One day crash tour in Rhodes old town

Modern day traveling requires us to spend super short time in the places we visit for the weekend trips or the the stop overs. Unusual moments requires unusual measures: you need to experience the best place you can see. If you feel exactly like above in Rhodes Island, you must visit the historic town of Rhodes. 

The historic town of Rhodes is enclosed by multiple medieval fortification left by many civilizations ruled the island; Greek, Roman, Byzantine, Seljuk, Genoese, Ottoman ... There are more than 10 gates to get in. Each gate takes you to another realm in the maze like street web of the ancient city. Every path from every gate is a different adventure for the wonderer of the island. I recommend you to take a different one each time and get lost!

Among all interesting locations you may visit in the Rhodes old town, I recommend you to spend some time in the Fountain Square and Socrotous Street Market. That is one of the center of attaractions in Rhodes old town. You will see it is a very popular gathering point to meet up new people and get some munchies in the low cost cafes around. It is also a central point on the East of the fortress where multiple shopping streets are opened. It is also directly connected to the Turkish quarter where you can see very well preserved mosque and the Ottoman era mansion. You can reach the square from the ruins of gothic church whose view is magnificent at the twilight. 

Another nice point of attraction of Rhodes old town is the tower. You can visit the clock tower and several attractions around it. Moreover, the quarter of the clock tower is the house of many restaurants in the Medieval citadel. Rhodes old town accommodates most of the major restaurants and bars. It basically encompasses the night life of the Rhodes city. It is very hard to recommend restaurants among all enclosed by the fortification but one must always minds not to be tricked by the banners in front of the restos.  All typical touristic scams are valid here as well. The one that I had, as an example for your, was the missing 10 EUR in the change as I guess the waiter didn't like the amount of food I consumed and set a price 10 EUR higher than the bill. Anyway, try to taste the Greek delicacies. There were few trip advisor high rank Greek restaurants around the clock tower, worth to check out!  

The souvenir shops are worth to check out! You can buy many cool stuff to remind you the nice island trip. However what I definitely recommend you not to buy is the "authentic" Greek food over there. The olives, cheese, booze etc. are extremely pricy. I believe the best is to buy them either from the supermarkets in the new town, at the duty free shop in the harbor or even better on the other side of the sea, Turkey. Basically because the price in the shops here are twice or even triple of the normal level. 

So overall Rhodes old town is a place worth to see. You can see most of the attraction with an investment of a full day and night and enjoy Mediterranean sun and sea for the rest of your holiday. ENJOY!!

Rhodes: how to get in, stay and get out

As an island in the middle of eastern Mediterranean sea, Rhodes is very well connected to the major cities of mainland Europe, Great Britain and Russia through the air. In additional to the main airliner, flagship carriers and budget airliners, there are also many seasonal charter flights in the connection list of the island. All this air traffic makes Rhodes International Airport  the fourth busiest airport in Greece.   This relatively small airport accommodates all necessary facilities. There are few cafés open 24/7 which helps you plan flight in the middle of the night. 

The airport is located on north west cost of the island, 15 km away from the main residential area, Rhodes City. This distance can be travelled by few means. Taxi is the major way of transportation between the main residential areas and the airport though it is costly. For example, goin the Rhodes City may easily cost between 40-50 EUR. Another way is to take a bus ride which takes around 30 minutes. It cost 2.20 EUR for a single ride now. The tickets may be collected from the coffee shop at the entrance of the departure building. On the way back, you can buy the tickets from the ticket booth located at the main station or from the news stands in the city. Although the schedule changes in a seasonal fashion, you can find the updated departure timetable on the website of Greek ministry of tourism. Besides them the tour operators and the hotels are also running shuttle services for their customers. However, it is the best to check back with your hotel for the price because they are mostly not included in your rate.

