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My Southeast Asian Adventure
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18-06-2013 11:16am#1N/B: I'm not claiming to be an expert on any of the places I'm posting about, just my personal opinion and experience
Myself and my girlfriend have been doing a bit of travelling through SouthEast Asia and were asked to make a thread on a different forum but as a (kinda) regular in here I said I'd pop it up to help any travellers considering doing a similar trip.
We started the trip in Bangkok after flying via Dubai on the Airbus 380 (biggest plane in the world!). Kinda regret not staying a day or two in Dubai, the place just oozes money from what I could tell in the airport, there was signs everywhere for Nissan GTRs the same way Nissan Micras would be advertised at home!
Stairs...ON A PLANE!
On arrival in Bangkok we went straight to our hotel close to the Khao San Road (main backpacker area in Bangkok). The visa for Thailand was very easy to get, fill in a form on the plane and hand it in at immigration for a free 30 day visa. Anyway, the first day we had a good wander around and took the place in. Ended up getting pissed the first night drinking buckets of Thai Rum, Coke and Red Bull (don't pay more than 300BHT, some places are 200BHT so just walk along the road until you find the best price)! Also made friends with a ladyboy! Here's a few pics from The Khao San Road
no comments on which one is the ladyboy 
Getting around the city is fairly easy, although Bangkok is bloody big. We got a ferry, the stop was local to us (Phra Arthit), down the river to the centre of the city (Central Pier), cost us 15 baht each. 'twas one of my favourite parts of the day! Once in the centre there's a Sky Train (Sky Train Stop Saphan Taksin), it's their Metro but was dropped in in the 90's, very impressive tbh. There's loads of stops and we found most of the things we saw just by looking out the window and hopping off if it looked good! There's free Muay Thai outside one of the shopping centres on Wednesdays (MBK - sky train stop National Stadium) at 6pm. We were expecting a half arsed fight but it was really good! We managed to get right beside the ring and we were only there 10 mins before it started.
We made friends with two English guys on one of the first nights and they told us about where they were staying - hookers everywhere (kinda what I expected all of Bangkok to be like
) so we had to take a look. We went over there one of the evenings (sky train stop NaNa) and went for a few beers. Crazy place, maybe 3:1 ratio of Thai Women to Western men. Other than my GF we saw maybe 2 other western women on the road! Not quite as sleazy as one might think and it's well worth a visit.
Other than that the only thing we done in Bangkok was sort out our Vietnamese Visas, Embassy is on Wireless Road (Sky Train stop Phloen Chit), 30 day single entry visa cost us 2500 baht each (roughly €62.50) for next day processing. We also saw the huge solid gold Buddha, a few temples and the markets of china town, all worth a visit.
5.5 ton gold Buddha
China Town at night
All in all we both loved Bangkok but 4 nights was a little more than needed, you could wander around the city forever but there's only so much of the city (and heat/humidity/pollution you can handle! If I were to do it again we would stay 2 or 3 nights but it was a nice way to get us used to the Thai way!
From Bangkok we got an overnight train to Chiang Mai, cost us 2100 baht from a travel agent for one top bunk and one lower bunk in the 2nd class A/C carriage, we got out return tickets in the train station and for the same beds it only cost us 1600 baht so it is worth the 60 baht taxi to the train station in Bangkok to buy em there. Personally I wouldn't recommend the fan sleeper carriages as they really don't look comfy at all for a 14 hour train ride, windows open everywhere with bugs and noise all around!1
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So after a 14 hour train ride we arrived in Chiang Mai, as soon as you step off the train you get swarmed by Taxi drivers to take you to Chiang Mai, agree a price before you get into any of these taxis, 80-100 baht for two people to the centre of town is a fair price IMO. We had the wife of the driver sit in the back with us offering to be our guide and she showed us all these reviews left by different people on how great they are, I wouldn't recommend it. It's cheaper to book the activities at your hotel/hostel. Our hostel got us a discount on a lot of things and the place itself will arrange collection for you.
