Mario's World » Travel

Duty Free & Chocolates

mario — Thu, 11 Aug 2011 07:33:04 +0000

Came across some interesting facts about the Airport Duty Free at Singapore on SimpliFlying.

They sold 4.5 million boxes of chocolates last year. Also found out that the UK duty free chain sells about 92 tonnes of chocolates just during Christmas alone. That’s a lot of chocolate!

We normally pickup 3-4 boxes of chocolates every time we fly through a nice duty free (Kuwait airport doesn’t really count as duty free). Perfumes are next on the list and booze (when flying out of the GCC).

What do you all pick up most at duty free?

Flying 101 with Kulula

mario — Mon, 18 Jul 2011 09:30:14 +0000

I just came across these airplane pics of Kulula. Great paint job! I feel more airlines should get creative like this.

I’m trying to imagine what something like this would look like in Arabic. Kuwait Airways, maybe a new paint job “تحلق 101” could be part of your restructuring plan.

Lifeguards in India

mario — Fri, 15 Jul 2011 05:47:26 +0000

On our last vacation in India we managed to visit the beaches at Goa as well as Chennai. There was a huge difference in the lifeguad / beach patrol services at both places.

In Goa they patrol the beaches in jeeps equipped with surf boards and other life saving necessities. The lifeguards themselves wear sea-worthy wet uniforms. They do seem more prepared for an emergency. Of course non of that is of any help if the guy has fallen asleep under one of the palm trees at Anjuna or Vagator.

In Chennai, I like the idea of moving around on these smaller ATVs. Comes in very handy during the very crowded weekends. However, these guys are not really dressed for the job and will need to call for help in case of an emergency.

What do you think is the best option for these beach patrols?

Kandyan Ves Dancers

mario — Tue, 12 Jul 2011 05:28:02 +0000

Ro and I stepped into this hotel for dinner and since it was Wedding Season in Sri Lanka, the hallway at one point was blocked for the wedding procession. And the procession was led by “Ves” dancers.

Seems its a tradition at most weddings to hire “Ves” dancers. These guys are amazing. They wear about 50 kgs (i’ve been told) of costume which is mostly metal. And they dance real fast in a very tribal fashion and include a lot of acrobatic moves in their routine. It’s very cool to watch and very entertaining for those watching.

Garbage in Goa

mario — Sun, 10 Jul 2011 08:03:51 +0000

What is happening in Goa? In most villages along the main roads you can see these “do not dump your garbage here” signs and people seem to dump their garbage only in those places.

Smart Phones & Future of Travel

mario — Sat, 09 Jul 2011 09:45:54 +0000

I found this video on YouTube. Reminds me of the Jetsons. This is travel in 2121. I think most of this is possible in the next 5-10 years. Well almost at least, I doubt the bit with the Martians will happen anytime soon.

Bomb Scare at Indian Airport

mario — Fri, 08 Jul 2011 08:21:12 +0000

I took the picture above at Chennai airport. This is at the section just after immigration.

As you can see, everybody (except Ro and I) were crowding at one spot, all of them trying to get a glimpse of the bomb. Yes, there was a bomb alert, with a guy in full bomb disposal armor and 2 sniffer dogs and they all still wanted to get as close as possible to the action.

I’m not sure if this is just us Indians in our usual inquisitive Indian mode, but who goes “near” the bomb. If I thought there was a bomb around, I would walk as far away from it as I could.

And our brilliant airport authorities just left the immigration counters running so people could keep piling up to watch all the action up close. Luckily, it was a false alarm. No bomb in sight. And we could all leave after a good 40 mins of watching the dogs and the armored guy take turns checking out the “un-attended package”.

Still, good job by the guy in the armored suit and his two cuddly sniffer dogs.

Interesting Airline Traffic Trends

mario — Thu, 07 Jul 2011 06:30:00 +0000

I found this very interesting chart on global airline traffic at Amadeus. It’s based on a study between airconomy and Amadeus.

I’m not surprised to see the 13.4% increase in air travel between Asian countries and the Middle East. Looks like Qatar Airways and Emirates are the key players boosting air traffic to/from and via the Middle East region with more destinations than ever. A lot of people we know now travel 2 or more times a year as compared to maybe once in a year or 2 years.

Botanical Gardens – Smooching Central

mario — Wed, 06 Jul 2011 06:17:07 +0000

Our tour guide took us to the famous Peradeniya Royal Botanical Gardens at Kandy in Sri Lanka. The garden was very nicely laid out with lots of interesting species of trees, herbs and flowers. They had a lot of exotic looking plants as well and some great landscaping.

Even more interesting were the dozens (or more) of couples who came there for their smooching sessions. Almost every third tree has a couple standing below and smooching away. Even the big ol haunted looking tree with thousands of vampire bats hanging from above had a couple below getting very romantic. And all this was on a weekday!

You just gotta love the Sri Lankans for that.

Poo Paper Anyone?

mario — Tue, 05 Jul 2011 06:48:22 +0000

Yes, you read that sign correctly. “Poo Paper Sold Here”. And you thought you were saving trees by not using paper!

Think again. The paper you are using could have started out as elephant poo. All the more reason to go digital and save paper.

I caught that sign while visiting the elephant orphanage in Sri Lanka. I though it was a joke at first. But its for real and there is no shortage of elephant poo over there. They can collect tons of poo every day from this small herd of about 50-60 elephants.