Travel – The WANDER (FULL) LIFE

3D2N & a Bed of Board Games in Pinamungahan, Cebu

I used to think that summer and board games don’t mix well. Summer is outdoor while board games is indoor but for 3 years now, I have actually enjoyed both at the same time with the Cebu Board Gamers at our yearly summer board gaming escape. The fun started in 2016 at Eazy Vacation House in Sogod, north of Cebu. Last year, we went south to Badian, Cebu. Just last weekend, we went west to MonTeray Farm, west of Cebu. The directions and places are all coincidental like how we started in “Sogod” which means start in vernacular and travelled from north to south to west. If I were to plan the outing in 2019, I would surely pick somewhere in the city so it will be east. Haha! It’s too early to tell though and a whole year to change my mind. Besides, we have Unyara by then so things are bound to change.

Memory Monday

I have so many back logs and unposted itinerary on my Evernote but today I’ll make an exception and post timely. Lol But before the events last weekend and the superb hospitality of MonTeray Farm, let’s do a #MemoryMonday first.

(1) Eazy Vacation House – this was our first overnight trip together. It felt awkward at first to be spending the weekend with them gamers but it actually opened new door of friendships. The house was huge too!!!

(2) Badian, Cebu – Like the first I’m just a mere joiner. With the board gamers, I don’t really like to plan things. Since most of them are introverts, I don’t connect to them as much.

MonTeray Farm

Last weekend, there wasn’t really much to plan since I’ve been to MonTeray already. The staffs & management were really kind and accommodating. Most of our inquiries were answered timely.

Last year, there were 12 attendees. The number was consistent but there were 5 new joiners. Verne, Kyle, Paul, Nina & Ina were turned into Jeff, Lui, Lukas, Kim & Ian. Consistent attendees were me, the husband, Victor, Ana, Je, JP & Lem.

Below is a recap of the activities in pictures:

Itinerary & other details:

Room/night: Php500/night (Dorm room – minimum pax – 12 up to 16)

Total:

Php12000

Itinerary:

Friday, June 15

1000AM – Cebu City Departure
1100AM – Lunch in Jollibee, Naga
0230PM – Checkin
0330PM – Chill & Tour
0400PM – Games
- Azul (Kring, Ian1GW, Jeff, Ana2GW)
- Carcassone (Victor, JulyW, Lukas, Lui, Je)
- Dixit Pairs (KJ, KI, JV-W, LL-W,Lem)
0630PM – Dinner (Php1570)
0800PM – Game Time
- Nations (JeW, July, Lem, Victor)
- Party (Kim, Ian, Lui, Lukas, Ana, Jeff)
1100PM – Heavy Game Time
- Scythe (Kim, Ian, Lukas, Ana, JeffW)
- Power Grid (Je, JulyW, Lem, Victor, Kim)
0330AM – Light’s Off

Saturday, June 16

0800AM – Breakfast – individual
10AM – Games
- Glassroad (KringW, Ian, Victor, July)
1100AM – Lunch (Php2800)
0100PM – Games
- Keyflower (VictorW, Lui, Jeff, Lukas, Ian)
- Empires of the void (Kring, Lem, Je, Kim, JulyW)
- Splendor (Ian, Victor, Jeff)
0400PM – Swim Time/Game Time
- Swimming (Kim, Ian, Kring, Victor, July)
- Carcassone (LemW, Ana, JP, Lui, Jeff)
0600PM – Game Time
- Celestia (IanW, Kim, Ana, Victor, Lem)
0630PM – Dinner (Php1610)
0800PM – Game Time
- Terraforming Mars (Je, Jeff, Lui, Ian)
- Pandemic (July, Kring, Victor, Kim) – August WIN
1000PM – Chill Time
1030PM – Bonfire
1200AM – Time’s Up
- NiggaW (Lui, Lukas, Victor, Jeff, Kim, Lem)
- Chinese ( Kring, July, Ana, Je, Ian, JP)
0130AM – Dixshots

Sunday, June 17

0900AM Breakfast – individual
- Azul (AnaW, Jeff, Victor, July)
1100AM – Checkout
1130AM – Farm Tour
0100PM – Departure
0147PM – Lunch (Fresh Ocean Restaurant)
0320PM – Departure
0530PM – Cebu City

Attendees by Car:

July – Kring, Je, JP
Victor – Lui, Lukas, Lem
Ian – Kim, Ana, Jeff
Cancelled – Verne, Paul, Nina, JV, Roel

Notes:

No food and drinks corkage

Played Games:

Azul (Kring, Ian1GW, Jeff, Ana2GW)
Carcassone (Victor, JulyW, Lukas, Lui, Je)
Dixit Pairs (KJ, KI, JV-W, LL-W,Lem)
Nations (JeW, July, Lem, Victor)
Party (Kim, Ian, Lui, Lukas, Ana, Jeff)
Scythe (Kim, Ian, Lukas, Ana, JeffW)
Power Grid (Je, JulyW, Lem, Victor, Kim)
Glassroad (KringW, Ian, Victor, July)
Keyflower (VictorW, Lui, Jeff, Lukas, Ian)
Empires of the Void (Kring, Lem, Je, Kim, JulyW)
Splendor (Ian, Victor, Jeff)
Carcassone (LemW, Ana, JP, Lui, Jeff)
Celestia (IanW, Kim, Ana, Victor, Lem)
Terraforming Mars (Je, Jeff, Lui, Ian)
Pandemic (July, Kring, Victor, Kim) – August WIN
Dixshots (Lem, Jeff, Je, Victor, Kim, Ian)
Azul (AnaW, Jeff, Victor, July)

Meals:

Dinner – Php1570 (131/pax for 12pax)
- Pork BBQ (80/order) – 240
- Utan Bisaya (120/order) – 240
- Garlic Chicken (210/order) – 420
- Pancit Canton (185/order) – 370
- Rice Platter (100/order) – 300
Brunch – Php2800 (255/pax for 11pax)
- Crispy Pata (450/order) – 900
- Tinolang Manok (500/order) – 1500
- Rice Platter (100/order) – 400
Dinner – Php1610 (135/pax for 12pax)
- Chicken Inasal (12 pcs) – 460
- Pork Bellyy (3 orders) – 510
- Utan Bisaya (2 orders) – 240
- Rice Platter (4 orders) – 400
Lunch – Php3450 (190/pax for 12pax)
- 3 Calamares – 675
- 2 Sizzling Squid – 450
- Clam Tinola – 470
- 2 Chop Suey – 510
- 2 Grilled Ribs – 510
- 1 Shrimp Garlic – 235
- 4 Platter Rice – 600

Expense:

Room 12,000
Food 9430
Total: Php12,940 (1786/pax approx.)

