Budgeting Bangok

Travel dates: September 25-28, 2012

		Shared(4)	Personal
Day1	Arrival/Half day Temple tour
	Airport City Link		45
	Smartpass – Rapid Card		300 (50 refundable, 50 card fee)
	Check in: Bangkok City Hotel	7,140 (2 rooms, 4d/3n)	1,785
	Tourist ferry to Grand Palace		40
	Entrance fee: Grand Palace		400
	Entrance fee: Wat Pho		100
	Tuktuk from Wat Pho to pier	40	10
	Ferry back to main port		12
	Subtotal:		2,692
Day2	Muang Boran: The Ancient City
	Metered Taxi to Muang Boran	350 (w/ light traffic)	87.5
	Entrance fee		500
	Golf cart rental	900 (3hrs)	225
	Metered taxi to Platinum Mall	230 (no traffic)	57.5
	Tuktuk from Platinum Mall to hotel	50	12.5
	Subtotal:		882.50
Day3	Daytrip: Pattaya
	Van to Pattaya (near Victory Monument station)		100
	Entrance fee: Sukhawadee Palace		300
	Entrance fee: Nong Nooch Garden Centre		500
	Entrance fee: Floating Market		200
	Pattaya Car rental	1,000	250
	Van to Bangkok		120
	Taxi from Victory Monument to hotel	45	11.25
	Subtotal:		1,481.25
Day4	Terminal 21/Shop-hopping
	Hotel check out extension up to 7pm	300	75
	Tuktuk from Platinum mall to hotel	50	12.50
	Taxi from hotel to airport	400	100
	Subtotal:		187.50
			5, 243.25 Baht  (x1.35)
	Total:		7, 078.50Php*

*without food: decent meal with drinks will cost you 100 – 120baht

Budgeting Laos

Travel dates: September 20-25, 2012

	Thai Baht	Lao Kip
Train:
Bangkok-Laos-Bangkok (non-AC, 2nd class, upper deck)	976
Bus:
Vientiane to Luang Prabang (sleeping bus)		150,000
Luang Prabang to Vientiane (VIP sitting bus)		130,000
Vientiane to Nong Khai (International Bus)		15, 000
Tuktuk:
Thanaleng station to Vientiane (with 4 others)	60
Vientiane city to Northern bus terminal		50,000 (solo)
LP  bus terminal to my guesthouse		5,000 (after I walked for 20mins)
Guesthouse to LP Bus terminal v.v. (4x)		40, 000
Accommodation:
Xayana Guesthouse and X3 Capsule hotel		35,000 (overnight)
Entrance fees:
Temple hopping		50, 000
Kuangsi Falls		30,000 (I paid for my Lao friend)
Motorbike Parking		2000
Food/ drinks in Laos:
Night Market plate buffet		10000
Baguette, Iced coffee, fruit shake (my meal for 2days in LP)		40, 000
Lunch in Vientiane		28, 000 (splurge! trying to spend the remaining Lao money)
Meals in transit: mostly in Thai railway station	60
Miscellaneous:		60, 000
Total:	1096  (x1.4)	642, 000 (x.0044)
Total in Peso:	3,069.00	2,825.00

Pattaya Floating Market

When I see a photo of a floating market – Thailand will always comes first to my mind. They’re like synonyms to me. Though, I’m more interested experiencing it in Bangkok, in the famous Damneouk floating market –, I think Pattaya’s version didn’t disappoint me either. Despite the expensive entrance fee of 200 baht.

We didn’t eat our lunch in in Nong Nooch Botanical Garden as the food didn’t look delectable that day. We were starving when we arrive in the floating market, so we instantly bargain for good food. There were a lot of choices. Others were sold on the boats, while some in the stalls and food carts.

 

Too bad, boat ride costs 600 baht (very expensive!), so we decided to explore the market on foot, which isn’t bad at all. You get to see interesting food being sold and bargain souvenirs in different shops. Though prices are higher compared to Bangkok, but it all boils down how expert you haggle.

Matching up to what I’ve read about damneoouk floating market, I think Pattaya’s less crowded, more organized and a little dirt free. The lake may seem dark and filthy, but it looked unpolluted to me.

 ****

On our way back to Sukhawadee Palace for our van pick up, Mr Toh, our driver for the day, brought us to a winery – Silverlake. It’s a vineyard slash restaurant. It’s just disappointing they don’t offer free wine tasting. Haha. But the scenery is great. You can get close to the plantation and the garden, for a fee of course. We didn’t bother. We just bought some grape-flavored cookies and pies.

Just few meters away from Silverlake is the very unusual Buddha Mountain. When most Buddha sits in a temple, this one is being carved into a mountain. They say this was a gift made for the King’s birthday. It’s also called as the Laser Buddha, because it was whittled by a laser and the spaces were loaded with gold. I wonder how it looked like in the evening. My companions didn’t make an effort getting an up close view with the Buddha, you can see from afar anyway. But I did – for maybe less than 15 minutes.