Itinerary of three weeks from Beijing to Mongolia (and back)

 

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Yes, I went to Mongolia after Beijing. And it turns out to be one of the memorable trips. A lot more stories to be told but the following are my itinerary and cost breakdown. I took the cheapest route from Beijing to UB, which is a bus ride from Beijing to Zaminn Ud and an overnight train to UB. It was not as hassle as I thought 😀

I did the three weeks trip in 800 Singapore Dollars.

Air Ticket:

Return Air Ticket to Beijing (KUL – PEK ; PEK – KUL) by AirAsia RM375.88

Day 1 at Kuala Lumpur:

I set off on a Thursday night (midnight flight) and arrived on Friday the next morning.

Day 2 at Beijing:

Hostel: Leo Hostel Beijing (near to Qianmen, it is one of the busiest hostels in Beijing and easily fully booked)

Activities: ZhongShan Park – Palace Museum – Jingshan Park

 

Day 3 at Beijing:

Hostel: Leo Hostel Beijing

Activities: Yiheyuan (Summer Palace) – Yuanmingyuan (Old Summer Palace)

 

Day 4 at Beijing:

Hostel: Leo Hostel Beijing

Activities: Mutianyu Great Wall

 Day 5 at Beijing:

Bus ride from Beijing Muxiyuan Bus Terminal→Zaminn Ud (Departing on Day 5 evening and arriving on Day 6, in the evening)

Day 6 at Erlian/Zaminn Ud:

Overnight train ride (sleeping berth) from Zaminn Ud→Ulaan Baatar

Day 7 at Ulaanbaatar:

Hostel at UB: Golden Gobi Ulaanbaatar (USD 8, near to Nomin Supermarket)

Activities: Tour around Ulaanbaatar

Day 8 at Moron:

Hostel at Moron: Saraa’s Guesthouse Moron (15,000 Tugrik)

Took the route which is famous as “shittiest cum bumpiest bus ride” from Ulaanbaatar→Moron, it was a thirteen hours bus ride, mind you.

Day 9 at Khovsgol:

Hostel at Khovsgol: MS Guesthouse (Mongolian ger)

Took a taxi from Moron→Khovsgol

Day 10 at Khovsgol:

Hostel: MS Guesthouse (Mongolian ger)

Day 11 at Moron:

Back to Moron and took an overnight Bus ride from Moron→UB

Day 12 at UB:

Hostel: Golden Gobi

Laundry and rest day. Visited Zaisan Memorial

Day 13 at Dalanzadgad:

Hostel:

The bus ride from UB→ Dalanzadgad, the bus ride was a much more pleasant experience than the bus ride to Khovsgol.

Day 14 at Gobi:

Hostel: camp site!

We managed to take a private tour for 400,000 Tugrik (approx. 165 USD), excluding food and accommodation. On the first day, we went to Yolyn Am (Ice Valley) and sleep in a tent near Flaming Cliff/Bayanzag

Day 15 at Gobi:

Hostel: (unknown, it was a tourist resort, in Mongolian ger style. We were sent there by our driver)

Flaming Cliff/Bayanzag – Khongoryn Els Sand Dunes

Day 16 at Gobi:

Bus ride from Dalanzadgad→UB, arriving UB at 2/3am is no joke, please, I repeat, don’t do this. Never walk on UB street in the wee hour.

Day 17 at UB:

Overnight Train from UB→Zaminn Ud

Day 18 at Zaminn Ud/Erlian:

Bus ride from Zaminn Ud→Beijing

Day 19 at Beijing:

Reaching Beijing at 1 am, shared a cab with fellow backpackers to LEO Hostel, but it has no availability that night, so we went to the sister hostel of LEO Hostel instead, it is located at a few street back and the name is LEO Backyard Hostel.

 

 

Apps that you should download to your mobile before setting off for your next trip

The must-have apps for  tourist  traveller.

With a smartphone (Huawei is good enough) with a full battery, credit card, passport, and viola~! But wait, please make sure you have also downloaded the following applications on your mobile phone:

MUST-HAVE

– Maps.me (available also on iOS and Android)

An offline map that comes in handy, do download the map of the cities that you are visiting beforehand!

