TheWanderfullLifePH – The WANDER (FULL) LIFE

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

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!)

In Facebook:

Our trip in numbers:

10 leg of transports,7 accommodations, 6 wandered cities, 4 border crossings, 4 flights, 2 stop-overs

How poor have we become?

Will post soon. 🙂

A Crazy Travel from HCMC, Vietnam to Vientiane, Laos (Day 5/11)

Yip. You read it right. It was a van, not a bus. And we were quite surprised as well. But they speak no English, how else would we know what’s going on. The husband kept asking if the van would take us all the way to Vientiane. I had no idea. The husband asked if I still have the ticket. The ticket was collected by the tuktuk driver. Whoah. We had no proof. I bet the husband was ultra-worried at that point because I was. But I kept my cool and the belief that we are favored. God is with us so who could be against us?

Missing Vietnam would have been easier on our itinerary and pocket but this wouldn’t have been called IndoChina sampler had we missed it. No regrets though. The travel was surprisingly comfortable and fun. No schedule hiccups and we were able to jump from city to city and country to country smoothly. Thanks to God, to our imposed discipline and to all the strangers who helped us along the way. Being in foreign countries with different languages and only a handful can speak and understand English was hard but we made it through. It turned out, the first step was only the hardest. Everything that followed was easier than we thought it could be.

First Leg: Bus from HCMC to Phnom Penh

The info on the net was limited. We were supposed to ride Giant Ibis transport since that was the only bus company who had a kick-ass site and good reputation on my research. What happened was, we never rode a Giant Ibis bus. From Siem Reap to Phnom Penh, we rode Cambodia Angkor Express Co. Ltd night bus. Lesung, the staff in Khmere’s Place in Siem Reap booked it for us instead of Giant Ibis because it has tuktuk pick-up. Giant Ibis had none.

How to Laos?

Phnom Penh(PP) was the crucial part of our leg. It was our decision point. From PP, no night bus for HCMC but it has a bus going to Vientiane, Laos. But going to HCMC will cost us half a day of travel. Going back will cost us another. Yet there was no way we will miss Vietnam. IndoChina trip wouldn’t be complete without it.

We had 7 itineraries for this trip. The only difference is the travel across countries. The hardest leg was going to Laos from HCMC (Saigon). My 1st choice was to travel from Saigon to Hanoi by train, then bus to Luang Prabang, Laos. The husband thought it was crazy. It is crazy but I was pumped with the idea of being in a train for 24 hours. I was concern with the day travel between PP and Saigon also. The husband asked me to re-consider and try plotting the bus route. When I did, I realized that it was actually the shorter route. Going to Hanoi takes 24 hours and the bus from Hanoi to Luang is another 24+ hours while the bus route will only take us exactly 24 hours.

We had a plan but of course we didn’t know if the bus schedule on the net were updated. Thankfully and by God’s grace, He led us to Mr. Dara who took us to Sun Leang ticketing office in Phnom Phen. At Sun Leang, we were able to book the tickets to and from Saigon then the longest leg from PP to Vientiane, Laos. The owners at Sun Leang were very kind. The schedule I found on the net from HCMC to PP was at 8:30 AM and 12:30 PM only, luckily there was a last trip at 4 PM. With the new departure of 4 PM, instead of just doing the city tour in HCMC, we were able to visit Cu Chi Tunnel. It was a stretch and somewhat scary because the tour ends at 2:30 PM. If something had gone wrong, we’d be missing both our bus back to PP and the leg to Vientiane. It would have cost us 160 USD of money and tons of regrets too. Good thing, we were blessed. Not only did the tour went well, we met some awesome people on the tour too. Awesome God indeed!!!

Goodbye Saigon

The tour ended as scheduled. We had enough time to eat before the bus leaves at 4 PM. We ate at Subway. While we were waiting for our food, the husband noticed the other diner. He remembered seeing him at Sun Leang ticketing office. He’s the same guy indeed. We chatted for a while until it was time to go but not without adding each other in Facebook first. We wished him safe travels with his new baby – a motorbike then took a photo.

When we checked-in at our transit hotel in PP near Sun Leang, I saw Luna’s post with his bike. Thankful that he too has arrived safely just as we did.

Goodbye Phnom Penh

Sun Leang’s owner told me to call him when we return from HCMC but I forgot about it. Not minding it much too since we didn’t have a phone to call him. When we arrived at the bus station, we were at a stand still again. Our departure to Vientiane is still at 4 AM. We find it costly to checked-in at a hotel since we would be staying for hours only. But we were tired. The next leg of travel was the longest. We needed the extra boost. The tuktuk took us to a hostel near Sun Leang. At that time, I thought it was the bus station. But it was actually the ticketing office. Haha!

We left the hostel at 4:00 AM. Our schedule is at 4:30 AM. The tuktuk told us to go to the end of the road. When I almost reached it, I felt a little dejavu. It was only then that I realized that we are not going to a bus station but to the ticketing office, and the karenderia where we had our first meal in PP was right across Sun Leang. Lol Toast to being meh. Haha!

After my realizations, fear took over. Why were we brought here? Now what? When we approached Sun Leang, a tuktuk driver asked if we wanted a ride. We said no and told him we wanted to go to Sun Leang bus station. Drown in misery, I didn’t noticed him calling somebody. After a while, the ticketing office opened and the owner was surprised to see us. He asked why I didn’t call. Ohhh me.

When I realized that the tuktuk driver had called him to notify we were outside, I turned around. I didn’t noticed him leaving. We were not able to express our gratitude but may he be blessed for his kindness. Being helped without asking is just amazing. Thank God for people like him.

