The easiest way to tour Uluwatu Temple - Hiring a private driver

1. Go early. By 10 a.m. the tour buses are starting to arrive. If you like crowds wait for kecak dance/sunset hordes.
2. Drivers wait outside big hotels in Kuta and Nusa Dua. Bargain for a good price. We wanted three hours (100,000 rupiah per hour seemed fair - roughly one hour each way to get there and one hour to walk the cliffs and forest trails. The driver was happy with 300,000 rupiah. He waited in the car park until we returned. The van was comfortable and air conditioned.
3. Travel time (Nusa Dua - Uluwatu) varies from 35-55 minutes depending on route taken and traffic.
4. Clothing - even though the actual temple is out of bounds - you are provided with sarong and sash with your 30, 000 admission fee.
5. Watch the monkeys. Keep your distance. They have been known to grab food, sunglasses, hats, shiny jewellery.
6. A guide is unnecessary.

10 euros bargain - Ferry from Helsinki to Tallinn

Book on Eckero Line website. 10 euros one -way for 9:00 a.m. departure. Return trip is cheaper!
Print out ticket - no queuing at terminal, just register barcode at turnstile.

A tram (No 7) drops you off at the terminal door.
The morning ferry seemed to be full of 55+ year olds ready to shop, party and buy cheap booze. Nice crowd, though. There was a convivial atmosphere onboard.

Tourist tip: wait near the gates pre-boarding, when ferry is docked (you enter on Level 6), dash upstairs, head for the huge bar area at the bow (Level 8) so you can relax in a comfortable booth (enough room under table for luggage). Free entertainment.

Eckero Line's "Finlandia"

Live band and dancing . Note: the seating booths have plenty of room for you and your luggage.

TV style game show with host celebrity

The bar opens straight after departure (9.00 am.). Cheap booze.

Tourist tips for avoiding the queues at State Heritage Museum, St Petersburg - self-guided

There are a bank of tickets machines (marked with red "T" on map) on the left and right after you pass through the archways into the main courtyard from Palace Square. The machines are in English and Russian. Admission: 700 roubles, change given.
We went both in the morning and afternoon (early May) and the wait at the machines was only a few minutes. You can then proceed straight to main entrance - we choose the left side, avoiding the long, slow-moving queues. The long queues are for Russian citizens who can claim ticket concessions. At the front of the gate there is a sign saying entry for pre-bought tickets.
Buying tickets from the museum website is much more expensive, plus you will still have to queue to show your printed-out ticket (at a separate entrance on Millionnaya Street).
Don't forget to visit the General Staff Building (across Palace Square). Entry is covered by your ticket. Priceless 19th century masterpieces on the 4th floor - Monet, Manet, Degas, Gauguin, Picasso, Van Gogh, Lautrec, Cezanne, Renoir - self-guided, allow 1-2 hours.

Other tips:

• After you enter, use the free cloakrooms - for coats, umbrellas, backpacks - or you will have to queue up twice when you are sent back.
• Wednesdays and Fridays hours are extended to 21:00. 
• Arrive in the afternoons (after 16:00 if you want to avoid more crowds), this allows you 5 hours of viewing if you visit on those 2 days.
• The first Thursday in each month is free, if you don't mind the queues. On free-Thursday there are 3 other Hermitage Museums that offer free entry. We found no queues for these: Winter Palace of Peter I, Menshikov Palace and the Museum of Imperial Porcelain.
• Frees are available near turnstiles, make a note of the number of the room show above doorways (from 11 to 400), mark off with a pen so you don't miss a room - the place is a maze.
• The Middle Floor will take the longest amount of time.
• This is crucial if you have a 60 year old bladder....there only 2 toilets inside the museum (both hidden on the Ground Level). The other toilets are near Cloakrooms but you will have to exit, so this is a problem.
• Closed on Mondays.
• The Summer period is the busiest.

Climbing the temples of Bagan and other travel tips

We thought the Myanmar Government had cracked down on climbing temples but as of October 2017, tourists can still climb numerous temples in Bagan.  Many temples have access to upper levels via internal stairways (watch your head and bring a torch). Souvenir sellers are only too pleased to lead you in the right direction (just look at their wares afterwards). No pressure, though.

Remove shoes (climbing is easier anyway), no shorts, no socks, no singlets. Wear long pants or sarongs.

This temple (5 mins walk from Bagan Thande Hotel) is perfect for sunrise viewing

The 13 storey viewing tower on the edge of the historical area is an alternative. Views are comparable to views from balloons (a Bagan bargain at $US5 admission vs $US 350) Balloons can not fly over temple area.

Go to the Bagan Viewing Tower (near Nyaung-U Airport) before 9 a.m. so the sun is behind you for best view of the temple area.

Waiting for sunrise

Bring a torch and mind your head.

Follow the e-bikes for the best view

e-bike hire is cheap , top speed 40km/h, easy to ride

Nusa Dua or Nusa Don't?

Public land adjoining 5 star hotels tends to be used as rubbish dumps. This is particularly noticeable in neighbouring Tanjung Benoa.

View from the beachfront walkway that links Tanjung Benoa to Nusa Dua

Conrad Hotel - front view

Conrad Hotel - side view

Bali tourist spots in 30 words

Tuban - airport, bogans, no accessible surf
Kuta/Legian - bogans, surf
Seminyak -  sunset beach bars, villas, funky shops, dodgy surf
Tanjung Benoa - water sports, petrol fumes
Nusa Dua - sunrises, resorts, weddings

Tanjung Benoa

Nusa Dua

Luang Prabang's litter problem

This cultural gem has experienced a tourist boom in the last ten years. Like many other third world countries, the infrastructure cannot keep up with the growth tourism.

A scenic spot, but look below...

View of the Mekong, with pile of plastic bottles and assorted rubbish - Dry Season

It is the public areas (like the roadside rubbish above) that is the problem. Individual hotels, guest houses and restaurants keep their individual areas clean, it's in their interest to have attractive surroundings for their customers.
You can also see the same cascade of litter along the riverbank on the Nam Khan (River). With the wet season, this mountain of rubbish will be swept into the river and downstream to join the rubbish in Vientiane and even farther afield (through Thailand, Cambodia to the delta in southern Vietnam).

Fitzroy, fascinating inner city Melbourne, tourist-free. An easy walk from the CBD.

Most tourist buses stop at Captain Cook's Cottage. Dull. The Chinese tourists have to endure this. But Melbourne gets interesting on the northern side of Fitzroy Gardens.

After the stately homes and medical offices of East Melbourne, you come to the wide thoroughfare of Victoria Parade. Cross this and you are in Fitzroy, one of Melbourne's first suburbs.

A fascinating blend of inner city slums, hipster heaven and stylish inner city living.  On Brunswick and Gertrude Streets, there is an enormous range of bars, restaurants and trendy fashion shopping. Because of its well preserved Victorian architecture, film and television productions often use this area (see photo below). All this is an easy 1 hour walk (round trip) from the edge of the CBD.

 Fitzroy Gardens, northern edge, near Albert Street, CBD in background

Graceful Victoria Parade with central tramway (think New Orleans' Charles Street)

Trendy Gertrude Street

Looking up Brunswick Street toward St Patrick's Cathedral and CBD

Beautifully renovated home in Gore Street

Fitzroy "Town Hall", Napier Street, on this particular day,  the set of a TV production - Network Ten's "Offspring"

The other side of Legian-Kuta - away from the tourists

Venture down a "gang" (lane)

 Just 10 minutes walk from the tourist areas of Jalan Legian, on Jalan Patih Jelantik, is another side of Denpasar. No spruiking ("Transport?", "Excuse me, I'm not selling anything ..."), nor tattoo-covered, beer swilling bogans "That's awesome, Jayden!").
Towering fig trees, quiet temples and interesting curio shops.

Solitude, 20 minutes from the Legian Beach

Nautical fittings shop - great for the yuppy beach house

Tribal art and antiques

Native American kitsch (next door)

Clever re-using of materials - handbags, flooring, steps

10 free things to do in Melbourne (CBD)

1. Federation Square (Fed Square) grab a deck chair and people watch, free wifi.
2. Australian Centre for the Moving Image (ACMI) lower level galleries including "Screen Worlds" (within Fed Square). Also Shaun Tan exhibition until mid Jan 2014. Allow at least 90 minutes.
3. Ian Potter Gallery  Australian art. Allow 1 hour, also in Fed Square. 
4. Yarra River walk from Fed Square, cross the Princes Bridge and walk downstream along Southbank. Allow 1 hour return.
5. Free exhibitions in the Art Centre, St Kilda Road, 3 minutes walk from Princes Bridge - currently Geoffrey Rush exhibition (until Oct 27).
6. Arcades and alleyways (get a map from very helpful Tourist Information booth in Bourke Street Mall)
7. State Library galleries and dome/reading room (world class) Corner Swanston and Lonsdale Streets
8.  Walk up Collins Street to Spring Street, one of the most elegant streetcapes in Southern Hemisphere.
9. At top of Spring Street is the historic Treasury Building, exhibitions, explore underground gold vaults.
10. Parks and gardens - Treasury Gardens, lead on to Fitzroy Gardens; Royal Botanical Gardens on other side of the Yarra. Allow 2 hours for Botanical Gardens (walking from Fed Square).

Most of these are non-touristy, things 'locals' do.