Compared to the other escapades, this was the most relaxing so far because we didn’t prepare our own food. We just ordered from the restaurant. We even have off the menu requests. I highly recommend MonTeray farm in any activities especially team buildings and outings. Wilson and Kaye are very awesome hosts. We really felt loved and cared for. The staffs are superb too especially Cring2 & Herms. Would love to come back soon. 🙂

Bacolod – Boracay: A Back to Back Birthmonth Adventure

Unlike last year in Indochina, we didn’t plan to splurge on my birth month but when God blesses you, He will bless you with much. This 2017, lots of surprises came our way. These trips are included.

Because we were traveling together with the husband’s sister who is taking a month off work from being an OFW, our expense were very minimal. If it were up to us, a traditional birthday dinner will do considering the unplanned expense due to Mama’s hospitalization. But God’s awesomeness doesn’t end there. He not only allowed me to travel for my 31st birthday but He also gave me the chance to celebrate it with a mini-outreach at Josefa Recio Therapeutic Center (no photos to protect the mental patients). The gifts from my generous friends were converted into cash to buy foods for the mental patients who were at the center. Happy to be blessed to bless others. 🙂 I could go on yapping about God’s awesomeness these passing months but this blog is not for that. Go to my personal blog if you want to read about God’s faithfulness.

Moving on, Bacolod and Boracay were not on our list of must gos. For us, Boracay is just beach and Bacolod, what’s in Bacolod? But the trip convinced us that there’s more to Boracay than beach and there’s really something in Bacolod worthy of checking.

Below are the list of things that surprises us on our Bacolod – Boracay visit:

1. Bringing a car on a road trip to Bacolod is not that expensive.

Ever since we had punky, a road trip outside Cebu was in mind but we were never really that serious until the option presented itself. Road trip in Bacolod? Why not! The husband was incharge of the research. He noted that there’s only a few available articles online about it so we were not sure how much to pay until we arrived in Toledo Port. We only paid Php1025 pesos for Punky (our baby Suzuki Celerio) including the driver via FastCat. We chose FastCat because unlike LiteFerries, the travel to Bacolod is only an hour. Passenger fare is at Php150.

2. Going to Boracay from Caticlan involves multiple transport.

Compared to our previous pre-planned travels where we OC everything, we didn’t researched Boracay to bits. So when we arrived in Godofredo Ramos Airport we were pleasantly surprised at the number of rides we took to reached Boracay. Going to our accommodation in Watercolors, we booked a transport tour for Php2500 for 4 pax. From the airport, we were met by the tour personnel then ushered to rode a van to the port then a speed boat for 5 minutes then another van. The 5-minute boat ride baffled us. Why didn’t they build a bridge instead?

Going back to the airport, we commuted. We only spent Php980 in all. Rode a tryke to the port for Php180. Paid Php700 at the port: Php75 for the fare and Php100 for the terminal fee. Then another tryke to airport for Php25/pax. It was a good thing we tried the non-arranged transport. Now we know how much to allocate for a DIY transport to Boracay.

Total travel time from the airport to Boracay Station 1 is around 1 hour.

3. Staying at 2 different accommodations in Bacolod was strategic and comfortable.

On our first night, we planned to stay at Mambukal but it was fully booked so we stayed at M02 Westown instead. From San Carlos, we drove to Murcia to visit Mambukal then had a late check-in at M02. Had we stayed in Mambukal, it would have been out of the way to visit the city center at night. We rested after check-in then had dinner at Mercy’s Talabahan near the city hall. We then strolled and took photos of the city hall after.

Breakfast was included at the accommodation. After eating, we did an early checkout and attended the 10AM mass at San Sebastian Cathedral. We visited The Ruins after and stayed until our stomach screamed food. We arrived at Chicken House at 130PM. Had we arrived a little later, we would have missed eating there as they closed at 2PM and opened again for dinner time. After lunch, we were ready for Campuestohan Highlands Resort – our 2nd accommodation for the trip.

CHR was big and suprisingly, their rooms are not that expensive. We stayed at log cabin for only Php3300. We took the good for 3 person room and paid Php300 for the extra person. What’s good in staying at CHR overnight is that you get to experience a Baguio like feels in the morning.

4. Choosing an accommodation in Boracay Station 1 was worth it.

When we knew we were staying at Station 1, we were surprised. It was pricey but worth it. We stayed at a room with own balcony and mini-dining while the husband’s sister and mom is at the adjoining room with bath tub. Nighly rate is at Php7500/room. We stayed for 2 nights for a total of Php30K. The staffs were great. We were provided with welcome drinks and fruits plus good night chocs for 2 nights.

Aside from the superb accommodation, compared to Station 2 and 3, Station 1 was laid back. The beach was wider and not too populated. The beach walk from each stations was one of the high lights of our Boracay visit.

5. Both trips were still fun and relaxing even if we didn’t OC on the itinerary.

We didn’t have a full blown itinerary for these trips. We just picked the places to stay and did the activities that were available. In Mambukal, we just enjoyed the hot spring. Since it was raining, we missed to visit the falls and the boat ride. Same thing happened with CHR, we were only able to experience the wave pool and bubble swim for some minutes before we checked out. When we arrived at 4PM the previous day, the weather was cold. We were only able to take pictures before the attractions closed at 5PM. Had we known, it would have been better if we arrived early. Yet even if we were not able to do the activities, staying at CHR was already awesome. The whole resort is an eye candy. The pictures we took were enough. 🙂

Popularly known for it’s party atmosphere, what we had in Boracay was not what we expected. Contrary to what we believed, there’s actually something in Boracay other than the parties. The beach was awesome and staying at station 1 totally changed our view. We actually want to visit Boracay again. 🙂 Read our Boracay post to know why.

3D2N of Beach & Board Games in Badian, Cebu

Migo&Miga while waiting for the van to take us back to Cebu City.

