10 Days in Europe (Budget Trip from India)

Travelling to Europe is many people's dream. I got my turn with business travel to Norway Sep'2024 along with a group of 5 people. Post business we planned a short vacation in western Europe.

I will share here my EU travel experience from India.  That might help for those who travel in budget.

Itinerary:
Chennai - Frankfurt - Chennai   (Typically round trip cost 50K to 80K INR)
Other Options from India: - Doha/ Dubai/ Amsterdam/ Paris 
Note: I travelled in Qatar airways via Doha, for sure Qatar gives best travel experience.
Counties Covered: Belgium >> France >> Swiss >> Italy >> Germany and Norway

Visa:
For EU you have to apply Schengen visa that allows you to travel around 27 EU countries.
Typically valid for 90 to 180 days however validity might be constrained based on the embassy's decision.

Where to Apply:
For business you have to apply in the country where you are going to travel for business. 
For tourism check your itinerary find the country where is your maximum stay.  Apply in the appropriate country.  Schengen visa demands lots of document, take time to prepare and please vouch the supporting docs.  Rejections was high post COVID, things might change in future.
For Norway Visa Check here for details

Luggage Storage:
Prefer to keep minimum luggage for hassle free travel.   
You get good 24x7 luggage storage in both airports and railway stations.
I stored my luggage in Frankfurt airport storage ~EU 10 per day and took 1 backpack for travel.
Note: Frankfurt airport storage works 24x7 however railway station luggage storage work on fixed time
(Check the counter timings before dropping your luggage)

Transport:
Flight:              Flughafen Frankfurt Main (Direct train connectivity from airport, you can walk)
Trains:             If your stay is more than 3 days, prefer to take Euro Pass will explain in detail
Local:              EU is well connected with Bus/ Tram/ Metro/ Cabs
                       (Prefer to take 1/ 2/ 3 day pass for local transport (bus/ metro) based on your stay) 

SIM Card:
For Indian travelers Airtel international roaming at ~Rs.3000 is very good comes with one month validity. It worked well for me in all the places without any issues.

Forex:
Everywhere card works keep less cash handy, use travel card everywhere. I used HDFC forex card worked seamlessly across all places.

Language:
Europe is similar to India, like each state language in india here in EU each country speaks different language.  However english works everywhere, we didn't feel any difficulty in communication.

Food:
There are lot of Indian restaurant across Europe, since lot of Indians coming for vacation like us.  however its relatively expensive for budget traveler like me. Lot of choices are there for Non-Veg people and for Veg its quite challenging to eat food in budget. 

Read to Eat: 
Hotel    - Buy any ready to eat food with aluminum package (Many hotels have only kettle) Saves INR 2K per meal
Hostel  - Common kitchen, you can cook what you wish (If you are lucky you can take leftover groceries from fridge)

Eat Out: 
For non veg indian, you see kebab restaurant everywhere across Europe, you will get good Chicken/ Beef roll or plate (Like Shwarma) ~INR1200 per meal (I mostly survived with kebabs only) Most of the middle east restaurants are hallal.
For veg Indian, would suggest to stay in hostel cook your own food.  For family want to eat out allocate some good budget for food.

Local Food: Try local food like French Croissant and Crepe, Swiss Chocolate, Italian Ice creams, Belgium Chocolate and Waffles   

EURO Pass:
Europe is very well connected with high speed trains and you can travel hassle free with reservation.  If you are planning to visit few countries in a month then blindly go for euro pass.

