Quito

The first night I stayed at Centro del Mundo hostel for $5 (dorm). It's kinda a dump and doesn't even have wifi so the next morning I moved next door to Casa Basik for $6. It's much nicer and has wifi. I had a king size bed in the dorm room that also had a bathroom inside with a hot shower and it turned out that no one else came into the dorm so I had the room to myself. They also did my laundry in 8hrs for $0.80/kilo. 

I went to the equator park "Mitidad del Mundo" north of the city and it was kinda a cluster to get there. It was Saturday and election day and there seemed to be lots of traffic. To vet there first you have to take the metrobus line to the end at Ophelia Terminal ($0.25) then transfer to a "mitidad del mundo" bus for $0.15 which drops you at the gate to the monument which is free to enter. The trip there took 2hours. To get back you do the same in reverse. Then we took the metrobus all the way into the old town and walked around. Its a really cool city surrounded by mountains and it has a really big old town with lots of old buildings from the Spanish. Quito is really easy to get around with three set bus lines that have stations like a subway. Some areas can be dangerous though and the 2 Swiss guys on my amazon trip got robbed at 3pm walking up to the big angel statue on the hill. Taking taxis at night are a must. 

Leaving Quito I bought a ticket for the 430am Panamericana bus, because they have a station in the Mariscol a couple blocks from my hostel, to the border town of Tulcan (5hrs, $5) the bus didn't leave until 6am though! There were 3 other gringos on my bus also going to Colombia so in Tulcan we split a taxi from the terminal to the boarder for $1 each. After getting your exit stamp from Ecuador you walk across a short bridge into Colombia. 

Amazon Tour

I was hopig to book a jungle trip from Tena but the town was dead so I decided to call places. I tracked down the numbers to some operators who own lodges in Cuyabeno reserve and booked a 4 night trip with Samona Lodge for $230. All the trips leave from Lago Agrio which is a major pain to get to. From Tena I caught a Quito bound bus and took it to Baeza ($3, 2.5hrs). A little outside Baeza I got off at an intersection where I was told there would be a bus coming through bound for Lago Agrio (4hrs, $5). 45min later the bus showed up. The ride from Baeza to Lago is extremely rough and the road is very windy and the drivers are maniacs. Take Dramamine. In Lago the bus dropped us off at some random spot outside of town and I caught a taxi in for $1.50. Stayed at Casa Blanca where they have clean single rooms with direcTV and private bathroom for $8. I got sick in Lago from something I ate and couldn't leave the next morning. Had to rebook my trip since Samona didn't have another one going for a few days. I called around and Rainforestur set me up with a trip for $40/day. Rainforestur is just an agent and I got booked at Guacamayo Lodge which is run by Ara Expeditions (araexpeditions.com) 

The trip: they picked me up at my hotel at 9am and there was some confusion because the lodge normally charges $50/day and they also could only take me for 3 days and the girl didn't speak English. I was a little hesitant to go since I had no idea what I was getting into but went with it. From Lago it's about a 2hr drive to a bridge where you get into a long boat down the river for another couple hours to the Lodge. 

It was just me and two 30 year old Swiss guys at the lodge which was great because our guide would do whatever we wanted. The first afternoon we saw pink river dolphins on our way to go piranha fishing and everyone caught one and I caught two which was great because it is the wet season and apparently difficult to catch piranhas because there is so much water and food around. But we found a good spot. After fishing we went on a 3hr night hike through the jungle. It was pretty intense with some stream crossings and wading through waste deep water in the dark looking for anacondas. Didn't see any anacondas but we saw tons of insects and our guide knew everything. Took the boat back to the lodge and had dinner which was fish, rice and lentils. 

The lodge is classically built with wood and grass roofs. They have a couple solar panels so you can charge electronics but other than that its candle light. They have rooms with 2 beds, bug nets and private bathroom. The shower is just river water. The lodge is right on the river and they were almost done with a 3 story bird watching tower. Its right next to Samona Lodge but i never heard them, It's a really cool spot. 

The second day after breakfast we went out at 9am on a canoe excursion paddling. Once again, because we asked for adventure, it was pretty intense. We were paddling through flooded jungle through narrow channels hacking through brush with a machete until one of the Swiss guys dropped the machete in the water and it sank. We had lunch out in the jungle and saw some really fresh Tapir tracks. A tapir is a kind of small jungle cow, yes, jungle cow. After lunch we paddled back to the main river and met the motorized long boat and went to the village to meet the shaman. The village has some modernish style wood building on stilts. There was a 1yr old monkey living there named Nacho who was fun to play with. The villagers ate his mother a while ago and then adopted the baby. Unfortunately the shaman had malaria symptoms so we couldn't meet him, I guess he's like 100 yes old. On the way back from the village we saw a big anaconda which was sweet. It was in a bush just above the water and was about 2-3 meters long. We also saw more pink river dolphins. 

The third day we went out at 6am for bird watching and saw some cool birds including toucans and parrots and eagles among others. At 10am we took the boat back to civilization. 

The Swiss guys flew back to Quito for abbot $70. I took the bus for $8. I almost got screwed though because almost all the buses were full. It was a Friday and election weekend so I think that's why. Luckily one of the companies had a secret unscheduled bus at Quito using a bus from the "Petrolera" company. The bus was a heap but it had new seats and showed movies. They played a Jason Stathom marathon showing Transporter 1,2, and 3, the Italian job, another movie I hadn't seen with Wesley Snipes in it, ands Crank, all in Spanish of course. The ride took 8hrs and I got into Quito around 11pm. The bus entered Quito from the north and so It drove by the Mariscol Sucre area where I was going to stay so I jumped out and caught a taxi to my hostel which saves me about an hour had I gone all the way to the terminal. 

Getting into Ecuador

My nightbus from Peru dropped me of in Guyachile at 430am. I decided to take a bus to the town of Banos. The bus was $7 (7hours) and left at 6 am but that bus got in an accident or something so I had to take a different company. It was the same price but I had to change buses in the town of Riobamba. The drive has spectacular scenery. I got out in Banos and walked around for 20min and it was really dusty and windy and I didn’t like the feel of it so I decided to power on to the town of Tena (frequent buses, $4, 4hours). On the bus I met two Scottish girls who told me that the volcano in town was erupted and that it was dust that I was seeing, it was ash! Was pretty happy I got out of there. In Tena I walked about a km from the bus station to a hostel called Brisa del Rio which is just across the street from the river and near the foot bridge. I was $8 for a private room with fan and shared bathroom and they had wifi. Nobody spoke english but they were helpful.

Mancora

I flew into Tumbes and it is a pretty dangerous place according to most reports. My original plan was to try to get straight on a bus up to Ecuador but I was exhausted from my flights (I had been awake since 5am and got less than 4hrs sleep) and the thought of an 8 hr bumpy bus ride was not appealing. I met 3 Australian guys in the airport who were going to the beach town of Mancora so I decided to tag along and we split a cab there (s/32 each, 2hours). They were staying at the Loki hostel so I did the same (6 bed dorm s/28 with bathroom inside, breakfast, wifi) The hostel is right on the beach and is like a resort with a big swimming pool and 2 bars. It definitely has a spring break feel to it. The hostel was packed but the rest of the town felt pretty dead. There is also a Point Hostel in town but I guess it is far out of town and people get robbed walking there at night. Right in front of the Loki is a restaurant on the beach that serves mountains of excellent civiche for s/15. Leaving Mancora I took the CIFA international bus to Guyachil for s/60. It was a nice semi-cama (seats recline more than your average bus) bus and it left at 9pm and we arrived in Guyachil, Ecuador at 4:30am. The bus stops at both boarder points for you.

Inca Jungle Trek

I signed up for a 4day 3night “Inca Jungle Trek” and paid $160 which included everything, even the Machu Picchu entrance (s/126) and the train back to Cusco ($32usd). The operator was Conde Travel and they do other trips as well and a well regarded. They quoted me $180 but I bought it through an agent who gave me a great deal. I forget the name of the agent but its on the same street as the Conde office, just closer to the main plaza. The tour starts with pick up in Cusco and then you drive through the sacred valley of the Incas and over a pass that is at 4200meters. Just after the pass you get out and get on your mountain bike and ride down the other side of the pass with spectacular scenery. After the ride you check into a hotel in the town of Santa Maria with shared rooms and relaxed until dinner.

The second day is hiking on the Inca trail. It isn’t the “classic” inca trail that requires a permit but its all the same and was really cool with amazing scenery and some stops at locals houses.
After lunch our guide, Amoroso, asked if we wanted to have an adventure and we did so we blazed the trail through an area that was destroyed by landslides and floods a year ago. It was great. None of the girls liked it cause it was a little dangerous (maybe more than a little) but I had a great time, crossing rivers, landslides, and hacking our way through with machetes.

It couldn’t have been better. It took longer than expected though and the last 45min were in the dark which actually was dangerous because the path was treacherous and only half of us had headlamps. After arriving in the town of Santa Theresa we checked into our hotel (shared rooms again but I lucked out and got a single) and showered (ice cold showers) and had dinner. Then everyone went to the bar in town and partied the night away.

The next day was just an easy walk along a river on a dirt road and train tracks up to Aguas Calientes at the base of Machu Picchu. We checked into our hotel and had time to wonder around town or go to the hot spring pools. The people who went to the hot springs said they were kinda gross and dirty.

The next morning we left the hotel at 4am to get to the base of the access path by 4:30. The gate is suppose to open at 5am but they opened it early. Then it is a grueling 30min steep hike up to the main entrance which opens at 6am. The rush was so that we could get tickets to climb Whinna Picchu mountain and they only give them to the first 400 people in line. Amoroso gave us a tour of Machu Picchu for about 2 hours and then we were on our own. We were all in the “second group” to climb the mountain which meant our access opened at 10. Climbing the mountain is also an extremely steep climb but it only takes about 25min and offers spectacular views.

After climbing that a dutch guy and I decided to go to the Inca Bridge and the Sun Gate. Both definitely worth doing. If I went back I’d climb Machu Picchu mountain which doesn’t have an entry requirement and might have just as good views as Whinna Picchu. After you’re done exploring Machu Picchu you’re on your own, go back to Aguas Calientes and wait for the train which is at 645pm. The train is very nice and they offer a beverage service. You can also bring beers on board.
Overall Conde Travel worked out great and the tour was a great way to do Machu Picchu. A lot of the hostels in Cusco book through them and we had a great group. Definitely recommend.

