February 3, 2011

Bus from Shangri-La to Xiangcheng

I left my room around 4AM and waited for another 30 minutes before the caretaker opened the door. The wind was cold and it was still dark. I was deciding if I’m going to walk from my hostel to the bus station or not which was a bit far. I took a taxi instead and [...]

Dreaming of Shangri-La

It was raining when I arrived in Kunming around mid August of this year. I immediately checked myself in a cheap backpacker’s hostel together with an Israeli couple that I met on the bus. The hostel was great, the staff were all English speaking and there’s a lot of useful travel books and brochures that [...]

Flip’s Top 10 Misadventures

10. Flip never had anything stolen from him in his travels, but he forgot a lot of his stuff in hostels. 9. Flip organized a Boracay trip with his friends and got left by the ferry in Manila Port Area. Flip bought an air ticket and flew instead. It was Flip’s first plane ride. 8. [...]

Things You’ll Love About Bangkok

Bangkok is definitely my favorite city in Asia. It’s strategically located in the center of Indochina which makes traveling to neighboring countries really easy. It also hosts a lot of cheap airlines including Cebu Pacific and Air Asia. Traveling in this vibrant city is easy, relax and definitely affordable. Here’s my list of the things [...]

Hanoi’s Bustling Old Quarters

Hanoi seems to be the tourism center of Vietnam, maybe because of it’s proximity to Sapa and Halong Bay. The city is loaded with rich history and tourist facilities that cater to different kinds of travelers. My adventure in Hanoi started when I arrived from an arduous overland crossing from Laos which I mentioned in [...]

Grand Palace and Emerald Buddha

I’ve been to Bangkok a lot of times already, but I’ve never visited Grand Palace until April of this year. I thought that it would be just another overrated tourist destination, but I was wrong. I was staying in Khao San Road and one lazy morning I decided to go to the Grand Palace. It [...]

A Backpacker’s Epiphany in Khao San

Khao San Road would probably be Bangkok’s answer to Champs Elysses of Paris. However, it’s not as grand as the latter, in fact Khao San is quite the opposite of Champs Elysses. It’s dirty, with narrow roads, packed with cheap hostels and mid-priced hotels and it’s full of street vendors peddling everything that they can [...]

First Time in Kuala Lumpur

March 2009: I left my home around 4AM and took a taxi to EDSA Pasay. There’s a bus station there that goes to Clark Airport everyday. I can’t remember how much exactly I paid for the bus ride but it’s definitely not that much. For those who’re not familiar with Clark, it used to be [...]

A Glimpse of Burma

I’ve always wanted to travel to Burma for the longest time and last April 2009, when I was in the North of Thailand, I thought that I would be able to do so. Burma seems to be fascinating and mysterious to me. I personally don’t know anyone who’s been there or at least expressed an [...]

Halong Bay on the Cheap

Halong Bay has been on my list ever since I became a traveler. However, I was really hesitant to go there especially after knowing that Halong Bay is on the top list of the New Seven Wonders of the World poll. I was thinking that I may not be able to afford it. I was [...]