Sunday 31 May 2015

7 days in Tibet


Tibet was certainly one of the amazing trips that I’d gone on to. There were many down sides of this seven days trip but I guess seeing the Tibet, Himalayas and viewing Everest at 5200 meter above sea level made it all worth it. I wouldn't recommend for the shoestring travelers to take on this route because it was simply expensive even with the cheaper deals. It is cheaper if you start your trip from Nepal and towards Tiber rather than the China side. Tibet is an autonomous region within China. They had a long and complicated history together and the last conflict happened in 2008 when the Tibetans did some rioting, which made it more complicated for the foreign travelers to get in. And the complicated it gets between Tibet and China, the more tedious the process for foreign travelers to get in unless you have a big chunk of money lying around. For foreign travelers, we need permits to enter Tibet and we have to go with a tour guide – and all of that cost money. I found the cheapest package but there’s always a catch in spending more money and you would end up saving only a little bit. I was lucky to find another two travelers that were going the same way. The more in a group – the cheaper it is. I guess this trip had cost me about 700 – 800 USD for nine days trip including the two days train ride from Chengdu to Lhasa.

I felt a strange headache when I arrived in Lhasa and I assumed it was the elevation difference or altitude sickness as they call it. And I wasn't fully cured from sore throat and minor cough, which I got in Chengdu. I wasn't in my best condition. I was almost 3500m above sea level and the beauty of Lhasa distracted me from all these sickness. Lhasa is a city and administrative capital of Tibet Autonomous Regions of the People’s Republic of China. It is one of the highest cities in the world. The city has been the religious and administrative capital of Tibet since the mid-17th Century. It contains many culturally significant Tibetan Buddhist sites such as the Potala Palace, Jokhang temple and Norbulingka palaces. I knew nothing about the political side of Tibet when I arrived – the Dalai Lama’s. So I had to learn quickly. On my arrival, the police checked my permits and there was someone waiting for me with my name on the card since I went under a tour. The other two travelers from my tour group arrived this morning by plane. It took a while for the driver to find my reserved hostel – and somehow I had to pay for the driver to my place of stay for 150 Yuan, which was compulsory for the tour. While looking for the place – I had a little view of Tibet but the headache kept on bugging me and it kinda turned off my mood. I checked in my hostel, which was about 2 years old, and I was like the second foreigner to ever check in the hostel. And it was also my first dorm throughout my whole trip. There were only the two of us in a 6-bed dorm. There is a stretch of Halal restaurants nearby, where I had my evening lunch. Tibet has the Muslims Hui for these restaurants.  I just had some little walks and I guess what made the first day interesting was the hostel that I stayed in. They have a great place to hangout at the lobby with big TV set, a pool table and also the typical karaoke room and I just had to mingle around & I end up singing in the karaoke. The Chinese travelers were great fantastic, as they came from all over China for their getaway. My first night in Tibet was a terrible. I was coughing badly throughout my sleep. There were two other people in my room and I guess I kinda annoyed them as I coughed every now and again. I didn't had a good sleep. I also realize that you get tired easily in Tibet. Just by going on a one floor staircase would really took your breath away. I felt tired and my first night kinda sucks in Tibet.

I woke up in high spirit of seeing the better side of Tibet. I had to walk 30 minutes to the hostel of the other two travelers in my tour group. And there I met Mary our tour guide for the next two days and the other two travelers Albert from Catalonia and Martyna from Poland. They were a couple traveling the world and on their six months now. Mary is a local Tibetan from the village area somewhere in Shigatse. Our first tour was towards the Barkhour Square towards the Jongkang temple.  For most Tibetans it is the most sacred and important temple in Tibet. It is in some regards pan-sectarian, but is controlled by the Gelug School. It was my first time walking among the monks of Tibet’s. You can see them praying on the floor. And it was like a pilgrimage center for most Tibetans. So seeing this was interesting as you can see some similarities of the movement prayer to the Islamic Salah prayer. After that we went for the Potala Palace where the Dalai Lama’s had been living all these years. It was certainly beautiful to see the palace with the backdrop of the wonderful sky behind it. The Potala Palace is quite high and to walk up the stairs at this elevation surely in need of break in between. The view from the top was just mesmerizing. Inside the temple– there were many sections that explained on how the ruling works during the Dalai Lama’s era. We didn't had a good explanation from our guide and I’m still trying to understand what’s it all about. After the Potala palace, we went for the Sera monastery, which was a little bit far off, and we had to take the bus to go there. We had our Tibetan lunch first and later went into the temple. Inside the temples are the places where they pray to the past Dalai Lama’s and they have many of these within the temples. What’s interesting for me was the section outside where all the monks gather to have discussion and it was an attraction for the tourists. It was a debate, which was done in a unique way amongst them. By nighttime, it’s more about mingling with the people in my hostel and somehow I ended up wearing a Tibetan costume on the second night along with the other two Chinese tourist. It is weird how I used to travel in hostel and would find people from all around the world would meet up but in this hostel it’s people from all around china meeting up, like it was a foreign land to them. These are the friendliest random Chinese I’d ever met so far during my trip. On my third day in Lhasa, I didn't join the tour-guiding thing because my body felt a little bit off and I just wanted to chill out but it went differently when I had my lunch at the Hui restaurant. A group of people just opposite my table were interested in me. Two guys and a lady. Only one of them can speak minor English and somehow we managed to communicate and I end up following them. They brought me to a guesthouse a bit far off from the center and I found out that the lady was the owner and the two guys were her guests. And they were a band from somewhere in China and looking for a place to perform in Tibet. They had their guitars with them and another guest joins us with his Tabla. We had a great jamming session despite having communication problems. I guess when it comes to music it was just one language. And I end up singing again – that's the only thing I can offer in ‘lost in translation’ world. That evening, the lady in red brought me to see some sightseeing. She drove me to the bridge and hill overseeing Lhasa. I didn't plan to climb the hill but I guess she was so enthusiastic on climbing and I was too ego to back away. And of course it was just tiring to climb at this elevation but simply worth the try. The view of Lhasa was just great. She didn't speak a word of English at all but I guess she was a very delightful person. She brought me to the park and sat down with the locals. She also showed me the Lhasa Bridge before sending me off to my hostel. I love mixing with the Chinese in this hostel especially when there is a person who can communicate a little bit of English and becomes a translator as well. We had some laughs trying to exchange our stories. It was the best night in Lhasa and it was sad that I had to leave the next day. I don't even know their names and they just didn't know that I’m leaving the next morning. They were travelers and that's why they were fun.

My next destinations in Tibet were mostly spent in the car during the day because of the distance that we have to cover to get to our next destinations. It was really touristy long draggy drive within the land of Tibet. There was the guide, the driver, Martyna, Albert and I. This part of the trip kinda sucks actually but the view was mesmerizing. From now onwards, our days would start around 9am and we will drive all the way to the next destination until late evening with only some stops at touristic places for photos and for food. There were even time limits within the so many military checkpoints that we went through. We couldn't simply go too fast because we will end up getting a fine. And the speed limit was really slow. We would stop at some Tibetan temples in Ghatse and some of the roads were just long stretched boring ones. And we were stuck in our seat; only the views of Himalayan Mountains made it better. We arrived in Shigatse about 6pm. We had a bad experience eating at Hui restaurant, which I think they overcharged us. In Shigatse – they also have the 2nd Potala temple, which was the exact replica of the first one, but now it is just like an abandon building. Shigatse was kinda an ugly town and there wasn't much to do there and I guess I just cant wait to go for the base camp the next day.

