Travel Hacks in China: Finding a free accommodation

This is not a typical Ska Overlander blog. When I booked my flight to Auckland with China Southern Airlines, somewhere on the wild internet, I saw there was free accommodation for people who layover in Guangzhou, China. That was where my layover was. I did not quite believe and too good to be true. However I was very curious to find out.

To confirm this information, I sent many emails to the airline, China Southern Airlines. However I have never heard back from them. You can read about free accommodation from their website. 

On that day, I also asked about this at HCMC Vietnam airport when I checked in. Nobody knew and could not answer. I thought “hmm is it real? But maybe the stewardesses know”. So I asked the stewardesses. They had no clue. 

I landed in Guangzhou without any accommodation just like old days. I decided to get out of the airport as I had over 20 hours of layover. I was a bit worried, but hey I did much worse back in the days.

I was asked to fill a different blue form at the 24h/144h transit visa section. Waited my turn. Couple in front of me wanted to leave the airport to go to eat outside. The officer denied,  and said that there was not enough time for them to leave and come back on time. I think that was fair enough. 4 hours of layover, there is nothing walking distance and quite far from the city centre. Just in and out the immigration takes a few hours.

Then my turn. Skantastic!!! Mine was no problem. 

After I went through immigration, I looked for the information desk. I thought they may have known something or they could book an accommodation if there was not free accommodation. Found it near the domestic terminal. 

Asked about free accommodation. They said yes. Wow so it was real. Not urban legend. It’s not a myth! They took my details and asked me to choose a hotel from the list. There were quite few on the list. Had no idea. So I just picked the top of the list. Then I was told to wait 10 minutes for the driver to come. 

This is the place to ask for free accommodation

10 minutes later, we were escorted to the departure area. And we were sent to this hotel, I think 15 minutes drive away from the airport. 

Thank goodness, this was not our ride to the hotel

Smooth check in. However I had to double check. “Is it really free?” I said. They replied “yes. And breakfast is from 6.30 to 9.30. Booked your shuttle for the next day. Please be here at 2 pm”. So I got free accommodation, breakfast and transport to and from the airport. 

I think China Southern Airlines provided this service, but I’m not too confident whether China Southern Airlines or the airport provides this service. Anyway, I’m happy with the service.

So what was the hotel like? Metropolo Jinjiang hotel 錦江都城酒店

I stayed at Metropolo Jinjiang hotel 錦江都城酒店. The hotel was more than ok in my opinion. It was a solid 3/4 star hotel. Down side was the smell of cigarettes tho. But I guess many hotels in China smell of cigarettes more or less. The hotel was located in the middle of a busy area. There were many street foods, markets, and restaurants. May not be as busy as the city centre, it was nice for a night. 

The room was huge and very clean. Loved the soft bed. Crazy feature was the automatic curtain. When I entered the room, the curtain opened itself. The view was not that nice tho. Breakfast was average. Has anyone stayed at any Toyoko inn? The hotel breakfast had a similar vibe. So I ate little and decided to eat more on the street. 

Overall this was such a great service. Free transports, accommodation and breakfast. I would love to do it again. 

Day trip to Bang Krachao Thailand

Bang Krachao aka Bangkok's Green Lung, makes a great day trip to escape hectic city life. Enjoy pedalling bicycles 🚲 #moistytravelguide #bangkrachao #Bangkok pic.twitter.com/gYGEMJmZgh

— Moisty Atsushi (@MoistyAtsushi) September 11, 2023

Bang Krachao ตำบล บางกะเจ้า is known as Bangkok’s green lung  I have been there a few times. Quite nice place to ride bicycles. As you can imagine, many people go there to enjoy cycling  

Even though I’m not interested in touristy things, there are many interesting things to see and do. There is some stuff that is really cool. If you go, you may want to check. 

How to get to Bang Krachao?

We took a bus to Wat Khlong Toei Nok. You can easily just catch a taxi there. When you walk past the temple, you can see the pier. It seemed to charge a lot since I visited last time. We got to the pier, and asked to pay return tickets 20THB one way x 2 = 40THB (1.10USD/1.50SGD) each person. Before the covid, I surely paid less than 10THB one way. When we returned, they asked us to show the tickets. I assume they will charge again, if you lose. So make sure you keep the ticket safe.

Wat Khlong Toei Nok

Well that was not a nice start. Anyway, we rented bicycles once we got to the Island. It was 80THB (2.20USD/3SGD) a day for a basic bicycle. 

