Every time I visit my blog I feel like all the backlogs sitting on my Travel folder is haunting me and begging me to expose them to the interwebs. But I don't know why I've never found the time to do just that until now. Soooo, this is me trying to slowly sync my blog with my life starting with a 6-month overdue post.

I went on an 11-day Backpacking Trip with two of my bestest girlfriends from high school on my mid-year break last June 2014. It started when my NZ-based friend Catrina, messaged me on Facebook last January saying she will visit the Philippines during her summer break and would like to go on an adventure. The next day, we stumbled upon a Cebu Pacific seat sale, and off we book our tickets to Thailand and Vietnam (5 months before the planned trip!) . We had already planned on taking a bus or train from Thailand to Cambodia so there was no use in booking an extra plane ticket to or from Cambodia anymore. My other friend Maica booked her flight a few months later for almost twice the price of our ticket.

You would actually be surprised that this whole trip cost me just as much as my 4D/3N HongKong Tour last year. And if I'd have to choose between the two: the city and lights or the laid back backpacking, I would personally go on another Indochina Tour again. I made this itinerary with the help of various posts I stumbled across the web and with hopes of me being able to help others as well, I'm sharing with you our itinerary along with a summary of expenses and additional comments based on my firsthand experience.

Indochina Backpacking Series Itinerary

Manila to Bangkok

Departure: May 30, 2014 NAIA Terminal 3

Arrival: May 30, 2014 Suvarnabhumi International Airport

Day 0 - May 30: Manila to Bangkok

Accommodation: May 31 - June 2 - Thrive The Hostel-Patpong by The Belle

908 Rama 4 Road, Sripraya Bangrak, Silom/Sathorn, Bangkok

Day 1 - May 31: Temple Hopping


Technically, we spent our first night in Thailand at the airport until 7am due to the curfew imposed by the government because of the Martial Law declaration. It didn't felt like there was Martial Law at all, though. Bangkok just seemed like any other normal city with cops and soldiers roaming around every now and then. Our hostel has WiFi so we always went about our day with the ever-trusty Google maps. We visited 3 temples, the Grand Palace, Wat Pho and Wat Aaroon. We were supposed to visit 5 (Golden Buddha included), but we got tired of seeing identical temples all day so we opted to visit the Chachutak Market instead. We took a siesta after shopping and initially planned on waking up for dinner and drinks, but to our surprise, all of us woke up the next day!              

Suggestions: Visit the Golden Buddha

Wear sleeved tops and pants when visiting temples

Book a hostel/hotel near (but not in) Khaosan road, where temples are just walking distance way.

Don't take the overpriced tuktuks. Best way to travel is via taxi/walking/MRT. 

Day 2 - June 1: Shopping

Bangkok is a well-known shopping mecca in Asia  so what better way to spend our Bahts and empty our wallets than to shop all day, right? We first went to MBK Mall but left after an hour of roaming around. Then, we took a cab to Platinum Fashion Mall and basically spent 80% of my Bahts there. The remaining 20% was spent on food and drinks in Khaosan road. What's just really luring me to go back to Bangkok are Platinum Mall and Khaosan road, to be honest. The night life in my favorite Khaosan road is a must-try!

Suggestions: Skip MBK Mall

Bring lots of cash for shopping and drinks. Haha

Day 3 -  June 2: Bangkok, Thailand to Siem Reap, Cambodia

There are various ways on how to go to Cambodia from Bangkok, but I think taking the train is the cheapest and most popular way around. We rode a train at the Hualumpong Train Station at 5:55 in the morning and started our 7-hour ride to the Thailand-Cambodia border. Crossing the border is easy especially if you do your research. I have read about a lot of scammers around the area and I was confident that we won't get scammed because I have already read a lot about them but turned out, we still got scammed at the border, but I will just save the story for another post.

The three of us stayed in a dormitory room good for 4 people where we met our male Canadian roommate who checked out the next day. We still don't know why he moved out a day after checking-in especially since he mentioned that he will be staying in Siem Reap for a 2 weeks. Anyways, we had dinner and drinks at Pub Street (just a good 5-minute walk from where we stayed) where all the fun and life in Siem Reap is.

Accommodation: June 2-June 5: Chanlee Dormitory ♥

No144, Taphul Village, Svay Dangkum Commune, Siem Reap Central Area, Siem Reap, Cambodia

Day 4 - June 3: Angkor City Tour I


Angkor Wat is quite far from the city so renting a tuktuk for the day is really a must. The owner of the dormitory we stayed at owns one so we hired him for about $20. We failed to make it to the temple for the sunrise, but I heard it's always so beautiful so you better get going around 4 or 5 am to catch it. It's also best to hire a local tour guide so the temples would not seem to be mere identical temples to you. After a day of playing real-life Temple Run, we gifted ourselves with a relaxing full body message in Pub Street. 

Day 5 -  June 4: Free Day 

We actually didn't have anything planned on this day. We didn't want to visit the local museum (as it was too pricey) nor did we want to visit the over-populated Floating Village either. If not for the opportunity of wasting our dollars for an extra night we paid for our rooms, we would have really hopped on the bus to Phnom Pehn right away. So well, we just went on a hunt for the nearest swimming pool for us to take a dip in. After searching for hours we found one inside a posh hotel for a fee of $5. Then, we spent our last night in Siem Reap in Pub Street for drinks (I swear most of our money just goes to this Lol) and tried LokLak for the first time. LokLak in Pub Street is the best-est!!! Had I discovered it earlier, I would have eaten it for the whole duration of our stay in Siem Reap.