These are places in Beijing. I like to pin my target location and when I open up my Maps.me map, it shows all the places that I have been, a nice collection of memory.

– Flexiroam (available also on iOS and Android)

Referral Code: 5J4PTHHH (Go to: Account -> Apply Promo Code)

A sim sticker allowing you to use data without switching your sim card.

What is sim sticker? Hmm. It is actually a sticker to stick with your sim, and you get to use data (by switching sim) abroad, I think they collaborate with Vodafone those, supporting more than 100 countries. From my personal experience, the coverage is good. 9.90 USD for a one-year membership, but you need to get a lot of referral (that’s why I am sharing my referral code here) or buy the data.

Note: No coverage in Slovenia and Vietnam. Other than that, it is all fine.

– XE.com (available also on iOS and Android)

An app to let me know how much an apple in Sweden costs in Malaysian Ringgits or Singapore Dollars (you customised it). It is ok if the country uses €, but when you have to use Hungarian Forint, Polish Zloty, Croatian Kuna, CZK, ok, stop it, let’s use XE to help me with the conversion

PRICE COMPARISON SITES:

– Skyscanner (available also on iOS and Android)

– Hotelscombined (available also on iOS and Android)

HOTEL/HOSTEL BOOKING:

– Hostelworld (available also on iOS and Android)

– Booking.com (available also on iOS and Android)

– Traveloka (available also on iOS and Android)

– Airbnb:

 

LANGUAGE APP:

– Google Translate (available also on iOS and Android)

 

PERKS APP:

– Shopback for every travel purchase booking! What is shopback? You get cashback for every of your purchase! From plane ticket to hotel booking! The percentage might be low, but you can snowball and cash out later on when the amount is larger.

Shopback SG version: https://www.shopback.sg/?raf=o8ilTE

Shopback MY version: https://www.shopback.my/?raf=5UkTs1

 

Specially for travelling in CHINA:

–  Betternet (available also on iOS and Android)

You will need Betternet to browse your Facebook, Google, Google Store, Gmail etc. China banned everything lol.

 

Specially for travelling in EUROPE:

– Blablacar (available also on iOS and Android)

You must have heard of hitchhiking? This one is kind of like car pooling (uber shareride? Sometimes it’s cheaper than the bus, but like all startups, this app also can be a bit crazy at times, especially its search function, gotta be patient. Hope it can expand to Singapore – Malaysia though so that I can have more share ride to go home!

–  GoEuro (available also on iOS and Android)

An app to find the cheapest way to get around in Europe, most of the place though. I do use it together with Busradar because the coverage of GoEuro might not be very good – Busradar Find the cheapest bus ride!

– Busradar (available also on iOS and Android) Find the cheapest bus ride!

[Europe] From Norway to Switzerland by Land in 5 weeks

5 WEEKS from Scandinavia to Eastern Europe in S$2000+-

1. SIN – HKG [S$34] by Cathay Pacific
2. HKG – OSLO (via Vienna) by Austrian Air ZRH – HKG by Swiss Air HKG – SIN by Cathay Pacific [S$449.50 – Expedia promotion, the travelling time is only up to one month]
3. Oslo – Tromso by Norwegian Air [S$168.24 (USD119.50)] bought on last minute, single way non-promotional ticket.

Singapore ￫ Hong Kong ￫ Oslo (transit in Vienna for 2 hours) ￫ Tromso, Norway ￫ Narvik, Norway ￫ Abisko, Sweden ￫ Kiruna, Sweden ￫ Rovaniemi, Finland ￫ Helsinki, Finland ￫ Tallinn, Estonia ￫ Riga, Latvia ￫ Vilnius & Trakai, Lithuania ￫ Warsaw, Poland ￫ Krakow, Poland ￫ Prague & Cesky Krumlov, Czech Republic ￫ Bratislava, Slovakia ￫ Budapest, Hungary ￫ Krakow & Zakopane, Poland ￫ Vienna, Austria ￫ Zagreb, Croatia ￫ Ljubljana & Bled, Slovenia ￫ Venice, Italy ￫ Milan, Italy ￫ Zurich, Switzerland ￫ Hong Kong ￫ Singapore