And just like that, Summer 2017 has ended. It has been a busy April & May for the husband and I but majority of the activities were mine. The last weekend of May were his idea. Going with the Cebu Board Gamers on a 3-day escape to the beach was something new but I’m glad I did. It was the kind of much needed relaxation that resets me back to awesomeness. Yay!

So what can you do in Badian, Cebu? Aside from the famed Kawasan Falls, there’s the white sand beach too.

We had an awesome time with the beach and board games plus a side trip to Kawasan. It was indeed the best way to end the busy summer. 🙂

Trip Details

Beach & board games in Badian
May 26-28, 2017

Thanks to Victor & Ana for organizing

Attendees:

Victor, Ana, Kring, July, Je, JP, Kyle, Verne, Lem, Nina, Paul, Ina

Itinerary:

May 26:
9:00 Assembly Jollibee, Escario
9:30 ETD Lambug Beach Homestay
13:00 ETA Gaisano Moalboal (Lunch)
14:00 ETA Lambug Beach Homestay
15:00 Beach & Board Games
18:00 Dinner
20:00 Beach & Board Games
May 27:
8:00 Wake up
9:30 Breakfast
10:00 Beach
14:00 Lunch
16:00 Kawasan Falls via tricycle (Php100 round trip)
19:00 ETA Back to guest house
21:00 Dinner
22:00+ Board Games
May 28:
8:00 Wake up
9:30 Breakfast
12:30 ETD Cebu City
14:00 Barili Milk Station
16:30 Cebu City

Meal Plan:
May 26 Dinner: Grilled Fish, Spaghetti, Rice
May 27 Breakfast: Ham, Omelette, Fried Rice
May 27 Lunch: Lechon, Kimchi, Lumpia
May 27 Dinner: Pancit, Grilled Pork, Rice
May 28 Breakfast: Reheated Grilled Pork, Lumpia

Budget:
Php 2K all in.
Inclusions: Accommodation, van transport round trip, 5 meals++

Accommodation:
Lambug Beach Homestay
Snaps of the trip

Day 1 – May 26, 2017 (Friday)

Day 2 – May 27, 2017 (Saturday)

Day 3 – May 28, 2017 (Sunday)

One Trip and Tons of Fun in Moalboal, Cebu

We were on a self-imposed hiatus since our trip from Indochina from August 20 to September 1, 2016. The wife has been struggling with a lot of things and with it the desire to pursue wanders and adventures were put on hold. But since the start of the year, she realized that she was overdoing everything and was putting unwanted dent to our awesome life.

Last weekend, we kicked off our wanders on a joy ride to Moalboal, a 5-hour drive to the South of Cebu with our 2 guy friends aboard #Punky, our 2-month old baby Celerio. It was a trip with tons of fun other than the beach.

The Itinerary

Day 1:
08:00 Meetup
09:30 ETD to Moalboal
12:00 Lunch stop at Metro Carcar
13:30 Resume drive to Moalboal
15:30 ETA Nanay Terry’s
16:30 Magic Karaoke
17:00 Kite Flying
17:30 Dinner Preps
18:30 Dinner
19:30 Night Swimming
20:30 S’mores-ping Time
21:00 Board Games
02:00 Lights Off

Day 2:
07:30 Breakfast Preps
08:30 Kite Flying, Swimming
11:30 Going Home Preps
12:45 ETD to Moalboal Market
13:00 Lunch at Moalboal Market
15:00 Mantayupan Falls Barili
16:00 Milk Station Barili
19:00 ETA Cebu City

Where We Stayed:

Nanay Terry’s 09103618540
Php 2000
Airconditioned room good for 4

What I like about staying at Nanay Terry’s is that it was at the laid back part of Bas Dako. You will still need to walk to the public beach which makes Nanay Terry’s front beach less crowded.

What We Did?

Karaoke on the car – it was so timely that the husband was able to discover “Magic Karaoke” – a bluetooth mic and speaker.

2. Kite flying – we bought Octi before our trip to Indochina but was only able to fly her once at SRP where we were told that we need to get a permit to fly. Haha! But only after we were done flying her. Lol When we return from our trip, we scouted other places to fly her but failed.

3. Banana bed lounging

4. S’mores-phing – melting the marshmallows and putting in between hersheys and grahams crackers.

5. Photo Ops

It was a fun-filled weekend and a learning one too since we were able to produce our first ever #Xiaomi #Yi recorded videos. Haha! The wife compiled the videos while the husband did the final editing.

It was a gloomy Saturday but we were blessed with a sunny Sunday. It was an awesome come back indeed from our almost 4 months of break from wanders.

Till our next escape!!! But first, let us know what you think of the #CarpoolKaraoke, #BananaBed and #KiteFlying. Have you tried any of them? It’s awesome right?

Backpacking IndoChina in 11 Days: What To See & Do in Cambodia

I need to remember how great our adventure was. The thought of just hopping from country to country alone was an adventure in itself especially the border crossings but the best adventure was being able to see the places that we’ve only seen in books or in pictures. So stay with me as I relived our 11 day adventure that started in Cambodia then Vietnam then Laos, and finally Thailand. Yay!!! You can do this too! Maybe even better than we did. 🙂

Today is exactly 2 months since I turn 30 and flew to Cambodia – the starting point of our multi-country escape in Indochina to celebrate a new milestone. To be honest, I haven’t really had the time to check all the pics and do a cleanup since we return. And sometimes, everything feels like a dream. But I know it’s not because I have pictures to prove it. Plus every now and then, I get messages from strangers commending about our kick-ass and detailed plan too. I have Trip Zilla to thank for that. 🙂 Just grateful that I could share and inspire others to travel.

After detailing the everyday activities, I still have lots to tell but unfortunately, things happen. When I finally caught up, I got super busy that I felt the need for extra hours just to do the things that I wanted to do. 24 hours is just not enough. But today is a bit different. There’s this little voice in my head that’s telling me that I need to write to calm my raging thoughts. Oh yes, my to dos are still endless but I need this.

First stop: SIEM REAP, CAMBODIA

When you thought of Cambodia, of course the first place that would come to mind is Angkor Wat right? We were there. But to our delight, Angkor Wat is not just a single monumental structure. The place was HUGE. And that’s not all it, Siem Reap was actually home to lots of Angkors or city in ruins. IT WAS MIND-BLOWING. And because the husband is a National Geographic fan, it was like playground for him. For me, every corner is a place to photo shoot. Haha! If we ever come back to Cambodia, we would surely take the 3-day pass. But if you are in a hurry like us, you can just have it in 1 day and visit only the musts. See below our pictures arranged from our first stop to the last.

