Category Archives: travelling
Suddenly Bangkok part #5
I hit Siam area on the first day i arrived at BKK. Why? Cos it was the easiest one! Simply take airportlink to Phaya Thai, continue with another monorail to Siam station. The map of skytrain and BKK are provided in the airport, near the airport link’s gate. Really convenient! Honestly, i was quite amazed by the Thai tourism board.
Siam area is only mall and mall. Lot’s of mall in the same area. It is remind me a lot of Bukit Bintang in Kuala Lumpur. For the luxury things, go to Siam Paragon Shopping Centre, MBK Shopping Center for the friendly price, Siam Discoveryfor the unique urbanites design, and sooooo on! I have walked here and there, got in here got out there, and got dizzied! My opinion about Thai design is : quite strike out! Still far away from strike-u-in-the-eyes kind of Japan, but quite unique, and dare to be unique! I saw many mini-white-wedding-dress on the display! It gave me impression that brides in Thai or at least BKK are quite liberal.
One fine evening at Siam area : Traffic jam, mall and Muaythai
The next thing i visit in BKK is Damnoen Saduak floating market. I get there by van, from BKK. I bought the ticket in Victory monument area.
Actually, there are some floating market around BKK. With a little help of James Bond’s Man with the Golden Gun, Damnoen Saduak become the most popular one. Some people consider Damnoen Saduak as tourist trap. While, for me, it is a good experience, i love it!! Something was really attracted me, it was food seller! They sell food on boat! Yes!! They bring stove and gas tube on the their small boat! Amazing! I didn’t buy anything there, all souvenirs are overpriced!
Well…. i love Damnoen Saduak, but i won’t repeat it! May be i will visit floating market again, but definitely not Damnoen Saduak. I think, a traditional market will not sell souvenir as much as Damnoen Saduak floating market! It is too touristic!!
Damnoen Saduak Floating market : Beautifully colorful crowded cannal!!
Lots of people come to BKK for shopping! I come to BKK for temples! I always fascinated by its colors, everytime i saw the pictures. So…. the first temple i visit was Wat Pra Kaew, in the Royal Palace complex. It is in front of Snam Luang Park. I get there by bus from nowhere i don’t know, hahahha!! This place is just amazing! The colors, the details, the architecture….. anything, including the people! I mean, too many people there! I was wondering, how it could be without the floods? Even with floods, still soooo many tourist here!
Royal palace also fascinating!! Some part of Royal palace have europe architecture, even though Thai never been under colonized by the europe country. But Thai (Siam Kingdom) had a good relation with the europe countries, when they invaded the surrounding countries. Anyway….. it is remind me a lot of Anna and the King movie. Besides of the story that probably full of lie and drama, Anna and the King movie have a beautiful setting!
Actually i really want to visit Ayutthaya, it seems not too far from BKK. It is listed on UNESCO heritage, and well known as the Angkor wat of Thai. But….. it was flooded there!! Arrgh!!
Royal Palace and Wat Phra Kaew, when Budha and gold colide. Note: please wear sleeves top and knee length bottom!!
Leaving Royal palace, i walked bit to the next site, Wat Pho. It was really hot and humid, so i walked slowly under my umbrella, while enjoying the surrounding. Some buildings around the area have europe architecture, may be France style. Across the street, there is Snam Luang, a big green park, with some drinking water fountain. I have re fill my bottle there!
Wat Pho is well known with its extra big Reclining Budha! Indeed, it is really-really big statue! Big and gold! Another interesting fact about Wat Pho is, it have many Chinese style statue! It is not usual at all!
Wat Pho, Budha is reclining here!!
After Wat Pho, i walked abit, trying to find Tha tien Pier. Nok told me, she have been there less than a week ago, and the pier was closed because of the flood!! Noooo!! I wanted to go to Wat Arun, it is in the other side of the Chao Praya river. There are bridge of course, but i’m not sure i will walked through the bridge! Anyway… if the pier closed, i would go by taxi or tuk tuk, cos i really want to go tu Wat Arun.
When i was there, Tha Tien Pier was open! The water level was still high enough. The real pier was drowned already, so they make temporary pier above it. The traditional market on the pier was flooded around 30 cm! The sand bags was still anywhere in that area. Some store have blocked their entrance with temporary wall, around 100 cm high! Some part were still using 40 cm high sand bags pathways, while water still running under the pathways.
So, i jumped to the boat, and crossing to Wat Arun. Wat Arun still blocked with sand bags! A big pump pumped out the water back to the river. I heard that Thai gov trying hard to keep the tourist spots and business district dry. I guess they have done it really well. But….. the BKK people who lived in outskirt of BKK didn’t like it!
Wat Arun (pronounce as wat alun) is not ‘blink blink” at all, unlike Wat Phra Kaew or Wat Pho. But still beautiful, details, yet exotic! We can climbed the pagoda, and enjoy the Chao Praya scenery. The stair was steep and high, needs a bit efforts to go up, but totally worth it. I saw Wat Pho and Royal Palace across the river, while boat floating slow on the water. It was awesome!
Wat Arun and Chao Praya river
I went back to the other side of the river with the boat, and walked through Snam Luang park, to Khaosan road. I have heard the name of Kaosan road since i was in elementary school!! It was Gola Gong who wrote about this area, and published it in Anita magazine. I have mention the street in my stupid short story when i was in Junior high. And i mentioned it again in another silly short story when i was in senior high. So…..the name Kaosan road have been linger in my mind for loooong time! Finally! I visit the place!! Here i was…. in Khosan road! How was it feel? Amazing!