Alternatively,

If you want to avoid over-charged boats, there is an alternative pier, Wat Bang Na Nok pier. BTS Bang Na is the closest public transport station. It should be easy to catch a taxi or motorbike taxi to the pier. If my memory is good, I think it’s 5THB (15c USD/20c SGD) one way, and you don’t need to buy a return ticket. The ferry seemed frequent too. There was a rental bike shop once get to the Island. According to Google reviews, 50THB (1.50USD/2SGD) for a day. Not too sure if they were the same shop, there was another place behind the temple. 

Wat Bang Nam Phueng Nok

Places we visited and liked:

Sri Nakhon Khuean Khan Park and Botanical Garden สวนสาธารณะและสวนพฤกษชาติ ศรีนครเขื่อนขันธ์ is a nice big park. I think you can do birdwatching. 

ร้านอาหารเจ๊จุ๋ม สาขาลูก (Bang Krachao Restaurant) is a humble local restaurant. There are many restaurants and cafes. However they are quite expensive compare to local places in Bangkok. Not all those fancy places are nice in my opinion.

Bang Krachao Restaurant

แม่สวยข้าวเหนียวมะม่วง is a humble local mango sticky rice shop. It’s full of local hospitality. My wife was cut her finger for some reason. The lady at the shop, she went to her house to bring us first aid kit. By the way, the mangos were amazing.

The Ozone Cafe is a big open air coffee shop. We loved drinking in bamboo hut with a garden view. There were ducks too.

Bang Nam Phueng Floating Market ตลาดน้ำบางน้ำผึ้ง is a touristy market. The price was not too bad. Many shops are available. 

Border crossing Singapore 🇸🇬 to Kuala Lumpur International Airport KLIA

Beat the system! That was I was going to do on this trip. I played in Singapore. Next morning, I woke up early in the morning to catch a bus from Queen street. My destination was Kuala Lumpur International Airport.

Skantastic Sunday at Potato Head in Singapoe. Thank you very much for coming. Hopefully returning soon. More life Singapore

Special thanks to Singapore Dub Club @masiaone for organising this fabulous event. #letsgetmoisty #ska #reggae #singapore pic.twitter.com/wWZAtYHjkS

— Moisty Atsushi (@MoistyAtsushi) September 7, 2023

https://vt.tiktok.com/ZSNAdht8c/

Why would you do that? There is Changi Airport in Singapore

I came across the awful truth that prices between Singapore and Malaysia are quite different. For example, they often do this, the bus from Singapore to Johor Bahru (crossing the border) is SGD 4.80, on the other hand, Johor Bahru to Singapore costs MYR 4.80 (SGD 1.80). Just not fair.

I was trying to book a flight from Singapore. Noticed that cost of extra checked in luggage was also different. The Flight from Kuala Lumpur was half price of Singapore checked luggage. In my research, I concluded it was way cheaper to fly from Kuala Lumpur to Bangkok. 

So I looked up the price of transport from Singapore to Kuala Lumpur. Still pricey. Hmm. 

Then I remembered that there was a strange pricing system between Malaysia and Singapore like crossing border buses. Hmm I thought, what if I buy in Malaysia and catch a bus directly in Johor Bahru, to Kuala Lumpur International Airport?

Yes I understand it consumes a lot of time. Possibly risk of missing flight due to traffic jam, or anything could happen. My inner punk spirit told me I had to do it. 

Previous night at my last gig in Singapore. Everyone I talked to about this trip, told me to get the bus straight from Singapore to KL. Would be risky, they said. 

Thoughtful friends encouraged me to take a bus from Singapore

Note that a direct bus from Singapore to KLIA is about 45 SGD from EasyBus. It’s not frequent as well. Although it’s cheaper just travel to Kuala Lumpur around 30 to 35 SGD, I would need to catch another transport to the airport which takes about an hour from the city.

How did I travel from Singapore to Kuala Lumpur International Airport?

Here is a video of this trip. pic.twitter.com/0MxDEoQdub

— Moisty Atsushi (@MoistyAtsushi) September 12, 2023

https://vt.tiktok.com/ZSNAdQyX4/

Around 7 am, I arrived at the bus stop on Queen Street. No queue, just hopped on the bus. I paid 4.50SGD. The ride was smooth, we arrived at the Woodland checkpoint within 40 minutes. Stamped out Singapore and stamped in Malaysia within an hour. I was out of Johor Bahru immigration by 8 am. 