Another convenient way of traveling to Rhodes Island is to take the ferries from Marmaris, Turkey or one of the other islands of the Dodecanese archipelago. From Marmaris, there are a couple of ferries and express catamaran services traveling both ways everyday. Similar services are ran between other islands and Rhodos as well. Dodekanisos Seaways is the major company running this service along with few Turkish companies. The average cost of one way ride between Marmaris and Rhodes is around 20 EUR excluding 12 EUR Turkish port tax you need to pay on both ways unless you do the return journey in the same day. The ships dock to the harbor just by the Medieval town and you are ready to go. Another important tip regarding the seaway is don't forget to check out the Greek and Turkish duty free shops because the prices rock!

Once you reached to the island, you can reach your hotel easily with the well connecting bus lines. There are also taxis at your disposal. You may also rent a car or a scooter but try to stay away from the conner which is quite likely to encounter in the rental business. 

The accommodation is a bit tricky in Rhodes. The Island basically surrounded by the hotels all around. However the general problem with the hotels, especially for the hotel in Rhodes City, is lack of maintenance and the noise. If you are a city dweller like me, you may check out the places in the new town where the prices are okay in several hotels but the customer satisfaction is very low. On the other hand, there are some accommodation option in the medieval town however they are quite pricy and I don't know if you can stand with that chaotic noise, mixture of everything. Therefore, I made my choice on a place just outside of the fortification but very close to everywhere, Silvia Hotel. You can check out the extensive review in my blog too. ENJOY YOUR STAY!!!!

A secluded hideaway in Rhodes Island, Greece : Silvia Hotel

Rhode is the fourth largest of the beautiful Greek Islands. It is the capital of Dodecanese archipelago. It is very well connected to the mainland Europe through the seasonal and all-year-long flights and to the nearest land, Marmaris - Turkey, by ferries. This all makes it geographically attractive to the backpackers and adventurer travelers. The beautiful beaches and the medieval old town of the island are the major attraction for the occasional holiday lovers. These all makes the island pretty attractive and its accommodation options pricy and tricky to be selected. 

When I have had my last trip to Rhodes, the challenge of selecting a hotel in Rhodes City was bad reviews written for many hotel in the new town. They main complaint was the noise coming from the discos and lack of maintenance probably due to the high demand for the island. This might make many property owners less caring for their facilities. And when you put the price of the places on top of the reviews, it is very likely you wouldn't stay many of the hotels there. Similar complaints were also made for the locations in the historic town. All and all, I had to spend substantial amount of time to find a nice accommodation in Rhodes. But I finally did managed to find a very decent one, at lease this was my conclusion after I stayed there, Silvia Hotel.

Silvia Hotel is cosy two star hotel located just south of the old town. The walking distance to the nearest entrance of the town from the hotel is around 5 minutes. So this already makes its location very convenient. It takes more or less 20 minutes to walk from the last stop of the airport bus to the hotel if you follow the cost line. There is one thing I must point out that the location you may get out of Booking.com confirmation email might be wrong. So you'd better use the one above. The hotel situates in a residential district where there is no disco or any other noise generating establishment. So that is already a plus. Furthermore, the crew of the hotel is extremely friendly and they try to make your stay a relaxing experience. They have been very helpful to me not only on exploring the city by giving precise tips and tricks but also on taking care of the hotel formalities like check in/out. Here I should point out that they don't except the credit cards other than Visa and Mastercard. Even if you used another card like AmEx for the reservation, you need to pay with another card. There is another good thing about the payment is that they don't preauthorize your credit card if you state there will a late check in. It is very nice to see that the mutual trust still works at some places.

I stayed in a one bed accommodation which was pretty comfortable and very well furnished. They room was all new and extremely clean. All the facilities like air-conditioning and the fridge were very well working. This shows the maintenance is being properly done. The room had a flat TV and a fridge where you can put your goodies or some beverages. That is pretty handy if you want to have some drinks in the room or if you want to store freshly bought Greek cheese. The bathroom was small but very clean. The only point missing was that for such a small shower space it is wiser to put a cabin than shower curtain which unfortunately cannot stand still. The toiletries were nicely places and if you need more they are also served. There was no slippers left at my disposal. So it might be wise if you bring your own. 

Normally, the price includes the continental breakfast. I would say it is average but not bad at all. There is no bacon or scrambled egg. But other that those, there were everything you may want to have in a nice breakfast.

