Vayama Travel Blog

From Diwali to Chinese New Year, fall and winter in Asia is the best time to experience the most colorful festivals in the world.

By Max Milano

India – Diwali (November 13, 2012)
Diwali has gone global; it’s now celebrated from Palo Alto to Paris and everywhere where the Indian diaspora has taken it (including Africa and the Caribbean), but nothing beats experiencing Diwali in India. Known as “the festival of lights,” Diwali is one of the most colorful and important celebrations of the Hindu calendar, it commemorates the return of Lord Rama from a 14 year exile and the vanquishing of the demon-king Ravana. The festival is celebrated by lighting earthen diyas (ghee candles), bursting firecrackers and eating traditional Diwali sweets. Most regions in India will try to outdo each other Diwali with extensive light decorations and street festivities. Good areas to celebrate Diwali in India include Delhi, Agra, Jaipur and Goa, where they also burn demon effigies. Happy Diwali!

How To Get There: Fly to Delhi for less with Vayama’s India flight deals.

Happy Diwali!

Hong Kong – Chinese New Year (February 10, 2013)
Chinese New Year is Hong Kong’s biggest festival – only New Year’s Eve (Dec 31) comes even close. It runs for three days and marks the end of winter and the beginning of spring. 2013 will be the Year of the Snake and most Hong Kongers will celebrate by visiting flower markets and enjoying a traditional new year’s feast of fish and dumplings with their family. The festival closes with a huge fireworks display above Hong Kong harbor. Kung Hei Fat Choy!

How To Get There: Fly to Hong Kong for less with Vayama’s China flight deals.

Chinese New Year's Fireworks above Hong Kong Harbour

Vietnam – TET New Year (February 9 to the 12, 2013)
The TET New Year is Vietnam’s biggest celebration. It begins quaintly enough with flower markets, TET decorations and family visits to exchange gifts and red envelopes for luck; then on New Year’s Eve nigh, total pandemonium begins. Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City and every town in between will compete in making as much noise as possible with fireworks, the banging of gongs and throngs of masked street revelers called Mua Lan (the Lion-Dragon). Grab a gong and join in!

How To Get There: Fly to Ho Chi Minh City for less with Vayama’s Vietnam flight deals.

Vietnam TET a TET

Japan - Merii Kurisumasu! (December 25, 2012)
Yes, Japan is not a Christian country, not even a little. So how come Christmas (or as the locals call it; Kurisumasu) is one of the most colorful celebrations of the year? Leave it to the Japanese to embrace every commercial aspect of western Christmas, sans the Jesus bit. So get ready for bright decorations galore, with every store in Tokyo’s posh Ginza district dripping with Christmas lights and stuffed with Santa dolls. Friends exchange gifts and go out for dinner. Since whole Turkeys are hard to get in Japan (and Japanese homes lack large ovens), you will see very long lines at Kentucky Fried Chicken on Christmas Eve! So enjoy the gift giving, have a glass of sake or two with your newly made Japanese friends and dig into your bucket of Colonel Sanders Chicken. Kanpai!

How To Get There: Fly into Tokyo with Vayama’s Japan Winter Deals.

KFC We're Big in Japan for Kurisumasu!

South Korea – Hwacheon Sancheoneo Ice Festival (January 7 to the 29, 2012)

One of South Korea’s most wintry tows is Hwacheon, whose river freezes solid by January—  making it the ideal home for the the annual Hwacheon Sancheoneo (Mountain Trout) Ice Festival. Each day of the festival, 32 tons of mountain trout are released for enthusiastic fishermen try their luck at catching them trough ice holes with traditional lures. Scoring your catch of the day is quite a task in the bone chilling cold, but you can always get a pre-caught and nicely a grilled trout from one of the many outdoor vendors lining the streets of the festival. Mini ice hockey, snow sculpture competitions and other winter sports round up the festivities. Dress warm and join the fun!

How to Get there: Fly into Seoul with Vayama’s South Korea flight deals and then take a limousine to Chuncheon, then a bus to Hwacheon.

Here Fishie Fishie!

By Nomadic Matt

No one wants to spend 20 bucks every time they enter a museum or full price for a tour and sightseeing can really add up. After all, we come all the way to a new destination toe explore it and its wonderful attractions not sit in our hotel rooms. Luckily, you don’t ever have to pay that much money. There are a lot of easy ways to save money on activities.

Here’s how:

Get Tourism Cards

Tourism cards are something I will never figure out why travelers don’t get more often. Local tourism offices issue cards for all their attractions, tours, and restaurants. This card gives you free entry and/or substantial discounts on all the attractions and tours in a city, free local public transportation (a huge plus), and usually some discounts are restaurants.

These cards are great for saving money because you get free transportation around the city (saving money on transportation) and free entry into museums, attractions, or other tours. For example, in Oslo Norways, the VisitOslo card offered by the city tourism board costs $60 USD. However, each museum in the city is between $12-15 USD. I saw 9 museums in the city which means I saved $30 USD with the pass plus got free public transportation. Not a bad deal.

