asia.

The long term traveller – Nomadic Matt – Matt’s blog is one I really enjoy, as he is an out and out traveller. He’s been travelling the world since 2006, and I don’t mean going on holiday, he went away for 12 months planned, didn’t come back until 18 months later, stopped  home after 18 months and 3 months later was off again.Which to me is just incredible, what’s even better, is that he has numerous tips and tricks to always get the best deal and the most for your money but not sacrifice quality or comfort. A great read anytime for any travel enthusiast.

Regarded by the Lonely Traveller as one of the best travel blogs in the world – Inside the Travel Lab – and according to Google is one of the most popular, Abi is a doctor who gave up that life to travel. Her blog is both inspiring and mesmerising. It’s a great example of someone putting their mind to their passion and living the life of their dreams. She takes a friendly but informative approach that makes for easy reading anytime.

And the last one on this tiny list – there are so many more but will save them for another time – is the hilarious Johnny Vagabond – this guy is touring the world and keeping me in stitches as he does so. The most normal of things is often turned into a hilarious out take from his life. If you are feeling down, and want a smile, I was going to whittle it down to his Crazy Stories section, but actually just read any of it!!

Enjoy and catch you next time.

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Serene and beautiful at sunrise

This is a dive trip we have done once a year for the last 3 years and most of the people on the dhow we see once a year! We go through Al Marsa Musandam It’s a great little trip, and ideally requires an

early escape from Dubai on the Thursday evening. Especially now as you have to go through the Corniche border post at Dibba now and this could well slow you down. We set off around 4.50pm from Dubai and got to the border just before 7pm. We then spent about an hour at the border, not really sure what was going on.

This is a border post manned by Sharjah Police and you never know what might happen. Some of our party came through earlier in the day and had everything confiscated. We stood around for an hour, showed them everything we had (3 cars worth of people and drinks), were given two options, go back to Dubai, or go to the police station and come back and he still wouldn’t let us through. Then, after he rolled his eyes as the 12 bottles of fizzy grape stuff in my cool box. He told us all to pack it away, gave us our passports back and we were through! You just never know.

You will almost certainly have to wait, but if you have no alcohol, I think it will be a smoother transition. And you can acquire your ‘vitamins’ on board for a very reasonable price. The border patrol did actually say that 1 or 2 bottles would be fine, but my advice to you is DON’T take alcohol with you.

Once through there is a new winding route to the port and our guide for the weekend, the ever cheerful Rico was waiting for us in the Al Marsa office which is just on the right as you drive into the port. Head in and pay up for everything, pick up your kit if you are diving, unload your car into the little pick up that will take all your stuff to the dhow and then find a place to park your car for a couple days.

We had hoped to be all on the boat and out the port by 7.30pm but with the border we set sail about 9pm in the end.Perfect weather, a hearty dinner and a couple of those aforementioned grape drinks and we were on our way. As always there are the staple attendees and then a couple new faces. This trip happening in the middle of our house move and a stressful time at work for Thera and I, it was great that as we pulled out of port, we knew there was no phone coverage, no email, nothing except sunshine, diving and relaxing. Some of these dhow trips can be huge party boats, but it must be age or something but our boat was a very civilised, entertaining, enjoyable group of people relaxing.

There is always a mix of divers, snorkellers, sun bathers, sleepers and kayakers, all of whom are catered to. For the divers, you can choose to have a pretty full on weekend under the water – 4 dives on Friday and 3 on Saturday if you so wish. We usually put our kit together on the Thursday night on the way up the coast as the first

Morning Sleepy Head – sleeping on deck

dive of the morning this trip is a 7.30am tip to Ras Al Fayurrah.

The weather this year was the best so far in terms of temperature and sleeping on the deck. Waking up to the sun rise on serene calm waters surrounded by the Oman coastline is AMAZING. A reasonable night’s sleep meant up early to grab a coffee and then get on the dive boat. Something about diving really builds your appetite, so a pre breakfast dive with some rays, a massive moray eel, max depth of 26.9m and a very strong current, made for a pretty good first dive. The current meant it actually turned into an enjoyable drift dive. Back to the boat and a hearty breakfast, some surface time and on to dive 2.

Hard Rock Cafe

Second dive of the day was at Hard Rock Cafe – a site I’ve not dived before. There is a dhow wreck at 24m. It’s only been down there since April 2012, but looks like it’s been there for 10 years. The visibility wasn’t great but the water temp was great. Coming up to abut 18m for most of it, we were surrounded by wildlife, shoals of various fish, a solitary Barracuda, box fish and some massive Angel fish. A very pleasant second dive.