—————————————–

17/10 HKG Stay: Couchsurfing for 1 night Went to Cheung Chau (take a ferry from Central)

18/10 HKG Stay: YesInn Causeway Bay S$28.64 (near shopping district, but note that they have triple bunk bed, so if you get a bed at the bottom, you are technically sleeping on the floor, do ask and if they assign you to the bottom one, request for change to the middle or top one. The bathroom is in the room itself and is clean, the shower gel smells good). Hong Kong’s expenses in cash: HKD549.10 (S$100.84)

19/10 Flying from Hong Kong to Oslo, overnight at Oslo Airport, Gardermoen as I am catching a morning flight to Tromsø the next day.

20/10 Flying from Oslo to Tromsø. (Note: Do remember to web check-in earlier to get a window seat, the view of Norwegian fjords from the plane are simply magnificent! And I will definitely be wanted to return to Norway for this!) Stay: Tromsø Camping (S$77.75 for 2 nights, I have a friend with me in Scandinavia (and traveling alone thereafter), we have an economic cottage, they actually have 4 beds in the cottage but there are only 2 of us, so if you have more people traveling with, your costs can be further reduced.)

21/10 Tromsø, Norway Stay: Tromsø Camping Even though we didn’t see the northern lights in Tromsø, it is a beautiful town with breathtaking Arctic scenery. May consider returning in summer for the midnight sun.

22/10 Narvik, Norway Stay: Airbnb at Narvik S$53.97 We managed to see the northern lights from the balcony of our Airbnb! Yay! (were so excited as we didn’t get to see it in Tromsø (perhaps we (I?) slept too much). And maybe we just can’t recognise it as it looks like a light grey cloud. Thanks to the host who came and knock our door to inform us. She is also kind enough to bring us to her balcony as well as picking us to and from the railway station (her place is quite an outskirt, with beautiful coastline and she has horses though). Anyway, she said they see the northern lights like almost every day. Yes, people living in Arctic will never understand why we want to visit Arctic for Aurora. Haha. Norway’s expenses in cash: NOK603 (S$100.50) Buy salmon from a supermarket and cook your own meal, salmon is cheap and fresh in Norway! Stamp: 18 NOK; Postcard: 7 NOK

23/10 Abisko, Sweden Stay: Abisko Guesthouse (590 SEK for 2 nights, pay in cash) SJ (Sweden’s train company) 3 journeys: S$98.78 Abisko is a good place for northern lights! Especially this guesthouse, just walks down to the lake next to the guesthouse, you will be shower with amazing northern lights! The owner is kind too, they lend us overall for free.

24/10 Abisko, Sweden Stay: Abisko Guesthouse

25/10 Kiruna, Sweden Stay: Kiruna STF (SEK 320 for one night, pay in cash) Sweden’s expenses in cash: SEK603 (S$153.70) Stamp & Postcard: SEK 28 Supermarket: ICA

26/10 Rovaniemi, Finland Stay: Airbnb at Rovaniemi S$28.27

27/10 Rovaniemi, Finland VR Night train from Rovaniemi to Helsinki: S$61.51 Had a salad buffet at the café next to Rovaniemi train station for 5,00€ Supermarket: Siwa

28/10 Helsinki, Finland Ferry from Helsinki ￫ Tallinn 25,00€ Finland’s expenses in cash: 63,90€ Stay: Red Emperor Tallinn 11,00€ Note: Eat at Kompressor when you are in Tallinn! Cheap and big sized of crepe! I had smoked salmon and it’s only 4.90€, can’t finish it and take away for breakfast the next day. Supermarket: Rimi Stamp: 1,40€; Postcard: 0.50€

