3 Countries, 300 Dollars

Looking at the time now (it's almost 3AM), so, I will make this post brief as I can't think straight right now, but still, my body won't allow me to sleep due to that metabolism booster drugs that I'd taken.

Let me be frank, if, IF, I'd followed the itinerary that I had planned, I will be spending lesser than RM 1000 ( ±330 USD) for the whole journey from Vietnam to Thailand (via Cambodia). But, as I haven't been on a holiday for the last 14 years (the last one being my visit to Langkawi when I was 8), so, I went off budget a bit (about RM 2000 for fancy dining and lots of souvenir).

So, in this travel log...sorta, I will show how to travel the three countries on a shoestring budget (p/s: I only followed my plan for transportation and accomodation).

Pre-Trip Prep:

I bought the ticket from KL to Phnom Penh nine months earlier for RM75.00 (my mistake, I should be getting ticket to Ho Chi Minh rather than to Phnom Penh, this stupidity had cost me an additional spending on accommodation and transportation, not  to mention time as we need to cross the Cambodian/Vietnam border twice!)

We arrived at Phnom Penh International Airport at about 8AM (local time) after two hours we departed from KL. The immigration clearance was fast, we spent less than 15 minutes at the airport. I had arranged an  airport transfer service beforehand to bring us to Sunday Guest House, I've been here before in 2010, the service was great, it cost us about USD 5 per night per person. 

We spent our first day at the Killing Field, Toul Seng Museum , and my most favorite place in Phnom Penh, the Sisowath Quay and we shoped at the Russian Market and the Central Market. We went to Sorya Mall for a while to get some cheap toiletries. We left for Ho Chi Minh on the second day of our trip.

Total Spending

- Accommodation  : USD 5

-Transportation    : Airport transfer ( USD 12), Tuk-tuk around town (USD 10)

-Ticket/Admission : Toul Seng (USD 2), Killing Field (USD 5, i think)

Okay, frankly, I don't really like HCM, it's busy, there're motorcycles everywhere, and for God sake, I was offered drugs in front of a masjid!

We started our journey in HCM with a bastard that had charged us RM 80 for a taxi ride that supposedly be less than RM5. As I had been scammed, I won't let you know which taxi should be taken and which should be avoided as seeing you being cheated, somehow, amuses me and made me feels less stupid for not taking the advise in TripAdvisor.

Actually, we just shop in HCM, I got my cheap Deuter and Boboy got his cheap Longines. Ha! presenting, my travel buddies;

From bottom : Boboy, Shu, Me and Daniel

Total Spending

Accommodation : Approx 25 USD

Transportation : Phnom Penh-HCM ( USD 10), Teksi Tipu (RM 80/ 10 USD per person), local transportation (USD 3)

Ticket/Admission : nil

The bus journey from HCM to Siem Reap took about 17 hours, from 7 AM till 11 PM, mainly because we'd stopped for about 4 hours in Phnom Penh before taking another bus to Siem Reap. We stayed at Angkor Wat Guesthouse ( booking done through Agoda).

The next day, we've visited the famous Angkor Wat, this is my second time here, but during my first time, I had only visited the main temple, so, this time, we've rented a tuktuk so that we're able to visit other temples as well. But, if you're planning to visit each and every temple in the area, one day won't be enough.

After a day in Angkor Wat, we head back to our hotel, rest, and spent our night at the Pub Street. This is also where I've gotten my foot massage, the massage was good, it would be great if the masseuse was a bit younger, perhaps, 20 years younger. 

And, on day 6, we headed to Poipet, to cross the border to Thailand

Total Spending

Accommodation : 8 USD per night per person

Transportation : 5 USD for a trip to Angkor Wat including the tour for one whole day (cheap isn't it?)

Tickets/Admission/others : 20 USD to enter Angkor Wat, 5 USD for a one hour massage.

This border can be said the hardest one to cross in our journey. First, we took a van to Poipet, upon arriving at Poipet Bus Station, we need to change our van, to bring us to the border. Here, we spent about 30 minutes to get our passports stamped. After that, we walked to the Thailand immigration post that located about 100 metres from the Cambodian's post. The Thailand's post is at a place called Aranyaprathet, here, we spent almost two hours to process our passports. From the border, we've taken a tuktuk to Aranyaprathet train station, and took the afternoon train to Bangkok (it's a 6 hours ride and cost us 40 baht/MYR 4)

Here, we've checked in at Sawasdee Welcome Hotel. The service was bad, the tranny  (yes, a tranny) that was on the front desk was grumpy, bedbugs everywhere, and I can't sleep at all in a hotel next to clubs and pubs.

Just a few jalan-jalan activities that we had done there, Siam Paragon, the mall next to Siam Paragon, the backpackers street were among the places visited. I also got my 20 ringgit H&M sweater at Siam Paragon. We stayed in Bangkok for a night, and took the overnight bus to Krabi at 6 PM on the 7th day.

Total Spending

Accommodation : 7.5 USD per person

Transportation : Siem Reap-Poipet (10 USD/MYR 30), Aran's Border to Aran's Train Station (25 baht/ MYR 2.5), Aran-Bangkok by train (40 baht/MYR 4). Local transportation (approx 7 USD)

We reached Krabi at about 7 AM after 12 hours journey by bus. The bus was really nice, it had cost us 600 Baht/MYR 60, they gave us breads and water before starting our journey, and also a nice orange blanket, in the middle of the journey, the bus stopped at their R&R perhaps, and all passenger got free meal there. The seats were spacious and there's even a lavatory in it! All for 600 baht.

We haven't been eating "freely" for the past few days because of the scarcity of halal foods in Bangkok,HCM, and Cambodia, but in Krabi, as the place is highly populated with muslims, we had tried almost all of the locals delicacies. Pulut ayam, pulut mangga, dildo-shaped ice cream, pancake, nasi ayam kari, nasi dagang and most importantly tomyam, you name it,  we tried it all!

We rented a bike here as the riders here are more "civilized" , so, for us, its safer. We went to Ao Nang Beach on our first day, and spent our second day at the Tiger's temple (on which we'd climbed a 600 metres hill!), and also the hotspring. During the night, its just makan-makan time at the town's night market.

We had ended our journey in Krabi, me, Shu and Boboy had taken a van back to Butterworth, while Daniel, headed directly to KL. 

Total Spending 

Accommodation : 15 USD

Tickets/Admission/Others : 50 baht for hot spring

Transportation : Bangkok-Krabi (600 baht/MYR 60), Krabi-Penang (600 baht/MYR 60), Motorcycle Rent (200 baht/ MYR 20), Petrol (200 baht/ MYR 20)

Below are few photos taken from the journey. (Credit to Boboy)