Planning Phase - Asia: 007 - The Gateway to Southeast Asia

1 baht = 1.34346623PHP = 0.027666 USD

The golden nugget that I was waiting for was dropped into my lap about a week ago but I didn’t realize it until last night. My sister went to Thailand earlier this month and mentioned a place called Khao San Road in passing. I didn’t think much of it at the time until I told myself that I never force on any part of this trip, not even planning. I would do things as I wanted to. And any sort of planning seemed so daunting a task to take on after what I went through with Nepal. I didn’t know how to start again.

Fittingly the place where I’m starting was coined ‘The Gateway to Southeast Asia’. Normally, I wouldn’t flock to where the crowds are but this will be at the very beginning of my trip when I’m still unsure of myself and it would be nice to start out in a backpacker friendly environment, which is exactly what Khao San Road presents itself to be.

In a tourism ploy that could have turned bad for lack of accommodations, tourists started looking and successfully found residents to stay with and pay lodging fees. The guest house business grew from there.

Getting there:

150 baht AE2 bus will go directly to Khao San Road for 150 Baht = 202PHP = 4USD. 40-60 minutes.

35 Baht BMTA bus. Ask the driver "Bpai Banglampu mai" (are you going to Banglampu) which is within walking distance to Khao San Road. Walking distance is pretty relative but I’m inclined to take this risk. 115 Baht is a huge difference but the website says that BMTA can be confusting. If I get lost and end up spending more, I would have spent the money on a welcome adventure!

For future reference, if the transportation takes more than two hours, I might want to travel half the way, spend the day or stay the night and explore somewhere along the way before traveling the rest of the way. I’m also willing to spend more on transpo if the transpo is an experience in itself (like a ferry) or will save lots of time (like the MRT).

Places to stay:

Judging from the pictures, their budget hotels are pretty much the most expensive places that I would pay for in the Philippines (around 450PHP/night/head) at around 650 Baht = 874PHP 18USD (Thai Cozy House) for pretty much the works (TV, fridge, hot water etc), 400 Bhat (Nana Plaza) or 250 Baht for a single fan and shared shower, (Chart Guesthouse and Restaurant). That’s probably not including taxes.

I think it might be okay to spend on a midrange room on some occasions but this isn’t one of them. Knowing me, the only thing I’ll be doing in a room in the city is sleeping and showering. Air-con rooms are for the beach if at all.

Places to visit nearby:

The Grand Palace and the Emerald Buddha (Wat Prakaew), Wat Pho, the National Library, Thammasat University Library, International Art Museum, and Sanam Luang (The King's Park).

I might spend two or three days doing that and settling in.

From there, I definitely want to go to (things to plan for the future):

Khao Yai National Park
-Jungle treks
-7 tier waterfall
-elephants and other wildlife
+This place is definitely me, wanted to put an exclamation point after every point.

Bangkok Floating Market
-One day
+I know there are a few of them but I don’t think I have to go to all. Maybe the biggest and the smallest, maybe just the nearest.

Nightlife
+No need to plan. I’m sure I can find my way around at night and ask for tips from the hotel or other travelers. I imagine I’ll be sleeping from sunset when I get back from my tours until around 10 or 11pm where I’ll go out at night and see what’s up. Sana.

Krabi
-Climbing Mecca in Thailand
-Beach
-Travelers destination
+I might not go. I don’t want to force myself to go just because I’m a climber and I want to see the place. I’d rather go with other Filipinos and make an entire month long trip of it. I’m sure a week won’t be enough.

As for historical places other than temples and other beaches, although I won’t actively avoid them, I probably won’t concentrate on them since we have the most beautiful beaches in the Philippines and there’s so much else to see. Plus I can go to Krabi some other time and I will be going to Goa.

Helpful little unorganized website: http://www.khaosanroad.com/

Random Lyrics for the Broken Hearted

It happens at different times of my life that lyrics from a random song won't stop popping into my head. Last time it was If You Could Only See by Tonic. It had little to do with what was going on in my life at the time. In fact, I couldn't even understand the message despite the kinship I felt with the persona.

"If you could only see the way she loves me, maybe you would understand,
Why I feel this way about our love, and what I must do.
If you could only see how blue her eyes can be when she says,
When she says she loves me."