Leaving Cusco I was dreading the 24hour bus ride to Lima so I looked at flights and found one to Lima for $82usd (1hr) and another from Lima to Tumbes for $86usd (1.5hrs) on Peruvian Airlines. Definitely worth it because the bus to Lima is about $50us and then the bus from Lima to Tumbes is another 20hrs and $50us. My flight out of Cusco got cancelled, however, but after some haggling with the airline, they were able to get me on the next flight out so I would still make my connection to Tumbes.

Cusco

I stayed at The Point Hostel for s/20 per night in a 12 person dorm. The hostel is nice with free internet (wifi and 3 computers). The dorm was big, they had hot showers and they were always cleaning the place. The Point is a chain in Peru and there are a couple other chain “party” hostels like the Irish Rover and the Loki. The Rover is near the point and both have great locations. The Loki is a tough walk up a hill from the center. The Loki has the biggest party vibe of them and the Point is the cheapest. I’d either stay at the Point again or at the Irish Rover. Taxis anywhere in Cusco are generally s/5. There are tons or backpackers in town and a lot of people stay there to study spanish. Its a really nice town and has a lot to do around it. There is also a really big backpacker party scene which surprised me.

Puno to Cusco

Leaving Puno I decided splurge on the bus to Cusco and take the Inka Express tour (www.inkaexpress.com) which includes a buffet lunch, English speaking tour guide and stops at 4 different sites along the way. I bought direct from the company at the bus station for s70, if
you buy through your hotel or an agent you'll pay more as usual. My hotel charged s84. The bus leaves at 7:30am and arrives at 5:30pm. There was also another company called tourPeru (www.tourperu.com.pe) that had a bus doing the same exact trip and their bus was nicer. A
regular tourist direct bus to Cusco costs about s30 and you can get a local bus for s15. The Inka Express was worth it I think. The bus has a toilet but the seats aren't that great with limited leg room but It was very nice to stop at sights along the way and the lunch was very
good. The scenery along the drive is absolutely incredible. Some of the best in the world I think. The price doesn't include entrance to the sights so I skipped the first museum (s6) and I'm glad I did. The town it's in is pretty cool and it was nice to walk around away from the tourists. The second stop is the top of a pass at about 4200meters above sea level with great views. Then lunch, then an Incan archeological site that was cool, entrance was s10. The last stop was a quaint little village that had a chapel. The chapel was s6 to get in and didn't look too special so I skipped it and played frisbee with a 5 yr old Peruvian child and a piece of cardboard. When the bus arrives in Cusco it stops at the company office which is a couple kilometers from the center. Official taxis are waiting but charge s8 when it should be s5 so I took a "pirate" taxi for s5 out of principle. Might not have been the smartest thing since robberies aren't uncommon but it worked out

Puno and Lake Titikaka

I stayed at Hostel Monterrey which is right on the pedestrian street in the center. It was recommended in the Lonely Planet. I negotiated a private room with bathroom for s20 but an electric heater was an extra s10. It was pretty cold so I got the heater. The bathroom had really
good hot water which was nice to take a long hot shower. They also had rooms with shared bathroom for s15. I had lunch at a locals place where I got a plate of meat, beans and rice for s3. Man it's good to be back in the third world. Haha

To go out to the Uros floating islands I walked to the boat dock and bought a ticket for s10 and paid the s5 entrance fee. The boat takes you to one of the islands where one of the guys who lives there shows you how the islands are built. They also try to sell you some stuff and encourage you to take a ride on the straw built boat for s6 to another island where there was a restaurant. The whole trip took about 2hrs.

Flying to Peru

Flying to Peru I was on Copa Airlines. At the checkin in Rio the guy asked to see a ticket out of Peru which I didn't have. He was real nice though and I showed him my flight from Colombia back to the USA and that was enough but I think that if I hadn't gotten someone so nice then it could have been an issue. I have a ridiculous trip ahead of me. I fly Recife-Rio (3hrs) Rio-Panama City (7hrs), Panama City-Lima (3.5hrs), spend 9hrs overnight in the Lima airport, then
Lima-Julisca (1hr), bus Julisca-Puno (45min).

I flew on Lan Airlines from Lima to Juliaca and they let me check in 9 hrs before my flight which was great since it allowed me to check my bag and get my boarding pass so I could go through security. In the food court in Lima there is a place called Pardos Chicken the has absolutely delicious "Anticucho de Corazon" (skewered grilled beef heart pieces) for s4.50. Get them, Don't be put off by the beef heart thing, it tastes like some of the most delicious steak tips you've ever had. I found a good place to sleep in what seemed like an old smoking lounge. It had long bench seats that were pretty comfortable and it was quiet with other people sleeping in there too. There are good bench seats at the gates but access is closed from 11:00pm to
1:30am. I didn't have to pay an airport tax leaving Lima.

Arriving in Juliaca there are collectivo mini-buses waiting to take people to Puno for s15 and they take you right to your hotel.

Pipa

I couchsurfed in Pipa the first few nights with a girl named Rafaela and she had an awesome apartment in a complex with a pool. I stayed there 3 days and the Her boyfriend Jack set me up in a room in a 4 bedroom house that a Norwegian woman named Marette rents out for R$100 per week. It was nothing fancy but the price was right. Marette also runs a community non-profit project for kids in town. It's in the vicinity of Cavalo Marinho Pousada on the same street as the Rose Hostel. I hung out a Cavalo Marinho a bit and definitely recommend that place for a pousada. Laz (from Chicago) and Ed (from NH) are still holding it down. Watched the final four with Laz which was fun cause he always bets a lot of money on sports. If you know the right
people you can rent a surfboard for R$100 per week, maybe even R$150 for a month. The best beach for beginning surfing is Praia do Madeiro it takes about 30min to walk there at low tide from the main beach which is cool because you walk along Praia do Dolfinhos where there are often dolphins swimming very close to shore so you can swim with them. You can catch the collectivo back to town from Madeiro for R$1.50.

Leaving Pipa I took the collectivo to Goianinha for R$3 then you walk across the main road, turn right and walk 200 meters to a restaurant that sells bus tickets (R$58). They have a sign outfront. The bus company website is www.progressoonline.com.br for the schedule. My bus was suppose to leave at 8am but it stops for 30min at the restaurant because of this, I almost caught the 7am bus. The bus is really nice.

Recife

From the airport it's very easy to catch public buses to anywhere in the city. There is a good info office that has maps but There's no free wifi at the airport. I stayed at the hostel Piratas da Praia in the Boa Viagem neighborhood for R$37. The staff isn't that helpful but the location is good and there is free wifi and a mediocre breakfast. Hostel options in Recife are limited. I stayed at the HI hostel before and it was ok, a little cheaper and it would have been better probably but there were lots of mosquitos. I got a ride up to Pipa with Bruna so that worked out well.

Coming back from Pipa when the bus comes into Recife the first place it stops is a park in the center. It is best to get off here if you are staying in Recife because the main bus station is very far out of town. From this park I easily caught a bus to Boa Viagem for R$2. Back in Recife I stayed at Piratas da Praia hostel again and this time I was able to get the student price of R$32 for a fan dorm room. On Saturday I went to Praia da Calhetes with Aline and Bruna and the family. It is about a 45 min drive south or Recife and it's a really cool little beach that is
really pretty. We also bought 15 mangos from a guy for R$3! And they were delicious. I don't know how you could get to the beach by public transport but it is a cool area. I couched surfed a couple nights with a girl named Mariana Ochoa which worked out great and it turned out she knew all my Recife friends too! She lives in Boa Viagem and getting to the airport was really easy, just caught a bus marked "aeropuerto" from Ave Domingus Ferris for R$2. Buses start running at 5am.

Itacare

Itacare: I stayed at Che Lagarto hostel on the main road to the beaches. I got a special price of R$24 in an 8 bed dorm with bathroom inside with hot shower, wifi, good breakfast, and 1 free caipirinha per night,for booking online. The hostel was in a good location and quite nice.

Itacare is a cool beach/surf town that has a mostly backpacker feel. The beaches are small but really nice. There is a "secret beach" that isn't secret at all but takes about 45min to get to by hiking through the jungle. The path is pretty windy and there are no signs so its easy to get lost. The hostel recommends a guide, I recommend going with someone who has been before. There are a couple places in town to get Pratos Feitos for R$7. Surfboards can be rented for about R$20 per day.

Leaving I took the 12:00pm bus to Bom Despacho (R$31.25, 5hrs) for the ferry to Salvador. There are about 7 departures per day. The company was Cidade de Sol and the bus was nice but didn't have AC. Then took the 6pm ferry boat to Salvador.

Morro de Sao Paulo

To Morro de Sao Paolo I took the ferry boat to Itipairica for R$3.95 (45min) from the Sao Joaquim terminal (every hour I think). The ferry docks right at the station with buses to Valenca (R$13.50, 2hrs) and finally the boat to Morro (R$6.70 slow boat, 90min, R$13.50 fast boat, 40min). In Valenca the ferry dock is in the center of town. I took the slow boat and they first drive you in a bus back out of town for 30min to a different dock and then you take a slow boat across. WARNING the boat stops at the village of Gamboa first before continuing to the village of Morro de Sao Paulo. I accidentally got of at Gamboa and had to wait for another boat and pay R$3 to get to Morro. At Morro there is a R$10 entry tax. There are lots of touts at the dock and I let one of them take me to Pousada Caminho de Praia on the road down to the beaches. They had a single room with a big bed for R$40 which was nice but I wanted cheaper so I got a very small room with a set of bunk beds for R$30 with private bath and breakfast included. Breakfast was excellent with a large buffet including scrambled eggs, cheese, breakfast hot dogs (popular in Brazil), bread, fresh fruit, cake, juice, coffee, etc. I checked the Che Legarto hostel which looked pretty nice but they said $22usd for a dorm bed!

Overall Morro is a very pretty place with gorgeous beaches but it's also VERY touristy and expensive. There are also hardly any backpackers around or anyone who speaks English for that matter. There was a place to surf and some board rentals but it didn't look very good.