Where to Take:
https://www.eurail.com/en/eurail-passes/global-pass many pass options based on your need.
Benefits:
https://www.eurail.com/en/eurail-passes/deals (we got discount for Top of Europe)
Pass Type:
If budget permits, prefer to take 1st class (So you have option to travel both 1st and 2nd class) 
Reservation:
Reservation comes with additional cost, however it is very much needed for hassle free travel
EU Pass App:
https://www.eurail.com/en/plan-your-trip/rail-planner-app install this app for planning/ travel 
Tickets:
Get you travel itinerary in the app before travel and ensure to activate the pass every day before you start your travel.  Show the pass from app when ticket checker demands also keep the reservation handy in printouts. 
Youth Pass:     
16-24 Years will get discounted pass
Video:               
All abut EU Rail pass 

Note: if you are travelling only to swiss then prefer you to take Swiss Pass

Activities:
There are many options depends on the group you can choose. That includes Nature/ Museums/ Architectural/ Adventures/ Trekking/ Heritage.  Book all entry tickets in advance.

Brussels:  Atomium/ Mini Europe
Paris:        Louvre Museum Tickets/ Eiffel Tower and River/ Arc de Triomphe (10K) 
Rome:       Vatican Museum/ Colosseum Guided Tour 
Interlaken: Jungfrau Top of Europe (16K) / Lindt Factory Tour 
Munich:     Oktober festival    

Convenience Store:
Coop/ ROMA 2000/ Seven Eleven stores are available everywhere you can get all the essentials items.

Shopping:

Big NO for budget travelers or plenty of options if you have fatty wallet.

Accommodation:
If you are in a group, average cost per person ~INR 4K per day for twin sharing room (Privacy) or lot of hostel options also there which quite safe too.  Check reviews in both google/ travel website before booking.  Swiss is quite expensive we stayed in Balmers Hostel try once for life time experience.
Bookings:  Booking.com/ https://airbnb.com/ https://hostelworld.com/

Note: Confirm payments are done and check with the hotel before arrival to avoid any last minute surprises. 

Budget:

 ~62,500  Entry Tickets
 ~09,000  Locker
 ~32,000  Shared Accommodation
 ~46,000  Euro Pass
 ~02,000  Insurance
 ~10,000  Travel Essentials
 ~99,000  Food/ Local Transport/ Others Expenses
------------------------------------
2,60,500  Total Expenses (Approx.in INR) excluding visa/ flight tickets 
------------------------------------

Warning: 
EU Western and Scandinavia are very safe.  However places like Paris, Rome you have to be very cautious.  Take care of your belonging in public places, keep your wallet/ passport safe and don't carry any expensive items. 

• Beware of pick pockets and cheaters
• Never go to isolated/ lonely places alone
• Stay in a group if possible
• If anyone approaches you to help (No thanks and stay away from them)
• Google Map is always your friend (For any help go to public transport counter/ Cops) for help
• We got cheated in Paris metro ticket vending machine, they guy approached us to help and tricked give 2 hour ticket instead day pass.
• BE SAFE (Keep Helpline numbers handy)

If you planned your travel well for sure you will get unforgettable memories in budget.  
Overall it was a very good experience.  Travel is Fun !!!  May God Bless you !!!

Lens Reflections: 

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Article: Saheed April 25, 2024  No comment

Health Insurance Tips

 

Health Insurance is unavoidable for common people.  Please consider below points before buying any health insurance.

Don't get trapped in marketing jargon, everyone has different needs please go with what you want.  If you are the who think its a expense.  Please put the equal amount your premium in index stocks.  I am sure you will get your money back.  

1. Room Rent Cap:  Ensure no room rent cap or you might end up in paying more.
   
   
2. City Coverage: Based on your location check the number of hospitals covered around your place. 
   
   
3. ICU Cap: Ensure no ICU cap.
   
   
4. Disease Sub Limit: Please aware is there any disease sub limit set.
   
   
5. Policy Limit: Ensure policy limit.
   
   
6. Consumables: Now many insurance provides consumables without additional cost.
   
   
7. Network Hospitals: Ensure your insurance provider covers maximum hospitals, ensure its not tight up with specific hospitals and also ensure zone A and zone B are covered.
   