The street was damn full and busy. Khaosan road is quite narrow for a “road” it have anything all the traveler need. Souvenirs, clothes, street food, cafe, local beer, bars, travel agent, hostel, anything just named it!! I believe all nationality took part on that not so long road! So, i spent the evening with a cup of coffee in the outdoor cafe, lovely!!
Feels Lonely?? Hit Khaosan Road, then!!
I left the cafe and thinking about finding my way back to Victory monument. It was still 6 pm, still plenty of time before all the van from BKK to NP stop operating. I was still thinking, when i got to Snam Luang again. Suddenly i saw bus number 1 that will bring me to China town. So, i jumped into the bus. Just like what Gip told me, first the bus will go through little India, and continue to China town!
China town was awesome! No single word of Thai here, feels like i have out of BKK!! I was walking here and there, enjoying the scene. The street was so alive! Full of open stores, food stalls spread a long the street, people chatting here and there. I love this place!! I was enjoying wandering around the area untill i realize that….. i don’t know how to get to Victory monument!! Yes, i got lost in China town! Hahahaha!!
Image is borrowed, cos i run out my battery
Suddenly Bangkok part #4
I would call this post as “Transport Adventure, BKK”. It is all about transport chaos i got in BKK.
I started the day on 8 am, leaving Nakhom Phratom (NP) by the white van. The sky was bright, the weather was pleasant, and i felt so good!! I saw the floods in some part of the road to BKK, it was quite serious, though. It reminds me alot of floods in Surabaya, similar situation. But….in Surabaya, floods always comes with the rain. While this one in BKK, it was remind flooding, eventhough the rain have stopped a few weeks ago! The sky was always extremely bright and clear when i was in BKK! It was great, otherwise, i would become “Rihanna” under the umbrella ella ella ella….. all the time! Euuwww!!
So….the van was quite full, when we started from NP. As we entered BKK, the passenger left the car one by one….. and suddenly i was alone…. And i still have no idea where it was! The driver said something that i didn’t understand, but it looked like i have to got off the car, cos it was the last destination.
So…. there i was, in a bus stop. There was no sign of monorail above my head….
No idea which bus i should take??
I couldn’t even spotted where i was in the map!
I have tried to asked the lady sat next to me in the van to BKK, which bus goes to Khaosan road. She mentioned a number, and i noted it. But i’m not sure about it.
I asked a young lady on the bus stop, luckily she speak little English. My question was leaded her into a small discussion with another old woman there. A few second later, the young lady went away with her bus, leaving me there with another bus number noted. Another bus was coming after that, suddenly the old lady gave me “that’s ur bus” gesture. She asked the bus crew to make sure, and told me to get in! I jumped in instantly!
So…..I sat there, in the bus, another question raised, where’s to stop? Hahahhaha!!
I got off the bus on front of a big park. I was having a strong feeling that it was Snam Luang, the park on front of Royal palace. And luckily, my intuition was right! Oh yeah, my intuition sometimes works extremely well! Often NOT!! But at least it never lead me into a wrong man!
Bus in BKK is quite reliable. They have regular bus without air co, for 3 bath only!! The one with air co was a bit expensive, but still cheap, compare to skytrain (monorail). People often compare BKK and Jakarta (JKT) in traffic matters. Both the city have a serious probs with traffic jam, crazy driver, too many scooter, idiot tuk-tuk driver (bajaj, in JKT) and floods as well. But…. since BKK now has their skytrain and subway, i think JKT consider left behind!!
Something else…. BKK buses only stop in the bus stop!! That’s amazing!! Cos buses in JKT or anywhere else in Indo, Surabaya also, will stop everywhere, anywhere, in what ever the situation!! And it cause traffic jam! It was really common to see people walking in the pedestrian in BKK, to reach the bus stop. In BKK, if u want to get off the bus, u have to press the button on the door, when the bus is approaching the bus stop.
Inside the Bus. There are more place to stand than to seat!!
Anyway….. buses are not meant for the tourist!!
No single “readable” words there! All Thai!
And i haven’t found map of bus in BKK.
So, it is almost impossible to find which bus goes which direction!
There are some reason why I put bus on one of my transport list in BKK. Beside of the cheapo price, not all part of BKK have covered by skytrain! For example the Khaosan road, china town, and the Royal palace complex. Taxi would be a good choice, but i’d better use it when i was totally fucked up! Hahaha! At the end of the day, i was totally fucked up, so I use taxi! hahaha!! The only possible way to use bus is, asked the local which bus u need to take, and where to get it. That what i did with my trip in BKK. Gip told me where and which bus to go to china town. I was successfully got there!! The probs was….i forgot to asked her which bus to get from China town to the closest BTS (skytrain platform)! So, i got lost in the middle of China town, and it was almost 7pm, while tha last van leaving BKK to NP was 9pm! Yessss, i got fucked up, so i hailed my savior…. TAXI!
FYI, tuk tuk not always cheaper than taxi! And, tuk tuk will refuse to go long distance. Somehow it is better to use taxi for the transportation matter, but for the experience matter, tuk tuk would be fun…
Van also a good and effective transport around BKK and Thailand, i guess….. But once again…. they’re not foreign friendly! All the destination list written in Thai character, and almost all the crew can not speak English! One place i know to catch the van is at The Victory monument. It is a skytrain platform there, it is also named Victory monument platform. Victory monument is a damn big crossroad with a remarkable monument, and it was really crowded. A lot of van operators there, and it was almost impossible to find which operators goes which way, without Thai language!
