I read. I travel. I become.
After Europe (which was a year ago yet I haven't finished write about), I think maybe i should hold the desire of travel for a while. But I could not last long without traveling. With my head hot from all the year's work, a week off, and a last scholarship stipend, I decide to do another ultimate-travel: South-East Asia!
Why SEA? First, it is Asia. It's bound to have the same food, culture, and values as mine. Second, their currency is not overwhelmingly expensive! VND is almost at half-price the IDR, and the others are less than a USD. So when Ning Tiyas suggested that I fill my week off with SEA-travel, I immediately thought out a plan.
In 10 days, I managed to cover 8 cities in 5 countries, with less than IDR 5mills. Maybe not everyone's travel style, but I need to cram as many places as possible in the limited time. So here's my itinerary
Day 1: Flight Jakarta - Singapore, sleep in Singapore
Day 2: Bus to Melaka, sleep in Melaka
Day 3: Bus to KL, sleep in night bus from KL to Hat Yai, Thailand
Day 4: Continues from Hat Yai to Krabi, arrive in the afternoon
Day 5: Island-hopping at Krabi, then take the night bus to Bangkok
Day 6: Exploring Bangkok, sleep in Bangkok
Day 7: Bus to Siem Reap, Cambodia, arrive in the afternoon
Day 8: Temple-touring at Angkor Wat, then take a night bus to Phnom Penh
Day 9: Spend the morning in Phnom Penh, then continue to Ho Chi Minh City, arrive in the afternoon
Day 10: Spend the day in HCMC, flight back to Singapore in the afternoon, spend the night in Changi airport Singapore
Day 11: Morning flight to Jakarta
I take night buses to cut on hotels' budget, even spend a night in airport, and just visit the free-places (or super-cheap ones), and that effectively cut the budget to less than 5 mills IDR!
The initial plan included M, L, and D, the latter being my friend from medschol, and the others from highschool. But M could not go because her boss says no (and this is my number one reason to travel more before I start working! You can always make money, but you do not always have the time, right?), and D could not go because she's late for her flight. In the end, it was just me and L. If only M and D continues with the plan, the budget could be significantly cheaper!
So, here's my stories about SEA and its wonders, enjoy!