Third dive of the day was diving the coast line just round from the bay where our dhow was anchored. It was the murkiest dive of the day and as it was getting towards late afternoon, a little chilly on the boat afterwards. This factor actually deterred us from the night dive and 3 dives was enough for us that day. 2 huge rays came out of the murky waters to really scare Thera – they are so graceful and beautiful to watch, even if a little scary when the huge shadow comes at you out of the green darkness. Another strong current saw us end up out in the channel a little bit around the head land – safety stop was interesting as it was a little like being in a washing machine!

After three dives it was time to relax. Two of the guys wanted to do the night dive, so the rest of the boat chatted, read, slept and waited for the 2 hardy divers to return. Then dinner – a few grape beverages and then second night under the stars. Fantastic end to a fantastic day.

Day 2 on the Al Marsa yellow dhow

Good Morning!

We decided on Thursday night that 1 days diving would be enough for us and day 2, was all about relaxing. And so it was. Perfect weather, some snorkelling, some kayaking, some snoozing, some reading, some music – perhaps a little blog writing! 🙂 And most of all, some down time. The dhow cruise is one where if you want to just fall asleep in the sun, you go ahead. Everyone is there for their own reason, there’s always someone to chat to if you want but you can keep your self to your self and no one would question it.

The dhow starts tracking back down the coast after breakfast, the divers head off again at 7.30am on the speedboat and the dhow cruises past. We stopped in a bay for lunch and then out round the coast for a quick explore in a cave and then snorkelled back round the head land to the dhow. We had a couple of divers flying the next day, so the morning dive was all that was permitted. And in surprisingly quick time, we were back in port in Dibba. Another year another great trip! We will see some of them more than just the once in 12 months. But to some of them – we’ll see you in a year!!! 🙂

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Having family all over the world is a great situation to be in. This last trip to Canada and my cousin living in Montreal, meant a whistle-stop trip up to the French part of Canada was a must. The downside to having family all over the world is that it’s very hard to make it to all the various occasions. My cousin Anita got married last year and it was one of those occasions we just couldn’t make it to. Earlier this year they welcomed baby Kaetlyn into the family, so in spite of being a 7 hour drive from Toronto, it was a trip we were definitely going to make. The upside of visiting any city where you have family or know someone, is you get the low down and see, try and taste the things that many won’t.

I won’t lie, it’s a long drive to Montreal from Toronto. As we were coming from South of Toronto this added another hour, with 1 emergency stop and 1 planned stop, it was a total of 7 hours – it’s not a hard drive to navigate, basically 2 roads. The 401 and the 20 once you are into Quebec. Whilst that is a long time, in the land of Canadia, these kinds of length journey are quite common, mainly due the vast size of the country. As the season was just starting to turn, as we went further north we started to see the ‘fall’ arriving. The masses of green trees, just starting to turn a little orange and brown. Quite beautiful and in spite of the distance, the 7 hours did pass by surprisingly quickly. Be warned though that at this time of year, just as Autumn or Fall is approaching, it’s road works time. With the incredibly cold winters comes massive damage to concrete roads. So the summer time is repair time. This added time to the trip for sure, so if you are planning on driving (we hired a Nissan Altima from Enterprise Rent a Car ) factor in some single lane following huge trucks time!

We arrived in Montreal late afternoon and after the long drive it was good to just turn off and spend a little time with baby Kaetlyn and Anita. We don’t get to see each other often, so there was lots of catching up to do. In fact the last time we saw each other was actually my sisters wedding 2 years ago. As I am half Chinese, it was pre determined that dinner would be in China Town and we headed off downtown. Montreal city centre is not really that big and the Chinese quarter is clearly marked on most maps if you want to visit. We ate at the restaurant my whole family at at last visit, 1998, and the food was still very good – Thera has a number of intolerances, which have made Chinese food a little tricky to eat in the past, but everything ordered, from the jellyfish to the garlic fried snow pea leaves went down a treat.

The next day was spent exploring the city and it’s a beautiful city. Dubai, is an amazing place to be, both architecturally, and also culturally, but it was great to wander the streets of

Beautiful Gardens for a spot of breakfast

Montreal. As you may well know, there is a huge French influence on the city. The buildings are French colonial, all the signs are in French and there is a lot of evidence of the cafe culture you find in and around Europe. We made our way to the Place Jacques Cartier which is a pedestrianised area close to the Old Port, and a lovely walk along the water front. Around Places Jacques Cartier is a number of restaurants looking onto the main thoroughfare. A local recommendation was Jardin Nelson – which is a lovely place to grab a crepe – their speciality – or a cold glass of wine. The gardens round the back are impressive, more so due to the huge umbrellas that have been constructed, they provide shade from the hot summer sun, as well as cover from the snow in winter. Interestingly they have been constructed in a way that not only provides cover, but also ensures that any run off water goes directly into the numerous plants all around. The crepes are good and the coffee strong and hot! We liked it so much that after a full day wandering the streets we came back and sat on the front veranda and sampled some local cider – cold and refreshing after a lot of walking.

