Beautiful Prague

Hi everyone!

My friend called me some time ago and asked me if I would like to go somewhere with her in week 6. I'm always ready for a trip so we booked flights to Prague, Czech Republic! The prize was a bit ovet 100€ so I think we got them really cheap.

As the day of our departure was closing up I realized that I had a flu coming up! :O The day before our flight I was basically sneezing my brains out and feeling sicker than in years... But my condition was better on next day (and that was a blessing!).

We booked the flights from Norwegian and I just got to love the ckeck-in system where you can do it by yourself. Its super easy and I hope they will become more and more popular also in other countries. We took only cabin baggages so it was really easy to just do the check-in and wait for the flight to leave.

The flight took about 2 hours to reach Prague and during the flight I had to buy 3€ water bottle because otherwise I would have cought my lungs out. 3€!! I mean it had to be somekind of special water to be so expensive, right?

What made this trip special was that we didn't book any hotel or hostel, but decided to try councsurfing. I must admit that I was a bit nervous! We received really good instructions how to reach our host apartment and it took us around 1 hour to get there. We had to use bus and metro to get there, but they were really easy to use.

I recommend for a weekend trip the 3 day "card" (its infact a piece of paper), because it's really cheap and convenient. It was a bit over 300 korona (about 11€) and you can use with that any public transportation. The usage of the card is really simple: you can buy it from the airport, you hop on a bus or any other public transport system and feed it to this machine that will stamp a date on it. Do this only once and so that the most emptiest part of the card is on top and inside the machine!

I'm used to cards that have to use everytime you go on a metro or bus, but in Prague you mark just once the date and then you just need to keep it with you. I used it many times and then we were stopped by a police man who was checking the tickets (so you need to have the ticket or else...), he wasn't really happy that I didn't know how to use it :D Anyway, he understood as I explained that I didn't know one time was enough.

Anyway, our host was really nice and the apartment was in perfect location. We had a good access to metro and it took us around 5 minutes to reach the city center. We arrived pretty late so the first evening we just arrived the apartment, ate a dinner and went to sleep. The next day was really beautiful and sunny and we headed to the city centre and the Old Town of it.

What a beautiful place it was! I'm letting the photos talk to you:

The next day wasn't so sunny, but we decided to go to the castle and the famous cathedral St. Vitus. 

On the last day we just went to do a little shopping and wandered around. During our trip we saw the most important attractions and shopping places and I have to say that extended weekend is quite enough to explore this city. 

All in all, Pragua was amazing city and definetely one of the beautiful cities I have ever seen. The architecture was really nice and the people seemed very similar to Finnish people so that was of course a plus ;) They like saudage and beer like us! The beer was extremely cheap compared to the prices here in north, so I recommend everyone to try that. I'm not a huge fan of beer but the dark beer I tried was awesome!

The food was really heavy but mostly delicious. And of couse cheap! If you want to eat and drink with good prize, try to avoid the restaurants near tourist attractions. The prise in those can be much higher than in those that are in small alleys.

Historical Istanbul ♥

I had a change to go and see Istanbul this fall and I think I fell in love. I mean Istanbul has so much to offer for a traveller and those who love history (read: peoples like me).

Our journey took place in early November as we flew with Turkish Airlines from Helsinki to Istanbul. The travel time was really nice compared to the long flights to Asia! Only 3-4 hours and we were there. I think Turkish Airlines was chosen as a best European airline in some competition, but I have to wonder why. Well it wasn't bad, but the crew was all over the place and there was not enough food for everyone (or was, but not what they wanted to eat).

Anyway, we arrived to Istanbul and took a taxi to the hotel. Our hotel was situated in the old town and it was bit hard to find. The view was quite nice along the way although it was already completely dark as we arrived in the evening. It took as quite some time to reach the hotel because of the traffic jams and everything and when we finally arrived we found out that there had been some kind of mistake and the room was double booked. Well, we were sent to another hotel which was under the same name and in the same area, just a bit closer to the shops and everything so infact it was a good thing for us.