The trip to the Everest base camp was much interesting but another very long drive during the day with so many irritating checkpoints. Sometimes we have to stop because we were too fast on reaching to the next military checkpoint. This is what you get for the cheapest tour – Long day drive. The drive to the Everest base camp was challenging because we were going further up the hill. The landscape changes from dry mountains to snowy ones. We would drive round and round the mountain and stop at places with beautiful view for great photos. The Yamdron Lake was by far the best lake I’ve ever encountered. The water was just so blue and there were Yaks everywhere. The two cute famous animals here are the mountain dogs and the Yaks. Martyna had these obsession of Yaks she would just simply point out to Yaks whenever she sees one. Sometimes we would stop on each highest peak at every place or mountain and they have some sort of landmark like a bridge or an arch. And these landmarks would be covered with the beautiful colours of Tibetan flags. What keep us going with the long trip was the Himalayan Mountains, which gets closer and closer. There was another artificial lake that we had stop by which almost looked like the Yamdron Lake. When we reached at the foot of the mountain, we had to take another route because the normal route was under construction. We had to take an off-road going up the hills. This was like going through the sandy rocky bumpy ride for more than two hours. It gets tough going on a 4wd but we just had to face it to get there before sunset. We arrived at the base camp just before sunset and there it was – the base camps for the tourists. It was like big tent that can accommodate 8-10 people and they had all these hotel names on them. They were about more than 50 camps all together. The Everest was in sight and it was just simply amazing for me. I was high on life - like 5000 meters high on life. The best view of the Mount Everest is here. The Tibetans called it the Chomolungma (Goddest mountain of moutains). We just had to wander off and feel the Everest within our sight. It was just amazing wonderful experience. The air was really thin and you have to really control your breathing. The weather was cold as we were surrounded with snowy mountains but it was ok – somehow I became energertic just being here. The tents that we stayed – they would cook us food and had like a fireplace in the middle to keep us warn. The were no heaters but we had many layers of thick yak made blankets for sleeping. The next morning, after breakfast – we head in further with a tour bus towards the climbers base camp and it was the furthest that we can go with our permits. Yaks were all over the place and we had to climb the little hill to see the best view of the Everest – the closest that I will ever get to the mountain for now. On the other side of the hill was the climbers base camp. I would estimate about a hundred of them waiting for their turn to climb the highest peak in the world. Everest was just spectacular and it was highest point I had ever been in my life. We had about an hour at the 5200meter peak before we leave for the border town. Before we left the base camp, we visited the temple at the entrance of the base camp and then it was just plain boring drives downhill through the snowy - Rocky Mountains. By this time, it was kinda sad to leave the mountain but in a way it was a relief that the trip was coming to an end because of the fast pace tourist expensive trip. We would spend most of the day traveling and we will reach our destinations just before sunset. Sometimes the view was just too much – maybe it was because we could only see through our windows of our long journey on the 4wd instead of spending time to wonder amongst the Himalayans. The road towards the China border town Zhangmu was really far and long stretched ones. The Himalayas slowly fades away from our sight. We had one last stop for the fantastic view of the Himalaya Mountains. After a 7 hours drive we were almost at the border town destination. The road to Zhangmu was kinda dangerous as it was on the side of the hills. Zhangmu town is unique. This border town is located on the side of the hill and there’s only one-way in and out. Zhangmu has mild and humid subtropical climate, which is a rarity for Tibet. Chinese trucks traveling on the Tibet-Nepal Friendship Highway offload goods at Zhangmu and transfer them to Nepalese trucks. Because it was one way in and out of the town – it would create a massive traffic when someone makes a havoc on the road. Again, it was evening when we reached there and somehow we went through some bad traffic as assumed. There were many lorries coming in from Nepal and we felt the Nepalese vibe somehow. It was nighttime by the time we checked in our hostel and we had our dinner at nearby restaurant. We didn't get to explore the town but I there wasn't much too explore. The next morning we head off early to avoid the traffic towards the border, which was about 30 minutes away. We had to wait until 9am for the immigration office to open. My tourist guide had never been to Nepal before even though she had been sending travellers to the border so many times. We can literally see Nepal from the China side immigration office. According to her, it was just hard for Tibetans to get Chinese passports. In a way, we were happy to leave China because it was just expensive for a shoestring travelers. The political scenario between Tibet and China was always complicated and the Tibetans would always avoid these topics whenever we brought it up. Seeing the Everest base camp was one of the best moments in my life but the permitted tour in Tibet was to quick for a wanderer and how I wished I had more time just to relax while viewing the Himalayan Mountains

Monday 18 May 2015

Route: Chengdu (China) – Lhassa (Tibet, China) 170415


The longest train ride in my life. 44 hours to be exact. From Chengdu, capital of Sichuan to Lhasa, capital of the autonomous Tibet. Trains depart 8.45pm from Central North Station. Had to buy some food just incase.  The ticket is expensive. It was said that it was fully booked and only can get it by black market. Wanted the hard sleeper but it was full. The soft sleeper – the only choice 1350Yuan to be exact but the cabin is nice. Shared with three other chinese. Have oxygen tap because we are going up the hill. Night time – nothing much to see. Socialising? Im not good in that expecially most chinese don't speak english and cant be bothered to talk like cat & dog. Next day woke up to the beautiful scenary outside. Field mountains with roads. Little towns in between. Again beautiful just looking outside the window. See the changes bit by bit. Sometimes goes inside a cave. This train goes in and out the mountains. The only option is to watch the beautiful scenary or go on bed to sleep/read or whatsoever. Regret didn't get more food like noodle in cup. The next day woke up to the view of himalaya mountains. A little headace maybe from the elevation difference. Snowy mountains. Weird headache but mesmerizing view that cured the pain. Somehow I feel a little too long in the train. The weather is certainly cooler and the train stops – the view just gets better and better. Arrived at Lhasa at 2pm. Hello Tibet!

Friday 24 April 2015

Chengdu 150415


Chengdu. My hate & love relationship with Chengdu. I stayed the longest so far throughout my trip here for 12 nights, mostly because I had to wait to get the permit for my next trip destination Lhasa, Tibet. What I dislike about Chengdu; Cold, Expensive, Big City, Money, Getting Colder – the coldest I’ve been too, figuring how to go to Tibet – more and more money, the city is too big – so you have to use public transport to go around – more money and China certainly made a big hole from my budget. What I like about Chengdu; people I met (travelers, locals, students, a Malaysian guy), the cheap local food, the Xingjian lamb stick, the food cooked by a Malaysian fellow, the spice of the food, meeting lots & new people and finally the good weather on the final days of my stay. I would say I had a first bad week followed by a good one.

