We spent a day trip in Ayutthaya to explore some of its temples and see what it has to offer. This is a province of Thailand which was once the capital of Thailand and is located north of Bangkok. It took about 2 hours travel time from Bangkok to Ayutthaya (including traffic). As we brought … Read more
I have quite a number of reasons why I love Chiang Mai. One of the reasons, perhaps the most important, is the food. Thai food is good. I don’t need to convince anybody of that. And it is outrageously inexpensive, too! So I thought, what better way to celebrate this spectacular reason than with signing … Read more
Today, I fed and bathed elephants that were rescued from abuse and neglect. I visited the Elephant Nature Park in Chiang Mai and spent a day with these gentle giants. It was a beautiful experience to be with them up close.
Elephant Nature Park Day Trip by Save Elephant Foundation
Chiang Mai, Thailand
October 24, 2012
with female elephant Jampeng
after taking a bath, they covered themselves with mud for protection (from the sun and from insect bites)
I travelled from Bangkok to Chiang Mai on a Thursday night and the ride took 11 hours by bus. It wasn’t a grueling transport. I just had to deal with a couple of pesky female backpackers sitting on the back who seemed high or drunk. They kept talking to my seatmate (their friend) about how crazy the party was the other night. Their voices were so loud that everybody could hear them boisterously laughing as if they owned the bus.
Bangkok to Chiang Mai – 500 Baht (you can find cheaper tickets if you search enough)
backpackers, from Bangkok to Chiang Mai
In the middle of the night, they asked one of the bus staff to turn the air conditioning off. The temperature was already unbearable and they didn’t have any jackets/blankets on, but the staff didn’t do anything. Curses flew everywhere which practically disturbed a lot of people. Funny how they previously laughed at their friend for bringing a hoodie in Southeast Asia, but they had to suffer during that cold bus ride that night.
Anyway, the trip ended early in the morning and I arrived in Chiang Mai with arms open.
A monk, eating from his bowl, early in the morning.
When I stayed in Bangkok, Thailand for more than a month, aside from coffee shops, one of the places I frequently visited was the Terminal 21 mall.
I was introduced to this shopping and dining center by a fellow travel blogger and this became one of my favorite hangout places. For someone like me who’s constantly on the lookout for good internet connection to work on my online jobs, I always need a conducive place to do my tasks. Bangkok’s Terminal 21 was able to give me what this digital nomad’s lifestyle needs.
Terminal21
To give you some highlights, here are five reasons why I love the Terminal 21 mall in Bangkok, Thailand:
Bangkok’s Terminal 21’s floors have different themes. These themes are patterned to famous terminals around the world. They are inspired by the cities of Tokyo, London, Istanbul, etc. When I first visited the mall, I couldn’t help but admire the way they built the complex to give a unique experience every floor.
Themed floors
It’s funny because even if I stayed in Bangkok, Thailand for more than a month, I didn’t really go to as many places as possible. In fact, I was just stuck in the city, frequenting coffee shops to open my laptop and work. I was focused on doing my online jobs so I could prepare for better things in the future.
However, one thing I looked forward to everyday was the food. I was always happy with the choices that were available to me. According to my friend who now lives there, best local food are found on the streets. Since they’re found on the streets, it’s expected that the costs are also budget-friendly. This is great because I don’t really eat as often as I can but when I do, I have so many options to choose from.
Street Food, Bangkok
Two days. I have two more days before I travel to another destination, Indonesia. I haven’t figured what I’m going to do there. For sure, I want to hit the beach and relax!
Bangkok MRT
It’s funny because I never got to explore other areas of Bangkok when I’ve been here for more than a month already. Even the usual places such as the Grand Palace, Wat Pho (the Temple of the Reclining Buddha), the Floating Market, etc. I haven’t checked them out. I can run so many excuses like being so busy with work and all my other online commitments but that won’t do me any good. Still, these places haven’t enticed me as much and I’ll visit them some other time.