We waited for a while then our pick-up arrived. We bid goodbye to the owner and felt at peace. Bus and transport schedule is everything on this crazy trip so every time we are scheduled to hop on, we are always on our toes until we reached the bus. Haha!

Van to Stung Streng, Cambodia

We were 12 on the VIP Van. There was only 1 that looks like a tourist but he looks a little scary so we felt on our own. There were numerous stops along the way. At one stop, I excused myself to pee. It was then that I noticed that I was the only woman on the van. Negativity washed over me a little but I shrugged it. Thinking of negative things will only invite real danger.

When we had our breakfast stop at 9 AM after traveling for 4 hours, I had a good look at our fellow passengers. They didn’t look that scary at all. When we went back to the van, I felt more at ease until we noticed them leaving the van one at a time at around 11 AM. What’s happening again?

It turned out the last stop of our VIP van is Stung Streng. Once there, our driver dropped us at a local place, talked to the owner and notify him of our destination. After some calls, our VIP van left. We were not told what to do next but as I got the hint, I asked the owner what time is the next ride. But I asked a little late. We’ve been wating for around 30 minutes already. There was no time to eat lunch.

Another Van to Pakse, Laos

The van this time is slightly bigger with around 15 passengers. There were 2 elderly women who I think knew some of the passengers since they kept talking. The other tourist from the previous van turned out not very tourist after all since he knew how to communicate with them. From our little time waiting in Stung Streng, I realized that he too has difficulty speaking in English.

Before we left Stung Streng, I asked the owner if this van will take us all the way to Vientiane. He said no and told me that we will take the night bus to Vientiane. The driver will give us the ticket. I was totally in awe and felt that it was another God-given surprise. Not taking the bus was actually nice since we were able to experience a bit of local atmosphere.

Crossing the border to Laos

After an hour of travel from Stung Streng, we reached the border.
When we cross to Vietnam from Cambodia, our passports were collected by the bus staff. We didn’t have to do anything but lined up to collect our passport after it was stamped.

This time, we did it by ourselves. We went together with the locals. Wrote our name in the arrival and departure cards and lined up to have our passport stamped. As I was writing our name, I noticed people giving their passport with money in it. I actually thought it was bribe. Haha!

Unlike the crossing to Vietnam where we didn’t pay anything, we paid 2 USD on exit and 2 again on entrance. So the money with the passport is actually that payment. Lol

After the exit, we walk to the border entrance of Laos. An officer hand us an arrival card. I thought badly again but nothing happened. And as I was waiting for our passport, negative thoughts ran on my head and again, nothing happened. Now that I was recalling it, I felt a little disappointed with myself for even thinking negative things. I’ve read so much and must have been corrupted by the bad stories. Tsk. I’m just glad everything went by smoothly and even surpassed our expectations. God truly is the best.

Hello Laos!

At around 3 PM, we stopped at a local store. They must have noticed my look and signed a hand to the mouth. And as we went outside, one of the passengers mentioned Pacquiao. The husband was quick to answer. They all laughed.

We waited with them at the store not really knowing what they ordered. We were at the table with the 2 elderly women. When the order arrived, it was then that they signed if we wanted some. It was noodles. We ordered just 1 in case we wouldn’t like the taste. It was yummy. Our first taste of Lao noodles. Yay!!!

There were vegetables served with the noodles. When I pointed on it, 1 of the elderly woman, showed me how it was eaten. She took a string beans and dipped it at a gray paste. I copied her and realized that the paste taste like salted fish. It must have been salted fish paste. I loved it. I ate everything on our bowl.

We stayed at the store for almost an hour. When it was time to pay, it was then that we realized we didn’t have Laotian kip. The driver paid in our behalf and we gave him our money.

Welcome to Pakse, Laos

We traveled for another 1+ hour and around 5:30 PM, we arrived in Pakse. The driver bought us a ticket and hand it to us. After a while he left. The husband and I went to explore Pakse. Our first stop was the ATM.

Pakse was not what I imagined it would be. From my researched, it seemed like a so-so town but it was not. It had the feels of Helen in Georgia minus the tourists. The streets were well-planned. We especially loved Cafe Parisienne right across the bus station.

On our itinerary, we were supposed to arrive in Pakse at 7 PM. We didn’t know that it had ATMs too. We wasted no time and withdrew without planning how much. We automatically choose the same amount in VND. When the husband checked his currency app, he was surprised at the amount. We have withdrawn way too much. 2M in KIP is so much bigger than 2M in VND. Lol

After the initial currency shock, we roam around to look for a store that sells Laotian SIM card. We went into a mall, found none. We saw one outside but it was almost closing. They were in a hurry so we weren’t entertained.

Like in Hongkong, asking anyone is not a good choice since most don’t understand you. When I saw a kind looking elderly woman, I tried asking then pointing at my phone. She understood it immediately and directed us.

The husband bought a Laotian sim for internet. I bought a sim for call/text. Laos will be our longest stop so buying a sim is a good decision.

Unfortunately, using a sim in Laos is not as straightforward. It has to be registered first. The store owner run through the process with us. When we left her store, the husband had internet while I have my call/text. We stayed for around 30 minutes just to have them up and running.

After buying our sim, we went back to Cafe Parisien and have our dinner. We went back to the bus station at around 7:30 PM. The bus would not accept pasengers by then.

While we waited, 4 of the passengers from our van to pakse saw us. I was surprised to know they are actually university students studying in Laos. They are all taking different courses: IT, Architecture, Civil Engineering and Business Ad. I was quite suprised they could talk English too. They were just shy to talk to us in the van. 😀

The Night Bus from Pakse to Vientiane

This was our 2nd night bus but compared to that of Siem to Phnom, this was wayyy better. The bus has two floors. We were on last bed on the 1st floor. It even had a toilet. The beds are spacious and comfortable too. After some regular update, I dozed off. Woke up around 6 AM. We arrived in Vientiane around 7 AM of our 6th day.

