Pai is one of the must-see places in Northern Thailand. It has a lot of beautiful sceneries and tourist spots. In this episode, we checked out Pai Canyon, strolled along Pai Walking Street, and literally got lost in Pai.
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Gangaramaya Temple is one of the most visited places in Colombo and the most visited temple in town. Lots of devotees and tourist would flock in the temple, most especially on their religious days like Poya or Vesak. It is walking distance from Shangri-La Colombo where we stay and it is right in the middle of a busy business district in the city.
The temple compound is quite big to explore and you will surely find some interesting stuff around. The interior is amazing and the whole temple is instagrammable! Check out the new video below!
If you look up on the things to do when you're in Sri Lanka, one of the items listed is to ride the train - if you're adventurous enough. Why? Well, first and foremost, trains get really congested especially during rush hours because it's one of the cheapest transportation, aside from buses.
And in my very own experience, it's really one for the books but would only recommend it if you don't mind getting shoved, pushed, and ogled at. I have seen a lot of travelers and backpackers doing one of their bucket list stuff to do once you're onboard the train - which is to hang outside of the train which is a very dangerous move and I would never recommend unless you're a daredevil - or should I say, stubborn - like me.
Anyway, it was definitely fun to do this train trip with our friends Ian, Nico, Nicole, Penny, and Morgan. Check out this video below:
TheGreat Asian Adventure is our 30-day backpacking adventure in Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, and Malaysia. Watch the other episodes here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDefx_SxDSMOMJtYNYrPHsjqHVl-KPpgn
This was a different kind of adventure for us. I thought I would be brave enough to cross those narrow edges, but I chickened out. Well, it's not wrong for me to think of my future, right? LOL! Anyway, check out our adventure in Pai Canyon together with our travel buddies Reen & Betty, accompanied by our local friend William. :)
TheGreat Asian Adventure is our 30-day backpacking adventure in Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, and Malaysia. Watch the other episodes here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDefx_SxDSMOMJtYNYrPHsjqHVl-KPpgn
Long Neck Village
Upon arrival in Chiang Mai, we just dropped off our bagpacks in our guesthouse and went to the few places we have listed in our itinerary. After going to the Tiger Kingdom, we have learned from our tuktuk driver that there's a small Long Neck Village nearby. That's out of our itinerary in Chiang Mai because we had listed that for our visit to Pai. But since it's just nearby and we were not rushing at all, we all agreed it's worth to check it out the small village.
When we arrived at the Long Neck Karen village, it was past 2PM and it was REALLY hot. We paid 500 baht each person - quite high for an entrance fee but hopefully it goes to the tribes living there and not in some people's pocket. It's really a small village of shops mainly. The merchandise they are all handmade by themselves. The path was about 3 meters wide and you can see the shops left & right of an ethnic tribe who were friendly and humble. A lady was even happy to pose for hubby. But what I learned is, you should buy an item from them if you take their photo or take a photo with them. Fair enough, that's where they earn their living from.
Walking further past the shops, we saw another set of shops and this time it was the Long Neck Karens Tribe. With the scorching heat of the past noon sun, I could already feel the sweat rolling down my back. Then I saw a woman with brasses around her neck. I was expecting the same warm greeting like the previous tribe but I was greeted with coldness and almost just a look over the shoulder. Whenever we stopped by infront of their shops to take a photo of them, they would tell you - not ask you - to buy some stuff from her. I secretly took photos and videos of some snobbish Karens, but if a Karen seemed friendlier, I'd choose something small from the shop as a souvenir. We couldn't buy bigger stuff or fragile items since we are traveling light. I ended up buying 4 souvenirs and also in hopes that the small amount can help them and their families in a way.
The Karens or the 'Kayans' originated from Myanmar. They were one of minority tribes existing until now. They flee to northern Thailand when a civil war sparked more than 2 decades ago between their tribe and the Burmese Army. Thailand allowed them to stay temporarily but the rest is history. Now, the Karens or Kayans live in small guarded villages (only) in northern Thailand, like the small Long Neck Karen Village in Chiang Mai where they also make a living by selling their handicrafts to tourists like us who would visit them.