Don't Pass on the London Pass

When I was in London, I used the London Pass. This tourist card cost me $95 USD for two days of sightseeing. It covers over 32 destinations and offers free public transportation. You can get a pass for up to 6 days for $150 USD However, I didn’t have much time or the desire to see all 32 spots. Without this pass, these attractions would have cost me $170 USD. I saved 45% by using the London Pass and I didn’t even use it for everything it offers.

Most travelers never think of these passes because they aren’t very well advertised or promoted but if you plan to do a lot of sightseeing, head to the local tourist office and pick yourself up one of these cards. Pretty much ever major destination in the world offers them!

Free Museum Days

Most museums have special discount times or free nights. Even famous museums like the Louvre and the Guggenheim offer free entrance. If I don’t have a tourism card that offers free entrance into the museum I want, I look up the museum on the internet to find out which days and times the museum offers free entrance into the museum.

Love the Louvre on Free Days

Use Discount Cards

There are a lot of discount travel cards in the world – from the international student card, the youth card, VIP card in Australia, to the Hostelling International card. All of these cards can get you discounts on attractions throughout the world. Some of these cards cost money (usually around $20 USD) but are good for at least a year and work throughout the world. You usually save between 30-50% off the listed price.

Visit the Local Tourist Office

Make sure you also visit the local tourist office. They usually have discount cards for major attractions and can let you know what deals are happening at that time. While at the tourist office, take some of those advertisement brochures. Most of them (especially the maps) contain ads for discounted tours and meals.

The Tourist Office is Your Friend

Book Tours Together

Booking tours together can save you between 10-20% off the listed prices. Heading into a tourist agency and offering to book a lot of tours from them will make them more amicable to lowering the price. Whenever I am going to book a tour, I always ask if there is a discount for a single tour, booking tours together, or multiple people. Agencies won’t tell you about them right away but if they know it will get the sale, they will give in. Negotiate and play hard ball.

Want more? Here’s a blog I wrote with 20 more interesting facts about me!

Have a Wunderbar Winter in Germany with Airberlin

Germany is hot this winter with airberlin’s Winter Wonderland free ticket giveaway. So get ready to discover all the fun things to do in Germany this fall and winter season: From Berlin’s Festival of Lights, to Cologne’s Christmas Markets- and everything in between!

By Max Milano

Germans will tell you to avoid their country during the winter season. During my visit to Berlin last summer, I lost count of how many locals complained about Berlin’s cold winters. So there’s no wonder why so many of them head south to Spain the minute the snowflakes begin to fall! But what these German snowbirds fail to grasp is that when coupled with the cheap hotel and airfare deals available, the smaller crowds, and colorful Christmas Markets, Germany’s winter wonderlands become an attractive and affordable getaway. Are you ready to discover Germany’s wunderbar winters?

Germany Winter Wonderlands

1-Oktoberfest
Ok, Oktoberfest is not celebrated in the winter; it doesn’t even begin in October! But Oktoberfest is undoubtedly the official end of summer, and the beginning of winter festivities. This year Munich’s famous Oktoberfest begins on Sep 26th and will run until October 7th. All large breweries in the city set out massive tents, to serve their best beers and traditional Bavarian food. You can book a table directly on a  brewery website, or just walk around and join in with friendly locals. Take advantage of airberlin’s hot winter deals from the USA to Germany, and find out what all the Oktoberfest fuzz is all about (Lederhosen not included).

Prost! Let the festivities begin

2-Berlin’s Festival of Lights
Berlin has been described as “a grey, unbeautiful city crammed with history and ghosts”, and this can be more evident in the winter. But for history and art lovers, there is no better time to explore this city’s world class museums and trendy art galleries. The city itself is an open air museum, with the remnants of the Berlin wall, the restored Reichstag, the iconic Brandenburg gate and the socialist chic Fernsehturm Tower; all telling a chapter of the city’s sometimes painful past. This year’s Berlin Festival of Lights will bathe the city’s historical landmarks in colorful lights and will feature neon sculptures, ‘light boats’ and rickshaws.

Get well lit! Berlin's Festival of Lights

3-Ski Germany
Austria and Switzerland may have the most famous German speaking ski resorts, but the Bavarian Alps offer world class skiing, smaller crowds and better prices than their Austrian counterparts on the other side of the mountains. Head over to Garmisch-Partenkirchen, located at the foot of the Zugspitze, Germany’s highest peak. This resort is the jewel of the Bavarian Alps, with world class skiing, pristine landscapes, and culinary delights to ensure the best après ski experience in the German Alps.

Ski Bavaria!

4-Germany’s Christmas Markets
Germany’s Christmas Markets are a wonderful tradition and a great way to experience how the locals get into the Christmas spirit. Berlin, Cologne, Nuremberg, Munich and Dresden all have world famous Christmas Markets, offering everything from hot Glühwein mulled wine, to hand carved nutcracker dolls. Don’t miss the traditional Christmas cakes and freshly baked cookies.