Day 1 Siem Reap, Cambodia (Currency spent: USD-cash on hand)
-Sunrise @ Angkor Wat
-Bayon, Baphoun, Royal Enclosure, Terraces of Elephants
-Checkout
-Lunch
-Bantay Kdei, Ta Phrom, Sunset @ Phnom Bakeng
-Night bus to Phnom Penh

Second stop: PHNOM PENH, CAMBODIA

We didn’t really knew much about Phnom Penh. When the husband asked why we would go there, I just answered because the bus from Siem Reap ends there and I want to rest after sleeping on a night bus. But surprisingly, we were able to sleep well on the night bus. Plus when we arrived at our accommodation, we were allowed an early check-in. So having rested, we don’t have a choice but to spend the rest of the day wandering. But what a wander that was. In all of our stops, Phnom Penh’s was the most heartbreaking. At S21, the husband had to asked that we shouldn’t take a selfie because it seems inappropriate. And to my disbelief, I just agreed without 2nd thoughts. We visited two sites from the horrors of Polpot’s regime in Cambodia: Choeung Ek Killing Fields and Toul Sleng Genocide Museum (S21). We spent the half day in Toul Sleng listening to the history of Polpot’s terror. I was teary-eyed all throughout. Those places are not for the faint at heart. It will really break you. But don’t fret because there’s still other nice places in Phnom Penh too like the Royal Palace and some others that we missed because we’ve stayed at Choeung Ek and S21 too long.

Day 2 Phnom Penh, Cambodia (Currency spent: USD-cash on hand)
-Early arrival in PhnomP
-SLA early check-in
-Killing fields 9-12 AM
-Lunch
-Toul Sleng 2-4 PM
-Royal Palace
-Independent Monument
– Buy tix to PP & Laos
-Slept @ SLA

More pics to follow from Phnom Penh soon. I will make time to scour in the coming days and post it in instagram since I’m still having problems with the storage and I don’t have time to tinker the new blog.

Stay tuned!!! We’d love to hear your thoughts of Siem Reap and Phnom Penh as well. Were you amazed at how big the Angkor Wat too? What are the nooks of Angkor Archaeological park that you’ve visited and we missed? How about Phnom Penh, were you as sad as we were upon hearing the stories of Polpot’s terror? Do tell.

PS: Please follow us at our INSTAGRAM and FACEBOOK page. We’d love to hear and reconnect to wanderers like you. 🙂

Thank you for reading. May God bless you on your travels.

Cheering on you,
Migo & Miga

2 Days in Bangkok, Thailand (Day 10-11/11)

We arrived in Bangkok at 5 AM via 4 transport transfers from Vang Vieng, Laos. The journey started with a VIP van to Thai-Laos Friendship Bridge where we processed the exit from Laos. As soon as we got off the van, we were ushered by a staff from Soutchai Travel. He gave us instructions on what to do and gave us a sticker. Before getting on the connecting bus, he told us that the sticker will be our identification of the Soutchai staff at the Thailand side. The bus to Nong Khai was quick. When we got off, a staff approached and ushered us at an office near a 7/11. We were given our tickets and instructed to wait for the bus at 8 PM. Since it was still 7PM, we had enough time to eat and bought a Thailand sim. We all thought that we would be riding the same sleeper bus all the way to Bangkok but we changed sleeper bus at Nakhon Ratchasima. At 5 AM, we arrived in Mo Chit Terminal 2 in Bangkok, Thailand. We only paid once for all the rides. The ticket was bought in Vang Vieng via Soutchai travel for 270K LAK, around 1600 PHP.

Taxi to Mahannop
Because it’s very early, there was no other transport in sight but taxis. Unfortunately, the driver doesn’t understand English. When we showed him the AirBNB receipt for the address, he proceeded to call our host to our suprise. But even after talking to Danielle, it took him a while to find the place. From that experience, we decided it is our best interest not to take taxi in Bangkok unless necessary. We will have more control if we take public transports.

Early Check-in Not Possible
When we arrived, our room was not yet available but we were able to deposit our big backpacks so we decided to start our tour early. Started it with breakfast in Bangkok.

Street Food Noodles
Our rule was if we were really hungry, we would not be adventurous and eat in the streets. But when I saw the yummy looking noodles at an alley stall, the rule was forgotten. Good thing the noodles were really good. We just used sign language to communicate.

What we did in Bangkok
Like the previous countries, I didn’t really OC on the itinerary. So I was quite surprised that our place where walking distance with the tourist spots. The blessings and luck were so abundant in this trip. Everything was perfectly laid out. Just thankful. 🙂

Armed with google maps and the husband’s awesome grasp of directions, we went around checking the places in the “Rattanokosin Cultural Route” then did a walking tour to Wat Phra Kaew.

Wat Phra Kaew and The Grand Palace
And like Phnom Penh’s Royal Palace, we didn’t had an idea that the place was huge. We had fun taking pictures and listening to it’s history via the audio tour. Unfortunately, the audio tour is limited to 2 hours only so we weren’t able to listen to them wholeheartedly in between photo shoots.

Around 1 PM, our host texted that our room was ready but we were still busy exploring. By 4 PM, we had enough. Who wouldn’t? Most tourists will have stayed there for around an hour but we stayed for 5 hours. Just wow! When we left Migo mentioned that a guard commented that he was wondering what we were doing inside since he saw us in the morning until the afternoon. Most tourists stayed only for an hour. LOL

The Rest of Day 1
When we left the grand palace, we were very exhausted so we decided to not walk all the way back. We took the tuktuk and paid 100 BAHT. After checking in, we took a bath and decided that we had enough wander for the day. We slept then went out to dine with a friend. The night ended with us playing board games at a board game cafe just like what we did in Hong Kong.

Bangkok Day 2
We woke up late. By this time, we felt we needed the extra sleep. After checking out and left our bag, we went to visit “Wat Pho” and had lunch inside. But it was evident that we had enough fun since most of our time were spent eating. The husband seeing me exhausted decided we just need to visit the “musts”. After checking some spots, we decided to call it a day and walk all the way back to the guest house. We lingered for a while to charge our phones. By 6 PM, we were ready to go. We rode a bus to the train station bound to the airport.