Impressive still even if looking a bit dated

In between time, we took in the Cathedral, the Old Port, the Place de Spectacle, China Town again, as well as getting out to the Olympic Stadium – it’s seen better days, but is still an impressive site.

The evening was saved for a ‘must do’ in Montreal. The national dish of Canada really is Poutine, which is a chips (french fries) covered in cheese curd, and gravy. It might sound a bit weird, but it’s actually very tasty. In Montreal, there is a restaurant that serves only this dish, but many variations of it. It’s a heart attack on a plate, but it’s worth it. The restaurant is called La Banquise It’s been there since 1964, is open 24 hours and is situated at 994 Rue Rachel -seek it out, deal with the parking issues and enjoy the Poutine. I couldn’t resist the meat feast called the T-Rex, incidentally, this is just a regular portion, you can get a large!!!! (pic) Not for every day eating by any means, but a very tasty treat. Around the table, we had the traditional, the Mexican, which was topped with salsa and avocado and sour cream as well as one topped with smoked meats (another speciality of Montreal) We

Big fat friendly racoons on Mont Royal

turned up on a Tuesday night at bout 7.30pm and the queue was out the door. But get a place and wait, it moves pretty quickly and it’s worth the wait.

Our evening was rounded off with a trip up Mont Royal , the hill that gave the city it’s name. At night it offers some pretty spectacular views over the city.

You can hike up it, but we decided the car would be a better option. There is a look out point up the hill which the local Racoons have sussed out as a great place to get fed. So along with the great views of the city, you can get up and close and personal with a family of (fat overfed) Racoons. They are so used to humans that you can actually sit in the car with the

door open and they will come up and take food from your hand!

It’s a beautiful city, that was well worth the 7 hour drive up the road from Toronto. Fantastic to see my family, the city that I last visited 15 years ago, and of course try the Poutine. If you have the time, I highly recommend a visit.

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First things first, this is obviously not a comprehensive list!! 🙂 In fact it’s just a couple things we managed to fit in. The Greater Toronto Area or GTA as it’s affectionately known covers what is really quite a vast area. When you ask a Canadian where they are from, if they aren’t actually from downtown Toronto area, but a neighbouring town, they will say they are from the GTA, as they don’t expect people to know the smaller towns they actually come from.

Visit Burlington!

Burlington on the shore of Lake Ontario

One such town is Burlington, it happens to be Thera’s hometown and is actually a really lovely place on the edge of Lake Ontario – the downtown area of Burlington, is a highly sought after area to live. We were lucky enough to stay in a house not 5 minutes walk away from the waterfront, which is a lovely place to spend some time just walking the promenade or sitting watching life on and around the lake. There’s even a track that runs all the way to Hamilton that is a good run or cycle if you have the time and the inclination!

We also found a great restaurant that Thera could actually eat at. For those of you that are gluten, dairy, soy intolerant and vegetarian, there’s a place for you at 399 John Street, downtown Burlington – it’s called KindFood Kitchen – one of the only places where Thera could pretty much order from the menu! And for those of you with a sweet tooth, you can get your fix from Kelly’s Bake Shoppe – gluten free, dairy free and vegan friendly.

One thing you also miss living in Dubai, is the local shop that actually is staffed by someone with a passion for the goods they stock. We definitely found this at the Village Cigar Company & Barbershop – we were in Canada primarily to attend a wedding so a couple of celebratory cigars were sought. It was just so refreshing to have someone actually talk you through the various options on offer, not try and push the most expensive one on you and actually have a genuine interest and passion for his goods. Anyone living in Dubai will understand this, everyone else will probably think that I am just a bit nuts!

Go to a wedding in Jordan

Heather and Michael’s wedding day – lovely couple and a lovely day for it!

No I’m not getting all confused with my countries. There is a lovely little place between Niagara on the Lake and Burlington called Jordan. Thera’s brother Michael and his now wife Heather, were having their wedding at the Cave Springs vineyard and then the reception at Inn On the Twenty in Jordan. Amazing location for a wedding. We were literally sat out in the middle of the vineyard for the short ceremony. The day before we had been freezing our bits off on the golf course, but as you can see from the picture, on the day, blue sky, sun shining and not a cloud in the sky. A perfect day for a perfect wedding. The reception was great fun. The first time I have met any of Thera’s family and in one go, met nearly all of them! Warm, friendly, welcoming and good fun. As I knew they would be 🙂

We also got to stay in a lovely old house just down the road. Great deck out the back, where I made my office for a couple hours one day. And no visit to Jordan would be complete without a trip to the local diner for breakfast, Butterballs. Looking at some of the reviews, there are some pretty unhappy diners, but we had breakfast there a couple times and loved it. I say give it a go and find out for yourself 🙂

Visit Niagara Falls

Sheer power of nature at work – impressive

A cliché perhaps, but you have to do it. When I lived in Canada I went 4 or 5 times when people came to visit, but it really is an awe inspiring site. We didn’t do the Maid of the Mist or go behind the falls, as we have both done this before, but just standing there watching the flow of water over the escarpment, listening to the sounds and feeling the spray was quite an experience once again.

