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

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!

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!

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 12^th century and was a Hinduism temple at first, and somehow in the 13^th 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 16^th 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!

Route: KL (Malaysia) to Bangkok (Thailand) 030315

It's been a while since I wrote anything and my English has gone crooked again. As long as you can understand this, its good enough for me. Here is how my trip went for the KL - Bangkok route. Since I bought the ticket at the very last minute, so I only managed to get the upper sleeper which cost RM50 to Pandang Besar and another 3rd class seat train from Padang besar crossing the border to Hatyai station, Thailand. This was my second time doing this, as I did it before back in 2009 but this time I decided to shoot off straight to Bangkok. There's another alternative train that you can take from Butterworth, Penang that goes directly to Bangkok but this option that I chose was cheaper and the chances of getting last minute seats were better.

The train departed exactly at 10pm. Going through the night in the sleeper was not bad actually. A little bit bumpy at times but it was good enough. They have a cabin just for canteen and usually the staff would walk through the train to sell food, once in a while. It's a little bit expensive than the norm. I didn't get enough sleep throughout the night ride, as many mixed emotions going through my mind after leaving KL. The train would stop at each station to pick passengers.

By the next morning, I arrived at Padang Besar for the immigration just before the Thailand border. At this time, I met Shahrizan as he was on his way to recce Hatyai, since he had a requests from a group of people from Indonesia wanting to go to Hat Yai backpacker style. It was his first time in Hat Yai and so he had questions to ask me. Getting through the immigration was really easy. They just stamped and took a photograph of you. The first train to Hat Yai was at 10am, so I had some conversations with Shahrizan. Another Swiss guy in his 50's heading towards Phuket joined us for a chat. He has been traveling overland a lot in his life and he loves train. He himself works as a ticket conductor back in Swiss.

The trip to train station took about an hour as it moves very slowly. The time was minus one hour from Malaysia, so we left Padang Besar at 10am (Malaysian time) and arrived Hat Yai at 10am (Thailand time). Once, we arrived in, Shahrizan had to split off as he had to meet up with people. It was my third time here in Hat Yai, and that's why I decided to head off to Bangkok. I bought the next train ticket to Bangkok. I managed to get the upper sleeper, which cost about 775 Baht (RM87 with our bad currency lately). The lower sleeper is slightly expensive as it is slightly bigger and comfortable as it is closer to gravity. It's here where I met my travel companion for my trip to Bangkok, Syafiq. A young Malaysian traveler wanting to see Thailand for the first time. He approached me just after I bought my ticket and said he was going the same way. So he bought his ticket and we had about 4 hours before our train to Bangkok. Syafiq and me went to a nearby Muslim restaurant to do more ice breaking while having lunch. We decided to walk around but I went back to the Muslim restaurant as I felt really tired and by this time I felt like I over packed my bag because it was so freaking heavy. Syafiq went for a city tour with Tuk Tuk, costing him 200 Baht. The train was delayed for 2 hours and we left around 430 pm from train station and it would take us about 15 hours to Bangkok. The train ride was really really bumpy at first. I kind of starting to regret of taking this route as I had another 15 hours to go but after a few hours I snoozed off which was surprising as I am a very very light sleeper. Maybe I was really tired after two sleepless nights. I woke up at midnight. Shafiq & I were hungry by then but we couldn't find any Halal food on the train, so we had to wait until we reach Bangkok. We regret of not getting any snack earlier. It was a long long way and sometimes really bumpy ride until we reached Bangkok. I took a shower in the train which was quite an experience trying to do everything while the train is moving. And the toilet hole goes directly to the ground, where you can see the train tracks. At 11am, we finally reached at Hua Lamphong Train Station in Bangkok.

My Dream 010315

I have a dream of backpacking from my hometown Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia to Leicester, England overland on a shoestring budget

The purpose of this page, is for me to expand my contacts to help me in any possible means to achieve my dream. I would really appreciate it! Besides that, I want to share my journey with you guys. If anyone of you would like to join me in any part of the trip, do buzz me!

My Plan Route

Malaysia - Thailand - Cambodia - Laos - Vietnam - China - Nepal - India - Pakistan - Iran - Turkey - Bulgaria - Greece - Albania - Macedonia - Bosnia - Europe (still figuring which country) - Czech Republic - England

Thank You!