Bangkok Pics Here!

3 Days in Vang Vieng, Laos (Day 7-9/11)

The plan was to leave Vientiane at 6 AM but we found a 9:30 AM bus schedule. We welcomed the change since we’ve been waking very early the passing days.

We woke up a little late than usual and had our breakfast at the Karenderia near Singsanti’s. By 9:00 AM, we were already in front of Capitol Residence waiting for pick-up. After 15 minutes of waiting, we were worried why our pick-up didn’t show up. The husband asked me to call the ticketing. They assured us that the pick-up will be there in 10 minutes. Another 10 minutes passed, still nothing. The husband pushed to call again but I hesitated because it might seem too pushy. After a while the tuktuk came and we relaxed a little. We picked up 2 more along the way.

Bottom right pic is Migo standing in front of our accommodation in Vientiane. The rest are pics from our breakfast - the street opposite the karenderia, the karenderia and our food! — Bottom right pic is Migo standing in front of our accommodation in Vientiane. The rest are pics from our breakfast – the street opposite the karenderia, the karenderia and our food!

Bus to Vang Vieng

The travel to Vang Vieng is about 4 hours. When we got to the bus, it was already filled so the husband and I were forced to seat apart. On the way, the husband was sound asleep while I blogged about our day in Vientiane.

Journey to Vang Vieng from Vientiane! Migo & Miga wearing the new couple shirt bought at Vientiane night market.

Hello Vang Vieng!

When we arrived, most of the tourist left the bus station immediately on board a van while we waited for our host to pick us up. After a while a pick-up arrived. Without asking, we went with the other group. It turned out, that wasn’t our pick-up. Haha! When our host called, we told her we rode on the wrong pick-up. Nouth arrived in a while.

I picked Nouth’s place because it had awesome ambiance. True to the pics, it made me feel like we were on a honeymoon. We’ll talk more about the place we’ve stayed in 6 cities on a separate blog soon. Stay tuned.

Our quaint accommodation with our friendly host, Nouth! — Our quaint accommodation Lao Valhalla with our friendly host, Nouth!

Vang Vieng Day 1

After settling, we slept and explored Vang Vieng. We borrowed a bike and took our first pic of Vang Vieng’s mountains. Then went to the riverside looking for the view on bright side’s pic. We saw bridges but none matches what we saw in the picture. It was about sunset so we decided to just let it go since what we were seeing was just as beautiful.

Migo tuning the bike for our first stroll!

The riverside view with the power of timer! :D — The riverside view with the power of timer! 😀

Life in Vang Vieng, Laos! We were welcome with the rainbow promise. 🙂

When we had our fill, we walked to find a good place to eat. We had dinner then went back to the guest house and stayed at the common area. After a while, other guests arrived. We had the chance to get to know them. Hema and Alex from Spain, then Lara from UK. We bid goodbye around 11:30 PM since we had an early call-time for the half day tour.

Vang Vieng Day 2
We woke up around 8 AM. Had breakfast and by 9 AM, we were ready for our half-day tour. One other guest who also stayed at Lao Valhalla joined us. On the way to the drop off we exchanged infos. When we arrived on our tour service, 3 more joined.

Our group of 6 composed of 4 nationalities: Chinese, Koreans, Laotian and us. The tour started at a trek to the start of a multi-stop zipline. The 1st stop was around 10-15 minutes walk from the common area where our Laotian guide waited while preparing our lunch.

It took us around an hour to finish all the stops. While enjoying the ride, you get to enjoy the view on the top of each platform too. At the last ride, I was famished.

Lunch were served and after we went tubing into a cave. We laid down on our tube and then pull ourselves into the cave.

The tubing was extreme. I was concerned with pulling myself that I fail to enjoy the view inside. I was afraid of being left out too. The husband said his arms were sore ’cause of the tubing. Luckily, mine didn’t because I pushed to stay close to the only other girl in the group – Yang, the Chinese. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to take a photo, besides it’s pitch dark inside the cave. I’m claustrophobic so that was kind of hard for me.

We rested for a while and then went into the last stop of our half day tour – the Elephant Cave. Yang and the 3 Korean guys Yong, Jang & Kim have full day tours. We went back to our cab and traveled back to the start of their 10K kayaking. As they were oriented, I’m feeling grateful that we opt to miss it. When they left with their kayaks, our service drop us back to Namsong Bridge.

While our tour-friends are busy paddling the 10K back to city center, the husband and I went to rent a motorbike for our trek!

Motorbiking and Trekking in Vang Vieng
When we bike to the city center on our first day, our bike act up. As the husband tried fixing, a guy approached us and walked the bike. We were surprised. In my head ran bad thoughts again but as we got nearer, we saw the same bikes. We assumed he must be Nouth’s friend – the owner of the bike. He gave us a new bike and fixed what we used. While at it, we saw his motorcycles for rent too.

On the way to Nouth’s place after our half day tour doing zip line, tubing and caving, we were dropped by the tour service at Namsong Bridge. As we passed by Nouth’s friend’s place, we decided to rent a motorbike. In Vang Vieng, there are no public transportation. To go places, you have to bike or motorbike on your own. Since we planned to trek, we needed a motorbike to go there.

The husband chose the manual motorbikes first but after 2 tries, he opted for the automatic ones which were rented at a higher price. We took the motorbike home and rested for a while before leaving for our next activity of the day – trekking in Vang Vieng (will make a separate post for details).

After the trek, we went back to the city center again and as planned tried massage after dinner. Our very 1st massage since birth. Haha! It was an amazing experience. Can’t wait to try other massage since we just had a Lao traditional massage. We went back to the house past midnight already so we decided to retire.

Vang Vieng Day 3 – Blue Lagoon and Off to Bangkok, Thailand

From my research, I only find a 10AM bus sked but when we bought a ticket on our 1st day, there was a 1:30 PM trip bound to Bangkok already. It added us an extra half day in Vang Vieng and crunched our travel time to night.

We spent the extra hours swimming at Blue Lagoon despite the rain. By 1 pm, we were ready to go. We bid goodbye to Nouth. Yang was scheduled to leave too. Nouth drop us at the end of Namsong bridge. We walked to the other side and waited for our bus pickup.

