Tag Archives | trip

Adana – Shopping In Turkey Now Made Easier

By Rami on December 24, 2018 in Travel

Wings of Lebanon airline has always been known for operating seasonal flights to neighboring countries and European destinations, and one of destinations they have been heavily promoting lately is Adana is Turkey. I was invited to take part in one of their media tours in the city last week and I believe the trip is totally worth it for one reason: SHOPPING.

Although Adana is a nice city with a good feel, it actually has little to offer as a touristic place since it doesn’t have much attractions like Istanbul does for example. However, its proximity to Beirut and the cheaper prices you find there for clothing products simply qualifies it as a shopping heaven.

Adana Vs. Istanbul

I’m comparing the two cities because most people who visited Turkey landed in Istanbul and are used to the shopping experience there.

First of all the fight to Adana takes around 45 minutes, and it has a quite similar climate to Beirut as opposed to the freezing temperatures you experience during this time of year in Istanbul. Moreover the airport is only ~10Km away from the city center so you can basically start your journey there almost the minute you touch down. On the other hand, the airports in Istanbul are 1 hour away from the center.

With regards to product prices, all those who visited Istanbul know about the good deals they there get when shopping, but Adana is even cheaper simply because it isn’t much touristic. I felt like clothing items are cheaper by at least 25% than Istanbul, and the price difference from Beirut absolutely makes up for what you pay for the ticket price and even much more.

The main two malls for shopping in Adana are Optimum and M1, aside from the street shops that you can of course find everywhere.

Pharmaceuticals

In case you don’t know it yet, pharmaceuticals cost 50% less than what you pay here in Lebanon, and some people I know have totally given up on buying their chronic medications from the local pharmacies and are instead relying on people going to Turkey to get them their supplies.

This is of course one more reason that makes your trip very cost effective.

Food

Just like almost everywhere else in Turkey, Kebab is quite popular in Adana and the city is famous for its Adana Kebab which is a wider version of the regular Kebab with unique flavors. Bottom line, meat lovers will definitely not going to be disappointed.

Accommodation

Hotels are also quite cheap compared to other cities, and you can get a booking at a five star hotel with excellent facilities for no more $80-90 / night.

Do more than shopping!

Even though I mentioned that Adana has little to offer in terms of touristic attractions. You can still definitely do more than shopping there by taking a train to a nearby coastal city called Mersin.The trips costs $2-3 and takes 1 hour.

So you can basically book 3 nights for example, spend 1 in Adana to do all your shopping, and then head to Mersin to chill by its waterfront and enjoy the nightlife there.

Budget

Nakhal is currently offering 3 night packages for New Year starting $285 and of course less after that period. The flight schedule on specific days makes it also possible to simply go in the morning do all the shopping and then come back in the afternoon during the same day.

For more information about the packages and flights schedule you can check www.nakhal.com or call their experts on 01 389 389.

#UberTOUR: Plan a Day Long Trip in Lebanon for $50

By Rami on August 31, 2017 in Activities

Over the last few months I’ve been relying more on Taxi Hailing apps such as Uber to get around Beirut especially when I’m out with my kid and don’t really want to care about finding a parking spot. The apps are quite convenient and frequently run promo codes, so you end up riding most of the time at a discounted rate.

A new offering by Uber recently caught my attention so I thought of sharing it here. In an attempt from them to promote tourism within our country, they’re offering what they call the UberTOUR between August 28th and September 11th which basically allows you to hire a driver for 7 hours to take you wherever you want around Lebanon for a $50 flat rate. You can also extend the trip for a maximum of 3 hours at $7.2/hour.

$50 might sound like too much for some, but when thinking about the gas price and the less stress you have to endure in weekend traffic, in addition to the fact that you can share the ride with a couple of friends, I guess it quickly becomes to sound very reasonable!

If you intend to use the service simply open the app during the above mentioned period and make sure choose to slide to “UberTOUR” to request an Uber and enjoy your next outing!

Touch Teams Up With Booking.com For Cashback Rewards

By Rami on February 3, 2017 in Travel

I’m a bit surprised this isn’t advertised much by “touch” so I thought it’s worth sharing with you.

Touch recently announced a partnership with accommodation booking website booking.com in order to let their subscribers benefit from 4% cashback of the reservation value on their touch lines whether prepaid or postpaid.

To benefit from the offer, all you have to do is to make your next reservations via booking.touch.com.lb or through touch’s mobile app.

Note that booking.com offers you a “Genius” status after booking 5 trips with them, which makes you eligible for a 10% off on selected hotels. That along with the 4% in cashback would save you some good money especially for long trips!

I personally make all my booking online and would definitely consider using this service when planning my next trip since I have a touch line.

8 Reasons to avoid Lebanon this summer

By Rami on June 20, 2014 in Lebanon

live-love-beirut

I’ve been following the #LiveLoveLebanon campaign lately, and I really respect the effort the people behind it are putting to let the tourism industry flourish again. But let’s be honest for a second, would you really recommend Lebanon as touristic destination to a foreign friend of yours?

I mean I know we’ve got some cool places, but the touristic experience Lebanon offers definitely doesn’t come anywhere near the ones offered by several countries around us like Turkey, Dubai, Cyprus and Jordan maybe.