The first thing I did when I arrived in Chengdu was to find a taxicab and showed him the address of my host. It took a while for the taxi driver to figure out where it was – this shows how big the city was; even the taxi drivers didn’t know all the roads in Chengdu city. Chengdu is the capital of the Sichuan province and it was twice bigger than Kunming. My host lives somewhere in the southwest of Chengdu. Chengdu was structured in circular way with ring roads. Rieneke from the Netherlands has only been in Chengdu for about a month as she is taking Chinese language studies at the southwest university. I also met up with Michael that evening – he approached me on couch surfing for meet up. He was from Sarawak, Malaysia and has been working in Chengdu for a year and half as a kindergarten teacher. He has plans to do a reversal trip from Chengdu to Malaysia by land, once he is done with Chengdu – that’s why he wanted to meet up at first. Michael kinda introduced me Chengdu and the way we should travel around here. The second elevated ring road has a frequent bus that just goes around and from there we can go to outer part of the city. And then we can use the bus on ground level or metro subway to go inner towards the center where everything was. He also showed me the cheap street foods and ‘Hui’ (Muslims in China) food of Chengdu.

On the first week of my stay, I didn't do much sightseeing and I only go outdoors for food and to figure out about Tibet. The weather on the first week was really cold. And it was the first cold weather I encountered for years – so it took me quite some time to adjust and waking up to the cold mornings were hard. Rieneke was busy with classes on weekdays and she was mostly available at night. I went to my first few couch surfing meeting with her. I met a lot of random people whether they were traveling or on a break from traveling (working), locals, and other couch surfers with their hosts from. It was awkward for me at first but once we started talking – we just couldn’t stop. I also introduced Rieneke with Michael and we went for our first hotpot together, which was very spicy experience. Michael introduced us to his colleague Lana from Ukraine and his American friend Hubert. They made dinner at one of the nights - cooking meals from their home country. And it was good and fulfilling one.

Figuring out the Tibet trip was like a roller coaster. I searched it online before but it was just too expensive because foreigners must have permits to enter Tibet. And in order to get permits – we must go with a tour. From the Internet it showed that the cost was about USD1000 for seven days trip until the border of China – Nepal. I decided to figure it out once I’m. I went to Lazybones hostel, which was recommended by Michael, and somehow from the packages that they offer – it seemed to be out of my budget. It is cheaper if you have a big group go with but I don't have that. So, they told me to email the Mix hostel if there any groups that I can join with. The respond was good as there were a couple going there soon – and I can join them but I need to decide as quick as possible whether to join them or not, so they can do my permit with the limited time. I went to Mix Hostel, which was located at the north side of Chengdu to get more details. If I joined the couple, the cost for each of us will be 3000 Yuan excluding accommodation and food. I also need to get the 2day train ticket from Chengdu to Lhasa. I guess that was the cheapest price for the last minute limited time that I had left. The train ticket to Lhasa is sold out according to organizer of the trip at mix hostel but somehow they can get it black market (what is that suppose to mean). I was 50 – 50 on going, because it will make big hole out of my budget but on the other hand, I really wanted to make my way through Nepal by land and this was the only route to do so. While figuring out and deciding whether to take the Tibet route or not, I met a lot of exciting travellers at Mix hostel. There were three bicycle travelers and by coincident they met up at Mix Hostel – an Aussie guy cycling from Europe to Australia, another Aussie guy cycling the opposite way and a French guy who is cycling towards Mongolia. I’ve even met up with a traveler who has been traveling for 14 years.

My 2nd week was so much better because the sun was out. I’ve also decided to take the Tibet route but I was unprepared for the weather in the hills of Tibet. Luckily, I met a local, Amy at a couch surfing meeting and we talked about my Tibet route. According to her it’s freezing cold at Tibet. She helped me out to get cheap winter clothes from an NGO and 2nd hand hiking shoes.  Thank you for that Amy. I’ve also moved to stay with Michael on the 2nd week. I’m the first person he ever hosted on couch surfing. Michael loves food. Somehow he managed to get me cooking my favorite ‘Ayam Masak Merah’. I never really cooked for people before and my last cooking was about two years ago – and Michael really wanted to learn a Malay dish. All in all it turned out good and I’m glad that they enjoyed it. With the days that I had left before the Tibet trip, I went to explore the Chengdu city – like Kuanzhai alley, Jinli Street, Tianfu Square and some monastery. And during the night I would spend my time with Michael, Lana & sometimes Hubert – we even went for a typical Chinese Karaoke TV on one of the nights. That somas up my time in Chengdu and I was time to move on for the Tibet trip by taking the 42 hours train ride to Lhasa!

Saturday 18 April 2015

Route: Kunming (China) – Chengdu (China) 040415


Train departs 7.45pm. 17hours train ride. Last minute ticket bought two days earlier. Hard sleeper middle bed 426 Yuan. Hard sleeper have 6 beds in one cabin. Soft Sleeper has 4 beds in one cabin. Lowest bed is the most stable because of the low point of gravity but during the day time people from the upper beds would sit on it and you may not get the extra sleep that you wanted. Middle bed was the best for me. The upper bed doesn't have space even to sit properly – only to sleep at you have to climb up and it take skills to do this but it's the cheapest among the three beds. As always – the cabin or the train was full of Chinese and I just don't want to make the effort to communicate because the chances that we can understand each other are really low. Only communicated to makes sure where is my bed and whether on the right train or stop by showing the train ticket. Bought food earlier from Carrefour. Just need to sleep and wake up next day. By this time, can sleep peacefully on the train comparing the first few rides. 12.30pm next day Chengdu. Almost 17hours.

Kunming 030415


I underestimated China. I didn't really prepare or read anything about my next location Kunming, China. The South East Asia Indo China route was really backpacker’s heaven. I knew this once I arrived in China. I don't speak or read any Chinese or mandarin language or characters. And they certainly don't speak English. When I first arrived in Kunming at 12 noon – I was lost in translation. My host Anna is working and only available at 6pm. I had no Yuan money at all and was hungry. I tried to communicate with the Chinese but we end up being like a chicken and duck talking. I was happy to see a hijab Chinese woman and so I asked her that I was hungry and was looking for food. That didn't go well because she just doesn't understand me. So – my next step was looking for an ATM to withdraw some cash and I just took a taxi to go straight to the mosque at Zhengyi Road. It was far off form the south bus station and the taxi fare cost me 45 Yuan. Somehow – Kunming is a big city and I don't like big cities. I would prefer walk able distance city. Usually I would Google my way round whenever I get Wi-Fi but in China they seemed to blocked Google and Facebook. I used most of my stuff on Google and somehow all the blocking doesn't help.

It was only two nights in Kunming. Anna – a Housman ship doctor and her husband Dan – and engineer at the airport hosted me for the stay in Kunming. They were from the southern part of the Yunnan province and just got married last year. Anna made me dinner, once arrived at their home and they also helped me out for my train ticket to my next location Chengdu. I went alone to the train station before I met them but even after an hour there, I just could not figure out how to buy the tickets.  It was weird how tight the security was at the train station as it was as tight as the security that usually you get at the airport. Even entering the train station I had to put my bag through the scanner. Anna & Dan went with me to the train station again that night and I found out from Anna that there exactly last year there was a massacre targeted against civilians, left 29 civilians and 4 perpetrators dead with more than 140 others injured.