I was there with Nok (the host) and Yuki (the Japan girl), to catch the van goes to Damnoen Saduak, the floating market. We bought the ticket on the office, the price was 70 Bath. It was plenty of destinations there, I’m curious, what city i could reach by this nice van?? But i think Nok will considered me as a facist-cruel-guest, if i asked her to translate the whole things!
The van leaving BKK to NP was different with the van to Damnoen Saduak. I have to buy the ticket in Century mall, still in the Victory monument area. It was 8 pm when i arrived at Victory monument, and i was surprised to see lots of people in the van operator! It was really crowded, i barely reached the booth, buying my ticket! After ticket, my next probs was finding the van! How do i know which van is mine?? It was too many people there, and they seemed to wait for the van, just like me! For some minutes i tried to figure out what kind of chaos i need to face here?
A van was coming – the van crew yelling things i didn’t understand at all – people jumping in – the van got full – it leaves!
After 2-3 van leaves, i started to think : i won’t let myself silent here, and become a homeless sleeping on the mall terrace for this night while i have did my efforts to buy my ticket before 9 pm!! No way!!
So, every time the van comes, and the van crew started to yelling, i come closer, and showed my ticket. The crew was ladies actually, she told me something i didn’t understand (of course!!) bu i didn’t care, as long as i got a clear message. The massage was “not your car”. So….. after 5 vans, and after being an annoying passenger for that much, finally the crew counting with her fingers and gave me a clear sign : 5 more cars, u annoying tourist!!! Hahahah!! I think she didn’t really pissed off, i hope not though….. Finally, after 5 more vans, a van coming, and she called me! And i jumped in joyfully!! I think i didn’t pissed her off, or at least not that much…..
That night, arrive at NP around 11 pm, Nok was worried……
After this whole transport chaos i got, do i hate BKK? Of course noooooo!!! First of all, transportation in BKK are meant to be the BKK/Thai people. It have to be effective and convenient for the Thai. If the transport also convenient enough for the tourist/foreigner, it would be a bonus, not the real purpose at all! So, this is Thailand country, i think Thai people should be in the top priority here, and traveler/tourist are the next…. No need to complain that much. It is part of the adventure, right? Hahaha!
Suddenly Bangkok part #3 (Couchsurfing things)
Oh yeaaahh… since there was a lot of confusing situation, i postponed my booking on Lubd. The result was….. 1 week before my departure date, i found Lubd full booked already! GREAT!! Even flooding won’t stop traveler to come to Bangkok!! It was both bad and good news. The bad is, i have no place to stay, while the good is, it means Bangkok was getting better. Ok, i’m a positive person, but i need to find a place to stay within 1 week! It would be easy to book a hotel, not that expensive though. But i was in thigh budget *no more explanation, u poor girl!!* My other option was staying in couch, using CS community.
It would have been the first couchsurf!
Excited!!
And…….
Disappointed!!
It was hard enough to find a couch in Bangkok! I knew i can’t blame anyone here…. I just….have less money and time is ticking! I have sent 20 request, just to find 5 un answered, and 15 rejected! Finally, a Thai girl rescued me, 2 days before my due date. Fiuuuhhhh!!
Nok, that’s my host name, she lives quite outside of BKK, the city named Nakhon Phatom. It is around 45 minutes to get there from BKK. But….the main road was flooded in some part, so… it takes around 2 hours instead of 45 min. It is easy to get to BKK, there was frequent vans leaving Nakhon Phatom to BKK , it cost 60 Bath. So, 120 bath back and forth. Not so bad! Anyway…. a room in BKK cost more than 120 bath a night, right? And this one is couchsurf, means i will get a new friend, and hopefully a great experience. At the end…. i get 2 friends, cos Nok was hosting a Japanese girl, when i was there. And it was really great!
I was arrive at BKK on Wednesday afternoon. It was the weekly CS-gathering day. I have made an appointment to meet my host at Rajtchatdewi train station, and go to the meeting together. It is amazing that BKK have weekly gathering, while the gathering we have in Surabaya is…….. about once a month?? I was thinking, what if we have weekly gathering in Surabaya? I think, in the third week, there will be no one showed up! We’ll get bored really soon, since we will meet almost the same person in every gathering!
The gathering was in a cafe, close to the Rajtchatdewi train station. It was really crowded, mostly are caucasian, and the rest are Thai people. There was a billiard table on one corner, and people in every corner! I was thinking “OK, the gathering is in the cafe, it is similar with Surabaya… So, where’s the CS table?” The answer is….. The whole crowd in the cafe was CS er! WTF?? It was really crowded, people are talking around, and they all CS er, or to be more specific traveler! It is totally opposite with Surabaya! Our gathering usually in 1 long table, so we usually end up talking with someone sat next to us. At this point i realized how touristic Bangkok is! And…. how calm is Surabaya. CS gathering in Surabaya would be 80/90% locals, with 1-2 travelers. Usually the host will make gathering, so the other member have the opportunity to learn something from the travelers, eventhough they were not hosting. While, CS gathering in BKK would be 80% travelers and 20% locals! Not all of the travelers in the gathering were couchsurfing, some of them stayed at the hostel, and join the gathering to meet the other member. I remember one of our gathering in Surabaya was attended by 4 persons only, and all girls! So, we ended up talking about gossip and some girls things, instead of traveling things!