On our first day we just walked around and got to know the place. It was a refreshing change to Bangkok, you are able to breath again! Chiang Mai used to be a walled city and the part inside the wall and moat is called the old quarter. I found it kinda cool that the walls that remain at the main gates in and out are the walls that used to keep out the Burmese and Chinese years ago. Even though its a lot smaller than Bangkok it still has a lot of the western places like McDonalds, Burger King, Starbucks etc. but most are outside the old quarter.
Second day was our busy day, Elephant trekking in the morning, Tiger Kingdom afterwards then Chiang Mai Zoo for the afternoon. The Elephant Trekking I didn't like, the place we were brought to was a cheap place (we didn't know before we got there) and the elephants clearly weren't treated well. If you wanna do this then I'd recommend doing some research on the different places that do it. Tiger Kingdom was cool, we only went into the small tigers (8 months old) because it didn't feel right hanging out with full grown tigers! It cost 520 baht for ten minutes with the small tigers (420 for the big ones and 620 for the babies or about 1400 for all three).
Then we went to the Zoo, this was my favourite thing we done in Chiang Mai. It's absolutely huge! There's a bus that goes around it and it was 100 baht for an all day pass (or 70 for one loop) and you can get on and off at 6 stops around the park. It was the most hands on Zoo I've ever seen, we got to feed Hippos (10 baht for a basket of corn) and you just drop it into their mouth about a foot from your hand! Elephants (20 baht for a basket of sugarcane), you could put it straight into their mouth or they'd take it from you with their trunk. Penguins (100 baht for a bowl of fish), they took us into their enclosure and you they run to your feet and take it from you! We also fed Rhino, Leopard, Jaguar and you can usually feed the giraffe but there was construction going on around the enclosure so we didn't get to do that
The 3 Pandas seem to be the pride of the Zoo (only 14 Zoos outside China have Pandas so it cost 100 baht to see them)
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We went to a Thai Boxing night one of the nights, 550 baht from our hostel (600 at the door) for ringside or 400 for regular seats. It's a great night with about 7 fights and one Special Fight. Our special one was 6 blindfolded fighters in the ring (with a ref!) just punching each other around! There's gambling going on all around and people will approach looking for bets (mostly about 100 baht or a beer).
In the old town on Sunday night there was a huge market that takes over several streets. It was really good, there's all kinds of performers and different stalls all along the road from glass blowers to little birds in cages! Two tiny birds in a cage were 20 baht! From what I gathered from it you released them for good luck (they probably caught them afterwards and resold them!!)
On our last day we went to a cooking class (900 baht for full day - 7 courses), I personally was unsure of this before but ended up loving it! They took us to the market in the morning and taught us about all the food and ingredients we would be using throughout the day. Then we went to the school, they taught us how to make curry, spring rolls, all sorts of noodles and a few other things. We got to choose what we cooked for each course, there was about 4 or 5 options per course. You can buy beer there too! Really good day with lots of food!
Visited a few temples while there too, after Bangkok they were a little small!
We stayed in a place called Thailandwow, really loved this place, nice common area at the front with cushions on the floor to hang out on, made a lot of friends here and you'll never be short a few people to go for dinner or drinks with!
Then it was back on the overnight train to Bangkok to catch a flight to Hanoi to start our trip through Vietnam! We spent 5 nights in Chiang Mai and loved every day there. Even the chilled out days chatting to other like minded people in the hostel. I'd go again tomorrow!0 -
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So, after a quick flight from Bangkok to Hanoi our trip in Vietnam began! We stayed in the Old Quarter in a place called the Hanoi Old Town hotel, bargain of a place, $12.50 a night for a double A/C room. Just around the corner was the main backpacker area where you could buy Bia Hoi (fresh draught beer) for about 15000 dong (roughly 50c, 28000 dong = €1) a glass.