Sultan Mosque

Information border bus

Woodlands Checkpoint

There was a problem! I missed and passed my bus stop to go to the Larkin Bus Terminal, JB. So I was suggested and waited at the normal bus stop to go there after asking around. I waited 20 minutes, no bus to be seen. So I gave up and went back to immigration to find my original bus. I asked around at the JB checkpoint. I did not get a straight answer. So I walked around quite a lot in JB immigration/checkpoint. Finally I found the bus stop. Adding to my problem, the bus did not come for a long time. Anyhow, I got the bus at 9 am. I wandered around for an hour here. 

Larkin Bus Terminal

Within 15 minutes, we were at the Larkin Terminal. I remembered that I was here before. 

I went to the counter to buy the ticket. Paid 59 MYR (17 SGD/ 12.50 USD/ 21 NZD). There were not too many options. While waiting, I had my last roti canai and tea. 

The bus left at 10.10 am. Nice roomy bus/ seats. Not many of us here. We had a little toilet break, otherwise the bus was slowly moving to KLIA. We encountered a few traffic jams. However we arrived at KLIA at 4 pm. It took 9 hours from Singapore to Kuala Lumpur International Airport. I think I could have done shorter if I was not lost in JB.  

Toilet stop

Arriving KLIA 2

Even though I don’t think many of you want to do this, I hope this is useful travel detail for some. 

Bangkok 🇹🇭 to Penang 🇲🇾 2023 Part Two

I posted my trip to Penang from Bangkok in my last post. In this post, I will write about my return trip and a bit of Penang. 

Some cool places where I visited

I was lucky enough to play at those cool places, Hin Bus Depot and Junk Bar in Penang. Hin Bus is repurposed from the old bus terminal to art space, flea market and some awesome activities. You can see a lot of hand crafts and cool stuff. Junk Bar is a friendly bar. Highly recommended to chill with cool music here. Big up to Singapore Dub Club for hooking up.

Hin Bus Depot

Hin Bus Depot: 31A, Jalan Gurdwara, George Town

Junk Cafe

Junk Cafe: 1, Jalan Pintal Tali, George Town

Although I did not have a lot of time in Penang to explore much, this Penang Road Famous Laksa was really nice. I popped in to a local dim sum place, Leong Kee Tim Sum where across street from an old hotel, New Asia Hotel where I stayed when I came to Penang for the first time (almost 10 years ago). I saw many old people enjoyed coffee and dim sum there. Lastly Nian Wei China Dumpling is the one I wanted to try, but I missed unfortunately. Will try next time. Meanwhile, let me know if you have tried. There are more skantastic food in Penang, just not enough stomach and time try everything this time. 

Penang Road Famous Laksa

Penang Road Famous Laksa: 5-7, Lebuh Keng Kwee, George Town

Leong Kee Tim Sum

Leong Kee Tim Sum: 61, Lebuh Kimberley, George Town

Return back to Bangkok from Penang

So my time in Penang was short and already time to leave. You may ask how was the trip back? Basically I did the same thing in reverse. I went to the ferry terminal (free), and had lunch before getting on the train to Padang Besar. There were not many trains running that route. I got on the train at 14.30h ish, and it took around 2 hours to Padang Besar.

CAT bus to the ferry terminal

View from Penang Sentral

I went through immigration, and stamped out. However I was not allowed to go though Thai immigration as my train was not here. So I was invited to hang out at Malaysian immigration to chill with a couple of others. By the way, the officers there were really nice. I forgot my pen and immigration form. So one of them went to get them for me. 

Interesting thing I saw was, once our train came, we went to Thai immigration. It seemed that we were the last people to come into Thailand from Padang Besar that day. So when we all got in, all of the Thai immigration officers jumped on the train to go home, I mean Thailand.

First one to get in to freshly cleaned train

Not too many people on the train, compared to the one that goes from Bangkok to Padang Besar. It was just cleaned and no one was on the board. Very relaxed ride back to Bangkok. I saw a nice sun rise near Prachuap Khiri Khan. 

Train details: Train 46 Special Express Padang Besar 17.00h – Krung Thep Aphiwat (Bangkok) 12.05h next day 2nd Class 918THB (25USD, 50NZD) Lower Berth and 848THB (23USD, 40NZD) Upper Berth.

