TRANSPORTATION tips :

5 Tips to Ride a Tuk Tuk in Bangkok

1.Fares vary, depending on the distance travelled, the time of the day, the traffic,
and the mood of the drivers. Normally a very short trip will cost 30 baht.
2.Fare negotiating and haggling is a must because the price named by the driver is
always an 'inflated rate' (especially if you're a tourist). The trick is to negotiate 5 15 baht off the proposed fare, and take it from there.
3.Be careful of the 'mafia' tuk-tuks around touristy areas, who often boasts
privileged knowledge of 'secret' or 'special' shopping places and things. Some of
them may offer sightseeing tours and unsolicited help to take you places. A short
and sweet "no, thanks" will save you from their scams. The same rule applies to
taxis.
4.Avoid taking a tuk-tuk during peak hours (07:00 - 09:00, 16:00 - 19:00). You don't
want to be stuck in traffic for hours, sweating and breathing in the hazardous fumes
from engines all around you.
5.Tuk-tuks are most ideal for short trips. Sometimes it would cost the same, or even
cheaper, to take a cab to the same destination, but it will go a lot faster.

1.Taxi Colour Codes? Bangkok taxis are famous to be very colourful, especially the
pink ones: This means nothing to us, those are just different companies and fares
and features are the same.
2.How to Spot Available Taxis Available taxis are the ones with the glowing red
vacant sign.
3.Fair Fares No need to negotiate the fare as all taxis in Bangkok are now metered
(well, sort of anyway). A driver refusing to use a meter is an indication of a
suspicious agenda. If he insists on giving you a fixed fare, instead of using the
meter, it's best to find another cab. Taxis standing by in front of hotels are usually
suspicious.
4.Unwilling Drivers Don't be surprised if the driver refuses to take you where you
wish to go. While there's not much you can really do about it you can report to Land
Transport Department Hotline on 1584 and report the taxi if you were fast enough
to take a picture of the car plate (plates are both inside and outside the cab).
Alternatively you can download this app DLT Taxi to report the taxi. Better try your
luck with the next taxi.
5.Flagging a Taxi It's ok to get a taxi at a bus stop when there's no bus approaching,
otherwise you can expect to be honked at.

6.Taxi Scams Like tuk-tuks, watch out for an over-eager taxi driver who offers to
take you to 'good' places, skip it or decline! Trust your intuition. If you don't get a
good feeling about a taxi driver, rather wait for the next one. Again Taxis standing
by in front of hotels are usually suspicious.

7.Clueless Taxis Don't expect Bangkok taxi drivers to know the city's every nook and
cranny, as a driver qualification exam isn't required. It's always a good idea to carry
a map, or the name and the location of where you're heading to written in Thai.
(Pick up a hotel card when leaving your hotel if you are in a small street of Bangkok)
8.Watch when stepping out! Look behind you and make sure there's no motorcycle
coming before you open a car door. It's very common for passengers to open the
door without looking, and have a motorcycle slam into it. This can cause serious
injury to the motorcycle driver, the taxi passenger, as well as considerable damage
to the taxi itself.
9. Tips? Change? Tipping of taxi drivers is not required, though rounding the fare off
to the nearest 5 or 10 baht is common practice (it's a nice thing to do, as they earn
very little, work long hours in often stressful conditions). But remember: Taxis often
pretend not to have change, so carry small amounts!
10.Lost Items Before getting out of a taxi, make sure you haven't left any valuables
or shopping bags behind.
Bangkok BTS

Explore Bangkok by Skytrain (BTS)

This Bangkok BTS Route Guide has been designed to help you discover all the
interesting sites and activities surrounding each station so that you can get more
out of your BTS-hopping experience through Bangkok. THERE ARE TWO BTS LINES:
SILOM LINE runs west to south, between the National Stadium in the Siam shopping
area to Bang Wa in Thonburi (across the river), while SUKHUMVIT LINE runs north to
east from Mo Chit to Bearing. The two lines meet at Siam Station, and also
interconnect at two points with the underground (MRT) at Sala Daeng and Asok
stations. A new train arrives every 3 - 6 minutes or so between 06:30 and midnight.
The last train leaves between 23:30 and 23:50. Fares start at 15 baht for one stop
(more info about the BTS Passes).
Note that trains can get pretty full during peak hours (07:00 - 09:00 and 16:00 19:00), as the BTS has also become the choice mode of transport for people living
and working in Bangkok

One-day Pass Unlimited travel within the duration of a single day for 120 baht. Ideal
for tourists.

