Wow! I can't believe it's over. All those months of reading and planning, and the 7 days just really went on... really fast! No one really noticed. Or maybe it's because we are all too busy with our activities, only sleeping when traveling. It was a really tiring week, but I wouldn't trade it for anything! (okay, maybe I'll trade it if I had a similar future trip with a special someone! Hehe)
Summary of our Itinerary:
August 20:
1830 - meet up at NAIA 3
Because of the floods and the heavy rains for the last couple of days, some of us weren't able to come. Though at least they were able to rebook their flights the next day, though one wasn't able to. And so, we were 15 at the time.
Delayed for about 4 hours (which was nothing compared to those waiting the whole day and whose flight was in the morning)
Cost: 550 Terminal Fee + 1620 International Tax
August 21:
We were picked up by our rented van from the airport, who also provided us a free English-speaking tour guide. They have been waiting for us since 3 AM, and weren't really able to sleep.
Cost: 216 USD + 20 USD tip for driver and guide, good for 15 people
We weren't able to catch the sunrise at Black Virgin Mountain, and arrived there at around 9 AM. We spend about 2-3 hours there, then went to Cu Chi Tunnels where we spent another 2 hours.
Cost:
Entrance fee to Black Virgin Mountain - 12,000 VND
Shuttle to the cable cars (option to walk is possible) - 4000 VND
Cable Car + Toroggan Slide - 150000 VND
Cu Chi tunnel Entrance fee - 90000 VND
Our last stop for our rented van was to check-in at our hotel in Saigon in District 1, Mai Guesthouse.
since we were late in starting, we arrived at the hotel around 4 or 5 pm. Just enough time for us to get our money exchange, have some street foods, walk around for a bit, see the night market in Ben That Market, and have a bit of night life behind our hotel.
August 22:
We woke up early to do the walking tour. We walked to the Reunification Palace, could have visited the War Museum (but didn't), visited the Notre Dame Cathedral, and Post Office, saw the Opera House and ended the morning with lunch in Saigon Central, where we spent the rest of the afternoon shopping.
Unfortunately, no more energy left for clubbing. Especially since some of went to different places and got lost hehe
Cost (Accommodations): 177.02 USD for 4 twin rooms (good for 16 people though we were 17 all in all)
August 23:
We just rented another mini-bus to take us to Mac Boi border, because it's a bit of a hassle to walk to the bus station with all our belongings, and not everyone is very punctual...
Cost: 140 USD, good for 17 people with our luggages (We booked the previous day through Kim's Cafe near Sinh Tourist in a street near our hotel.)
When we got to the border, it was a bit of a hassle because there were several groups in front of us, cutting in our line. It was very distressing!! We spend an hour in the Vietnam border for this, the Cambodian border was more organized and friendly though we had to spend 1 USD each person for each border (without receipt so we don't really know what this part is for)
Cost: 2 USD/person
Our driver who was supposed to pick us up in Phnom Penh was nowhere to be seen, so we had to buy a sim card to call our guide, who would call our driver (who also cannot speak English).
Cost: 170 USD/bus for the transfer from border to Phnom Penh
Since we were really late, our restaurant where we are supposed to eat (at Friends Restaurant, which is number 8 or something in Trip Advisor) was already closed. Ralph (who came from Phuket) paid for our food, and we passed him and our food before going to the Killing Fields.
Cost: 50 USD/bus for the Phnom Penh city tour
Killing Fields entrance - 3 USD/person
We asked to be dropped off in Sisowath Quay, where we ate dinner at Happy Herb Pizza, took some night pictures by the Royal Palace (I think it was the Royal Palace), walked some more, and arrived in the Night Market by 10 PM, where we met up with our driver to go to Siem Reap
Cost: 230 USD/bus for transfer from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap
August 24:
Unfortunately, the wheels of our bus broke down. It was a good thing my friend remarked upon it with the driver, or else he wouldn't stop! And something might have happened. I was just dead asleep, I woke up several times but didn't bother to check. Anyway, because of this delay, we arrived in Siem Reap at around 530 AM.