Suggestions: Spend this day in the local museum and/or Floating Village or just skip this and go to Phnom Pehn instead!

Day 6 - June 5: Siem Reap to Phnom Penh

Traveling in Indochina was, by far, the most hassle-free trip I've ever been! You could literally book a bus/train/boat trip to any nearby country you'd like in any corner of the street, anytime!!! We chose to travel by bus to Phnom Penh and left first thing in the morning on our 6th day. Most of the day was spent traveling so if your group is pressed for time, try to book an overnight trip instead. Not only will it save you travel time but it will also save you dollars from night accommodation!


Phnom Penh was my favorite city out of all the cities we visited. You would know why when you stroll by the Riverside and basically just relax in the park or play with the birds near the Royal Palace. But what really made Phnom Penh special was being able to meet my favorite Filipina photographer, Hannah Reyes, there (out of all places!) Would you believe that I just communicated with her through Facebook then she invited us for dinner and drinks right away! Had I have lots of money to spare, I would book a flight to Phnom Penh all the time. :) Meeting her and her boyfriend Jon was the highlight of my stay in Phnom Penh, really! All the stories they shared made me realize that everyone, even my absolute favorite photographer in the world, really have had bad days in life. But what's more important is, they got through it and are now living their life to the fullest.
 

Suggestions: Dinner at Sovanna
Espresso Martini at Le Bouchon Wine Bar

Accomodation: June 5-June: 7 Kha Vi Guesthouse

#7dd1 street longer 258, Riverfront, Phnom Penh, Cambodia

Day 7 - June 6: The Killing Fields and Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum Tours

Just like in Angkor Wat, renting a tuktuk when visiting The Killing Fields/S21 and Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum is advisable. I suggest you allot a whole day for this as it will exhaust you both physically and mentally. We called the day earlier than usual after having happy pizza and happy shake in one of the restaurants by the Riverfront. Nothing fancy about the happy foods, but it really made us happy and sleepy upon consuming them.

Suggestions: Happy Pizza & Happy Shake by the Riverfront (you can get this in almost every restaurant there)

Accommodation: June 7-June 8: Sihanoukville Papa Pippo Bungalows ♥

Day 8 - June 7: Phnom Penh to Otres Beach, Sihanoukville

Half of this day was spent traveling to Sihanoukville so if you're running out of time again, take the overnight trip instead. :) We stayed in Otres Beach which is a laidback version of Serendipity Beach. But for a group of friends who are probably looking for a party and not peace of mind, we should have stayed in Serendipity instead. Most of the bars close really early in Otres, around 8pm. If you have the luxury of time, you can visit Koh Rong beach which is just a $10 ferry ride away. We managed to book a bus ride to Vietnam for $17 that will leave early in the morning the next day.

Accommodation: June 8-June 10: Hong Kong Kaiteki Hotel ♥

22 Bui Vien, Pham Ngu Lao Ward,DIstrict 1-Pham Ngu Lao/ Tay Balo, Hi Chi Minh City, Vietnam

Day 9 June 8 Silhanoukville to Ho Chi Mihn

Most of this day was spent on the road again. We arrived at Ho Chi Mihn around 9pm starving because we didn't have Vietnamese dong to buy food. All we had were Thai baht, Philippine peso, Cambodian riels and US dollars. What a luck! Lol We checked in at Hong Kong Kaiteki Hotel where we each had a capsule to stay in. This is where we had the most comfortable sleep in our entire trip, tbh.

Day 10 - June 9: Ho Chi Mihn City Tour

We killed time in the morning by visiting the Art Musem (which turned out to be closed because it was a Monday) and Reunification Palace while waiting for our Cu Chi Tunnels Tour scheduled in the afternoon. We were also supposed to join a Mekong Delta Tour but it required atleast a day off our itinerary so we opted for just the Cu Chi because we're already scheduled to leave the next day.
 Had drinks near our hotel (I swear, we didn't plan on booking all our accommodations near pub streets but faith would almost always brought us there hahaha) then my friends spontaneously decided to get a tattoo nearby! Oh, to be young && free!!!

Suggestions: Allot a whole day for Mekong Delta Tour
Get a tattoo for 800,000 dong! Yay!

Day 11 - June 10: Free Day

I went for a walk alone early in the morning to get my hot choco fix at Starbucks and to stroll around for a bit and take pictures. Then we went pasalubong shopping at Ben Than Market while we wait for check out and head to the airport in the afternoon. We were supposed to arrive at 4:30 am but it was I think already 6:30 am of June 11 when the plane landed.


As if 11 days of seeing each other 24/7 was not enough, we spent the whole day of June 11 together and watched The Fault in Our Stars. Hihi

Here's a breakdown of my personal expenses throughout the backpacking trip:

Plane Tickets: Php 5000 (booked 5 months ahead of the trip)

Accommodation: Php 2400 (booked in Agoda 2 days before the trip) + $10 accommodation in Otres Beach

Happy backpacking! :)