At around 9:20 pm local time, a group of eight knife-wielding men and women attacked passengers at the city's railway station. Both male and female attackers were seen to pull out long-bladed knives and proceed to stab and slash passengers. At the scene, police killed four assailants  and captured one injured female. In the afternoon of 3 March, police announced that the six-man two-woman group had been neutralized after the arrest of three remaining suspects.

It was going to be the Chinese holiday & Easter this coming weekend and there was just so many people getting the tickets. I was lucky to get a hard sleeper for 426-Yuan middle hard sleeper for 17hours train ride.

I went out as early 7.45am for the two mornings that I had in Kunming, as Anna & Dan had to work. My offline map was the best thing in China – I just needed to mark where I’m going and just take the bus that Anna/Dan recommended me to take an as soon as I’m nearby the marked places on my offline map – I would get off on the next stop. The bus drivers were all ladies and that is something new for me seeing them in the busses pushing their way through the traffic. To get around with busses and subway was about 2Yuan every ride and you just need to know which bus number to take.  I went for the Green Lake, which was established in the 17th century on the west side of the Wuhua Mountain and is sometimes described as a "Jade in Kunming". I was amazed by the different type of exercises they did just in this park – taici, racket dancing, fan dancing and other sorts of workout dancing. It was just nice to watch and see how they feel the dance & music. I spent half a day at Green Lake just discovering and wondering around the place. Anna said I just missed the Seagulls migration. The seagulls from Siberia would come to Kunming because of the weather. As soon as I’m done – I walk towards the Zhengyi Road. This is like the main business center – it was like a typical modern shopping complexes area. I was looking for food because the mosque was there. Nearby Zhengyi road you’ll discover a market where they sell puppies at the street. Kunming is a really clean place.

What I love about Kunming is that it was kinda easy to find food. I thought it was a country of pork-eating people but there was this Hui race – a Chinese Muslims from NiangXi and they are spreading around China. And the food was just great and almost similar to Malaysian food – rice and portions of food to choose from. The only problem I had was eating with chopsticks. I found three different mosques in the center of Kunming and certainly they have great food. They would have a food court and stalls just in front or below of the mosque and it was the cheap. There were even halal stalls if you look carefully around Kunming – and it was great fast food. I was even at the Friday prayers by coincidence and it was really cute seeing the Chinese Muslims majority praying – this is something really rare for me.

Kunming is a big city for a backpacker. This city I walked around the most just getting from one place to another – an average of 20kms per day and by the third day my feed were just tired and having blisters. The last day in Kunming – I spent at Daguan Park. Kunming was also known for the beautiful flowers that they have. The weather was just perfect for Seagulls and flowers. Daguan Park was more of Entertainment Park. There were so many primary school students from different schools at Daguan Park. The view here was simply beautiful as you can see the hills and the sea/lake. They even have a theme park with roller coaster, fair wheel and bumper cars but I just walked around.

I didn't get to see Dan before I leave as my train would depart 7.45 pm as he was stuck in the traffic getting back home. Anna sent me to the subway for me to get to the train station.  Thank you Anna & Dan for letting me stay. We had great conversations and it was one of the intellectual ones I had so far. Thank you again!

Sunday 12 April 2015

Route: Luang Prabang (Laos) - Kunming (China) 010415

Leave Vonchampa Guesthouse at 6.30am. Motortaxi pickup to the bus station 10k kipp.Bought the ticket the day before 490k kipp at was said the trip is for 24 hours. Bus to China - company from China - full with chinese or maybe some from Laos but felt like i was the only foreigner. First come first serve system for the beds. its either the couple be or the single. Lucky got the single for myself. The trick - there is always three single beds and three upper beds - the front single bed usually for drivers. so get there first and just sit and ignore everyone else unless they have proof it is their seat. The roads in Laos before the border was really bad in condition. It was under construction and hilly mountainous road. So imagine, they were like fixing or taring the roads and its like one way. So they had to close one side of the road and had to wait for the cars from the opposite direction to come. So, there were many stops like this. and there was just so many dusty sand dirt. many stops for toilets in the bushes and the ladies would just do the toilet in the bushes too. It was a boring ride. Chinese people in this bus are just not friendly or they are just simply shy to communicate. Didn't eat much too because they only stop at the places they want too. Only had cookies and bread for the whole trip. And of course along the way pick ups to fill up the bus. Arrived border at 5pm Check out from Laos 10k kipp. China immigration was so modern. Not many questions but may times the bags have to go through the bag scan. After entering China - some people leaves and new passengers come in. A stop by the police custom. Its kinda tight the military/police in China. sleep throughout the night. China time plus one hour from Laos. Woke up about 5am because the bus had some problem - stopped inside of the tunnel - Doing the fixing of the bus for two hours. In the morning - just cant sleep because everyone just talks loud. Arrived at Kunming Bus station at noon. Total travel trip 28hours. Longest trip I had been on. Crazy! Dusty! Dirt! Very Long Journey! Hungry! No communication with anyone! Welcome to China!

Wednesday 8 April 2015

Luang Prabang. Kuang Xi 310315


My trip in Luang Prabang was short and just a detour. Initially I just wanted to go straight from Hanoi to China after receiving my Chinese Visa but somehow the guy that couchsurfed with at ‘Vietnam Says Hello’ – Liam convinced me to go to Laos. He just arrived from Laos.  Why not? and I would tick another country in my list. The only problem was the bus would take up to 22 – 24 hours. I’ve never been on a train/bus ride more than 20 hours before. By distance it should not take more than 20 hours but because of the hilly mountain roads and the border crossings that would add up to the long journey.

I’ve arrived at Luang Prabang around 7pm and I met some new Japanese friends from Fukuoka and one of them Shuya was sharing a couple seat with me, which lasted for us to be next to each other for 24 hours. My main motive in Luang Prabang is just to see one of the greatest waterfalls in South East Asia and I convinced the Japanese guys to come along. They said they didn't know about the waterfalls. They were just heading to Luang Prabang and Vientiane the day after as they are almost to an end of their South East Asia month trip. So, we kinda teamed up to look for a place to stay for the night. We found a guesthouse next to the Mekong River for 80k kipp per night for two people. I shared the room with Shuya. The room was okay but the wi fi was really bad. I tried looking for Halal food here from what I have researched but it was not there. The only place that I can find was kinda far away from my place. But there was so many vegetarians food here – they are vegetarian friendly and the night market has good foods too. They would do sandwiches in a baguette – like the Subway sandwiches and it was good enough for me. And I ate a lot of that and the coconut food.

We went for the Kuang Xi waterfalls the next morning and it was about an hour away. The owner of the guesthouse also owns a Tuk Tuk and would charge us 50k Kipp per person one-way to the Kuang Xi waterfalls. I love waterfalls or nature stuff and I’ve been to a few in my country and I would say the view was breathtaking with the blue water and levels of waterfalls. By far this is the best one in Asia I’ve been too so far. And of course I just had to swim here. There are levels of waterfalls that you could go to and you could choose where to swim except for the top one which was restricted. They also had bears in the park– so be careful.