The hotel was nice and the staff was nice but the room was not what we expected. We had booked a suite because it was super cheap (like normal room price) and we only got... well, a normal room. It wasn't bad at all, but it wasn't a suite! :(

We decided to go and look around the surroundings on that same evening and we found out that Blue Mosque and Hagia Sophia were basically on our backyard! It was a really amazing sight with the dark sky, gorgeous mosque with lights and all the people around.

Khao Takiab "Monkey Mountain", Hua Hin, Thailand ♥

I know the last post was about Pala-U but actually we went there day after our trip to the " Monkey Mountain". And I have to say that it was a great experience, not only because of the monkeys (I love monkeys) but also because of the great views.

Khao Takiab is located in the southern part of Hua Hin and the easiest way to get there is to take a taxi or tuk tuk. Our hotel was located along the Damnoern Kasem Road, which is pretty much in the middle of the Hua Hin and it took maybe about 15-20 minutes to get to Khao Takiab. There was a tuk tuk station near our hotel, so we just walked there and asked someone to take us there. Unfortunately I can't remember how much it cost us to get there, but it was reasonable price.

When we arrived, we could immediately see why Khao Takiab had earned it's nickname Monkey Mountain; there was monkeys everywhere! They were sitting and walking among the people and some of them were climbing on the trees and eating bananas. How cute is that?

Truth to be told, there is nothing much besides the monkeys. Just some souvenir stores, maybe some restaurants and a buddhist temple. It's important to wear something that covers your sholders and knees before going to these temples, so I bought cheap pants from a souvenir store and used those. It was a really hot day and if you want to see the temple itself, you need to climb maaaaany stares to get there. It was painful and exhausting to get up there, but worth it. You could see the whole Hua Hin from there and also the blue sea.

Here is some pictures from our day:

First day In Hua Hin

Sawatdii kha!

Here we are in Hua Hin, Thailand at the moment! Temperature reaches +30 soon and I'm up already at 7:30. I've always suffered from jetlag and this time there seems not to be any exception: I woke up first time at 3:00 AM, but I managed (somehow) to sleep some more. There was some thunder and raining last night as I recall waking when I heard the thunder. Otherwise my first night in Thailand went well.

Yesterday I arrived with Elina and her mother in Thailand after 7 AM in the morning and then we took a bus to Hua Hin. The bus left on time at 9:30; before that Elina grapped some food from a coupon food market. It's a place with many different restaurants and you need to buy coupons first and pay the food with them. The prices were... Well, very different compared to the prices in Helsinki-Vantaa Airport or the whole Finland. 1 euro is approximately 40 baht and Elinas portion cost only 45 baht. My small Fanta cost only 15 baht, so it was around 50 cents!! Amazing. I no longer wonder why Finnish people love to travel to Thailand!

Anyways, our bus was supposed to take 2-3 hours to reach the Hua Hin, but it took way more time yesterday. There were many traffic jams and sometimes the bus couldn't move at all. We weren't in hurry so it didn't matter, but the lady close to us kept asking when we are going to be there. It took 4,5 hours before we were in Hua Hin, and I slept most of that time. The bus was nice and there was a (powerful) air conditioning, and I was soooo tired after a long flight.

I think the most funniest thing I saw on our way to Hua Hin was when this pickup went past us and there was lady sleeping behind the car with pillow and everything. You should have seen my face when I saw that! :D

Our taxi from Hua Hin bus station to the hotel was open as well, kinda like tuc tuc, but with a real car. It was my first time going with something like that and I have to say it was really something different to be middle of the traffic like that.

After we left our belongings to the hotel we found a place to eat and went shopping to Big C (big supermarket). The food was good but the supermarket was a bit small. And there was a Mister Donut!! I had to buy some donuts to celebrite my good mathematics number I got from our first exam this year. ^_^

My portion of fried rice with prawns ♥

Coming: Birthday Partying in Istanbul

I did it again.

