Reset search
South East AsiaSouth East Asia
SatelliteEdit route

South East Asia

December 2013 - January 2014
A 15-day adventure by Billy Oaks Read more
  • 15footprints
  • 4countries
  • 15days
  • 52photos
  • 0videos
  • 2.1kkilometers
  • 1.1kkilometers
Follow Calendar Share Bucket list
Date descending
  • Billy OaksSouth East Asia
    Day 14

    Shopping day at MBK

    January 10, 2014 in Thailand ⋅ ☀️ 28 °C

    Today was shopping day for my wife but of course before going there we had a swim at the hotel's swimming pool.

    As expected my wife spent all day doing shopping while myself and my daughter managed to keep ourselves entertained, part of this was trying fish massage, something we missed out in Siem Reap.

    As usual we had dinner at 5th avenue before going back to the hotel, this was our last supper in Bangkok.    Read more

  • Billy OaksSouth East Asia
    Day 13

    Train market, tigers and elephants..

    January 9, 2014 in Thailand ⋅ ☀️ 10 °C

    By far this one was the best day of our trip and incidentally the longest.

    After some revigorizing breakfast in the morning we met Nok again and this time using a van headed to our first stop for the day Maeklong railway market. We arrived there around 9:10am with the train scheduled to turn up at 9:45 so we have enough time to go for a wonder to get some fruits and see what was on offer. The products ranged from fruits, raw meat, poultry, fish, frogs, etc.

    At 9:45am a siren marked the arrival of the train, we had a good spot thanks to Nok and at this stage there more tourist than customers and the place was packed. The train was rather intimidating, no much room between our faces and the train so we sort of petrified as the train passed, an incredible experience.

    After the train experience we went to the Damnoen Saduak floating market, that even though touristy still remains as one of the most photographed places in Bangkok. It took less than half an hour trip an then on one side of the highway we stopped to get on the boats. The boats run on canals passing through coconuts and bananas plantations before arriving to the markets where mostly souvenirs, fruits and hats were on sell. The views were so captivating and a delight for my camera. Yovanna got a hat and as suggested by Nok we got a Mango /rice dessert and Thai noodles.

    Leaving the floating market it took ys close to two hours to get to the bridge over Kwai river. Nok gave us a bit of history debrief about the significance of the railway and the bridge during WWII and then we had some photos on the bridge. Ximena also had time to get a picture with the local leopard.

    Next stop was the famous tiger temple and their tamed beasts. Approx 30 minutes from river Kwai. This is like a mini rural zoo with wild pigs, buffalos, deers running freely around tourist but the highlight were the tigers. At the "canyon" there are two options for photos with these animals: free photo of each person at the time or group & individual photo for 1,000 thb, we opted for this second option so we were all together and also to save time. Getting the photo taken proved to be good fun, Ximena was a bit scared of the big cats but she was eventually excited too.

    We left the temple and went to Saiyok Elephant Park for another must do while in this area, elephant ride. The ride lasted some 20 minutes but it was terrific, well not for my wife that was in panic. The trainer was spot on and let us ride on the neck of the elephant.

    Our last stop was a parking bay to feed monkeys but the little creatures had left for the day, maybe next time.

    It took us 4 hours to get back to Bangkok, that far we were!!!! but the day was worth every single penny. After saying bye to Nok we promised to be in touch.

    We still have a day an a half in BK that were always planned for my wife's shopping.....    Read more

  • Billy OaksSouth East Asia
    Day 12

    Temples and Palace in Bangkok

    January 8, 2014 in Thailand ⋅ ☀️ 30 °C

    Long and exhausting day.

    We had a complimentary buffet dinner in the morning and then Nok, our private guide, came at 9am as planned.

    We grabbed a taxi and went to the pier to get on one of the boats. The plan for today was to visit most of the temples including Wat Pho, Wat Ahrun and then Grand Palace. Depending of our level energies we were going to Chinatown.

    Nok suggested to start at Wat Pho as most of the tourist buses go straight for the Grand Palace. The 25 minutes trip on the boat was quite nice. Wat Pho was a good introduction to Thai architecture, the number of temples and stupas was remarkable. There were plenty of golden images of Buddha including the massive reclining statue, one of the biggest in the world.

    We then took a 1 hr boot cruise around Bangkok cannals to the West of Chao Phraya river, to appreciate a lifestyle that is quickly disappearing as modern highways are taking over. Interesting to see how the old Bangkok must have looked in the past.

    Next in the agenda was Wat Ahrun or temple of Dawn. This temple was not that big compared to Wat Pho bug had one of the steepest stairs in the world, the last section was more like climbing up a ladder, my legs were all shaking when I came down.

    We got across the river to the same pier that leads to Wat Pho and jumped in a tuk tuk to get to the Grand Palace, traffic was totally caothic at this point in time. We stopped for lunch in a (thanks god) airconditioned restaurant to try some real Thai cuisine and then went to buy some long pants to get into the Palace as shorts are not allowed, I got some colourful ones with elephants on them.

    The Grand Palace was simply amazing, a procession of colours to delight the eyeball, the temples were really well preserved and beautifully decorated. As Nok anticipated there was less people than in the morning but the mercury was over 34 degrees.

    We even got to see the royal family leaving the temple and then completed the marathonic visit to this big complex. Nok suggested continue to Chinatown or another temple but we were really tired, so we head back to the hotel instead. Traffic was just insane when we came back to the hotel so we did a combination of boat and tuk tuk.