To the best of my literary abilities, my guess was that this guy was trying to convince his friends how much his love for this girl was right despite how wrong it seemed otherwise. It got me so bad that I took out my guitar after years of not playing and learned how to play this single song.

Today (yesteday since its already 1am) it was Disease by Matchbox 20. I didn't even particularly like this song when I first heard it in high school. It was okay. I was used to Matchbox 20 being much more than okay. But today, the lyrics seem to have a depth that wasn't there before. Or maybe its I who now has the depth to understand what I couldn't understand before. Someone recently told me that a lover assigns things to events when there's really nothing there. I think she was quoting Shakespeare.

Regardless, the first two stanzas hit me particularly hard when I actually researched the lyrics. If I'd heard them six months ago, every encounter with anyone who might be reading this would have been different.

Here are they are:

Feels like you made a mistake
You made somebody's heart break
But now I have to let you go
I have to let you go

You left a stain
On every one of my good days
But I am stronger than you know
I have to let you go

No one's ever turned you over
No one's tried
To ever let you down,
Beautiful girl
Bless your heart

I got a disease
Deep inside me
Makes me feel uneasy baby
I can't live without you
Tell me what I am supposed to do about it
Keep your distance from it
Don't pay no attention to me
I got a disease

Feels like you're making a mess
You're hell on wheels in a black dress
You drove me to the fire
And left me there to burn

Every little thing you do is tragic
All my life, oh was magic
Beautiful girl
I can't breathe

I got a disease
Deep inside me
Makes me feel uneasy baby
I can't live without you
Tell me what I am supposed to do about it
Keep your distance from it
Don't pay no attention to me
I got a disease
I think that I'm sick
But leave me be while my world is coming down on me
You taste like honey, honey
Tell me can I be your honey
Be, be strong
Keep telling myself it that won't take long till
I'm free of my disease

Yeah well free of my disease
Free of my disease

I got a disease
Deep inside me
Makes me feel uneasy baby
I can't live without you
Tell me what I am supposed to do about it
Keep your distance from it
Don't pay no attention to me
I got a disease

I think that I'm sick
But leave me be while my world is coming down on me
You taste like honey, honey
Tell me can I be your honey
Be, be strong
Keep telling myself it that won't take long till
I'm free of my disease
Yeah well free of my disease
Free of my disease

50 Random Thoughts

This is called 50 FIRST REACTIONS

My cousin had this on her blog and I was actually curious what I’d come up with. I did my best to erase her answers even before reading anything so nothing would influence mine and I swear I never touched the backspace button while answering.

1. Beer: Yahoo!
2. Food: Mmm
3. Relationships: Nope
4. Your CRUSH: Wow…
5. Power Rangers:
6. Life: is waiting for you
7. The President: The president?
8. Yummy: Candy
9. Cars: Motorcycles
10. Movie: I wanna write one
11. Halloween: Candy!
12. Sex: deprived
13. Religion: funny place
14. Hate: making mistakes at work
15. Fear: my own stupidity
16. Marriage: maybe
17. Blondes: Girls
18. Slippers: beach
19. Shoes: Travel
20. Asians: Chinese (hahaha so closed minded)
21. Pass time: eat
22. One night stand: Gahh!
23. My cell Phone: sucks
24. Smoke: air
25. Fantasy: Final Fantasy VIII
26. College: Life
27. High School Life: Gay
28. Pajamas: Boxers
29. Stars: Camping
30. Fitness Center: Hahaha waste of money
31. Alcohol: Deprived
32. The word love: Why just the word?
33. Friends: A TV show
34. Money: Travel
35. Heartache: Travel
36. Time: Travel
37. Divorce: Travel (Labo)
38. Dogs: Nice to have, hard to care for.
39. Undies: none when possible
40. Parents: Love
41. Babies: I want!
42. Ex: Marks the spot
43. Song: Insomnia Craig David (I’m broadening my musical horizons)
44. Color: Ateneo Blue
45. Weddings: White
46. Pizza: 22 inch Xtreme at Xtreme Xpresso
47. Hangout: bum
48. Resto: Causeway on Libis
49. Goal: Be great!
50. Inspiration: Others

Planning Phase - Asia: Reflection 002

A thought came about when I was trying to decide what to plan for next (which I’ve been passively doing for the last week).

As much as I love the idea of just taking off for months at a time throughout the years of my life, I’m beginning to see the limitations of my plan. One major factor, of course, is money. If I was to stick with the original one-time-big-time plan, I’d not only have to quit my job, I’ll probably exhaust my savings on the trip as well. And, the more I get comfortable with my job and my relatively high salary (for a writer) the harder it seems to become to let it go.

On the other hand, isn’t that wussing out? Isn’t that just trying to be safe? The whole point of this trip, the whole point of my life right now is adventure. Traveling two or three weeks at a time is something I know I can do. But three or four months is downright daunting. It’s friggn scary. And I love the idea.

Yet, it can’t be the most efficient way to travel. Nepal is about three weeks on its own, India is another two weeks minimum. I’ll end up spending about a week in HK and Macau combined. If I were to limit my trip to four months (and four months worth of budget), I’d only have about a week and a half to explore some of the other countries attached to the mainland (I’m trying not to fly as much as possible). That doesn’t include travel time.

Considering that I’ve been in the Philippines for years and, despite my efforts, haven’t seen a fraction of what it has to offer, I can’t help but reconsider.

I find that I have these big ideas like ‘Everst Base Camp’ and ‘Traveling Asia’ and whatnot but when I start to plan, instead of finding ways to make them work, I find a million ways to water them down. That’s probably why I didn’t want to make any plans in the first place.

But then again, blah blah blah, Just Go!

Dilema of a Twelve Year Old

Let’s say that you’re twelve years old and get an allowance of P100 a day. Hypothetically, the government taxes you 30% of your allowance. But that’s okay, you’re twelve and you don’t really need to spend on anything except for the occasional inuman at your house a month and maybe a lunch or dinner out twice a month and maybe a trip to the mountain or beach. Being a twelve year old commuter, you also have to shell out for the commute to your child labor facility.



Stay with me.





Then, completely hypothetically, let’s say that you wanted to travel Asia before the age of 15. As it is, you’re just barely on your way to saving enough hypothetical money to get the money within 3 years.



Now let’s say that you quit the child labor facility and decided to sell your soul for twice the amount. With this amount of money plus the money already saved up, you could feasibly travel Asia by the age of thirteen (two years early!). BUT, and this is completely hypothetical, what if you’ve also been dreaming of buying a motorcycle since you took motorcycle classes when you were nine or ten.



Here’s the big question.



(And this is completely hypothetical.)



Would it be so bad to stick to the original 3 year Asia plan and buy a brand new motorcycle for about P1000? Or to cut the Asia plan into 2 separate Asia plan and do Southeast Asia first? Or to buy the motorcycle 2nd hand and sell it before Asia and end up spending about P120-170 for a bike that you could only own for a year? What would your twelve year old do?



Papagulo: Why does he need a motorcycle? He doesn’t! It’s just really, really cool! But then again, does he really NEED to travel Asia either?



A twelve year old soul awaits your comments.

Planning Phase - Asia: 006 Boring Stuff... Visas

To explain a bit, I have two passports (actually wala pa ung Fil pero kukuha ako asap.) The Fil one should let me into most Southeast Asian Countries while I’m hoping the Canadian one gets me into the British colonies.

Filipino Passport:

Unless otherwise stated, its visa-less entry with passport:

ASEAN:

Cambodia 21 days
Indonesia 30 days
Laos 30 days
Malaysia 1 month
Singapore 30 days
Thailand 30 days
Vietnam 21 days

Non-ASEAN Asian:

Bangladesh 90-day visa issued upon arrival for US$50
Hong Kong 14 days
Macau 30 days
Nepal 60-day visa issued upon arrival for US$30
Sri Lanka 30 days

For Indian tourist visa: US$40
*2 piece passport size pictures
*Passport valid at least for 6 months
*Return Ticket or Airline Computer Print out with Ticket Numbers

Canadian Passport:

Hong Kong 90 days
Malaysia 3 months

No info about India. I was hoping it was one of the British colonies I could get into for free.

Good to know but I’m not planning to go yet:

China 48-hour transit (Shanghai only)
Japan 90 days
South Korea 6 months
Australia pre-arrival Electronic Travel Authority required
3 Months in most European countries and 6 months in UK! Wahoo!!!

Planning Phase - Asia: 005 - How Madhay F*cked Me

I did a little digging on the wonderful World Wide Web and made a booking inquiry on a website called RealAdventures.com and they forwarded my message to Skyline Treks and Expeditions. I’m guessing this is a Nepalese agency based solely on the fact that the guy I ended up talking to was named Madhav. I’m guessing that’s a guy’s name…

Anyway, the guy sent me an itinerary and added me on YM. I also got a couple other itineraries from other companies but I’m not comfortable posting them here if only for the fact that they weren’t posted on the websites. There might be copyright issues or something. Feel free to ask me to send them via email though.

So here are some excepts from our conversation and some comments:



“skylinetreks: hello
skylinetreks: How are you ?
skylinetreks: I am from Nepal
skylinetreks: I've received your query from the real adventure regarding the Everest base camp trekking”



Notice the perfect English in the beginning. *smirk*



“skylinetreks: travel insurance cost per day US$ 10 it covers for rescue as well
dru_525: I see
dru_525: that's separate from the 650USD stated on the website?
skylinetreks: If you (necessity) rescue without insurance cost per hr US$ 1850 only
skylinetreks: You required minimim 3 hrs
skylinetreks: 16 days trip cost US$ 991+ 14 DAYS INSURANCE COST US$ 140 = TOTAL AMMOUNT US$1131 only”



ONLY KA DYAN POTAH!

I was only expecting to pay 650USD! It turns out the 650 doesn’t include the flight from Kathmandu to Lukla. On the website, the flight is supposed to be included.

But wait, there’s more!



“dru_525: what other costs should I expect aside from what you just told me?
skylinetreks: all your personal day to day accommodation, Flight from and to Lukla, your travel insurance, Kathmandu Hotel on your seperate
skylinetreks: pay by yourself”



Crap!



“dru_525: and how much will he be able to carry for me?
skylinetreks: Tips after complete the trip is necessity
skylinetreks: Maximum25 KG
dru_525: I see, what's customary for a tip?
skylinetreks: depend on the service
skylinetreks: if you are much more happier than you have expected you can give US$ 100 each otherwise US$ 30-50.... can be expect
dru_525: That's a bit ironic since I'm hoping to be happy but I'm honestly on a tight budget.
dru_525: heh
dru_525: hehe
skylinetreks: ok you can give tips US$ 30 each
skylinetreks: no problem”



Double crap!



I think I can carry my own 25KG plus water. I didn’t get to ask if I could go without the porter. He did say:



“dru_525: I there a place I where I can leave my other baggage while on the trek?
skylinetreks: you may store in the hotel or in our office without any cost (It's free)”



Finally, some good news!

Here’s some other interesting stuff. I pretended that I was planning to go next month so they’d reply right away.



“skylinetreks: when would you prefered for this trekking ?
skylinetreks: better to book as early as possible
dru_525: I was thinking of going as soon as possible but now, especially after this conversation, I might want to put it off for a year and make it a trip around Asia
skylinetreks: If you go to Pokhara for Annapurna Base camp Trekking, can be cheaper for you because you and your trekking guide does not necessity for the flight ticket
dru_525: I see
skylinetreks: can drive all the-way
dru_525: May I ask at what time of year its not too busy during the non-monsoon season?
skylinetreks: US$ 650 inclusiv of your meals while on the trekking, guide and porter fees etc...
skylinetreks: monsoon season is not good for trekking, because of ranny, lichess on the way, can't see the good view, sleepy on the way,
dru_525: I meant not during the monsoon season.
skylinetreks: winter season also not too busy but very cold,
skylinetreks: not too busy season during the June to August and December to February
dru_525: Alright
dru_525: I'm more likely to go during June to August
skylinetreks: ok
skylinetreks: may i send you Annapurna Base Camp Trekking Itinerary ?
dru_525: Sure
dru_525: I can't make any commitments right now in terms of booking but before I go, is there anything else I should be asking? What do people usually forget to ask about?
skylinetreks: no, nothing
dru_525: Alright. Thanks. You've been very helpful.”



Hay nako base camp hassle ka. I could always choose to make this an India-Nepal-HK trip or a Southeast Asia trip.

But NO! NO! NO! I DON WANNA! Hahahaha.

Game ako dito! Just GO!