Travelogger

We wander for distraction, but we travel for fulfillment.

Use European City Cards to Make Some Huge Savings

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EurocardsTraveling in the summer may not be that appealing to some people. In spite of the excellent weather in many places, there are just too many other tourists who pack their bags and hit the roads at this time. Still, if you do not mind the crowds, then these next couple of months is the perfect time to go visit the continent across the ocean.

Carousing around Europe is part of every traveler’s dream. However, we all know just how heavy on the pockets this could be. One critical weapon in the traveler’s arsenal is the city card. Major European cities offer these cards to visitors and locals alike, in an effort to help them make some savings. Here are some city cards that you should take a look at.

Barcelona Card
If you’re heading off to Spain, you might want to get one of these. You have to pay €26 for two days and you get 10 percent off on all online bookings at bcnshop.barcelonaturisme.com. You also get public transport and discounts for the attractions of the cities.

Roma Pass
This card is cheaper at €23 for three days and you get more out of it. All buses, trains, and subways come free. You also get free entrance to two museums and additional discounts for every museum you visit thereafter. One drawback – no discounts for the Vatican.

Paris ComboPass Lite
Pay €42 for two days of traipsing around the city. All public transportation is covered plus you get free entrance to the Louvre and the Musee d’Orsay. Oh, and they threw in an hour cruise on the Seine.

There are more cards available in different cities, just make sure you look for them and compare the actual costs before you get yourself a card.

Sitting Atop Someone’s Shoulders: A Caramoan Experience

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It’s my second day in Caramoan, and I have to say that I am feeling a varied mix of emotions. The trip didn’t start off so well, thanks to my not getting any sleep the night before. It didn’t help that the plane we took was smaller than I am used to. The flight was uneventful, though, and I slept through it.

Getting to La Playa Resort is not an easy task, I am telling you now. From the airport, you have to get to the Filcab terminal in Naga City. Airport cabs will charge you 200-300 PHP. If you want them to take you directly to Sabang Port, you’d have to shell out 1000-1500PHP. Naturally, we took the Filcab alternative. That cost us 200PHP for the cab and then 90PHP for the public van to the port.

At the port, everything was chaotic. Porters immediately gathered in droves around us, got our bags, and herded us into the port. Mind you, there is no real port. The tide was such that the boats had to be quite far from the beach so the only way to get on the boat was to either wade through chest high water OR ride atop a guy’s shoulder. I AM SERIOUS.

I had no idea I had to do this – if I did, I probably would have backed out early on. But there I was, I had no choice. The guy squatted on the sand and I sat on his shoulder. It was one of the weirdest, most harrowing experiences of my life.
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