Party in Bangkok!!! No... it is CS weekly Gathering 
Nok (my host) is a thai girl. She still studying pharmacy at a prestigious University at Nakhon Pathom. Her family life in the other city. She lives at an student apartment, really close to the University. The room was spacious enough, still plenty of space with the three of us inside. Compare to those tiny winy “kamar kost” in Surabaya, this one in Nok’s has is heaven!
The area is a pleasant place to life and study. Not too crowded, quite modern, and u have almost anything there. There was some convenient store around, places to eat tasty Thai food, tasty cakes, internet, multilayer game, bookstore, ect all in student range price!! It was also some cafes with live band performance, all in students style. This area is sooooo student! I love it! Every night before i fell asleep, i heard the noise from the cafes around the apartment….i don’t know why, but somehow it feels good in my heart. May be, because it is remind me of my own home, i always living in University area.
Suddenly Bangkok part #2
I really love food, and i’m willing to try foods everywhere. Ok, i’m not gonna try foods that will affect me psychologically, such as dog meat, cat meat, turtle, monkey meat/brain, and sooooooo on! So… here i am, in Thailand! The place that well known for the HOT food and sour too!
So, i was thinking, how could i survived for 5 days in Bangkok, with those foods? I don’t eat hot, cos chilly will gave me vitamin D instead of C, u know….D for Diarrhea! And i don’t like sour, cot i hurts my tongue, and somewhere inside my mouth! It is well known that Thai food are the resemble of two most dangerous flavor in my universe! I feel totally stupid to traveling with indomie and beef floss in my backpack!! And the worse was…. i forgot to bring norit and Imodium, just in case i got a digesting problem. That’s the risk of doing rush packing……
Anyway….. it was not that bad! Once i arrived at Bangkok, anything was just FINE!! I arrived to the city center by the cheap-easy-hassle free-no traffic jam-airport link. It is a monorail from the city goes to the airport. It is really convenient! The sky train map is easily found in the net, and u can have the good hard copy at the airport. And… it is only 45bath, the regular one that will stop at some station! There is also the express one, and 80 Bath, goes from airport straight to Phaya Thai. It looks like heaven and hell, compare to the transport at Juanda airport, Surabaya! Anyway…. i’m no angel anyway, so may be i deserve that hell transportation in Juanda airport!! Honestly, i feel OK with the modern-tiny yet convenient airport named Juanda, but the transport really kills!! Compare to Soetta/Cengkareng Airport, i prefer Juanda! Juanda is well organized, and user friendly. Meanwhile, Soetta is so…. complicated!!
Suvarnabhumi (soo wa na phoom) is damn big and modern! It is definitely user friendly! The sign is clear, the zoning make it even easier! The ultra modern architecture oozed its unique beauty! One thing i don’t like about Suvarnabhumi is…… it is almost no signature of Thailand there. Well, that Thai character on the sign board are not count as signature, please!!!
steel meet glass = beautiful!!
Oh yeah, i was in the same plane with Thailand's contingent for SEAGAMES. It was fun to see how they celebrate it!!
Anyway…. i was really impressed by the first food i found in Bangkok! It was a food stall standing side by side with many clothes and fashion things stalls. All the food arranged nicely on the table, on open air, right under the bright evening Bangkok sky! I was about to point at anything there! They looks yummy! Some of the food was fried/bake on the spot, filling the sky with it delicious smells.
image borrowed from www.soulofamerica.com/bangkok.phtml
This is hell delicious!!!! Finally, i found decious siobak, just like Adam-Surabaya have!! Yess... It was in food stall in Bangkok, near Siam square! This meal cos 30 Bath
Suddenly Bangkok part #1
Yesss….. the english-traveling-writer-to be is back!! Hahahha!
Well, actually i’m not sure about being a traveler writer, it sounds amazing though! But i’m totally not sure about my writing ability, plus….. i’m a lazy-lazy-lazy person! I can not imagine that i have to take a note for everything i saw while i’m traveling. Of course i can’t rely on my picky-abnormal-brain, that would happily record anything in random style. And random is sooooo not journalism things!
Happily, random is so….. blog. OK, i knew lots of people convert their blogs into something organized, so it would be easier to attract search engine, and at the end… it would attract money to come! Anyway, i’m still random, and so with this blog, we both happy random people in the net universe! Sorry, i always feels that this blog is human!
Ok, enough for this un necessary opening!
Yesss!! I’m traveling to Bangkok on 23-27 November!! It is a short trip that i never planned before. It was started on a random day on October, a regular costumer text me on my cell, telling me that she have round trip Jakarta-Bangkok ticket. And…. she was about to gave it to me for free!! Free, everyone, free!! Nothing attract us so hardly, than a word called “FREE”! hahahaha!! I could hardly refuse it! The fact is :
The ticket valid for November only, which is only a few days more
I have no plan!
It was not a holiday! But who cares? I’m a freelance anyway!
The worst was…… i have no budget for this!