So just in case you were saving money for a summer vacation in Lebanon, here are 8 reasons why you should go spend it somewhere else.

1. Bad infrastructure

Commuting inside the main cities is guaranteed to get you stuck in traffic for hours, and planning long trips will cost you an an arm and a leg due to our bad public transportation system. Meanwhile, other countries have metro networks to make your life much easier!

And talking about bad infrastructure, you should probably know we still suffer from power outages here.

2. Expensive beach resorts

What’s summer vacation without beach? You probably have been to other countries and are used to the fact that beach is for everyone, but that’s not valid here in Lebanon. Access to beach resorts costs $30-35 / person. And don’t you dare to order a sandwich from their local restaurant, the bill will most probably knock you out.

On the other hand, nearby destinations have gorgeous public beaches where you can get your own food and snacks!

People may now argue that public beaches DO exist here in Lebanon. But the question is, are they advertised to tourists?

3. How the hell do I get there?!

Ok, we get it, Balou’ Bala and Nahr Ibrahim among many other places are pretty cool. But how the hell can one reach them?! It is true that we have some hidden gems around the country, but well they’re just… very well hidden!

Unless you know someone here who knows his way around very well, you will most probably just stick to the main boring attractions. (e.g Zaitunay Bay, Hamra, Malls, etc…)

4. Overpriced restaurants and clubs

The trend for restaurants nowadays is claiming to use premium Angus beef to justify the inflated prices on their menus. Wait until they hear about the Kobe beef!

I truly believe we pay a lot of money here in Lebanon for mediocre service and food quality. On the contrary, and trust me on this, you get much better dining experiences in Dubai and Istanbul for less money.

5. Angry people everywhere

Most of the people here seem to be constantly frustrated or upset at something! We always have something to whine about. We whine about electricity, internet, politicians, traffic, world cup broadcasting rights, and then we take it all on each others when driving!

People elsewhere are happier because unlike us they don’t need to worry about basics like water and electricity, and therefore you don’t get depressed everytime you look at them!

6. No, you’re not scoring tonight

So you’re coming from one of the gulf region where Lebanese girls have the reputation of being so easy and you’re expecting to get laid with every chick you meet, right? NOT REALLY! Beirut is not the sin city you think it is, and it isn’t really easy to get laid around here.

If sex tourism is your thing, spare yourself the time and just book a trip to Pattaya, the mother of all sin cities!

7. Safety first

How the hell do you plan a trip to a country where explosions occur randomly?! And even if these explosions are thought to be limited to certain areas, WHY TAKE THE RISK?!

8. Organized chaos

Lebanon is nothing but a state of organized chaos. We cut off each others when waiting in line, we hate to stop on red signs, we let the valet parking people rule our streets, we block roads for no reason, and yet for god knows why we just love how things go around here!

For all of the above, just go put your money somewhere else and don’t let anyone fool you with talks about how good the nighlife here is, we indeed have an interesting nightlife scene, but it’s definitely not worth it. Lebanon is seriously so overrated as a touristic destination.

And finally, you as a Lebanese better stop wasting money on expensive restaurants, clubs and resorts, and I guarantee in a few months you will save enough money to go on a trip or two to some really cool places!!

African Rhinoceros attacks minister Sehnaoui

By Rami on April 12, 2013 in Lebanon

Nicolas Sehnaoui

Minister Nicolas Sehnaoui was lucky enough to escape a Rhinoceros attack while he was on a hunting trip in Africa along with minister Marwan Kheireddine.

Caretaker State Minister Marwan Kheireddine saved caretaker Telecommunications Minister Nicolas Sehnaoui from a rhinoceros attack while they were in Africa, reported An Nahar daily Friday.

It said that as the ministers were on a hunting trip in Africa, Sehnaoui decided to rest by the rhinoceros, which he mistook for a rock.

The animal soon turned its attention to Sehnaoui and attempted to attack him.

The minister began to run away from the rhinoceros, while Kheireddine and their companions scared off the animal with their sticks. Source

I wonder what other cool hobbies do our ministers have!

Wranglers off-roading in Bhamdoun

By Rami on April 19, 2012 in Lebanon

A friend of mine loves to take his Wrangler on off-road trips whenever he gets the opportunity to, and from time to time goes with a group of other drivers to some area around Lebanon and all put their four wheelers to test in the field. They went to Bhamdoun last weekend and he came back with this cool video.

You can check more photos and videos from off-road trips in Lebanon on LebanonOffRoad.com

Hiking from Rachaya Al Wadi to Ain Ata

By Rami on August 5, 2010 in Activities, Photography

A friend of mine introduced me to Footprints nature club back in March and convinced me to go on my first hiking experience with them to cross the hills from Rachaya Al Wadi to Ain Ata.

It took us around 4 hours to finish the 11 Km hike. The hardest parts of it was whenever we had to go down hills, it might seems weird but during a hike you put more energy when going downhill than going up.

I’ll leave you with some of the photos I took, the mountain showing in the panoramic photo is Jabal Al Cheikh which is known for having snow covering its peaks for most of the year.

Starting from the souk of Rachaya Al Wadi

Jabal Al Cheikh

4 hours later, arriving to Ain Ata