29/10 Tallinn, Estonia Ecoline from Tallinn ￫ Riga 17,00€ Tallinn’s expenses in cash: 14,74€ Stay: Riga Hostel 8,00€ (Stay here when you are in Riga! They have free milk, unlimited supply! Lol, at the hostel is just above a McDonald’s) Supermarket: Maxima

30/10 Riga, Latvia Lux express from Riga ￫ Vilnius 16,00€ Riga’s expenses in cash: 14,74€ Stay: Hostelgate 7,50€ (Have to pay in cash, they don’t have a cc machine)

31/10 Vilnius, Lithuania Lithuania’s expenses in cash: 21,48€ Made a day trip to Trakai from Vilnius, bus ticket is 3.50€ for return Night bus (Ecolines Info Bus, a yellow bus, Malcolm said it’s a banana bus) from Vilnius ￫ Warsaw 16,00€ Supermarket: Maxima, Iki, Rimi

1/11 Warsaw, Poland Stay: Dream Hostel 39 PLN (A brand new hostel in Warsaw, close to the Old Town, nice kitchen, comfy bunk bed with curtain (Yay for privacy!))

2/11 Krakow, Poland Polski bus from Warsaw ￫ Krakow 22 PLN (S$8.11) Stay: Greg & Tom Beer Hostel S$25.70 for 2 nights (Highly recommended! Free breakfast (eh, not your cereal and bread that kind of breakfast, but BIG BREAKFAST!) and DINNER! Woots! Book earlier! The location is good, near the cathedral!) Transport in Warsaw: 1 billet for 90 mins is about 1 euro. Eat @ Polka near Old Town Square. You may skip Warsaw, in my humble opinion, it doesn’t have much to offer but they have good and cheap food, Lody, lody and nothing but lody everyday! 3 Zloty for a gelato, which is less than 1 euro!

3/11 Krakow, Poland auschwitz concentration camp (Note: To save money, skip the tour! You can go on your own, you can take a bus from Krakow bus station, bus fare is 28 Polish Zloty for return) Eat @ Krakow: Tomasza Milkbar (Dinner of the day for just 18 PLN, with soup! They do serve traditional polish food, like Pierogi, but I personally prefer Chinese dumplings than Pierogi) Café @ Krakow: Charlotte (must go!) Poland’s expenses in cash: 290 PLN

4/11 Krakow, Poland Wieliczka Salt Mine 84PLN Flix bus (operate by Yatch bus) from Krakow ￫ Prague 19,00€

5/11 Prague, Czech Republic Arrange it on a Saturday, as they have one Saturday market, like a farmer market though. Tried traditional cake and Halusky there. Stamp: 32 CZK; Postcard: 10 CZK Stay: Hostel Ananas 329 CZK (an okay hostel, near to the metro, but people staying there always party until late night, be ready, the kitchen is not equipped with stoves, just microwave and kettle) Supermarket: Billa, Coop

6/11 Cesky Krumlov one day trip from Prague Stay: Hostel Ananas 219 CZK REGIOJET from Prague ￫ Cesky Krumlov 7,60€ LEO express from Cesky Krumlov ￫ Prague 7,36€

7/11 Prague, Czech Republic Petrin Hill TURANCAR from Prague ￫ Bratislava 7,20€ *this bus company is quite shitty, to be avoided if possible and they are the only bus company who ask me for luggage fee (1,00€) The bus normally depart from Praha Florence, do take note and go earlier. Stay: Patio Hostel, Bratislava, Slovakia 9,65€ (Good, can be recommended, I like their big locker, and its just opposite TESCO) Czech’s expenses in cash: 711 CZK

8/11 Bratislava, Slovakia Slovakia’s expenses in cash: 15,48€ REGIOJET from Bratislava ￫ Budapest 8,00€ Stay: Colors Budapest 11,75€ for 2 nights with breakfast (Pay in cash, they do not have the cc machine) It’s cheap and with breakfast, so nothing to be complained of! Near to the statue of liberty too.

