Category: Thailand

Whether you’re a casual traveler or an adventure-seeking globetrotter, Thailand awaits you with unforgettable experiences and beautiful settings. The country is considered heaven on earth by many, and the following destination ideas will help you understand why. Krabi Krabi, Thailand (Photo by Nicolas Vollmer on Flickr under CC by 2.0 license) It become popular for being the location of Leonardo DiCaprio’s 1999 film, The Beach. Aside from that, the region also boasts cave formations and an island conglomeration, making it an unbeatable spot for caving, island hopping, and snorkeling opportunities. Serene, turquoise water laps over the white sands, and as ... Read more

The red and orange tint of the sky was slowly turning blue. The sun just hid itself below the horizon. The lights started glimmering, changing the face of the Beach Road, Pattaya’s most popular avenue, into something neon, slick, and slinky. The lights of different colors exhibited good visual elements, making every dark corner of the city mysterious. A cruise ship looking A-One Pattaya, one of the city’s most popular hotel The once bland alleys transmogrify—yes, like a genetic mutation. Massage and other forms of entertainment were all opened for business. Huge tourist buses trooped the busy highway, bringing in ... Read more

The ultimate backpacking destination has to be Asia. More specifically, South East Asia. There is a wealth of cultural delights to be had within the region. With this, there comes a need for something new. Many backpackers are keen to head to the region to soak up the foreign culture and to experience a completely different way of life. When a Western traveller heads to this part of the world, they are overwrought with what they are presented with. The region is nothing but beautiful. But, it’s also diverse. You cannot make the uncultured mistake of lumping South East Asia ... Read more

Last year, I organized a backpacking tour with my office mates to visit Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam. While Aaron and myself were busy with some other stuff, Roderick silently took our photos from behind. All these fifteen photos are courtesy of Roderick Ordoñez. 1. Arrival in Suvarnabhumi Airport (Bangkok) It was Aaron’s first time to be overseas and he was amazed how advanced the airport is, compared to the Philippines. Related Story: Day 1 of the 7-day Indochina Tour: A Walkathon in Bangkok 2. Arrival in Our Hostel, Lub d Siam Square A lot of freebies: book exchange, free pop ... Read more

Our visit in Bangkok last November 2013 coincided with the city’s first major protest to oust their prime minister. Major tourist sites were selected as a venue of the noise barrage and like activities. As a result, we made some last minute revisions to our itinerary. The places to visit on our day 1 were Royal Pavilion Mahajetsadabadin, Wat Saket, and neighboring temples. However, the staff of our hostel, Lub d, advised us to keep away from these areas, because they were one of or near the selected protest gathering venues. Thus, we decided not to push the visit on those places. Lub d Siam Square ... Read more

Before we headed to our 7-day Thailand-Cambodia-Vietnam Tour, I made some research as to what are the places to visit, transportation to take, and their corresponding fees. Here is the actual result of that research which includes the commuting guide and itinerary. I provided some links (colored fonts) just in case you wanted to know the details of our tour. You can leave your comment(s) if you have questions and I’ll try to provide answers to the best of my knowledge. Border Crossing [custom_table style=”1″] Route Time and Description Fare/pax Bangkok-Seam Reap 05:55AM – Train leaves Hualamphong Station 11:35AM – Train ... 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