I completely lost my mind and booked tickets to Istanbul with Elina. It seems I'll be busy writing this blog in the near future!

Actually, Elina is turning 20 and she wanted to have something special in her birthday, so she asked if I would like to go somewhere with her. One of our exchange students was supposed to come with us, but she decided to go to London, because she's not been there ever before. Can't really blame her, but we've been with Elina already in London more than once so Istanbul is a great opportunity to discover something new.

Before we bought the tickets we of course checked out what to see and do in Istanbul and we found out some great activities to do there! There's hor airballoon, mosques and big bazaar, great places to eat and drink and lots of history and culture. Can't ask for much more, huh?

So, our small trip starts on 6th of November and we're going to stay in Istanbul for 3 nights. We're flying with Turkish Airlines and we got direct flights with good price. Even better is the hotel where we are going to stay; we found a discount from Agoda and got a hotel suite for 3 nights with less than 200€!

Istanbul

My boyfriend's reaction was priceless when I reveiled our next destination to him. I think the fact that I'm staying in Finland for one week after the trip to Thailand and then leave again was the reason for that. Well, things happen and sometimes you have to just go when there's an opportunity. He might also be worried, 'cause he said that "you always go to war zones"... Well in Thailand there's been some issues but not anything big, and in Istanbul there's been a few terrorist attacks, but not in any location where I could see myself going. I think they're quite different from "war zones".

Well then, I guess I really have to start looking for my swimsuit; only 7 days left and then I'm off to Thailand. Next update might be already from Hua Hin.

(((o(*ﾟ▽ﾟ*)o)))

(((o(*ﾟ▽ﾟ*)o)))

I'm coming soon Hua Hin, Thailand!

Oh man, I can't wait for next week! Only seven days left and then... off to Thailand!

We bought the ticket's from Stockmanns (Nordic's biggest department shop) Hullut Päivät-event, which is held every spring and fall. The event lasts from Wednesday till Sunday and there is everyday lots of discounts from variety of different products. Finnair cooperates with Stockmann and offers every day during the event 5 different locations with special price. We got our tickets to Bangkok with 599€ and I think it's a really reasonable price for a direct flight with Finnair.

Gotta love Hullut Päivät ♥ (Btw, it means Crazy Days)

We will arrive in Bangkok, but go with a bus to Hua Hin. It's located south from Bangkok, approximately 2-3 hours with the bus. I bet I'm going to be exhausted after the flight and the bus to Hua Hin.

 

We will stay in Hua Hin for 4 days and go back to Bangkok to enjoy the rest of our time.

What I really wait for is a day trip we plan to take from Hua Hin to Pala-u, a famous waterfall. Along the way is a possibility to ride on elephants and see a real vineyard. And before anyone can complaint about the elephants, yes, we are going to check that they are taken care well, before taking the ride.

I would also like to see the mangrove forest and stalactite caves near the border of Myanmar. With 4 days, I don't think we have time to go to both locations, but I'm still dreaming about it. I have to convince Elina that it's going to be worth it! ヽ(*≧ω≦)ﾉ

As for food, I'm really looking forward to it! I've eaten in a Thai restaurant here in Finland and it was delicious. Spicy, yes, but excellent. I'm not that good with spicy food and I forgot to train my mouth and stomach so I hope I'll survive!

I also took Thai-language classes with Elina in school last spring, and I hope I can remember some phrases during our time in Thailand. I really need to check the vocabulary and grammar so I can surprise the local people. 

I have actually a problem conserning this supposedly awesome trip to Thailand: my swimsuit has mysteriously disappeared somewhere and I can't find it anywhere. I mean, it was with me when I was in Turkey and after that I haven't seen it. I guess I really have to start searching for it, or go and get a new one. Too bad though, I really liked the old one. (|||❛︵❛.)

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