While waiting, the husband bought lunch and mango shake. Unfortunately, he wasn’t able to enjoy it since I toppled the table and dropped the mango shake. I was stunned for a while, thinking he would lashed out at me. But just like always, his patience and tolerance for my carelessness is noteworthy. Thank you Lord for husbands like Migo. 🙂

Then we were off to our journey back to Vientiane then finally to the friendship bridge where an agent of Soutchai Travel assisted us. He bought our terminal fee then instructed us to ride the bus to the other side. When we arrive in the border of Thailand, another agent from Soutchai Travel helped us get our night bus ticket. When we were settled at the bus station, he bade us goodbye. As it was still 7 pm, we had an hour to ourselves since the bus is scheduled to arrive at 8:00 PM. The husband and I didn’t waste our time and bought food and a Thai sim card. The 7/11 staff was very kind enough to set-up our sim. It was much easier than our experience at Laos. 🙂

The story about how we were awed (or naihas) with the night bus to Bangkok is up next. Stay tuned. Hopefully, I can blog this weekend. I’m just so excited to be done with the personal blogging so that I could finally start my non-meish blogging and do a cleanup. I’m afraid that if I did the non-meish stuffs first, I would forget the personal details. It’s just doesn’t feel right to forgot my first love. LOL

Booked: Indochina Backpacking Tips and Tricks

Sharing our trip at Tripzilla was good because I was able to learn a lot from the people’s comments. While I find our trip just within our budget, I realized that it may have been too much for others. Our budget was 100K excluding the flight fare and accommodation (pre-paid). We spend only 8OK for 4 countries which makes it 20K per country (10K/person/country).

We find our trip just enough but to those who find it steep on the budget here’s a list of tips and tricks in which they can compromise while we decided that they are must-haves.

Accommodation
One of our biggest expense is the accommodation since we have them all pre-booked in AirBNB around 2-3 months before the date. While I am adventurous and a daredevil, the husband wanted a sure place to stay. He couldn’t imagine us jumping from place to place without a proper accommodation at hand. Also, we have a listing in AirBNB. Using it as our main platform for accommodation is paying it forward.

Tip: In all of the four countries, there were lots of accommodations everywhere. If you are feeling brave, just booked only your starting country since you might need it at the immigration or use other platforms other than AirBNB and see if you can find a much better deal.

Transportation
Jumping from one country to the other is expensive. We’ve spent around 14K. These were all land trips since I wanted to experience the border crossings. Call it crazy but Indochina wouldn’t be the same had we flown all over. Lol Expensive and battering but worth it. We were able to experience traveling in different modes of transport plus we had a chance to immersed with the locals too. You can check on the table for our fares and cross check it with flights. You might find a better deal than we did. The table had time duration too.

Also, Laos was super stretched. It was crazy going there from Vietnam. Most of the itineraries I saw on the net exclude Laos.

There was miscalculation on the flight too. It would have been nice if we started from HCMC, Vietnam to Cambodia to Bangkok and then end in Laos. But we weren’t really thinking of the itinerary when we booked.

Tip: Don’t include Laos in your itinerary. Vang Vieng is not to be missed but you can do a trip to Laos separately. On this trip, we missed Luang Prabang so maybe you can include it in yours. In Laos alone, we’ve spent around 11K+ so if you exclude it, it’ll be cheaper.

Food
When I made the plan, I only allocated around 8K. What happened was it ballooned to almost twice. Instead of just eating in the streets, we splurged a little. Ate at cafes and some to our heart’s desires. Lol I’m a fan of thrift eating too but we’ve saved enough to eat nicely so why shouldn’t we?

Tip: Don’t eat at cafes. Be adventurous always and eat always in the streets.

Tours and Private Transportation while checking Spots
I’m an avid DIYers but when you only have a day to spend on a city, you can’t help but splurged on the easy way or else you will be spending your day unwisely. Besides we only have 11 days of travel in between these countries. We need to make use of our time wisely.

Tip: Haggle to the max. We didn’t really haggled much for ours. 🙂

Extras
The 40K is not all spent in Indochina trip only. We spent around 15K+ in our Manila lay-over. Look at our gdocs detail to see everything that we spent per country. Also we splurged a little in buying stuffs like couple shirts and souvenirs which were not actually part of our plan. Hehe

Tip: Be firm in your budget. Don’t be tempted with couple shirts and unique skirt (wore them on our 1st day in Vang Vieng). Don’t even think of buying souvenirs even if they are too cute. Don’t give tips and the likes. Hehe We spend 9k on these extras.

Summary
We planned this trip for almost 8 months since we booked the ticket on December 31, 2015. I’m an OC planner and always try to make travel cheap. But maybe this is not cheap enough. Haha

Tip: Next time on your next travel, make the itinerary first before the ticket. The greatest lesson I learned from this trip is to plot your itinerary first before getting a ticket especially if you plan on a multi-country route.

So is our trip expensive? Depends on whose perspective. But we’ve always been cautious travelers and we planned for things wisely. We are not some millenial traveler. For us, this is enough and money well spent. If you ever find a much cheaper version, do let us know. 🙂

Open our planning doc for more details. Just added a new sheet “Expense_Details” that has the day-to-day spending because we’ve been getting inquiries about entrances and etc.

I actually have all the data in my ever note since everyday on travel before sleeping, we tracked how much we were spending to make sure we were on track. 🙂

Cheering on you,
Miga&Migo

Booked: Indochina Backpacking Itinerary + Expenses (Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos, Thailand)

I wanted to do this post after I narrated the everyday adventure but the thought of knowing how poor have we become won’t let me rest. Haha! I didn’t even want to go out since we arrived on Thursday because of it. LOL But the husband was unusually restless. He went out on Friday and begged me to joined him on a movie with friends on Saturday (Train to Busan). All throughout, I felt like I was there but not really there. All I wanted to do is just sit down and track our damage, which I did this dawn. Slept around 3 AM just to get it all laid out. (Yeah, OC!) I wanted to write a post immediately but I remembered piktochart. I can’t make a post without it.

Today everything is ready. 🙂 I had an initial accounting on Friday while the husband was playing board games. I noted that we spent around 25K per person, almost the same amount with our Hongkong-Macau trip for 5 days but I forgot to include the flight fares and accommodations which were already paid plus our expense in Manila and some ATM charges. In all, we spent around 40K per person – that’s everything already. 10K less than my estimated 50K pocket money only. I actually thought we spent bigger since we had some extra splurges like the souvenirs and shopping which were not part of the estimates. Haha! See the details here. Everything is plotted – schedules, itinerary, expenses, transpo & accommodation.

