O/T Long Haul Flights

I'm going to Cuba, Ponty in September, October for 3 weeks. I've been before its great, been all over the world and Cuba is one of my favourite places the people are the salt of the earth they can't do enough for you and don't expect any tips off you, but if you give them one they are very grateful.
When travelling long distance we always go Premier but it costs a fair bit more.

 

Everyone we have spoken to who has been has said the same thing! I'm really looking forward to it. Hope you have a good trip!

 

Nah, sumdis barnd t complain.

 

Agreed, there's some miserable sods on long haul flights

 

How much of the real Cuba do you see when you go? Will probably go there at some stage but i'm not interested in A/I gated and secured hotels. Can you go pretty much anywhere anytime on your own or is that a no-no?

 

Yes, don't forget your passport...

It's easy after that

 

You can do it either way mate. My intention was to travel round under our own steam but it was our last holiday in 2011 before having kids and my wife fancied staying in an adults only Sandals resort for part of it. Anyway we compromised on having 4 nights in Havana then a week at Sandals.

Havana was incredible; underground jazz clubs, eating in paladars (3 table restaurants in local people's houses), finding microbreweries in little squares, rattling through backstreets in a Lada at 2am, drinking cans of Cristal on the Malecon on an evening. One of the best cities I've been to. Need your wits about you but proper exciting.

Within 2 nights of being at Sandals we were pining to be back in Havana. You could have been anywhere really. But some people love that too, and you can do day trips to see parts of the island.

 

I went on my honeymoon there back in 2009. Did a few day/ overnight trips from Varadero to the likes of Havana and Trinidad/Cienfuegos etc and had quite a bit of freedom to explore at times. I'm not really one for guided tours usually.

 

Adjust your sleep pattern to the time in the place that you will be landing. Sleeping on a plane is easy, if you have some noise cancelling headphones or earplugs.
You might have to stay up later than UK time, or rest earlier. I works. I travel all over for DJ work & sleep management works a treat. Never jet lagged.

 

The Havana bit appeals to me but i loathe places like Sandals. I would do a few nights in the city then and find a 'locally owned small-scale apartment by the beach too (if any exist). Sounds wonderful.

 

Sit darn

 

11 hour flight for me this Saturday. Manchester to Singapore. Then a transfer from Singapore to Bali taking another 2 1/2 hours. Prior to that the longest I had flown was about 4 hours (Greece and Tenerife).

 

Are you going for a medical?

 

Worst flight I've endured was from Singapore to Manchester in one of the middle seats in a 4 seat central row, next to a maths professor from Australia with even fewer conversational skills than me. On the other hand Singapore is one of the most amazing places I've been to - I enjoyed it better than Bali - I hope your stop gives you a few days to explore.

 

Take some paracetamol tablets for when your arse joints start to ache after the first six hours.

 

I travel a lot and long haul. Business ideally but not always. My tips are:-

- Set your watch / time to destination and adjust to that time as soon as possible
- Drink lots (especially water!)
- Aisle Seat : Quick to get a spare seat if needed, close to locker above for books, ipad and to get to bathroom without disturbing people. I know you might get disturbed but people try to avoid that
- Try to get a seat close to but not next to the galley. Close to toilets and easy to step up walk and grab a drink
- Carry on what you need. Sometimes jogger bottoms and relaxing gear is better and change prior to landing if needed. Books, IPad etc
- I have tried many bags to carry on (not for luggage). A good backpack, not too big or you try to fill it. Medium size, know where your stuff is.
- Pens in case you need to fill in forms and immigration stuff
- Get some noise cancelling headphones
- At the destination adjust to the local time and sleep pattern as quickly as possible
- Ensure you have the right paperwork, eta, esta, visa's etc at the ready. Even if they don't expect to see a paper copy, take one anyway.
- Be there early at the airport. Check your boarding pass. SSSS on a USA boarding pass means you have been preselected for extra security
-

 

When we went to San Francisco for my wedding, we got on the flight and when I looked around at lunch everybody else in the family was enjoying the wine. Its a good job I don't drink wine as we had to drive from the airport into the city.

 

Which bit of Bali are you going to?

 

Ubud for one week (sightseeing and activities)

Sanur for second week on the coast (chill out)


Have you been?

 

Yes, ubud is fantastic. Some lovely walks where you just venture out into paddy fields nearby. When we got to ubud, we literally jumped on tripadvisor and found a tour guide with loads of fantastic reviews, think it cost equivalent of £40 to £50 for the day and he took us all over. The famous lake with the temple, but off the beaten track, an amazing water fall (insanely steep and you need to be of average fitness to get back up!), a view of the twin lakes and some other places we'd never heard of but were really lovely and largely free of tourism. In Ubud… there are some fantastic coffee houses, Indonesian coffee is by far the smoothest I've had and absolutely delicious. Theres also a stunning little lake with water lilies just behind a starbucks. There are some great restaurants too, one was a foundation where kids are brought through (think it was a dutch owner) and I'd suggest Rijstaffel…. an old dutch colonial banquet meal... definitely enough for two people even if they say otherwise! I can try and dig out my research for you if you need it.

The south of Bali... I must say is a bit disappointing. Its been massively developed and the 2 nights we had in Nusa Dua (to make the return leg home easier) was just not our cup of tea. We stayed a few nights before that in Sengiggi on Lombok and that was lovely and much more chilled with views looking back at Mount Agung (do keep an eye on it, its been rumbling a lot lately and did erupt a few weeks back) and we had a few days on Java around Yogyakarta. Not much to see in Yogyakarta but a base to see the temples at Borobudur and Prambanan. Think the flights to Yogya were about £20-£30 each and about an hour... Yogya airport was entertaining mind you... but if you find you want to explore a bit and just head off for a short trek, those two sets of temples were stunning and the reaction of locals to you is great as they rarely see white people. Very different to the holiday islands, and the south of bali in particular.

Just shout up if you need any restaurant recommendations in Ubud and where we went

Enjoy!