It’s definitely worth including in your visit no two ways about it – you can plan ahead of time too by clicking here – Niagara Falls Visitor Centre. (I’m English so I spell centre like this – correctly!)

As no trip to Jordan is complete without a visit to Butterballs for breakfast. No trip to Niagara Falls is complete without taking a walk up the main street, which looks like Blackpool to me, and then popping into Hooters for a beer and some wings, before heading back down to see the Falls by night. A beautiful site and worth waiting around for, especially in Hooters.

Spend a couple days in Downtown Toronto

I love downtown Toronto, when I lived in the area, it always felt safe and clean with a relaxed vibe about it. There’s a tad more construction going on at the moment, but even as a bustling city, it doesn’t feel as impersonal as a London or New York. I really enjoy just wondering the streets in Toronto. We walked passed the Hockey Hall of Fame, up to Eaton Centre, down Bremner Street to Hoops, before the game at the Rogers Centre (Skydome) The Esplanade is cool new development where we managed to get a steak at The Keg for old times sake. Living in Mississauga back in 1998 we had a Keg across the street from the apartment. There were many meals had in there, but more late night beers when we couldn’t sleep. Walking past the window having trudged across the road in pyjamas and a ski jacket, by the time we got to the bar, there was usually a couple of Corona’s waiting. Even if it was 1am! We rounded off our last night in Toronto on the Esplanade at the Amsterdam Bicycle Club – a random place inside, kind of a mix match of a bar and a merry go round! Odd to say the least, but good wings and beverages. Very much enjoyed our quick stop and trip down memory lane. I still maintain, even more so after this trip, that Canada is the kind of place I could move to after Dubai – watch this space eh?

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As we all know, one of the biggest expenses after the flights is where we stay. Sometimes, price isn’t a problem, but for the majority, those occasions are few and far between. The reality is that we always want to get the best deal we can, whether it’s a hotel, a bed and breakfast, luxury villa or a house share. I personally think the reason behind this is because when I go on holiday, it’s usually to see the destination, the sites, the sounds, the food, the people and the atmosphere. Most of those aren’t usually found in your chosen accommodation, well not the last time I checked anyway.

With that in mind, this weeks resources are some to help you get the best place to stay, whatever your budget and wherever your destination.

Unusual Hotels of the World – I love this site, as part of travel for me is to see something different. I don’t spend all that much time in the accommodation I book for travel, as I tend to be out and about, trying to see things that are a little different. This site gives you some amazing options that might even see someone like me, spending a bit more time in or around the accommodation because it’s just so different in itself!

Home Exchange – The tag line for this site is ‘Vacation anywhere. Live like a local. Stay for free.’ It’s a service that was started in the early 90’s as a printed offline book but is now a thriving online community for those willing to share their homes with other travellers. The ideal way to see a new destination but pay nothing for your accommodation. They have over 140 countries, 46,000+ listings and have facilitated over 300,000 exchanges.

9 Flats – This site, unlike the above where you exchange homes, allows you to rent someone else’s apartment/house or even igloo, in the city you have chosen to visit. Or you can register as a host and rent out your spare room for those wanting to come and see your home town or city. Gives you value for money with no expensive hotels, more home comforts as you’ll be staying in a home! And also you get insider knowledge from whoever you are renting from, so get to see the ‘real’ side of your destination, not just the touristy stuff – a similar resource is AirBnb

Wotif – this is one of my favourite sites for accommodation. It appeals to the laissez faire side of me that doesn’t like to plan, but likes to go with the flow. They started out with only accommodation but have branched out into flights and rentals too now. The element I like best, is the Mystery Deal – select your destination and you can book a room at a heavily discounted rate. The catch being, you don’t know which one you are booking! Works best for last minute deals in cities all over the world. There’s an App too!

Booking.com – we went to Vietnam earlier this year and this site was our saviour. We only booked our flights in and out and the 1st night’s accommodation. The rest we did in country. If Wotif’s iPad app had been working we would have used that. As it was, we couldn’t book through it, so this one was our go to resource. Great way to get discounted room rates, especially if it’s last minute. After all, the hotels have a fixed cost and would ideally have someone paying something for a room, rather than have it empty for the night.

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Beautiful night shot. I ran up it for charity, last time I was in Toronto!

As part of my degree, many moons ago, I spent 1 year in industry and was fortunate enough to have that year, based just outside Toronto in Mississauga by the airport.

