Budgets in Vietnam & Cambodia

I definitely had a great birthday trip last June backpacking to Vietnam and Cambodia. Was staying there for 15 days, many of my friends asked me the total budget I spent and most of them were shocked it didn’t really cost you much, in fact it was much cheaper than the budget we normally spend in Bali J

Staying in dorm rooms is great when you’re traveling solo. It’s cheap, around $ 6 – 7 per night, plus you can always make new friends ( Isn’t it why we’re all traveling ? ) Except I don’t really like it when they put me in the top bunk, I had to climb up the ladders but anyway, I had great nights when I was staying in Koniko Backpackers Hostel in Ho Chi Minh City. Koniko is a new hostel located in Bui Vien street – a backpacker district in Ho Chi Minh - very clean, the receptionist lady was very friendly and helpful, free internet access, lockers, AC, $1 breakfast, and you just have to across the street to enjoy some cheap cold beers and local food.

 The same thing when I was in Pnom Penh and Siem Reap – Cambodia. Since I haven’t booked any hostel when I arrived there,  I wanted to try what it  would be like if I ask the tuk tuk driver to find me a backpacker hostel,  ( I knew they would scam me, but seriously what’s the worse thing could happen ? ). Out from Mekong Express Bus station in Siem Reap – 2 km away from Siem Reap backpacker’s district, I asked Jackie my tuk tuk driver if he knew any clean backpacker’s hostel. Then he took me to this old hostel ( sorry I forgot the hostel’s name ), $15 for a night, no AC, my room was in the corner of 4^th floor in their second building. They have 2 separate buildings, and this building I was staying in way too quiet and dark. I didn’t see anyone but only me. After changed my clothes I decided to walk around the neighbor, buy shampoo and late lunch. While my mind still thinking about what’s the worst thing could happen to me staying in an old building, I talked to my best friend Ana Dupont on facebook and she said “you gotta trust your feeling. If you don’t feel any comfortable, then move and find another hostel. Safety is always number one, darling.” Ana was right, then I grabbed my bag, returned the key to the receptionist, she gave me back $7 and I walked to the Wat Bo Road Street 22 which not so far from Pub Street or Backpackers area, find Bun Kao Guesthouse ( www.bunkaoguesthouse.com ).  $ 6 only for a single room, $ 4 for dorm rooms. What a sweet deal ! I decided to take a single room, was staying there for 3 nights.

Done with Siem Reap and Cambodia, I caught a bus back to Ho Chi Minh City then Mui Ne - beach area 6 hours bus drive from Ho Chi Minh. Staying in Mui Ne Backpackers Resorts four 4 days. Another $ 6 per night, with a perfect beach view and sun lounges. Took a half day tour on my second day for only $ 8 to White and Red sand dunes, fairy stream and fisherman’s village, then the rest I didn’t do anything but relaxing on the beach, you know – the joy of laziness.

Mui Ne Backpackers Resort in Mui Ne.

$6 per night in dorm rooms at Mui Ne Backpackers Resort with a perfect beach view and my fave sun lounges.

Speaking about transportation, I walked everywhere in Ho Chi Minh, Pnom Penh, Siem Reap and Mui Ne. Enjoy walking and taking my times trying new food, taking pictures, talk to local people. But of course if you’re too lazy to walk, take tuk tuk to show you around Siem Reap and Pnom Penh. Meanwhile for food, Vietnam and Cambodia have many western restaurants with different range of price, or if you’re kind of people who loves traveling for culinary / local food, of course they’re much cheaper than the western one. Do not missed the the happy hours( 3pm to 9pm ) in Pnom Penh, all the drinks costs $1 - $2. Sitting in a café or rooftop bar, either read books or do people-watching while sipping your cheap cocktails or beers, oh heaven !!

$ 3 breakkie at Pnom Penh before catching my 8 am bus to Siem Reap.

$1.50 Mekong Mud ( mix of kahlua, baileys, cocoa powder, tastes like White Russian )

Sleeper bus from Ho Chi Minh City to Mui Ne

Budgets in Cambodia & Vietnam

Hope the info helps you to plan your trip. Feel free to leave any comments or email me if you have questions.

Weekend Getaway : Yogyakarta

Living in a big city like Jakarta, go to work every morning, deal with crazy traffic – which seems to be the loudest and biggest thing people would mostly complain about this city  -  and sometimes tough days at work, one of my best friends told me, if you can survive in Jakarta then you can survive anywhere else in the world. While complaining wouldn’t change anything, I always make sure I have bunch of stuff to do on the weekend. Something fun and easy to refresh and recharge my mind. A bit sick of those malls and skyscrapers, I decided to bring Mike Buchanan this time to go to Yogyakarta – Central Java for weekend, visiting an old friend of mine, Tiko. We were studying in the same department in university, was always a fan of him, he was a great radio announcer and simply a fun, loving person, just the kind of great friend you would always ask for opinions, he motivated and inspired me in a lot of ways. Tiko has worked in Singapore for nearly 2 years, he decided to quit his job, move to Yogyakarta and pursue his dream to be an artist. Really appreciate those people who leave their comfort zone and start over to chase their dreams.