    Later in the night we went for a stroll to BMK to have dinner and to keep the missus happy.    Read more

  • Billy OaksSouth East Asia
    Day 11

    Bangkok airport

    January 7, 2014 in Thailand ⋅ ☀️ 31 °C

    Our last breakfast at the hotel in Siem Reap, some time to finish packing our bags, go for a last stroll around town for a last minute shopping and then to the airport.

    After 1hr trip we arrived in one of the most exciting cities in Asia, Bangkok. Being South American it feels almost incredible to be here.

    We grabbed a taxi from the airport and 35 minutes we arrived to the modern Eastin Grand Hotel, really luxurious and with great views from our 25 floor room.

    Tomorrow we will meet Nok, our private guide in Bangkok.    Read more

  • Billy OaksSouth East Asia
    Day 10

    Angkor wat

    January 6, 2014 in Cambodia ⋅ ☀️ 27 °C

    He headed early in the morning to check sunrise at Angkor Wat and then spent two hours exploring the temple. How marvelous it is, such an incredible skill the Khmer had to place all the stones in place, including the exceptional carving, the place is just astonishing. Our local guide Sun Same was smart enough to start the walk from the back so we had much of the temple just for us. When we got back to the main gate the crowds were starting to arrive.

    We then move to Bayon, again we skipped the famous South Gate and went straight to the temple, the carvings weren't as good as Angkor Wat but the best attractions were the huge faces that adorned the temple.

    We then continue to Ta Phron, made famous by Angelina Jolie in Tomb raider, by this time there was people every where. This was my prefered temple. It was impresive to see how the jungle is slowly devouring the temple adding some dramatic mistery to the place.

    Too tired to continue visiting temples we went back to the hotel at 1pm and agreed with Same to re-start again at 3pm and have a well deserved rest.

    In the afternoon we went to Tonle Sap, a huge fresh water lake that reminded me of the Titikaka in Peru. We visited the floating villages that again lookrd quite similar to villages in the Amazon back in Peru

    We finished the day with a buffet dinner with classic Khmer dance.    Read more

  • Billy OaksSouth East Asia
    Day 9

    Arriving in Siem Reap

    January 5, 2014 in Cambodia ⋅ ☀️ 28 °C

    Warm farewell from the guys at Traders Hotel, they wanted to know if we were feeling ok and the duty manager came to say goodbye, really friendly service.

    After the hour trip to the airport we got on our Malaysian airline flight to Siem Reap. The 2 hour flight went relatively smooth.

    The contrast arriving in Siem Reap was huge, really poor houses and schools next to luxurious hotels, I hope what we spend here helps kids have better education.

    We took it easy in the afternoon, we went to the night market, got some souvenirs and visited pub street, lots of tourist in the street. We then had dinner at the hotel ($7 for a main meal) and book buffet dinner with Apsara dance tomorrow night.

    We will have a good rest as we will do plenty of walking tomorrow at Angkor temples    Read more

  • Billy OaksSouth East Asia
    Day 8

    Kuala Lumpur city tour

    January 4, 2014 in Malaysia ⋅ ⛅ 29 °C

    We were much much better today so we got out of the hotel for the first time since Wednesday.

    As we only had one day to explore this fascinating city we booked a tour at the hotel and to speed up the trip we booked a car for the 3 of us only that way we didn't have to wait for other people.

    The driver / guide was a Chinese man, who was really knowledgeable and did the extra to show us the city his English was pretty good.

    First "stop" although we didn't really stop was Chinatown, then Merdeka square where we stop for 50 minutes to check the KL city gallery, the flag, Sultan Abdul building and other colonial buildings.

    We then pass the National mosque to finally arrive to the impressive King's palace, all of these places offering great photo opportunities.

    Next stop were the famous Batu Caves and its 250 steps, we were supposed to stop here for 1 hour to go to the top but we gave it a miss as it started to rain and we were still a bit weak after two days in bed.

    The final stop was Royal Selangor visitor centre, the place was surprisingly entertaining, especially for Ximena. We also found the big chop of beer.

    We wanted to go to Menara tower but due to the rain we missed it, a pity. Instead the driver dropped us at KLCC mall where we spent the rest of the afternoon.

    We started with our dosis of anthi-malarya pills, I read about some really bad side effects, lets hope we go alright.

    Tomorrow we leave Malaysia and enter Cambodia to visit the Khmer legacy.....Angkor Wat    Read more

  • Billy OaksSouth East Asia
    Day 6

    We are sick in Kuala Lumpur

    January 2, 2014 in Malaysia ⋅ ⛅ 31 °C

    AM - Terrible night, couldn't sleep well with temperature, had work related nightmares all night When I woke up I realize my daughter was also sick. Fortunately my wife was feeling better so she got some panadol for kids from the chemist, still we are going to the doctor at 10am.

    PM - Back from the doctor it turned out that my wife caught some bug in Singapore and then she passed it to us, we will be ok in a couple of days. Hopefully we can go for a stroll around to see the city.

    The people from the Traders Hotel have been remarkably helpful. Took us to the doctor, paid for the taxi, gave us fruit, sent me a card hoping we get well and are always ringing to see how we go, we really feel like being spoiled at home.    Read more

  • 2024© FindPenguins
  • Home
  • About us
  • Blog
  • Group Tracking
  • Press
  • Terms
  • Privacy Policy & Cookies
  • Support
  • Legal notice
  • English