jawilso

The first day of my arrival in China I was a bit sleep deprived. I took an overnight flight from Chiang Mai. It actually only takes a few hours to fly to Chengdu. But the cheapest flight I could find involved having a 8 hour lay over in the Kunning airport. I flew out of Chiang Mai at 7:30pm and arrived in Kunning at 10pm. I went through customs and claimed my bag and then searched for a place in the airport I could curl up until 7:00am. I settled on a Starbucks that had nice bench sofas perfect for the cheapskate overnight layover. I wasn't even the only person with this problem. Half a dozen other travelers were sprawled over the Starbucks. I estimate that I got about 5 hours of sleep. In the morning ... read more

My entry to Laos started with an overnight bus from Hanoi. I booked the bus through my hostel which is the easiest thing to do because they pick you up right from the hostel. My pickup arrived on a motorbike. He had to carry my backpack (which weighs 20kg) on his lap so I could sit in the back and be whizzed through traffic. He left me at another hostel and told me to wait. I waited there for about three hours. I wouldn't have minded the wait so much if I knew about it ahead of time, but I kept thinking I would be picked up at any time. Finally a minibus arrived and I piled on to be taken to a bus station where our minibus driver bought tickets for us and directed us ... read more

This entry on trip from Phnom Penh to Ho Chi Minh City is mostly bleak. I think that is reflected in the pictures. There aren't any really pretty things to see here, but they are interesting. This trip starts in Cambodia where a mini bus picked me up at my hostel for the beginning of my trip down the Mekong Delta to Saigon (a name used interchangeable with Ho Chi Minh City by pretty much everyone). There were a pair of girls from the Netherlands and another couple from Germany in addition to myself. About an hour into our bus trip the Dutch girls started asking when we would arrive at the boat. Apparently the hotel that sold this trip to them told them that they would be taking a boat for 6 hours from right ... read more

From Bangkok I was going to take the train up to Chang Mai and then though Laos and Vietnam and then end in Cambodia and fly to China, but then I realized that Siem Reap is very close to Bangkok. If you were able to drive straight through it would only take about 5 and a half hours to drive. So I booked a bus ticket to go there from my hostel. Apparently many people travel this path from Bangkok to Siem Reap. I had read on some travel web sites that there is a scam at the border where the hostel buses drop you at a restaurant some unknown distance from the border and then over charge you for your visa. The visa should cost $20 at the border, but the 'agents' charge you twice ... read more

Bangkok is considered by many to be the backpacker ghetto of the world. Its cheap, its interesting, and there no matter how bizarre your tastes are someone is selling it. Who wouldn't want that? I took the overnight train from Kuala Lumpur. It left KL Sentral at 10pm and arrived in Georgetown at 8am and then I waited at the station until 3pm and got on another overnight train that arrived in Bangkok at about 2pm. The hostel that I decided to stay at is located in the business district well away from the thriving backpacker ghetto of Khao San road. I find it quite nice to be able to jump on the metro because I absolutely hate taxis and tuk tuks. Also I appreciate being well away from the touts that hang around the tourist ... read more