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This is a guest post by Fresh Wes who recently participated in the Semester at Sea program through which he visited 10 different countries.

• 1. Place to Visit - One of the most fascinating stops our group made was to Inle Lake, which is located in the mountains of Shan State. The sole method of transport is via wooden boats, most outfitted with small outboard engines. This makes for a relaxing journey across the calm waters of the lake. I recommend staying on the lake itself, in a large cabana, overlooking the water. Sunrises and sunsets on the water are absolutely incredible.
• 2. Currency Exchange - The national currency, the kyat, is heavily regulated by the government. Foreign travelers trying to find a fair exchange rate must avoid any banks. You will likely find the value of a US dollar to be 10-15 times as high when exchanging currency on the street. Be careful though, as this is not considered legal, but for some it is a necessity to make international travel cheaper.

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The electric outlets in India can look baffling but are rather simple once you know which hole is what. You can even take along a simple European adapter (this trick works for Americans as well) and save the expense and space of a European/US to Indian outlet adapter.

The three things you’ll need are a plastic pen, plug adapter, and a voltage converter (for Americans).

One of the first things you’ll notice is the two vertical holes (locks) on top and the 4 horizontal buttons (electric outlets) just below. The switch to the left is a safety and serves to cut the power on and off to the outlet.

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Luis Pantoja won the End of Year Contest with two great posts. Below is the second of the two. Feel free to post questions or feedback in the comments!

I am half Peruvian and have been lucky enough to visit Peru in several occasions. Unfortunately, I have only visited Lima and the immediate surroundings. In spite of my limited visits, I can share some recommendations.

Lima was founded in 1535 by Francisco Pizarro as the ??City of Kings??. It is also home of the oldest university in the new world, the Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos.

One of my favorite places is the Barranco District. Although it is not too hip, the nightlife is great. There are many bars like Wayos and Mochileros, that cater a laid back and unassuming crowd. If you are a cannabis aficionado, you can smoke inside some bars but be sure to always ask your waiter or bartender before you start puffing away.

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Luis Pantoja won the End of Year Contest with two great posts. Below is one of them. Feel free to post questions or feedback in the comments!

Having being born and raised in Venezuela, I decided to write about it and show why it is considered ??the best kept secret of the Caribbean??.

The name Venezuela originates from the word venezuola which translates to ??little Venice??. The name was given by cartographer Americo Vespucci and explorer Alonso de Ojeda as they entered the Gulf of Venezuela and remarked that the stilt-houses (palafitos) built by the natives resembled Venice.

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Daryl writes:

The Canadian National Tower, or CN Tower, stands prominent on the Toronto skyline. Opened to the public on June 26, 1976, it is the tallest free-standing structure in the world and is quite a tourist attraction.

I went recently and I can tell you personally that the views are spectacular, although the admission price of $20 is a bit steep. On a clear day they say you can see 160 kilometers in every direction but don’t ask me to do the translation from the metric system. If you plan on dining in the revolving restaurant, which is an expensive proposition, they won’t charge you the entry fee. One of the observation decks has a glass floor, and with a view straight down almost 500 meters the view is almost dizzying.

If you plan on visiting Toronto I highly recommend you check out the CN Tower. You can see almost the entire city from the top, as well as a beautiful view of the nearby lake. Definitely a breathtaking view.

Been anywhere cool - we’d like to hear about it! Feel free to shoot an email to us.

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Peaceluvbug wrote about her recent trip to Brussels.

 

Honestly, it was the cheapest trip RyanAir was offering and I speak the language, so we thought we??d go for it. Hotels in Brussels are VERY cheap, so we ended up staying at a 4-star hotel It was about the same price as staying at a nice hostel, so of course we picked the place where we could shower and leave our stuff in the room! The hotel was walking distance from the city center (Le Grand Place), right next to the European Commission and the European Parliament, and very near a huge park. I got to use my French, which was nice.