What I loved about Toronto, which takes it’s name from the Iroquoian language and translates as, the place where the rivers meet, was the people! They were so friendly and couldn’t do enough for you. There were 5 of us all from the UK, and all it took was for us to speak to each other in a bar, restaurant on on the street, and we would be approached by people that were genuinely interested in us and in showing us the delights of their city and country. That year had a profound effect on me, I have been fortunate enough to travel extensively, and it was the first country I really didn’t want to leave when my year was up.

I guess it had much more of an effect than I thought, as my wonderful other half Thera, is from Canada and we were heading back this time to attend her brother wedding. It was also my first time to meet the WHOLE family – which was actually a delight, as they are all lovely, welcoming and genuine.

Our trip this time was going to be a monster. With Emirates only having 3 flights a week into Toronto and us having to wait to see what was happening with various bits and pieces, we missed any chance of a direct flight. In the event, we had a 2 stopper, through London and Chicago on the way out, a mix of Virgin and American Airlines and then New York JFK and London on the way back, American Airlines again and then BA from London to Dubai – just writing that all out gives an indication of how long it took! I had forgotten how spoilt we were with Emirates airlines! The Virgin trip to London was very good. Then the issues started! First of all, the USA is the only country in the world that you need a visa to transit through. Of course, when we booked the trip and when we checked in at Dubai airport, nobody volunteered that information. We were incorrectly told that we didn’t have to pick our bags up in Chicago and re check them – but we did!

So we landed in London and at that point, I was told I needed an ESTA visa, even though all I was doing was walking through the airport to get onto another plane! Also I was already half way through my trip. Luckily this must happen a lot, the transit guys sent me to the gate and outside the gate, there is a computer where I  was able to log on and pay $14 for the pleasure! Never again will I

No individual screen??? Are you serious? 7 hour flight!

transit through the States! Lucky I have a British passport and it was as simple as applying on line there and then. Just be aware of this, even if you are not staying in the States and just in transit.

Obligatory cloud shot from plane window

We then got on to the American Airlines flight, sat down and noticed something quite strange. Any one tell me what’s wrong with this picture in this day and age for a 7 hour flight? Luckily the plane wasn’t full and actually Thera got a row of three seats to lay down on, whilst I then had 2 seats for me. It was a real throwback to try and watch a movie on the tiny little TV screen over the middle rows. As I said, I am so spoilt these days!

The flight was actually not too bad with the extra space and I also managed to get a good cloud shot out the window 🙂

Touching down in Chicago wasn’t too bad, although I still don’t understand why everywhere else in the world, your bags can be checked all the way through on a trip, but in the States, you have to physically pick your bag up, exit, and then drop it off again on another conveyor belt. As I said, never again!

Landing in Toronto, we were through and out in quick fashion, Thera’s brother Michael and dad, Steve, were there to pick us up and we were on our way to Burlington – Thera’s hometown – In doing so, it was quite surreal as we drove past my old apartment building at Eva Road and under the overpass that we walked every day to get to Good Life Fitness on the other side of the highway. Good times and good memories –  then we had A few days in Toronto and the Greater Toronto Area

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It’s been a rather frustrating time since we came back from Jebel Shams – that was an amazing adventure, but took it’s toll. The crippling cramp in my quads seems to have done a little more lasting damage. A week after the hike and a trip to the gym later and my left knee decided it didn’t want to work anymore. Luckily nothing more serious than an aggravated Popliteal region that was then pulling on ligaments going into my knee causing a lot of pain and swelling. So the last month has meant not a lot of exercise and not much getting out and about. It has been very frustrating because I’ve missed two canyoning trips up past the Hatta Pools and missing my squash and regular gym sessions.

What it has meant though is more time in front of the computer screen, getting work done for my existing business Maximum Net Gain as well as getting a couple more businesses ready to go online. It has also meant I was able to dedicate some time to my passions, which I have conveniently amalgamated into my day to day business and this blog! I am off to Canada soon and as such I was scouring the internet trying to get the best deal on our flights over there and have managed to come across some great resources. It got me thinking that I should share these with anyone that is interested in travel and so over the next few weeks, will be posting them on here for all. Please do share them with anyone you know that loves to travel, or indeed, some of the titles will be resources that anyone can use, whether travelling for fun, for business, alone or in a group, near or far.

I love to travel and I would love for as many people as possible to have the chance to change their environment, even for a weekend, go and experience something new, a new country, a new culture, or just a new food. And if my resources can help make it that little bit more affordable or convenient then that’s fantastic.

So, now that is out of the way let’s get down to the meat of this post. Whilst being in Dubai has it’s many advantages from a travel perspective, it’s situation is a perfect gateway to the sub continent, Africa and Asia, one thing you will almost certainly be doing, is taking a plane – even Oman is not always just a drive away. So with that in mind, and my recent attempts to get the best deal to Canada, below are some of my highly recommended flight resources. Some of them are for booking and some are insights into other elements you might want to consider (does your seat on a specific aeroplane recline for example)I’m going to break them down into groups of 5 so you keep coming back for more. I’ve got loads and I am sure you have got some too that I would love to hear about.

cFares – This is a great site for getting all the deals out there at once. Much in the same vein as other curation sites, you’ll get all your suppliers in one place. It claims to have the lowest prices with the widest selections. That’s the free service. The real value comes by actually becoming a member – check it out. They periodically have some issues with the membership sign up, but you can always contact them at support@cfares.com and they’ll help you out.

