Author: divigirl

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Day 9, Thailand

THE DATE: April 29, 2012

THE TRIP 

09:30-10:10          Shopping in Thailand is not complete without visiting Chatuchak market. It’s only open on weekends so I made sure that we have at least one weekend in Bangkok. It’s a bus ride away from Thara House, we know because we asked 🙂 You have a choice between an aircon or a non-aircon bus. We decided to take whatever comes first. It was near empty when we boarded it but after several stops, the bus became crowded. Transportation: 13 THB each Continue reading “Day 9, Thailand”

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Day 7, Cambodia

THE DATE: April 27, 2012

THE TRIP 

08:00-08:30          Day 2 of our temple tour and last day in Cambodia. Since yesterday’s tour was abruptly shortened due to my camera’s untimely but temporary death, I made sure that my battery is full and my camera’s memory is empty so we can capture every moment of another fun-filled day in store for us… and a free breakfast is a great way to start our day.

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Day 4, Cambodia

THE DATE: April 24, 2012

THE TRIP 

06:00          Today is the day Divimom and I will cross the border. It was our first time to cross the border and I was excited anxious. So many thoughts were running in my head. Will we be able to pass through? Will we be scammed? What if the immigration won’t let us pass? Will they stamp our passport? Where is our passport?? The last one may be bordering on panic, but see, it is quite understandable since we live in an archipelagic country. We don’t cross borders – we cross seas 🙂

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Day 3, Vietnam

THE DATE: April 23, 2012

THE TRIP 

08:30-10:00          Around 8:15 AM, Divimom and I were already inside the office of Sinh Tourist for our My Tho – Ben Tre 1 day tour. I was quite excited for this tour because this is the Mekong Delta tour where you will ride a small rowing boat along a mangrove palm creek. After 1 1/2 hours, the bus stopped at a small restaurant/stopover and we walked until we reached a makeshift pier at the end. We boarded a motorized boat that took us to our first destination – a rice paper factory. Tour: 12.47 USD each.

Mekong Delta

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Day 2, Vietnam

THE DATE: April 22, 2012

THE TRIP 

08:00-09:00          We checked out from our hotel since we’re going to transfer to a cheaper one and brought our bags with us on our Cu Chi tour. So, Divimom and I went on a 1/2 day tour to Cu Chi tunnels c/o Sinh Tourist Cafe. I availed their services last year for my Cu Chi and Mekong tours and was satisfied so I decided to book our Cu Chi tour and Mekong Delta tours with them again. I also purchased tickets from HCMC to Phnom Penh and Phnom Penh to Siem Reap from them. I reserved tickets from their agent thru email and paid for them in their office in De Tham. Since plans may change (ie move tour date, stay for a shorter period), I prefer to pay all transactions when we get to the agency or hotel. I also think that DIY doesn’t necessarily mean to DIY everything. It is possible, of course. But I’m not that hardcore 🙂 If booking travel agencies will make life easier, do so. Especially if it’s your first time in that place or if you have companions that are not as ‘physically fit’ as you are. Accommodation: 15 USD; Tour: 6.27 USD each Continue reading “Day 2, Vietnam”

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Day 1, Vietnam

THE DATE: April 21, 2012

THE TRIP 

00:30          Divimom and I arrived at Tan Son Nhat International Airport. Before we left the airport, we had 50 USD exchanged to VND. There were two currency exchange stations open – one was owned by a bank and the other used the Saigon Taxi stall as their stall. The former (which is an official exchange station) was offering 20,600 VND for 1 USD while the latter was offering 21,100 VND for 1 USD. I hesitated for a while but decided to exchange 50 USD with the latter. BAD DECISION. I didn’t notice that they have commissions. So I received 20,000 VND for every USD. The other one was not charging anything and I would have gotten a better deal out of my money. Continue reading “Day 1, Vietnam”

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12 Days: Vietnam-Cambodia-Thailand

Since the succeeding posts are about my 12-day, 3-country DIY trip, I decided to have a separate post entirely dedicated to the ‘preparation’ part of my travel.

If you are a DIY person like me, preparing is usually an easy, if not enjoyable, task. You most likely know how to use the search engine efficiently so as to filter the sites that are useful for your trip. You may also have read several books that offer relevant information and details that are more extensive than online blogs and forums. For me, the internet is my most helpful tool as I am not the kind that will digest a place’s culture or history or way of life in a couple of days’ stay. But it doesn’t mean that I am not interested in their part of the world. So long as I can taste a little bit of their culture or know a little bit of their history or experience a little bit their way of life, I am more than satisfied with that. Continue reading “12 Days: Vietnam-Cambodia-Thailand”