To wrap up, Silvia Hotel is one of the nicest places you can find in Rhodes City with its convenient location, clean rooms and last but not least the friendly crew. In terms of price/quality balance, they are certainly placed in the upper rank and Silvia Hotel definitely deserve the high grade they get from Booking.com . 

Tips and tricks for Bangkok, Thailand

Thailand is a beautiful country and so does Bangkok. The city welcomes you with all its cosmopolitan texture and modern look along with the tradition old character in core. However, behind all the beauty of Bangkok, there still lies some evil big city spirit from which you need to protect yourself.

As usual everything starts at the airport upon your arrival! If you arrive to the new Bangkok Airport ( Suvamabhumi - BKK), you face with a stunningly modern and majestic terminal. Normally, everything goes smoothly at BKK up until you try to get a taxi. There are some stewards directing you to the taxis going to downtown, like in JFK. They normally ask you the destination. In this position, I highly recommend you to ask the ballpark taxi fare INCLUDING the highway tolls. Because you don't notice how much they charge, in the dark toll collection plazas in a language you don't know at all, for the highway (around 70 THB normally). The drivers might charge as much as the meter count (between 200-400 THB) for the highway which is not the actual cost obviously. So just for precoution, double check the taxi fare and make the driver accept that price before get on the cab. The other fact about the taxis at BKK is that they are extremely old cars. So don't be surprised if you get in a car which makes you fell it will stop in 20 meters. 

Among all others, the next taxi trick you need to be careful about is the meter trick in downtown cabs. When you get on a cab, be sure the driver starts the meter before moving the car. This mostly happens in the night. In order to avoid that you should specifically ask him to start it. Otherwise you may find yourself in an unnecessary and tiring discussion and finally you most probably pay much more. I can give you my experience as an example. I was going to a very close location during the night and get one of the cabs in front of the hotel. He directly asked me 200 THB and I asked to start the meter otherwise I will get off. After a very long discussion back and forward, he finally did and the total fare was 70 THB. So you do the math. As usual, you need to be careful with the cabs during the day as well! For instance, you may want to go a historical place like Royal Palace. They have a tendency to drop you at the entrance/exit where the conners are populated. So double check where they leave you and don't believe anyone comes and talks to you fast. You actually feel it because an average Thai, even in tourism sector, can't really speak that decent and fast english unless he tries to con you! The best way to avoid is to check the opening and closing hours of the monuments for that specific day and only talk to the people behind a ticket desk or something similar. The last but not the least tip about the taxi/tuk-tuk transportation is the "gem fraud". Most of the people know that the gem prices are extremely low as most of the them are mined and traded in Thailand. However, the fakes are also in sold. I can say there are much more fake gems than the real ones on the market. In Bangkok, the drivers are like the middle men. They usually mislead the tourists who ask for a reliable seller. Anyway, I don't understand why people ask for something to the drivers who is the most anonymous person. So they usually take you to a temple where you meet a "monk like" guy who sells the fake gems. You might be put such a good and trustworthy setup and eventually you may spend quite a lot of money, like order of hundreds of euros. So you'd better not to talk or ask anything to a driver and don't disclose any personal information if possible, like where you stay, who you are etc. 

After this short pause, coming back to the airport transfer issue, of course there are other options to get out of Bangkok airport. A frequent train line commutes between the airport and Bangkok.  You can select either the express line or the city line depending on the location of the final destination and speed. The express line goes Makkasan station non-stop. Whereas, the city line have several stations on the way toward its final destination Phaya Thai but it also passes by Makasan station. The final stop prices of the express and the city lines are 150 THB and 45 THB (varying between 10-45 THB), respectively. Makkasan station is very well connected to various locations downtown by metro lines. So my recommendation would be taking the fast line and metro combination to reach the final destination safe and quick as the price difference is minor. For the metro, the wisest thing would be enjoying 24h daily passes if you will travel in the city. The multi level - air conditioned "sky train" metro line is very well operated and saves substantial time as compared to walking.