I got in to a serious dilemma….. Oh com on, I even have not finished my posting about Vietnam and Cambodia yet!! I have spent quite a lot of money there. The flight ticket was free, but that’s all! The other things still need money! I never been to Thailand, should i explain that i really want to go to Thailand?? Anyway…. i took the chance, and i jumped into “Suddenly Bangkok episode”! And the dilemma wasn’t offer yet…… A few days later, Bangkok got reported seriously flooding! It was serious, i saw it in the TV and net. So…. will this trip continue? I really wanted to book a bed in Lubd dormitory in Bangkok, but i wasn’t sure if i really be there. I was un sure about spending time browsing interesting places in Bangkok, which would be soooo much FUN, compared to my job!! I couldn’t buy Thai Bath, I couldn’t book my flight from surabaya to Jakarta, cos i was afraid this suddenly Bangkok episode will canceled. It was really confusing.
My friends kept on asking me, will i continue my trip??
Finally i got the ticket on my hand about a week before my departure date! So, suddenly Bangkok continued!
My little adventure started on the plane. I was always in the low cost carrier, so it was the first time in my life, i got a seat with an LDC attached on front of me! Call me countrified, i won’t deny it! The facts was, i had to secretly observed the man sat next to me, how and where to find headset! So…indeed, i’m countrified! Hahahaha!!
The next surprise was the food! They served the food in the tray!! Oh yeah….the countrified girl back again! It was a bread and butter there, salad with thousand island dressing, pudding, while the main course was chicken and potatoes. And….. instead of glassed water that i hate a lot, i got some option for fruit juice!! The taste of the meal was so so…… but the packaging was great! Oh com on!! the best i ever had so far was standard bread with glassed water, in a cartoon box!
VN-CAMB-KL : Row –row-row You Bike Around Angkor Wat!!!
The Only reason I put Siam Reap on the list is Angkor Wat!! This complex of ancient city is a true calling for me, long before Angelina Jolie running around Ta Phrom. I’m so curious about that place! I love ancient ruin, I love artistic things, and Angkor wat seems to have it all. All my CS guests always put Cambodia and Angkor wat on their “must-visit” place! So….. no need further explanation, I will definetly visit Angkor Wat!!
My sister came to me with her biking-idea around Angkor Wat. She have researched it before, and looked like biking is become more popular lately. Sounds great though : biking around ancient city….. So, I agree instantly! The Angkor complex will open on sunrise, and closed on sunset! See, they invite us to watch the sunrise in Angkor Wat! So, we answer ur invitation!! I will be there by sunrise!! *throw my fist on the sky*
Well….. bike plus sunrise….. how it would sounds? Fun? Hard? Or really hard? Hahahha! It is hard! We have to start the trip at least 4.30 am, local time. I have my bike rented from the white bicycle, cos I attracted by its project. They rent the bike to support their social activities. Anyway, it is really easy to rent bike in Siam Reap, the price would be around 1-2 USD per day. Almost every hotel have it, I guess. SR is really touristic, every tourist there have 1 purpose, visiting Angkor, what else? The city was calm and easy, quite modern, lots of hotel and hostel. Everything in the city are meant to the tourist industry, even the bottled water on the street! It is twice expensive than average price we had for bottled water, everywhere in VN and PP!! But, we found little supermarket, with normal price somewhere on the main road, lucky we didn’t buy the one on the street.
After some discussion, we decided to rent car with air con, for those two old tourists, my uncle and aunt. It is cost 25-35 USD. Tuk tuk would be cheaper, of course, around 12 USD. Meanwhile, me and the two sisters will stick on the bike. Angkor complex is located outside of the city, it is 8 km long! The road is flat, but still….need a fit body to do this! It needs around 45 minutes to go!
Cycling to Angkor Wat is an awesome experience! I have never been on push bike since I move to Surabaya, around 20 years ago! I’m glad I still know how to ride it! We started it at 4.30 sharp. The sky was still dark, and I’m not really sure about our direction. With some help from the map and some signage on the road, I rowed my bike with fully confident. It was looooong way along the deserted road, the houses and building were getting rare, replaced by forest, and the sky were getting bright…. But…. I still haven’t seen any sign of Angkor Wat. Finally!! I saw it!! A black huge figure! Angkor Wat!! But I was taking the wrong way! Damn!! I should have stick on Charles de Gaulle road!! I didn’t pass the main gate, so, I didn’t got my ticket yet! I need to row again for a solid 20 minutes back and forth to get my ticket!! Aaaargh!! I missed the sunrise!!
But that’s OK, it was covered by cloud anyway….
OK!! I will never ruin the whole excitement to be in Angkor Wat, with such small things like missing the sunrise, and rowing back to the main gate!! We had our breakfast on front of Angkor wat it self, that’s awesome! Angkor are actually a very big complex with thousands of ancient artifact. There are some main artifact, that made them must-visit :
- South gate of Angkor Thom
- Bayon
- Terrace of elephant
- Terrace of lepper King
- Ta Prohm
- Angkor wat
I visited them all, plus a few more ruin that looks interesting. That was the good things about ridding bike on our own. I can stop where ever I want, and for how long. When I was wandering around, I started to realize, why some people visit Angkor Wat area for 3 days! If I could, I would take 3 days ticket too!! Even if it is a complex of temples, the style are not the same. There are some styles, such as Bayon, Angkor Wat, Khleang, post-bayon, ect.