So how was our all-day, all-night of travel? It was surprisingly fun and not uneventful at all. We were able to experience it the non-bus way. We were thankful of having had the chance to experience it the way we did. 🙂 And very grateful to the strangers that extended their kindness and stories to us.

Here’s our expense and itinerary of our 5th day

04:30 ETD to Stung Treng (via van)
09:00 Breakfast Stop
12:00 ETA in Stung Treng
12:30 ETD to Pakse (via van)
13:45 Cam-Lao Border (4 USD/Pax)
14:15 Resume Trip
15:30 Noodle Stop
16:00 Resume Trip
17:00 Pakse
20:30 ETD to Vientiane

Expenses in USD:
Breakfast 2.5 USD
Immigration 8 USD
Noodles 2.5 USD
Kip 1 USD
Sub-Total: 14 USD
Remaining @ PP: 206
Untraceable: 26
Total: 40 USD
in PHP: 1,854
Remaining USD: 166 (Migo 91, Miga 75)

Expenses in KIP:
Starting Money: 2M KIP
Sim Migo 30K
Sim Miga 20K
Dinner 120k
Snax 19k
Bus Station to City Center 60K
Total: 249k
in PHP: 1,423.38
Kip remaining: 1.8M

Grand Total in PHP: 3277.38

A Day in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam (Day 3-4/11)

She kicked my ass. Hahaha! But what I love most about our little time in Saigon is the people we’ve known. After the tour, we had our late lunch in Subway. While waiting for our order, the husband remembered a familiar face. I wasted no time and talked to him. 🙂 The husband did too. Just awesome.

On the planning, going to Vietnam was already a stretch. Upon research, the only bus schedule for Ho Chi Minh City from Phnom Penh was by day. Considering our limited days of travel, day bus is a no-no. But not going when you are already so near feels like cowardice. Glad we did. Our time in Vietnam was nothing like Cambodia in wanders but we had some noteworthy moments with other travelers. We had our first night time stroll too. Dined well and had a super spicy breakfast. And—we stayed at a private room this time. 🙂
3rd Day of 12

We left Phnom Penh early morning on our 3rd day. We were picked up at SLA hotel and brought to the bus station. There was 1 other passenger with us on the tuktuk, David. The ride was enough to chat a little. He is a teacher from Spain who has been traveling for 2 months in Southeast Asia.

Unlike the night bus from Siem Reap, the day bus to HCMC was comfortable. There were only 7 passengers and all of them are foreigners.

When the bus left, I felt the urged to pee. I peed when we left SLA but it seems that wasn’t enough. To keep my mind away from my predicament, I decided to blog. After a while, I noticed the bus was stopping. I hurriedly checked. Relief washed over me when I saw them checking the tires. God is so good indeed.

When I went back, I continued to blog. We have 2 more stops until we arrived at the border crossing.

Crossing The Border to Vietnam

There were horror stories about border crossings on the net so I have always feared this part. Lucky for us, everything went smoothly. When the bus left at Phnom Penh, our passports were collected. Upon arrival on the crossing, we were asked to get off the bus. Someone noted our number then we were asked to get on again. The bus then move to another stop. This time we were told to bring all our stuffs. We followed the bus staff into a building and lined up. While waiting, we had a another chance to talk with our fellow passengers.

The passports that were collected was submitted to the officer. We didn’t actually do anything. Our passport was stamped, our names were called then it was given back to us. It was very straight forward. We went back to the bus after and loaded our big bags to the bus trunk.

Hello Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
We arrived in HCMC around 4:30 PM so we mostly spent our 3rd day on the bus. Unlike Cambodia, we didn’t have any pick-up but our host says his place is walkable from D1 bus station. Since it was raining, we were almost tempted to ride the taxi but after a while the rain stopped. We left the bus station with no idea where to go. We were just holding on to the piece of address from AirBNB.

After crossing the road, I observed the people and settled to ask the teenager that was waiting for the rain to completely stop. Thankfully, she knew “Bui Vien” street.

With her directions, we were able to reached the street. Our next task was to find the house. We felt it was easy since we were already on the street but when we reached 204, 205 was nowhere. It was then that I noticed a taxi driver calling on to me. I hesitated at first but went anyway. He looked at the paper and pointed to the way we were from.

We proceeded to the direction pointed but 2 or more houses have past, we were still lost. Feeling defeated, I slumped my shoulder and saw the taxi driver again. He pointed to a corner. It was then that I understood. I signed a thank you and went ahead to the corner. God, it was indeed our place. I silently screamed a thank you to God. Just wow! He never fails to amazed me every time. Much gratitude to the taxi driver too who helped us without us asking. Angels are real. 🙂

Cu Chi Tunnel Tour

After settling down, we planned our to do. I didn’t really OC-ed the itinerary of Saigon since on our plan, we were supposed to arrive at 2PM then leave at 12PM the next day. The schedule I found on the net was just 8 AM and 12 PM back to Phnom Penh. There was really not much to do but a city tour. But as you might have read, Mr. Dara, our tuktuk in Phnom Penh brought us to a different bus company. We learned that there’s a 4 PM bus to Phnom Penh and booked it. Now we have extra hours in Saigon.

#OOTD at VietWay Tours. They have such amazing art display!

After we settled, we decided to stroll and find a place to eat. On the way, VietWay tour on Cu Chi caught my eye. The husband was furious on my sudden change of heart. Half day tour of Cu Chi leaves at 8 AM and returns to the city at 2:30 PM. He was worried that we might miss the bus and he was looking forward to a non-hectic 4th day. I reluctantly agreed but in the end, he gave in. We booked the tour for 10 USD. Glad we did. Cu Chi was not what we expect but we met new friends on our tour group. We were 15 on the van.