The following stations offer facilities (such as elevators) for disabled people: Mo
Chit, Siam, Asok, On Nut and Chong Nonsi. BTS Tourist Information Centers can be
found at Siam, Nana and Saphan Taksin stations. A very informative BTS city map
can be picked up free from any station.
TAXI transportation in Beiiing : Foreign visitors to Beijing can usually afford to
take a taxi everywhere they want to go. The price ranges from 10 - 35 RMB for
most destinations. Airport can set you back up to 140 RMB. Still, when you convert
it back into local currency is still cheaper than most places in the world. The main
problem is communication. Be prepared to have your destination written in Chinese
characters to hand to the driver. English is almost non-existent and even place
names all have their own unique Chinese name.
There are at least 3 prices of Taxi in Beijing. They are priced according to the rate
per kilometer.
1.20 RMB The cheapest taxi you can find, pretty small, but gets you where you
want to go. Comfort and quality of ride varies from awful to not too bad. The car
brand is Xiali, (Chinese, of course)
1.60 RMB At this price range you can get a reasonably new Citroen or Volkswagen.
The car is a bit bigger, a bit faster, is likely to have suspension and the air
conditioning will probably work better. Still a very compact car by U.S. standards.
2.00 RMB This is their best taxi ? At least, the most expensive. The cars are likely
to be old, black, biggish, the driver likely to have some customer service and even
some English skills (ok, still rare). They are likely to drive carefully too.
The taxi price is displayed inconveniently in the corner of the rear left or right right
side window. The trick is to know the types of cars so you can study the pictures of
120's and 160's above carefully !! When you get really good, you can do this at
night by headlights alone at a considerable distance. :-) Note, the car types and
prices never vary, so if you see this kind of Citroen or Volkswagen you can be sure it
is a 160, and same with the little Xiali's, they will always be 120's .
Taxi Tip 2 - Meters and driver ID
Every Beijing taxi has a meter which, in theory, cannot be tampered with. On the
top of the meters is a big lever to start and stop it. When the meter is off, the "For
Hire" symbol appears in the window. It is a small red sign, which lights up at night
to varying degrees. Some even have an LED version which really does light up
quite well.

When you get in the taxi and agree upon where you are going, the driver should
drop the lever thus taking the sign out of the window so other potential customers
can see it is already occupied. In the photo below left, the lever has been put down
and removed from the window, the meter should then start.
At this time, the 10.00 RMB price should appear in the meter, 11.00 RMB late at
night, around 11 or 12pm. This price will take you quite some distance in Beijing,
then the price will steadily increase depending on the Taxi Type you chose (see Taxi
Tip 1). If your meter does not look like the one below soon after you start moving it
is likely it is not turned on. Start complaining.
If your taxi fare is above 35 RMB you must have gone a very long way. The most
expensive taxi ride you are likely to take is the 45 minute expressway journey from
the airport to the city centre which might set you back 80 - 150 RMB depending on
the taxi type and includes the expressway toll (about 15 RMB). We've heard horror
stories of people paying up to 400 RMB for this journey. Every official taxi should
have his license prominently displayed in the front of the cab facing the front
passenger seat. If your taxi has no license displayed, we suggest you find a
different taxi.If the driver says the meter is not working you should also get out and
find another taxi. Also, do not use a taxi where the driver tells you the price of your
destination before you get in. In general, the most likely taxis to give you a fair deal
are the ones speeding past you. Just flag them down. Parked taxis, who solicit
customers, especially around major tourist sites, you should be especially wary of.
If a person walks up to you and asks you if you need a taxi, bluntly refuse, as this
person most certainly represents a non-legitimate taxi.
When you complete your journey, the taxi driver will flip the lever back up and a
receipt is automatically printed. Take this for your records.

Tips for Tokyo : Electricity :

100 volts. 2 non-polarized pins similar to North American plugs. Most North
American equipment will work in Japanese power outlets without an adapter
though they might be a little underpowered. 3-pronged appliances will not work at
all.
Maps:
There are street maps of the surrounding area posted around every subway
station. These maps indicate the different exits from the station and each exit is
represented by a number. Find your number and follow the signs out of the station
to your desired exit. This move will save you time and hassle as taking the nearest
or easiest exit usually means sorting out where you are once you get to street level
and then finding out where you want to be.