I was really happy to start the trip early on the morning, cos the sun was merciless! Another good thing is, the Angkor wat wasn’t full yet, so I can enjoy the silent between the great stones. Angkor are always full of kids selling things, they will gang up on you and yelling “one dolar misssssss” Thanks God they’re not allowed to go inside the ruin, or they will ruin my mood! Once again….. I will never ruin the whole excitement to be in Angkor Wat, with such small things like “one dollar misssssssssss!!!” I read on the travel forum, someone asked how to avoid the crowd on Angkor Wat? The answer was genius!! Don’t go! Indeed, if u only want to see Angkor wat, without any hassle, than u can search on the net, they have tons of information, no need to visit Angkor wat.
After lunch in the Angkor area, I row my bike again, back to Siam Reap city. Cycling around Angkor Wat would be the most unique experience I got from this whole trip!!
VN-CAMB-KL : Phnom Penh…..
Ok, I have to admit it, I have no much interesting story to tell during my stay in Phnom Penh *or I got boring of writing already??* Anyway, I wasn’t visiting Tuol Sleng Museum and The Killing Fields (Choeung Ek) . I have been avoiding Chu Chi tunnel in Vietnam, and why on earth I need to visit another disturbing site, in Cambodia? I feel deeply sorry for all the Khmer people who have been tortured and killed during the Khmer Rouge era, but it doesn’t mean I have to visit the evidence, right? Anyway….those bones should be burned according to the Khmer people believes, so they can “go” peacefully. But, no bones no tourist…. so, the bones still there, sad… so sad, isn’t it?
Anyway, there are many interesting places in PP, apart from Tuol Sleng Museum and The Killing Fields ….. No goosebumps, only beautiful arts, such as National Museum, Royal Palace, Wat Phnom pagoda, and Central market, they all walking distance! Unlike Tuol Sleng and Killing field that located quite outside the city, so…..we need to hire tuk-tuk, or simply book a day tour. National Museum are full of ancient artifact, stones, statues, reminds me a lot of Museum Nasional at Jakarta, but this one, looks more organized.
Nastional Museum looks red, literary! Most of the walls was red painted, the architecture is amazing, beautiful! While, the Royal palace looks gold. Almost all building there looks yellow or gold. I was thinking that The Silver pagoda, inside the Royal palace complex would be silver painted! Hahaha! No! The wall are white, but the floor are silver! Not silver paint, but totally silver plate, tiled all over the room! How it feels to walk on silver tile? I don’t know, cos the walk path are covered with carpet. 
Something funny about Cambodia : they use both USD and Cambodian Riel together!! Yes! This country has 2 currencies! I wasn’t sure about it, so we exchanged a little dollar for some Riel, before leaving Vietnam. Well, actually it wasn’t necessary…. Even the traditional market people using USD too! So, how this system works? Easy, they use Riel to replace cent in USD. 1 USD is around 4000 Riel. So… if the tag price is 1,5 USD, u can pay them 1 USD plus 2000 Riel. If u pay them 2 USD, they will give u 2000 Riel for exchange! Fantastic, right? They use dual tag price in the supermarket, Riel and USD, soooo handy! Well, not so handy, actually……I got a little probs when I want to buy some little-useless-things-called-souvenir. The price will looks like this : 5 fridge magnets cost 2 USD. How could I bargain? Instead of asking lower price that would gave me some headache, I always ask for more amounts. So, I will ask for 7 fridge magnets for 2 USD. At the end of shopping time, I felt proud of myself for getting good prices….. but, now I got too many fridge magnet and key rings….. sigh!
I was staying in Europe Guest house in PP. Good location, right in the tourist area, clean, u can book any tourist service here, but no b-fast. The owner was so funny and helpful! He is kind of “confusing kind”. He looks like Chinese, his nationality is France, he found himself as French, he speak France and Germany. He married a Khmer woman, living in PP, and still speaks no single words of Khmer! I was thinking about taking Mekong Express bus to Siam Reap, it cost around 10 USD. Later on, after some discussion with the guesthouse owner, we decided to take Sorya Transport, only 5 USD! He convinced me that Sorya is not bad at all, and he is definitely right!
VN-CAMB-KL : Something happened on the way to Cambodia!
Once again, in the name of curiosity but not for the sake of money, me and my sister decided to try a boat to cross from Vietnam to Cambodia. Isn’t it interesting, to cross a border on the river? U probably have been in the custom on the airport for many times, some of u probably have it on the harbor, but….. have u been trying the on on the river? I have read in some travel forum, they describe the Vietnam’s custom as a floating pontoon in the river, while the one Cambodia has is a small outdoor office on the river bank. Sounds interesting!!
So, instead of taking a bus from HCMC to PP, which cost quite well, around 12-15 USD per leg, I would take a boat from Chau Dock to PP. I found the blue cruise, but cost quite expensive, 55 USD per person!! From LonelyPlanet ThornTree, I got another information, that there are boat named Hang Chau, at it is only 21-24 USD! I e-mailed them (hangchau2agg@hcm.vnn.vn), and they promise to keep 6 seats for us, and the price is 24 USD per seat. Isn’t that good? No…. It is not good, but GREAT!! Hee hee hee! Some people were talking about cheaper boat to Phom Penh, Cambodia. It was around 16 USD. But it sounds not good, like they will squeeze u into a minivan after VN-Cambodia border. So, I stick on Hang Chau, I was impressed by their e-mail, and not to mention some good reference I got from ThornTree.