   
8. Claim Settlement Ratio: Ensure CSR rating is good
   
   
9. Renewability:  Ensure good lifetime renewable policy
   
   
10. Waiting Period:  Very important to check this most of the policies have ~2 to 3 years wait time.
    
    
11. Addons/ Riders: Check for the possible riders that comes with additional cost
    
    
12. Fine Print:  Please read the fine print document that explains all the details about the policy
    
    
13. Sufficient Cover: Based on your family, be careful to take sufficient cover
    
    
14. Medical History: Please be truthful while declaring medical history, if they found false info your policy might void
    
    
15. Age:  Earlier the best, even if you have a corporate policy still it is advisable to take health   insurance.  If you are 40 > please take it asap.

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Article: Saheed March 04, 2024  No comment

5 Days in Thailand

"The Land of Smiles" was there in my wish list.  On Aug-2023 got an opportunity to attend conference in Bangkok. I will share here my Thai travel experience.   

Itinerary: 
Chennai - Bangkok - Phuket - Pattaya - Bangkok - Chennai   (Thai Airways INR 30k or Air Asia INR 15k) 

Note: I travelled in Thai airways which is awesome, however Air Asia also decent for budget trip.
Visa:
Thailand has On-arrival / E-visa  options for more details visit official website. 
I opted for E-Visa and the port of entry is seamless. 

Note: On-arrival visa they will accept only cash.

Luggage Storage:
You get good affordable 24x7 luggage storage in both the airports. However you can also keep the luggage in hotels too without any additional cost.

Transport:
Flight:              Suvarnabhumi Airport (Thai Air) / Don Mueang International Airport (Air Asia)
Cab/ Train:      Bangkok has very good metro connectivity and cabs at affordable price (Use Grab App)

SIM Card:
For Indian travelers Airtel international roaming at Rs.800 is good or local prepaid in airport. If you are using cabs/ food online service better take local SIM so they can reach you easily or if you are in a group may be one person can take local SIM.

Forex:
Thailand is cash based economy most of decent hotels card will do. However everywhere you need to use only cash.  Don't exchange in airport go to Sukhumvit Road for good exchange rate.

Language:
Thai is the common local language and English works everywhere.

Activities:
There are many options depends on the group you can choose.  There are lot of options Night/ floating/ weekend Market, Palace, Malls, Temples and local street food and more.  If you night owl kind of person visit Sukhumvit.  

Convenience Store:
Seven Eleven stores are available everywhere you can get all the essentials items.

Food/ Stay:

There are lot of Indian restaurant, I had in Amristr Restaurant was very good and they do have branches in Pattaya and Phuket too. There are lot good affordable hotels in Thailand. I stayed in Swisshotel always choose hotel which is near to any metro station.  

Shopping:
For shopping Indians must visit Indira Square (You need bargain however you will good deal here)
Chatuchak Weekend Market (too massive lots of shops most of them open only on Sunday)

What to Buy:
There are lots of good Medicines in Thailand, check with local people before buying. 
Below 2 are the best from my experience.

Pim Saen Balm Oil   Works very well for Cold/ Cough gives immediate relief from running nose
Cheng Chen Oil:       Gives very good relief particularly for headache and cold

What to Buy:
There are lots of good Medicines in Thailand, check with local people before buying. 

YouTube Info:
There are many you tube channels has thailand videos, however this is the best one which gives more local insight and very informative.  Please do visit before you travel.

Channel:  Live Love Thailand

Bangkok
Good city life and culture 2-3 days is good enough to cover Bangkok.  I have spend only 1 sunday for local visit and spent 3 days business purpose.   

Phuket
Scenic nature and pleasant weather.  Depends on your interest you can stay up to a week.  I spent 2 days in Phuket stayed in Royal Paradise Hotel it was decent/ affordable very close to Patong beach and Amritsar Restaurant.

Airport to Hotel use Grab or Prepaid Airport Taxi (Buses also available, Phuket airport is little away from city)

Bangkok to Phuket Air Asia 2 way costs around INR 6K only. 