Sunrise near Prachuap Khiri Khan

How will I travel next time?

It used to travel all the way from Bangkok to Butterworth. But now old school Thai trains cannot go through as it’s changed to electric in Malaysia. So we needed to wait for another train at Padang Besar. It wastes a lot of time. 1 – 2 hours there. And there is nothing near the station (you need to travel to the other side to get food or ATMs. Not really walking distance).

Just inconvenient. Thus I will try to avoid stopping at Padang Besar and travel from Hat Yai to Penang directly, including the border crossing. There will be a bus or minivan. I have seen many travel companies (both side) offering bus or minivan service. There are few trains running between Bangkok and Hat Yai. I think over all travel time should be quicker. Has anyone tried this before, please let me know how you did it.

Thai train stops at Butterworth Station in 2014

Ferry to Penang 2014

Some Suggestions

1. If you want to go to Kuala Lumpur instead of Penang, there is a bus terminal in Penang Sentral and some buses go to KL more frequently than train. You can buy a ticket once you get there. 

Bus terminal in Penang Sentral

2. You should prepare a battery bank or/and your devices are fully charged. No wifi on the board. There are not many charging spots on Thai and Malay trains (I mean these particular trains). Free wifi and power plugs in the ferry terminal.

3. Pack some snacks. You will likely be able to buy something on a train in Thailand, Padang Besar station and ferry terminal. Can be expensive or may not have what you want. It’s always nice to have something to eat and drink on the go.

4. If you ever sleep on the upper berth in Thailand, an eye mask will be useful.

5. Inside of trains can be cold. You may want to bring a little jacket or something a bit warmer than a t shirt and shorts. 

That’s all. Thank you for reading.

Bangkok 🇹🇭 to Penang 🇲🇾 2023 Part One

I had an opportunity to play a couple of gigs in Penang. You would think I have a private jet to tour the world. Unfortunately not. This time, I chose a train to Penang, Malaysia. At the moment, I’m staying in Bangkok. So this blog is about traveling between Bangkok and Penang in August 2023. Nonetheless, it is quite fun to travel between countries for me.

Actually I have done this trip many times and you can read my last time crossing the border in 2018. Many things have been changed since 2018. From Bangkok, I took a train to the border, Padang Besar, another train to Butterworth, then ferry to Penang.

Did you know that we released new SkaCoustic album?

How did I buy the tickets?

Booking this trip is easier than before. As I mentioned last blog, I used Dticket to book train between Bangkok and Padang Besar. It’s easy to book and no booking fees. Once you purchase, you will get an email with the ticket. On the day, you just need to show your ticket before getting on the board. I took Train 45 which is the one straight to Padang Besar. I prefer lower berth bed, but there was no lower berth unfortunately.

Train 45 Special Express, Dep 15.35 Arr 9.50 (next day), Second Class lower berth 918THB, upper berth 848THB Note: Arrival time is in Thai time, when you arrive it’s 10.50 in Malaysia.

Second leg, train between Padang Besar to Butterworth is easy and straightforward. No booking is necessary (I think you can still book and buy online). You can buy the ticket at the station like in the good ol days. 

Last one is the ferry to Penang. It’s free and you just need to show up. There was timetable. However it was frequent.

Butterworth station platform

Travel experience

Main railway station has been shifted to Krung Thep Aphiwat, used to call Bang Sue Grand Station. I took MRT to Bang Sue. Man, the station is huge. I think I walked a long time. It is relatively new. So less signages at the moment. I lost few time in the station. More shops are opening now. Said good bye to my lovely wife and boarded the train at 15.20h, the train left on time 15.35h.

Krung Thep Aphiwat platform, Bangkok

I have done this trip many times. It felt nice that I could do this again. Anyhow, I knew that food on the train was expensive. So I brought some food and snacks. I was hoping to get some moo ping inside, sadly no one came to sell that time. 

Train 45 Special Express inside

Making beds

Dinning car

Once we arrived at the border at 9.50h next morning, Padang Besar. We queued for immigration. It took about 45 minutes. We headed upstairs to buy the ticket to Butterworth. No one was at the counter, so I used the ticket machine to buy it. No cash on the machine. Fortunately I could use my credit card.

Thai and Malay trains in a photo while waiting for the immigration

Ticket machine in Padang Besar

Waited another one hour for the train to come, and another two hours on the train to Butterworth. Inside of the train was just like a normal commuter train. No one came to sell lunch or snacks like Thailand. Very sad, because I was hungry.