Taxis and tuktuks can be another option to get around the city, especially the old town located by the river. But one needs to be smart while getting a cab as I have explained above. Taxis may cost between 50-500 THB which is around 1.5 to 13 EUR or 2 to 17 USD. So if you want to get somewhere quick they are good options unless you stuck in to a traffic jam like above. Besides there is a bus service available in Bangkok but I don't recommend it due to obvious reasons like pickpocketing, traffic jam, jam packed busses and hot/humid weather!

You solved your transportation! Now, it is time to wonder around... I won't mention about the historical places and must see location that you can find in any tourist guide or on any blog about Bangkok. What I will tell you is that this city is a shopping paradise! You can find anything and everything in the city for a wide price range. But there is one rule of thumb for Bangkok: Always bargain and don't buy anything for the tag price! 

The "central" part of the city (around Nana, Phloen Chit, Chit Lom and Siam MRT stations) contains numerous shopping malls. Among all, Gaysom and Central World Plaza (between Chit Lom and Siam MRT stations) offers the most luxurious and relatively high-middle class shopping experience, respectively. Ploenchit and Big C shopping centers are more focused of middle range goods. In this places don't hesitate to bargain at all, especially for the souvenirs. Finally, Platinum and Palladium shopping centers on the river bank offers very cheap and wholesale type stuff. I highly recommend you not to miss all the vendors and hawkers just outside of those shopping malls. You might find the very same goods on the stands for half price! You can also find open markets, where you can find mostly clothing and food, at some fixed locations in the city. I recommend you to check them out to mixed with the real population of Bangkok.

During all that rush, don't forget to hydrate and eating. There are basically three main options to eat in Bangkok: eat on the streets, check out the food courts of the shopping malls and go to a fine restaurant. Frankly speaking, I didn't do the last one and don't recommend it because it is pricy for such a cheap city experience. Moreover, they offer foreign food which is not really special. The first option is actually very tempting but you need to have an insensitive stomach. if you have one that is the most tasty and cheapest option. You can have each course for less than 2-3 EUR. The intermediate option serves the best for the ones who don't want to spend so much on food and also don't want to risk the holiday much. Each and every shopping mall have a huge food court where you can find all types of asian food and also some global chains. The variety of the food is actually makes you have very hard time to select your meal. In this places, you can fix your lunch or dinner for maximum 10 EUR including drinks, dessert and a very large meal. 

Overall, Bangkok is a great metropolitan city which offers you all types of entertainment! So you should just do two thinks on your side to enjoy the city: get your plane ticket and spend money. Have a great travel and enjoy your stay in Bangkok. Don't for get to STAY SAFE!!!!!

Diving at the Shark Point, Phuket, Thailand

The las dive of the dive was at the famous Shark Point diving site. The place is know for the local leopard shark population who gives great pictures for the photo hunters of the deep sea. I came here to see them too. But it is just by luck to catch something underwater. I learnt that long before. Anyway, I worn my shorty to taste the water for the last time in Thailand till the next visit. So that made me even more excited and sad at the same time not only because the place was like a paradise but also I had to wake up from this tropical dream soon. 

The shark point is actually composed of a massive reef and a group of smaller ones located very close to the larger reef. The dive normally starts at the large pinnacle whose peak is just 2 meters deep. Then you may choose to take a turn around this one till 25 meters and then move to the second pinnacle and an see that one around 25 meters and ascend to 16 meters where the most of the beautiful things are located. If you are lucky you may see the leopard sharks during this part of the dive around the small reef. 

Nevertheless, the site embraces so many different species that you might not look for a shark meanwhile. That was my case at least! First of all the place includes many murray eels. You can almost see them every hole in the reef and they give great shots. The anemones, besides, host many clowns fishes. If you are a nemo like me then you will love the picture you take. There is also a beautiful sea horse on the west side of the 1st pinnacle and it is not shy at all. 

Apart from this particular beauties of the site, you constantly see the passing crowds of small fishes around you as well. This makes an extra flavor to the ambiance of the dive route. You may also see, like me, some interesting scenes. There were a dead murray being eaten by the other fishes slowly on one side of the 2nd pinnacle. Nature was calling and I was there. That might be the most interesting shot of mine up to now.