Besides that – the Mekong river was great to see and of course the temples which I didn't go too. The only transport to cross the river was the local long boats for the locals to cross, If you stay at the riverside, everything is in walking distance. I kinda like this place and would like to come back again someday. It is laid back, touristic – friendly and even though there was no halal food around there vegetarian food was really good especially at the night market. The Japanese guys only stayed for a night. I spent two nights here and the 3rd day I had to leave early at 6.30am for my bus ride to Kunming, China. 28hours bus ride!!!

Route: Hanoi (Vietnam) – Luang Prabang (Laos) 290315



Bought the ticket a day early for USD43. 22hours journey. Motor guy pick me up at my staying place at 5pm and gather with others going to same destination. 7pm leave for Luang Prabang. My first time on a bus, which the seats are not totally flat. About 20% incline for sleep. Meet Shuya, Yuuta & Masasaki from Fukuoka, Japan – students on break– doing an almost similar trip like mine. Bus was half filled with travellers and the others locals. Did not manage to get a single seat but lucky next to Shuya – slightly smaller than me. Can you imagine two big guys seating on the couple seat for 22 hours? Bus will fill up with people, picking up on the way to the border. Even the walking lane in the bus is used for passengers that they pick up along the way and they just sleep there. This route is really different. It is really curvy as the bust goes through the mountains. As always I did not sleep because the sit is too short and I cannot move around much. Bus stops from time to time for toilets and little breaks & dinner. Arrive at the border 6am. Have to wait for 7am for the immigration to open to check out Vietnam and enter Laos. Have to walk through the border from Vietnam to Laos border. About 8am everything is done. Finally, in Laos but still a long way to Luang Prabang. Usually when taking night bus or train - will probably arrive the noon the next day after sleeping at night but this is different – will only arrive at night. Couple of stops from time to time for toilets & food. Laos is looking a little bit different. With curvy roads and houses along the mountain roads. After lunch bus puts on Rambo Marathon and somehow they all like Rambo. Finally arrive in Luang Prabang – 24 hours trip. Hungry! Knackered! Crazy! Longest bus ride so far

Tuesday 7 April 2015

Hanoi 280315


When I arrived Hanoi after a 16hour train ride – the weather was gloomy with dark clouds. The public people was a bit cold but in a way it was good because the people or even the motor taxi don't hassle you that much comparing to the other cities that I went too – so it was nice to walk around without sellers on the street bothering you. And of course the traffic was crazy but in smaller streets comparing to the Ho Chi Minh City.

I would say the best part of Hanoi was the people I met at the place that I couch surfed which was an English Centre for the Vietnamese local to practice English speaking. I approached for a place to stay and by coincidence Ha & her sisters where the caretaker of this English Centre. Even the Centre’s name were welcoming  - ‘Vietnam Says Hello’.  Ha is a final year student and is studying in Hanoi. Her two sisters are living with her as they are working in Hanoi. Apparently there are many English Centers in Vietnam. It’s not that they don’t learn English in school but they didn't have the proper English being taught and their pronunciations were really bad I guess. And in these English Centre’s they usually have Westerners teaching English. ‘Vietnam Says Hello’ was still about a month old and the classes just started for about a week or two. It’s a business done by two young guys Trung & Son. I was quiet impressed with their ambitions at the very young age. And I really liked the idea that they gave travellers to stay. In Hanoi, it was something different for me and I really felt like a foreigner. Before this, along my trip, I would always see local Vietnamese talking to travellers (non-Asian) at the park but here they were interested with me too. In ‘Vietnam Says Hello’ – the building have four levels. The ground floor, the coffee room, the classes and my room were on the fourth floor. We usually hung out at the coffee room where students would be there and wanting to practice English speaking with you or just simply interested in what & why were we doing these travels. Even on my first day there was an hour session of  ‘talk show’ where a professor from Belgium just came to talk about his life and students came just to listen and learn the English language by communicating. A couple came to couch surfed two days after I arrived. Liam from England & Sabrina from Austria. They were traveling for five months and decided to find a work in Hanoi. So, having them around was great. Ha was really great in helping us finding our way in Hanoi. Trung had been hosting couch surfers before and just enjoys the company of travellers. Son, the local Hanoi boy was around at times to help out as well. We surely had a great time and we have nights just talking discussing exchanging opinions on everything that we would like talk about. Sometimes I would join the classes just to observe but all in all it was great fun to be surrounded with these curious people.

I also needed to get my China Visa in Hanoi – which was not that, hard. I tried going to agencies but they charge you like double the cost. So, it’s best to do it yourself. The process will take only three working days and it’s best to do this on a Monday. At first – I thought mine would get rejected because the officer that received my passport said that I didn't have enough documents. You will need a health insurance, a booking of a hostel in china and a flight ticket. I just had a booking of a hostel, which was usd1, and most probably I won’t stay there and I told them that I just wanted to travel by land. When she said it would be difficult – I just gave a proposal of my trip and the next day, I was granted a Visa. The tedious part was to pay it at the bank of China, which was a little bit far from the China Embassy, but luckily there was a local girl to help me out.

I didn’t really explore the historical side, which was my initial plan when I wanted to go to Vietnam but I guess it was just enough when you have all these great people surrounding you. The Hoam Kiem Lake was the biggest attraction for me. It wasn't that exciting at first seeing it a little temple in the middle of the lake but once the night time arrives – it was simply beautiful with the illuminating lights.  The public busses were convenient – you just need to know where to go. It was 7 Dong per ride. The Old quarters were my daily routine thing because that’s where the best Halal food I had so far, next to the mosque. The Old quarters are where the backpackers are and at night there’s this one corner at a four junction where everyone just sit down on the little chairs drinking.  Besides that there’s the museums, which I didn't go too. And the best nature sightseeing was outside of Hanoi like Ha Long Bay & Sapa. I just can’t afford to go there and I think it’s probably like something similar in along Southeast Asia.

It was a great night out on my last night in Hanoi. We hand an entourage going to the night market. It was really long night market located in the old quarters and they only have it on Fridays. It started out only with Liam, Sabrina, Andrea (another Swiss traveller that just arrived at ‘Vietnam Says Hello’) and me. Along the way to the bus stop, we met Giang – a student/worker at ‘Vietnam Says Hello’ and she tagged along with us and became our translator for an Uncle that was interested in us inside the bus ride to the old quarters. The Uncle (old man) is mostly interested in Liam because his son is working in England. The Uncle invited us for ice cream desert, nearby his place at a walking distance to the night market. He also invited us to have lunch at his place on the Sunday but I couldn't join because I was heading for Luang Prabang, Laos before I would enter China. And then walking towards the Night market along the Hoam Kiem Lake – there were many local students stopping us just wanting to talk to us. And after the night market, we hung out at the crazy drinking corner. And lastly for the night was meeting Liam’s friend from Manchester where I met other Expats – mostly teaching English with only high school qualifications and just by using their tourist Visa. Some have been living for a year or two and only go out of the country to renew the visa. They just simply came to Hanoi and live there.