We weren't able to set up properly for sunrise. Again. Huhu
Costs:
Angkor entrance fee: 20 USD
Tour Guide: 35 USD for the group
Angkor transportation: 75 USD for the group
Upgrade to 35-seat bus: 80 USD for the group
We had lunch at Green Star Restaurant, though I found the owner a bit um, unfriendly. I'm not sure if it's just a language barrier or what. Anyway, dinner was better at Joe to Go Restaurant.
Cost (hotel): USD 150 for 4 Angkor Palace rooms
August 25:
Pick up by the bus going to Aranyaprathet-Poivet border.
Cost: 150 USD for 18 people
Immigrations was fast enough, we spend 30-40 minutes because there was a lot of us. Anyway, we spend about an hour waiting for the 2 vans that we rented anyway.
Cost for 2 vans: 5200 THB for 2 vans (transfer from Aranyaprathet to Born Free Hostel, Banglamphu)
Unfortunately, because of the long wait that we had, we arrived in Bangkok at around 5 PM. Of course. Check in and fixed ourselves. Finalize our itinerary with Wasana.
There were those who wants to go to MBK so we took a taxi to go there. Some had a bit of a night life in Khao San Road.
August 26:
Pick up from the hotel by our private van to go to Kanchanaburi, supposedly by sunrise. Unfortunately, we got there around 630 PM. (Our driver stopped for breakfast, toinks!)
Cost: 4500 THB for one van
Sunrise over River Kwai Bridge - free
Elephant and Bamboo rafting - 250 THB (only!)/pax
Erawan Falls - 200 THB/pax
We had too much fun at the falls, and missed climbing so I guess we got a little carried away. We arrived in Bangkok by around 5 pm, too. We just went to Khao San Road, had some street food for dinner (or shopping depending on who you ask), and had some drinks (it was our last night after all).
August 27:
There were two general groups:
Pick up from the hotel by a private van to take them to Pattaya, for the bungy jumping. Then enjoy the rest of the day at Nong Nooch Garden, then drop them off at the airport by around 7 to 8 pm.
Cost:
Van - 3500 THB for one van
Bungy Jumping - 2100 THB (including video)
Nong Nooch Garden - round off 300 THB (discount care of hotels2thailand.com)
For the rest of us who didn't go to Pattaya, we spend the day shopping in Pratunam. I love it! :)
Airport transfer from KSR to Pratunam: 1200 THB/van
We had dinner at the food court (where we last ate, affordable compared to the food court above with food ranging to as low as 35 THB!) We checked in at the airport around 8:30 PM and found each other eventually.
And before you know it, it's
August 28:
0400 - arrived in DMIA, Clark, Pampanga
Back to reality...
I will try to write more details later on and put also pictures.
I just want to summarize our budget :)
Summary of our Itinerary:
August 20:
1830 - meet up at NAIA 3
Because of the floods and the heavy rains for the last couple of days, some of us weren't able to come. Though at least they were able to rebook their flights the next day, though one wasn't able to. And so, we were 15 at the time.
Delayed for about 4 hours (which was nothing compared to those waiting the whole day and whose flight was in the morning)
Cost: 550 Terminal Fee + 1620 International Tax
August 21:
We were picked up by our rented van from the airport, who also provided us a free English-speaking tour guide. They have been waiting for us since 3 AM, and weren't really able to sleep.
Cost: 216 USD + 20 USD tip for driver and guide, good for 15 people
We weren't able to catch the sunrise at Black Virgin Mountain, and arrived there at around 9 AM. We spend about 2-3 hours there, then went to Cu Chi Tunnels where we spent another 2 hours.
Cost:
Entrance fee to Black Virgin Mountain - 12,000 VND
Shuttle to the cable cars (option to walk is possible) - 4000 VND
Cable Car + Toroggan Slide - 150000 VND
Cu Chi tunnel Entrance fee - 90000 VND
Our last stop for our rented van was to check-in at our hotel in Saigon in District 1, Mai Guesthouse.
since we were late in starting, we arrived at the hotel around 4 or 5 pm. Just enough time for us to get our money exchange, have some street foods, walk around for a bit, see the night market in Ben That Market, and have a bit of night life behind our hotel.
