Traveling and Going through Customs

People began to travel ages ago. The very first travelers were explorers who went on trips to find wealth, fame or something else. Their journeys were very dangerous but still people kept on going to the unknown lands. Nowadays there are a lot of companies, which can organize your tour, or voyage wherever you like. They will take care about your tickets and make all the reservations needed. If you don’t speak the language of the country you’ll be given interpreters. With modern services you can go around the world you can choose the means of transport you like: plane, train, ship, bicycle or you can travel hiking.

Almost all people are fond of traveling. It is very interesting to see new places, other towns and countries. People may travel either for pleasure or on business. There are various means of traveling. For me there is nothing like travel by air; it is more comfortable, more convenient and, of course, far quicker than any other means. There is none of the dust and dirt of a railway or car journey, none of the trouble of changing from train to steamer and then to another train.

With a train you have speed, comfort and pleasure combined. From the comfortable seat of a railway carriage you have a splendid view of the whole countryside. If you are hungry, you can have a meal in the dining-car; and if a journey is a long one you can have a wonderful bed in a sleeper.

Traveling by ship is also very popular now. It is very pleasant to feel the deck of the ship under the feet, to see the rise and fall of the waves, to feel the fresh sea wind blowing in the face and hear the cry of the seagulls.

Many people like to travel by car. It is interesting too, because you can see many sights in a short time, you can stop when and where you like, you do not have to buy tickets or carry your suitcases.

A very popular means of traveling is hiking. It is traveling on foot. Walking tours are very interesting. Hitch-hiking is a very popular method of traveling especially among young people.

While traveling a tourist may find himself in different places where he must both observe certain rules and enjoy his rights. Let’s begin with the Customs house. Every country has its own customs regulations which stipulate what articles are liable to duty and what articles are duty‑free. Sometimes the articles liable to duty may be allowed as duty-free if the traveler does not exceed a certain fixed quota. Customs restrictions also include a list of prohibited articles. This is a list of items that may not be brought into or taken out of a country.

If you need these things badly you must have an official paper from proper authorities giving permission to take items, which fall under special customs restriction. This paper is known as an import or export license. A traveler is asked to declare such items. It means he must name the item, state its value and often particulars. The declaration is made either orally or in writing a special form. After paying a duty the traveler is given a receipt. As a rule personal belongings are duty-free. Sometimes a passenger’s luggage is carefully gone through in order to prevent smuggling. The formalities at the customs house usually take some time. Only after passing through the customs does one realize that his journey is drawing to an end or beginning.

Hotel

When you come to another country or city you can stay at your friend’s house or flat. But if you haven’t got any relatives or friends you may stay at a hotel. There are different sorts of hotels: luxury, resort, commercial, congress, airport, country house, guest house, motel, B&B. Besides, hotels may be 5-star, 4-star, 3-star ones. I’d like to speak about seaside and city hotels.

Before you arrive somewhere you can make arrangements about a room of the hotel you’ll choose. You can call at the hotel, send them a fax or make an order through Internet, its number can be found in the advertisement. If you haven’t done it, when you arrive at the hotel it is necessary to come up to the reception desk and ask about vacancies.

There are some rules of room ordering. First of all you must fill in an arrival card. In this card you must give information about yourself. Your name and surname, telephone number and address, to point out how long are you going to stay here. Also among the seaside hotels the best with club system. Usually on the territory of such hotels there are 4-5 storied buildings with single rooms, double rooms, and suites and separate there are family cottages. The area of such hotels is usually very big about 50 hectares. Club system allows taking free any soft drinks, food 24 hours a day, because everything is included into the price of the tour.

There are all day room services, dry cleaners, laundries. In the rooms there is a refrigerator, bathroom, a satellite TV and direct dial phone.

Also such hotels have their own place on the beach with comfortable sun beds .You can spend time riding horses, playing tennis, golf, polo, visiting shops, which are usually situated in the territory of the hotels.

In the evenings you can go to the disco or to the restaurant. The menu in the restaurants including different cuisine’s such as: French, Spanish, Chinese, Turkish, Russian and so on. You can order a yacht tour to some historical places (if any) or something like that. After visiting such hotels you’ll return home happy and refreshed.

Date: 2016-04-22; view: 1535