Saigon-Siem Reap- Bangkok- Pattaya City in 6 Days Backpacking Tour

Few months ago, i was blogging about my long route to several countries in IndoChina. However, that was a bit off the chart. I had several personal issues that need further assessment, and this plan needs a great revision. The original idea was to backpack Saigon-Phnom Phen-Siem Reap- Bangkok - Vientiane. Financially, this original plan was far too expensive and money isn't coming in pretty badly.

Aside from that, my passport is about to expire 2 months prior to departure which gives me just a few weeks to processed the whole thing. My departure flight from Bangkok is a little bit hazy. In short, I'm planning for a trip which i am bit hesitant to undertake.

So cutting the trip for a maximum of 6 days excluding my 1 day stay at Manila is important. The new route is to fly from MLA- HCMC, roadtrip from HCMC to Siem Reap, bypassing Phnom Phen, then another road trip from Siem Reap to Bangkok, and Bangkok to Pattaya City and vice versa.

Anyway, all went will :), So here is a short recap of my 6 days backpacking trip.

Day 1: Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City)

Ho Chi Minh Square, Saigon, Vietnam.[click to enlarge]

12:20am : Arrival time at the Tan Son Nhat International Airport

9:00am-9pm : Day tour (Ho Chi Minh Tourist Spots)

Reunification Palace, Ben Than Market, Poo 2000, Saigon Square, Water Puppetry, War Remnants Museum, Japanese Restaurant, Saigon Central Post Office, Saigon Notre-Dame Basilica, Ticket bookings.

Day 2: Saigon- Siem Reap

Bus departure, putting off the luggage,Sintourist Cafe, Phnom Phen, Cambodia.

6:00am- Bus departure from Saigon
9:00am - Vietnam-Cambodian Border Immigration
9:40am - Bus stop, breakfast at the Cambodia border
12:30pm - Arrival at Phnom Phen , Booked ticket bound for Siem Reap, Lunch at Sintourist
2:00pm - Bus departure to Siem Reap
8:00pm- Arrival at Siem Reap and check in hotel

Day 3: Siem Reap City, Cambodia

The Bayon Temple, Ankor, Siem Reap, Cambodia

6:00am- Swimming at the pool
8:00am - Day tour; Hindu temples and Angkor Wat
1:00pm - Lunch at Neary Angkor Wat Restaurant
2:00pm- Visiting South Gate temples, Bayon etc.
4:30pm- Siem Reap City Tour; Kings Palace, Parks, Angkor National Museum, Night Market, Dinner at KFC
7:30pm - Siem Reap Temple Club; Dining and Watching Cultural Show with Apsara Dance
9:30pm- Citywalk from Pub Street to Hotel.

Day 4: Siem Reap to Bangkok, Thailand

Wat Pho Temple, Bangkok. Thailand.

Batu Caves, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 2013

Backpacker's Prayer

"Heavenly father, look down on us as your humble, obedient backpackers, who are doomed to travel this earth, taking photographs, mailing post cards, buying souvenirs and walking around in drip dry underwear.

Give us this day Divine guidance in the selection of our hotels, that we may find our reservations honored, our rooms made up, and hot water in the faucets.

We pray that the telephones work and the operators speak our tongue

Getting Your Chinese Visa in The Philippines For Your Travel to Xiamen

I don't know if you are aware of this place, me too, until i was able to booked a ticket bound for Xiamen. Together with my sister and her boyfriend, we have explored this majestic city and tasted there local delicacies. Now that's what we called food exploration!


Wikipedia:

Xiamen (Mandarin pronunciation: [ɕjâmə̌n]), also known as Amoy /əˈmɔɪ/, is a major city on the southeast (Taiwan Strait) coast of the People's Republic of China. It is administered as a sub-provincial city of Fujian province with an area of 1699.39 km² and population of 3.61 million. Its built up area is now bigger than the old urban island area and covers all six districts of Xiamen (Huli, Siming, Jimei, Tong'an, Haicang and recentlyXiang'an). It borders Quanzhou to the north and Zhangzhou making this a unique built up area of more than five million people. The Jinmen(Kinmen) Islands administered by the Republic of China (Taiwan) are less than 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) away.

Taken at Gulangyu Island, Xiamen, China

How to Get There - Visa Application for China

First of all, China requires Visa to travel, so we head up to the nearest Chinese embassy in Cebu City. The requirements are easy to find and it will only take 4 days to process. Head on to http://cebu.china-consulate.org and download visa application for China  V.2011A. You need to fill in the highlighted area up to section 6.1. if you don't know what to put or write just type NA for that item.  Don't forget to secure a passport size photo and paste it on your V.2011A form.

The other thing you need to show for your Chinese visa application is your bank certificate. They need to see some cash in your bank account. It is easy to get one, just go to your nearest bank and ask the teller or the customer representative to secure you a bank certificate for your purpose of travelling to China. It will only cost you Php. 150.00 not a big deal.