Day 58: Solo Backpacking – Survive 5 Days in Macau and Hong Kong with Less Than Php 20,000 (or USD 400)

Ever wonder the cost of solo traveling in expensive cities like Hong Kong? Fret not as I’ll be posting here  my travel expenses plus some tips while being on a budget in Macau and Hong Kong.

My total expenses (excluding the souvenir expenses) = HKD 2809.40 or less than Php 18100 / USD 362 *Airfare/airport fees and taxes are not included as they are relative to where you’ll be coming from

Some money-saving travel tips:

• Utilize the shuttle provided by hotels/casinos while in Macau

I stayed in Ka Meng Villa in Macau as it is walking distance from Senado Square and other spots. If my flight was not delayed for 30 minutes, I could board the Wynn Macau Shuttle from the airport and walk for about 15 minutes. The damage? 98 HKD

• Stay in Hong Kong and have a 1-day trip to Macau instead

There’s no hostel in Macau. Compare if the cost of 1 night in a hostel in HK plus the ferry fare is cheaper than 1 night stay in Macau. Travel time is only for about 1 hour, and ferries leave every 30 minutes.

• Befriend your neighborly convenience store

My meal and snack while in Disneyland already took half of my meal expenses for 5 days. Not good, dude.

My checklist when looking for a hostel:

1. Proximity to bus stop/metro station
2. Safety
3. Neighboring buildings/communities
4. Hotel reviews
5. Proximity to restaurants
6. Budget per meal for those restaurants
7. Cheapaz option (aka alternative to restaurants)

• Check the weather and bring appropriate clothes

Just when I thought my Asian body can handle 15 degrees Celsius, the Universe laughed at me and decided to further drop the temperature to 10 (and sometimes less than 10) degrees Celsius. Cost of defrosting my frozen fingers by drinking hot choco and coffee – HKD 95.00

• Walk, walk, walk

Hong Kong has a good transportation system. They also have better sidewalks for walking. If you’re fit, having walking tours in Hong Kong and Macau will save you lots of moolah and keep your body fit. Two birds with one stone, right?

Preview of my trip here and here

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Day 57: Sneak Peek – Solo Backpacking in Hong Kong

Here are some random shots during my solo backpacking trip in Hong Kong. I highly recommend this place for those who like to have their first solo travel abroad as everything is accessible, and directions are in English. 

By the way, you can follow me in Instagram @kat_the_wanderer for some real time (I try to, okay?) update on my travels. More HK-Macau blog posts to come! Cheers!

Day 56: Sneak Peek – Solo Backpacking in Macau

Here are some highlights from my solo Macau – Hong Kong trip. After a short travel hiatus to revive my comatose bank account, I’m finally back on traveling again. I’ll be posting more on my trip in the next few weeks.

Day 55: Seychelles – Visa for Philippine Passport

Applying for a visa is one of the challenges a traveler would face. Having a Philippine passport, I keep on looking for those countries I could go to without the hassle of visa application. Upon learning that Seychelles give visa upon arrival, I decided to pack my bag and spend a few days and *ahem* a few euros in this African country.

To enter Seychelles, all you need to present are the following:

– Passport with at least 6 months validity

– Outbound airline ticket

– Hotel voucher for the whole duration of your stay

The immigration officer will then put a stamp on your passport that indicates the duration of your stay based on the outbound ticket. And that’s it!

Travel date: January 2016

Note: It’s better to always check with the embassy for any changes. 

More of my Seychelles adventure here.

Day 54: Photodumping Cambodia – Big Circle Tour in Angkor Wat

This is one of the highlights of our Vietnam-Cambodia trip. Make sure to have spare memory because there are many photo-worthy places here.