Have a subway map with you all the time. Hotels have them by the bucketful so
grab one or two and keep them with you. Even the best guidebooks supply maps
that dont have all the subway lines on them there are too many and pulling out
a folded map from your pocket is a lot easier than flipping through your guide book.
You might think youll just walk to the nearest subway, look at a map, and then plan
your route. But the subway enters into all matters of planning so its good to have
the map with you. As well, youll sometimes have a choice of 2 or 3 or even 4
subways stops within walking distance and determining which one is best for you
requires a map.
The convention of putting north at the top of a map is not something strictly
followed in Japan. There are maps all over the place in the subway, on street
billboards, the one in your hands and they might all be rotated differently. Many
times Ive looked at a map Ive encountered on a walk and all of sudden seemed
horribly lost, only to figure out the map is rotated to have north at the bottom or off
to left or up in the right hand corner.
Money, Phones & Etiquette:Credit cards arent as widely used in Tokyo, have cash
with you at all times.Japanese people generally dont walk and eat certainly not
to the extent of Americans if you need to eat on foot do so as subtly and politely
as possible.
Tipping is not expected and might even be considered a little offensive.
Many phones from western countries dont work. Most 3G do. If you have an
iPhone be sure to phone AT&T before leaving home to enable roaming. Generally
texting is the cheapest way to communicate with home from your phone. You can
also rent a phone while in Japan for pretty reasonable rates.
Narita Airport, Narita International Airport located 65KM (40 miles) east of Tokyo
is one of the largest airport in Japan and has direct flights to most large airport hubs
in Europe, North America, Australia and Asia. The airport has wi-fi but you need to
set up an account with a local provider making it impractical for the average
traveler. Free wi-fi is reportedly coming soon to some airport cafes stay tuned.
Dayrooms are available and paid for by the hour. Rooms contain a bed, sink and
shower. The first hour is Y1000 (Y1600 for the twin room) and every hour after Y500
(Y800). A shower cubicle is also available for 30 minutes at Y500 for a bathroom
and shower.
Getting to and from Narita Airport:There are 2 railway companies that serve the
Narita to Tokyo route Keisei and JR East.JR runs the Narita Express (NEX) trains to
and from Narita. The trains run go to Tokyo station (1 hour), Shinjuku station (1 hour
30 minutes), Ikebukuro station (1 hour 40 minutes) and Yokohama station (1 hour 30
minutes).The NEX trains are the quickest way to get to Ikebukuro station if you get
one that stops there not all trains do so check before you buy a ticket. If you

purchased a JR Japan rail pass before leaving home, you can validate it at the
airport and use the NEX train for free.
JR has began offering a very convenient combo ticket for NEX trains. The ticket
comes with a pre-loaded Y1500 Suica card (see below for an explanation of the
Suica card). If youre considering taking the NEX train and planning to spend some
time in Tokyo this is a very convenient option with a very good discount. The ticket
can only be purchased at Narita Airport terminals 1 or 2.
The Keisei Skyliner goes to Ueno and Nippori in just under an hour. The Keisei
tokkyu (Limited Express) are more frequent than the Skyliner but take 15 minutes
longer. The Limited Express is the cheapest way into the city and costs just Y1000.
It stops at Ueno station (67 minutes) and Nippori station (71 minutes). If money and
budget are important the Limited Express wins hands down.
Keisei is starting a new superfast Narita to Tokyo Station service on July 17, 2010.
The New Skyliner will run between Narita and Tokyo Station in 36 minutes for Y2400.
The old Skyliner will maintain the same route from Nippori Station to Narita but be
called the Cityliner.
Taxis to or from Narita coast about 25,000.

If you have many bags, or dont feel like lugging them on and off trains and buses,
then the Takuhaibin luggage delivery service is something to consider. The service
takes your bags between the airport and your hotel. Enquire or look for signs as you
exit immigration. Your hotel should be able to arrange the service for you on your
return to the airport. For a rough estimate of costs a 80 cm x 40 cm x 30cm
suitcase, weighing less than 25 kg (55 pounds) would be about Y1800.
Final tip and piece of advice: The most important element in deciding which train or
bus to take from the airport is destination. If a certain route gets you directly to your
station without but takes 15 minutes longer then this is the one to take as it will
save you a change of trains, the purchase of another ticket and the hassle of
hauling your luggage about.
As I said above, if an inexpensive route is your priority then the Keisei tokkyu
Limited Express is your train. Haneda Airport is located south of the city and serves
mostly domestic flights.Allow lots of time between flights if you arrive at one but
depart from the other.
Subway and Commuter Trains within Tokyo: The subway system in Tokyo is
phenomenal and can usually get you within a few 100 metres of your destination in
central Tokyo.There are 2 subway systems (Tokyo Metro and Toei) and 1 train route
(JR East) that run within Tokyo and to the surrounding region. Its best to think of
them as 3 separate systems each requiring a different ticket.