Day 1: Local sight seeing (Standard Package - Negotiate/ bargain with local travel guys or hotel)

Day 2: Phe Phe Island (There are many options we choose Phe Phe)  (Travel guys will pick/ drop you from hotel)

Pattaya
1 day is fair enough to cover Pattaya.  Pattaya is 2 hours drive from Bangkok airport. It has nice beach and night life with lots of Indian crowd. Places like Floating Market/ Tiger Park/ Walking Street and coral island. 

Warning: 

Avoid taking 2 wheelers rent, you might get cheated its not safe and foreign license is not acceptable it seems.  Traffic challans are very costly.  
For questions always check with hotel travel desk, never indulge with anonymous people.
Careful with your belonging while you are in crowded places.  

Thailand is budget friendly with beautiful beaches, city life, nature and many more.  Overall its a very good experience.  For family travelers don't miss Bangkok, Phuket is must and for friends visit all 3 locations.  Have Fun !!!  God Bless you !!!

Lens Reflections: 

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Article: Saheed February 24, 2024  No comment

How To Enjoy Your Life And Your Job

 

30 key takeaways from this book...

Enjoy your Life

1. Words are more powerful use it wisely, always use positive words 
2. Be yourself, never change yourself for others
3. Never imitate anyone in your life (all human beings are unique)
4. Make your work space clean, that enhance your productivity
5. Plan your next day and set/ review your goals by EOD (No Plan - No Progress)
6. Never multitask focus one at a time
7. Trust people and delegate the work
8. Your brain never gets tired, if you do the work that you love Your emotions/ mental state makes you tired (Ref: psychology of power book) 
9. Take proper sleep/ relax yourself that enhance your life
10. Review your job 4 times a day, to ensure you are not doing it in pressure
11. Love what you do, You are always better than someone in this world thank god for it
12. Be Positive, never ever complain about your problems
13. THINK THANK - Express gratitude to people and god
14. Be happy with what you have, focus on things that you love
15. Ignore negative criticism, keep calm & focus on your work (None cares about dead dog) 

Influence People

1. In business or life, see people interests, always start your conversation with their interest
2. Appreciate people for anything small or big that doesn't matter  
3. If you want to influence someone, first find their interest 
4. Never argue with people, try to understand and convince from their POV
5. Success comes when you think from other's POV
6. Most of the people in this world are selfish, see from their POV
7. To win people, be kind to all, have personal touch and don't go only for business
8. To win people, do something for them without any expectation 
   e.g. Say birthday wish over phone/ in person
9. What you give is what you get, Love All 
10. Never give direct feedback, be subtle in your words
11. Accept some times you may be wrong, listen to their concerns/ suggestions
12. Never/ ever try to show you are preeminent
13. To solve any conflict, first listen to the problem then question them and give your input as suggestion
14. Always start your conversation by making your opponent say "yes" to your question that helps to convince
15. Never ever give open critics to people 

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Article: Saheed February 21, 2024  No comment

Update Fedora 39 over command line

 Fedora 39 includes several new features and improvements, including:

• The latest GNOME 45 desktop environment, with stylish new widgets, a brand new Image Viewer app, and many other refinements.
• The Linux kernel 6.5, with support for the latest hardware and security features.
• The Firefox 110 web browser, with improved performance and security.
• The LibreOffice 7.5 office suite, with new features and bug fixes.
• The Python 3.11 programming language, with new features and performance improvements.