The Hang Chau boat sent the ticket to our hotel! So, once I got there, the hotel man handed me over an envelope. I was a bit surprised, I was thinking that I will go to the boat office right after I arrived at Chau Doc. At the end I went to the boat office, cos we turned up 5 person, not 6 person just like written in the e-mail. The Hang Chau office, and the jetty were in the same place. It is in a big floating restaurant. I made sure that there would be a free pick up from the hotel, this is quite essential, concerning our luggage.
The next morning, we got our breakfast, and ready to leave. We have to be at the jetty on 7am. The arranged pick up was cyclo!! Hahah! This is a nice experience! The Chau Doc cyclo is quite different compare to the other place in VN. The cyclo I have seen so far looks like pedicap (becak) in Indonesia, but smaller a lot. This one in Chau Doc is a bike with attached cart behind. So cute! Hahaha!
We pay the seat plus the visa, right before we jumped into the boat. Yeaahhh…. For Indo passport holder, we have to pay for the visa. It cost 20USD for 30 days. According to the traveler listed on the TripAdvisor and ThornTree, the Visa will always overcharged, around 3-5 USD per visa, depend on how un-lucky is the traveler. The Hang Chau charge us 23USD per person, well….. that’s not bad. The boat was quite small, air-cond….really nice! We got a piece of bread and a bottle of water.
It was pleasant trip….. Calm water….. good boat…. cows and trees passing bay…..
We got off the boat in the VN custom. We all got our passport collected by the boat man, together with the head-shot we prepared before we leave Indonesia. He also gave us some paper to fill, before we arrive at the VN custom. Things worked really well. We waited on the air-cond waiting room, while the boat man do his business with our passport. Make some cliché picture, co we were on the floating custom! Some moment later, he called us back to the boat. So smooth…..
A few minutes later, we got of from the boat. This time we climb up to the land. It was a garden circled by some simple buildings and gazebo. We seated under the trees, waiting for the boat man, (once again) to do his business. It was really hot and humid day, it must be nice to work at this kind of office. No air co, but surround by trees and open garden. A moment later, the boat man handed over us our passport, and ask us to queue on front of the windows. Sound really easy…..
I was queuing behind 2 Caucasian traveler , no one queue behind me. Those Caucasian left, and there was my turn. It was just an ordinary day in the custom…… But, the man behind the window seemed to be hard enough on me. Some minutes passing by, everyone got their passport stamped already…. Suddenly, the man talked to me in his unpleasant tone (oh yeah, his face was un-pleasant too, but he might not choose it though) and broken English, “Where is the VN stamp?!!” I opened a page and point a stamp, it was VN custom stamped it in Hanoi. “NO NO NO!” he make some impatient gesture. Jesus!! What kind of probs I got here??? He handed over my passport to the man behind him, looks like the boss there. A few second later, in between the broken English, gestures and mild chaos, I realized that all they want was the stamp OUT of Vietnam!! The boat man was come racing inside the office, after some words, he got out meeting me. “Do you have the other passport?” he asked me. What the hell is this!! “No! I don’t! That’s the only I have!” Suddenly, he realized the problem, he told me to waited there (Where else I would go??) and he raced out of the custom office.
How to describe the situation? Shockingly funny? Indeed, it is funny! I never ever felt angry to the boat man, he is just un-lucky that day. He got a bunch of passport, have it stamped, but apparently missed one passport, and it was mine! Hahahhaa!! I laughed as he ran away out of the office, I don’t know how he would back to VN border. It wasn’t far, less than 5 minutes by boat, but I’m not sure he would go on foot!! So, me and my sisters back to bench under the trees, waiting there. The Caucasian traveler who stand before me on the queue jokingly asked me if I have commit criminal or what.
“You’ve made me looks like a terrorist” that’s what I told to the boat man, jokingly, as he handed me over my passport. Once again, I stand on front of the window, and this time I got stamped within second, and jumped back to the boat.
Welcome to Cambodia! The HangChau un-wrapped the Cambodia flag on its pole. I think Hang Chau boat is belong to Cambodia Company. We speed up straight to Phom Penh. What a nice and smooth trip!!
VN-CAMB-KL : Mysterious Trip HCMC (Saigon) to Chau Doc
Do you know what the differences between 300 USD and 125 USD (2,5 million VND)? It is a lot of money, yes! So, how it would be? A transport cost 300 USD compare to 125 USD? I don’t really know about the 300 USD one, cos I didn’t try it, but I know about the other one! Hahaha!
It was a Toyota Innova, good condition, no bad smell, good air co, just perfect! But….. non English speaker-driver! Hahahaha!! Tien, A friend from CS arranged the driver and car for me. She gave him clear instructions about the destinations, when and where to pick us, and the price also. So, I met this driver when he picked us on the hotel, 6 am Saigon time. I never speak nor see him before! After grabbed some delicious b-fast, we loaded our luggage to the car, and leave Saigon.
Something difficult about VN language is, the way they spell it are far enough from how it was written. VN language using tones like Chinese. So, it was almost useless to try to speak with the driver about the destinations, cos we spelled the name wrongfully, it is better write it down, and show it to the driver. Since we have very limited way to communicate with the driver, all we can do was seating, enjoyed the ride, and do the “don’t ask don’t tell policy”. Every turn was a mystery…… I can’t even found the road on the VN map we got from Handspan. The road was almost deserted, it looks like the Vietnamese don’t like to drive town to town. Unlike the north coast line in Java, that lied along Java island, it is always full of traffic, even jamming in many spots! I have tried to find my route from Saigon to Cai Be on google map and google earth, it gave me a shocking route. It looks like I have to take a lo……ng road, turning somewhere really far from my final destination, Chau Doc city. I was desperate, I was thinking that this Saigon-Cai Be-Chau Doc route was un-doable. But, Tien told me that the route was OK, and it would take 6-7 hours Saigon to Chau Doc, no matter what.