So what's so exotic about them? Karens have been known for their seemingly long necks that are wrapped with brass coils or rings. What we saw were women with brass rings. As I have researched, they start this exotic tradition as young as 4 or 5, and would add a ring everytime their necks seem to have stretched after a while. The longer the neck, the more beautiful for them. The woman with the longest neck we've seen in the village had 25 rings around her neck and she's around 50. Amazing! But what I noticed was their difficulty in talking. They always had to clear their throats before talking whenever we'd ask how much their merchandises are. So ironically, we came out with a slight pity feeling for them, with a deeper understanding that this is not just a simple tradition that we all should be cheering about. But then again, we respect their tradition as they respect our way of living.
Check out the video of our Great Asian Adventure at the Long Neck Karen Village in Chiang Mai, Thailand. Check out my other posts under Travelogue for more posts and videos.
Before our month-long backpacking holiday, hubs and I sat down and decided on the attractions we wanted to see - especially in Chiang Mai where our friends Reen & Betty would be joining us. Coming up with a tentative itinerary, we have listed Tiger Kingdom as one of the places to visit for our first day after arriving Chiang Mai. So we rented a 'tuktuk' to take us around for couple of hours for 400 baht (USD 11.50). Although it was noontime, we didn't feel the noon heat at all as the breeze was a bit cool, which made it comfy. And sitting and chatting with our friends, it was so much fun sitting in a 'tuktuk'.
We finally arrived Tiger Kingdom after 30 minutes on a 'tuktuk'. Tickets were priced differently per person as follows:
250 baht - park entrance (no tiger interaction)
500 baht: entrance fee + interaction with a small or medium tiger
600 baht: entrance fee + interaction with a big tiger
1000 baht: entrance fee + interaction with a white tiger
Our friends Betty and Reen just bought the park entrance ticket since they were scared of tigers. Since it's once in a lifetime experience for us, hubs and I took the 600 baht ticket so we can interact with a big tiger for 10 minutes inside the cage. The catch was although there were trainers inside the cage, they won't be taking your photos at all. So unless you're master with doing selfies without selfiepods that can take the whole scenario, you will have to pay an extra fee of about 250 baht for a photographer to take your photo with the big carnivore. Of course, hubs and I didn't have problem with taking photos and videos of each other, but yeah, we couldn't take our selfie together with the tiger because they asked us to leave our selfie sticks by the cage gate.
After paying for our tickets, we were asked to sign a waiver. Well, actually it was an insurance thingy that came with our fee. Felt like brushing ourselves against danger seeing the words I dread to see nor hear: death, accident, injury. It actually made me remember the awful feeling when I did bungee jumping in Shidu, Beijing in 2010.
Before entering the cage, we were briefed with the do's and dont's while inside the cage, no flash photography, no selfie sticks. As we entered the cage, I could feel the tension and the presence of a scary mammal. The cage had couple of big, trained tigers resting under the noon sun, their trainers were on standby just a couple of meters aways. I was secretly looking around for an escape route should anything happen. LOL!
We were ushered towards our tiger who was resting on an elevated part and man, it was indeed a big tiger! Its paws were bigger than my face and I felt that it could swallow me wholly without a gulp!
So hubby took his turn first. I took pics of him using 2 different cameras on both hands but I found it confusing using one camera after another because my eyes were also set on the tiger who was occasionally showing his teeth on me and licking his lips as if his lunch - aka ME - has just been served. Or maybe I just look THAT yummy. LOL!
Then my turn came. I was trying to be an expert holding my camera doing a selfie video but it was really hard as my attention was on the resting tiger. But whenever it slightly moved its ears and head, my eyes would grow big and I acted like a statue behind it. LOL! Trainer told me to hold its tail and to come closer. I told hubby to hurry up in taking my photo and video in between my scared grin. LOL!