Step 1: Update Fedora 38 (Required)

Before moving to the new version, it’s important to update your Fedora 38 system packages to most latest and most compatible versions.

sudo dnf upgrade --refresh

Step 2: Install the DNF-plugin-system-upgrade Package on Fedora

Once the system upgrade is completed, you can install the dnf-plugin-system-upgrade plugin, which is a command-line tool for upgrading Fedora systems to a new major release.

sudo dnf install dnf-plugin-system-upgrade

Step 3: Download Fedora 39 Release

Now it’s time to use the system-upgrade command to download the Fedora 39 release.

sudo dnf system-upgrade download --releasever=39

If you encounter conflicts during the upgrade, consider adding the --allowerasing option to your upgrade command, which will enable DNF to remove packages that could be causing conflicts during the upgrade.

sudo dnf system-upgrade download --releasever=39 --allowerasing

After the package download is complete, restart your system to begin the final installation process.

sudo dnf system-upgrade reboot

Step 4: Verify Fedora 39 Release

Once the upgrade to Fedora 39 is done, and you log in, you’ll see some changes in the user interface.

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Article: Saheed November 24, 2023  No comment

Install Chrome OS/ MPLAB X/ XPRESS IDE in your old laptop

Prerequisite: 

• Any old laptop/ desktop with minimum 4GB RAM with 128GB Hard disk
• Any working windows machine for making USB bootable image (UEFI Support)
• 8 or 16 GB Pen drive (To create bootable image)

Files Required:

Create a folder chromeOS in your computer and download the files below.

• ChromeOS: https://chromiumdash.appspot.com/serving-builds?deviceCategory=ChromeOS
• Linux Mint: https://www.linuxmint.com/download.php 
• Rufus:  https://rufus.ie/en/
• Bruch:  https://github.com/sebanc/brunch/releases

Note: (Chrome OS - Select latest build (Download only RAMMUS version)

Step 1 (Create Bootable Pen Drive):

• Insert pen drive 
• Open Rufus and select linux mint iso file to crate bootable image (refer below video)

Step 2 (Unzip Bruch):

• Unzip the bruch and rename it as chromeOS (refer below video)

Step 2 (Unzip ChromeOS):

• Unzip the downloaded chromeOS file
• Rename the file as rammus.bin and move the bin file to the above chromeOS folder (refer below video)

Step 3 (Save Command.txt for reference):

• Create text file and copy the below commands and move it to chromeOS folder this will be executed later

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install pv
sudo apt-get install cgpt
sudo bash chromeos-install.sh -src rammus.bin -dst /dev/sda

Step 4 (Move chromeOS folder to pendrive):

• Copy the chromeOS folder to pendrive (refer below video)

Step 5 (Booting Linux to install Chrome):

• Select pen drive from your computer boot menu
• Once the linux mint is up (Connect to WIFI or Ethernet)
• Go to terminal and change directory to your chromeOS folder /cdrom/chromeOS$
• Run the above commands one by one
• Exit and shutdown the linux once all the commands are executed
• Now Disconnect USB and restart your PC
• Chrome OS is now ready to use (login with your google account)

Step 6 (Enable Linux Developer Mode in Chrome OS):

• Go to Setting by pressing window/ control key
• Select Advanced >> Developers >> Enable Linux Developer Environment
• Note: Please ensure to enable CPU Virtualization from your BIOS
• Enable Linux file sharing from MyFiles explorer (To access files from linux terminal)
• Go to penguin terminal ($ cd /mnt/chromeos/MyFiles/Downloads)

Step 7 (Installing MPLAB X):

• Execute this command before running the installer ($sudo xhost +si:localuser:root)
• Download linux version of MPLAB X IDE Here
• Unzip the file and provide execute permission ($sudo chmod +777 MPLABxxx.sh)
• Run the installer - follow the onscreen instructions  ($sudo sh ./MPLAxxxx.sh)
• Once the installation completes, IDE/ IPE will get launched

Note:  For 64bit machines, you may need to run the below commands to connect any tools.

• sudo apt-get update
• sudo dpkg --add-architecture i386
• sudo apt-get install libc6:i386 libx11-6:i386 libext6:i386 libxext6:i386 libstdc++6:i386 libexpat1:i386

FYI: libX11 ---> libx11 (lower case "x")

• MPLAB X installed successfully in Chrome OS in old 4GB lenovo's laptop 
• When you connect any tool e.g. PICKIT4 just select connect to Linux from notification bar.

