I Wander

Travel, Itineraries & Guides, Hotel Reviews

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Flying Long Haul – On Budget

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budget airlines give a whole new meaning to the word economy

The idea of taking a flight of ten or more hours on a budget carrier remains alien to most people – despite the growth of specialized carriers such as Air Asia X and Jetstar which market themselves as long haul carriers minus the cost. Until recently, it was an alien concept to me as well. Even with full service carriers, I get fidgety after the first four hours of the flight. Any attempt to sleep beyond 40 minutes at a time becomes futile as the extremely limited incline and space attest to the sardine can nature of economy cattle class….

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Southeast Asian Roundup, Pt1

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Have been meaning to post this since I completed a personal goal of visiting all 11 Southeast Asian countries in November last year, but have decided to give a good thought before I post what is probably the most candid entry in this blog so far.

As a traveler, I consider myself privileged to be living in one of the most diverse geographical locations on the planet. I could not imagine any other region (apart from Central Europe, maybe) with so many varied destinations within a 3-hour radius. Southeast Asia is not merely a hodgepodge of people but also notably full of biodiversity hotspots, ancient empires in ruins, and it is also home to some of the world’s most interesting cities.

In my travels through these eleven countries, I found the distribution quite uneven. There were some countries that I really liked, have made multiple trips to and would enjoy returning to in the future. Then, there were also countries where I felt a 7-hour trip was more than enough.

I shall make mention of all these. But a warning to the reader – do note that I am being subjective and providing a personal assessment of these places I have visited. For those who disagree with my views, they’re very much welcome to provide me with return tickets for me to have another look-see….

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Things to Do in Vientiane – Ideas For Southeast Asia’s Sleepiest Capital

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basking in the golden sunlight – Pha That Luang

Ahead of my November visit, I was told by all the guidebooks to expect a very sleepy town in Vientiane considering that it is the capital of a country with fewer people than Singapore but 300 times the size. The first encounter I had with the city was on arrival after an annoying flight delay due to rain in KL, during the night before our bumpy trip to Luangprabang. I did not really expect much in terms of fun things to do in the capital.

Vientiane is a town in many sense of the word. It is compact, no tall buildings and still quite provincial. But by no means was it sleepy… or did I miss anything?…

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Easy Daytrips Around Luangprabang in Laos

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The area around Luangprabang in Laos is filled with a number of popular daytrip opportunities. Two have practically become must-see destinations that they’ve been included as part of any default itinerary of Luangprabang-bound visitors.

Kuang Si Falls

We spent our first evening haggling with the many travel agencies in town for a good deal to take us to two sites – the famous Kuang Si Falls as well as to the much talked-about Pak Ou Caves. Both are near Luangprabang. Both are also within one hour car ride away and are described as “must see” places. The friendly chap who entertained us at the travel agency we settled with gave us a supposedly good deal for both daytrips. He even showed us the other receipts for the day containing supposed suckers who signed up at a higher price. “We are not Europeans!” was my default justification to be charged fairly. So did it work? We were able to bring our price down by only $1 per person – nothing fantastic, but still better than nothing. We shopped around and the prices were pretty much standard across the board….

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Exploring the UNESCO World Heritage Town of Luangprabang

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The 8-hour car ride from Vientiane was one of the bumpiest I’ve been in. The driver couldn’t speak English but seemed as if he was on a mad dash to see who could get to Luangprabang first. Our van literally jumped every few minutes as it also had to contend with the relatively poor state of the roads. We came ahead of many other buses and vans plying the same route – and ended up arriving in the town a good 2-3 hours earlier than most. Not too shabby, except that our driver kept at this speed despite the harrowing cliffs that were prevalent in the few hundred kilometer journey.

at luangprabang night market

Luangprabang was literally our first real destination in this trip. We took a short plane ride to KL, where we also spent the night. Next day, our flight to Vientiane got delayed because of an unexpected massive downpour – and we spent that night in Vientiane. So by default, we were on “transit” for 2 nights, albeit in different places.

I had high hopes for Luangprabang – given that it is a UNESCO World Heritage Town after all and I heard quite a lot of rave reviews about it, both from friends and from independent travel magazines. But after we had crossed into the city limits, it looked like any provincial town in Southeast Asia. The town is quite spread out, but the overwhelming majority of the attractions are actually situated in the main street called Sisavangvong Road….

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Bhutan: Hassle-Free Tips

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A trip to Bhutan is an experience in itself. It’s one of the most isolated countries in the world (Bhutan certainly ranks near the top) . Breathtaking scenery, thousand year old monasteries, gross national happiness, a different way of life – the country certainly has a lot to offer.

Paro International Airport

So if Bhutan is in your travel checklist, let me share some tips. I’m not claiming to be an expert here, but I reckon I can shed light to some things. I suppose there aren’t really a lot of other people around who can give tips for Bhutan so here goes….

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The Grand Finale – In Pursuit of (Gross National) Happiness, Pt4

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It is said that the highlight of any trip to Bhutan is the trek up to Tiger’s Nest Monastery. All the travel guides that cover this country inevitably include pictures of this building and it is clear to see why. Hanging on a precipitous cliff at 3,120 meters above sea level, the monastery – also known as Taktsang Goemba – is “nested” right smack in the middle of steep rocks that are almost vertically sloped.

tiger’s nest monastery

Though looking pretty much isolated and hard to get to, there are actually a few well-used access points to reach Taktsang. As the grand finale of our trip, we took the most popular (though by no means an easy) route and started our climb at about 9:30 in the morning. As much as I was looking forward to seeing the monastery, I was dreading the climb. I read personal accounts in the online forums which mentioned how difficult it was, and how altitude sickness could affect some folks. But nevertheless – coming to Bhutan was a unique experience in itself and I was determined to make it all the way to the top on foot.

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In Pursuit of (Gross National) Happiness, Pt3

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As our guide had this habit of being tardy, we agreed to meet earlier the next morning – our third in Bhutan. We headed to Wangdue Phodrang – the easternmost part of the country that we got to visit during this trip. The relatively short distance from Punakha to Wangduephodrang was filled with rice terraces that extended high up in the mountainside. It was common to hear the farmers singing as a group while they harvested the season’s crops.

looking at the valley below

The main town of Wangduephodrang is situated on a hill, outside the dzong. The dzong itself is smaller, and not as well-maintained as its counterpart in Punakha. However, it is unusually shaped, and its exterior walls seem to follow the contours of the hill – something I didn’t see in the other dzongs….

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