Was it worth our money?

Of course! It was worth every penny. The joy of wanders is totally overwhelming. Much more to me since I loved everything about the trip since the planning. And being able to achieved everything that was planned is totally mind blowing. I attribute it all to God, to the good people of the place we’ve been to, especially to the husband who has been very supportive in everything. Once again, the Lord has shown me that nothing is impossible if you only put your mind and heart into it. People thought it was crazy – 4 countries in less than 2 weeks? Who’d do that? We JUST did. Crazy Couple, are we not?!

Where’s the awesome pics?

As much as I wanted to share it now but this blog’s storage is unfortunately full already. And it might take some time to select favorites with an almost 8 GB of pics from Day 0 to Day 12. The husband did post our Go Pro selfies on his Facebook. That would be for now. Will find a way in the coming days. Hehe! Stay tuned. 🙂

The Itinerary

I had a very detailed itinerary in our planning board but on our next trip, I think I will adapt the new plotted itinerary found in our updated board. Putting in just the goals of the day is way better that OC-ing everything with time limits. Flexibility is much more fun. Also, I loved it that every time we arrived at a new place, the husband would just ask our target place to visit and then he will searched it on his maps and find a way to get us there either walking or bus or train. Well, you could do this if you have a very reliable and direction-savvy husband or travel partner especially if you are like me who is only good at planning but zero in directions and map reading. Hahaha!

Day 0 Cebu->Manila, Manila->Siem Reap
-Flight to Manila (unfortunately Cebu Pac doesn’t have Cebu->Siem Reap. Right now, there are only 5 international destination that can be reached directly in Cebu: Singapore, Hongkong, Taipei, Incheon, Tokyo-Narita. Maybe, we’ll have Singapore or Taipei next. The husband and I had a consensus not to do Korea and Japan anytime soon. Will blog about it on the coming days.)
-8 hours of lay-over
-Flight to Siem
-Late night hostel checkin
-Slept at Khmere’s Place

Day 1 Siem Reap, Cambodia (Currency spent: USD-cash on hand)
-Sunrise @ Angkor Wat
-Bayon, Baphoun, Royal Enclosure, Terraces of Elephants
-Checkout
-Lunch
-Bantay Kdei, Ta Phrom, Sunset @ Phnom Bakeng
-Night bus to Phnom Penh

Day 2 Phnom Penh, Cambodia (Currency spent: USD-cash on hand)
-Early arrival in PhnomP
-SLA early check-in
-Killing fields 9-12 AM
-Lunch
-Toul Sleng 2-4 PM
-Royal Palace
-Independent Monument
– Buy tix to PP & Laos
-Slept @ SLA

Day 3-4 Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam (Currency spent: VND-withdrawn)
Day 3:
-Checkout at SLA at 7AM
-Early departure to HCMC
-Checkin at Rich’s Place
-Afternoon & night in HCMC
-City walk to riverside & etc
-Book Cu Chi tunnel tour
-Slept @ Rich’s Place

Day 4:
-Checkout at Rich’s at 6AM
-Breakfast outside
-Left the big packs
at VietWay Tours
-Cu Chi Tour 8-230PM
-Bus back to PPenh 400 PM
-Arrive 10PM, slept
at Village Hostel

Day 5 Bus from HCMC, Vietnam ->PP, Cambodia ->Vientiane, Laos (Currency spent: USD, LAK-withdrawn in Pakse, Laos)
-Checkout at Village Hostel
-Van to Stung Treng 4AM
-Arrival in Stung Treng 12PM
-Van to Pakse1230PM
-Arrival in Pakse 500PM
-Dinner
-Night bus to Vientiane 830PM

Day 6 Vientiane, Laos (Currency spent: LAK)
-Arrival in Vientiane 7AM
-Early checkin @ Sing’s
-Rest & lunch after
– Buy tix to Vang Vieng
-Visit Buddha Park
-Riverside & night market
-Slept at Sing’s

Day 7-9 Vang Vieng (Currency spent: LAK-withdrawn in Vang Vieng)
Day 7:
-Checkout @ Sing’s
-Breakfast at karenderia
-Departure to VangV 9AM
-Arrival in VangV 1PM
-Checkin @ Nouth’s
-Rented a bike and do a tour
-Slept @ Nouth’s

Day 8:
-Free breakfast
-Join a half-day tour w/
Ziplining, Caving & Tubing
-Rent a motorbike
-Trek to Phon Ngern
Mountain
-Dinner & tried a Lao Massage
-Slept @ Nouth’s

Day 9:
-Free breakfast
-Motorbike to Blue Lagoon
-Checkout @ Nouth’s
-Left VangV @ 1PM
-Dinner while waiting for bus
-@ Sleeper bus by 8PM
-Slept @ bus

Day 10-11 Bangkok (Currency spent: BAHT-withdrawn in Nong Khai)
Day 10:
-Arrive in Bangkok at 6AM
-Early checkin not possible
-Left bag and do an early
temple visit @ Royal Palace
and Wat Pra Kaew
-Checkin at 3PM, slept
-Free dinner @ 7 PM
-Visit a board game cafe
-Slept @ Daniele’s

Day 11:
-Woke up late.
-Free brunch
-Checkout & left bag
-Visit Wat Pho
-Back to pickup bag
-Dinner @ airport
-Left bangkok at 12AM

Day 12 Flight out of Suvarnabhumi Airport, Bangkok
-Arrive in Mla at 4 AM
-Checkin at The Wings
-Slept until 12PM
-Free brunch
-Checkout at 1:30 PM
-Left Manila at 4:00 PM
-Home by 5:00 PM
-Dinner at Bigby’s til 10PM

Highlights:
-Able to withdraw VND, LAK & BAHT
-Affordable internet sim in Laos & Thailand
-All bus tix were bought on the day & were able to pick new sked thus extending
wander time.
-Tried a lot of means of transport
-Eat at street foods & cafes alike
-Able to bike & motorbike in Vang V
-Able to trek in Vang V
-Meet new friends in Cu Chi & Vang V tour
-Achieved the 4 country target with no bus sked aberrations & etc
-No bad experiences in people and etc
-Able to navigate on our own via maps
-Amazed by The Wings in NAIA 3
-Awesome trip!!!

