Turpan 吐鲁番盆地

Posted on June 9, 2018 by The Traveller

We took the bus from Urumqi 乌鲁木齐 to Turpan 吐鲁番. In Turpan, we hired a taxi for 600 RBM (about S$120) to show us the places of interest. We visited the Thousand Buddha Caves 千佛洞, Ancient City of Jiaohe 交河故城, Museum of Turpan Karez Paradise 坎儿井民俗园, the Sugong Pagoda 蘇公塔 and the Prince Jun Palace 郡王府.

The trip includes lunch but we have to pay for the entrance fees. Though the driver was very friendly and recommended, I think this is very expensive unless you have 4 people to share the taxi cost.

Maybe should we take the group tour for 150 RMB (S$30) per person.

There is an underground tunnel in Prince Jun Palace. Maybe this is the escape route as there were many fights during that time. An interesting place to visit for S$4.20 entrance fee. Can forget visiting the Sugong Pagoda. Not worth paying S$9.40 to get into it.

The Silk Route 丝绸之路

Posted on June 9, 2018 by The Traveller

Back from my 15 days of travelling on the Silk Route. The trip started from Urumqi 乌鲁木齐 and down to Turpan 吐鲁番盆地, Dunhuang 敦煌, Jiayuguan 嘉峪关市, Zhangye 张掖 and ended up in Xi’an 西安. There is no enough time and I have to give up Lanzhou 兰州 and Tianshui 天水. Could plan for another next trip there as the silk route is too long.

Vang Vieng 万荣

Posted on May 18, 2018 by The Traveller

The journey from Vientiane to Vang Vieng by the mini van is about 3.5 hours. Vang Vieng a lovely place and my 2 days of visit was worth every cent of it. The city is rather small but there are some adventurous things to do, like rafting in the river, tubing through the water cave, kayaking in the blue lagoon, taking hot air balloon ride, trekking into the dark caves, walking along the street with shops on both sides and others.

I got the day trip for tubing, kayaking, trekking and visiting the caves from a small travel agency set-up along the road. Later I realized that I should get the ticket from the organising company directly instead of from the hotel or the road side tour agent as they do mark-up the prices.

Vientiane 万象

Posted on May 14, 2018 by The Traveller

The bus terminal in Pakse is just a few minutes walk from the FoRest Hotel where I stayed. I took the bus to Vientiane at 8.30 pm. This will be a 10 hours of night ride with sleeper bed. Vientiane is the Capital of Laos.

I booked through Agoda for 2 nights stay in the Green Box Capsule Hotel. However, I only stayed for one night as I found that there was nothing much to see in the city. I asked the owner for a refund. The lady said the hotel has to pay Agoda S$2.87 for the online booking. I paid for the early check-out fine and got back the balance S$10.98 to buy the bus ticket to Viang Vieng. I paid S$8.44 for a VIP bus but I guess there were not enough people to fill the bus and the 9 of us were directed to take the mini van.

The owner refused to let me eat the egg on toast on my arrival at 8am saying that my breakfast is on the next day. I walked around the bus station and market place. The smell of the freshly baked bread made me more hungry.

I continued walking and saw many beautiful buildings. I passed by the presidential palace, museum, parks, templates, police station and places I do not know the name.

The war monument, Patuxai, in Downtown Vientiane.

Luang Prabang 琅勃拉邦

Posted on April 30, 2018 by The Traveller

Days of wonders and nights of tales. I have learned a lot of the history, cultures, food, languages and the people of Cambodia and Laos during my travel. Seeing is believing. Experience touches the heart. Travelling is to gain knowledge that are unable to obtain from books.

The road to Luang Prabang was not that smooth. The driver stopped twice during the 6 hours journey. Eventually we reached the Northern bus station at about 4.15 am feeling pleasantly drowsy. We walked around the station trying to find a tuk tuk driver to take us to the city, at the same time trying to fight against the urge to sleep. I shared the tuk tuk ride with the 2 young Taiwanese girls, a European couple with each paying S$3.67.

I reached the Villa (a home that was converted into a hotel) at 4.55 am but the gate was locked. Though there were lights from the moon and stars, but the road was quiet and I couldn’t see anybody within the vicinity after the tuk tuk left. I got a bit uneasy and pressed the gate bell repeatedly for a few minutes. I also made noises at the gate. Out of nowhere a fat man appeared quietly from my behind and told me not to make so much noise. He spoke with a slow and low voice saying that the people in the house were sleeping.