9/11 Budapest, Hungary Stay: Colors Budapest Budapest’s expenses in cash: 7,495 Hungarian Forint How to save money: Kebab everyday 😀

10/11 Budapest, Hungary Night bus from Budapest ￫ Krakow 18,00€ by LUX express

11/11 Zakopane, Krakow, Poland There is a reason why I detour back to Zakopane, but I didn’t do as what I have planned though. Anyway, it is always good to have a break to see nature scenery again after all the buildings in city! Zakopane and Krakow’s expenses in cash: 76.5 PLN Another night bus (yes, two night buses in a row) from Krakow ￫ Wien PLN 34 by Polskibus

12/11 Vienna, Austria half day trip (because there is no direct bus from Krakow to Zagreb and I have to do it this way, otherwise I wouldn’t want to go to Austria because it is an expensive place. And I got angry with myself because of this 2 night buses in a row and decided that I want to stay in decent hostel for the rest of my trip (and no more night bus)) Vienna’s expenses in cash: 22,51€ Flixbus from Vienna ￫ Zagreb 25,00€ (see, everything from Vienna is expensive, even for bus departing from Vienna) Stay: Swanky Mint Zagreb S$34.29 for 2 nights

13/11 Plitvice one day trip Zagreb ￫ Plitvice 92 Croatian Kuna (buy at the counter with credit card, it’s cheaper to purchase the ticket online but I scare I couldn’t wake up), I took the earliest bus which is 7:30 am and return at 2:45pm. About 2 hours bus ride from Zagreb to Plitvice. I have seen online that some of the Chinese people saying that Jiuzhaigou in China is even greater than Plitvice, I have never been to jiuzaigou so unable to compare, yet. But Plitvice is a nice place! Nature has never failed to make me a happy kid! Return is 85 Croatian Kuna (by cash only) I have only changed 20€ to 140 Croatian Kuna (HRK) and I am returning home with 21.10 HRK. Eat @ Zagreb: Amelie Café! Delicious cake! For traditional Croatian food, go to La Struk, it is only 40 HRK, or less, for a meal. Stay: Swanky Mint

14/11 Bled, Slovenia Flixbus from Zagreb ￫ Ljubljana S$9.67 (one of the best bus ride (the other one is in Norway, from Tromso to Narvik)! With beautiful scenery along the way and make me fall in love with Slovenia at first sight) Ljubljana ￫ Bled 6,30€ (by at the counter or with the driver, Platform 7, about 75 minutes of bus ride, but the scenery along the journey will definitely leave you in awe!) Stay: Castle Hostel 1004 12,96€ for a night (pay in cash, they don’t accept cc) Eat@Bled: Zima for the traditional Slovenian cake – Kremsnita (Bled Cream Cake) 2,90€

15/11 Bled, Slovenia Stay: Castle Hostel 1004 12,96€ for a night (pay in cash, they don’t accept cc) Slovenia’s expenses in cash: 71,00€ (10€ for Blablacar)

16/11 Venice, Italy Ljubljana ￫ Venice by Blablacar (3 hours by car) 10€ Stay: Generator Venice 26,60€ for 2 nights Vaporetto (water bus) pass for 48 hours itself costs me 30,00€  Italy is expensive

17/11 Stay: Generator Venice But, with the water bus pass, you can go to Murano and Burano, the one-way ticket itself is 6.50€, as Generator Venice is located on the opposite island of Venice, called Zitelle, I have no choice but to get a water bus pass. I took at least 10 water bus rides, so divided it out, it should be 3€ per ride? Haha. Venice’s expenses in cash: 42,22€ (Blame the water bus pass, otherwise I could possibly have more Gelato, hmm..)

