Itinerary
- Dec 21: Thailand ($1 = 25 bhat). ++Bangkok. Taxi to city 230 baht.
Guesthouse on Tanon Rd 85 baht. Dinners are about 150 baht.
- Dec 22: Hotel +Palace on Kaosan Rd 350 baht. Visited Chinatown and Golden
Buddha, rather pathetic attractions compared to what one can find in nearby
countries. ++Wat Phra Kaeo. +Wat Pho.
- Dec 23: Bangkok. +Wat Prayoon. +Wat Arun. Take boats instead of buses to go
around Bangkok.
Plane to Pnom Pen 7200 baht.
- Dec 23: Cambodia. Pnom Penh. Visa $20 and two photographs.
Many kids wait outside with their motorcycles and rickshaws. Very hot.
Hotel +Mokarat $15. Restaurant ++Chao Pra Yat $20.
- Dec 24: Flight to Seam Reap. Rented a guy with the motorcycle as my guide
for $10 a day. ++Guest house near Kampuchea Airlines $6. Ticket to Angkor
$20.
+++Angkor (800-1400): +++Bayon (+Relief of the exploits of Khmer), +++Angkor Wat (+Relief of dancing girls), etc
- Dec 25: Boat to Pnom Penh. Toured Pnom Penh in rikshaws and motorcycles.
Royal Palace. Prison.
+Choeung Ek concentration camp is closed mondays.
Hotel Indochine $10.
- Dec 26: Flight back to Bangkok. Thailand.
Bus to Ayutthaya 20 baht. Ayutthaya new BJ guesthouse 100 baht.
- Dec 27: ++Ayutthaya (1400-1500) on bycicle.
Bus to Lopburi 20 baht. Train to Philsanulok 69 baht.
- Dec 28: Buis to Sukhotai 20 baht. Visited ++Sukhotai (1200-1400) Historic Park
on bike (bike rental 20 baht). +Si Satchanalai.
Bus to Uttadit (15 baht). But to Lampang (67 baht). Transportation is
cheap and excellent, but always delayed by hours.
For short distances the most popular means is the "tuk tuk".
Monuments are closed on mondays and sometimes tuesdays.
Lampang: Hotel +Siam 160 baht. Restaurant +Riverside 150 baht.
- Dec 29: Lampang. + Lampang Luang.
Lumpun: ++Wat H. Wat Chamdevi.
+Chang Mai. Restaurant +Riverside 160 baht. Hotel +Arcade Inn 380 baht.
- Dec 30: Bus from Chang Mai to Udon (12 hours, 170 baht).
Hotel Paradise 250 baht.
- Dec 31: Bus to Nong Khai (15 baht). Bus to Korat (90 baht). Phimai. Phimai Hotel 160 baht.
- Jan 1: Phimai. +Sanctuary (ticket 20 baht). Bus Korat (15 baht). Bus
to Tako (30 baht). Motorcycle to Phanum Rung (100 baht). ++Phanum Rung
(ticket 20 baht). Bus to Bangkok (100 baht).
- Jan 2: Bangkok. Bus to Mahon Phaton (40 baht).
- Jan 3: Malaysia ($1 = 2.5 rimrig). Flight to Kuala Lumpur
(4000 baht). +Kuala Lumpur.
Bus to town (1.5 R). Hotel Empire (on Jln Masjid, 55 R).
- Jan 4: Bus to Melaka (7 R). +Melaka.
- Jan 5: Bus to Singapore (12 R).
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Notes
Trip difficulty: moderate to strenuous
Season: November to February
Length: 20 days
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Bangkok airport to downtown.
Customs and immigration are notoriously very slow in Thailand.
If you get out of the airport before midnight, bus A2
to downtown is still running. The bus stop is right outside arrivals.
Taking taxis (anywhere in the world) is a good way to get in trouble
(arguments, robberies, shortchanges you, overcharges you,
takes you to the wrong place, takes you to
his brother's hotel, etc) so I always discourage people from
using taxis.
But if you have to take a taxi, at least take an official one.
Illegal taxi drivers will meet you as you walk out from customs.
They often try to charge you twice more than the official rate and
some of them are just dangerous crooks.
Legal taxi drivers are not allowed to approach tourists.
They are run by the airport authority.
Check here for details on taxis from the airport.
To get a taxi, look for a booth with the sign TAXI right after you exit
customs.
You pay them and they give you a piece of paper that you
hand the taxi driver. You don't have to pay the taxi driver.
They carpool, whether you like it or not.
It is customary to tip the cab driver 20-30 baht ($0.50-75) per piece
of luggage.
Khaosan Rd is the place to stay for backpackers, but beware: there is
nothing authentic on Khaosan Rd. It is just a foreigners' outpost. It is good
place to stay if you want to watch American movies and eat spaghetti, but not
to get a feeling of Thai life.
(A guide to Khaosan Rd).
Bangkok is the place to get visas for countries like Burma and Laos that
still require one.
Accomodation and transportation in Thailand are generally very reasonable.
Transportation is the best in Southeast Asia. Most buses are A/C and brand new.
Roads are in good conditions. If you have seen the roads and the buses in the
rest of Southeast Asia, you will be shocked by Thailand (and viceversa).
Links
Pictures of Cambodia and Thailand
Map of Southeast Asia
Map of Cambodia
Map of Thailand
Map of Malaysia(CIA)
Thai Focus (maps, travel news, lodging, etc)
Bangkok Hotel Directory - online hotel reservation
Asiatour - Indochina database (city maps and attractions)
Cambodia web
Pictures of Cambodia
Peter Geiser's Cambodia internet travel guide
Thaifare - cheap tickets from Bangkok to anywhere
Korat - tours to Preah Visehar
Bangkok Hotel Directory
Malaysia web
Chiang Mai
Chiang Mai
Internet cafes in Thailand
A page on Preah Vihear
On-line hotel reservations for Bangkok
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