Author: Ian Limpangog

After witnessing the breathtaking view of Angkor Wat’s sunrise and wondering around its bewildering structure, our guide lead us to Angkor Thom. We entered the Angkor Thom complex via the south gopura (or an arched gate), and what welcomed us were stone figures seemingly pulling a log (a scene in a classical movie wherein the soldiers had to pull the big ropes to lift the bridge that leads to the castle). Sadly, most of these statues had been decapitated. Reasons? – Barang, our guide, did not tell us. Roderick, Aaron, and myself in our hired Tuktuk. Photo is taken at ... Read more

I never thought that I would be crossing out one great entry in my bucket list this year. This 12th-century temple was always a dream and then, just this December, I finally laid a hand to the world’s largest religious- and well-preserved monument – the Angkor Wat. Angkor Wat forms part of Angkor, the seat of the Khmer Empire (9th – 14th century AD) and was built during the reign of King Suryavarman II. We arranged with our tour guide the day before to pick us up in our hotel at 5:00AM for us to witness the sunrise. Due to excitement, ... Read more

It was already late afternoon when we arrived in Siem Reap. We’d been on the road for almost the entire day since we only took a public land transport from Bangkok. After a short rest in Angkor Wonder Hotel, we went out to the entertainment or tourist triangle, an area within Sivatha Road, 2 Thnou Street, and Pokambor Avenue. Here’s a list of some things to do in Siem Reap at night. Taste the Local Delicacies The first thing we had in mind was to eat. We’d been skipping our lunch because of that land trip, thus we really had ... Read more

I did not ask for peer recommendations when I booked our accommodations for our Indochina tour. The only criteria I had in mind is – as long as I can afford it. We will be spending 7 days in foreign lands, so I have to make sure that we won’t run out of funds. I had to keep our hotel expenses at minimum. Hostels are the cheapest, hence, I looked for a website that offers a great list of this accommodation type with easy booking procedures – then I found HostelWorld. I booked all our rooms in HostelWold including Lud ... Read more

We checked out early on our 4th day in Bangkok to catch the 05:55AM train to Aranyaprathet, the closest Thai town to the Cambodian border at Poipet. There are buses that ply directly from Bangkok to Siem Reap but we chose the train because we wanted the tour to be more indulging. We wanted to blend closely with the locals and try every public transport available. Taxi to Hua Lamphong station From Lub d Hostel in Siam Square, we took a taxi to the Hua Lamphong station of the State Railway of Thailand (SRT). The taxi was our last resort since ... Read more

Ayutthaya Kingdom [1351 to 1767 AD] was once considered as Southeast Asia’s most formidable. But not until 1767 when it fell to Burma’s fury. At the present, all that remained were ruins and the reinforced chedis. These ruins were under the protectorate of Ayutthaya Historical Park and were listed to the UNESCO World Heritage Site. We visited the Wat Phra Si Sanphet and the Grand Palace ruins after our tour inside the nearby Wihan Phra Mongkhon Bophit, making it the second stop of our “temple run” in Ayutthaya – part of the day 2 of our Indochina Tour. The three main chedis of ... Read more

Also called as the Monastery of the Great Relic, the Wat Maha That was built during the reign of the Siamese medieval empire, the Ayutthaya Kingdom. Now, it is one of the most stunning historical artifacts in Thailand’s former capital. Wat Maha That was the third stop of our temple run in Ayutthaya during the day 2 of our Indochina tour. An admission fee of TH฿50 was collected which, I guess, was just a small amount to fund the restoration and maintenance of this important temple. In fact, the on-going restoration efforts made us skipped some of the temples on our list. A buddha head ... Read more

Our Day 3 in Thailand wasn’t an ordinary day but a big protest weekend. Our hostel posted places to avoid because of the massive protests and most of our designated stops for our day 3 were on the list. Actually, Wat Saket, the Royal Pavilion Mahajetsadabadin, Wat Ratcha Natdaram, and Wat Suthat were scheduled for Day 1 but were moved because of the protest. We couldn’t reschedule it again since, technically,  it was our last day in Thailand and we’re heading to Siem Reap the next day. Despite of the threat, we still headed to Wat Saket. To reach our first ... Read more

We walked a kilometer from the Royal Pavilion Mahajetsadabadin to see the Giant Swing. We never expected that we will see another holy stunner nearby, the Wat Suthat. Wat Suthat is one of the oldest and largest temples in Bangkok. It is known for its distinct roof line, 25-ft tall golden Buddha, elaborate mural paintings, and giant swing on its front. The main hall of Wat Suthat Immediately after our photo ops around the Giant Swing, we headed to the temple’s entrance to inquire if public access is allowed, and luckily, we were allowed to go in. However, we TH฿20 ... Read more