Leaving I took the same slow boat/bus combo back to Valenca but for some reason it was R$7. There's also a R$0.62 port use tax leaving Morro. My boat left at 12:30pm. I think I just missed a boat at 11:30 but I'm not sure. Then walked about 1km or 10-15min to the main bus station. Valenca actually seems like it could be a pretty nice town with a pedestrian street but NOTHING is open on Sunday. From there I caught the 15:10 bus to Itacare (2.5hrs) for R$18 on the company Aguia Branca. The bus was really nice with a bathroom, aircon and very comfy seats. They have a website www.aguiabranca.com.br

Salvador

Salvador
Arriving in Salvador there is free Internet from one of the taxi companies in the departures hall but the zipper Internet isn't free. I took the aircon bus to Barra for R$3. It continues on to Praca de Se in the Pelorinho if you want to go there. Bus runs every hour I think. There is also a non-aircon one for R$2.50. I couchsurfed with a guy named Ludimar. He was really friendly and I had my own room but his house was very far from Barra and pretty far from the Pelo.

The Pelo is the historic area of Salvador and it is pretty cool with lots of colonial buildings and a rich musical scene. Going south in Bahia from Salvador the best way is to take the ferry boat to Itipairica for R$3.95 (45min) from the Sao Joaquim terminal (every hour I think). The ferry docks right at the station with buses to lots of places south.

When I came back to Salvador from Itacare I came by ferry boat. At the terminal in Salvador it is easy to catch city buses to either Praca de Se (the Pelorinho) or Barra for R$2.50. Barra isa nice neighborhood and I stayed at Alpha Hostel (Rua Eduardo Diniz Goncalves #128, tel:+55 (71) 3237-6282) for R$17. The hostel was fine but hard to find and the breakfast wasn't very good but the price was right. Che Lagarto hostel is near and it faces the ocean. It's easy to catch a bus from the beach road in Barra to the Airport (R$3, 40min).

Israel

1usd = 3.50 New Israeli Shekel (NIS)

Entry to Israel is free but they can be strict. They X-ray all your
luggage and they searched my bag. Also if you've been to Syria or
Lebanon or some other Arab countries it can take a long time to get
through. After the boarder it is about 4km to the town of Eliat. A
taxi costs 45 NIS, the other option is walking and hitchhiking which I
did. The bus station is in the center of town. On Fridays and
Saturdays the bus service is limited. I took the las bus to Jerusalem
(4hrs) on Friday at 1pm for 75NIS. The next bus wasn't until 530pm on
Saturday. The buses are modern air-conditioned coaches, no bathroom
but a stop halfway.

In Jerusalem I stayed at Palm Hostel right across from the Damascus
Gate (dorm 50NIS, free wifi, hot water). It was pretty good. Great
location, social atmosphere, my room had 8 beds. They also have free
tea and coffee and two free computers. It takes about 40min to walk
to/from the central bus station. The old city of Jerusalem is really
cool and there are some hostel in there too. Also near the Damascus
Gate is the Palestine bus station which is very convenient to the
Palm.

Dead Sea: I went to a random place on the dead sea with some people
who heard about the location. We took the bus to Ein Gadi but got off
at the checkpoint a little before Ein Gadi (49NIS, 1hr each way). The
place us really cool with some hot spring pools and no people around.
Getting into the sea is a little difficult cause it's not really a
beach but it was a very cool spot.

Jericho: We took a Palestine bus to Abu Dis (7NIS, 30min) and then a
shared taxi ("Sherut", 12NIS, 30min) to Jericho. Jericho is a small
town that is really old but there isn't that much to see. There is the
"Mount of Temptation" with a cable car ride for 55NIS round trip, and
some old ruins but we didn't do any of the tourist stuff. But It was
cool to be really in the West Bank and Palestine and see what it's
like and learn about the Israeli occupation. There isn't much worth
seeing in Jericho in my opinion though but I'm glad I went because I
learned some about the restrictions imposed on Palestinians by the
Israelis. We returned the same way we came.

Going to the airport I took the last bus 950 at 10pm which stops at
the airport (23NIS). Security at the airport is unbelievably tight.
They asked me tons of questions, xrayed and searched all my stuff and
it took 2 hours to get through security at 3am! Security opens 3.5
hours before departure and check in opens 3 hours before. The airport
has free wifi but not very many comfortable places.

Wadi Rum (camping with Bedouins)

Camping with the beduins is expensive and it is hard
to find cheaper than 25JD for a night with dinner and breakfast. We
walked around town helped a guy fix his truck and he set us up with a
camp for 18JD and then we got a camel ride to Lawrence Spring (30min)
for 7JD. We then hiked around the desert for 4 hrs. The desert seemed
almost identical to Moab, Utah. Our camp was called Mohammed Hussain
Camping and it had bathrooms and a communal tent with a fire place and
then separate tent rooms with thin mattresses and thick blankets. Our
host was really friendly. We saw a couple other tents and they all
look similar. Leaving Wadi Rum we got on the bus that goes to Petra at
8:30am and for 2JD it dropped us at the main highway. Then we
hitchhiker to Aqaba which didn't take long at all and the guy from
Tennessee who picked us up took us all the way to the boarder. Leaving
Jordan you have to pay 8JD and then walk across to Israel.

Petra

I stayed at Valentine Inn near the central circle of Wadi Musa
(dorm 5.5JD, breakfast 1.5JD, lunch box 2.5JD, dinner 5JD) the dorm
had 9 beds and a bathroom with hot water from 5:00pm-8:30pm, free wifi
in the lobby and free shuttle bus to the Petra gate at 7 and 8am and
back from petra at 4 and 5pm. The dinner is a very big buffet that is
very good. Breakfast is a little weak, the lunch box is good.

Entrance to Petra is 50JD for one day! 55 for 2 days. Petra is huge
and would be a good place for longer hikes on days after seeing the
main sites. After passing through the Siq if you stay to the right and
walk along the tombs there is a path that leads up above the treasury
which is a really cool view point. The Monestary is a must see and it
may be better than the treasury. Also recommend going to the "Place of
high sacrifice". I did all that in one day starting at 8am and
finishing at 5pm but it was a pretty grueling day and I think it was
about 30km of hiking. Leaving Wadi Musa I caught the bus to Wadi Rum
for 5JD (2hrs) with a german guy to go camping in the desert.

Karak

The bus drops off at
the base of the hill and I hopped in a van up to the castle for
0.50JD. At the castle I went into the Tower Hotel near the gate and
talked to them about onward transport. They said they didn't think
there were anymore buses heading south but said i could try and They
let me keep my backpack there while I explored the castle.

The castle is really cool! I spent about 2 hours exploring it. It was
built by the crusaders and is in pretty good shape. Admission is 1JD
and it's helpful to have a flashlight because there are lots of
passages and caverns to explore.

After exploring the castle i decided to try to get a ride to Wadi Musa
(Petra) from one of the tour buses parked at the castle gate. I asked
a couple bus drivers but they said it was up to the tour guides. I
talked to the tour guide of a German group and he talked to his driver
and the Germans and they allowed me to hitch a ride! First guide i
asked, Awesome. It took about 2.5 hrs to get to Wadi Musa.

Amman

On the plane to Amman I met a nice woman from England who was being
picked up by her driver and offered me a ride which worked out great.
I booked the Abbasi Palace Hotel in downtown Amman (Saqf Al Sail -
Quraysh St. Tel: +962 6 4611686, qaser.abbasi@gmail.com) a dorm bed is
6JD and its a bed in a room with only 2 beds. The woman who runs the
place is very nice and she gave me a private room with a big bed,
heater, and shared bathroom with hot shower for 8JD and my room was
very quiet. All rates include breakfast which was quite filling and
they have free wifi. There is a nice common room and the staff is
extremely helpful. Its also in a good location for visiting the sites
of Amman. Recommend staying here.

I also looked at the Palace Hotel which is seemed slightly more
upmarket and had single rooms with shared bathroom for 12JD.

Jerash: did a day trip to Jerash to see the Roman ruins. Took a taxi
to the Northeast Bus station (2JD) then a minibus to Jerash (0.90JD).
Unfortunately I thought the bus ended in Jerash but it actually went
to Abdul so I rode the bus right through Jerish without realizing it
and went 30min too far. Then had to take another bus (0.50JD) back to
Jerish.

The ruins are right in the center of town and cover a pretty big area.
Admission is 8JD. I spent 2hrs exploring them and then took the last
bus back to Amman (1JD, 1hr) which left around 4:45pm. Upon returning
to the North East bus station I caught a shared taxi (white taxis) to
downtown center for 0.35JD. These taxis, also known as service taxis
are great cause they're so cheap but they only leave when full so
timing is an issue.

Going to Karak I took a taxi to the Southern bus station (2.10JD) and
caught the bus to Karak which ended up leaving around noon (1.60JD).
It was an old coach bus and took about 1:45hrs.

Dubai

FlyDubai airline uses terminal 2 at the Dubai airport which is
terrible. The terminal isn't that bad but it doesn't have any
comfortable seating (I arrived at 530am and slept on a bench wrapped
around the armrests for 2 hours) and more importantly it has no
connection to anywhere except by taxi, not even a shuttle to terminal
1 or 3. There are metro stops at 1 and 3 but the only way to get there
is taxi and the taxis from terminal 2 START at 20 Dirham. I tried
forever to find a shuttle and to even get on the employee shuttle but
that didn't work so I walked out of the airport and caught a taxi off
the street which starts at 3 dirham. He took me to the nearest metro
station which is actually Diera City Center (13Dirham), not the
airport metro stops. At the metro I bought an unlimited metro/bus day
pass for 16 dirham.

I went to Burj Khalifa (tallest building in the world) but couldn't go
up it because tickets were sold out. It normally costs 90Dirham to go
up. I didn't know this but you can buy your tickets online ahead of
time which you should do. I also went to the Dubai Marina area which
is nice and the Mall of the Emirates to check out the indoor ski area.
I didn't ski but a 2 hour pass with equipment is 200dirham. I went to
old Dubai area too which is known as Bur Dubai. It's on "the creek"
which looks a lot more like a river than a creek. There are water
buses (boats) that operate on the river. Returning to the airport I
took the metro back to Diera City Center and caught a taxi back to
terminal 2.