Notes:

• Photos without any watermark are taken by my friend.
• Entrance fee for one day in Angkor Wat is USD 20/person. 
• Always keep your ticket with you as they check it whenever you’re going inside the temple.
• Wear appropriate clothes as some temples are really steep. Also, wear comfortable shoes and drink lots of water.
• Start your Big Circle tour at 5 am if you want to see the sunrise in Angkor Wat temple.
• Ta Prohm Temple is the one used in Tomb Raider. That’s the “tree-infested” temple you would visit.
• We paid USD 20 for the tuktuk ride. We highly recommend our tuktuk driver, Mr. Tim, as he always checked with us where we wanted to go next. He also made sure we always had a bottle of water with us. He was referred by my friend as our tuktuk driver in Siem Reap as she was also happy with his service. You can reach him at soktheen_driver@yahoo.com. Just wait for a day or two for his reply.

Day 53: 4 Days Vietnam-Cambodia Itinerary

3 girls, 3 cities, 2 countries. Because we only have 4 days to enjoy Vietnam and Cambodia, we decided to do the Ho Chi Minh-Phnom Penh-Siem Reap route.

Here is our itinerary:

Day 1:

0030 – Arrived in Tan Son Nhat International Airport

0200 – Checked in at Ailen Garden Hotel (District 1)

0900 – Breakfast

1000 – Start of our walking tour around HCMC / visited the War Remnants Museum and the Reunification Palace (and got lost… a lot)

1700 – Dinner / shopping in Saigon Square and Ben Thanh night market

Day 02:

0730 – Breakfast

0800 – Checked out and picked up at the hotel

0830 – en route to Phnom Penh via Giant Ibis

1530 – arrived in Phnom Penh / checked in at Sla Boutique Hostel

1700 – Dinner / walked around Riverside

Day 03:

0800 – Breakfast

0900 – Walking tour in Phnom Penh

1100 – Checked out

1130 – Picked up at the hotel

1230 – en route to Siem Reap via Giant Ibis

1800 – arrived in Siem Reap / checked in at Buo Savy Guesthouse

1900 – Dinner and shopping in Angkor Night Market

Day 04:

0500 – started the Big Circle tour in Angkor Wat

1300 – back to hotel

1900 – checked out / dinner

2000 – en route to airport

2245 – flight to Manila

Note:

We were not able to go inside Royal Palace and National Museum in PP due to time constraint. If you had limited time, it would be better to travel to Phnom Penh on the night of day 01 or take a bus with earlier departure.

Click here to see our budget.

Day 52: Survive 4 Days in Vietnam and Cambodia with USD 200

I decided to celebrate my birth month by having my IndoChina trip. I went with 2 other friends, and we’ve spent 4 days roaming Ho Chi Minh, Phnom Penh, and Siem Reap.

For this trip, I dared myself to spend only USD 200 for my Vietnam-Cambodia trip. We’ll see how it goes:

For pasalubongs (aka souvenirs):

Grand total: USD 232.75

Apparently, I shopped too much in Ho Chi Minh and Siem Reap. Haha!

Click here for our itinerary.

Day 51: Photodumping Seychelles-Ste Anne Marine National Park

The only tour I booked in Seychelles is the whole day glass-bottomed tour to Sainte Anne Marine National Park. I was picked up from the guesthouse at 0930, and the tour started at 1000.

There were supposed to be three of us in that tour – a  couple and *ahem* yours truly. However, they decided to cancel at the last minute as they thought it would rain the whole day. So it seemed like I rented the whole boat to myself. Yay!

I would just let the photos speak for themselves:

Who to contact:

Day 50: Quick Weekend Getaway – Liwliwa Beach in Zambales

I’m a sunset-type of person. Whenever I go to the beach, I always make sure to take photos of the sunset. Nevermind that the beach is facing the other side, you can still see me snapping some photos of the (imaginary) sunset. That’s one of the reasons I fell in love with Liwliwa Beach in Zambales.

Day 49: Survive 3 Days in Seychelles with 300 Euros and Some Budget Tips

Traveling solo can be pretty expensive, especially if your only choice is to stay in a hotel. That’s why I dared myself to just spend 300 euros (almost 16,000 Php) when I was in Seychelles.

Here are my expenses:

I almost managed to keep my budget. I could save more if: