Travel Photo of the Week: Contemporary Architecture and Fine Food at the Olinda Tea House

The Olinda Tea House is one of my favourite nearby award winning tea houses and restaurants. It’s probably no more than 20 minutes away! It’s not long been opened (landscaping is still underway) and the contemporary architecture, combined with its layout and building products, make it an environmentally sustainable venue. It brings the beautiful outdoors of the Dandenong Ranges, indoors!

If you’re ever in the  area to enjoy the attractions of the Dandenong Ranges, you must include stopping here for lunch or a cuppa.

Where is Tansen?

Tansen is not only a medieval hill town but it represents a typical traditional Nepalese town. It’s located in the Palpa district and became an important trade route between India and Tibet (now occupied by China). Newari traders and artisans famous for their metal and dhaka (cloth) industry would stop in Tansen’s market centre to sell their goods. Tansen was also submitted to the UNESCO Tentative List during 2008.

Tansen is situated at an altitude of 1372 meters overlooking the Kali Gandaki River and surrounded by hills and mountains of the Himalayan region. The town itself is too steep for cars and made up of narrow, winding lanes which adds to its charm.

Lonely Planet Nepal

Map

TravelTipsPlus Google Map of Tansen

One Great Reason to Visit Tansen

One great reason to visit this travel destination, I’m sure would be for a sense of adventure!

A Tour of Palpa

For More Information

• Wikipedia

You’ve saved your hard-earned cash. You’ve bought the Lonely Planet guide books. You’ve got a wish list of all the places you want to hit when you’re away on your great adventure. But now you have to make a big decision: do you go it alone? Do you buddy up with pals? Or do you take your partner?

This is no easy decision to make, and it’s one you should consider carefully as it will strongly affect the kind of holiday you have. Here are some pros and cons to consider for each option…

Travelling alone

Pros

Going it alone holds a certain allure for many. You’re unencumbered, pleasing no one but yourself. There are no arguments about who misread the itinerary, no negotiations about when or where to go. In the great tradition of finding yourself while on the road, the journey is yours to chase however you wish – popular choices for solo backpackers include treks across Europe, south-east Asia or South America.

Cons

Loneliness. The cold hard fact is, if you’re travelling solo, while you do have the opportunity to meet fellow travellers in hostels, none of these people know you like a friend, family member or partner does. Additionally, you’ll lack that second opinion that can sometimes be invaluable when travelling – making decisions that much easier.

Travelling with a partner

Pros

There’s no better way of getting to know your partner than going travelling with them. You’ll learn new things that you didn’t know before, even if you’ve spent a lot of time getting to know each other online dating or working together. The things that make you strong as a couple will also make you strong as travel buddies.

Couples might like to opt for romantic hotspots such as Paris, New York or Venice, but look for the lesser-known places that might bring some romantic magic too: for couples dating Adelaide, Edinburgh or Dubrovnik are often overlooked yet truly distinctive travel destinations.

Cons

Pressure can certainly be intensified on the road, especially in a backpacker situation. You might find that minor disagreements can be taken personally, or that competing interests (should we go to the museum? the beach? shopping? to the pub?) might cause tension. And if you’re staying in hostels, your ‘together time’ will be seriously reduced.

Travelling with friends

Pros

Your mates are the family you get to choose – they know you best and share your interests and activities, dreams and hopes. Backpacking with friends can be a 24-hour party – especially if you go to somewhere that likes to party hard, such as Berlin, Ibiza or LA.

Cons

No matter how well you get along with someone in daily life, travel can reveal surprising things. You may discover that you’re keen to be active but your travel buddy wants to lie on the beach – and that can lead to friction.

You might now have a clearer idea of what each travel route might bring you, but the main thing to remember is to have an open discussion with any travel companions about what you want from your trip and to be honest with yourself about whether you would prefer to travel alone, with a friend or with a partner – or a combination of all three!

For a long time I found the physical journeys involved with travelling to new places a very stressful and un-enjoyable experience. There are so many different things to remember and therefore so many different things which can go wrong that I was, for a time unable to see the positive aspects of travel other than what happened once I had already arrived. It sounds like a cliché but that dreaded feeling of knowing you have forgotten to bring, and or do something can leave behind a feeling so terrible that it can spoil a full days worth of enjoyable experience.

 Most of us find something stressful about travelling. Even without the added complications of taking to the skies, there can be a huge variety of things to remember as well as a great deal of potential problems and issues to take into account.

So to help out a little, here is a list of simple but useful tips for reducing the stress of flying and travel in general. These little hints are based on the advice and help of some of my friends and acquaintances who have experience as seasoned travellers, and who came to my rescue in order to help me enjoy every aspect of my future journeys;

Preparation, Preparation, Preparation

Again, it sounds like a cliché but you can never be too careful when planning and preparing for a trip. Make sure to do any research you might need for it including; potential risks in the country or city you’re visiting, health issues and vaccination procedure, culture, dress code and the general dos and don’ts. Not everywhere requires a great deal of research though and beware spoiling pleasant surprises through over reading.

A Fool Proof Check List

There’s no harm in patronising yourself when it comes to writing a comprehensive check list of everything you need to pack, plan for and sort out before or on the day of your flight. Everything should go on here, from what clothes you need to pack to picking up your passport on the day or evening of your trip. Each item or action should checked off as you complete it so as to avoid confusion and in this way the worries of forgetting important things should simply vanish with each tick.
Plan Ahead

Don’t forget that by planning ahead you can save yourself crucial spending money. For example booking your car in at a long stay car park for example Manchester airport parking online, as opposed to a rushed booking taxi the day before your flight. You can even save money by planning your route from airport to hotel/hostel and avoid those high rate tourist taxis upon your arrival.

Sort Cash Before Travel

It normally makes sense to change your over currency before a trip. It means you’ll spend less cash during the build up to your flight and it ensures a far less stressful time at the airport.

With your research done, your check list completed, your planning over and your currency exchanged you can now sit back and enjoy the flight. Even the airport will seem like a more tranquil place with all those horrible little worries removed from the experience.

What tips do you have? Please share below by leaving a comment.