Car Rental for Tourists in Cebu Philippines

Photo credit: yahoo images

Whether you live in Cebu or are visiting as a tourist, you may at some point want to use a Cebu car rental company. Having your own vehicle is the only way to visit the many tourist attractions scattered around the island, and to take in the full beauty of the area. A lot of visitors may be wary about driving after reading about the traffic problems in the Philippines, but Cebu is relatively fine, it is only in Manila where things can become very confusing. So if you are travelling to Cebu, then use Cebu car rental and get to see places that many other people never get to see, and that includes those who live on the island.

I can share with everyone a couple of reasons why you should have a car hire in Cebu but first, let me tell you that hiring a car rental in the Philippines can be different than that of hiring one in the UK or USA, especially if you are using a local Cebu company. Most will want proof of who you are, if you are a non-resident such as passport, driving license, international driving license, and proof of address. It is usually normal for a deposit to be paid when you book. Most Cebu car rental companies will want copies of all of these documents emailed before you arrive, but you will still need to visit the office on arrival to pay the rental charge in full, and to leave some kind of photo ID with them. Car rental Cebu includes all the relevant insurance cover for the Philippines, so you do not have to worry about that. 

Once all the paperwork has been completed you will then be given the car you have hired. As with any car rental company anywhere in the world, it is advisable to go over the car looking for previous damage and noting it with the car rental Cebu company and this saves on possible disputes later on. You can use technology for this; take some pictures or videos, and immediately upload them to somewhere like Facebook. Doing these time stamps will help you to have proof of the vehicle condition when you collected it.

Driving around Cebu is easy, and these days there is GPS available to help you out, and it is recommended that you take advantage of this. Using car rental in Cebu can really enhance your experience of the area, and you can leave the island to fly home knowing that you have seen more of the local culture and landmarks than those who do not hire a car.

Istanbul - The City in Two Continents

Photo credit: copyright www.riatravelbug.blogspot.com

Istanbul is a beautiful city in Turkey. It lies on the Bosphorus Strait and stretches on both the European (Thrace) and Asian (Anatolia) side of this strait. It is the only city in the world that lies in two continents.

We visited Istanbul in October 2002. It was actually our first European trip. We applied directly at the Turkish Consulate in Dubai at The World Trade Center. The visa application was not a tedious process unlike the Schengen and US visa we have applied for in the past. We went in the morning to submit our documents and the interviewer only asked us one question. I forgot what the staff asked but I vividly recall what he said next. He told us to collect our passports the next day. That was it. We were given a week-long visa validity to enter Turkey.

We only stayed for 3 days and 2 nights and booked our accommodation in Madison Hotel in Istanbul. It is a 4-star property located in Taksim area close to Taksim Square, Topkapi Palace and other tourist attractions.

I got a good deal on the hotel because of my travel agent status then. My husband and I flew to Istanbul via Singapore Airlines (and I loved their service! The flight attendants made us feel very special even if we were in economy class) during the airline's promotional travel deals. Since I was an assigned staff in the Singapore Airlines counter, our ticketing head office left a message to the tour operators in Istanbul to give me and my husband a free return airport transfer. The airline fare was also a steal because I only paid around US$160 for both of us and that was Dubai-Istanbul-Dubai! Talk about the perks of being a travel agent!

I'll talk about the hotel and other places of interest on my other blog post later on. Meanwhile, here are some of the few photos we had in Istanbul. Unfortunately, we only had few snaps because our very unreliable digital camera had to malfunction during our trip.

Topkapi Palace, Istanbul

My hubby posing in Taksim Square near the tram track