After a week in Hanoi, it was time to head for Luang Prabang. I thought of going too directly to China from Vietnam but somehow Liam convinced me to go to Luang Prabang – so it was kinda like a detour for me before entering the Mainland China. Thank you Trung, Son, Hana & sisters for the hospitality. Thank you students of ‘Vietnam Says Hello. And nice meeting you Liam & Sabrina & Andrea. Thank you guys for being a part of my life for the time in Hanoi! Vietnam locals are simply great!

Thursday 26 March 2015

Route: Da Nang (Vietnam) - Hanoi (Vietnam) 220315

Buy food at supermarket - Bougette, cheese, spicy tuna. cheap ones. Train leaves at 640pm. Ticket bought when arrived in Da Nang. 775k Dong for sleeper Cabin for four people. Share with Vietnamese woman with a kid. Bougette bread not delicious because cheap tuna sucks. For dinner supper and breakfast. Best Sleeper so far throughout the trip. Nothing much for this trip besides nice view heading to Da Nang. Fields. Mountains. Clouds. I still cant sleep. So jetlag. Im sleep when the sun comes up. 1240pm next day arrive at Hanoi train station.

Da Nang. Hoi An 210315

Da Nang put a big smile on my face! After traveling from city to city... it was great to view the beach. I love beaches. First thing I did was to stay at a Hotel nearby the beach, so I can just walk to it. It was just two blocks away. And I kinda need space for myself after being around people for some time.  It was the low season, so a room costed me USD15. After some rest, I head to the My Khe beach. There were not many people here. I was surprised but maybe it was because of the low season. The beach reminds me of Goldcoast, Australia. Long stretch sandy beaches. You can also surf during the monsoon season. At the north of the stretch you can see hills. It was certainly a great view. I wanted to swim so much but I was alone and fear that my beg will get stolen if I left it on the beach. Luckily, an Indian halal shop was just 15 minutes away from my place.

Da Nang is favourite for most Vietnamese for a getaway. During the Vietnam War, the city was home to a major air base that was used by both the South Vietnamese and United States air forces. The base was considered one of the world's busiest airports during the war. I met Lavie & Tai the next day and they surely brought me to the best places within the 8 hours that we had together. Firstly, they brought me to drink coconut with a view of Da Nang only river which had 5 bridges. The famous recently built bridge have a big dragon on it. The lights of the fire from the dragon will only come out during weekends. We were on two motorbikes with Tai carrying me on his bike. After that, they brought me to Song Tra Peninsular to watch one of the most beautiful sunset. It was 20 minutes drive but was simply mesmerizing. From there, you can see the hills and the endless south china sea. Watching the sun goes down was breath taking.

At night they decided to bring me to Hoi An which was 30 minutes away from Da Nang. At first I hesitated as I wanted to see more of Da Nanang but the night life in Da Nang for now was dead. So, we headed for Hoi An. It was quite cool at Da Nang, mainly because it was further up to the north and next to the beach. I wondered what was there in Hoi An - it wasn't even in my plans actually. We had seafood which was considered cheap before we enter further into Anicient city of Hoi An. As I reached there, we took a walk at the Ancient town that was preserved by UNESCO. Oh my it was certainly beautiful with the lights coming from lanterns all around. I didn't know what Hoi An was all about until I was there and then. It reminds me a bit of Melaka. Hội An Ancient Town is an exceptionally well-preserved example of a South-East Asian trading port dating from the 15th to the 19th century. Its buildings and its street plan reflect the influences, both indigenous and foreign, that have combined to produce this unique heritage site. A really big thank you to Lavie & Tai for bringing me around within the short time that we had.

My stay was only for two nights, as i bought my tickets early for Hanoi this time around for the sleeper bus. On my last day was simply walking around at Da Nang beach and somehow with two hours before my train departs, I just had to go swimming in the sea!

Route: Ho Chi Minh City (Vietnam) - Danang (Vietnam) 190315

buy ticket last minute at Saigon railway station. Nha help me by bringing me to the station and buy ticket. Damn! no sleeper left. Only seats 17 hours ride. 595k Dong. Hesitate to go. But let's just go and do how the locals do it. leave at 730pm. Many locals on the same ride. stuck in window seat next to an old lady with alot of stuff. They have porridge yummy! After sleeping in a nice comfy bed, it is hard for me to sleep sitting down for 17 hours. What can I do? Nothing. Pretend sleep and listen to music. By morning some people left to early destinations. Change seat so I have space to spread my legs and try sleeping. Only a couple hour or two. Finaly 1230pm the next day arrive at Da Nang

Wednesday 25 March 2015

Ho Chi Minh City 180315

Ho Chi Minh City or still known as Saigon was the place I had my first proper rest. It has been 10 days but I felt like I had been traveling for a long time. Initially I planned to visit historical sites and finding out what’s the fuss about regarding the Vietnam War, which Americans were greatly involved. I was really interested on how the North Vietnam & south Vietnam fought each other before and now had become one. I also imagined of shooting the AK47 at Cu Chi tunnel. But all that didn’t happen. Ho Chi Minh City for me was mostly hanging out with the people living there. I spent about more than a week in Ho Chi Minh City. When I first arrived it kinda felt like home again. It was like KL in the 90's and that made me feel homesick. Food was easy to find here. There's a street full of Malaysians and Malaysian food. So, yeah you can get confused whenever you are in that street whether you are in Vietnam or Malaysia. It was next to the famous Ben Thahn Market.

For the first few nights I stayed at Zombie Shop with Sao's family which I shared a room with his younger brother. It became a routine for me to go to Ben Thahn Market every afternoon, to get some food and walked around the city for the first few days. There's this game that the Vietnamese people likes to play every evening and sometimes foreigners would join in at the park nearby the Ben Thahn market. Well, in almost every park they would play this game. It's like balancing a ratan ball of 'Sepak Takraw' in the air within the circle of players but instead they use like a shuttle cock shape to kick it around. I also sold my DSLR camera set for a lighter weight camera, a go pro and a light weight and best ever smart phone for now. Sao was a busy businesswoman, and she had to concentrate on her new project. She lives with her siblings in the building that they rent for the Zombie Shop which sells hipster stuff for the Vietnamese people like clothes, shoes etc. She used to be a civil engineer but went for business and now, owned two outlets of Zombie shop. She showed me around town at night on her motorbike where the famous bright colour post office of Saigon & the Notre Dame Cathedral next to it. Locals like to hung out at this area.

I've also met Uzair, a fellow friend from Malaysia. He went traveling about two years back and now settling down in Saigon with his partner, Lix. And I stayed at his place for the rest of the days in Saigon. He lives in District 7, a proper neighborhood with many expats foreigners living there. From here I learnt how to use the bus, which was really cheap about 7,000 dong one trip. You just need to know what number bus and where the bus stations were. And in Saigon, I met up with someone that represents Ho Chi Minh City, Nha, who showed me around the corners of Vietnam. Nha is currently doing her internship in accounts and management and she can only see me at night. She drove me around on her scooter and I’m was like double her size. She lived so far away from district 7 and yet managed to send me back without fail even though I insisted not too. She took me to try out the street food of Saigon and to slurp the best coffee in the world, the Vietnamese coffee. We also went to one of the famous temple in Saigon. Nha was the best tour guide you could have, as she was eager to exchange learning each other cultures. She taught me a few words in Vietnam and showed me the traditional dress of Vietnam 'Ao Dai'.