Airfare Watch Dog –  The customized e-mail fare alerts are ideal for travellers with a specific destination in mind. Just select your departure airports and the city-to-city alerts. You also can set the frequency for receiving alerts — daily, frequently (two to three times a week) or weekly. It’s one for my US based readers I’m afraid, but worth checking out for anyone holidaying in the USA too.

Hotwire – This one is an old favourite, and I am sure many reading will be familiar with it, but for those that aren’t, it’s one of the best at hunting down a good deal for you. Again, it doesn’t just focus on flights, so it may well appear in another list in the not too distant future. Remember to turn off your pop up blocker before you use it too, otherwise you’ll probably end up staring at a grey screen for a long time!!

SeatGuru – This one is a life saver for any of us, me for sure, that fly in economy class to most destinations – we are usually looking for the best deal which can sometimes mean flying on an unfamiliar carrier. Well Seatguru will let you check out the plane you are flying on and make sure that you don’t get stuck in a seat that doesn’t recline, is right next to the galley or bathroom, or where the TV set has not been working for the last 2 years. Invaluable resource for the world traveller.

Smartertravel – this is a great all round resource. It’s one of those sites that actually brings all the information you could possible want into one destination on the web. They do of course offer discounted airfares but they also bring some great industry information into their blog home page. As well as some inspiration when it comes to travel ideas. Have a look and save it in your ‘travel favourites’ folder on your browser.

So those are your first 5 resources for flights. I am sure you’ve heard of some of them, but for those that haven’t, these are gold!! But for those of you that have some great ones of your own, don’t be shy!!! Share them below. I am always keen to learn from fellow travellers out there. Who knows I might even get the time one day to collate them all into the Ultimate Travel Website Guide, or something.

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Saturday morning; Lenny, Matt and I, after a breakfast at the Jebel Shams resort, went about packing the bags for our next couple of days up Jebel Shames, alongside the Grand Canyon of Oman! This experience in itself showed us that in spite of the Oman Tourism Boards rating of  ‘relatively easy’ this was going to be anything but! With just liquid rations alone, we were all carrying 10 litres each, plus food, clothes and a sleeping bag. Getting the bags from the room to the car was hard enough! And off we went. The start to the hike ‘W4’ in the Oman Trekking Explorer book is just back down the mountain from the Jebel Shams Resort and along side the next accommodation you come across – which I believe is the Jebel Shams Motel, where you can actually camp as well if you so wish.

So we loaded up our packs, all complained about how ridiculously heavy they were and off we went to tackle the mountain. Bearing in mind your trek starts at 1900m, and with an extra 20kg on your back, you can imagine that it’s hard work!! After an hour, we started to dump water for the trip back down – so as to pick up the bottles the following day. We hid them in trees and bushes and marked them on the GPS. We found three out of four on the way down!

Looking down into The Grand Canyon of Oman

Walking up the well marked route, offers some absolutely stunning views of the mountain and of course of the Grand Canyon of Oman. It’s truly spectacular and MASSIVE! We had set off a little later than planned but started walking by about 10am and in spite of what many maps and books will tell you, whilst it is cooler than let’s say Dubai, we were still battling 37 degrees during the heat of the day. And this became apparent at about 3pm when we had no choice but to stop and set up camp. I have never experienced anything like it before, but I had cramp in my quads and sartorial muscles, to the point where I could not move without the agonising pain kicking in. So bad was the pain, that at one point I was literally grabbing the muscle and holding it for fear of it snapping off! (At least that’s what it felt like) The amount of water and more importantly salts that had been sweated out had taken it’s toll on me for sure and I couldn’t go anywhere else that day! So we managed to find a flat piece of land, dropped some electrolyte tablets into a bottle of water set up camp. That took 3 minutes, as camp was a roll mat and a sleeping bag. That being done, we rounded up some wood for a fire later on and then it was time for some dinner. We had one pot, one stove and three forks. Dinners was going to be pasta, with tuna, corned beef and a nice spicy pesto sauce. Pasta, check. Tuna, check, Corned beef, check (even though it looked and smelt like cat food) Pesto – no check. Pesto still in the cool box at the bottom of the mountain – check!

