Full-day Tour – Maldo Travels

Nusa Penida – Scenic Island Beaches

Jean Maldonado — Tue, 24 Sep 2019 23:14:50 +0000

We booked this tour in Kuta for 800,000 IDR¹. The tour bus picked us up from our hotel at around 7.30 AM and it’s a 30-minute drive to Sanur Beach. We’re given our boat tickets here and have 15 minutes to walk around the beach. It’s quite empty in these early hours but some of the stalls are open if you want to grab snacks or drinks. The ride on the speedboat to Nusa Penida takes 1 hour and we arrive at around 9.15 AM. We get off on the north side of the island at Toyapakeh. There are several guides here picking people up so you have to wave your receipt for yours to spot you. We then get on another tour bus and head to Kelingking Beach. The island is quite mountainous and we drive through the winding roads of the mainland to reach the south-west side of the island. It takes about 50 minutes reaching our first destination at 10.15 AM. We arrive at the cliffside which has an amazing view of the beach and the peninsula reaching out into the sea. We only have about 15 minutes here to take pictures so we can’t head on the trail down to the beach.

Our next stop is a 30-minute drive away to Angel’s Billabong arriving at 11 AM. This is a natural infinity pool that looks over the sea. However, it was closed off so you cant swim in it and can just take pictures from around it. It is very busy here and we stayed for about 10 minutes to get some pictures. We then headed to Broken Beach which was a 5-minute walk away. This destination is a cove where an arch in the cliffs lets water flow in to form a pool. We get around 30-minutes to walk around the perimeter before heading back to the tour bus.

At around noon, we continue to our last destination at Crystal Bay stopping for lunch at a tourist restaurant. We’re done with lunch by 1.15 PM and reach Crystal Bay at 1.30 PM. This is a popular sandy beach lined with beach chairs, umbrellas, and bars/restaurants. We’re given snorkeling gear and the guide says we don’t have to swim too far to see some sea life. We head into the water and is very shallow for about 20 meters. There are corals and rocks in the shallow water so it would be best to head out with water shoes. It’s a great snorkeling spot where you’ll get to see plenty of corals, fish, and other animals swimming around. We had about 2 and a half hours at Crystal Bay and we spent most of our time snorkeling. We then also grabbed some ice-cold beers and sat on some benches in the shade enjoying the view.

At around 4 PM, we headed back to the harbor which was a 30-minute drive away. We got on the boat and were back at Sanur Beach by 5.30 PM. Our pick up was late and arrived at around 5.50 PM. This was rush hour time and after dropping off other tour groups at their hotels, we reached our hotel at around 6.30 PM.

Beijing – Forbidden City Tour

Jean Maldonado — Tue, 10 Sep 2019 20:46:24 +0000

One of the Beijing highlights is the ancient palace complex famously known as the Forbidden City. I looked up tours online and decided to go with this one which included the Temple of Heaven and the Summer Palace as well. The tour agency reached out beforehand to get our contact details and then let us know we would be picked up from our hostel at 6.50 AM. After picking up other groups, we headed to the entrance of the Forbidden City arriving at 7.30 AM. At the entrance, there is a security checkpoint and they scan your passport so make sure you take it with you. After getting through security, everyone then gathers by the entrance, waiting until the doors open at 8 AM. Once the doors open, our guide begins to take us through the complex.

We began the tour in the area with the administrative buildings. The guide gives us info on what the purpose would have been of the buildings. He also gave us a history of the site and Imperial China. There are several artifacts throughout the maze-like site and an amazing experience to stand at a place with thousands of years of history. The tour finishes at the other end of the complex in the residential area where the concubines would have been. This is opposite Jingshan Park and we walked along the main road towards our tour bus.

The next stop is the Temple of Heaven, but we first make a stop at a center of Chinese Medicine. Everyone gets a free foot massage while they talk about pressure points and acupuncture. They give some more info on Chinese Medicine and how it’s used in conjunction with western medicine. You also have a chance for a Chinese Medicine doctor to take a look at you if you have any health concerns. It’s also an opportunity to buy any Chinese Medicine products. The visit takes about 45 minutes and we then head to the Temple of Heaven. The guide takes us around the site and the main building is at the center. The guide gives some history on what the site was used for. The site also has some gardens which would have been nice to walk around but 30 minutes into the tour it started raining for us, so we headed back to the tour bus. We then headed to a restaurant for lunch. It was a buffet-style meal and we were finished with lunch at around 12.30 PM.

Next, we head to a pearl store where a sales rep talks about how to identify real pearls. We’re here for about 30 minutes before continuing onto the Summer Palace which is about a 40-minute drive away. Once at the site, the guide gets our tickets and gives us some info on the site. We’re then given about 40 minutes to walk around the site. There’s an option to get another ticket for a boat ride but we chose to walk by the lakeside to the other end of the site. We had quite cloudy weather but we got great views of the garden. We were done at around 2.30 PM and were dropped off in the Qianmen area.