Our first destination was Cai Be. It is a city in delta Mekong. There are many cities in delta Mekong, such as My Tho, Vinh Long, Ben Tre, ect. All of them are interesting, people life with different lifestyle here. Actually, I was thinking about 2 cities, Cai Be, or My Tho. Both looks interesting, they both have small tour, cruising the Mekong river a bit, and visiting some touristic places, such as : coconut candy factory, rice paper making, fruit plantation, and bee farm. Finally, I picked Cai be. At the end, I regretted it abit, I wish I picked My Tho instead of Cai Be…….
After a long ride, rice fields scene along the way, finally the driver entering rather small populated road, and stop there. It was about 2 hours from Saigon. After enjoying a peaceful-sleepy-ride, here I’m now….back to reality! The driver opened the door, that’s all he could help! I went out the car and wondered around with my eyes, what should I do here?? The road was ended up on the big big river, it was a parking area. Some tourist bus and cars parked there, it is quite touristic, actually. I enter a tour agent office, next to the Cai Be Tourist gate. They didn’t pay much attention to me….. I was really disappointed, after I got the price, I left the office. They asked me 10 USD per person. I moved to another office, they quoted me 12 USD. I moved further, a cute man came approached, invite me to his office. His likes to giggle and the way he giggle was cute, hahaha! I kept on imitating his giggle sometimes now, hee hee hee! He quoted me in VND, unlike the other who use USD. I don’t know why, I always prefer a tour agent who uses VND prices. He quoted me 150.000 VND per person, means 750.000 for the 5 of us. I asked him for 700.000 VDN, for all of us, and he agreed.
So, we jumped to the boat again, ready to do river cruise once more. This is the second river cruise after Hue city. There are lots of island in the Mekong delta, those islands gifted by fertile soil and lots of water. Fruits grew fantastically here. The fruits was tropical fruits, durian, rambutan, longan, mangosteen, mango, ect, just the same with Indonesia. But, it taste different, of course! This time, I didn’t spend lots of times in the boat, cos we spend quite lots of time in the islands.
Why would I prefer My Tho compare to Cai Be? The activities during the tour are similar. They both will visiting coconut candy factory, rice paper making, fruit plantation, drink orange-tea, and visiting bee farm. But, something My Tho has, other than Cai Be has is….. we can rowing, I mean, we seat, and the Vietnames farmer will row for us around the natural canal in in My tho. It would be awesome! The canals are narrow, no boat will go through the canal, only small canoe for 2-3 people can go. OK, I will visit My Tho next time!!
After 3 hours in Cai Be tour, we back to our mysterious trip with mysterious driver, to Chau Doc. The next problem appeared, me and the whole party need some lunch…… How could we communicate with the driver? My uncle tried to speak in English, which wasn’t impressed me at all! We all knew this man talk no single word of English! Not even the simple words like eat or stop! So, my sis gave him stop gesture, and eat gesture right after it. It works!! He stopped at…… something like bus shelter. It was in the middle of nowhere, in an un-populated place. No tourist at all! I sniffed another trouble! Hahaha! It was a big warehouse, large parking area, big restaurant, small market-like, and lots of toilet….. definitely a rest area. I tried to read the menu, but I can’t catch a single word, which one is rice, which one is meat or chicken. No waiters seems to speak English there. I was a bit confuse, while my aunt started to do her favorite act : doing the desperate-trance-dance mumbling “We’re die! We’re die! We’re die!” This was not just un-impressing, it was also not helping at all!!
At the end, we go to the 
meal preparations area. Almost all food was there, ready to put into the plates. We picked the most average-looks-meat and rice for the lunch. Finally, problem solved by index finger, and positive minds, of course! Trust me, desperate-trance-dance won’t help at all!!
After some good meal, we were jumped back to the car, enjoying the almost silent-sleepy-peaceful driving time. Until…. The next mystery came! Suddenly, the driver led the car into a crowded place. I was thinking that it was traffic jam, the car was crawling really slow. I realized that we were in a queue instead of traffic jam, when we arrived at a booth. The driver paid some money without telling anything. Here we were, asking to each other, what would it be at the end of the queue?? A bridge perhaps? Just like Surabaya-Madura bridge, or ferry, or what?? The car was crawling really slow, sometimes stuck too. At the end…..it was a ferry! Hahaha! Unlike in Indo, we use ferry boat only for straits, Vietnam using ferry for rivers….. Their rivers really big and deep!
Around 6 PM we arrived at a rather busy city, next to the river. It was Chau Doc….. Finally, after leaving busy-modern Saigon at 6 AM, we arrive at our final destination, Chau Doc. I have no plan in this town, my only intention here was taking a boat to Cambodia on the next morning. So, after some small refreshment at the Hai Chau Hotel, we go for a little walk around the city. Chau Doc have a tourist attraction, it name is Sam mountain, but I have no time to visit it. The hotel was nice, they have restaurant on the ground floor, free wi-fi, and one free computer to use. Perfect!
