Peter"s Post: Walk this way

The best place to find information about the Camino de Santiago is one of the many websites devoted to this pilgrimage.

 There are a number of routes you can take to the ending point of the walk, the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela, so you will need to research your trip fully or join an organised group. Most pilgrims make the journey in the European summer, with July and August being the most popular months.

You can get useful information about the walk on caminoadventures.com and caminoways.com. However, one of the most helpful sites for South African pilgrims is that of the Confraternity of Saint James of South Africa (csjofsa.za.org).

This is a non-profit organisation set up in 2006 to assist South Africans who want to make the pilgrimage. Here you can get useful information about the Pilgrim’s Passport, what it costs, where to sleep along the route and fitness levels needed.

ALMOST MANHATTAN

With hotels on Manhattan in New York City being so expensive, what options are there off the island? What would the transport situation be like? – Virginia Moldenhauer

It certainly is cheaper to stay in one of the areas adjacent to Manhattan, but this can involve a trade-off in terms of accessibility and time. The most popular areas are Brooklyn, Queens and New Jersey. You’d need to check how close the hotel is to public transport.

When it comes to Brooklyn and Queens, the New York City Subway is the cheapest way to get onto the island. The last subway stop on each line to Queens and Brooklyn is about an hour from Manhattan, but can be as little as 10 minutes, depending on the number of stops the train makes. The closest areas are Long Island City in Queens and Williamsburg in Brooklyn.

In New Jersey, Jersey City is a popular choice because of the number of hotels close to New Jersey’s inexpensive Port Authority Trans-Hudson (PATH) trains, which have several stops in Manhattan.

The fare to Manhattan from all stations is $1.75 (R18) per person one-way. If you are staying close to the river on either side of Manhattan, you can also travel by ferry. From Long Island City and Brooklyn, you would choose the East River Ferry, while travel from Jersey City is on the Hudson River Ferry. You can check for discounted rates at hotels in these areas on sites such as booking.com, hotels.com and expedia.com.

HANOI, HERE WE COME

During a trip to Hong Kong, we would like to visit Hanoi in Vietnam. What would be a cost-effective way of getting there? – Mareez

You can take the train between Hong Kong and Hanoi, which has train changes in Guangzhou and Nanjing. It is cheap, but you will need a visa for China and the trip could take up to 48 hours.

Unless you are very adventurous and have time on your hands, flying is the only real option. Airlines offering direct flights between Hong Kong and Hanoi include Dragonair, Vietnam Airlines and Hong Kong Airlines.

To travel on one of the budget airlines, you will have to stop over en route. Popular choices include Tigerair, which flies via Singapore, and Air Asia, via Kuala Lumpur. If availability is an issue, you can also try airlines such as Air Malaysia, Thai International and Singapore Airlines, which have connecting flights through their hubs.

The best price I could get for a direct return ticket for random dates in February was R3563 on Hong Kong Airlines, but the fares can change substantially depending on your date of travel. A good website to compare airfares is skyscanner.net.

Peter"s Post: Walk this way