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.