We were seated with Antonio, an Italian. On our back were married Indonesian couple, Pitria and Puthing, then Arnel from Canada. We ended our tour exchanging instagrams with Antonio, Pitria and Puthing. The rest of the group were 4 guys from England, a couple from Germany and a Portuguese, an Australian and 1 other guy.

The husband felt Cu Chi was so-so but it was good enough for me even if I panicked and only scaled 20 meter of the tunnel. Closed spaces is so not for me. The tunnel was really small and hot. Inside, all I wanted was to get out and panicked when I realized it’s hard to go back due to the cramped space. Good thing I found the exit. I went out without 2nd thoughts while the husband went back to scale the next 20. He was having fun and yet he find it so-so. The husband can be a little hard to please sometimes.

A Night in Saigon

After booking the tour, our plans changed. Since city tour is no longer our itinerary on the 4th day, I wanted to at least visit and take a picture at night. Armed with his offline google maps, we walked from “Bui Vien” to Ben Than Market. We saw Cosmos Cafe along the way and decided to dine there. We tried an Ostrich meal. We ordered a lot and was quite amazed that we finished everything. It was my first time to taste club soda with apricot too.

After dinner, we resumed our trek and ended at the city hall. Took some pics at the park opposite it which was quite crowded even for a Tuesday. Along the way, we saw lots of Vietnamese ladies and noted most are pleasing with their white complexion and chinky eyes. The husband even joked that if I die early, he might transfer to Vietnam and find a new wife. Gosh! The husband has improved everyday. Couldn’t be more prouder. Haha!

We walked the length of the park and ended at the riverside. There were a lot of Pokemon trainers. The husband was quite busy connecting to a free wifi just so he could play. After a while, we saw a spot by Hotel Rennaisance. The husband was quite happy having caught a total of 16 magikarps. I was having fun too watching him play and get excited plus the crowd was crazy always running around the harbor chasing for rare pokemons. Haha! We stayed until an hour then went back to the city hall. Then decided to walk some more to Notre Dame Cathedral and the Reunification Palace. Both the cathedral and the palace were not lighted so we just settled watching it from afar. It was already 11 PM by then and most cafes were closing. We feared that there might be some rule on late night stroll in Saigon so we took the cab back to Bui Vien.

Our place was at the end of Bui Vien but the cab drop us at the other end. We were quite amazed at how the street has turned into a party place. It was like Sinulog. People are drinking and eating on the side walk, loud music and lots and lots of party animals. Just wow! The taxi must have thought we’d be joining the ruckus. Haha! But not that night. 😀

The husband was quite ecstatic that night and craved some coffee. Unfortunately, the non-alcoholic cafes were close so we decided to call it a night.

A Day in Saigon

Despite sleeping late the night before, we woke up early and checked out at 7 AM. We went into the first restaurant that caught our eye. It was right across our corner. They only had noodles. We didn’t even know what kind of noodles was that but they come with a lot of spices. The husband was quite feisty and added chili paste on his noodle while I on the other hand, added spices. I didn’t know they were all very hot. The noodles was very yummy but I was fuming before I could finish everything. I felt my lips thickened, my ears felt hot as well as my face. The husband was very concern. We had to order milk to pacify. Hahaha! I met my match in Saigon indeed. I have always pride myself of being brave but this time Saigon proved me wrong. The spicy noodle almost made me cry while Cu Chi tunnel had me on a panic attack. Lol

So how is Saigon for me?
She kicked my ass. Hahaha! But what I love most about our little time in Saigon is the people we’ve known. After the tour, we had our late lunch in Subway. While waiting for our order, the husband remembered a familiar face. I wasted no time and talked to him. 🙂 The husband did too. Just awesome.

That’s it for Day 3 and 4. Day 5 and 6 will be lumped together too since day 5 will be an all-day travel. We leave Phnom Penh on dawn of day 5 and arrive in Vientiane, Laos in the morning of day 6. Wish us luck on our first full day and night of travel bound to Laos.

Pics to be updated soon since we have no time to transfer from our cam to the phone yet. Unfortunately, we thought gopro might not be good to use at night and at Cu Chi, it was lowbat. Haha!

Here’s our spending and itinerary in Vietnam

Starting Money:
2 Million Dong
(money withdrawn from our BPI savings account)

Note: Saigon has a lot of ATMs everywhere so if you are having a hard time on currency, just call your bank before you travel and notify them that you will be using your ATM outside the country. Withdrawal charge is just 30K.

Itinerary Expense (in VND):
Cu Chi Tour 220K
Souvenir Magnets 150K
Dinner 530K
Ice Cream 45K
Taxi 30K
Breakfast 150K
Cu Chi Entrance 220K
Souvenir 230K
Snacks 45K
Subway 148k
Toilet 6K
Dinner 80k
Drinks 15k
Total: 1869K
in PHP: 4, 715.47 (the actual amount deducted from our BPI ATM)

BPI International Withdrawal:

August 23: 1 VND = 0.0020783740 PHP (xe.com)
withdrawal = 1,000,000 VND
converted amount = 2,078.37 PHP
actual withdrawn = 2,378.85 PHP
difference = 300.48

August 24: 1 VND = 0.0020856029 PHP (xe.com)
withdrawal = 1,000,000 VND
converted amount = 2,085.60 PHP
actual withdrawn = 2,336.62 PHP
difference = 251.02