Terminal 21 – being a mallrat
The other day, my passport visa stamp was going to expire so I needed to go to the Aranyaprathet-Poipet border in order to re-enter Thailand. Only, I was surprised by a policy shared to me at the immigration counter in Cambodia. They asked for 200 Baht since I was going to leave the country (Cambodia) on the same day.
I have a flight next week so the most logical thing to do was have a visa run to refresh the number of days for me to stay in Bangkok.
passport stamps
From Hua Lamphong station, I hopped on the same ordinary train since this was the cheapest option available. I only paid 48 baht to get to the Aranyaprathet border. I didn’t sleep the night before so the 6-hour ride went by quickly. This is usually one of my techniques whenever I hop on long bus or train rides which makes 12 or 18-hour travels a breeze. Of course, just make sure your belongings are secure. I couldn’t tell how many passengers sat beside me cause whenever I’d open my eyes, I had a different seatmate every time. But then, I’d just doze off again because of not having enough rest the previous night.
train ride from Bangkok to Aranyaprathet – 48 Baht for 6 hours
We took a train ride from Bangkok to Aranyaprathet so we could reach Siem Reap, Cambodia the cheapest way possible. On land, you can either take a bus or a train, the former is faster though more expensive. 200 Baht vs 48 Baht, it was a no-brainer for us since our funds were already depleted back in Cebu, Philippines.
Aranyaprathet is a district of Sa Kaeo Province in Thailand that borders Cambodia to the East. Riding the train was an experience that is foreign to me. Unless you include those small train rides in theme parks, I can say that I’ve never ridden this mode of transport before.
Bangkok Railway Station
Hua Lamphong
Hua Lamphong Train Station
Around 4am in Hua Lamphong Railway Station, we waited for the 5:55am train schedule by eating Thai food and buying snacks at a 7/11 convenience store. It was going to be a 6-hour ride, and we’ve been traveling and stopping from Cebu to Manila to Clark to Bangkok for over 24 hours. You can imagine how stressed I was considering that I wasn’t used to long journeys. But it would’ve been useless to give up knowing how far we’ve already come.
Station 6
The sign said it was an ordinary train going to Aranyaprathet. But after the whole traverse, there was nothing plain about it. In fact, it was one of the most notable experiences of the trip.
Ordinary Train? Didn’t see this one coming.
I spent 36 hours travelling and waiting during our trip from Cebu to Siem Reap in Cambodia. It was the longest I spent to reach one destination. I guess that’s the challenge when you live in a region that doesn’t have a lot of options when it comes to flights to international destinations. Cebu Pacific Airlines used to have direct flights from Cebu to Bangkok but it stopped probably due to the minimal number of passengers going to that country.
In any case, we were lucky to get a discount due to promotional fares a couple of months before the schedule. Here’s a breakdown on how we got to Cambodia from Cebu.
online at Clark terminal
Cebu to Manila: We arrived 5 minutes late at the check-in counter so we had to pay the regular price and turned into chance-passengers at 5200 bucks more than the promo fare. Just mentioning it is already a pain in the buttocks since we already had a limited budget.
7000 Php (ouch) – Cebu Pacific Air Fare (original price was only 1800 Php)
200 Php – Terminal Fee
Cebu Pacific airlines
Lesson learned, arrive 2 hours earlier than the scheduled flight! I never want to be pay extra again as these are circumstances that we can control.
Siem Reap in Cambodia and Bangkok in Thailand was fun. I’m glad that we didn’t rush into scenes and had time off to retreat. Most of my travels usually were getting to different tourist spots and other famous destinations. Sure, we also did some sight-seeing in Siem Reap and Bangkok but we weren’t in a hurry which made it all the more worthwhile.
temple-hopping in Cambodia
I was able to travel to two cities in two countries over the past week and I thought I could easily update this site with pictures and snippets just to give out glimpses of the places and things we did. However, I’m having difficulty where to start. With so many pending entries and backlogs from different trips, it’s a challenge for me to maintain this site and keep it current. But I’ll figure out a way.
fish spa at 3 USD
For now, let me just post a few photos of scenes in these countries. Each place has its own charm and story to tell which enriches one’s knowledge on how people go about their way of life.