18/11 Milan, Italy Venice ￫ Milan by Blablacar (3 hours by car) S$26.43 (by credit card) Stay: Best Hostel Milano (the room is like a room for princess! For goodness sake! With a city view) But it is also a very expensive hostel.. 23,00€ + 2,00€ city tax Milan’s expenses in cash: 21,06€

19/11 Zurich Flixbus Milan ￫ Zurich S$29.43 Zurich’s expenses in cash: Swiss Franc 22.30 Fly from Zurich to Hong Kong at 10:40 pm

20/11 HKIA – Tsui Wah Restaurant

——————————————
Please make full use of Google! Must have when travelling abroad: A decent smartphone with a full battery, credit card, passport, and viola~! You can go already haha Ok well, please also get ready for the following applications on your mobile phone:

– Flexiroam (available also on iOS and Android)

(use my referral code, you will get 100MB too, Astrid’s referral code: 5J4PTHHH) What is flexiroam? It is actually a sim sticker, and if you are visiting KLIA and KLIA2, they do have a kiosk where you can buy with them there (save shipping fee!) And what is sim sticker? Hmm. It is actually a sticker to stick with your sim, and you get to use data (by switching sim) abroad, I think they collaborate with Vodafone those, supporting countries is more than 100, coverage is good. 9.90 USD for a one-year membership, but you need to get a lot of referral (that’s why I am sharing my referral code here) or buy the data. Note: No coverage in Slovenia and Vietnam. Other than that, it is all fine.

– Maps.me (available also on iOS and Android)

An offline map, do download the map of the cities that you are visiting beforehand, everything comes in handy! P/s: Hi Mom! I am safe to wherever Google can find me! (*giggle) With data, smartphone and google, every girl can go travelling alone!

– Blablacar (available also on iOS and Android)

You must have heard of hitchhiking? This one is kind of like car pooling (uber shareride? Sometimes it’s cheaper than the bus, but like all startups, this app also can be a bit crazy at times, especially its search function, gotta be patient. Hope it can expand to Singapore – Malaysia though so that I can have more share ride to go home!

–  GoEuro (available also on iOS and Android)

An app to find the cheapest way to get around in Europe, most of the place though. I do use it together with Busradar because the coverage of GoEuro might not be very good – Busradar Find the cheapest bus ride!

– Busradar (available also on iOS and Android) Find the cheapest bus ride!

– XE.com (available also on iOS and Android)

An app to let me know how much an apple in Sweden costs in Malaysian Ringgits or Singapore Dollars (you customised it). It is ok if the country uses €, but when you have to use Hungarian Forint, Polish Zloty, Croatian Kuna, CZK, ok, stop it, let’s use XE to help me with the conversion

– Hostelworld (available also on iOS and Android)

– Booking.com (available also on iOS and Android)

– Tripadvisor (available also on iOS and Android)

– Google Trips (available also on iOS and Android)

– Google Translate (available also on iOS and Android)

– Skyscanner (available also on iOS and Android)

– And…not to forget to shopback for every hostel booking! What is shopback? You get cashback for every of your booking! (the percentage might be low, but you can snowball and cash out later on when the amount is larger)

Shopback SG version: https://www.shopback.sg/?raf=o8ilTE

Shopback MY version: https://www.shopback.my/?raf=5UkTs1

– Airbnb: www.airbnb.com.sg/c/hongf2

 

[Taipei] Jiufen Ah Gan Taro Balls 阿柑姨芋圓

– Jiufen is a town nearby to Taipei and is reachable by taking a direct bus number 1062 to jinguashi from Zhongxiao Fuxing MRT station; or a direct bus from Ximending or Keelung; or local train to Ruifang and followed by another bus ride

– It is a place with scenic mountain view of Northern Taiwan, with a bunch of scrumptious foods

– One of the not-to-missed is surely this Taro Balls

 

Located at: No. 5, Shuqi Road, Ruifang District, New Taipei City, Taiwan 224

#Jiufen #Taipei #Taiwan #travelforfood

Visited in May, 2011

[Laos] Sawadee Luang Prabang: How did I spend One Million (1,000,000) in a week in Laos !