Itinerary:
Day 1
8:00 AM Tuktuk Pick-up
8:30 AM ETD bus to Saigon
3:30 PM ETA in Saigon
6:00 PM Night Walking Tour
– Dinner @ Cosmos
– City Hall
– Park
– Riverside
– Cathedral
– Reunification Palace
– Bui Vien
12:00 AM Lights Off

Day 2
6:00 AM Wake up
7:00 AM Checkout
8:00 AM At VietWay
8:30 AM Tour departure
3:00 PM Tour arrival in city
– Late lunch
4:00 PM ETD bus to Phnom Penh

Post made while traveling from HCMC to Phnom Penh! 🙂

A Day in Phnom Penh, Cambodia (Day 2/11)

We started the tour at the farthest destination – The Killing Fields. We left at around 7:30 – 8 AM. The traffic was heavy. We arrived around 9 AM. Our itinerary didn’t really have time frame but I was surprised to have spent the entire morning there. It might have been fast if we didn’t do the audio tour but we would have missed a lot if we did. The real beauty of “The Killing Fields” can be experienced in knowing how it has come to be. All throughout the tour, I was teary-eyed. There were moments that I wanted to bawl in agony for those who have suffered. And it seemed, it wasn’t just me who felt the same. Most of the visitors were having the same look that I thought I had.

This temple took my gloom from the S21 away. So pretty!!

We fall in love with the temples in Siem Reap and was quite interested with how they came to be but Phnom Penh blew us away with its horrendous, tragic and cunningly vivid memory of a historical event that change the lives of the Cambodians that were born and lived at Polpot’s Regime. It was sad and heartbreaking. Just thinking about what we’ve learned yesterday pinched my heart once again while writing this. My heart went out to all those who suffered. I pray that they may be at peace and pray more that what happened in Cambodia may never happen anywhere in the world ever. It’s unthinkable. Please if you ever visit Phnom Penh, take time to visit “The Killing Fields” and “S21”. Don’t just visit, do the audio tour. It will cost you 2+ hours for each but it will be worth it.
We arrived in Phnom Penh via night bus from Siem Reap. We were picked by tuktuk from Khmere’s Place to the bus station. Lesung, the night staff at Khmere booked the ticket so we didn’t have an idea of the type of seat. When we arrived, the bus was already filled. We were in awe at how cramped it was. It took us a while to find our beds but was happy that it was on the top bunk.

I felt uneasy at first due to the cramped space but when I looked around, I realized we were actually better off since we are smaller compared to other passengers who were all non-Filipino. When the bus left, we dozed off. I was tired but I never thought that I wouldn’t noticed anyone getting off the bus when we arrived in Phnom Penh. A staff had to wake us up. We were surprised that we were the only ones left. Haha!

I was still half awake when we get off. When someone approached us, I gave my baggage tag thinking it was the staff. The husband stopped me immediately. The mistake triggered my regular programming. I was back on battle mode.

The guy who approached us was actually a tuktuk driver. It was still 5 AM when we arrived and I forgot to messaged the hotel for our bus number when we left Siem Reap. Mr. Dara, we learned later, was still waiting despite of our hesitations. It was 5 AM, the hotel expects us at 6 AM, check-in was at 2 PM so Mr. Dara was actually a godsend.

But even if I feel that God always send me good people wherever I go, there is always that 2nd thoughts. After checking our itinerary, we negotiated for a fare. He offered 5 dollar to take us to SLA Hotel. I had 7 in my itinerary but I haggled still. In the end, we settled with 5.

In Siem Reap, our tuktuk was negotiated by Khmere but I didn’t make the same arrangement for Phnom Penh thinking we can just navigate by ourselves. When Mr. Dara offered, we were hesitant since we didn’t know the rate. We haggled for 20, I had 15 on my itinerary.

We notified SLA of our arrival and apologized for neglecting to message the bus number. We asked if we could leave our bag while we wait for check-in at 2 PM. The staff notified that our room is already available so we could do an early check-in. Yay! An amazing surprise. We wanted to rest first before going on the tour so we had Mr. Dara return by 7 AM to start our tour.

Our room was a dorm. There were 2 beds: both double decker, single and double. But this time, it was just us. Lucky!

We finished around 12 PM after a short movie at the museum, just in time for lunch. We invited Mr. Dara to eat with us. Over lunch, the normal me kicked-in. Traveling is good but knowing people and their stories is just as fun too. We exchanged stories about family, love life and some. It was a fruitful exchange. I learn something about Cambodia thru the eyes of a local. It was amazing.

We were back in the city around 2 PM and went directly to “S21”, which was mentioned a lot in “The Killing Fields”. We took the audio tour again and in no time, we were whisked into an unimaginable history that was more heartbreaking than “The Killing Fields”. S21 is the start of the horror. Visiting each room sent chills to my spine. It was as if I walked into a torture movie scene but the only difference is that, it wasn’t built for a movie. It was built and used for real.

Cameras were not allowed. I was sad for a while but as I went farther, the sadness left me. Being drawn deeper into what’s happening, I have lost the will to photographed anything. It was a place of sadness, grief and suffering. The place is best felt than captured.

When we left “S21”, I asked the husband for a gopro doufie. He said it might not be appropriate. As we exit, I saw a survivor selling his book. Without 2nd thoughts, I bought one directly. What he has gone through was tough. My 10 dollar may not make a huge difference but I wanted to console him that he was amazing to have lived through it. It doesn’t matter that I got a reprimand from the husband after. He said I had no way of becoming a pro-backpacker since I’m too spend thrift. I’m too generous and it’s not good. 😦 It hurts. Oh well, the truth hurts but should I change just to be a pro? I’ll think about it. 😐

When we left S21, I was on a foul mood from his comment but I kept my cool. He was right though so I focus myself on other things instead. I told him how I underestimated Phnom Penh. I didn’t thought that “The Killing Fields” and “S21” will be that impactful. It was already late so we were sure to miss some other stops.

