22 Travel Scams I Encountered During My Travels and How to Avoid Them.

I hate to break this to you, but let’s face it, most people only share the wonderful side of traveling but the fact is, everything has a dark side, including the seemingly perfect travels portrayed on social medias. Now let me share some of my experience with you all, about the nasty travel scams I came across with during my travels. 

United Kingdom: cool little things you need to know

Do you know there's a hidden Jigsaw puzzle on British coins? Dedicate this to you, my UK trip gang 2013. 

Findings credit to Abraham Wong.
Coins belong to Kim.

Taken from canadiancontent.net:

The £1 coin has the Royal Coat of Arms on it. And, if you see carefully, the other coins (1p, 2p, 5p, 10p, 20p and 50p) all have segments of the Coat of Arms on them and it is possible to fit them together like a jigsaw puzzle to form the complete Coat of Arms.

The shield in the design features the three lions of England in the first and fourth quarters, the lion of Scotland in the second, and the harp of Ireland in the third.

Now, Have fun forming your own coin puzzle! *wink*

Edinburgh (/Scotland) Souvenirs Guide

Are you having a hard time deciding on what to buy home from Edinburgh? Although I am not a souvenir buyer, I do have some suggestions that might save you from the gift dilemma syndrome.

image by Heathergems

The Fudge House, Edinburgh

      With a fabulous list of 27 flavours available, the Fudge House is the perfect place to be whenever I fancy a piece of Fudge. This celebrated Edinburgh shop is located right on the Royal Mile, to be exact, on the Canongate street.Every lovely chunk of fudge is hand made to a traditional secret family recipe since 1949.

ROYAL MILE : CANONGATE

After passing through the World's End, You will reach the Canongate street, the last stretch of Royal Mile before you finally reach the Holyrood palace.

image from www.rampantscotland.com

1. Canongate Tolbooth/ The People's Story

As I said earlier, Canongate use to be a seperate Burgh from Edinburgh so the Canongate Tolbooth served as the municipal building, court and prison for the Burgh of Canongate. It had then become a historical landmark for the Old town of Edinburgh.
The People's Story is a Free attraction, located within the tolbooth. It showcase the lives of Edinburgh's ordinary citizen from the late 18th century until today.

ROYAL MILE: HIGH STREET

High street is perhaps the most popular and perhaps the most popular part of the Royal Mile. It is always buzzing with crowds, restaurants, cafe, souvenir shops everywhere, so much to see and do!

image taken from darrow.org.uk

ROYAL MILE: LAWNMARKET

image via www.royal-mile.com

Discover the stories of the people in Edinburgh at the Lawn market.

ROYAL MILE: CASTLEHILL

Image from www.flickriver.com

Lets go from the start. Always start your one mile walk down from the Castle because going downhill is a lot easier than going uphill. Unless you want to burn more calories, of course. 

SIGHTSEEING GUIDE IN ROYAL MILE EDINBURGH

images from www.pps.org

As the name suggested, the Royal Mile is a pleasant 1 mile (and 107 yards) walk cutting directly through the heart of Edinburgh. 

The Stretch starts from the Castle on a long-extinct volcano, down the slope formed by the retreat of an ice age million years ago and finally, ends at the Palace of Holyrood.  Located within a World Heritage site, the Royal Mile is a combination of 4 streets: Castlehill, then Lawnmarket, High Street and Canongate,  jam packed with things to see and do.

QUICK GUIDE TO ROYAL MILE / OLD TOWN

image from www.123royalmile.com

Cutting through the heart of Edinburgh, The Royal Mile is the most visited street in Edinburgh. It is always buzzing with energy, jam packed with a lot to see, do and eat. Here, I've summarized a quick guide for those who are planning to "Walk the Mile"!