Using MPLAB XPress Cloud IDE in ChromeOS with PICKIT4:

Open https://www.mplab-xpresside.microchip.com/

Execute this command before running Bridge App ($sudo xhost +si:localuser:root)

Download bridge app from project properties - (Refer Xpress help)

Provide execute permission to java (./jre/bin/java) 

Edit run.sh Line No: 4 with (-DJava.awt.headless=true)
e.g. .\jre\bin\java.exe -jar -DJava.awt.headless=true xpress-bridge-app-v3.50.jar

Now change directory to brideapp folder and run the bridge app $sudo sh ./run.sh

Done Xpress is ready to use PICKIT4

Debug your project - Done

Credits: Technical Support  (Video)

 

 

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Article: Saheed October 14, 2022  No comment

The Richest Man in Babylon

A book with few pages however am one hundred percent sure if you read this book it will definitely change your life to make you think about power of compounding. This book is written for all kind of audience either educated or not who would like to make passive income.  Its small book you can complete it in your commuting time and its must read for those who would like to make more passive money.  The story runs in point of view of Mr.Arkat.

I am going share couple of money management take away from this book.  Which you should keep in your mind forever.

1. Save at least 10 percent of all your income for your future investment fund. 
2. Learn to live in 90% or less of your income.
3. Invest your accumulated capital into project that will provide safe and steady income by taking the full advantage of compounding of the interest received.
4. Invest only in the area which you have expertise or the people who you know are experts in that area.
5. Buy the house which you live if make sense, so you don't waste your money in rent
6. Have a realistic insurance program (Prevent yourself and family from any loss)
7. Always keep working at various ways and means of increasing your income.

Why are you waiting. Start your Passive Income Now.

   

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Article: Saheed February 07, 2020  

Rich Dad Poor Dad

Reading one book a week is my New year 2020 resolution.  My first choice was "Rich Dad Poor Dad" by Robert Kiyosaki.  This book creates lot of positive vibes on you and also gives self confidence to build your own wealth.

There are millions of people who already wrote review on this book.  What am going to explain here is, how this book may help for typical salaried Indian.

Everyone in this world needs money (except god).  This book teaches how to become wealthy from zero.  This book may helpful for generating your passive income.  

IMHO everyone needs passive income no doubt, however the author explained how he achieved the goal.  This might not work for everyone across the world and don't take author's experience as an example and jump in.   Every individual has their own strengths/ weakness first identify that and apply the same to achieve your dream.

Let me explain my take away from this book,

Before You Drink Fill Your Cup: 

This world is for everyone and nothing is impossible in this world.  If you need something say for example Rs.5 Lakh worth car and your wallet is empty.  You should Never Give Up with your dreams.  You should first think how you can make/earn that money man-oeuvre your thoughts to chase that dream instead of saying this car its not for me. 
Keep this in you mind ‘Can’T Do’ always remove the letter 'T' (You Can Do It)

Opportunities Everywhere: 

This world is full of opportunities, but every individual who is in comfort zone always wearing a mask on their eyes.  If you want to get rich, first remove that mask and try to see the opportunities around you.  Robert explains one of his childhood example, where he built a lending comic library in his home by collecting old comic books from his neighborhood and hired his friend's sister as in charge.  This is just an example, you need to think how you can utilize your full strength and opportunities around you to make money.

No Risk No Gain:

Robert says in many time in his life the he took risk and gained a lot.  Psychologically people can utilize their full strength during critical time, nobody wants to take any risk when they are in comfort zone.  If you want to become rich the first thing you have to do is break your comfort zone and be ready to take calculated risk.  

"Measure twice and cut once"

Financial Freedom:    

Robert says our education system teaches how to work for money.  However if you have financial intelligence then you can make the money work for you. 