Padang Besar Station

Inside of the train in Malaysia

Finally we arrived at Butterworth station at 14.30h (Malay time, one hour ahead). The station has been renewed. It connects to Penang Sentral which is a transport hub. It has a coach bus terminal which connects many places in Malaysia, ferry to the Island and train station. However it is huge. It was a good 5 minutes walk with my luggage to the ferry terminal. 

Waiting area with free wifi

Unfortunately I missed a ferry as too many passengers that day. I waited a long time, but there were some places that I could get snacks and drink. The ferry was new and clean compare to previous ferry service. At 15.45h, we safely arrived at Penang. To my surprise, ferry and one of the local buses (CAT) in Penang were free.

Ferry to Penang

Next post is returning trip.

Best Kept Secret Beach, Prachuap Khiri Khan ประจวบคีรีขันธ์

Phuket, Koh Samui, and Krabi are popular options for the beach holiday in Thailand. I prefer somewhere less human for a holiday. So I did a little research and found a few nice lesser known beach places.

Sound track for this blog:

Prachuap Khiri Khan is a beautiful chilled tow in Thailand. #moistytravelguide #thaitrip #beachlife pic.twitter.com/eUeqtXkO7A

— Moisty Atsushi (@MoistyAtsushi) September 14, 2023

Prachuap Khiri Khan ประจวบคีรีขันธ์

Prachuap Khiri Khan ประจวบคีรีขันธ์ is not too far from Hua Hin and really easy to travel to. It is the narrowest part of Thailand, just 12.38 km (7.69 mi) from the gulf of Thailand to the border with Myanmar (from Wikipedia). If you stretch out a bit,  Phraya Nakhon cave ถ้ำพระยานคร is the coolest cave in the area.

View from Wat Khao Chong Krachok

Prachuap Khiri Khan offers various unique experiences. I particularly liked riding my bicycle on military plane runway, nice beautiful Ao Manao beach, and old school buildings. Of course there are many temples and nature.

The Monkey Monument

How to get to Prachuap Khiri Khan

As you may know that over 100 year old beautiful main Bangkok station, Hua Lamphong has been retired (still there are some trains in and out tho). Now Bangkok’s main railway station is shifted to Krung Thep Aphiwat Central Station (formally Bang Sue Grand Station).

In 2023, you can buy the ticket directly from Thai State Rail’s Dticket. Although you need to sign up for this, it’s easy to use and no booking fees (when I tried, it was the same price as at the counter). For more information, Thai Train Guide and Seat 61.

It took a good 6 hours from Bangkok. We were served humble lunch and snack in the train. Train seats were old, but reasonably comfortable and spacious.

Getting Around

You can easily rent a motorbike or bicycle from your accommodation. There is no shortage of motorbike taxis, and tuk tuks. We rented a bicycle from a shop for 50 baht a per day.

Rental Bike (very friendly owner)
Address: QRX2+8CC, Prachuap Khiri Khan, Mueang Prachuap Khiri Khan District, Prachuap Khiri Khan 77000

Cool places we visited

คำโฮม : come home – Spicy Thai fusion food
Address: ถนน สู้ศึก Prachuap Khiri Khan

Cool road side massage

Ao Manao Beah – is more beachy, and 4km away from the town. We took our push bikes, crossed the runway. When we were there, no one was there.

Wat Khao Chong Krachok วัดธรรมิการาม (เขาช่องกระจก) – Best view of the town. But many monkeys there.
Address: RQ8X+58W, Mueang Prachuap Khiri Khan District, Prachuap Khiri Khan

Old school coffee shops in Prachuap Khiri Khan

Coco Coffee
Address: QQXX+HP3, Prachuap Khiri Khan

Unknown coffee shop
Address: corner of Sue Suk and Sala Cheep 5

Ann’s Cafe
Address: 41 Sala Cheep Rd

Prachuap Beach Hotel – Nice basic hotel. The room was big, and view was awesome. Highly recommended. Booking.com
Address: 123 ถนน สู้ศึก Mueang Prachuap Khiri Khan District, Prachuap Khiri Khan

View from the hotel

Over all, we like this little town. It’s easy to get there and go around. There are many sea food options, activities, beautiful scenery and best of all, not crowded! Thank you for reading and if you know any secret beach town, please let us know.