Kandy

Kandy is a pretty big town. The train station is a 10min walk from the
main street. I stayed at the Old Empire Hotel which is right next to
the Buddhas Tooth Temple, right in town. There are more places across
the lake. My room was 740Rs. Very basic, kinda crummy, no bug net,
shared bathroom and NOISY. some jerk was blasting Sri Lankan music in
the street at 2:30am. The restaurant serves a pretty good rice and
curry with chicken for 300Rs but it is VERY spicy.

Leaving Kandy I caught the last bus to Negombo at 5:20pm. The bus
costs about 100Rs and takes 4hrs. Tell the bus driver and/or conductor
that your going to the airport and they'll drop you at the entrance.
After getting dropped off it's about a 10 min walk to the airport
along the access road.

I flew out on flyDubai and they're the first airline I've ever had
weigh my carry on bag to make sure it's less than 7kg. FlyDubai has
nice new planes and I had a row to myself on the way to Dubai.

Adam's Peak

To Climb Adam's Peak you stay at the base in the village of Delhousie which is not a very nice place. It completely exists because of Adams Peak and is hardly a village at all. Its basically just a string of souvenir stalls. Most of the guesthouses are before you actually get into town. Stayed at Pansisi Guesthouse for 800Rs for a pretty nice room with 2 beds and a hot shower but they'll charge more if
you're more people. Also looked at Green House which is a homestay but
it's overpriced. 700Rs for a very small single room with a shared
bathroom with cold shower and they wouldn't even let me take the room
unless I bought dinner and breakfast from them. All in all they wanted
1600Rs all inclusive which was too much (you can get a good size meal
of rice and curry for 100Rs at one of the shops) and the room was
crummy. Don't even bother looking at Pilgrams Rest. It's 700Rs and it
had the worst rooms I've seen traveling. It looks better from the
outside which REALLY says something.

Leaving Delhousie I took the bus to Hatton (1hr, 55Rs) which was
suppose to leave at 11:30am but left early at 11:20. The bus dropped
off at the Hatton bus station which is a 5 min walk to the train
station. I ate a delicious rice and curry lunch at a locals only
place for 100Rs (walk through a narrow market alley that runs along
the station and it's the last place on the left). Train to Kandy left
at 1:50 and took about 3 hours.

Ella

Ella is a really cool little hill village. It's pretty geared towards
tourists but it's real small and has very friendly locals. When I got
off the bus a guy from Rawana Holiday Guesthouse took me to see the
place. It's up on the hill and the restaurant has really good views.
My room was in the back and had no views but I managed to talk them
down to 800Rs and they gave me a free welcome tea. Room was basic with
a fan (but it wasn't hot), 2 twin beds pushed together, bug net and
hot water (but it didn't work when I took a shower), and free wifi.
All the other places on the hill were more expensive.

Leaving Ella I took the train to Hatton (9:45am, 4hrs, 160Rs 2nd
class). There is also a first class "observation car" that is 4 times
the price and didn't look worth it at all. The train station is a 5min
walk from the center of the village. The train ride is really
spectacular through the hill country of Sti Lanka passing through
beautiful scenery covered in tea plantations. The left of the train
might get better views but it's hard to tell. Arriving in at 1:45pm
there was a bus waiting to go to Delhousie for Adams Peak (1.5hrs,
55Rs) but it didn't leave until after another train came at 3pm and
the bus was absolutely packed.

Marissa

Is a small beach town on the southern coast Getting there I took the 2;05 train from Colombo to Mattara and got off at the Walligama stop around 6:00pm. The train was 2nd class and had comfortable seats but leaving Colombo it was packed and I didn't
get a seat. It was alright though cause I prefer standing or sitting
in the open doorways of trains anyway. In Walligama there are tuk tuks
waiting that will take you to Marissa for 200 to 250Rs. I paid 200.
There are also buses, possibly for only 9Rs, but I wanted some comfort
and the buses looked absolutely packed. Its only a short 10 or 15 min
ride though.

In Marrisa I went to the Palms Villa hotel on the beach which is
listed in the Lonely Planet as costing 660Rs to 1500Rs. When I got
there they told me a room is $45usd! They were nice and tried to point
me in a cheaper direction. I walked across the street and up a little
hill to Mount Garden Guesthouse where they offered me 1000Rs and then
came down to 800. It is a family run place and everybody is friendly
and my room sorta had a view. Room had a big bed, bug net and fan.

Leaving Marissa I hopped on the local bus to Matera (30min, 20 Rs).
They drive down the main road in Marissa all the time. The Mattera bus
station is pretty big, dirty and chaotic. To get to Ella I first had
to take a bus to Wallaya (4hrs, 152Rs). To find the bus just ask
around. Then change to a bus for Ella (1 hr, 45 Rs). This bus
continues on to Bandarawella. It all went very smoothly and the
longest I waited was in Matera for 30min. The drive from Wallaya to
Ella is spectacular, try to sit on the right side of the bus.

Nagombo

Arrival: landed at 12:05am and the zipper was packed! Apparently tons
of flights come and go through Sri Lanka late at night. The airport is
pretty nice and I considered sleeping there cause it was already late.
There is a "transit hotel" in the airport which is on the airside of
the terminal, meaning that it is within security and customs so if I
stayed there I would then clear customs in the morning. I checked it
out but it was full and the guy told me that its normally $45usd for 6
hours anyway! I had heard that it was $20usd so I'm not sure whats up.
After clearing customs there are many money changers, an ATM and
prepaid taxi booths within the airport. Their first price for Negombo
(the nearest town to the airport was 1500 rupies but I got one place
down to 1000. I thought I could still do better though so I went
outside. Outside was a madhouse with tons of traffic and no taxis that
looked even remotely official. There was another taxi stand outside
that I'm certain would have been cheaper but they told me it was only
for Sri Lankan citizens. I got plenty of offers from freelance taxi
drivers to take me but most of them seemed pretty creepy and they were
offering 1200 Rs anyway so I went back inside and bought my cab to
Negombo for 1000. The taxi ride took 10-15min. There are public trains
and buses you can catch near the airport but I'm pretty sure they
don't run late at night.

I stayed at the Silver Sands (1540Rs, 229 Lewis Place, tel: (031)
2222-880). My room was in the back and very quiet with a balcony (no
view), hot shower, fan and bug net. They charge 10% service charge on
everything which is annoying but they did quote the room price as
including it so that was good. The place is pretty nice and I'd stay
there again. The hotel is beach front and has a restaurant that makes
a huge and delicious rice with curry for 350Rs.

Negombo is an ok place with a decent beach but the water didn't seem
that clean. It's not bad for being so close to the airport though.

Leaving Negombo I took the 10:30am train to Colombo for 40Rs. It takes
about 1.5 hours to get to the main "Colombo Fort" station where you
catch other trains going wherever. The Negombo train ride was pretty
fun cause the cars are like subway cars but the doors are permanently
open so you can hang out the doors and watch Sri Lanka rip by. It
really was great. The Colombo station is easy to navigate, has a
tourist information office, a grimy food court and luggage storage and
is in the center of town just a 10min walk to the ocean. There is also
a market selling clothes and stuff right next door. 3 wheelers or "Tuk
Tuks" WILL try to rip you off whether they're a "meter" one or not. If
it is a meter one then check the odometer before and after the ride
and the rate is 50Rs per kilometer. Otherwise agree on a price before
using the that rate as a guide. I think the 50rs/kilometer rate might
be roughly applicable nationwide. One driver in Colombo wanted to
tried to charge me 250Rs per kilometer! Lots of people are very
friendly and wanted to talk to me, some were being nice, some were
trying to get me to buy something and one guy I think was just kinda a
creep. But anyway, spending more than a couple hours in Colombo
doesn't seem necessary.

Bangkok to Sri Lanka (via Kuala Lumpur)

Leaving Bangkok: I wanted to buy a pair of Jeans on Khao San Rd so I
went there with an Austrian girl I met and she let me keep my bags in
her hotel room during the day. The Hotel sold airport transfers for
130bht and they run every hour. Mine took an hour and a half cause of
traffic I guess. Bangkok airport is awesome. Tons of stores,
immigration and security didn't take long and they claim to have free
wifi but I couldn't get online.

Malaysian Airlines is good. You get 20kg of checked baggage free and
they served a meal on the 2nd flight to Kuala Lumpur. They asked if I
had an onward ticket out of Sri Lanka but didn't make me show it.

Kuala Lumpur airport has one of the best food courts in the world
because it really cheap and they make AMAZING Roti. I had a 3 hour
layover and in KL and I remembered the Roti and had to get it. It's
only RM 1.60 which is about 50 US cents! The food court is on Level 2
and you have to clear customs to get there but it's quick and easy and
there are no fees or departure tax or anything when you go back
through customs to leave Malaysia. The "food garden", as it's called
has other malaysian food too of course and the best part is that it's
all priced at about normal prices, not inflated airport prices. I
definitely recommend checking it out if ever in the KL airport.

Laos to Bangkok

The trip to Bangkok went smoothly. After the Laos international train
(20bht) which just takes you over the boarder to Nong Khai station
where you get on the night train. The face value of my night train
ticket was 688bht for 2nd class upper berth with aircon. I didn't like
the set up quit as much as the night trains in Vietnam because on this
train there were no cabins just bunks with curtains running alongside
the aisle. The bed was fine and the top bunk is better I think cause
you're slightly more secluded. There was a restaurant car which was
cool. It was a social area but the food and beers were WAY overpriced
(120bht for a beer!). The train arrived the Bangkok Central train
station an hour later than the ticket said we would but that was fine
by me. We left Nong Khai at 6:20pm and arrived at about 730am.

Vang Vieng

The bus dropped us off at a guest house in the center but there was zero pressure to stay there and we went to look for a place closer the the river. I stayed
at Vieng Vilai Guest House on a street called "B Sengsavang" I think.
It was a pretty good spot in the heart of the action and pretty
social. I had a private room with hot shower and satellite tv for
30,000kip!

Vang Vieng is a ridiculous place. The town is incredibly touristy but
it is set amongst beautiful scenery. The main attraction is "tubing"
on the river but the majority of people don't actually tube (I never
did) they just take a tuk tuk (10,000kip per person) to the river bars
a few kilometers outside of town around 1 in the afternoon. It's a lot
of fun and there are rope swings and slides and tons of free shots.
It's basically like spring break for backpackers. Around 7pm everyone
piles into tuk tuks (10,000kip per person) to go back to town where,
after a shower and some food, the party continues at either OhLaLa Bar
or Q-Bar (more free shots) and Q-bar plays a video of the day from
their river location.

Vang Vieng is still worth going to if your mission isn't just
partying. It's really easy to get away from all the tourist stuff in
just a couple minutes on a bike. I discovered a really nice little
area just over a car bridge on the other side of the river that had a
couple guest houses and still felt like real Laos. Also surrounding
town are a lot of big limestone Kearsts and there are a lot of caves
to explore.

Leaving Vang Vieng I decided to just go straight through to Bangkok
cause I had a flight to catch from Bangkok to Sri Lanka. In Vang Vieng
I arranged to go all the way which was long but pretty easy. I found a
travel agent where I could buy a VIP bus to Vientiane for 50,000kip
and I bought my train ticket from them (upper berth, aircon for
950baht) the 950 baht included transfer from Vientiane center to the
Laos international train, that ticket and the train ticket to Bangkok.
The actual cost of the two train tickets was just over 700bht so you
could probably do it cheaper yourself but it would be more hassle and
there's no way to buy train tickets ahead of time online so you either
have to go to the train station or buy through the agent.

Luong Prabang

Arrived Luong Prabang around 3pm and got dropped off at the bus
station. From there you have to take a tuk tuk to the center for
10,000kip. Walked around looking for a room and it was hard to find
cheap rooms. There are a lot in the 100,000kip range. Finally found a
room at Chitlatda Guest House (Sisouphanh Rd tel: 071-212227) for
60,000kip with 2 beds, shared bathroom (squat toilet, hotshower), free
wifi. Also heard about a hostel called Spicy Lao but don't know
anything about it.

Luong Prabang is a pretty nice town at the convergence of the Mekong
river and another river. Lots of old buildings from the French era.
The is a food market in an ally off the night market where you can get
a plate of food from one of the many buffets for 10,000kip. Utopia is
a real cool bar on the banks of the river with a sand volley ball
court.

Leaving Luong Prabang I booked a bus to Vang Vieng for 115,000 from
the guesthouse. It was suppose to be a minivan but ended up being a
small bus but it was all good cause the bus could seat about 25 people
but there were only 6 of us. But we stopped to pick random people up
on the way so it wasnt much different than the public bus which i bet
you could probably get for half the price at the bus station. We left
around 9 and arrived at 330, way longer than I expected.

Muong Khiaw to Luong Prabang

Muong Khiaw has similar scenery to Muong Ngoi Neua and is very
beautiful and pretty rustic. There were some new bungalows on the
banks of the river and I think it would be worth hanging around if you
have time. There are boats continuing south to Luong Prebang for
100,000kip if there are 10 or more people. There is a minibus waiting
at the boat dock to take people to the bus station a kilometer or two
away for 5000kip. From there you catch the public bus to Luong Prebang
at 11:30 for 40,000kip. I think the bus is the way to go. The drive is
really nice with beautiful scenery and very rural villages and the
road is paved with not much traffic. You see the same scenery as the
boat, the bus is half the price, takes half the time and is more
comfortable. Plus you kinda see more cause you actually go through
the villages. Boat travel is nice but I had already done it twice so
it was nice to drive.

Muong Ngoi Neua

We arrived in Muong Ngoi Neua around 1245. There are tons of guest
houses on offer 50,000, 40,000, 30,000kip. I stayed at Phetdavanh
Guest House for 30,000kip for a small room with 2 beds and shared
bathroom. It's a decent place with a social atmosphere but I think you
can do better for 30,000. Muong Ngoi Neua is a very cool little
village that is only accessible by boat. Theres no way to get money
and theres no internet. It's very laid back with friendly locals.
There are two caves, I did one to the north of town (10,000kip) which
was very cool and quite big and there is also a look out up above it
with good views of the river and village. Leaving for Muong Khiaw to
the south the boats leave around 930 and cost 20,000kip and take 1
hour.

Muong Khua

Entering Laos from Dien Bien Phu, Vietnam the drive is very nice. The
bus is crap but the scenery is spectacular. The road winds through
very mountainous terrain. they are rebuilding the road and when that's
done it should be really nice. The bus drops off on the other side of
the river from Muong Khua and you cross by boat for 2000kip. There are
plenty of guesthouses. Me and a Danish guy stayed in one overlooking
the river in a room with 2 beds and private bathroom with hot water,
squat toilet for 50,000kip. They also had single rooms with shared
bathroom for 25000kip. There are two places to exchange money and they
both had very fair usd to Kip rates. There are no ATMs around though
and none nearby so bring enough cash for a few days. There is also no
Internet anywhere in town (they just got hooked up to the main power
grid a couple years ago). Leaving I took a slow boat to Muang Noig Nua
south down the river (4 hours, leaves between 9am and 9:30am). It is
suppose to cost 100,000kip but because we only had 7 people making the
trip it was 160,000kip. It's a very nice boat ride in a long boat
through the jungle but you'll be sitting on a wood plank so having
some sort of cushioning is advisable.

Dien Bien Phu to Laos

In Dien Bien Phu bought the bus ticket to Muong Khuan, Laos for
88,000vnd leaving at 530am. Also me and 2 French guys from the sapa
bus split a hotel room which was only 120,000 so 40,000 each. Dien
Bien Phu doesn't have ANY tourist services and changing dong into
either Kip or USD is very difficult but doable.

Going to Laos: the bus was suppose to leave at 530 but we didn't leave
until after 620 cause we were waiting for some bags of grain I think.
We also stopped to pick up an old engine. The bus was old and
terrible. It took about an hour and a half to get to the boarder which
is only 36km. Checked out of Vietnam then got back on the bus to drive
to Laos. At the Laos checkpoint the visa costs $35usd. Make sure you
have a passport photo, if you don't then you pay an extra $2usd. There
are also signs "service fee -$1usd", "stamp fee - 3000 Kip", "check
for H1N1 fee - 2000 Kip". The total price was $36usd plus 5000kip.

Sapa

There are a bunch of mini-buses waiting at the train station in Lao
Cai to take people to Sapa. The Chinese border is only 1km away if you
want to take a peek. The mini buses try to charge 100,000vnd to go to
Sapa but the lonely planet says it should be 28,000. I had to fight
pretty hard to get it for 50,000 (they were pulling away and I refused
to pay more and they drove a little ways away and stopped and still
asked for 70,000 before accepting 50,000. I met a couple who managed
to get it for 40,000 but it didn't leave from the train station. I
think I saw two Vietnamese on my minibus pay 50,000 each.

The drive to Sapa is gorgeous and if the weather is good it would
definitely be nice to have a private car which I was getting offered
for 300,000vnd. Got dropped off in front of the market in Sapa and a
guy asked me to look at his hotel. I ended up staying there and it was
decent (Cam Tu guest house, tel: 0203 871 339, No. 011 Fanispan St.)
Good size room (2 beds) a balcony with a bit of a view, cable, wifi,
hot shower and electric blanket, heat was extra though (it was real
cold and foggy) for 140,000vnd. They had a hair salon in the lobby and
I got my hair cut there for 50,000vnd but I wouldn't recommend it. The
girl randomly cut parts of my hair, brushed my bangs to the side and
asked "ok?". Haha no not ok! She hadn't even cut about 70% of my hair!
After multiple discussions through a translator she managed to give me
an actual haircut which was alright. Pretty ridiculous experience
though.

The one day the fog cleared in the afternoon and I went for a hike to
Cat Cat village and down the valley. Cat Cat village is 3km down hill
from Sapa and they charge 20,000vnd entrance. It's kinda a waste of
time cause it's basically all shops for tourists. There are some very
pretty vistas though and an ok waterfall. From there I continued down
the valley on an unmarked trail through the rice paddies and didn't
see any other tourists. This area is spectacularly beautiful and I
wished I had more time to keep going down but the sun started setting.
A woman pointed me in the direction of Sapa which was a pretty arduous
climb back up on a questionable path. If the weather was for sure
going to be good I could have spent a couple more days there hiking
around but I think it's unpredictable and dense fog is very common.

Leaving Sapa I booked a minibus to Dien Bien Phu (near the Laos
border) through my hotel for 200,000vnd. That's the cheapest I found
around but there was a sign on the bus saying Lao Cai to Dien Bien Phu
was 170,000 so if you catch it yourself you should at least be able to
get that. The minibus was alright, not packed with people and goods
which was nice. The drive for the first hour is amazing so try to get
a window. We left Sapa around 8am and arrived Dien Bien Phu around
230pm with a couple stops.

Hanoi

Arriving I took the Vietnam airlines bus to the old quarter for
30,000. Jetstar has the same service but the Vietnam airlines drop off
point is more convenient and it doesn't matter which airline you flew
on. There are tons of taxis and minibuses also but they can't be
trusted. Stayed the first night at Hanoi Backpackers Hostel
($6usd/dorm bed, (04) 3828 5372, 48 P Ngo Huyen St.) which is highly
rated and pretty nice but there are many nice $5usd ones in the same
area also.

Halong Bay: I had heard that The Drift Backpackers offers a good 3 day
2 night (1night on a boat, 1 night in a hotel on Cat Ba island) halong
bay tour for $57usd so I went there in the morning to sign up for it.
About 5 min after paying, the tour company called the hostel back and
said they couldn't do the $57 one only the same tour for $88. That
seemed pretty sketchy so I told the guy at the hostel that I didn't
have any more money and asked him to call them and tell them that.
What do you know, they said they'd make it work! Got picked up 10min
later and off we went.