"Do the right investment at right time to be financially independent"

Know Your Goal:    

Focused mind can get you anything in this world.  If you want to become rich, you need to know your end goal and stay focused to achieve that goal.  Build your own assets and make that assets work for you.  Use your brain to know which option works better for you, don't blindly follow anyone.

Save Your Tax:         

Salaried people pay their taxes first and take the rest, however business people pay their debts first then pay their taxes.  Be smart and try to save the maximum possible money from taxes.

Invest:      

Invest, invest and invest in the right place at right time.  Make sure your investment grows to beat the inflation.  If you don't have any idea on your asset/ liabilities.  Pay and take consultation from financial experts.  Free advice come from everywhere, take the right one that suits for you.  Be familiarize with all investment strategies that takes you to achieve your end goal.

Don't Work Just for Money:       

Time is money, invest your time in the right place.  Make sure you are continuously learning and building your skills from your work.  If you are not learning anything from your work then move on asap.  For your financial freedom life skills like (Communication, Management, Peoples etc.) are very important.

Donate:

The best thing we see from rich peoples is "Donation" from Bill gates, W.buffet, Azim premji all are sharing their wealth to the needy people.  When you start sharing your wealth to the needy people you will get the real satisfaction in your life.  The key factor that helps you to multiply your wealth.  

Many people say why are you taking risk, why didn't you be happy with what you have.  The answer to this question is simple,  When god gave some gift like your special skills, why don't you use it to make more wealth and share it to the society to built better world.  

I disagree when someone says money cant buy happiness. Simple example just give some food to the hungry man in your neighborhood you will realize what is the real happiness.  If you want to help someone for a good cause then you need to build your wealth first.

Conclusion:

This book is must read for all who wants to know why they need to earn more and build their wealth.  However use your own intelligence and strengths to build your wealth, don't just follow the author or anyone.

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Article: Saheed February 06, 2020  

4 Days in Dubai

Visiting "The Pearl of Gulf" was there in my travel wish list for pretty long time.  On Apr-2019 got an opportunity to visit Arizona with my colleagues.  Took this opportunity and went through Dubai, we took emirates everyone's favorite.

Itinerary: 
Chennai - Dubai - Boston- Phoenix - New York - Dubai - Chennai   (Emirates)


Visa:  
For Indians getting UAE visa is very simple,  since we hold USA visa we are eligible for On Arrival Visa.  Indian B1/B2 Visa holders can apply visa online or port of entry (special counters are there) Note: Transit visa is valid only for 4 days.
If you are travelling through emirates then you can apply transit visa though emirates website.

Stay:
Dubai is the best place for tourist, if you are travelling as a group, for sure you will get best hotels at cheaper price. Dubai is very well connected by metro and it is advisable to stay near any metro station.  We are 4 and we stayed in Hilton near to Airport metro. For 3 bed double room costed around USD 60 only.  Dubai Mall is in the center of the city so plan your hotel in close proximity may be around 10 km from mall. 
Hotel: www.dubaiairport.hamptonbyhilton.com using Booking.com

Food:
There are many good restaurants around Dubai, if you are Indian you don't need to search for any restaurant just step out on the road you will see lots of Indian restaurant particularly Kerala type.  We are so lucky that Sangeetha and Ponnusamy Hotels (South Indian Tamil style) and one Kerala restaurant is few meters away from Hilton and the food was so delicious, we didn't feel that we are in different country. 

Local Connectivity:   
Metro (Best choice)
City Bus
Uber, Kareem and Dubai Taxi

If you want to roam around the city take Metro train it very well connected to many places.  You can take route pass or just buy ticket based on your destination.

Language:
English and Arabic works everywhere however in Dubai almost 70 percentage of the people are Indians in that may be 60 percent are Malayalies.  If you can speak Hindi or Malayalam you can go anywhere in UAE.


What to Do:
Dubai has lots of places to see of-course you can easily spend entire month for Dubai vacation however we were in transit visa so our itinerary was only for 4 days.  We reached on Sunday morning and started back on Wednesday evening.