Left office earlier on Thursday afternoon, Mike and I caught a night train to Yogyakarta. As a person who never really plan her trip, I never booked my ticket or hostels in advance. I know this is risky, but I kinda like it that way. Except in the afternoon Mike reminded me to book the ticket first as we never know what's gonna happen later that night when we arrive in the train station. Reached Pasar Senen station at 5 pm, we were quite lucky to get tickets at price Rp 173.000/person. The train was a bit late, so we left the station around 8.30 pm and arrived at 5.30 am  in Yogyakarta. It was funny to see Mike didn't really enjoy his first trip by train to Java. He didn't complain tho, still very excited to explore Yogyakarta, it's just he wish the train got  enough space for someone with long legs like him. Sitting for 10 hours might really kill him, but at least he got me and I knew from the beginning he would enjoy this trip. 

No skyscrapers or big buses, it was very quiet and lovely . Our first stop would be breakfast then walk around town, take some photos, go to Prambanan and Boko temple, after that meet up with Tiko for lunch. I told  becak / rickshaw man ( Rp 8.000 from the station to Malioboro street ) to take me to the best place to eat nasi gudeg ( gudeg is a traditional food from Yogya, it tastes sweet, it has eggs, chicken, krecek, tempe, and toufu served with rice, Rp 28.000 . Deeeeliiiish ), this old man with a big smile took me to the street just next to Alun-Alun Yogyakarta where many small restaurants serves nasi gudeg for breakfast. Perfect, big breakkie is all I need before exploring this town.        

Done with my nasi gudeg, we walked along Malioboro street. Enjoying Malioboro on Friday morning and these friendly Javanese people. Here are 2 things I love most about Yogyakarta : food and the people. Very open-minded people, smiley, very open and welcome to tourists, but the culture is still there, while some of area in Indonesia seems to lose the culture, Yogyakarta looks the same as I was there 7 years ago.

Taking Mike Buchanan to Yogyakarta 

We took a busway from Malioboro street to Prambanan temple ( thank god they have busway, only Rp 3.500, so I don’t have to catch a taxi ). Tiko actually recommended me to see Boko temple, he said the view just amazing, better than Prambanan temple. Well, I’ve been to Prambanan three times and I thought it’d be worth it to check Boko temple. Skip Prambanan and go to Boko temple instead, another old man, look pretty small but actually very strong to ride the becak / rickshaw up to the hill to Boko Temple. Boko temple was quiet that morning, you can see the whole Yogyakarta from Boko temple while having an afternoon tea at a small restaurant just next to the temple.

My rickshaw driver was waiting patiently outside the temple. As a man who’s earning money for living from rickshaw, low season was never easy for him. He got 5 children, and he told me that all the rickshaw in Yogyakarta owned by a group of people, everyday he has to give the big boss Rp 30.000, of course he can keep the rest of the money if he gets more, but when you look at this old man working hard ( plus it was so hot that afternoon ) tho sometimes life’s hard, he told me he’s always grateful, to have healthy and beautiful family. He just wanted to see the kids go to school, study, and get a better future. It was so nice to have conversation about simple life with him on our way back from temple.

Tiko picked me up in Kasongan, a village where the local people made ceramics and other handicrafts .I stayed for two night in his friend’s house, Laire Siwi Mentari, the daughter of famous poem and author in Indonesia. I love how Laire and her family made every single thing in their house very artistic. Table, doors, windows, bookshelf, even the room I was staying in…wow ! The next morning Tiko, me, and this energetic , gorgeous Nadirah ( Tiko’s friend from Singapore who also came to visit him ) went to Borobudur temple. I got a friend of mine working in Borobudur so he guided us around temple and oooh we didn’t have to pay for the entrance fee, it was free ! But for you who wish to see the sunrise in Borobudur, the admission ticket is Rp 150.000, come super early at 4.30 am so you don't miss the gorgeous sunrise ! Meanwhile, the normal admission ticket costs only Rp 30.000 per person. We watched the sunrise, took lots of pictures, sat for hours and enjoying Borobudur, seriously couldn’t ask for a better morning. After had breakfast, we drove for another 3 hours to Sardanan beach. The joy of lazy weekend, slept on the beach, had some great seafood and talked about our next step. Tiko is going to take traditional dance lesson ( let me tell you one thing, Javanese traditional dance is super hard ), his biggest dream is being an artist, he knew it won’t be easy to get there but he’s on his way for it. What I love best about this guy, his passions about life and always 100 %.  He also planned to teach English and learn more about web designing. Meanwhile Nadirah was busy preparing her engagement party and wedding, aww congrats baby girl. We ended up our day by having  drinks and dinner at Via-Via, a backpacker hostels with a nice café and shop, then had noodles and went shopping in Malioboro

Borobudur Temple

Waking up in Borobudur temple

Caught the man taking photos of Tiko & Nadira

Sardanan Beach. 3 hours drive from Borobudur temple. Thank you Tiko for bringing me there

Culinary and shopping :)

My two happy boys

So yeah, that was a great great weekend with lovely people in a lovely place. Just like what wise man said, people you’ve met and those experiences you’ve had - made you who you are today. Call me ( one of ) the luckiest girl on earth,  I’ve met amazing people, they gave different colors into my life and, just like a painting, I see myself as a canvas where life, my days, my mom, people come and go, and experiences are a painter – ready to create a beautiful piece of painting, and it’s me.

Flew back to Jakarta on Sunday afternoon, not only me - but Mike definitely had good times from trying Javanese food, riding becak like a pro, went to temples, overall it was sooo good to be away from the hustle bustle of Jakarta. Cheap trip, I spent Rp 900.000 for 3 days, not bad. Now we're all ready to get back to work on Monday.

Feel free to check new post about Yogyakarta : Goa Pindul - Yogyakarta ( including a short video of our crazy off-road ) and InstaGoodies : Vesak at Borobudur 2013

La La Land

Paulo Coelho : “making a decision was only the beginning of things. When someone makes a decision, he is really diving into a strong current that will carry him to places he had never dreamed of when he first made the decision.”

La La Land by Bernard Genauzeau

Cherating Beach

Never thought my decision to leave Jakarta and work in Cherating Beach for a year was just the beginning of things… Found myself completely fall in love with Cherating Beach since my first night watching the Brazilian show, not only fell in love with the beach, but also the people I worked with, the village, the food, the backstage…ah, even the friendly smile of the taxi driver who always ready to drop and pick me up for my grocery shopping every my day off.  

At the beginning I was a bit afraid of missing home and friends, but the whole adventure and this incredible dream team made it into one of my favorite years. Waking up every morning with big smile and 100 % ready to create another great day. It was sooo good to be working with positive, optimist, and happy people, they simply gave you great energy.

And speaking of great colleagues, meet my fave hot chicks, Loges and Eng. They’re sexy, independent, happy and smart, just very fun to hang around with. I remembered it was Loges last week before she had to move to Bintan, and since three of us were crazy about photoshooting, we wanted to make special photos for Loges. Eng then talked to Bernard Genauzeau, a professional and talented photographer from France, told him that we had this idea about three girls with colorful dress and candy on the beach, looking happy, sexy and free. Bernard agreed to take pictures of us and the next day, Loges was ready in her pink dress carrying bunch of lollipop , while Eng wore her yellow top with a white tutu skirt she took from the backstage, as for me – I decided to wear my backless dress.

Eng. Loges Chandra. Gyscha Revrita Rendy

By Bernard Genauzeau

  

It was another lovely morning at Cherating Beach, while people were still in bed, three of us and Bernard had so much fun, laughed til our stomach hurts.  Let our bare feet cuddled on the sands and just like the other normal girls, we talked about our next step, dreams.  Such a great start of the day !

Club Med Cherating Beach 

Club Med Cherating best GOs

September 2011, it seems like yesterday. Looking back on these pictures, they still could tell me how much fun we had in Cherating Beach. On the other side of the world, I believe the girls still having fun in their own adventures, just like me enjoying my job and life and…ah, blogging for travelagysch. More posts, pictures, and travel info coming up soon.     

The Runaway Bride

       These photos were taken 2 years ago when I was still working in Cherating Beach - Kuantan, Malaysia, by a professional and talented photographer, Bernard Genauzeau. The idea of runaway bride photoshoot came up in my mind as I’ve always wanted to dress up as a bride in her white wedding gown runaway along the beach. Then Bernard just like a fairy with his magic wand ( camera ) made my dream came true.

        Nove, my roomie, would join us this time for the photo shoot session. We set up the alarm at 4 am just so we could take our time to prepare everything from costume, hair, make up, even a small breakfast. I didn’t want to disappoint Bernard again, as the week before I made appointment with him for photo shooting, I was sooo late and let him waiting on the beach.  

        Nove made playing the dress up that morning even more interesting. Since she was a costume designer so she had all the access to crash into the costume room and pick any accessories I need for the photo shooting. She also did my hair, helped me out with the big white tutu skirt and white corset I bought from QueenChloset.com, as for herself she dressed up as this dark evil or queen wearing black top combined with black skirt and gloves.

At 5.30 am, we met Bernard on the beach. He took us to the edge of Cherating Beach. Perfect location ! There was a cave and big rocks, loving the sound of the wave and  weather. As Bernard ready capturing magic pictures with his camera, I started running along the beach carrying my shoes and skirt while enjoying the morning breeze,  felt incredibly happy and free like a bird. Meanwhile Nove showed her strong, dark, sexy character. It was such a lovely morning, me and Nove couldn’t be more happier. Thank you Bernard for the amazing pics…

Gyscha Revrita Rendy

By Bernard Genauzeau

Runaway bride photoshoot

Gyscha Revrita Rendy for Runaway Bride, Cherating Beach