Category: Travel

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

The Giant Swing (Thai: เสาชิงช้า, Sao Chingcha) is a religious structure in Bangkok, Thailand. It was originally built in 1784 for the annual Swing ceremony as part of the Brahmin thanksgiving ceremony. Three Thai men would ride a swing, suspended for up to 24 meters, to grab a bag of silver coins with their teeth. After some severe injuries and few deaths, the ceremony was discontinued in 1932. The giant swing underwent some renovations and was moved to its current location in 1920, after being gravely damage by lightning strikes. Then it was completely replaced in 2004. In the photo was ... Read more

After some hygiene fix (and without breakfast), we immediately boarded a Khlong boat at the Hua Chang station to see the first stop of our Day 3 Tour in Thailand, the Golden Mount (Wat Saket Ratcha Wora Maha Wihan or simply Wat Saket). Some Quick Facts and History Seating on an artificial man-made hill, the Golden Mount is one of Bangkok’s most popular landmark and sacred pilgrimage site. It features lush greeneries and overgrown trees on its foot and a 58-metre golden chedi that houses a Buddha relic on the summit. The temple was built during the Ayutthaya period as ... Read more

If you are going to the Golden Mount (Wat Saket), the Democracy Monument, the Royal Pavilion Mahajetsadabadin, the Giant Swing (Sao Chingcha), and Wat Suthat, you can take the Golden Mount line of Khlong Boats of Saeh Seap canal. The Khlong boats operates daily from 05:30AM to 08:30PM (until 07:00PM only on weekends). A bridge near Hua Chang Pier 1.) The Hua Chang Station of the Khlong boats is just walking-distance away from the Ratchathewi, Siam Sqaure, or National Stadium stations of the Skytrain (BTS). If you walk from these stations, take the stairway going down to the lower portion ... Read more