Vietnamese Train Guide

Sunset view from the train

Although trains in Vietnam can be slow, they are much safer than buses, not mention that they are more spacious. There is so much charm and beauty in train travel in Vietnam. Who does not like view of miles of rice field, magnificent Hai Van Pass, or even little hem of train street in Ha Noi? However, to be frank, Vietnamese trains are not the best in the world. So it is up to us to make this ride more comfortable. This is how I travel with a train in Vietnam.

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First, you should decide where you want to travel with train. Most popular route is the Reunification line, connect 1,700km between Ha Noi to Ho Chi Minh City, It takes 32 to 37 hours (North Vietnam.com). There are few different destinations from Ha Noi. Additionally trip between Saigon and Phan Thiet (Mui Ne). Mui Ne is popular beach holiday town. Find a hotel in Mui Ne from Booking.com? To reach Quy Nhon railway station, it only operates holiday seasons.

Booking

It is easy to book through your travel agency or hotel. Those ones sometime don’t give you an option where to sit. If you have a time, go directly any railway station to book your ticket. It does not often sold out, except Vietnamese holidays. First, check on Vietnamese state rail website to see which seats/beds are available. Then take a picture or screenshot of seat or bed that you want to book on the website. Go to a railway station and show them your screenshot. By the way, some foreign cards does not work to book online unfortunately. It will be easier this way to book if you don’t speak Vietnamese like me.

Inside of Saigon Station

Types of seats

Soft Sleeper

Usually soft sleeper is preferred, when you travel long distance with train. Typically 4 beds in a berth. I’m not too sure what it’s called, but there is a 2 bed berth in some trains. I understand that it’s very expensive. You may want to watch this video, if you are interested. I saw it, in comparison, beds in normal berth are thinner and harder. The room look a bit cleaner and nicer than 4 berth.

Hard sleeper or 6 beds room is similar to soft sleeper, but cheaper. There are 6 beds in a berth, rather than 4.

Soft seat with table. By the way, how many feet can you spot?

Soft seat is a good idea for a short trip. Usually there have some electric plugs and hook near your seat. There is a price difference between table seats and normal seats. 8 middle seats in a carriage have tables and face to each other. It does not mean that other seats do not have a table. They do have a table.

Table seats are bit more expensive. Yet, not that nice table and space is limited.

Hard seat is an old school wooden seat. Obviously this is the cheapest option for train travel. Never tried in Vietnam, I assume quite uncomfortable.

How much? Time table?

Rough idea, travel between Saigon and Ha Noi is around 1,000,000 dong (42USD, 56CND/SGD, 60ASD, 66NZD) to 1,500,000 dong (64USD, 56CND/SGD, 90ASD, 99NZD). Price of seats and beds depends on date, distance of travel, time of departure and type of train. Newer trains, weekends and holidays tend to get more expensive. For the time table, you should check on Vietnamese state rail website for updated information.

Inside

Each train carriage has a hot water dispenser (so that you can make your tea or noodle), conductors to help you, toilets (I would not say the best as you can imagine). Most likely there is a restaurant car where cooks some meals for passengers. There are many power plugs in trains. No wifi on the board.

Food

Foods, snacks and drinks are available inside of a train. But they actually do not look nice and bit over priced as you can imagine. They come around to ask if you want meal before hand. If you want it, you need to buy a meal ticket. Later they will deriver to you. Usually some meat over the rice with warm soup in a plastic cup. Alternatively you can pop into the restaurant car. Also most of railway stations sell basic snacks and bottles of drink. If you don’t like this, you can pop in, when your train stops. It stops longer at big stations (like 10 to 30 minutes).

Suggestions to make your train trip in Vietnam more comfortable

– Pack your snack and food. Food in a train is not usually nice. I usually take my favourite instant noodle.

– Bring your own headset or/and ear plugs. Inside of train can be noisy.

– Toilets in a train can be hit and miss (more towards to miss). So don’t forget to bring your own toilet paper.

– Sometimes trains can be cold. I suggest to take an extra clothe or jacket.

Also you may wonder…

You may ask if there is any bullet train. short answer is no right now. However the government wants to build high speed rail for a while. This recent article shows their willingness. Time will tell.

Vietnamese trains are not fancy, but efficient. However there are some luxury train services are available. As far as I know, the Vietage is new (I think they started during Covid outbreak).