August 22:
We woke up early to do the walking tour. We walked to the Reunification Palace, could have visited the War Museum (but didn't), visited the Notre Dame Cathedral, and Post Office, saw the Opera House and ended the morning with lunch in Saigon Central, where we spent the rest of the afternoon shopping.
Unfortunately, no more energy left for clubbing. Especially since some of went to different places and got lost hehe
Cost (Accommodations): 177.02 USD for 4 twin rooms (good for 16 people though we were 17 all in all)
August 23:
We just rented another mini-bus to take us to Mac Boi border, because it's a bit of a hassle to walk to the bus station with all our belongings, and not everyone is very punctual...
Cost: 140 USD, good for 17 people with our luggages (We booked the previous day through Kim's Cafe near Sinh Tourist in a street near our hotel.)
When we got to the border, it was a bit of a hassle because there were several groups in front of us, cutting in our line. It was very distressing!! We spend an hour in the Vietnam border for this, the Cambodian border was more organized and friendly though we had to spend 1 USD each person for each border (without receipt so we don't really know what this part is for)
Cost: 2 USD/person
Our driver who was supposed to pick us up in Phnom Penh was nowhere to be seen, so we had to buy a sim card to call our guide, who would call our driver (who also cannot speak English).
Cost: 170 USD/bus for the transfer from border to Phnom Penh
Since we were really late, our restaurant where we are supposed to eat (at Friends Restaurant, which is number 8 or something in Trip Advisor) was already closed. Ralph (who came from Phuket) paid for our food, and we passed him and our food before going to the Killing Fields.
Cost: 50 USD/bus for the Phnom Penh city tour
Killing Fields entrance - 3 USD/person
We asked to be dropped off in Sisowath Quay, where we ate dinner at Happy Herb Pizza, took some night pictures by the Royal Palace (I think it was the Royal Palace), walked some more, and arrived in the Night Market by 10 PM, where we met up with our driver to go to Siem Reap
Cost: 230 USD/bus for transfer from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap
August 24:
Unfortunately, the wheels of our bus broke down. It was a good thing my friend remarked upon it with the driver, or else he wouldn't stop! And something might have happened. I was just dead asleep, I woke up several times but didn't bother to check. Anyway, because of this delay, we arrived in Siem Reap at around 530 AM.
We weren't able to set up properly for sunrise. Again. Huhu
Costs:
Angkor entrance fee: 20 USD
Tour Guide: 35 USD for the group
Angkor transportation: 75 USD for the group
Upgrade to 35-seat bus: 80 USD for the group
We had lunch at Green Star Restaurant, though I found the owner a bit um, unfriendly. I'm not sure if it's just a language barrier or what. Anyway, dinner was better at Joe to Go Restaurant.
Cost (hotel): USD 150 for 4 Angkor Palace rooms
August 25:
Pick up by the bus going to Aranyaprathet-Poivet border.
Cost: 150 USD for 18 people
Immigrations was fast enough, we spend 30-40 minutes because there was a lot of us. Anyway, we spend about an hour waiting for the 2 vans that we rented anyway.
Cost for 2 vans: 5200 THB for 2 vans (transfer from Aranyaprathet to Born Free Hostel, Banglamphu)
Unfortunately, because of the long wait that we had, we arrived in Bangkok at around 5 PM. Of course. Check in and fixed ourselves. Finalize our itinerary with Wasana.
There were those who wants to go to MBK so we took a taxi to go there. Some had a bit of a night life in Khao San Road.
August 26:
Pick up from the hotel by our private van to go to Kanchanaburi, supposedly by sunrise. Unfortunately, we got there around 630 PM. (Our driver stopped for breakfast, toinks!)
