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May 13, 2016

7 Days Backpacking through Vietnam-Cambodia-Thailand-Myanmar

Long Week-end getaway to the ancient temples 

English I Bahasa Indonesia

There were 3 days public holiday last week. I didn't want to spend the day with working on holiday or just sleeping. I believe there is no better way to spend long weekend rather than going for backpacking. Looking for destination was one of the important thing to be decided. Firstly, i planned to look for domestic destination. After long time consideration, it was a big NO because it was most probably very crowded during this long holiday for domestic destination. Another option was visiting other countries. neighbour countries may be quite easy to be planned. Vietnam, Cambodia,Thailand and Myanmar was the route i chose then. I may say that this journey will be filled by temples.

"Lets pack your backpack and follow my journey"


Why I Choose this Route?
myanmar visa exception 
Ordinary passport holder from Philippine, Indonesia, Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos, Thailand  and Brunei are giving visa exemption for 14 days. further information:
http://www.evisa.moip.gov.mm/

The main reason is the ticket fare promotion. It was started when i found cheap ticket to Ho Chi Minh City by AirAsia. That's it! The rest is because of it is common route to travel in the Indochina Countries so the transportation between the countries has been well provided. It is very possible to travel overland from Vietnam to Thailand. You may cross Cambodia and Laos. For this trip, i skipped Laos since not enough time. I Added Myanmar to the itinerary because the country was just opened so it may be still unspoiled and not crowded. 



Those Countries except Vietnam are famous with their religious Budhist or Hindu temple complex built for long time ago. The Ancient Architecture of the temples has attracted people all over the world to come to those country. Those places are worth to visit!


The Main Menu of this trip

Bagan Archeological Zone , Myanmar

Bagan is ancient city located in Mandalay, Myanmar. During the kingdom's height between 11th and 13th centuries, more than 10,000 Buddhist temples, pagodas and monasteries  were constructed. However, only around 2000 temples and pagodas are still survive to the present day. Bagan is one of beautiful or surreal place in the world and must be seen before you die. You must visit the city now before million tourist and tour group will fill the city.


Grand Palace , Thailand


Everyone will never miss grand palace while they are visiting Bangkok. It is a real palace with unique architecture style. The palace was designed as a complex with several building rather than a one massive building. The palace was an official recidence of the king of Siam and now it become one of popular tourist attraction in Thailand. Sometimes the grand palace is used for official events.

Angkor Wat , Cambodia


Angkor wat, means Temple city, a temple complex and the largest religious monument in the world. It was constructed by khmer Civilization as hindu temple and gradually transforming into a budhist temple It has been popular since 19 century among the traveller especially when tomb rider was filmed here. It is really crowded nowaday. However, the temple is still amazing even a lot of people inside.


When is the best time to visit?

My trip is strated from 30 April to 7 May 2016. It was low season although the tourist was still everywhere. The temperature was dry and super hot. However, i will tell you when the is the best time to visit of those countries as per my previous research.

Indo China Countries is located in tropical region and near sub tropical climate. Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam and Myanmar have almost similiar weather and season. Actually, there are rainy season and dry season. The dry season usually start from December through May. Please do note that April and May is the hotest temperature in those country. It may reach 40 C. Rainy season is started from June through November. I may say that the best time to visit is January to March. Why did i visit on May then?? Never mind..

Itinerary

The trip is started from 30 April through 7 may 2016. It was because of long week end in my country. As usual, i like to see a lot of thing in the short duration so the itinerary is quite tight like a skinny jeans. 

Day 1 Ho chi Minh City, Vietnam
Ho Chi minh is metropolitan and the most populous city in vietnam. You Should know that Ho Chi Minh is a name of the leader

Day 2 Overland HCMC to Siem Reap 
It is a long duration overland trip. We started at 8 AM and arrived at 8 AM. We traveled with Mekong express bus.

Day 3 Siem Reap

We came here because of the Angkor wat, the largest religious monument in the world. 





Day 4 Overland Siem Reap to Bangkok
Another long overland trip with bus. The most challanging thing was when arrived in the border. We used Nattakan bus.

Day 5 Bangkok

it consider as a transit because we only stayed not more than a day. However, i still had time to visit grand Palace

Day 6 - 7 Bagan

There are  more than 10,000 Buddhist temples, pagodas and monasteries ever built in thi city. The Sunrise and Sunset scenery is amazing!





