Wikivoyage:Tourist office/Archives/2013/August

Wall clock in Malaysia
I know one of the shopping centers in Malaysia have a giant clock mounted. Every hour, it opens up and have dancing dolls. Anybody know which?

Asked by: 176.25.115.79 07:59, 2 August 2013 (UTC)

shoreexcursions/cicitecchia/rome
Asked by: 121.210.85.105 05:52, 6 August 2013 (UTC)

Reply: What's the question? I assume you mean Civitavecchia, which is the port for Rome. Rome is inland, and the Tiber is not navigable by big ships. Ikan Kekek (talk) 07:46, 6 August 2013 (UTC)


 * I think the topic poster means to ask what kind of excursions can done near Civitavecchia. Globe-trotter (talk) 15:36, 6 August 2013 (UTC)


 * Hi 121.210.85.105! I assume you mean you are arriving by (cruise?) ship in Civitavecchia and want to do a shore excursion to Rome, am I right? Have a look at Civitavecchia; you can easily visit Rome by local train. If you are arriving in Civitavecchia by cruise ship they will probably have a guided shore excursion to Rome but it will certainly cost more than a return train ticket and whatever transportation you would use in Rome on your own. ϒpsilon (talk) 16:57, 6 August 2013 (UTC)

Need to present the card I booked my flight with - but I don't have it
Hi there, folks

I'm in a real quandary. I'm an expat whose bank decided to split in two and cancel everyone's bank cards. They've sent me out a new bank card, but it's to an old address because they hadn't updated my files for whatever reason. I managed to book plane tickets back to the UK with Qatar Airways, using my uncle's credit card as mine was invalidated. But now I was told, post-booking, that I'd need to present his card to get admitted to the flight! Problem - it leaves in a few days and we're on opposite ends of the world. What can I do to get on board this flight? The travel agents here are charging well over the odds for flights, and the only way I can book a ticket online is using the cards of family in UK and paying them back. I'm very worried and appreciate any ideas or advice. All the best!

Asked by: 61.140.218.219 12:03, 13 August 2013 (UTC)


 * Hello. It's not uncommon anymore for airlines to ask for credit cards used in the booking process, but often it's possible to work around it when contacting the airline in advance. Companies who book tickets for their employees have the same problem. Possibly, your uncle will have to sign a Letter of Indemnity and perhaps even present the card at a UK office of Qatar Airlines (I think there used to be one at Heathrow?). In any case, I would say just contact the airline asap, explain that your uncle is paying for your ticket from abroad and ask them what you need to do. Good luck! JuliasTravels (talk) 20:28, 13 August 2013 (UTC)


 * Hi there!


 * Sorry to here about your trouble; I assume it comes as a result of the Lloyds TSB split? I would agree with all the advice JuliasTravels has given above. In addition, it may also be worth calling Qatar Airways and asking if they'd be prepared to accept a photocopy of your uncle's card if he were to somehow authenticate it for them. Should your uncle need to visit one of the airline's offices, they have premises in Manchester city centre, Manchester Airport, inside Harrods in London and in London Heathrow Airport, so hopefully he wouldn't have to travel an enormous distance if that's necessary. There's a bit more information on contacting them within the UK here, as well as lists of their premises around the world. If possible, it may be useful to go into one of their offices yourself and explain the situation face to face. As JuliasTravels has said, I'd try and get in touch with Qatar Airways ASAP; I'm sure they'll be able to help you out. :) Best of luck and have a safe flight! --Nick talk 23:54, 13 August 2013 (UTC)

Why is Skardu map showing the top of India in Pakistan?
Hi, I was browsing through an article http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skardu and realized that the map shows skardu in Pakistan. I have never traveled there before hence I can't really contribute to the article, however being an Indian citizen I can definitely identify how India looks like.

I understand you are a community driven portal, but if you allow some prejudiced people to author an article such confusions would prevail. I hope your community driven mechanism also tracks comments from people..!

I agree that the region is under dispute for decades, however legally that is still a part of India. Request you to make those changes.

Best Regards,

Asked by: 106.201.97.159 07:34, 22 August 2013 (UTC)


 * This type of issue has had extensive discussion on the talk pages for both the India and Pakistan articles.


 * Basically, our policy (Wikivoyage_talk:Regions_map_Expedition) is to use the areas currently controlled by a government as our definition of country boundaries, because that is the information most relevant to travellers. We mention territorial disputes only where they affect travel &mdash; for example warning travellers to avoid sensitive border areas.


 * Can I visit Skardu now with an Indian visa? If so, the map and article should be changed. If I need a Pakistani visa to get there, then for practical purposes, it is in Pakistan and the map is, for purposes of a travel guide, correct. Pashley (talk) 11:58, 22 August 2013 (UTC)
 * Yes Pashley, you're right. If you want to travel to Skardu now, you need Pakistan visa not Indian one. --Saqib (talk) 12:01, 22 August 2013 (UTC)


 * By the way, you should be aware that Wikipedia and Wikivoyage are separate sites, and if you have concerns about that map, you should raise them there, rather than here. Rojomoke (talk) 08:04, 25 August 2013 (UTC)
 * Since the Wikipedia Reference Desk points here for travel questions, I think it's likely that the user was just didn't realize that he or she was coming to Wikivoyage. LtPowers (talk) 15:27, 25 August 2013 (UTC)

Hotel question
Coming to National Harbor for a convention on October 3-6 and would like to find a nice but reasonable hotel. The convention is at the Gaylord National Hotel and Convention Center but VERY pricy. Could you recommend another nice hotel with reasonable cost.

Asked by: 24.197.10.70 17:56, 27 August 2013 (UTC)

Reply
What city is that in? Ikan Kekek (talk) 19:22, 27 August 2013 (UTC)
 * The almost empty article says it is somewhere near Washington D.C. so I left a note on our Washington docent's talk page. ϒpsilon (talk) 19:50, 27 August 2013 (UTC)

There are only a few hotels in National Harbor, and unless there are no events going on, they are all quite expensive. Transportation to National Harbor from other nearby locales is inconvenient without a car. If you have a car, though, you could stay within a 5-10 minute drive at one of the off-highway hotels in Alexandria, with the cheapest options being south of the Beltway. You could try Old Town Alexandria too, which is a pretty fabulously pretty place to stay, and also close by, but the hotels will naturally go up in price. You'll get stuck paying for parking in National Harbor: if my memory serves me, the lot caps out around $20/day. --Peter Talk 20:00, 4 September 2013 (UTC)

Adding a map
Hi all!

You have a page on Helman Tor (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helman_Tor), I live near to this in Cornwall and Google shows the wrong map, people are always finding it hard to find so I was going to add this external link: Map of Helman Tor to the page. Is this acceptable?

I believe it is relevant. In fact I think all town pages on wiki should link to a map page as I see the relevance, but your the bosses(!). So, is it ok to add this map page?

Regards

Asked by: 217.44.226.0 14:56, 30 August 2013 (UTC)


 * Wikipedia allows external links, so I believe it would be OK to add that map link over there. Here on Wikivoyage, on the other hand, we prefer to use our own maps. ϒpsilon (talk) 09:41, 31 August 2013 (UTC)


 * If you know the area, consider signing up to OpenStreetMap, and contributing your knowledge of the area to make things easier to find. Once you have the info in OSM, it will appear here at Wikivoyage, and on the Wikipedia maps, and numerous other places as well. Even if you don't want learn about the project, the main OSM page gives you the ability to leave a note [www.osm.org], and then some other happy OSMer will come along and make the change for you!  --Inas (talk) 01:39, 6 September 2013 (UTC)