I thought it was all over, felt a bit relieved, and my legs were racing to exit the cage, but the trainer told us to go to the other big tiger resting on a table. LOL! So hubby took his turn first, as usual. And luckily, when my turn came up, the tiger changed its position therefore showing a more better photographic angle.
We still had 5 minutes left out of the 10-minute allowance they gave us. They told us that we could interact more, maybe lie beside the tiger if we want to (no thanks!) but I couldn't bear the tension inside the cage so I told the trainers that we're all good to go out. LOL!
We just roamed around the park, which wasn't that big to be honest. There were closed sections where they were doing reconstruction, maybe for expansion. We saw different tigers in different cages. Siberian tigers and an African lion were all safely caged towards the dead end of the park. We were watching the African lion when something caught its attention and let out a big, deep roar. Woahhh! Damn! It was my first time to hear a lion roar right before my eyes - 2 meters away for its cage to be exact - and even the bravest man will be stunned by it. I just stood still and forgot to take its video unfortunately. Being the king of the jungle wasn't just a coined word for a lion. It really demands the royalty attention but its presence and just by its shivering stare that pierces through my very soul.
Watch this iPhone-edited video of our Great Asian Adventure at the Tiger Kingdom in Chiang Mai, Thailand. You can also click HERE to watch it on Youtube. 👍🏻
Finally, uploaded this first episode of our Great Asian Adventure series! It was a challenge editing a video like this on an iPhone because I didn't bring my laptop with ne. And I've been contemplating on whether to make a long video that would sum up a day's adventure. But there's just too much to share and to show so I broke the day down to the places we went to. Fully documented but trying to be concised in a way. So in this first episode, I just wanted to show you how our adventure officially began.
We left Kuala Lumpur with our friends Reen & Betty on March 2, 2016. They'd only be joining in Chiang Mai as they don't have the luxury of time to follow us in our next adventures. And it was really fun having some travel buddies around! When we arrived Chiang Mai, the first thing we did was to get a local tourist 4G SIM card from True mobile with unlimited internet for 10 days for 400 baht each, one for me and one for hubby. Reen and Betty decided not to get theirs since they'd only be away for 3 days.
We really didn't know where to go to but we know that we needed to go to the city center or central first to have our breakfast and to decide on things. Our local taxi ride asked for 50 baht each and the 4 of us were crammed inside together with 3 other passengers. There was a bit of a struggle to haggle the price as the driver couldn't speak nor understand English.
We didn't book any accommodation so we also didn't know where to stay. Yes, we have listed some guesthouses in our itinerary but since we're not familiar of Chiang Mai yet, we needed to be there to locate guesthouses "near me" while we were having our breakfast. Afterwards, we hired a tuktuk ride to take us to different places for about 3 hours for 600 baht. But first, we went to scout for a guesthouse but our first choice in the list was already full so we went to our second choice which was Ban Wiang Guesthouse. At only 450 baht for a night, we just had a fan room since it gets cold in Chiang Mai at night, but with free WiFi, big room, TV, fridge, and our own toilet. Plus, we were given a keycard for the security access at night. We could actually save a lot sharing a big room for the 4 of us but of course, we booked 2 rooms. Not bad for its cost actually.
Please WATCH OUT and FOLLOW our next adventues on my TRAVELOGUE PAGE! page!
And The Great Asian Adventure Begins (March 2016) Yes, after finishing our initial 6-month contract with Shangri-la KL, Marl & I have decided to travel - backpacking style! And not just travel in Malaysia or the Philippines, but this time, we are traveling to Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam... which I call our "Great Asian Adventure".
Too bad, our first day of holiday fell on the second day of the March. It would have been less confusing if Day 1 also meant March 1, and not March 2. See? Confusing isn't it? But well, anyway, we can't do anything much about it now, can we? LOL. Since I have so much to share and to blab about, I'm gonna break each day into parts. This way, I can highlight all our adventure and not rush through blogging. Since we'd be busy most of the time with traveling and seeing places the whole day, I'm gonna be having my blogging and video editing whenever time - and WiFi - permits. I have uploaded some teaser videos and photos on my Instagram account every day of the adventure. You might wanna check it out, too.