Traditional German Christmas Market

5-Berlin’s Museum Hop
Berlin is a city of museums, there is even a museum dedicated to the city’s favorite food (the Currywurst). Winter offers the perfect opportunity to be indoors, admiring all the history and art that Berlin can throw at you. Start at the German Historical Museum, then on to the Neues museum (ancient art), one of the five large museums on Berlin’s Museum Island. Hop over to the Reichstag’s ultra modern viewing platform, and then on to the DDR museum for displays of everyday life in the former East Germany. Berlin is also a city of Art Galleries, the hippest ones located in the Mitte district. This former run down area of East Berlin is now home to the trendiest, shabby chic art galleries in Germany. Visit Gallerie Zink, for the hottest new artists in Europe.

Not the wurst museum in Berlin!

Max Milano is a world traveler, travel blogger and published author.

Eating cheaply while traveling is easy. Nomadic Matt shows you how.

How to Eat Cheap Around the World

By Nomadic Matt

After accommodations, food is going to be one of your largest day to day on the road expenses. After all, you need to eat – and eat often. You can eat cheap canned beans and live off pasta throughout the world if you really want but that’s not really fun and I’m sure you didn’t fly to Paris, Thailand, or some other great place to not try the food. Here’s how you can indulge in the local cuisine without blowing your budget:

Cook Your Meals

A week’s worth of groceries is cheaper than a week’s worth of restaurants. I generally find that I spend about $60 – 50 USD per week on groceries, as opposed to $20+ per day at restaurants. That’s a reduction of 70% in food expenses. Even if you are simply going away for a two week vacation, consider cooking part of your meals. Food costs add up quick – a snack here and a dinner there and you’ll be wasting a lot of your money on food. The majority of hostels, guesthouses, and shared apartments all have full kitchens where you can cook your meal.

Cook on your trip and save

Lunch Specials

In many parts of the world, especially in Europe, you can dine on dinner menus at lunch special prices. The plate of the day as it is called is the best bargain in the world. For example, while I was in Barcelona, I went to eat at the seafood restaurants near the beach. However, dinner was around $50 USD. Yet coming back the next day for the lunch special allowed me to get the same meal for only $20 USD because of the lunch special. Another destination that is great for this is Singapore. Singapore is a very expensive place by Asian standards – food here can cost as much as it does back home. Yet restaurants here have fixed menus for lunch that cost between $10-15 USD as opposed to $25 USD for dinner. In England, pubs provide set meals for as low as $10 USD.

Go for the lunch special and save

Refill Your Water Bottle

You need to stay hydrated when traveling and buying water everyday costs money. Get a metal water bottle or reuse your plastic water bottle a few times to save money. I usually use a plastic water bottle for about 4 days, more if I can find a place to clean it. Instead of buying 3 bottles a day, I usually buy 2 per week. I may only be saving a small amount of money each time but over the course of a long trip that can really add up. Moreover, I reduce the amount of plastic I use which is also good for the environment. It’s win-win.

Refill and save your pocket and the environment

Never Eat in a Tourist Area

This is a simple enough tip, but one often forgotten by people since we tend to be in these areas because the attractions are. Prices in tourist areas generally tend to be 20-50% higher because tourists don’t mind spending more money since they are away for a short time and unaware what local prices actually are.

Avoid the tourist menu and save

Street Food

In most places around the world, the streets are lined with little food stalls and areas where food is cooked openly on the street. You grab a plate, sit down in a little plastic chair, and enjoy a delicious meal. Street food is some of the best food in the world. Meals at street stalls (different from street vendors, who have a bit more permanent set up) cost less than a dollar most of the time, and are a great way to really experience the local cuisine. Many places — like Thailand, for example — wouldn’t be the same if the street food disappeared. Many travelers are worried that such food isn’t safe but I assure you it is. If it made people sick, people wouldn’t eat at these stalls in such large numbers. I eat street food wherever I can and prefer street stalls to sit down restaurants.

Street food rocks!

Don’t Snack

A gelato here, a gelato there. Sodas. Bottles of water. Cookies. More gelato. It all adds up. Since the price is so small (“it’s only a dollar!” you say!) we don’t think of snacking as having a big impact on our budget. But buying snacks a few times a day will slowly add up and throw your budget out of whack. Before you know it, you can be spending $5 USD or more per day extra on food. That doesn’t sound like a lot but that’s $100 USD on a 10 day trip. I’d rather spend that $100 on a fabulous meal or nicer hotel than giving into a snack attack. Stick to big, filling meals! It’s healthier anyways.

Locals don’t spend a lot of money on food. They aren’t blowing their budget every night to have fabulous local food. You don’t need to either. Local food isn’t some specialty found in the tourist area. It’s the everyday food of people and can be found all over the place. Follow these tips and you’ll know how to eat cheap around the world.

Want more? Here’s a blog I wrote with 20 more interesting facts about me!