In Hanoi we visited the Army museum, great place to visit and only cost 30000 each. Gives all the history of the Vietnam wars from the 10th century onwards. Lots of guns, knives, rocket launchers, planes, tanks etc that you can touch. Loads of stories up about how a few guys with Bamboo sticks disarmed American soldiers and took their guns. Really speaks volumes about how passionate and determined they were. Some of the stories were about country women that had to carry weapons with them while ploughing their paddy fields!
We visited the oldest University in Vietnam then, not quite as exciting as the army museum but worth a visit, PhDs hanging on the walls dating back to the 1700s and some live traditional music was quite good.
We visited the Temple in the middle of Hoan Kiem lake where they have encased an absolutely HUGE turtle that was found in the lake years ago, never took photos as I didn't realise it was real at the time! There was a gang of old guys playing Chinese Chess, ended up watching that for about 20 minutes!
One of the evenings we went to the water puppet show (60,000-100,000) is quite famous in Vietnam so it's one of the popular things to do there. Honestly though...it's seriously boring! Even my girlfriend was bored of it, and she loves crap like this
thankfully it was only 45 mins long!
That's about all we saw in Hanoi other than walking around the city and markets. We never made it to Ho Chi Minhs Mausoulum as you need to be there extremely early (7am or so) to get in. Also never got a chance to visit Hoa Lo prison (Hanoi Hilton) which I was annoyed about!
So after a few fun days and (not so) late nights (most bars close at 12) we were on the overnight train to Sapa0 -
Roughly 10 hours on an overnight sleeper (roughly $35 pp ew, 4 berth cabin) and we arrive in Lao Cai. Within seconds of getting off the train we were approached by loads of guys trying to get us to use their minibus to get to Sapa, takes about an hour and it should cost about 50,000 dong so bargain hard! Even the drive from the train station to Sapa is very cool, lots of people walking up and down the mountain roads leading their buffalo and other animals. Upon arriving you'll get surrounded by local women asking your name, where are you from and how long will you be staying...they're everywhere! Asking to sell you stuff and offering tours. They do your head in but they're always very friendly!
Stayed in a place called Casablanca Hotel, lovely family owned hotel. Super friendly and will help you out with anything you need. Cost us $22 a night for a room with a balcony that overlooks the mountains.
One of the days we rented out a motorbike ($4-5 per day) and headed off up to see the two big waterfalls. The first was Silver waterfall, 15,000 dong in. Short walk up the steps and over a little bridge to have a good look at it then back down again. Then we were back on the bike to drive about a further 3 km up the mountain to Love waterfall. Cost 30,000 dong into this one but it was about a 1.5 km walk to get to the waterfall. Really lovely place and you can swim in the pool at the bottom of the waterfall here (it's chilly water though!). On the walk back we saw a lil snake slithering along the path beside us! We also drove to the highest point in Sapa where the view was incredible.
Silver waterfall
Golden waterfall (Love waterfall)
Highest road in Sapa
One of the best ways to see the place is to rent a motorbike and just explore! Lots of little villages nearby and the locals were all lovely to us! Here's a short video we made while driving around one of the afternoons
We went on a two day trek with a home stay overnight. Loved the trekking both days with our local guide Chou but the home stay wasn't very authentic IMO. Big open house with a mezzanine for the guests to stay in. Upon arriving we weren't greeted or even introduced to the family, then come dinner we were just left with the other few home stayers to have dinner. I expected to be eating with or at least talking to the family!
Our guide Chou
Mountainside rice paddys
Locals use hemp to make clothes so they grow it outside their houses!
On the hike back from the home stay we got to stop off at a river for a swim which was great and much needed after 5 hours walking in the sun! After that there was a quick lunch then a bus back to Sapa. The whole thing cost us $35 each for the two day trekking and one night in the home stay with dinner and breakfast there.
There's a small village close to Sapa called Cat Cat village, it's about a 40 minute walk but you must pay a 40,000 dong toll to enter the village. Nice walk through paddy fields to get there. There's a free dance show on several times a day there too.
Then it was back on the train for an overnighter back to Hanoi so we could head on to Cat Ba Island (Halong Bay)0 -
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