Cost: 4500 THB for one van
Sunrise over River Kwai Bridge - free
Elephant and Bamboo rafting - 250 THB (only!)/pax
Erawan Falls - 200 THB/pax
We had too much fun at the falls, and missed climbing so I guess we got a little carried away. We arrived in Bangkok by around 5 pm, too. We just went to Khao San Road, had some street food for dinner (or shopping depending on who you ask), and had some drinks (it was our last night after all).
August 27:
There were two general groups:
Pick up from the hotel by a private van to take them to Pattaya, for the bungy jumping. Then enjoy the rest of the day at Nong Nooch Garden, then drop them off at the airport by around 7 to 8 pm.
Cost:
Van - 3500 THB for one van
Bungy Jumping - 2100 THB (including video)
Nong Nooch Garden - round off 300 THB (discount care of hotels2thailand.com)
For the rest of us who didn't go to Pattaya, we spend the day shopping in Pratunam. I love it! :)
Airport transfer from KSR to Pratunam: 1200 THB/van
We had dinner at the food court (where we last ate, affordable compared to the food court above with food ranging to as low as 35 THB!) We checked in at the airport around 8:30 PM and found each other eventually.
And before you know it, it's
August 28:
0400 - arrived in DMIA, Clark, Pampanga
Back to reality...
I will try to write more details later on and put also pictures.
I just want to summarize our budget :)
| Description | USD/Pax | USD/Group | Subtotal |
| HCM Airport - Blk Virgin - Cu Chi Tunnel - Mai Guesthouse + 20 USD tip | 15.73 | 236.00 | |
| Black Virgin Mountain and Cu Chi Tunnel - Entrance + shuttle + cable car + slide | 12.19 | 182.86 | |
| Sub Total (Day 1) | 27.92 | ||
| Mai Guesthouse - Std Twin | 10.41 | 177.02 | |
| Ho Chi Minh to Mac Bai Border | 8.24 | 140.00 | |
| Immigrations - 1 USD/border/person | 2.00 | 34.00 | |
| Mac Bai Border to Phnom Penh | 10.00 | 170.00 | |
| Sub Total (Day 3) | 30.65 | ||
| Phnom Penh Half-Day Tour | 2.78 | 50.00 | |
| EK Memorial Killing Fields Entrance Fee | 3.00 | 54.00 | |
| Cellphone | 0.39 | 7.00 | |
| Green Star to Share | 0.94 | 17.00 | |
| Angkor Wat | 20.00 | 360.00 | |
| Phnom Penh to Siem Reap | 12.78 | 230.00 | |
| Angkor Tour with sunrise-sunset | 4.17 | 75.00 | |
| with tour guide (for 1 day) | 1.94 | 35.00 | |
| SP to border; private | 8.33 | 150.00 | |
| Angkor Spirit Palace | 8.33 | 150.00 | |
| Upgrade to 35-seater bus | 4.44 | 80.00 | |
| Western Union | 1.17 | 21.00 | |
| Sub Total (Day 4-5) | 68.28 | ||
| Van Rental from border to BKK (converted to USD) | 9.32 | 167.74 | |
| Sub Total (Day 5) | 9.32 | ||
| Van Rental from BKK to Kanchanaburi | 321.43 | 4500 | |
| Elephant and Bamboo Rafting | 250.00 | ||
| Erawan Falls and Pha trat cave | 200.00 | ||
| Sub Total (Day 6) - THB | 771.43 | ||
| Van Rental from BKK to Pattaya to Airport | 500.00 | 3500 | |
| Bungy jumping | 2,100.00 | ||
| Nong Nooch Garden | 300.00 | ||
| Sub Total (Day 7) - THB | 2,900.00 | ||
| Born Free Hostel (aircon) | 400.00 | ||
| Born Free Hostel (fan) | 360.00 | ||
| Airport transfer from BKK | 109.09 | 1,200.00 | |
| Total (USD) | 136.17 | - |
Basically, excluding the Kanchanaburi and Pattaya tours, our budget is around 140 USD :)
