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How to Get to Bangkok from Siem Reap

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We’ve all heard a lot of “horror” stories about the overland travel from Bangkok to Siem Reap and a lot of travelers who blogs have shared their stories about it and wrote how they dealt with the touts that plague Aranyapathet and Poipet border. Well, the good news is when you go the other way around, it’s not the same story. The overland travel from Siem Reap to Bangkok is very easy and almost hassle free. I have tried a variety of bus companies from Siem Reap to Bangkok and the usual process is like this: 1. You buy a (bus-van) ticket to Bangkok from Siem Reap. 2. You get picked-up from your hostel. 3. Bus travels from Siem Reap to Poipet but stops at a store for a few minutes. 4. You then board the bus again and the journey continues and then it stops again at a garage where they put stickers to passengers (they use stickers to tag the passengers that will then be picked up by their counterparts on the Thai border. 5. You go through the Cambodian Immigration for the exit...
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Visiting Sukothai Historical Park in Mueang Kao, Thailand

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I’ve been to Sukothai thrice in the last five years and it’s still one of the places that I love going back to. There’s a certain laid back feel that I enjoy a lot in this quaint little town. I first visited Sukothai last 2007 when I first left my job to travel to Thailand. It was also my first time to travel solo (although I have a friend staying in Bangkok at that time, I opted to go solo to give solo backpacking a try). The Sukothai Kingdom is said to have existed from 1238 until 1438 and the town itself used to be one of the old capitals of Thailand which was later overtaken by the Kingdom of Ayutthaya. Flashback of My First Trip to Sukothai From Bangkok I first spent a few days in Ayutthaya where I didn’t know that they were celebrating Songkran at that time (I didn’t know yet about Songkran during that time). So there I was walking naively looking for my guesthouse and as I turned on the street where it’s located, a gang of locals and farangs held my arms and hosed me w...
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Banan Temple – Battambang’s Angkor Wat, Cambodia

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Most people visit Cambodia to visit the magnificent Angkor Wat Complex in Siem Reap. The longer I stay in Cambodia the more I find out about similar sites in other parts of the country. Banan Temple is one of those places and it can be found in Battambang. Banan Temple can be found in the district of Banan, a bit out of the way if you’re coming from Phnom Sempeau, luckily, Hapi, our tuktuk driver/guide that time know some shortcuts. As soon as we arrived at Banan, Hapi parked his tuktuk and explained some bit of facts about the temple. He mentioned that the temple on top of the hill is still intact but some original parts were looted in the past. All the stones are original and the same materials used in the building of Angkor Wat. However, the stone steps (350 steps) were already replaced with larger ones to make climbing the hill safer for pilgrims and visitors. Banan Temple is a functional temple and a lot of locals go here to make some offerings and prayers. In case you v...
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Five Tips to Stay Productive While Working Anywhere in the World

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As digital nomads, we often rely on internet to get our work done regardless of where we go. Sometimes, we spend a great deal of time, in our hostels/hotels, restaurants with wifi and coffee shops. Coffee shops would probably be one of the most popular place among digital nomads and other internet workers as they’re often more quiet, affordable, comfortable and provides fast wifi in comparison to restaurants. Here are some tip on how you can stay productive while working from coffee shops anywhere in the world: Prepare Your Stuff Before You Go Write down what you want to accomplish before you go to the coffee shop of your choice. If you’re thinking of editing pictures, then make sure to bring your portable harddrive where you usually save your pics. Bring your laptop charger, smartphone, notebook and pen and your travel adapter to make sure that your plug fits their socket. Travel adapters are very helpful especially when you go to different countries every now and then. Choo...
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Phi Ta Khon Festival Experience

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While chilling in my hostel in Bangkok around July last year, I chanced upon a local travel magazine and saw an upcoming festival in Thailand that immediately caught my interest. Luckily, the festival would start a couple of weeks from the date I saw the information and I told my friend that we should check it out. Prior heading to Dan Sai (the place where the festival was), we dropped first to another town in North Thailand by for a few days to visit a friend. After a few days, we then proceeded to Dan Sai. Dan Sai is a quaint little town in Loei, Thailand and it’s not usually part of the itineraries of most travelers. But once a year, it holds a three day festival that attracts tons of local and foreign tourists alike. And that festival is known as Phi Ta Khon (or Pee Ta Khon). The first day is the ghost festival itself (which some say a fertility festival as well) wherein locals dress up wearing masks made of coconut leaves, rice husks and other local materials. They also w...
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Top Five Places to Visit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

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Rio de Janeiro is one of the most coveted places to visit among travelers because of numerous interesting sights that can be found in this lively city. I haven’t been to Rio yet but this city is definitely in my bucket list and I have also started saving up for a trip to Brazil in the near future and then onwards to other countries in South America. Here are five places that I intend to check out when I visit Rio de Janeiro: Christ the Redeemer and Corcovado Mountain The Christ the Redeemer statue located in Corcovado Mountain is definitely the most iconic image not only of Rio de Janeiro but also of Brazil. Every time I think of Brazil, the image of this statue immediately pops into my mind. The statue is gigantic – standing at 98 feet tall. Aside from the statue, visiting the peak of Corcovado Mountain will definitely give me a nice view of Rio’s beaches, favelas and the picturesque Sugarloaf Mountains. Sugarloaf Mountain Sugarloaf Mountains is another iconic la...
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Staying Three Months in Kathmandu, Nepal

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After staying for six months in Bangkok last year we finally left my favorite city late in the afternoon for our evening flight to Kuala Lumpur. As soon as we arrived in Kuala Lumpur airport, we immediately walked around to find a nice spot to rest and nap for a few hours. Our flight to Kathmandu is one of the earliest flights during that day and most of my fellow travelers at the airport were all still groggy and sleepy. As I walked passed by the baggage check station, immigration counters up until the boarding area, I was trying to contain my excitement. It’s been awhile since I last saw Kathmandu and I couldn’t wait to see it again. I was in Kathmandu a few years before this trip as part of my first solo backpacking tour around Asia which lasted for six months. Kathmandu holds a special place in my heart. While waiting to be boarded, I was observing my fellow travelers who looked as excited as I was. There were only a handful of tourists during that day and most of the pas...
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