First Time Visitors

Driving in Thailand for the first time can kill you, unless you prepare yourself with our travel tips. The accident statistics in Thailand are frightening: about 20,000 death Thai drivers due to road accidents. Only if you are a confident driver and you are aware of the driving conditions in Thailand, then driving is a great way to travel around the country and will give you the freedom to really explore.

Car Rental Thailand

There are plenty of reputable car rental firms in Thailand like Avis, Budget, Hertz, Via and Braun. A typical rental car in Thailand would be a Toyota Soluna at around 1500 to 2000 baht (about 50 to 65 $) for a day.

Cheap car hire can be found by the beach side renters. Just don’t leave your passport as collateral for your rented vehicle, give them a photocopy instead. And be assured you won’t be well insured…

Which fuel to use when driving in Thailand

The main vehicle fuels in Thailand are:

• 91 (octane output of the fuel), advisable for motorbikes
   
• 95 (a little more octane and is a little more expensive than 91), advisable for car rentals
   
• gasohol (90% gasoline and 10% ethanol: introduced in Thailand to reduce rising fuel import costs) and
   
• diesel.

How to survive driving in Thailand

• be smart and aggressive, otherwise you will never advance an inch
   
• obey driving rules when you can but expect Thai drivers not to obey rules
   
• drive on the left hand side of the road and be prepared that Thai drivers will ignore this rule if it helps them get to their turning quicker
   
• respect the speed limit: 60 km/h in town from 90 to 120 km/h on country roads and expressways
   
• expect Thai drivers to be unpredictable
   
• always look everywhere and remember: westerners due take driving conventions for granted, some Thai drivers just don’t!
   
• be prepared for motorbikes flying towards you like… well, like flies to a pot of honey. Unlike flies, don’t hit the motorbikes as they will also try their best not to hit you. Help them a bit because some of them just don’t try hard enough…
   
• do not drive drunk
   
• if a car flashes at you, it means he won’t change lane but expects you to do so
   
• when the traffic light turns green, don’t zoom away, as you might hit motorbikes that are zooming through the opposite red light
   
• when overtaking a bus or truck :
   
• their right hand indicator warns not to overtake as there is oncoming traffic
   
• their left hand indicator signals that it is safe to overtake OR that the car is turning!

One good thing about driving in Thailand is the overall Thai cultural habit of not getting angry in public. So when the Thai do get angry, you can rest assure that your driving is not at all up to Thailand’s standards!

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Is there anything more exciting than to travel to Victoria falls that form the natural border between Zambia and Zimbabwe? The Victoria Falls are one of Africa’s best-known natural wonders and one of the world’s most impressive waterfalls.

The first European to travel to the Victoria falls was explorer Livingstone who named the falls after Queen Victoria in 1855. The native Kololo tribes however call it "Mosi-oa-Tunya": ‘the smoke that thunders’:

• travel to Africa in April and you will find the water flow at its peak. When you book African safaris that fly you into the Victoria Falls Airport, you will see ‘smoke’ as if the bush was on fire but it is actually the spray of the Victoria Falls, formed by the immense amount of water plunging down 100m or more into the gorge.

For an adventurous Victoria Falls vacation, travel to the Victoria Falls Bridge. This 111-metre-high (364 ft) is a popular place for bungee jumping. For less adventurous Victoria Falls holidays, the Victoria Falls bridge can be crossed by foot and gives stunning views of the falls and the winding blue-green waters of the Zambezi River.

If you love to view prime game, do book Victoria Falls safaris with added aerial views of the falls from fixed-wing or micro-light planes.

How to travel to Victoria Falls

If you don’t have your own transport, and aren’t following a Victoria Falls tour, you can easily travel to the Victoria Falls by plain, train and bus:

• By Flight to Victoria Falls: Lusaka International Airport, Harare International Airport, Victoria Falls Airport (domestic flights only)
   
• By Train: Victoria Falls Station
   
• By Bus: Look for services to the Victoria Falls Bus Station.

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Travel to Africa and enjoy strolling around in Tunisia’s oldest city center: the Medina Tunisia. Medina is the Arab way of naming the old city center.

When during your Africa vacation you travel to Tunisia, Morocco or Egypt (Algeria and Libya are a bit more off the beaten track), do make sure to stroll around in the old ‘medinas’.

And with old we mean very old: the Medina Tunisia for example was built 700 years before the birth of Christ. These ‘medinas’ are built to keep the sun out of people’s home, so they are a bit dark at places yet they are cool without using air conditioning! Traveling to Tunisia without visiting the Medina is like taking a shower without water…

Visitors who travel in Tunisia’s Medina will step back in time through the maze of narrow, winding streets to barter for souvenirs with the locals. Tunisia vacations are only complete when you bring home a colourful hand-made carpet or easier to carry hand-crafted jewellery and exotic spices.

Things to do on your vacation in Tunisia

When you stop by in Tunis during your Tunisia vacation, do visit:

• 
  the perfume makers’ Souk el Attarine
   
• 
  the ninth-century Zitouna Mosque: Zitouna translates to "Olive". The Zitouna Mosque yard can be visited every morning, except Fridays.

Main thing is to stroll around in the old Medina Tunisia and breath in an ancient civilisation that’s still vibrant when you walk through it today.

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