Past Vietnam train blog from Ska Overlander:
Ha Noi to Saigon via Nha Trang in 2015

Mui Ne to Saigon in 2019

Mộc Cát Café is great spot to watch train action in Quy Nhon town. Trains between Quy Nhon (not dieu tri) and Saigon stations are seasonal. #moistytravelguide

15 Nguyễn Tất Thành, Lê Hồng Phong, Tp Qui Nhơn pic.twitter.com/4ZmI8bmtyV

— Moisty Atsushi (@MoistyAtsushi) July 2, 2022

Lastly, useful information/read

Vietnam State Rail website: https://dsvn.vn/#/timve
More details from Seat 61 – https://www.seat61.com/Vietnam.htm#train-timetable-northbound
Good read: https://localvietnam.com/travel-guide/transportation/train-travel-vietnam/

No wheel chair, no problem.

People in a train always look sad.

How to travel between Ho Chi Minh City and Phnom Penh

I think it is time to up date some information. Recently we traveled from Ho Chi Minh City to Phnom Penh by bus. This was the first time we took bus to cross the borders after the covid.

Although we enjoyed our trip, it costed more than before. We took Giant Ibis as usual. If you read this blog from early 20220, it used to be 19USD per trip, excluding Cambodian visa cost. In 2022, it was 39USD per trip now. They quoted extra for Cambodian tourist visa. Something like 40 or 42USD. So I applied online. Visa costed 36USD online from government website, Kingdom of Cambodia, which was quite easy and straight forward. Anyhow I just checked Gian Ibis website now. It seems that price went down a bit. 35USD with 1$ booking fee. Hopefully it goes down more in coming weeks and months.

Blog Moisty Sound Track:

On the day, we showed up at the Gian Ibis bus stop in Ho Chi Minh. If I remember correctly, I think they changed the location. 2 or 3 doors down from previous location.

Giant Ibis HCMC Address: #301, Pham Ngu Lao St. Dist. 1, HCM City, Vietnam

8.00 am leave HCMC – Yip, the bus left on time, and trip was as nice as usual. We filled the form for immigration and they collected our passports.

10.20 am Moc Bai border – They took care most of crossing border parts. We just followed everyone and waited everyone to finish. By the way, we noticed that there was a coffee shop in the Moc Bai border. And we were out the Moc Bai border by 10.40 am.

11.00 am lunch – We had lunch at usual place, but the food was more expensive.  

11.45 am Bavet border – After our lunch, we went back on the bus and went to Bavet border. Cambodian side of the border has been simplified. They just collect our passports as soon as we got off the bus, and made us walk a bit. We did not go inside the building like used to do. We just hopped back on the bus. We got our passport back, when we all got in the bus.

12.00 pm finish all border crossing process – By noon, we all went back in the bus and ready to go back on the road.The road looked well paved now. We stopped once for toilet on the way to Phnom Penh.

4.00 pm arrive Phnom Penh – We were dropped off at one of Giant Ibis offices, near the night market. After 8 hours of road trip, we safely made it Phnom Penh. There were enough Tuk Tuk and taxies around. We went to smart to get a SIM straight away. Paid 2USD for 5G sim (1 week). It was more than enough to use Grab to get Tuk Tuk while we were out.

Do you know where to stay in Phnom Penh?

To Ho Chi Minh City

Way back was bit different this time. We were told to catch the bus from the Sakura Avenue office, where is quite far (and opposite direction to HCMC). So getting out Phnom Penh was slow in the morning.

When we got to the Bavet border, we walked a bit. Without knowing we got stamped out the Cambodia. Then we had lunch at the same place, after that we headed to Vietnamese border. At the Vietnamese side, it was absolutely chaotic. I would not know what to do if I had to do by myself. Thank goodness for the staff from Gian Ibis for helping us to get through.

There was unexpected incident that one of us could not come through the border. He filled wrong location of entrance in his Vietnamese visa. We waited for an hour. They decided to leave him. To be fair, he was warned from the bus conductor that they may not be able to help. They tried for an hour patiently.

Left late means we stuck in traffic jam. It took quite long time to back to Ho Chi Minh. I think it was almost 10 hours trip.

In conclusion, it was a nice trip as always, but just more expensive over all. Everything went up by 20 – 30%. Anyhow I love how they do not play music in the bus. Quite often other buses play music or Karaoke loudly. I just cannot stand that.