With no plates, we also had to get creative – three empty water bottles, take machete or multi tool and chop the top quarter off. Voila, make shift bowls for eating pasta mess out of. We added the soup base from some quick noodles, along with chili powder stuck the pasta in and then mixed in the tuna and corned beef. Culinary delight it certainly wasn’t, but at that stage it was a very welcome hot meal (of sorts) The remainder was cooked for breakfast the following day. We all vouch that pasta with tuna and corned beef is not nice for breakfast! Especially as it’s had all night to soak up the starchy water it was cooked in! Lesson learned – don’t forget the pesto! For at least that would disguise the taste in the morning.

We had set up camp at about 2300m and once ‘dinner’ was done, we just lay down – and chatted for a bit, waiting for the sun to go down. As sun set, the temperature dropped, the fire was lit and was roaring within minutes, more for light

Looking down from 2900m into the valley

than heat though. With no tents, we were just under the stars. Sounds great, but in reality, it was one of the worst nights sleep I’ve had in ages! The moon was beautiful, but like a spotlight shining down, the bugs obviously have direct access to you and the flying ones, as always make straight for your ears!! I tracked the moon across the sky and must have dozed off, woke up again and she was gone, but that also meant we would be getting up soon as dawn approached! 5.30am we were up, by 6.15 our ‘lovely’ breakfast had been consumed. My legs were sore, but the night’s rest meant that at least I could control them again. We left everything except water at the campsite, marked it and made for the summit. Even without packs, as we climbed higher, it was hard work and my legs in particular were remembering the strains of the day before. But again, with amazing views and the conviction that we would get to the top, we kept going. Water was a concern as it was further than anticipated and we were down to 1 bottle each plus whatever was left in camelbaks and a Pocari sweat each! By 9.30 we were at the top. And what incredible views down into the valley, it was tough, but we’d made it. Reward was some Gu chomps, some water and 20 minutes just taking it all in.

And then the fun began – the descent. I am blessed with funny feet which mean my second toe is longer than my big toe. In hiking terms this means that long thin toe bears the brunt of every downward step on the mountain. And an hour into the descent, knowing there was still another 4 hours ahead, they were hurting! We got back to our camp site and undertook the unenviable task of making our packs heavier once again! And we were off, pinpointing water drops and heading down the mountain to  pick up the much needed liquid. My pace started to lag as it became harder to actually go down hill, but we pressed on. About an hour from the bottom, we heard the first sounds of the mountain grumbling. And for the last 40 minutes, the thunder carried on making itself heard, intermittent rain drops and we were thinking ‘it would be great if it rained as we are all boiling’. Be careful what you wish for right! As we reached the car, I threw my bag down in painful disgust and quickly freed my poor feet from their ‘Merrell’ prison. No sooner had I done that and the hail started  pouring down!

It was a road – 20 minutes ago

A swift packing of the car and we were heading out of the Wadi we were parked in before the exit became too slippery. Back to the Jebel Shams Resort for a quick shower and refresh in the communal facilities and would be you believe it, a cup of tea sat outside in the grounds. No rain here! Fully refreshed – there is something so satisfying about running water and a shower after 2 days up in the mountains – we packed up the car and headed down the mountain. It was at this point we realised just how lucky we were. 2 minutes into the trip and we were back into torrential rain – we passed the wadi we had been parked in and again counted our blessings that we weren’t trying to get out now – just 25 minutes later. We progressed slowly down the mountain through patches of torrential downpour and then dry road. As we drove through the valley we noticed the waterfalls coming off the mountains. This was the first time any of us in 9 years had seen water in the wadis. As we stopped to take photos, we saw a lot of brake lights further up the road. Our questions of why is everyone stopping were soon answered. Our path was blocked – by what was effectively a river, in full flow!

Water had swept down the wadi and it’s path now went straight across the main road. And we are not talking about a small amount of water, this was a rushing ‘river’ of water flowing fast over the road, it had washed a load of rocks and debris across the road to form a barrier on one side and was free flowing across the road on it’s way to the Wadi bed. We got out and watched in wonder at this demonstrations of nature’s power and then like everyone else, got back in the car and just waited. After about 15 minutes, the flow started to subside, and the first Land Cruiser made a dash for freedom – albeit a slow and calculated one! He was through and so it was time to go. Two cars from our side went through and mounted the debris on the other side. One Land Cruiser pickup coming the other way and then we waded through, up and over and continued on our way. We stopped at the base of Wadi Ghul where two days earlier we had stopped and taken pictures of the abandoned village built into the rock face. What a difference a day (2) makes!!? A fast flowing river now effectively closed off the entrance to the Wadi.

The drive back to the UAE through Balha and Ibris was relatively uneventful, until we drove straight into a full on sand storm! At one point the road completely disappeared in a cloud of dust and sand, we literally couldn’t see 2 feet in front of us, which is quite unnerving in a moving vehicle. Having got back in the car in the mountains after being soaked and having to turn the heating on – we stopped at the last petrol station before the border and were nearly blown off our feet as the warm (44 degrees celsius) desert shamal blew through. Talk about contrasting weather!