Thankfully, Royal Palace was still open. I was still having a scowl when we arrived but when we entired, it was just wow. No one told me that it was a big place with a lot of temples. Everything is just so pretty. My angst turned to excitement. I have underestimated Phnom Penh indeed. 🙂

Inside, we were threatened by the closing and the rain. We didn’t had time to linger so we took pictures in a hurry. Good thing that we did though because the rain started to pour after a while. The rain stopped when we left and it was already time to close. But we already had our fill so we left with a smile.

Our last stop was the independent monument. We were supposed to go to National Museum but Mr. Dara having remembered our hectic sked suggested we must booked the bus tickets first.

It was a good call. I was glad to have listened to him. We were able to book all the tickets that we need. We booked a round trip to HCMC and the trip to Vientiane, Laos too. All our problems were solved in one go. Thank you, Mr. Dara!!!

After the tickets, we bid Mr. Dara goodbye. It hurts me that I couldn’t give him a tip anymore since I’ve been overspending already and the husband is on my toes. I wanted to let him know I was sorry but the husband butt in saying, I shouldn’t be doing that kind of talk. Waaa! Sometimes I hate it that we are too different. I don’t understand what goes on in his head sometimes. 😀

We rested for a while then have our dinner at the restaurant on the corner of SLA. We bought some stuff at the mini-mart opposite it before retiring for the night. We slept early since our pick-up from the bus bound to Ho Chi Minh City will be at 8:00 AM.

See below our expenses and itinerary of the 2nd day

Expenses in USD:
Tuktuk Bus Stop Pickup 5
Day Tour 20 (No tip, free lunch)
Breakfast 4
1. Choeung Ek Audio Tour 12 (6/pax)
Snacks 2
Lunch 20.40
2. Tuol Sleng Audio Tour 12 (6/pax)
Book 10
3. Royal Palace Tour 13 (6.5/pax)
4. Independent Monument 0
Dinner 8
Grocery 8
Total: 114.4
in PHP: 5,303.10

Add-on:
Day bus to HCMC 30 (15/pax)
Day bus to PhnomP 30(15/pax)
Night bus to Vietnam 130 (65/pax)
Total: 190
in PHP: 8,807.60
Grand Total: 304.40
in PHP: 14,110.70

Itinerary:
5:00 AM Arrival in Phnom Penh
6:00 AM Checkin @ SLA
7:00 AM Breakfast
8:00 AM Off to “The Killing Fields”
9:00 AM Start tour
12:00 Lunch
2:00 PM Start tour of “S21”
4:00 PM Start tour of “Royal Palace”
5:00 PM Ticket Booking
6:00 PM Back @ SLA
8:00 PM Dinner
10:00 PM Lights Off

Our Stay: SLA Botique Hotel

Tuktuk Driver: Mr. Dara

And that’s it for Day 2! Wew! Spent the bus ride from Phnom Penh to HCMC writing this. Ride well spent. 🙂

Here’s some of our go pro snaps. Unfortunately, we have none for “S21”. More pics from my cam soon when we return to PH. 1 country down, 3 to go!!!

A Day in Siem Reap, Cambodia (Day 1/11)

By noon on our 1st day, we were almost spent doing temple runs. Woke up at 4 AM to catch the sunrise. As we were quite smittened, we explored Angkor Wat until 9 AM, inspecting every nook and crany while admiring every bit of its beauty.

From dawn to dusk – that was how we spent our 1st day in Indochina trip. Kicked-off our multi-country escape in Siem Reap, Cambodia. Despite being groggy from the delayed arrival in Siem Reap at 11 PM on the 1st night, we pursued our plan to sunrise at Angkor Wat. We slept a little pass midnight after a brief introduction to our roommates who were all non-Filipinos, 2 Japanese and 1 Chinese which were all solo travelers.

At the top of the highest tower of Angkor Wat. Had to climb a steep ladder to go here.

We had our fill just when our stomach grumbled. Before our tour, one vendor told us about his dining place. We decided to have breakfast there and had a chance to talk to some Cambodian kids who knew a little Tagalog and kept bugging us to buy souvenirs.

Chana said and so we did but that was after our little chat where she told us about the temples and urged us to buy post cards too. She knew a little Tagalog because her teacher is a Filipino.

After breakfast, we went back to where our driver dropped us and quickly found him waiting. We told him we’d want to go to Angkor Thom especially Bayon Temple.

On the background is Baphoun. There was a steep ladder to the top too but we both decide to miss it as we were quite spent on climbing at Angkor and Bayon!

Angkor Thom complex was huge. We explored Angkor Wat on our own but in Bayon, we had a guide. It was a little uneasy at first but I was thankful we obliged to the suggestion since Bayon is pretty jampacked. Our guide helped us to navigate quicker and was done touring in under 1 hour unlike Angkor Wat. After Bayon, we went to Baphoun Temple, then to Royal Enclosure. Last stop was Terraces of Elephants were our driver was waiting.

Because nobody was around, we had the chance to photo ops at Kdei

My annoyed and tired face. No one told me that temple run is very demanding too. :((

After an hour of waiting, we saw the sunset. I never really chase sunset but that was an amazing one since it was like God’s gift to be able to climb up just as the sun sets. LUCKY!!!

We saw Banteay Kdei on our way to Ta Phrom after checkout. We wanted to stop but our driver Leypouth thought we’d like to eat. He took us at a restaurant near Sras Srang. We were also famished so we took the offer to eat. After eating, he brought us to Kdei and waited at the other end of gate for pick-up. Unlike Wat or Bayon, Kdei was not populated. There was no crowd. There were only 3 – 4 other groups who checked the place. Next was Ta Phrom – the hyped temple due to a scene in Tomb Raider. Aside from that, Ta Phrom’s uniqueness is seen on the huge trees eating the walls. It was errie and mind boggling how it happened.