All in all, it was really great being in Saigon because of these lovely people. I was getting lazy towards the end of my trip, partly because the Uzair's place was too comfortable which have air conditioning and a proper bed. And so I decided to head north to Da nang before going to Hanoi. Nha helped me until the end of my stay in Saigon, where she sent me to the train station to get me last minute ticket to Danang, & I regret not getting it early because there were only seats left for a 16hours journey. I hesitated to go because I've never been on seating overnight train for 16 hours before. but of course I just had to try out how the vietnamese people do it!

Monday 23 March 2015

Route: Pnom Penh (Cambodia) - Ho Chi Minh City (Vietnam) 100315

Bus leaves at 11am. Bought ticket at at travel agent nearby on the day itself. Cost USD15. Just a normal bus since it is a day trip. 3 hours to border. There are casinos just before the border. It is for Vietnamese people to come too because in Vietnam they are not allowed to have casinos. The border crossing is mostly done by the tour bus agent. Just need to check out of Cambodia and show our face entering the border of Vietnam. No departure/arrival card. Scan bags. Process takes about 30 minutes at the Border. Hello Vietnam. Met Australian guy on the bus living in Ho Chi Minh. Gave some pointers. Takes about two hours to Ho Chi Minh City. By the time arrive it was bad traffic. There is seven of us. Bus pay taxi to send us to the bus station to skip the traffic by bus. 5pm Saigon

Phnom Penh 100315


I spent three nights in Phnom Penh at my fellow Malaysian, Ajin's house. I met this guy on couchsurfing as I posted my trip on the website and he responded by saying that he kinda did a kinda similar trip in 2013 and he had just recently finished his travels after two years and now, settling down in Phnom Penh. Now I was like WOW!!! I gotta meet this guy. Initially I wanted to head to Laos but my plans changed because I just have to meet Ajin for his experiences and tips on the traveling. This would also be my first couchsurfing experience and Ajin would be the perfect first host for me, as he is from Malaysia and also an extreme traveler.  I arrived at Ajin’s place in the morning by motor taxi or they call it ‘xeom’ in Cambodia. These kind of transport was cheaper than a ‘tuk tuk’ but there’s only a seat for a person, so it was suitable for solo travelers.  It was about a dollar or two to move around town. In this country they still use US dollar and Cambodian Riem for small change. Their currency is so low, so you must understand how the country is.

Any way’s, Ajin also had another couchsurfer from Germany, Laura that I also met that morning. When I arrived at 830pm – I can tell that they had a late night yesterday. Ajin also have two other housemates. Laura broke the ice by bringing out her Ukulele and sang her beautiful voice out and put me into singing mode. It was awkward for me at first because this was my first time staying at someone’s place randomly and which we only met online. Couchsurfing is a hospitality exchange and social networking website. The website provides a platform for members to "surf" on couches by staying as a guest at a host's home, host travelers, or join an event.  And later during the day after I had my catnap, we went to Aeon Supermarket. Suprisingly there are many companies from Malaysia are taking opportunities at uprising Phnom Penh like Maybank & Chat time. Even the KFC are from Malaysia and it is Halal. Ajin are having a BBQ later tonight and we are doing the groceries. We went on bicycles and it was nice to go through the unorganized somehow tolerant traffic.

The BBQ night was mostly Expats of Phnom Penh, friends of the house and travelers. Most of the people didn’t know one another. I’ve met people, Expats who have been here for only 3 days, a month and a year and also met travelers who were in the midst of their travel. Laura had 4 other German friends that were travelling with her but she chose to couchsurf instead. Being around all these people made me feel like Ajin & Laura were the closest people and we just met that morning.  All in all, it was a great night and they left behind a big mess for us to clean up the next morning.

Laura left to another couchsurfer the next day. Ajin and I just hung out at home on a Sunday. I was kinda demotivated by my travels at this moment because I couldn't find the right angle to document my travels because I focused too much on trying to make it into a documentary film. I was physically & mentally drained and I felt like I’m treating it like work. So, Ajin gave me some good advices and we talked & discussed the possibilities. I also found out that we had a mutual friend who was coincidentally settling down on my next location, Saigon, Vietnam.

On the third day of Phnom Penh, I went to the national museum and the Tuel Sleng Genocide Museum that was originally a school turned into a prison. I was curious about Cambodia and how come they were so left back compare to the rest of South East Asia. It was mostly because of the Khmer rouge. The Khmer rouge was the name given to the followers of the Communist Party of Kampuchea in Cambodia. It was the ruling party in Cambodia from 1975 to 1979. The organization is remembered especially for orchestrating the Cambodian genocide, which resulted from the enforcement of its social engineering policies. Its attempts at agricultural reform led to widespread famine, while its insistence on absolute self-sufficiency, even in the supply of medicine, led to the death of thousands from treatable diseases such as malaria. Arbitrary executions and torture carried out by its cadres against perceived subversive elements, or during purges of its own ranks between 1975 and 1978, are considered to have constituted genocide. They were responsible for the deaths of up to 2,000,000 Cambodians, nearly a quarter of the country's then population, during the "killing field" era between 1975-1979. And the left overs of the Cambodians were not the smart ones. So they had so many of these school turned into prison throughout Cambodia. And Tuel Sleng was responsible for 20,000 killings.

It was great being in Phnom Penh, mostly because of Ajin. He shared his experiences and we had opinions & discussions regarding the trip that I’m doing. It was actually sad to walk through Cambodia, as you can see the poorness of the country. On the bright side, you can see so many uprising buildings, shops & international companies and I can feel the future for Phnom Penh. There’s just so much of opportunity here and I can imagine how it will be like in Phnom Penh in 10 – 20 years time.

I made a day trip to my next destination by bus on my last day, crossing the border to Vietnam and into Ho Chi Minh City. Good Morning Vietnam!

Sunday 22 March 2015

Route: Siem Reap (Cambodia) – Pnom Penh (Cambodia) 070315



Travel agent promised to pick at 11pm as the bus leaves at 12pm but they are late. 12pm they arrive and pick more people from around town. By 1pm we leave for Pnom Penh. Ticket USD12 sleeper bus. Really unique Cambodia style sleeper bus. It’s either you are in single or a couple. Two floors made by metal and wood. Juse enough for body but I don't know how Euro size people will fit. Meet a muslim couple going on the same bus. Ask them to help me to find food once in Pnom Penh. They said ok. Sweet couple. I recognize the girl with hijab means muslim. As usual didn’t sleep much. Still not use to a moving bus. My first sleeper bus but it was ok. Arrive at Pnom Penh 7am in the morning. Couple catch a motor taxi guy which is cheaper and send me to little restaurants near the main mosque. Next to find Ajin, the Malaysian traveler. 