TOTAL DAMAGE:

Category	Cost
PRE-PAID (via credit card)	₱18,831.40
Ceb<->Mla; Mla->Siem; BKK->Mla	₱10,802.40
Accommodations	₱8,029.00
PAID DURING TRIP	₱61,729.95
Transport in between cities	₱14,736.00
Expenses*	₱46,993.95
TOTAL FOR TWO PERSONS	₱80,561.35
Per person cost	₱40,280.68

Documents here:

Indochina in 11 Days (Cam-Vie-Lao-Tha) Infographic
Trip Details (Schedules, Itinerary, Expense, Transpo, Accommodation)

Accommodations:

	Date	Place	Link to Stay	Cost /Person (US$)	Total Cost (US$)	Total Cost (₱)*	Notes
1	8/20 – 8/21	Siem Reap, Cambodia	Khmere’s Place	US$10	US$20	₱942	Sat Night, Booked
2	8/22 – 8/23	Phnom Penh, Cambodia	Local Riverside Guesthouse	US$10	US$22	₱1,036	Mon Night, Booked
3	8/23 – 8/24	Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam	Rich’s Place	US$13	US$15	₱705	Tue Night, Booked
4	8/24 – 8/25	Phnom Penh, Cambodia	Khmer Village Hostel	US$10	US$20	₱960	Wed Night
5	8/26 – 8/27	Vientiane, Laos	Singsanti’s	US$13	US$15	₱802	Fri Night, Booked
6	8/27 – 8/29	Vang Vieng, Laos	Lao Valhalla Bungalows & Restaurant	US$25	US$25	₱2,641	Sat,Sun Night, Booked
7	8/30 – 8/31	Bangkok, Thailand	Daniele’s	US$15	US$15	₱943	Tue Night, Booked
TOTAL				US$96	US$132	₱8,029

*US$1 = ₱48

Transportation:

	Date	From	To	Transportation (Ticketing/Bus)	Travel Time (hrs)	Cost /Person (US$)	Total Cost (US$)	Total Cost (₱)*
1	8/21 (Sun), 22:30	Siem Reap, Cambodia	Phnom Penh, Cambodia	Night Bus (Cambodia Angkor Express)	7	US$18	US$36	₱1,728
2	8/23 (Tue), 08:00	Phnom Penh, Cambodia	Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam	Day Bus (Phuong Heng (Sun Leang))	7	US$15	US$30	₱1,440
3	8/24 (Wed), 16:00	Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam	Phnom Penh, Cambodia	Day Bus (Phuong Heng (Sun Leang))	7	US$15	US$15	₱1,440
4	8/25 (Thu), 4:30	Phnom Penh, Cambodia	Stung Treng, Cambodia	Van (Sun Leang)	7	US$65	US$130	₱6,240
	8/25 (Thu), 12:30	Stung Treng, Cambodia	Pakse, Laos	Van	5
	8/25 (Thu), 20:30	Pakse, Laos	Vientiane, Laos	Sleeper Bus	11
5	8/27 (Sat), 9:30	Vientiane, Laos	Vang Vieng, Laos	Day Bus (Yortdoy Service)	4	US$5.50	US$11	₱528
6	8/29 (Mon), 13:30	Vang Vieng, Laos	Udonthani, Laos	Van (Southchai)	6	US$35	US$70	₱3,360
	8/25 (Thu), 20:30	Udonthani, Laos	Nakhon Ratcha, Thailand	Sleeper Bus	7
	8/30 (Tue), 3:00	Nakhon Ratcha, Thailand	Bangkok, Thailand	Sleeper Bus	3
TOTAL					64 (2.67 days)	US$153.50	US$307	₱14,736

*US$1 = ₱48

Basically, above are the details that you will need if you ever want to do what we did. But maybe you can find a better option than do a crazy all day travel from Vietnam to Laos. You can also scrap Laos altogether like this itinerary.

When we book this trip, we didn’t really thought about what we will do. We just booked the cheapest flight that we found. Haha! You can do better. 🙂 That’s if you are willing to gamble like what we did here since basically, I didn’t find the same itinerary of what we did when we planned this. LOL Laos was the odd one out but I really wanted to visit Vang Vieng. No regrets though because Vang Vieng is way better than what I have dreamed of. 🙂

Finally this is it. 🙂 I will try my best to continue writing the everyday happenings but most of the non-personal details are already here. You can ask me anything if you have more questions about doing this adventure. If you ever thought about doing this, listen to that voice.

No matter what other people tell you, doing what you love is the best thing in the world EVER! Go and seize it. YOU ONLY LIVE ONCE so make the most out of it. 🙂 You can’t bring possessions to your grave but memories live forever.

Cheering on you,

Migo & Miga

This post is at TripZilla’s Blog. Shared also at TripZilla Philippines Facebook Page.

13D12N of Adventure – an Instagram and Facebook Recap

Before continuing the story of our Indochina adventure in Vang Vieng, Laos – our longest city stop, let us reminisce the adventure with our everyday updates. Instagram updates were done by the wife (me) and super amazed that the husband voluntarily joined the fun by posting in his Facebook page. Hurray! I have Pokemon Go to thank for since if not for it, the husband surely wouldn’t get a mobile internet and a new phone. Haha!

Here’s the day-to-day activity from our albums & linked to the blogs:

Day 0 – Flight to Siem Reap, Cambodia

Day 1 – Temple Hop in Siem Reap, Cambodia & night bus to Phnom Penh, Cambodia

Day 2 – Historics in Phnom Penh, Cambodia

Day 3 – Day bus to HCMC, Vietnam & night life

Day 4 – HCMC, Vietnam & bus back to Phnom Penh, Cambodia

Day 5 – Multi-transport to Vientiane, Laos

Day 6 – Vientiane, Laos

Day 7 – Vang Vieng, Laos
Day 8 – Vang Vieng, Laos
Day 9 – Vang Vieng, Laos & multi-transport to Bangkok, Thailand
Day 10 – Bangkok, Thailand
Day 11 – Bangkok, Thailand & flight to Manila
Day 12 – Manila, Philippines

Will update this post as soon as I’m done writing the remaining activities from Day 7 on wards.

Here’s the 28 insta pics that summarized our activities everyday since August 20, 2016 (the wife’s 30th birthday) to September 01, 2016 (the husband’s birth day count down at 10. birthday on September 10!)