Sawadee Luang Prabang ~

Mini infos:

 

(A) Of Visa and Currency related:

– visa free for Malaysian passport holder

– USD maybe acceptable at your hostel/hotel but Laotian Kips is still widely use, so you still have to get your Kips ready (2,000 Kips = approximately 0.25 USD)

– you maybe surprise that it’s not cheap to travel in Laos compare with Thailand, Vietnam 😂

– D & T Supermarket is the only supermarket in Luang Prabang, I genuinely believe that they have the most competitive pricing compare with other minimarts. It is located the same row as Lao Lao Bar if I am not mistaken

– big water for 5,000 Kips and small water for 2,000 Kips

 

(B) Of Attractions and Accommodations

– Generally, attractions that I did in Luang Prabang are Kuang Si, Mt Phousi and for Vang Vieng, I did Blue Lagoon + Phou Kam Cave, View Point (Phagern), Jang Cave, Yui Waterfall.

– there is a bar that you can go hea….for one whole day named Utopia (in LPQ).

– Stay 3 nights each at Luang Prabang (Downtown backpackers) and Vang Vieng (Rock hostel). This two hostels provide delicious breakfast for free!

 

(C) More on Laos:

– I do not recommend you to rent a motorbike as it is costly and the route to Kuang Si is not really safe for motorbike

– Business must close by 11:30p.m. No late night party! It is Laos’ law. So the street are extremely quite after 11:30p.m.

– Laos’ people sleep early and wake up early 8) ….So be quiet and go to sleep and wake up before 6am to give alms to the monks

– Don’t treat the monks like monkeys in a zoo. Be respectful if you take photos.

 

Here is my itineraries:

1

Arrived in Luang Prabang early morning, withdraw 1,000,000 Kips from the ATM machine@airport

 

Check in – walk around in Luang Prabang town, settled lunch and go back to hostel to showet and have a nap – Wakeup and climb up to Mount Phousi for sunset (admission is free only after 630pm, there are two entrances. The one at Wat Pha Khe has a longer route to the peak as compare with the entrance opposite the museum) – Night market and bought dinner

 

Expenses:

Airport Transfer 25,000

Lunch (Noodles soup) 15,000

D & T

Dinner (grilled corn & sandwich) 15,000

 

Stay:

Downtown backpackers hostel

 

2

Breakfast at hostel – leave to Kuang Si waterfall at 11am + hiking trails nearby – return to Luang Prabang and did Mt Phousi again – Night market again and found the infamous Vegetarian buffet (10,000 for a plate! The cook at the stall will help you to reheat the food) – Lao Lao Bar for drink

 

Expenses:

Kuang Si 50,000

Lunch : snacks from D & T the day before

Dinner (Vegetarian Buffet) 10,000

Coke at Lao Lao Bar 10,000

 

Stay:

Downtown backpackers 114,000 for 2 nights (booked from Booking.com)

 

3

Wake up early to watch alm giving to the monks along the main street – breakfast at hostel – leave for Vang Vieng – arrived at 3pm – walk around in Vang Vieng town – stargazing at Silver Naga Hotel

 

Expenses:

Rock Backpackers 42,000

Minivan to Vang Vieng 110,000

Lunch 15,000

Tuktuk to hostel from the bus station 10,000

Dinner (Korean cup noodles from K mart) 9,000

Bridge toll 4,000

Tomyam cup noodles 5,000

 

Stay:

Rock Backpackers

 

4

Breakfast at hostel – walk to Blue Lagoon and Phou Kam Cave – Vang Vieng viewpoint (Mt Phagern, not very high but good view of paddy fields from top) – Noodles again from K mart – Smile beach bar

 

Expenses:

Rock Backpackers 50,000

Lunch at Blue Lagoon 15,000

7-up and coke 10,000

Spicy noodles and water from K mart 12,000

 

Stay:

Rock Backpackers

 

5

Breakfast at hostel – Jang Cave (by foot, less than 3km) – lunch in Vang Vieng – Yui waterfall (by foot, 6km from Vang Vieng) – stargazing at Silver Naga Hotel

 

Jang Cave 17,000

Yui Waterfall 10,000

Lunch 25,000

Soya 4,000

 

Stay:

Rock Backpackers

 

6

Breakfast – Back to Luang Prabang – lunch – sunset watching and stargazing at Utopía

 

Expenses:

Minivan to Luang Prabang 100,000

Lime drink at Utopía 10,000

Stamp for postcard 8,000

D & T

 

Stay:

Downtown backpackers

 

7

Expenses:

Hostel 47,500

Tuktuk to airport 20,000

[South Korea] Nami Island – Mr Dakgalbi 닭갈비

– A visit to South Korea is not complete without having the authentic dakgalbi in a local restaurant

– You can eat Dakgalbi alone! Lunchmate(s) or dinnermate(s) is not needed

– I am very happy that they accommodated to my need by making the portion of dakgalbi into 1-person’s even though the minimum serving is two on their menu

– Dak-galbi is a popular Korean dish, with spicy stir-fried marinated diced chicken in gochujang-based sauce

 

#Seoul #SouthKorea #NamiIsland #dakgalbi

 

Address: Chuncheon 春川 Nami Island Ferry Point

 

Visited in January, 2015

[Cambodia] Siem Reap – Fresh Fruit Factory

– Mango shake. Serving is big, unable to finish it as I was eating alone.

– Tasty and good hang out place on a hot afternoon

– Hipster cafe in Siem Reap runs by a Japanese couple

– Price is on the high side, Five US Dollars for this bowl

– I splurge as the day before my visit was my birthday :DD

– It was quite a walk too, especially under the scorching sun

Address: Taphul Rd, Krong Siem Reap, Cambodia

 

#Cambodia #SiemReap #SiemReapCafe

Fresh Fruit Factory

 

Visited in December, 2016

[Cambodia] Siem Reap – Sinn SisaMouth Cafe

– Veggie Pineapple Curry -> I still do not understand why Khmer curry has pineapple cubes in it instead of potatoes
– The serving has a good size
– Reasonable price for authentic Khmer food
– Quiet location, with nice atmosphere and friendly waiter and waitress
– My post birthday treat (and my me-me time)

#Cambodia #SiemReap #SinnSisaMouthCafe #SouthEastAsia

Visited in December, 2016

[China] Hostel@Gui Lin, Guangxi – Cyan Box Hostel

– The hostel I first stayed in Guangzhou is not really clean and I was quite disappointed (fyi the name is LazyGaga, hostels in Guangzhou are expensive as it is an urban city)
– To my surprise, hostels in Guangxi province are much better – cheaper, clean and comfortable. All of the 3 hostels I stayed are worth recommending.
– Downside for this one is the number of shower rooms is limited.
– I heard they have another branch nearer to the city centre, but I stayed here because it is cheaper.
– Please do not walk to your destination. China is big. Public bus costs only one (1) Yuan
– I heard eLong net is the cheapest room/bed booking platform in China, do compare it with Booking and Hostelworld before making your booking.

Address in English: No.3 Jian Gan Road, Guilin.
Address in Chinese: 桂林市七星区建干路3号

http://www.hostelworld.com/hosteldet…/CyanBox-Hostel/…/95588

#Guilin #Guangxi #China #GuilinHostel #CyanBoxHostel

visited on September, 2016.

[Vietnam] Hostel@Ho Chi Minh City (a.k.a. Saigon) : Sigoong Hostel

– Trust that they are one of the best hostels in HCM

– Strategically located near Bui Vien (pub street) (5 mins walk) and because of the distance, you get to have peaceful and quiet night sleep.

– BUT! This is HCM! What is in Ho Chi Minh without being waking up by the hustle and bustle of this city? Trust me, the noise from the busy traffic, they are much better than your alarm clock :DD

– Free breakfast provided! And you gonna have your breakfast on their rooftop bar (*double ups)

– Do note that they do have curfew ~ The gate was locked and I feel guilty for waking up the man on night duty

– The toilet is clean, rest assure you will definitely enjoy your good shower.

Address: 92 De Tham, District 1, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

Sigoong Hostel Bar

#HoChiMinh #SigoongHostel #Vienam #Hostelworld

Oct | 2016

http://www.hostelworld.com/hosteldetails.php/Sigoong-Hostel/Ho-Chi-Minh/270321

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