There were also several tritons wondering around with their funny and curious eyes looking both sides at the same time. I ended my dive again at the large reef but this time with a small sting ray slightly levitated from the sea bottom. It was moving so slowly that I thought this guy was really want some pictures to be taken.

Overall, I think the Shark Point was the best of all dive point I dived for the day.  The visibility was great. There variety of the fishes was amazing. And most importantly, we haven't seen any bamboo or leopard shark whose supposed to be seen at this point. As a final word, I can say that every diver must see the depths of Andaman sea one day. One should be very careful about the dive school and the dive boat in Phuket. I can definitely recommend the guys at Rumblefish Adventure but I have some doubts about Jolly Roger. 

Enjoy you dives and stay safe!

Diving at King Cruiser, Phuket, Thailand

I'm not gonna lie! After the terrible visibility at Kho Doc Mai, I needed a pallet cleanser to fresh up the taste of Andaman underwater. We have reached our destination for the second dive of the day. The king cruiser is located between Kho Doc Mai and the famous Phi Phi Island of the beach movie. You can actually see it if the visibility is good. Anyway, we started to suit up in our lovely boat Jolly Roger with ultimate interference of the mothers and wives at the divers area. I guess there is no need to talk about the super respectful customers of Jolly Rogers anymore after the previous article. 

I wish to say that the visibility was great in King Cruiser but I was not. However, it was not supposed to be great anyways. So this time the disappointment is less than previous time. Nonetheless, King Cruiser was hiding much more for us! The place is great for the lion fish chasers. Lion fishes are thriving around the wreck. I have seen at least 8 as individual and in groups. So the wreck was not really a deep one. The rock bottom is around 30 meters and most of the must-see parts of the wreck is around  16-18 meters. So she lets see her for an almost hour long dive.

Apart from the all the crowds of fishes and the sneaking hunter lion fishes, there are a couple of places you should check when you dive King cruiser. First of all don't forget to take a pee! Well yeah! On the back of the boat you can see the toilets of the cruiser. The ceiling was opened and the toilets are visible. So fun time! 

The other hot spot of the site is the chimneys of the boat where a shrimp colony was thriving. They are not shy at all and you can have great picture over there too. The color of them were so crisp and the scenery was amazing!

The gate of the vehicle deck is almost completely destroyed. Thus you can go in and have a nice trip inside the parking site of the cruiser. If you have a good flash light, I believe you can see many beautiful things inside.

All and all, King Cruiser dive was a great experience and it is a location for all levels of divers. She gives beautiful shots and you can see many different rate sea creatures down there... or up above. We have accompanied by a giant jelly fish during our ascent. The combination of sharp sunlight and the jelly fish gave great pictures to make this beautiful place unforgettable. 

Diving at Koh Doc Mai, Phuket, Thailand

In the boat Jolly Roger, which I have mentioned in detail in the previous entry, that was the first dive of the day at Koh Doc Mai. This little island has a very nice reef underskirts of her! You can think of it as a very large reef that you can wonder around. The dive can last a reasonable amount of time without turning around of the island more than once. The depth of the reef is around 30-40 meters if you keep yourself close to the vertical cliffs. Therefore the site is quite suitable for a range of divers from beginners to the experts.

Normally, the site supposed to have a good visibility especially in the early morning and for calm surface as you can see above. However I was not that lucky I guess. The visibility was quite poor and it was not possible to have a good shot unless you go for a macro shot. Nevertheless, the fauna down there was really great. Especially the nudibrach population was quite stunning. Other than that you may check out the groupers, box fishes, and random gang of fish crowds!

However the impressive part of the dive was, for me, to see the bamboo shark hiding underneath a big rock. I assume it is a regular inhabitant of the neighborhood because I encounter similar sceneries on other websites before.

Overall the spot is a nice dive point with variety of the fishes. I totally recommend you to check out if you pass by Phuket to dive. I hope you will be luckier than me and have great visibility so that 100% or your shots are clear.