Asia Travel Apps/Cool Subway Stations/Visiting Belarus
Apps for Asia
If you will be traveling in Asian countries, research the apps you’re going to need before you get there and set up a payment method in advance. This is especially true with rideshare apps since Uber is far from universal. You may need Bolt, Yandex Go, inDrive, Grab, Didi, MuvMi, MyCar, K-ride, or something else where you’re headed. Then Yandex Maps was the best for getting around Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan when we were there and in Seoul where I’m writing from this week, Google Maps is useless for walking and public transportation. We needed to use an app called Naver.
Touring Subways in the Stans
While Soviet Union era architecture is known for being functional but far from beautiful, the metro stations built during Soviet times often have attractive underground stations that follow a theme. I toured the one in Almaty’s central core, which took 20 years to finish after the Soviet Union collapsed, plus the one in Tashkent that’s larger and has been open longer. See more about the Almaty metro here, with some of my photos.
Visa-free Belarus
If you’re from Europe and have had isolated, dictator-led Belarus on your country check-off list, now’s the time to book your train ticket. That’s because passport holders from 38 European countries can visit visa-free through the end of the year. That doesn’t mean it will be easy though. See this balanced article on the real dangers and the real hassles of being a tourist in a very strange land.
Loosening TSA Rules at U.S. Airports
As we hit the 25th anniversary of the terrorist attacks on NYC and DC, the Transportation Security Administration has been loosening up its rules. In July they dropped the requirement to take off your shoes in the security line and this week they announced that they will be testing a plan to let loved ones with TSA Pre-check into the gate area to meet arriving passengers. It’ll start with 13 airports first. Meanwhile, here are the airports with the fastest and slowest security lines (San Antonio under 4 minutes, JFK airport 23 minutes).
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