Yes! You've read it right! 2019! This post has been postponed for so long... like a year-long to be exact. And just so I can finally let it go, I really have to post the details of the trip.
Here is a super late snap of my travel journal. I'm an Abbey Sy fan so that explains why I did some drawings. I haven't finished coloring the food yet. 😂
Disclaimer: I'm not much of an expert in the field of photography, so I apologize for the blurred shots.
So last year, me and my former officemate went on an Indochina Trip for... guess what... eight (8) days.
I will not enumerate all the events, of course. I have a different posts for that for each country. Besides, kapoy ug narrate every detail. Hehe... This post will be all about sharing some Indochina travel ideas and tips that I have learned during my first travel abroad.
BE LEGALLY IDENTIFIED and DOCUMENT EVERYTHING. Multiple IDs are highly recommended. Ensure your passport is still valid. Bawal ang six months na lang maexpire na. Magkinaunsa na ang tanan, gamit jud kaayo ang government ID. Also, ensure to prepare the following documents before rushing to your flights. We don't want any trouble with the immigration, right?
- Print your Plane Tickets. Some airlines don't accept e-tickets straight from your phones. :'(
- Print your bus tickets/reservations. If you're hopping one country to another via buses, like how we did, then make sure you printed your bus tickets.
- Print your hotel reservations. We have to make sure we have something to hold on to when we arrive at the hotel's reception area. "Hey, we have proof that we reserved that room!"
- Print your Certificate of Employment. Yes! You might need that, so better prepare one. This is just to insure the immigration officer that you have no plans of going illegal in their country or become TNT as they call it, "Tago ng Tago", because you have a job to get back to.
BOOK YOUR TRANSPORTATION MEANS WISELY. There are indeed so many airlines to choose from but if you are on a tight budget, you better make wise choice. I recommend using Skyscanner. This app totally helped me compare airfare tickets and finally was able to book a flight on a cheaper flight. We took a flight from Philippines to Hanoi. We stayed for 1 and a hald day and then took a flight to Ho Chi Minh. We stayed there for another 1 and half day before leaving for Phnom Penh via bus.
For your bus tickets, I recommend booking at BookMeBus. It's like booking a plane, but it's just bus. They also have a mobile application so you really can easily access it. From Phnom to Penh to Siem Reap and Siem Reap to Bangkok, we rode Mekong Bus.
I recommend riding on the Mekong Bus, it was my first time to ride on a bus with a comfort room, and oh! not to mention that the fare includes snacks. Oh! One more thing! Mekong Buses are sleeper bus so passengers can really doze off. Each passenger are given pillows and blankets. :)
BOOK YOUR ACCOMMODATION WELL. Always...always read reviews when choosing your accommodations. Agoda is the best place to look for accommodations. It helps you find the closest hotel/inn to your planned itinerary. Also, they give discount points for your every bookings and you can use that discounts on your next bookings, regardless of the location. Just make sure to read and read reviews and look at the ratings of the hotel to ensure a quality stay. P.S. Accommodation rates in Vietnam and Cambodia are amazingly affordable. Plus, the hotels there can offer cheap rates for tour (Cheaper than the tours you get from Klook...oopss.. sorry). So, you really can customize your tour.
EXPLORE THE LOCALS BY NAVIGATING AWESOMELY. By awesome, I meant painfully. Ha-ha. No, it's just because you might strain your feet from too much walking. Like I did. I even thought I was going to have fever. But the walk was truly awesome. Why? Because it's fun to walk and see the localities of the place. Amazingly, we never got lost. Thanks to Maps.Me. It's a navigational app that you can use OFFLINE. Yes, that's capital CAPSLOCK, Italicized and underlined, just to emphasize how awesome this mobile app is. It works like Google Maps, only that it's offline so we really didn't had to connect to the internet. And oh! Did I mention that we didn't purchase a roaming/internet sim? Yes, we didn't. Scary? Yes but well, Maps.Me helped us make it through the offline world. Also, it saved us from one time use items. At least, we saved some expenses from that.
PLOT YOUR ITINERARY. This is very important as everything will be based on the destinations you plan to visit. This will also help you plot out your expenses as well. Just to share the template and of course, a sample Indochina Itinerary and Expenses, you may visit this link below.
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1KcjPVIlx0a79ZhNhnOMycSCDPl3--aoO
I think that's all. I'll just update this post if I remember anything. Up next, will be posting Vietnam Says: 10 Random Things I Thought Of in Vietnam. The post will feature some shots from Vietnam.
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