Month: April 2022

Summer is just around the corner, and what better way to enjoy summer vacations than traveling across America? Moreover, there are countless curious places to go and enjoy quality time with the family.

If you are thinking about spending your vacations exploring America, consider these interesting, remote places.

Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument

Located in Utah, this national monument is as remote as it gets. It is a must-visit place for those tired of crowds and who want to connect with mother earth.

San Ysidro Ranch

San Ysidro Ranch is the perfect place for those looking for a non-urban place to vacation, but it can still offer all the comfort of modern life. This Californian ranch brings the best of wilderness while still being a cozy and comfortable place.

Alaska

Alaska is undoubtedly one of the most beautiful states to vacation in America. There are numerous ways to Adventure in Alaska, as it has outstanding parks, such as St.Elias National Park, Glacier Bay National Park, and many others.

Vacations are the perfect time to relax and learn a little more about the world as you travel around your country. Remote places that offer a connection with nature and are rich in history are a good pick for a vacation with family and friends. …

Walking tours can sometimes be brief. People might only spend around a half an hour on certain tours. The people who take boat tours will usually want something slightly more substantial. There are multiple boat tours that will last for about an hour and a half. The people on these tours will have enough time to really get a glimpse of everything when they take these tours. 

It already takes some time to get everyone in the boat in the first place. If the actual tour only lasts for a half an hour, or even a full hour, people may end up remembering the boat boarding process more than the actual tour.

When organizations like the Manatee offer tours that are slightly longer than that, people can already feel as if they have really gotten the benefits of the boat ride itself, along with whatever they were actually able to see when they were there.

These are the sorts of tours that will give people the chance to take lots of pictures on their phones or other devices. Visitors on the tours will have lots of memories connected to them at different points, and they won’t feel as if they were stuck on the boat at any point. …

Book Cheap Holidays: Enjoy Some Lovely Moments

Do you want to live far from the hue and cry of the world? Do you wish for enjoying some unforgettable moments in your life? Don’t bother for your monthly budget that can interrupt you from doing so, as the cheap holidays are arranged by the cheap packages. There is no problem in availing them as they are available at various online agents who take a very small time in providing you with the right package.

Now, when you are planning to visit out of city or out of world, the very first question takes place in your mind and it is about the booking of holidays. You would like to book your package where you have great chance of saving money. If you are unable to do so, it will not be a cheap deal. So, don’t opt for the traditional way of booking tickets and go with the online agents where you can find lots of amazing and cheapest packages.

There is no need to worry for your monthly budget as you can find the suitable deal within the range of your budget. There are many more online agents who arrange deals as per the budget and requirement of people. If you are living with a tight budget, you can find deal accordingly with no hassle. Before booking a cheap holiday package, it is necessary that you have decided on the place very first and then, started to look for the place.

Moreover, advance booking that too during off season is the right way to book your holidays in a very cost-effective manner. You will not waste your time as it is the easiest and fastest way. In case, you have to cancel your tour before some days, your money with some deduction will be given back to you.…

Traveller Warning – “No Menu” in a Restaurant Can Lead to Unwanted Big Bills

What is the ‘no menu scam’? In essence, it is very simple – a tourist buys drinks at a cafe without asking the price, which turns out to be much higher than it should be.

Where can it be found? It’s global, and particularly common in poor countries which see a lot of tourists.

There are many variants, but most run as follows:

1. The victim orders drinks in a cafe, or food in a restaurant.

2. The menu does not have prices, and the victim does not think to ask how much the drink or food costs.

3. When the bill comes, it is far higher than it should be.

As so often, travellers are relatively susceptible to these scams because they are not familiar with local price levels and customers. They are less likely to complain than locals and in many countries they are richer than most locals, and hence easier to fleece. Perhaps above all, they are out for a good time and are not looking to spoil their holiday with arguments about a few dollars.

From the two examples below, these scams may appear to be an Eastern European speciality, but, unfortunately, they are more widespread than that. In Morocco, tourists sometimes eat lunch at hole-in-the-wall sandwich bars. Customers usually pay after they have eaten, and prices can be much higher if the customer is a tourist. I have heard of similar scams in Thailand, Vietnam and in some South America countries. I doubt that they are limited to these places: wealthy, foreign tourists frequent cafes all over the world. The amount of money lost by the victim who has been swindled in this way is usually small, but the feeling of anger is often much greater than the small sum seems to warrant.

Related to the “no menu” scam is the “new price” scam:

1. The victim finds something he wants to buy while shopping, or he may be in a cafe and about to pay the bill.

2. He is presented with a bill which is much higher than its price tag, or than the menu, led him to believe.

3. He complains to the waiter or shop assistant, and even asks to see their manager.

4. The scammer tells the victim that the price he saw was the “old price” – prices have just gone up since the list was printed. This may be the case, but it is more likely that the waiter thinks the victims will simply pay up and leave, rather than bother to argue over the difference.

If the victim refuses to pay the “new price”, the scammer can sell the victim what he wants to buy at the original price and the business will have lost nothing.

A related scam occurs in restaurants:

1. Food, in particular, meat or fish, will be priced on the menu by weight.

2. The restaurant staff, however, will provide their customer with much less meat or fish than they charge her for, or they will charge her by weight for meat or fish which is mostly bone.

3. As the customer does not have scales with her, she will not be able to work out the price she should be paying, and will most likely pay the restaurant what it asks.

Many seafood restaurants do not include prices for dishes involving fresh fish. They often list the price for these meals as “market price”. This is not usually a scam, since the market price of fresh fish can vary dramatically day by day. However, there is no excuse for changing prices of items like coffee dramatically, just because the cafe happens to be serving tourists rather than locals. I learned in Bosnia to be suspicious of a cafe or a restaurant which does not produce a menu (see the example below), and especially of one which does not show a price list when asked. Since then, I have never assumed that I know what a price is, but have tried to remember to ask before I order. However, what I have learned from my friend’s experience in Budapest (another example below), is that even when I think I know the price, I can still be swindled. Other than refusing to pay, or paying and then reporting the restaurant to the tourist police, if there are any, there does not seem much that a tourist can do to frustrate a waiter who decides to double the price of a drink on a whim, and without telling him.

My experience of a “no menu” scam in Bosnia

In 2009, I was in Mostar, Bosnia, a delightful town centred on a famous bridge (“Most” in Bosnian) over the River Neretva. The …