The border crossing was painless and quiet and by 9pm we were back in the car park dropping Lenny off at his car. Up until the storm, this had been my least favourite of our outings. Not least of which because of the amount of pain I had experienced over the 2 days! But then looking back on it, and how everything happened, we got to the top, we camped on the mountain, we didn’t die of dehydration, we saw the 2nd largest canyon on earth, we were in a full on wadi bed flooding rain storm and then through a hot sand storm. All on a hot summer weekend in the desert when there’s nothing to do!!!

Great boys weekend, thanks Matt and Lenny. I’m looking forward ( I think) to the next adventure!

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Lenny and Matt taking in the sunset view.

It’s that time of year, and Lenny is officially a WANKER (Wife Away No Kids Eating Rubbish) again. Which can mean only one thing. Boys Trip. This year, Jebel Shams in Oman was the destination. The ‘Sun Mountain’ offers some incredible views, from around 3000m up in the thinning air, down into Wadi Nakhr. ‘Hike up and camp at the top, then hike down the next day’ – great idea Lenny! This one hurt a lot!

I’m posting this mid July in the desert. The outside temperature today in Dubai is about 45 degrees celsius. So you would be quite right in thinking ‘what are these idiots doing, planning a hike in the desert, in the middle of summer?’ Well, in hindsight, you are right, we’re crazy!! In spite of ending up at 2900m it was still registering about 35 degrees celsius as we trekked higher and higher and the air got thinner and thinner. But let’s start at the beginning.

Lenny’s annual WANKERING has come around quickly this year and to say he was excited about it has got to be the understatement of the year. There were a number of Whatsapp conversations where we thought there might be a need for a change of trousers, such was his enthusiasm! In his excitement Lenny suggested we camp on the mountain too and not wanting to disappoint, Matt and I agreed! Little did we know just how heavy our rucksacks would end up being. We planned a 3 day trip and Friday morning 8.30am we met in Arabian Ranches town centre to pack the car and head towards the Al Ain border. 9pm on Sunday and 900km later we arrived back!

In between time, we had quite the adventure. We headed off in the direction of Al Ain and the border crossing into Oman – as usual the city of roundabouts confused us, albeit less than normal and with it being Ramdan

Not scared of heights, but it’s a looooooong way down

and a Friday, the border crossing was very quiet. Having budgeted an hour to get through, we had exited the UAE and entered into Oman in less than 15 minutes.Onwards! Ramadan meant

Sunset view from the sunset chalets!

the roads were relatively quiet and the 6 hour trip went by quickly. We were staying at the Jebel Shams Resort, which is about 1900m up the mountain – the road is steep but is tarmac for most of it. There is a point though were it turns into dirt track and you will be better off with a 4×4, you can do it in a saloon car, but be careful and it will be slow. Luckily the dirt track ends further up and you are back on tarmac road again, with a viewpoint that is worth taking 10 minutes at. There are the ubiquitous rug weavers trying to sell you woven key-rings and such. The view though is phenomenal. Then you reach the Jebel Shams resort. Lenny had negotiated a very good deal for a sunset chalet for the three of us. And it’s only because he booked it, that I caved on having called shotgun on one of the proper beds. Matt called his driver card and got one. I was first in the room and should have had the other, but in fear of seeing Lenny tears I took the sofa bed! Adequate rooms with en-suite bathroom and a door out the back to the firepit and great sun set views. Be ready to fight with the ‘sliding’ door out the back. Seems all the chalet doors require some ‘gentle persuasion’ to open.

We had a couple of hours to kill so went along to the beginning of the abandoned village hike to have a look down into the wadi. It really is a breathtaking area and the temperatures a good 10 degrees cooler than Dubai, so with the wind it was very pleasant sitting in one of the ‘rest stops’ on the hike, just taking it all in. Back to the resort and time for a dip – The Jebel Shams resort has a pool, and in spite of the interesting shade of green and the huge chlorine tablets just sitting on the bottom of the pool, in we went. Refreshing and dare I say is, with the wind whipping past, a bit chilly!!! With sunset approaching we headed back to the room, and actually up on to the roof of the chalets, cameras at the ready for sunset. Awesome – only thing missing was an ice cold barley based beverage, which I forgot to pack!!

The resort was actually quite busy. Dinner was served from 7-9pm and the guys had Iftar about 7.15pm. They very kindly invited us to join them, but their need was far greater than ours and we waited for them to finish breaking their fast before tucking into the very nice buffet. With a relatively early start it wasn’t long after dinner, a brief spell outside around some of the neighbours fire’s burning bright and it was bed time. My ‘kindness’ in taking the sofa bed paid off as Lenny was boiling due to the fact that the AC blew over his bed and pretty much straight onto mine. A pleasant night’s sleep ensued! Read about Day 2 here!

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