Got to know that this fat helpful young housekeeper of the Villa. I could have woke him up (from he sleep in the small house opposite the Villa. He opened the gate and gave me the key to a room. I jumped into the king size bed and slept throughout till 10 am.

The Villa is in a good location where the Dara wet market is just within walking distant. Further down, I could see the main street where there are many restaurants and bars. There is also a night market.

There is also the long Mekong river where you could take a boat river.

Angkor Wah 吴哥窟

Posted on April 23, 2018 by The Traveller

This is one of the well-preserved wonders of the world. The word “Wat” as in Thai means temple and “Angkor” means city. This Temple City is a must visit if you are in Cambodia. The place is rather big and far from the city. I will advise that you join in a tour group than to visit the place on your own. In this case you will be more appreciated of what you are seeing as the guide will explain to you the touching history. This makes your money worth.

There is only one central place to get the entrance ticket as they need to take your photo and paste it onto the entrance pass which is not transferable. You will need at least 2 days to see a significant part of the place. I got a 3-day pass (US$62) but I only booked a 2-day tour (US$28) from the hotel. I could visit the place on the 3rd day with the tuk tuk but I didn’t.

Waiting for the sunset

Siem Reap 暹粒市

Posted on April 5, 2018 by The Traveller

I took a bus from Battambang to Siem Reap and stayed in a hotel that is next to the Art Center night market. The hotel is only about 10 minutes walk to the busy and noisy Pub Street. I paid S$21 for a single room a night with nice breakfast. The young lady at the reception counter speaks perfect English. She helped me to arrange a 2-day tour to Angkok Wat and a one-way mini bus ride to the border of Laos. It was a pleasure stay in this Angkor Orchid Central Hotel.

This is the Cambodia – Laos border. The immigration counter is just a table in a small restaurant. The immigration officer will collect cash in US dollar and issue Visa to those who require it to enter Laos. I do not require the Visa but I paid US$10 for the girl to take me over with the motor bike. The rest of the backpackers took a slow walk from Cambodia to Laos, about 2km.

Battambang 马德望

Posted on March 6, 2018 by The Traveller

I took a 6 hours bus ride from Phnom Penh to Battambang. When the bus reached the “bus terminal”, tuk tuk drivers rushed toward the alighting passengers trying to sell their services to take the passengers to the city, which is about 20 minutes ride. I was shown with pictures of many hotels and finally I decided on the Royal Hotel that has a roof top bar and a Jacuzzi. I had a room by myself for 2 nights for S$42.

I made an appointment with the young tuk tuk driver to show me around the next day for S$17. I tried the bamboo train in the morning and visited the killing bats caves in the afternoon.

Phnom Penh 金边

Posted on February 28, 2018 by The Traveller

I reached Phnom Penh at about 2.30pm. Cambodia is one hour behind Singapore. I met this old Singaporean man at the airport while I was searching for tourist information. He said that was his first time in Cambodia and asked me how to get to the city. He further asked me where he could get a hotel to stay, what places could he visit and where to find girls. He even asked me how much would the girls charge for a night. I wander. Do I look like a GSO?

I told him I have booked a hotel through the Internet and if he likes, he could come and stay in the same hotel. He paid for me a SIM card at the airport. He said he doesn’t need the SIM card as he cannot read English and does not know how to use the Internet. I walked him to the bus stop.

While we were waiting for the bus, 5 young people approached me and asked how could they get to the city. I wander. Do I look like a tourist guide? These 20+ Chinese young people are working in Singapore and came to Cambodia for holiday during the weekend. I asked all of them to take the public bus 3 with me to the market centre. On the bus, we realised that it was the first day of the New Year in Cambodia and the public buses are free for all. We saved 53 cents each.

The old man decided not to stay in the same hotel with me because I was staying with 9 other foreigners in a room and he couldn’t bring girls into the room. He stayed in a hotel not far from mine and paid S$45 a night. Well, I paid S$8 a night for a bed in a dormitory and a swimming outside of the room.

The Killing Fields are the sites where collectively more than 1.3 million people were killed and buried by the Communist Party of Kampuchea during Khmer Rouge rule from 1975 to 1979, immediately after the end of the Cambodian Civil War (1970–75).

Because I could not stop for Death – He kindly stopped for me – The Carriage held but just Ourselves – And Immortality ….. Emily Dickinson (1830 – 1886).