Tokyo Metro has 9 different lines: Ginza, Marunouchi, Hibiya, Tozai, Chiyoda,
Yurakucho, Hanzomon, Namboku, Fukutoshin. The Toei has 4: Asakusa, Mita,
Shinjuku and Oedo.The JR system has many different lines but the three of interest
to travelers are the Yamanote line, the Chuo line and the Sobu line. The Yamanote
line does a loop of the city, with trains running in both directions around the circle. It
makes a great way to get between the major subway stops of Shinjuku, Shibuya,
Ikebukuro, Ueno, Shinagawa and Tokyo stations.
How The Subway Works: In a nutshell the subway system works like this: Tickets are
scanned through the turnstiles at the beginning as you enter the subway system
and end of your trip as you exit.Before you enter a station you look at a map by
the electronic ticket dispensers and find your destination station. It will have a price
listed beside the stop. You then purchase a ticket for that amount not for any
specific station.If you buy the wrong ticket or change your mind and get off at a
different more distant station then youll need to add money to the ticket before
you exit the station. You insert your ticket in a special Fare Supplement machine.
It will show the supplement needed.If you really cant figure out what priced ticket
to purchase, a simple trick is to buy the minimum price ticket (Y160), ride to your
destination, and then let the Fare Supplement machine figure out how much more
you have to add. There are day tickets available, which can save you a bit if you
take more than 4 or 5 rides in a day. The Tokyo Metro One-day Open Ticket for Y710
(children Y360) is good on just the TRTA lines. The Common One-day Ticket for
Tokyo Metro & Toei Subway for Y1000 (children Y500) is good on both the TRTA and
Toei lines but not the JR Lines. There is also the Tokyo Metro 1-Day for Tourists
Ticket for Y600 (children Y300) that can be purchased at Narita Airport. If youll be
in Tokyo for more than a few days you might want to buy either a Suica or Pasmo
prepaid card that enables you to enter and move between the different lines. The
cards are simply scanned as you enter and exit a station and the correct fare is
deducted from your account.The Pasmo card works only on the 2 Tokyo subways
systems. The Suica card works on the subways and the JR lines.Both cards require a
Y500 deposit most of which is returned when you stop using the card and return it
for your deposit. Additionally the cards can be used on some buses, but few tourists
take the bus at all, so unless you know youll be taking one this shouldnt be a big
selling point.Check out the Tokyo Transfer Guide for station to station routes on the
Tokyo subway system and take a look at the map of the Tokyo subway lines.
Tokyo Tours: If youre pressed for time a one day or half day sightseeing tour is a
good option to take in the citys sites and attractions. Theres no need to book a
package through a travel agent good quality bus and walking tours are easy to
arrange on your own or through your hotels concierge.
Hato Bus Tours and JTBs Sunrise Tours both get raves from travelers.
Free yes, free! walking tours of the city are available from Tokyo Free Guide. You
tell them what youre interested in, your schedule, your preferred neighborhood(s),

and you get a tour of Tokyo by a local. They get to practice their English. Win-win.
You are expected to pay for any tickets or drinks or food along the tour but thats
pretty minor.
Packing Tips: Its a mantra of the packing tips experts: pack light. But in Japan and
definitely Tokyo it will you serve you well. Japanese people dont carry a lot of
baggage. The trains, buses and even lockers are not designed for a large about of
luggage.
Additionally at some point on your trip youll probably have to take your bags on
board a couple subways or commuter trains which are often a tight squeeze if you
have anything more than a toothbrush with you.
If you are traveling with a lot of luggage then The Narita Airport Limousine Bus
might be a good option as you wont have to deal with turnstiles and gates and if
youre staying at a major hotel might stop right at your door. If not take the short
taxi ride from the dropoff hotel to your accommodations.
Anything you think you might need converter, umbrella, toothpaste buy it at
home. Time can evaporate trying to purchase everyday items in Tokyo. If youre on
a tight schedule you dont want to burn through time searching a department store
for shampoo.
What To Take:
Electrical converter so your devices will work like they do at home.
A small umbrella for rainy season.
Laptop or Netbook. Many people leave these at home thinking they wont want to
spend time on their computer while traveling. A good sentiment, but having a
means of looking things up on the internet while in Japan is invaluable. Many
companies, hotels and institutions youll want to contact dont have many
employees that speak English. By emailing them you ensure youll gain contact with
someone who does. And many Japanese write English better than they speak it.
Most Japanese related web sites be it a museum, hotel, or amusement park have
the most important pages (or the entire site) translated into English, so having
access to this information can be really helpful while on the road. I had no troubles
accessing the internet or using local Wi-Fi while traveling around Japan with my
highly recommended Macbook.
Wear and pack nice socks so youre not embarrassed if you need to slip your shoes
off a common occurrence in Japanese culture.
Not a walker? You will be in Tokyo. Have a good pair of comfortable shoes with you.
If youre traveling with kids be sure to read what to take when traveling with kids.