The tour company was AST Travel and it all seemed pretty good until
about halfway there we found out that because of the tourist boat
sinking the day before, all overnight cruises on the bay were shut
down for five days. We were basically told that we only had the option
of changing to the one day tour and getting refunded the difference
which is terrible because the hostel I booked through charges $35usd
for the one day tour which is WAY too much and at other places you can
get it for $21. I was later given the option to return straight to
Hanoi and PAY FOR THE BUS RIDE! unbelievable! Like I wanted the bus
ride. AND they couldn't tell me how much I'd have to pay for the bus.
So I decided to do the day tour to cut my losses. Definitely NEVER do
a 1 day tour. It is unbelievably touristy and you just follow an
armada of other boats around a small loop and stop on one island to
look at two caves which are lit up with colored fluorescent lights.
Lunch is ok (drinks cost extra though and are way overpriced - 30,000
vnd for a can of beer) and The caves are kinda cool but you spend
3.5hours on a bus to get there, then only 3 hours actually on the bay,
then 3.5 hours on the bus again back to Hanoi! It's crazy. Plus there
was a big accident on our way back so it took almost 6 hours to get
back.

I booked my ticket with The Drift Hostel so that's where they dropped
me off. They have dorms for $4 if you book online but it's more if you
walk in (include wifi and breakfast but breakfast is just toast and
tea or coffee). Luckily they gave me the $4 rate after the tour. I was
told that I'd have to deal with the refund the next day when they
could talk to the owner. The dorm room was pretty nice. The location
is a bit far from the main center of the old quarter but it's quiet
and only a 10 to 15 min walk to the train station which is nice. The
staff are pretty helpful and nice despite what some reviews online
say. Although there is a night watchman who was very insistent on only
performing watchman duties and nothing more. The next day they
refunded all but $20usd of my payment which I thought was generally
fair. They normally charged $35 for the one day tour but I knew some
people had paid $21 and told them that I thought it would be fair to
only charge me what they had to pay the tour company (AST Travel I
think) for the one day tour I did. So I think paying the 20 is fair.
They probably still made a couple bucks off me but if they were real
jerks they could have totally screwed me. Overall I recommend the
drift hostel if you're looking for something quiet. It's the cheapest
hostel I found and it's nice and clean with good staff (bad breakfast)
a movie lounge, pool table, hot showers, wifi in rooms, etc but it's a
little far from the action (prob a 15 min walk). I'd also recommend
trying to do the $57 tour I tried to do. I think it would've been
good.

Walked all around the old quarter of Hanoi and it's pretty sweet for a
day. What you'd expect from an asian city- small streets, dirty,
smelly, packed with mopeds, food on every corner, etc. But it's pretty
cool with old buildings and tiny passages and stuff. Good for a day of
exploration. There is a good sized night market that starts up around
730pm and they close off street so it's just pedestrians.

Leaving HaNoi: I bought a ticket for a soft sleeper on the LC5 night
train to Lao Cai (the nearest stop to Sapa) for 374,000 vnd. I had
been trying to book a ticket on the ET Pumpkin private carriage which
are suppose to be pretty nice for $30usd but they were sold out. I'm
glad they were cause my soft sleeper is immensely nicer than the hard
sleeper I had from Nha Trang to DaNang. Only 4 beds per cabin, a
western toilet with toilet paper AND fake wood paneling! Total luxury!
My cabin mates were a young couple from San Fransisco and a Vietnamese
girl. The train left at 22:35 (but I almost missed it cause I got on a
train heading south to Hue by accident) and arrives Lao Cai at about
8am

Danang/Hoi An

Arriving Da Nang: the train station is right in the center. To catch
the yellow bus to Hoi An walk straight out of the station, ignoring
the taxi drivers, and walk one block to the next street which is a
main street. Wait on the far side (side where traffic is heading east)
and wait. I didn't have to wait long, a bus pulled up right away but I
think they run every 30min about. It's a bright yellow, medium sized
bus and says "denang-hoi an" on it. They're hard to miss. The fair is
suppose to be 10,000vnd but overcharging of foreigners is rampant. The
first price the guy offered me was 100,000! I said 20,000, he said
50,000, I said 20,000, then he acted like he was going to leave then a
woman came over and said 30,000 and I accepted. You should be
persistent about 10,000 because I don't think they'd leave a fare and
that's the real price. Maybe if they give you a hard time about
luggage or something accept 20,000 but no more. This will discourage
trying to overcharge foreigners. The bus ride takes about an hour and
is pretty easy, drops off at the Hoi An bus station which is a
10-15min walk from the main hotel area.

Hoi An:
Stayed at a Hop Yen Hotel (694 Hai Ba Trung, tel: (0510) 386-3153) in
a decent location near the old town, maybe 5min walk. Dorm bed was
$5usd and I got a really small private room with single bed, tv, fan,
shared bathroom for $6usd for the second night. I checked a bunch of
places and I couldn't find a real hotel room for less than $10usd near
the old town.

Hoi An is a pretty cool little town with a large pedestrian only old
town with many historical buildings and a nice river front. There are
about a million tailors which will make anything you want but I think
the quality varies widely and may not always be indicated by price.
There are also tons of shoe makers. There's an ok beach and some cool
hills outside of town but other than that Hoi An doesn't have a lot
going on. But there are a lot of nice restaurants and the town is very
quaint; worth a visit for sure.

Leaving Hoi An: I booked a flight from DaNang to HaNoi on Jetstar for
620,000vnd. I was going to take the night train again but it was only
50,000 cheaper for a hard sleeper so I decided to fly. I took the
yellow bus again to to DaNang and paid 30,000 again but I sat next to
a German guy whe did manage to get the true fairly 10,000 but only
after the bus started pulling away and he continued to stand his
ground that they finally gave in. I told them I was going to the
airport and they dropped me off at the street that ran down to the
airport, about 1km away, maybe a little more. I walked it and it took
forever so I'd recommend taking a moto for 10,000vnd and don't believe
anyone who tells you that you're miles away. The airport is a dump but
they're building a new terminal which looks like it'll be real nice.

Nha Trang

The bus dropped off right in the main backpacker area in
Nha Trang at A hotel with $12 rooms but I didn't look at it. I was planning on leaving that same night on the train for Danang but I liked the vibe in Nha Trang and decided to stay a night. There is an ally off the beach road that has a bunch of budget hotels on it. I stayed at Hotel An Hoa for $10usd with fan, hot water, wifi,
tv. Since I went diving the next day and my train didn't leave until
after 11:30pm I did late checkout and for $5usd was able to stay until
5pm.

Went diving with Seahorse dive shop. 2 dives with lunch on the boat
for $33usd! Great deal. First spot was Madonna Rock which had a cool
boulder field and 2 small swim through caves which were cool. Second
spot was fisherman bay which had really good corals. Visibility wasn't
that great, maybe 10meters cause of some recent rain but apparently it
gets really good sometimes. Lunch onboard was really good and we had
tea, coffee and fruit in the morning too. Seahorse was the cheapest I
found. Most places were $40usd. Seahorse's equipment was pretty knew
and the staff were nice. Just beware that the soda and beer at lunch
isn't included.

Ate dinner at Madame Chuong restaurant. Ordered the porcupine! Sautéed
in satay. After the woman told me "very good! Fresh from forest" for
80,000vnd. I wanted it with Chinese spinach but she said "spinach no
good with porcupine!" haha. "Ok give me whatever vegetables that are
good with porcupine." it was actually REALLY good!

Leaving Nha Trang I bought a ticket the day before on the SE6 night
train to Danang for 274,000vnd for a hard sleeper, top bunk. The soft
sleepers were all booked. A hard sleeper is a bed in a cabin with 6
bunks and no door. Soft sleeper is nicer in a cabin with 4 bunks and a
door. A moto out to the station costs 20,000vnd.

The train was an experience. The SE6 train was pretty crummy- dirty,
noisy, old, etc. My Vietnamese cabin mates (they were all Vietnamese,
only a few foreigners on the train at all) seemed to be pretty
entertained by the fact that a white person was in there, especially
on the top bunk which is the cheapest and I barely fit in it. The
cabin had AC though and with the door closed it wasn't that loud.
Outside in the hallway it was INCREDIBLY loud. the bathrooms were
absolutely terrible by any standards and the "mattress" was no more
than half an inch thick. But I slept ok actually. Better than I would
have on a night bus I'm pretty sure and I'd travel that way again over
a night bus (I've hears that the night buses in Vietnam are the
worst). I didn't see any food available on board but there was a
beverage cart in the morning.

Dalat

Arrived in Dalat at 4pm. The bus drops off at the Sinh
Tourist office in town which is also at a the Trung Cang Hotel which
is owned by Sinh Tourist. There wasn't really too much pressure to
stay there either. I had called ahead to another hotel across town for
$10usd but Trung Cang offered me a room for $10usd including a
breakfast buffet so I took it. Don't think the other hotel kept my
reservation anyway cause when I called to cancel they laughed and said
"no problem, no problem". My room was in the basement, had a single
bed, wifi, hot water, satellite tv and they gave me a heater (it was
kinda cold in Dalat). The room has a bit of a moldy smell to it but
otherwise it was really nice, seemed updated, had real nice linens on
the bed. Def one of the nicer places if stayed. The hotel is more
upmarket (2 stars) and I got the cheapest room. Breakfast buffet was
legit with Pho, noodles, fried eggs, fried rice, fruit juice, toast,
etc. Better than I expected. I def recommend the Trung Cang hotel. I
also rented a moto from them for 100,000vnd for an automatic.

Leaving Dalat I booked another bus through Sinh Cafe to Nha Trang for
100,000vnd. The bus left at 730, took 4 hours and made 1 stop at a
restaurant half way.

Ho Chi Min City (Saigon)

The TNK Tours bus dropped us off in the main backpacker area of Saigon
around Pham Ngu Lao street which was good. There are tons of hotels
in the area but I had called ahead to one so I went there, but it was
a dump so I left and went to Vin Trang Hotel which is close to the TNK
office and I got a room for $10 with AC, hot shower, TV, fridge and
wifi. The room is a little small but a good value. It doesn't have a
window to the outside which some may consider a negative but I think
it's a positive cause street noise can be very loud and very annoying.

Cu Chi tunnels: since my bus on TNK from Can Tho was good I decided to
book a half day tour to the Cu Chi tunnels through them also for $5usd
not including the 80,000vnd entrance fee. I shopped around and all the
other tour operators charge the same. The tunnels are about 70km from
the center and it takes about 1.5 hours to get there. An organized bus
tour is really the only option for getting there economically. The
tour was very good with a nice guide, a nice bus and no extra stops at
tourist traps. I've heard of other tours taking people out of the way
to "crafts markets" to buy stuff so the company can get commission. On
the way back we had the option of getting dropped off at the War
Museum which I did and walked back to the hotel from there. Definitely
recommend TNK and I'll probably use them again.