My, my!!! Gopro shoots are just awesome. Taken at Angkor Wat!

The last stop of the day was sunset at Phnom Bakeng. When we arrived at 5 PM, the crowd was big. Chana, the child from Wat told us about the 300 limit. She advised us to go at 3 PM but unfornately, it just wasn’t possible. There was a long line when we reached the temple after walking around 15 minutes up. Seeing the long line, I wanted to back out but the husband reminded me that it’s still early. After an hour of waiting, we were given the pass to go up. And like the husband’s words, we reached the top just in time for the sunset. Yay!!!

Finally we have a part of Angkor Wat alone. Time to pose again!

On the way home, we were famished.Leyphout brought us to a cool restaurant again but this time we asked if he could bring us to a cheaper option. He brought us to a restaurant near Pubstreet. The husband was amazed because the diner was simple but they have an amazing wifi connection. Lol

After dinner, Leyphout take us back to Khmere’s place. Lesung gave us our bus ticket. Because we were quite messy for braving the heat all day, I asked Lesung if we could use the comfort room to bath and change. I offered to pay since technically we were no longer a guest but they were too kind not to impose a fee. We waited in Khmere until a tuktuk picked us up for the night bus bound to Phnom Penh.

Here’s a snaps of what we did and the expenses in USD, note that USD is widely accepted in Cambodia. You don’t need to convert in Riel:
Tuktuk Airport Pickup 7
Small Tour 15
Tuktuk Sunrise 7
Tuktuk Afternoon 5
Tuktuk Tip 2
Bayon Guide 12
Guide Tip 2
Temple Entrance 40 (20/Pax)
Sub: 90

Food:
Water 1
Breakfast 10
Snacks 3
Lunch 11
Dinner 8
Sub: 33

Souvenir:
Magnets & Post Card 2
Donation 1
Sub: 3
Total: 126

Transpo:
Overnight Bus to Phnom Penh 36 (18/pax)
Sub: 36
Expense Total: 162
in PHP: 7,509.64

Itinerary:
5:00 AM Sunrise at Angkor Wat
9:00 AM Angkor Thom (Bayon, Baphoun, Royal Enclosure, Terraces of the Elephants)
12:00 Checkout
1:00 Off to Ta Phrom
2:00 Lunch
2:30 Kdei
3:30 Kdei, Ta Phrom
4:30 Ta Phrom
5:00 Sunset at Phnom Bakeng
6:30 Left Phnom Bakeng
8:00 Dinner @ Pubstreet
10:30 Night Bus Pickup
11:00 Settled at Night bus to Phnom Penh

Accommodation: Khmere’s Place

Tuktuk Service: Leyphout number 0973881756

And…that’s it for day 1. Stay tuned for day 2. If you have any questions about the expenses and itinerary, please leave a comment. We’ll get back to you as soon as we can. 🙂

Travel Tips: Packing For A 2-Week Trip on a Carry-On

Packing can be a no-brainer but NOT to us. It’s one of our main struggles. Last time in Hong Kong & Macau, the husband exceeded the carry-on limit so we tied the sleeping bags to my bag. We were only traveling for 5 days then. From that travel, I realized that not having a check-in is both cheap and mobile. We didn’t have down time waiting for our luggage. As soon as we arrived at the airport, we were on the go.

When I told the husband we don’t have a check-in for Indochina trip, he was anxious. It made me anxious too thinking I may have underestimated an almost 2-week travel. But the articles online comforted me that it is achievable with the right planning and mindset. I was done packing last Saturday. Thankfully, everything fits inside my small back pack.

Here’s how I did it:
1. Make a list of what to bring.
2. Decide at least a week-worth of clothing. – I brought 2 each of (short, leggings and skirt), 4 shirts, 2 blouses, a dress and a jump suit.
3. Do a dress rehearsal and make sure the clothes you bring can be mixed and matched.
4. Check if you can do laundry.
5. Bring only what you need.
6. Roll and compress. – Early this year Migo bought a compression/organizing bag, Gobi Hobo Roll. I was just amazed that it can contain all my clothing. The best part is that it only occupies the main compartment of my carry-on bag so I still have room for snacks and other stuffs in other compartments.
7. Choose the right bag. – Last year, I bought a 50L bag thinking it would be the perfect bag for this trip but since it was heavier and with more room, I’m afraid that I can easily exceed the carry-on limit if I used it. I choose my 40L Racini bag instead.

Brought my belt bags as well for the important stuffs that needs to be guarded all the time. 😀

11 Days, 6 Cities, 4 Countries – The Wanderfull Life in IndoChina

Feeling artsy today so instead of putting it into words, I thought of making an info graphic. I’m rather pumped up with the detailed excel planning sheet too but will share it after the trip. 🙂

Here’s what’s inside our planning board:

Plotted – You can see the sked in calendar type.
Aug20_Aug24_CamVie – Detailed itinerary of Cambodia & Vietnam with the accommodation, transpo details and directions. It’s basically our manual.
Aug25_Aug28_Lao – Detailed itinerary of Laos (same template of #2).
Aug29_Sep01_Tha – Detailed itinerary of Thailand (same template of #2).
Transpo – Plotted are the legs of our transpo and the amount per leg.
Accommodation – All accommodation details are here.
Reminders
Preps&ToDos
Clothes&Meals
Checklist

What’s the best part of travel for me?