Great Wall of China at Jinshanling

Jean Maldonado — Mon, 09 Sep 2019 22:09:00 +0000

There are many tours for different sections of the Great Wall of China. I was looking for one which included hiking along the wall so I decided to book this tour online. The tour agency emails you to ask for your contact details beforehand and informed us via Whatsapp that our pick-up from the hotel would be at 6.30 AM. The tour bus is quite big with capacity for around 80 people. It was around 8 AM when we were done picking up other groups. It was then a 2-hour drive to Gubei Water Town Hotel and the guide gives some info on the schedule. He also calls out some names to hand out water and some bread if a snack was included in your tour ticket. There was also a quick stop at a gas station for some rest in between. At the hotel, some people get off and stayed in the town for another tour. The rest of us are given some time to use the restroom at the hotel and walk to the river for some pictures. It’s a beautiful small town and it looked like a great place to stay for a night if you have the time.

We then get back on the bus and continue for another 30 minutes to Jinshanling arriving at 10.50 AM. The guide then talks about the hike up and asks those who want to take the cable car up to the wall. This was not included in the ticket so he needs to know before buying the tickets. Once that is sorted out, there is a train buggy that takes everyone up to the entrance and cable car station which is a 10-minute ride up. After getting our tickets validated, those who bought cable car tickets head to the station and everyone else hikes up to the wall along the trail. Before setting out on the trail, the guide tells everyone where the meeting point will be after the 3-hour hike. He says we can all walk at our own pace and that he will walk at the end to make sure no one gets left behind. The path to the wall takes about 20 minutes and it is easy to follow. There weren’t many tourists but there was a school trip going up to the wall so it was quite busy. We got to the top of the wall at around 11.40 AM and the views from here were amazing. After taking a couple of pictures we set out on our hike.

The wall goes up and down meandering through the mountain tops. Some of the steps are quite high so it can be quite tiring. There are several towers on the way where you can stop to get some rest in the shade. It was very hot when we went with temperatures reaching around 32 degrees, so make sure you take lots of water. There are many great views along the way as you see the wall stretching for miles into the horizon. Most of the wall in this section has been restored, but there are a few parts that are in ruins and a little tricky to walk through. We arrived at the meeting point at around 2.15 PM and waited for about 15 minutes for the rest of the group to arrive.

We then followed the guide on the trail to the parking lot where the tour bus was waiting for us. This trail was a dirt path going through the trees. There were quite a lot of insects and mosquitos so make sure to take repellant. It took about 30 minutes to get back down and then we got back on the tour bus to head for lunch. They took us to a tourist restaurant nearby for a buffet-style lunch. We were done with lunch at around 4.30 PM and then headed back to Beijing. There was a lot of traffic in the city so we reached the Qianmen area at around 7.30 PM.

Beijing – Full Day City Tour

Jean Maldonado — Sun, 08 Sep 2019 21:43:02 +0000

One of the tours we booked online beforehand was a tour of several sites in the city. The travel agency contacts you a couple of days before the tour to arrange for the pick up from your accommodation. The guide had Whatsapp so we were able to communicate with him without issues. We were picked up at 7 AM from our hostel on the pedestrian Dashilan street. We had to walk to the main road where the tour bus was waiting for us. After picking up some other people, we arrived at Jingshan Park at around 7.40 AM. The tour bus left us at the park entrance and we walked up to the main viewpoint. From here, you get a great view of the Forbidden City. We then headed back down and left the park at around 8.20 AM. The next stop is a short 10-minute drive away to Houhai lake for a rickshaw ride around the Hutongs² in the area. Many were demolished when the city was modernizing but some survive and are now protected. There are several rickshaws lined up by the side of the roads waiting for tourists. The guide paired everyone up and gave the rickshaw driver instructions on where to take us. It was about a 30-minute ride and we went by the scenic lake and through the narrow roads of the residential area. The rickshaw had already been paid for but the guide said they expect a 10 RMB³ tip after.

The next stop was the Beijing Zoo which was a 15-minute drive away. We waited for about 5-minutes whilst our guide went to buy our tickets. The zoo is quite big and has lots of animals but our guide said we only had time to see the Pandas. So he took us straight to the area where the Pandas were. There was an indoor section where you could see some pandas behind a glass wall. Going past the indoor section, you get to the outdoor area where there are a couple of pandas lazing about in the shade. They don’t move much and just chill there. There was a young panda who was munching on some leaves and everyone flocked around him to take pictures. It was a quick 30-minute visit before heading back to the tour bus. We then headed to the Olympic Park arriving at around 10.15 AM. The tour bus leaves us at the entrance and we then walk with the guide throughout the complex. He gives us info on the complex and some of the buildings before giving us some time to wander around to take pictures. It was coming up to midday now and it was getting very hot. So we mainly stayed in the shade near the main stadium.

At around 11.15 AM, we left for lunch which was a home-cooked meal at a resident’s house in the Hutongs we visited earlier. The house was decorated with old traditional Chinese furniture and it was a great place for lunch. We were done with lunch at around 12.15 AM and then headed to the Lama Temple. The guide took us throughout the site telling us about its history and how it was originally a palace. We were given some time to roam around to take pictures and were back at the tour bus at 1.30 PM. This was the last tourist destination and we then continue to the shopping stops. First, we go to a textile store where they talk about the process of making their materials and products. The next and final stop is a silk store where we’re shown how the silk is sourced and how their products are made. At the end of the tour, we’re offered to be dropped off at Hongqiao Market or closer to the Qianmen area. We chose the market since the guide told us we could get some cheap souvenirs there.