Leaving Saigon:
I booked a bus with Sinh Tourist (formerly, and still sometimes, Sinh
Cafe) to Dalat (8hrs, 130,000vnd) which left at 730am. There were only
10 people on the 45 seat bus so that was nice. No bathroom so we
stopped somewhere twice for toilets. The second stop I think was a tea
plantation but I didn't figure it out until we were leaving so it
could have been more interesting than the gift shop and restaurant
were alone.

Can Tho

arrived at the bus station and hopped on a moto for 20,000
right away to Hien Guesthouse 2 where I got a decent fan room for
$8usd with a tv, and wifi, and it might have had a hot shower too but
I was too hot already. Good spot, very friendly staff. Me and the
Italian couple booked a boat trip through a friend of the owner and
after some negotiation we got a 6hour trip for $10usd each which is
apparently a pretty standard rate. The boat trip was really sweet. The
floating markets are nothing that special but cruising through the
smaller canals and rivers was really great, very peaceful and our boat
lady was really funny and friendly even though she spoke no English.
We also went to a rice noodle factory (not really a factory though,
more of a shack where they make rice noodles) which was actually
really cool. When doing a boat trip try to arrange to spend as much
time in the small side canals as possible. We passed by a on one of
the smaller rivers, away from town which could be cool, Homestay My
Thuan (tel: 07103845538, 01228082127) don't know anything about it but
I'd give it a shot. Can Tho is a very nice city with a really nice
river front with restaurants and a dinner cruise we tried to do but
missed. I only spent one night there but would recommend staying
longer.

Leaving Can Tho was a bit of a mess. I didn't book a mini-bus ahead of
time (Hien Guesthouse sells tickets for $5usd but they were sold out,
staff there said to go to the main bus station). I went to another
hotel that had mini-busses parked out front but they told me they were
booked up until 4pm, then was told 7pm, then 530pm then a big nice bus
pulled up that was the return portion of a 3 day organized tour from
Saigon. They told me that it was full a couple times but I decided to
hang around anyway which paid off and I was able to get a seat on it
for 160,000vnd. A little expensive but its a nice AC bus with no
hassles and it's dropping me off right in the main backpackers area of
Saigon so it's definitely worth it. And I ended up sitting next to a
very nice Canadian girl who gave me some of here Hawaiian pizza which
was delicious!

Phu Quoc

The fast boat from Ha Tien to Phu Quoc is 160,000vnd and it took about
2hrs i think. Theres a small space in the back where you can sit
outside but the engines are REALLY loud so make sure you have
earplugs. On the boat they sell minibus tickets to Long Beach for $2
which is a fair price but I was so over minibuses for the day that I
couldn't bare the thought of being stuck on one driving around
everywhere so I decided to figure something else out moto taxis to
longbeach are generally 50,000 VND but I only had 33,000 in my pocket
and I easily found a driver who would do it for that. He took me to
the best spot on long beach where there are the most budget options.
The island was super busy though and we tried like 6 places but they
were all either full or too expensive until I found Lien Hiep Thanh
Hotel, known as Family Hotel (tel. 077-3847-583, 0913-758-034,
0906-722-828) they had one cheap room for $15. The room is really nice
with a fan, bug net, hot shower that doesn't work and a fridge. The
hotel grounds are nice made up of lots of bungalows and it has a
reasonably priced restaurant right on the beach. Definitely recommend
staying here. My room is the cheapest, cheapest bungalow was $25 and
bungalow with ocean view and AC is $50. They rent motos for 80,000vnd
for a semi automatic and 100,000 for an auto which is the going rate.
The only hotel I found that is cheaper had rooms for $13, wasn't on
the beach and the rooms weren't nearly as nice as mine. Actually I
found Kim Nam Phuong seaside resort (tel: 077 846319) and they had a
$10 room and the resort was on the beach. Seemed like a good spot but
their cheap rooms were all booked for a week so I didn't get to look
at them.

The night market has decent seafood for dinner but it's not that
cheap, 80,000 gets you a grilled fish filet with no sides or anything.

Leaving Phu Quoc I bought my boat ticket to Rach Gia through my hotel
(250,000vnd) on the boat Superdong 1 plus a shuttle bus to the boat
for 40,000. The boat left about 20min late. It has a good size area on
the roof to sit outside and it's covered. It's also pretty loud though
so earplugs!

SCAM! In Rach Gia! Ugh, so annoying. Got off the boat and of course
there is the usual scrum of moto drivers trying to take you somewhere
but I just walked past. Ran into my swedish friend who had met a
Vietnamese girl and they were both going to Saigon. The Vietnamese
girl knew less than I did I think and she was getting hustled with us.
The Mai Linh bus office at the pier had prices posted (60,000vnd for
Can Tho and 110,000vnd for Saigon) but she told me they were sold out
all day. Then a moto driver wanted to take me to the far bus station
(7km, he said it was 12km) for 100,000vnd! WAY too much. After arguing
with him for a while he decided to tell me about a nice mini-bus to
Can Tho for 200,000vnd, also WAY too much. He told me "ok ok 80,000vnd
to the bus station" I said get lost. Mind you he started with 70,000
when we first got of the boat but moto rides are rarely more than
40,000. To make things worse he kept following me around and basically
not allowing any other drivers to take me. I separated myself a little
and tried to talk to a different guy and the two drivers swooped in
and basically told the driver to get lost which he did. These guys
were really pissing me off and there was no way I was going to pay
them a penny even if they did give me a good price. They eventually
came down to 40,000 but I told them to go to hell and sat down and had
a Pepsi waiting for them to leave the area then hailed a moto for
30,000. I later met 2 Italians who had the same thing happen but
instead walked to a different bus station closer where they were again
told that the mini-bus was full but after 30minutes they got seats for
80,000 on Mai Linh. Total scam going on there at the Rach Gia Pier.
Maybe it was just cause of Tet and all the tourists coming through,
vietnamese and foreign alike, that generated the scam but who knows.

The bus station in Rach Gia is like a bombed out shell. The public bus
to Can Tho runs every hour, costs 55,000 and is either a mini-bus or a
real bus. No AC and whichever vehicle you're on expect it to be jam
packed. When I first got to the station a mini-bus was about to leave
but the driver tried to charge me 100,000vnd even though it said the
price was 55,000 right on the door. He told me that was the Vietnamese
price and I wasn't Vietnamese so I had to pay more. I refused
obviously and went to the ticket window and after that driver left
they sold me a ticket for 55,000vnd. I got on the bus, a big red old
heap. This driver tried to make me buy another ticket for my bag
because it was in a seat next to me but I said no we'll put it in the
luggage place in the back which we did but then he wanted me to pay
20,000 for the back but I just refused and they stopped bothering me.
The ride took about 3 hours, maybe a little less and wasn't really
that bad. Luckily I was sitting right next to a wide open window which
made a huge difference.

Kampot to Phu Quoc, Vietnam

I bought a ticket all the way to Phu Quoc from my guest house in
Kampot for $20. It included a mini-bus to Ha Tien Vietnam and the
ferry ticket to Phu Quoc. I DON'T recommend doing it this way. I got
picked up at 930am and by 11am we only in Kep, 25km away! Driving
around picking up passengers and vegetables and stuff and they tried
to over pack our van. Plus the boarder took forever cause there were
15 of us. My moto driver the day before had offered to take me to Ha
Tien for $8 the day before and then I think I could have gotten a boat
ticket for another $8, saving $4 and a TON of time.

Kampot

The minibus dropped us off on a small side street that is lined with
about 7 backpacker guest houses. I was trying to decide between
staying in kampot or kep. Decided to stay in kampot but all the
guesthouses on the little street were full so a moto driver took me to
Ta Eng Guesthouse a block away. The owner is really friendly and the
room was decent for $5 but had a squat toilet. In the afternoon the
moto driver took me on a tour of the region for $10, although he tried
to get me to pay $15, then $12, then $11, halfway through even though
I had explicitly made sure it was $10 before leaving! That kind of
thing is really obnoxious. Besides that is was definitely worth it
though. We stopped briefly at a salt field then went to a cave that
had a temple built in 700AD, then a pepper plantation (they have
delicious pepper in Kampot) then to Kep for dinner. In Kep my driver
recommended the Kimly restaurant at the crab market which, I
discovered later, is also recommended by the Lonely Planet. They are
know for they're green pepper crab which didn't disappoint. I went
with the large portion which was $8.50! (very expensive for Cambodia)
But you only live once... The crab is split in half and cooked in a
creamy green pepper corn sauce that is out of this world. I was pretty
hungry and order stir fried vegetables as well and it was enough food
to fill me up.

Sihanoukville

The bus drops you off in the middle of Sihanoukville where there are
tons on moto taxi drivers waiting for you. I hopped on one right away
who took me to Serendipity Beach for $1. I wanted to stay at Monkey
Republic Bungalows but they were full except for $3 dorm beds but I
was tired and wanted my own room. The driver then took me to GST
guesthouse #1 (there are 3) where I got an $8 fan room and he got a
commission. The GST bus I too to Sihanoukville pulled up a few minutes
after I got there so I wonder if you could just stay on the bus and
get dropped off there. The GST isn't on the beach but it is really
close. Closer than Monkey Republic. The room was ok. They had free
wifi in the restaurant and cable tv with HBO. Late at night in the
restaurant area there were TONS of mosquitos though. Walking along the
beach north of the boat pier there are a few beach front places and
the vibe is much more "chill island" than "mainland touristy". The
cheapest place there I found was $15 with an ocean view probably going
for $25. Would be totally worth it if you were two people. I ate
dinner on the beach mostly and the beach restaurants all had $3
seafood BBQ that was pretty good. There are also women walking around
the beach selling grilled squid (mediocre) and deep fried lobster (not
lobster like we know it, looked more like a cross between a shrimp and
a crawfish, but delicious!). Leaving Sihanoukville I caught a minibus
from GST to Kampot for $5 (1.5 hours).