EVERYTHING. I love the planning and the execution but unlike before, I don’t obsess in following through everything. I have become flexible especially when it comes to travelling with the husband. I’m the researcher and the husband is the explorer. I have always wanted to travel alone but God wants me to do it with the husband instead. I couldn’t be more thankful because I’m SUPER BAD with directions.

So what makes us decide to travel to IndoChina?

Oh well, I have my own reasons, a whole lot of them. The husband is just game. He is the best husband in the whole universe so yeah, he just always supported me in everything that I wanted to do. 😀

So now, it’s 11 days to go. And I’ve been itching to pack my bags already. A countdown to travel and to your 30th birthday is an ultra amazing journey. Enjoying it everyday. =)

Booked: 14 Days To Go Before The Wander Full Life in IndoChina!

One more Friday and the next is the start of another adventure – leaving for our 10+ days of trip for IndoChina on the day of my 30th birthday. In 2011, while suffering from a quarter-life crisis and was utterly envious of peers getting engaged and having a baby, I created a dream – 3030dot5. It was a dream to travel to 30 places in Cebu (my hometown), 30 provinces in the Philippines (my home country) and to 5 countries. At that time, it was too ambitious for someone who barely had enough to buy a decent cellphone. But I was so down I needed something to hold on. I didn’t know how I would achieve it, I just knew that I wanted it.

From my countless blogs full of complains and angst (some are migrated in justkring but most were left forgotten), I decided to create another one. This time, it was for the 3030dot5 project. I started revisiting my pics and realized that compared to what I thought, I was actually not super “luoy” after all. By the time I started, I was down to 20.27.5. The 10 places in Cebu where mostly company outings and gatherings. The 3 places in PH where Migo-paid trips every year since we started in 2008. And of course, no countries.

Around May 2011, without really doing anything about my dream, I read about a peso sale in AirPhil. With no 2nd thoughts, I book not considering how I would raise the money to spend for the trip. The only thing that’s clear to me is that I had to be able to support myself. The trip was a blast. I was able to achieve my first triumph in wanders. It was both my first organized and paid trip since I started working in 2007. Then the rest was history. The last update of my now defunct blog was on “01/31/13” and I had been at “8.16.5”.

On April 2013, I was chosen as one of the 10 employees to travel to our company headquarters in Duluth,Georgia, USA. It was another God’s gift. From then on, God’s graces and blessings continued to pour in. And just this March, the husband and I had our 1st international trip to Hong Kong and Macau. I don’t know where I am now at my 3030dot5 dream but I felt an overwhelming accomplishment. Everyday I am grateful for that fateful day in 2011 that started everything. It was a wake up call to start seeing my life as a gift and not a nuisance. And instead of always looking at the other side of the fence, I started to nurture what’s in my fence. As a child, I was always envious because I had nothing then decided not to be because I am with beauty and brains and then envious again because everybody is settling down at 25 while I was still struggling. It all changed when I started to see things differently and stop looking at what others have. It all started when I realized that there’s just so much in life. That not going with the flow can also become a source of happiness.

Now at 29 and currently looking forward to our longest adventure and realization of a dream, I am much more confident of the things to come. But being confident doesn’t necessarily mean that you will stop planning and OC-ing everything. Haha! A while ago, I just polished all our IndoChina plans. And despite all the plannings that I’ve done especially our DIY wedding, I still get amazed at how a plan could make you feel empowered and inspired. 14 days to go and I’m just glad that the plans are in place now. All I have to do are my dress rehearsals and other stuffs. Hahaha! Need to focus on what to film on a go-pro. LOL

More updates of our IndoChina planning soon. Stay tuned!

Booked: The Wanderfull Life in IndoChina Soon!

25 days to go before IndoChina! Wew! I’m feeling the pressure of both excitement and fear. We just had our 1st International trip in Hongkong and Macau last March but this would be our longest travel EVER. Just thinking of what to pack inside a carry in luggage is crazy.

I might have underestimated it a little because I didn’t get a check-in baggage to the husband’s surprise. Haha! Oh well, we’ve always been unconventional, this trip wouldn’t be any different.

Where We Plan To Go

As a researcher and crazy as I am, I have prepared an option of 6 itineraries but even that weren’t enough ’cause we settle with the 7th. Lol There’s just soooo mannnyyy things that I wanted to do. Good thing I had a reality checker. Hello husband! 😀

So where do we go? We’ll start in Siem Reap, Cambodia to visit the infamous Wats. We really don’t mind that it’s super popular just as long as we see it up close. Then leave on an overnight bus to do a city tour in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Our 4th night would be in Saigon or HCMC, Vietnam. From Saigon, that’s where most of our issues lie.

We just settled the final decision last week but I got so swamped I didn’t had the time to continue booking accommodations. Hopefully, I can continue this week.

Instead of going to Hanoi from Saigon via train then Hanoi to Luang Prabang which would cost us 36 hours for each leg, we opt to go back to Phnom Penh, arrive early at night, find a place to crash and ride the early bus to Ventiane. Do an overnight stay in Ventiane and then Vang Vieng – the land of my dreams!!! Haha! It’s brightside‘s fault why I really wanted to go. Weekend in Vang Vieng is a page in my dream book. I don’t want to miss it ever. 😀

After Vang Vieng, we will ride the bus again to Udonthani, Thailand. Why Udon? Because it has direct access to Vang Vieng. I don’t wanna go back to Ventiane anymore. Since we will be stopping by at Udon, might as well spend a night there. The last stop is Bangkok and it’s the longest too. We both agreed it that way since after jumping from city to city, we need to recuperate before going back home.

Our itineraries will need some final touches. Can’t wait for the weekend to do that. But I do hope I’ll have time before the weekend though. Yay! IndoChina here we come!!! Weeeee!