Day-1:
Hotel Check in time is 12:00 pm since we landed on Sunday morning 8:00 am, we are forced to wait in the reception since most of the rooms are occupied.  We were in jet lag so took rest and evening we took metro and went to Dubai Mall.  Its Big yes it is really BIG you can spend entire day inside the mall.  From metro station you can directly walk into Dubai mall.  There are few interesting things to do inside mall.

Burj Khalifa (You can book ticket online - Morning is cheaper and Evening is little expensive)
Aquarium (Book together with Burj Khalifa)
Fountain (Shows starts from 6 pm onward for every 30 minutes)

Dubai Mall

Day-2:
Morning we planned for city tour.
All the hotels has tourist desk and mostly the prices are reasonable however please check it online before booking.  We took 1 sedan car for local sight seeing, since we are 4 people the price is very reasonable for us instead of taking city bus ride.  We got a Pakistani driver cum Guide mostly the drivers are tourist friendly, however please be cautious everywhere.  I will add few interesting places that we visited.

Gold Souk (Gold Market) - Must Visit (You will get pure gold but making charge is high)
Old Dubai (Spice Market) - You can buy some Dates (You need to bargain everywhere)
Creek - Boat ride just INR 20 for 5 min ride (Must Try)
Dubai Museum - Must visit to know tribe's life style and Dubai's transformation
Jumaira Beach - Nice beach please make sure you visit in the evening 
Atlantis Hotel - Just see in front of road (You will riding under the sea tunnel to visit this hotel)

Evening, from the hotel we took metro train to visit Naif Souk local city market.  You will get everything clothes, Spices, Electronics and more.  Since Dubai is tax free country you will get electronics items at dam cheap price than India and USA.  For instance we bought a DSLR in USA for INR 32K and the same model in Dubai is available at only 25K.  Many indians purchase iPhone here.

Tip: For Indians gold is little cheaper in Dubai due to high Indian tax, however you can carry only 20 grams or else you will be ended up in paying more custom duty.  It is prefer to buy gold in reputed shops like Malabar, Joy Alukas etc since they have branches in India and the gold is pure.  For tourist Gold is Tax Free if you are buying in the city you can pay the tax and claim it in the airport counter by showing the bill.

Dubai Creek

Spice Market

Dates Different Type

Day-3:
Morning we booked online ticket for visiting Burj Khalifa and Aquarium.  Its must visit if you want to see the world tallest building and world's high speed elevator. Aquarium is also good however please buy tickets together to avail discount.

Evening, we booked for desert safari (Must try don't miss it)  Pickup/ Drop will done from the hotel in Land Rover 4 wheel drive.  They picked us around 4 pm and took us to the middle of the desert for ATV ride.  Adventurous person can give it a try or just skip it since it is little expensive and not part of your desert safari package. Once ATV is done they will take you to the desert ride.

Off Wheel Ride - Wow, all energetic people must try - Included in Package
Selfie with Falcon - @ 10 AED
Camel Ride - Funny Take off and Landing is scary - Included in Package
Lebanon Fire Dance - Included in Package 
Belly Dance - Included in Package
Hooka - Included in Package

Dinner - Included in Package

Burj Khalifa

Desert Safari 

Day-4:
After breakfast we checkout the hotel and kept our luggage in the hotel clock room. We booked package ticket for Dubai Parks.  It has 4 different parks inside,
1.Motiongate
2.LegoLand
3.Lego Water park
4.Bollywood Park
We got only half day so we took 2 park package since we are Lego fans so visited Lego land and Motion gate park.  I enjoyed a lot and i highly recommend this place if you are Hollywood animation movie fan.  We reached back to hotel by 3 pm and left to airport.

Overall it was memorable pocket friendly trip for each person it took just 30K for 4 days.

Lego Land Minature

MotionGate

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Article: Saheed February 03, 2020