WATCH OUT FOR THE PHOTOS, VIDEOS, and ALMOST-DETAILED BLOG POSTS on my TRAVELOGUE PAGE - which you can find from the links above (drop-down menu for mobile devices) or CLICK BELOW.
I've always wondered what's so special about Cameron Highlands (CH). I have always thought that they only have tea plantation view, which looks a little less magnificent in the online photos than the Banawe Rice Terraces in the Philippines. That's what I thought.
So last week, hubby has been itching to do some traveling again. Yes, that's what we always did in Beijing before where we would always go somewhere every Sunday whenever possible. And he said, "Let's go and check out Cameron Highlands". So despite my slight hesitation, I found myself booking our bus tickets online and hubs was researching on some basic info about our destination. After our Saturday night gig at work, we packed lightly and tried to get some rest. So here's what happened...
January 24, 2016 Sunday @ Terminal Bas Sepadu (TBS)
After our Saturday night work, I managed to get more than 2 hours of sleep, but hubs didn't. We set our alarm at 6AM to give us enough time to have light breakfast and prepare. I have also taken Bombom, my soft toy dog, with me. I booked for an Uber ride and we reached the bus terminal called TBS (Terminal Bas Sepadu) in Cheras at 7:15AM. This was the 3rd time we've been to the station and I have always admired TBS for being clean and orderly, just like an airport. Or maybe because we have always taken early morning trips to Penang so there wasn't always too much people in the station yet. They also have convenience store and a big digital board about bus departure/arrival just like an airport has. And that's awesome!
The departure area in the lower ground is crowd-controlled as we weren't allowed by the guard to go down, not until 30minutes before our bus ride. Fair enough. Bus arrived 5 minutes before the scheduled departure time to pick up passengers and left on the dot at 8AM. I only had 2 hour sleep after our Saturday night gig, but hubs didn't get any sleep at all. Half an hour later, I found myself nudging against hub when his snore gets a little loud. But another half an hour later, I found myself joining hubs in snoring harmoniously inside the bus. The bus stopped once somewhere in Ipoh for a toilet break but I didn't budge from my comfortable sleeping position. I woke up while the bus was already working its way up to the zig zag road going to the Highlands. I was enjoying the sceneries and just took videos as much as I could.
I thought the trip would only be 3 hours. But we reached the town proper by Tanah Rata by 11:50AM so that makes the trip actually 4 hours. Luckily, the bus station is situated infront of the long stretch of commercial shops of restaurants, massage centers, tourist information centers, offices, and budget hotels. We just had a quick bihun goreng and since we didn't book a room ahead, we just scouted for an available accommodation in different budget hotels, but most of the small rooms available didn't have windows for ventilation. Until we reached Camellia Budget Hotel. They didn't have a reception desk as other hotels do, but instead - as Marl has read on TripAdvisor - we inquired from the cashier in the mini mart who then ushered us on the floor above and showed us the available room with a window. Surprisingly, it's already acceptable for RM100 with twin beds, a clean toilet, a TV, and an electric fan (it's cold enough in Cameron Highlands - no need for an aircon).
We wanted to see as much as we could but since we arrived quite late, most tours couldn't accommodate us anymore. And one uncommon thing about Cameron Highlands is you cannot just simply hail a taxi cab on the street but instead, they have designated taxi stands around the city. So after checking in and leaving some of our stuff in the room, we started walking back to the bus station to look for a taxi to go to strawberry and cactus farms, or whatever we can see in Brinchang. The driver charged us for a fixed price of RM25 - which I consider quite a rip-off.
Check out the photos that my hubby Marl took.
At last, this way long overdue trip has finally materialized! We took our 8AM bus from TBS to go to Cameron Highlands. We reached Tanah Rata, Cameron Highlands' town proper, at 11:45AM. That's almost 4 hours!
Posted by Mar Silverio on Monday, January 25, 2016