Phnom Pehn

Well the bus DID NOT drop me off at the night market. We got dropped
off somewhere near some other random market who knows where. But
anyway the monk I was sitting next to told me a tuk tuk to the river
front would be 5000 reals ($1.25) so I hopped in one of those and
headed to Okay Guesthouse. When we got there I paid the driver 5000
and he tried to tell me we had agreed to 5 dollars! Ha yeah right.

I had reserved a cheap room at okay but when I got there they didn't
have any and said that the number I called from lonely planet was a
guy up in Siem Reap. $10 rooms were the cheapest they had but she gave
me one for $9. It had a big bed fan, private bath, cable tv with HBO
and cinimax. The next day I moved to a room that was $8 and had a
window to the outside... Big mistake. There was a construction lift
right outside that made a terrible racket and the Cambodians who lived
in the alley were really loud. Okay guest is pretty good though with a
good vibe and a decent restaurant. It's on a little side street that
has a bunch of other guest houses too and a cool vibe and it's not too
long a walk to the river front which is nice. Around the corner near
the Cambodia/Vietnamese monument is the best Indian restaurant I've
ever been to called KK Tandoor. It opened 3 months ago. Eat there.

Shooting range
I started talking to a guy who is a moto driver and sorta affiliated
with Okay Guesthouse one morning about going to a shooting range. I
really wanted to shoot a rocket launcher but had read online either
that you can't anymore or that it's 350 bucks which was too much. This
guy told me he had a friend who could do $300. I knew that a couple
years ago it used to be 200 so I said how about 250 and he said that's
fine. We met his friend, got picked up in a car and drove 60km out of
the city. I was a little worried I was going to get robbed cause I was
alone in a car with 3 Cambodians I had just met driving out to the
middle of no where with 300 bucks in my pocket. But it all worked out
thankfully. We drove out to an old army base or range or something and
loaded up on the arsenal before heading out. The rocket launcher was
AWESOME! I was pretty scared it was going to blow me up though cause
who knows how old it is and actually the first two rockets had bad
firing caps and didn't shoot. Of course after that they asked me if I
wanted to shoot a grenade launcher for 50 bucks which I did and I got
him to through in 5 shots with the AK-47 as well. Awesome experience
and the guy even bought me a sandwich and water on the way back.

I tried to see the palace and the silver pagoda but entry closes at
4:30pm, not 5:30 like the lonely planet says so I just missed getting
in.

Okay Guesthouse sells bus tickets for the same prices as the bus
companies but they also offer a free shuttle too the bus. I took the
$4 Bus to Sihanoukville, shuttle left around 7:45am and the bus
company was GST. Bus is nice, no bathroom but pretty new and has
another Cambodian dubbed movie playing which are actually getting
pretty annoying.

Pursat

I stayed at
Hotel Thmey Thansour of Thansour Thmey, not sure what it's called
really. It was decent with a private room with 2 beds with fan, bath,
tv, and wifi for $6. They had a restaurant and I ate there and it was
decent. Walking around the town it had a better feel than Battambang.
It's smaller and less hectic and there was more of a sense of
community.

I walked to the bamboo train which was about 1km and negotiated a ride
with the locals. It was extremely difficult cause basically no one
spoke english and they were trying to charge a ton of money but they
also might have misunderstood what i wanted but eventually I got a 20
min ride for $2.50 and a moto back for $3. I was on the train with all
the locals and it was pretty sweet. There was a ton of eggs, rice, etc
as well as 2 motos and about 15 locals. I got a seat on one of the
motos which was great cause I had some padding and suspension under
me. I got dropped off at someones house in the middle of no where and
the guy drove me back. The whole trip was about an hour and it was
great! The hotel offered to set up a private trip for $15 for a day. A
moto driver offered to take me to the waterfalls for $30. They're
really far away. It would have been an hour and a half on the train
then 30 min on the moto then about an hour and a half moto ride back.
I didn't have time and it was to pricey. Hopping on with the locals is
definitely the best experience.

I'm taking the Punleu Angkor Khmer Transport Company to Phnom Penh for
18000 real ($4.50). The hotel offered to book the ticket for me but it
was more expensive (like everything) than going direct to the company.
This bus has a flat screen playing a movie and its subtitled in
english! Supposedly it is going to stop near the night market which is
close to the river front, the other buses stop near the central
market, we'll see...

Battambang

Battambang isn't that great. The Lonely Planet (LP) makes it sound
pretty nice but it's a 3rd world city. Worth spending a night after
the boat trip but not more than that. A note on LP's dinning
suggestions: the food stalls by the river don't have menus (neither
english nor cambodian) and I only found one person who spoke a little
English, it's definitely authentic Cambodian but the no menu thing
makes it tough. LP recommends the River Balcony House as a
bar/restaurant. It is very atmospheric and is pretty nice but it is
pretty small and had a romantic feel to it, good place to go with a
girl but not really as a solo traveller. I ate at the White Rose which
was recommended by LP and it was great. They have table on a balcony
on the 2nd floor that overlook the street and my dish was big. I got
the stir fried vegetables with cashew and beef and with steamed rice
and it was delicious!

I tried to stay at the Royal Hotel but they were full so they took me
to their other hotel Asia Hotel. I got a single room for $4.50 and it
ended up being alright. I think they ripped me off though. I'm nearly
certain I paid for my 2nd night the day before but when I checked out
they said I didn't and I didn't have a receipt. I'm not positive I
paid but I'm pretty sure. Lesson learned, always ask for a receipt.

Vietnam visa can be obtained in Battambang from the vietnamese
consulate which I did. A one month single entry visa was $40, one
month multiple entry was $80. I went with the multiple and it took
24hrs to get it. Afterwards I saw a travel company that would do the
visa for $35 though. Apparently you can also get a visa in
Sihanoukville which I should have done instead of wasting a day in
Battambang.

I'm taking the bus to Pursat today (2 hours, $2.50). The company is
Capital Tours and the bus is pretty nice with AC, leather (fake) seats
and a Cambodian movie. I'm the only foreigner on the bus.

Siem Reap (Angkor Wat)

When we got to Siem Reap it was dark and we just found a place near
pub st. For 6 bucks, Good location but it was under a club and not
that nice. I was with the 2 Canadian girls I met the day before but
they got annoying real quick so I ditched them the next day and moved
to Mandalay Inn. (855)(0) 63 761 662, mandalayinn.com. A double room
(they didn't have any singles) was $9 with private bath, fan, and
cable tv. It was a little pricy but it had a roof top gym and I really
liked the feel of the place, def recommend. Across the street was
Popular Inn which had real basic single rooms with shared bathroom for
$3 and looked totally acceptable. Angkor Park Inn wa also in the area
and it looked good too. Tons of options.

The first day I just explored town a bit. The second day I hired a tuk
tuk ($20, talked down from 30) in the afternoon to take me to the Beng
Mealea temple ($5 entry) and the Roulous Group of temples (included on
the Angkor Wat ticket) on the way back . Mealea is 70km from Siem
Reap. It's a cool drive through the country side on good roads and I
got to see rural Cambodia. The trip out there took about an hour and a
half. Beng Mealea ended up being my favorite temple. It's in the
middle of no where and gets fewer tourists and hasn't been rebuilt
much. You can climb over and through everything and trees grow all
over the place. I hired a 10 yr old kid to be my "tour guide" for a
dollar and come around and take pictures of me. His name was Chian, I
think. I spent about an hour and a half there and then we headed back
to the Roulous group which has 3 main temples. They were cool and
worthy of the stop but they probably wouldn't be worth a special trip.

I had bought a $40 3 day pass for Angkor, good for any 3 days in a
week. A one day pass is $20. My first day touring Angkor I rented a
beach cruiser style bike for $1 and headed out at about 1. The ride to
Angkor takes a leisurely 25min ride. I toured around Angkor for about
an hour and continued on the Bayon then Te Prohm (where they filmed a
scene from tomb raider). Te Prohm is similar to Beng Mealea but more
restored. I biked the "small circuit", and then took a wrong turn and
ended up outside of town at a fair. It was pretty interesting but I
wanted to get back to town before dark so I didn't stick around.

At lunch the next day a little 13 yr old kid was trying to sell
postcards and bracelets, i bought him lunch instead. He said his
parents fish in a village outside of town and he goes to school in the
morning and the sells stuff until 10pm. He said that the day before he
didn't sell anything so he didn't have any money for food. This was
after i already bought him lunch so i believe him. After lunch I
rented a bike again but this time rode the "big circuit". I stopped by
Angkor Wat again briefly and stopped at a couple other temples but i
was kinda templed out and I didn't start until 2 and I had to cover
about 25km on my bike (beach cruiser again). Biking is DEFINITELY the
best way to get around the Angkor temples. The roads are good and
don't have that much traffic. They're well shaded and its really nice
to cruise by the temples.

My last night I went to the free Apsara dance show at the Temple Club
on pub st. It was worth going to but not mind blowing.

Random prices of things: cambodia t-shirts $2 but you can get them for
$1.50, basic plate of food $1, I bought a big north face travel pack
for $22, talked down from $35, north face day packs could be bargained
hard down to $15-18 I think. Docyciclin was $0.35 for 10 capsules. I
had to look hard for that price though. Most places wanted $1-2 for 10
capsules!

Leaving Siem Reap I took the boat to Battenbang. It was $16 on Angkor
Express and they picked me up at the hotel. There was a lot of
variation in ticket price so shop around. The boat trip started out
not that great with a not very scenic trip out to the lake and then a
long journey across the lake. The seats down below are uncomfortable
and it's really loud so get a good spot up on the roof. The journey up
the river is awesome with tons of floating villages along the way. The
boat stops at a floating store half way where you can buy some snacks,
i didnt though. It was really scenic and we passed through some of the
poorest areas I've seen anywhere in the world. It was Jan 18 and the
dry season so as we got further up the river it became very shallow.
We scrapped bottom a ton of times. Much later in the dry season and i
dont think the river would be navigable the whole way and I read that
sometimes it isn't and passengers have to be bused part of the way
which wouldn't be too fun. The journey took 8 hours to Battambang and
our boat broke down once (apparently common, I heard that a boat broke
down a couple weeks ago with a major problem and it didn't arrive
until midnight!) but it didn't cost us too much time. Overall it was a
great trip and I definitely recommend it.