Transportation

Ho Chi Min City to Siem Reap by Mekong Express
Mekong Express is one of reputable bus operator in Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos. The price is considered higher than other bus but the service is worth as it. For HCMC to Siem Reap trip, it is cost 26 USD. They will pick up nearby the tourist area. In Pnom penh, We are required to transfer to other bus. Toilet and wifi are provided inside the bus. The bad for this bus is the price. Further information, you may visit http://catmekongexpress.com/
Siem Reap to Bangkok by Nattakan
Nattakan is known as the only official direct bus operated from Cambodia to Thailand. It means that in the border we do not need to change the bus or keep using the same bus. It will give you hassle free trip. And again, the price is quite expensive, 28 USD from Siem Reap to Bangkok.

Bangkok to Yangon by Airasia
There are 2 Low cost airlines connecting Bangkok and Yangon, Air Asia and Nok Air. I can't tell you which one cheaper. You have to check which one the airlines give you best price at the date of your departure.

Yangon to Bagan by JJ Express
JJ express is one of bus provider operated all around Myanmar. It might be the best bus in my journey. The journey is cost 19 USD from Yangon to Bagan and others bus usually cost 17 USD. JJ is only 2 USD more expensive than others bus but the service they provided is worth as hundred bucks or sometimes over. Once, i read their brochure and found the information "The bus attendant joins flight attendant and the Bus driver is 10 years or more experiece". I think it is too much. You can book in advance the bus from their facebook JJ express FB Page.

Accommodation

The Accomodation quality is quite competitive for developed Country. You may get good place with bad price, bad price with goo price or good place with good price which is quite rare. For me, i do not care to much since i will be going outside for a whole day so good price is my priority. At least, they just need providing me a bed.
  • 4 Boys Hostel : 4.5 USD/day for dormitory. Good place but the way to go there is quite complicated. You may get lost.
  • Luxury Concept Hostel : 5.2 USD/day for dormitory.Everything is good!
  • The Aris Hostel : 6.2 USD/day for dormitory. It has good review from others but i couldn't enjoy this place. The air conditioner is only operated at 7 PM to 11 AM, the toilet is dirty and it's on 5 level of a old building. The good is only location
  • Shwe Nadi Guest House : 27 USD/day for triple bed. The best Accomodation during my trip. You must stay here while you visit Bagan. The Breakfast is awesome. They serve everything they have and we can ask more. The price and location are also its best deal!

Budget

I am really hate to talk about Budget so i put this section in the last. Sometimes, it make me looked rich (I'm not rich but handsome) or restrain person to go traveling. Most of my money is spent for the transportation and Entrance fee. The daily expenses is relatively cheap. You may see the breakdown as below:

Total Cost : 359 USD for 7 days , 4 city, 4 country, 4 flight, 4 long journey bus, entrance fee per person



Flight
  • Johor Bahru - HCMC : 22 USD
  • Bangkok - Yangon: 35 USD
  • Yangon - Kuala Lumpur  : 65 USD
  • Kuala Lumpur - Johor Bahru : 21 USD
Entrance Fee
  • Angkor Wat : 20 USD
  • Bagan Archeological Site : 25 USD
Meal : 5 USD/day or 35 USD for 7 days (estimated)
Hostel : 30 USD for 7 days trip (breakdown can be seen in Accommodation Section)


Bus/Tuktuk/Bike/Taxi
  • Mekong Express: 26 USD
  • Nattakan : 28 USD
  • JJ Express : 19 USD
  • Taxi Bangkok to Airport :15 USD/taxi or 5 USD/person
  • Taxi Yangon Airport-Bus terminal-Yangon Airport : 16000 kyats or 13.7 USD / 2 way or 4.5 USD/person (I travelled with 3 person)
  • Tutuk to Siem reap city : 20000 riel or 4 USD
  • Tuktuk for angkor wat : 100000 riel or 24 USD/4 person or 6 usd/person
  • E-bike : 8000 kyat or  8 USD/day/2 person or  4 USD/day/person
  • Taxi to Mount Popa : 9 USD

19 comments:

  1. Bang Gun, nggak tertarik jadi travel planner?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Wow thats interesting !!thanks so much for this information,its really useful to me.
    I really need the kind of this information coz i wanna know how to travel by overland to some of those countries.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Kalo mau ke laos juga kira2 mesti nambah berapa hari & rutenya gimana? *kali aja sempet research dulu tapi ternyata ga feasible jadi dibatalin :p
    Btw, ini gunawan yang mesin 07 yah?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. haha iya bener ini gun ms07.
      ada bis dari thailand/vietnam/cambodia ke vientine laos. jadi rutenya ya..tinggal di selipin aja. mungkin nambah dari cambodia ke laos dulu baru ke thailand ato vietnam ke laos. bisa macem2 sih sesuai kebutuhan. nambahnya ya tergantung mau kemana aja min 2 hari kalo cuti mepet

      Delete
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