Here are some interesting tidbits about the city of Brussels:

 

• About 1/3 of the 1 million inhabitants of Brussels are foreigners.
• It is the headquarters of the European Union.
• Brussels is a bilingual city, meaning all street signs are both in Dutch AND French.

You can read the rest and take a look at the pictures from her trip. There’s also London, Barcelona, and 8 places you should visit but might be scared to.

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Our very own Peaceluvbug has somehow managed to find her way over to the land of Antonio Bandaras otherwise known as Spain. She has pictures posted as well as some travel tips and advice. You can see the pictures here and read her blog about the trip here.

As in any other big city, the metro is a cheap way to get virtually anywhere. Placa de Catalunya is the main stop on La Rambla (kind of like the MetroCenter stop in D.C.). Once you learn how to use the metro in one city, every other city is easy to figure out. You just need to know which direction you are going! Here we found out that people are extremely helpful. Most people in the La Rambla area speak English? actually, many people in Barcelona speak English. Everyone we talked to was very willing and able to help us when we needed it!

Spain is very high up on my list of places to visit, anyone else been there? I think a stop over would require a combo trip to Morocco.

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You may not know the (controversial) history of Cyprus - a large island in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. It is not likely to be most peoples vacation destination despite its natural beauty and cheap prices. Since the north part of the island is not internationally recognized the only way to get there is by plane or boat leaving from Turkey.

If you are feeling adventurous it’s a trip well worth taking. My cousin recently visited and had this to say. She also took these pictures.

The first thing was the roads are exactly like England, I mean cars are going to left (right line is coming). Cyprus is a former British colony and there are some British hotels there, also quite a few Brits as well. They don’t have many cafes and restaurants, I found Cyprus pretty poor actually…and food and drinks are so cheap (like a bottle of vodka absolut is just 15 YTL - $7 US).

As you can see from the pictures it is so empty because the Cypriots told us that Cyprus is a summer place to live, business is dead in the winter.

They are not very fond of Turkish people - most of them working as taxi drivers and in restaurants. There is also a high Kurdish population. I was shocked to get on a dolmus (small 7-8 person bus) and hear everyone speaking Kurdish.

You can also read this post on her blog about the trip. Feel free to ask her any questions in the comments

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here are some things i learned during my awesome trip to Bratislava, Slovakia this weekend:

1) always leave ample time for traveling by train and bus to an airport; you never know how much traffic there might be or the weather conditions!

2) try to buy a roundtrip train ticket especially if traveling through Milano Centrale because it is such a huge train station and you can save time if you already have a ticket ready

3) bus #61 in Bratislava goes from the airport to the city center and tram #14 takes you to Patio Hostel (we learned this in a difficult fashion). a bus ticket costs 22 SKK, but you can get away with no ticket at all (all you rebels out there!)
4) Slovakia was formerly part of the USSR, so no commie jokes, please.

5) really, all you need for a weekend is about 5000 SKK, which is about $184.

6) Bratislava is not as touristy as other European cities such as Milan or Paris, so don’t expect everyone to speak English. yes, most of the young people do speak English, but you should always try to speak Slovak because it’s just the polite thing to do.

7) Slovakians, as well as pretty much any other people, don’t like loud Americans who draw attention to themselves. therefore, try to blend in rather than sticking out like a sore thumb.

traditional slovakian food consists of a lot of sausage, dumplings, and poppy seeds. as well as weird combinations of these things. Vinea is a traditional drink… more like an aperatif which is delicious. oh and get a cheap sandwich from one of the 24-hr stands at like 3 am. SO good.
9) i have heard that Americans smile way too much, but i really realized this in Slovakia. don’t expect everyone to smile back! i think that’s definitely a big cultural difference.

10) GO TO BRATISLAVA! i loved the fact that it wasn’t smothered in tourists

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Yes, just like Eurotrip, that nickel will take you a long way.

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