Siem Reap. Angkor Wat 060315


We promised our Tuk Tuk guy Ali, the night before that we wanted to go to Angkor Wat as early at 5am. He came at 5am and knocked on our hotel room door but we were still sleeping like pigs. I guess the day trip from Bangkok really got us. Poor Ali, I told him to come at 8am. He was disappointed and really nice to us. I found him really kind when dealing with customers the night before compare to other Tuk Tuk guys, whom you can see, money in their eyes. I guess that's what I learned from my pass travelling’s in Asia or even in my home country. Always negotiate the price as low as ¼ from the price that they gave us and going to ½ of the price was the limit or at least how much it should cost. With Ali, we didn’t negotiate much; somehow we felt the honesty in him. It was USD 20 for the day trip to see the Angkor Wat area and another USD 20 to enter the area itself.

I’m not really into temples but for Angkor Wat it's an exception because it's said to be one the wonders of the world. It’s the biggest temple in the world. The Cambodians are proud of it and they have it on their national flag. I don’t really know the detailed history of Angkor Wat but what I knew it was built by a Khmer king in the 12th century and was a Hinduism temple at first, and somehow in the 13th century they converted it into a Buddhism temple and more temples around it were built like the city of temples, Angkor Thom.  And some how the temples were neglected in the 16th century but Angkor Wat was not totally being abandoned. Correct me if I’m wrong but do check Wikipedia for more details or hire a tour guide which you may need to do the Angkor visit and of course more money. Syafiq & I didn’t do that because we were interested more on the architecture. The Angkor temples were so huge and it would take at least three good days to visit them all. We only did it for about 6-7 hours and it was freaking hot. It was just so hot. Maybe it was the season. And we took the best ones; Angkor Wat the legendary – as Syafiq said he finally got to visit a historical place where he learned from high school text book. It was full of tourist and I assure that you will want to climb until the highest pillars. I was excited to go for Ta Prohm because it was the place where movies were being shot, like the Lara Croft Tree and Indiana Jones temple of Dooms. Ta Prohm was amazing because how nature took over the temple somehow. There were trees – huge massive trees growing inside out and on top of the walls. And lastly the Angkor Thom – it is the city of temples. You won’t have time to go everywhere in the city of temples area but the best part was the Bayonn temple. It was really nicely structured and you just couldn't imagine how they managed to built that kind of architecture back in those days. I love how the colour of walls represent the age and how time had effected the buildings and making them into mesmerizing colours

We were done by 3pm. I almost gave up walking around the temples because it was sweating hot but somehow Bayonn made me stay to explore. We head back to our hotel area, which was nearby a mosque, and from there you can find halal food. Cambodia was also known for the Cham people, which were an ethnic, migrated from Borneo sometime ago. Cham people are mostly Muslims and somehow related to the Kelantanese in Malaysia. Most of the Cham people live in Kampong Champa, Cambodia and that I really hope to go one day but not on this trip. It is a majority Muslim place. So, in a way they kinda spread out throughout Cambodia & Vietnam and in need of Halal food.

We didn’t have the time explore much of Siem Reap except at nighttime. Somehow the place is quite dirty and it reminds me of Bayuwangi, Indonesia. And from that I can tell you that they are really poor and the stuff here are really cheap. So sometimes for me as a cheapskate, I would think twice because in a way I pity them, even when they were times it felt like they were scamming us with price.

It was goodbye for Syafiq and me. He was leaving for Malaysia the next morning as I was heading for Pnom Penh to meet up with an experienced Malaysian traveller that mid night.  I took a sleeper bus, which cost me USD12 for a 7-hour trip to Pnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia!

Route: Bangkok (Thailand) - Siem Reap (Cambodia) 050315


Van picks us up at 730am from our hotel to another location for another van. They fill up the van until it is full like sardine. mini van 12-15 people. there is 12 of us with lots of bags. We leave to Bangkok 830am. Van is not the best place for cat nap. Syafiq can sleep. seats are 90 degrees. Reach border noon. transfer to another van to the border. no need visa for Malaysian. at the border we have to cross by foot and another van will pick us up. they put sticker on us to indicate. they have a system and i feel like we are transferred like animals. The border entering Cambodia tedious because many people. you can skip line by paying someone there to make it faster. many people. many tourist. about 2 hours waiting to enter cambodia. once enter cambodia. they identify us by sticker and send us to bus to go to another spot to take another bus. by 3pm we arrive at bus station and finaly the last bus to siem reap. 4 transport in total; Hotel (minivan) somewhere in Bangkok (minivan) somewhere near the border (minivan) somewhere more closer to the border (walk pass border) the other side of border (bus) bus station away from cambodia-thai border (bus) siem reap. they stop for food along the way. Arrive at Siem Reap Bus station 7pm. Many tuk tuk guys to bring us to anywhere. didnt know where to go but really hungry. 20 000 riem to somewhere in siem reap where halal food. to find halal food you have to find mosque by google. muslims food stall are all nearby. so thats what we did. go to the mosque and theres cambodian halal food. usually halal food are expensive because it is rare but the trick us you have to know where the people who work in the restaurant goes to eat to find cheaper halal food. After dinner we look for a place to stay nearby. 17USD per night for two. In Cambodia they use also usd currency. you have to be smart if you are a cheapskate depending on the currency at the moment. for now USD is really bad. Its better to pay in Cambodian Riem if they don’t calculate.

Traveling during daytime will waste your day because it’s really tiring because it is not a sleeper bus. Took us the whole day to travel and will arrive at night and very tired because of the heat, transport transfer. rest rest rest. next day early trip to Angkor Wat

Bangkok 040315


Bangkok!!! Honestly I wasn’t much excited about Bangkok. Maybe it was because I'd been here before about 5 years ago. I'm more looking forward to entering new countries. Bangkok is known for its temples, Khao San road and the Patpong scene. It was an exposure for Syafiq my travel mate as he went for the temples and I was just snoozing it off in the hotel room that we managed to get for 840 Baht. I was really tired from my long train trip from KL and was like a revenge sleep. And I was not emotionally well. Something hit me but that's that. We spent two nights here in Bangkok

Halal foods are a lot but you have to know where it is by goggling it first. We did that but still got lost because it was in a closed area within a lot of other shops. You have to really open your eyes to look for it and I assure you that there are surely halal food nearby mosques. And near Khao San, Banglamphu area, there's a mosque but it's really inside within houses like it is hiding from every other buildings. Bangkok was really infected by the tourist, you can see them every second. It was new for Syafiq as he had never seen these kind of infection before.

My highlight of the trip in Bangkok was meeting my Prague Film School course mate which I did the filmmaking studies two years back, Parn! Parn was the closest friend at home I had when I was in Czech because we were the only ones from Malaysia and Thailand. Parn brought her friends along to drink coffee with me and decided to bring me to Chao Phraya river view facing the Wat Arun Temple. Initially Syafiq's plan was only to Bangkok and head back Malaysia but somehow he was persuaded to come along with me to Cambodia to sea the 8th wonder of the world Angkor Wat which we bought bus tickets at the very last minute for next morning bus.

Thank you Parn for slipping me in from your busy schedule. Next stop! Siem Reap, Cambodia!