Vintage Vending Machines in Japan

Hello,

We are excited to share something awesome with you! My parents’ neighbourhood in Japan actually is a super cool spot where everyone has been talking about it for years. You may already know that there are many vending machines in Japan. There are many kinds of vending machines that you can buy almost anything. They have been around quite long time as you can imagine. Anyhow this used tire shop in Japan has been collecting old vending machines. It is almost like tourist spot.

Sound track for this blog:

You may be hard to imagine that there was no convenient stores in Japan back in the days. Vending machines were placed to provide some drinks, snacks and foods 24/7. In their heyday, truckers munched burgers from the vending machine, kids ran to get a pack of cigaret and beer from the vending machines for their parents or stay warm outside by drinking hot canned coffee in winter. I remember that eating a burger from the vending machine late night, brought so much joy as a child, when we were on the road trip. So we popped in some times as its not too far from my parents house. Obviously I tried the burger vending machine first. And it tasted like nostalgia. By the way, they have soba, udon and ramen noodle vending machines. In case you are wondering, they restock everything, and foods like burgers, toasties, noodles and bentos are cooked, refilled and stocked every day.

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Where is this awesome place?
Google “Used Tire Mart Sagamihara Store Food Vending Machine Corner” or “中古タイヤ市場 自販機コーナー” for the location.

Address: 2661-1 Shimomizo, Minami Ward, Sagamihara, Kanagawa 252-0335, Japan (〒252-0335 神奈川県相模原市南区下溝2661-1)

How can I go?
It’s bit tricky if you don’t speak or read Japanese. As you can see on the map, it’s not close to anything, and quite far from central Tokyo. But you are reading this and really want to go. Okay, I’ll try to explain how to go. I just assume anyone wants to go is from Tokyo.

Place to stay in Tokyo? Booking.com

From Shinjuku Station, you need to take Odakyu Line to Sagami-Ono Station (相模大野駅).
Then you go out the station and find bus stop number 1 North Exit. Bus 相25, Sagamihara Station North Exit (相模原駅南口行) bound. You can hop off at Sagamihara Josuijo (相模原浄水場). And this is not the end. You still need to walk to the vending machine place.

Bus time table from Sagami ono station

By the way, believe or not, you can go to Sagami-Ono Station from Haneda Airport directly! Anyone who wants to go there directly as soon as landed, this may be your option.

Otherwise you take taxi from Sagami – Ono Station. But still you need to take bus on your way back as there is no taxi around unfortunately.

Coffee vending machine

Reminders
Just to remember that you can only use 100 yen coins due to old machines. Even though there is the coin machine, better to take some extra 100 yen coins. Popular vending machines can be queued and sold out quickly. The owner has been taking care of the vending machines with love, don’t break them. It was on the news that someone broke some parts of the vending machine. He could not find the parts to repair as it was old.

If anyone tried, please let me know what you ate, how was your experience?

Booking.com

Burger burger burger

Udon and soba vending machine

Sake vending machine

Outdoor eating area. Not so nice when it rains.

Tried Takoyaki this time. Was yummy.

Great Cham Towers in Quy Nhon

Quy Nhon is not only beautiful beach town, the town origins stretch back to the 11th century Champa culture (Wikipedia). Champa people built few temples in current Binh Dinh province Vietnam. Interestingly the cham towers look similar to Angkor Wat in Cambodia. You can find some in Nha Trang as well.

Have you been to any of the Cham towers? If you get bored with beach. Hire a motorbike and visit some Cham towers. It will make a great road trip. Those 3 places are close to Quy Nhon and easy to drive.

Sound track for this blog, not Kingsland, but Champa

Here is my exploration!

The ruins of the ancient kingdom of Champa built the towers centuries ago. Quy Nhon/Binh Dinh has quite some. So exploring some today. First coffee stop. pic.twitter.com/6fdm32ND8X

— Moisty Atsushi (@MoistyAtsushi) July 8, 2022

First Cham tower was Binh Lam tower. It was middle of residential houses, with fully fenced. Very quiet area.

Around here

After leaving Thap Binh Lam, I drove through rice field.

Second one was Banh It which were the most spectacular buildings in Binh Dinh.

Nice view from the temples

The location

Last one/third one was Hung Thanh in Quy Nhon city. It is popular sightseeing spot for tourists.

Somewhat touristy here

If you are interested in this topic, you may want to read this blog to know more about Champa culture. If you need an accommodation, you can find many hotels on Booking.com here.