Journey to the Siamese Kingdom Part 1

A short journey to Siamese Kingdom, with a limited annual leave balance left but you still wanna have a holiday! Here we go...

So, after months, I just had time to write on my journey to few cities in Thailand i.e Bangkok, Kanchanaburi and Lopburi in just 4 days and 3 nights.

Day 1

As early as 5.30am, I reached at KLIA2 to board to Dong Mueng, Bangkok. The flight took 2 hours and we arrived at 8.55am local time (Bangkok is 1 hr earlier than KL). Since it was a very rush trip, we chartered a car with driver to bring us to few cities. I have been here for few times and since it is a neighbourhood country, hence, no harm to choose variety of transportation mode every time I came here. 

The driver already awaited us at the airport. Our first destination was Lopburi and  will overnight at Kanchanaburi. The journey from Bangkok to Lopburi took around 2 hours and from Lopburi to Kanchanaburi took around 3 hours. In total, we will spend our time in the vehicle for 5 hours today. Oh yeah! Alternatively, if you intent to go to Lopburi by train, you can ride it from Hua Lamphong Station to Lopburi Station (around 2.5hrs journey) . From there, you can ride a tuktuk to your desired destiny.

The driver was Muslim and well versed in English hence, easier for us to communicate.

We went into the 7E inside the airport to buy some meals before embarked to Lopburi. There were instant halal meals sold in any of the 7Es in Thailand. Few choices available, so you can buy your lunch or dinner here.

 Fried fish with spicy sauce. Tastes fantastic! 

Chicken grilled rice

We arrived at Lopburi around 11.30am, heading to the sunflower field. There are few fields in Lopburi but some already closed as they were fully harvested. Lucky to have a few which still opened for visitors.

The sunflowers are only bloom for few months in year namely in the month of November to January. These sunflowers not only attracts the tourists but they actually plant it to get the seeds (kuaci), sunflower butter and sunflower oil which then sold commercially to the locals and exports to other countries. Apart as a food sources, the sunflower also can be used for medical i.e to treat fevers, lung ailments, diarrhea as well as diabetics.

We went to two farms, Jumpee Sunflower Park and the other one i forgot the name. The entrance fees were THB10 and THB20 respectively. We spent around 30 mins in each.

Sunflower model 😁

The seeds that can be eaten as snack and processed for the oil and alternative to peanut butter

Sellers selling snacks and sunflower products. Sunflower seeds are sold at THB100 for 3

The machine used to harvest sunflower 

The field

We went to the Muslim stalls nearby the field to have our lunch. Not much menu except for noodle based meals. I ordered kuay tiow soup. Tastes not bad. Pure Thai food.

After the meals, we went to Prang Sam Yod, Lopburi. This monument was built when Lopburi was under the control of the Khmer empire from Angkor. The monument was likely founded in the late 12th or early 13th century during the reign of King Jayavarman VII. This monument was built to serve the Mahayana of Buddism.

Fee entrance THB150. They provided a bamboo stick for each visitor to protect and chase the monkey. Do you think it works? It doesn't, really. The monkey jumped onto my bag while i was snapping pictures, ended up I was shocked and jumped also until they ran away. 😂😂

 The three Khmer holy Phrang which aged 800 years old. The middle are the tallest among the three. 

Monkeys are everywhere. Go closer to them and they will jump over you! 

After spending time with the monkeys, we make a move. Other than sunflower field, Lopburi also well known as monkey city. The monkeys are spotted everywhere in the city, get fed by local people and sometime can be aggressive by stealing food or anything from passers-by people. 

Where were we went next? 

We went to Somdet Phra Narai National Museum. The museum was built in year 1666. 

Ruins of King Narai's Palace, known as Wang Narai locally. It exhibits prerequisites from prehistoric times 3500 years ago found from archaeological sites around Chao Pharaya River Basin to present as sequence event. 

In this compound also, you may see the ruins of King Narai's Palace. King Narai was King of Ayutthaya during the second half of the 17th century.

The Palace was designed by French architects, mix of Thai and European architectural styles. Construction started in 1665 and completed in 1677. The entrance fee combined with the museum is THB150.

It is clean and well maintained. Less monkey here so i can calmly walk and spend my beautiful evening here.. Hehe.   

The artifacts exhibited in the museum. Kind of axes used by pre historic people. 

Part of the National Museum's building 

Artifacts exhibited. Stones and ruins of the temples/monuments

Ruins of the Palace

The Map of Siamese and Malaya Kingdom, once upon a time ago

The Statue of King Narai at the centre of Lopburi Town

Its getting dark and we need to make a move to Kanchanaburi. Our resort located nearby Kwai River and we did not expect to reach late at the resort. 

After 3hrs journey, we arrived at the resort at 8pm. We checked in, dropped our luggage and have a rest. I will share about the awesome resort that we stayed for two nights in my next entry.. 

To be continued 

Flying Without Wings

Something cool this morning to best described what I felt. Year by year, i haven't found mine...

Flying Without Wings

Everybody's looking for a something
One thing that makes it all complete
You'll find it in the strangest places
Places you never knew it could be

Some find it in the face of their children
Some find it in their lover's eyes
Who can deny the joy it brings
When you've found that special thing
You're flying without wings

Some find it sharing every morning
Some in their solitary nights
You'll find it in the words of others
A simple line can make you laugh or cry

You'll find it in the deepest friendship
The kind you cherish all your life
And when you know how much it means
You've found that special thing
You're flying without wings

How to survive when you travel in New Zealand??

Some asked me to provide tips for New Zealand trip. I am neither expert nor perfect traveller. I have posted in detail my journey to New Zealand in previous post. So, these are my two cents that i can share with you:

1) Visa
~ On arrival visa for 3 months at no cost
~ If you wish to travel while working in New Zealand, you may apply for working holiday visa for 6 months if you are in between 18 - 30 years old.

Auckland Airport

2) Transport/Driving
~ A lot of car rental and caravan company. We hired a car since only 3 gals on trip. If you wish to rent a caravan than, its best for you to know how to maintain it (recharge the power, dump the waste and etc) and not forget where you can park the caravan. You may refer here: Caravan
~ We rented Go Rental in North Island & Apex Car Rental in South Island. Both good.
~ Please spend for full coverage insurance unless you are risk taker
~ International license not required if your license is latest version issued by JPJ which has English translation.
~ Right hand drive as Malaysia. No worries
~ Road signs almost standard with Malaysia except for priority single lane bridge and few more. You can refer to https://www.drivingtests.co.nz/resources/regulatory-signs-in-new-zealand/ for details
~ Speed limit max at 100kmj. So, don't expect to have a race like you did so in Malaysia hehe
~ Single Lane Road almost of the route. During the last trip, I couldn't see any highway with more than 2 lanes (except for takeover lane) along the route.
~ Petrol station is not available everywhere especially in rural areas. You only can find the station in every 100km of your journey. Be prepared and ensure that your fuel is always full and enough for your journey. The petrol stattion is not so big but normally there are signboard before reaching it. Be alert!

The view that you can see while driving

3) Accommodation
~ Airbnb, motel, hotel, hostel are everywhere. Check out your own budget. Can try camping if you dare. Why not? a lot of campsite available for campers.

Backpackers hostel at Fox Glacier

Airbnb at Lake Taupo

4) Food
~ The restrictions almost same as Australia. Check out this web for details: https://www.biosecurity.govt.nz
~ Prepare food declaration list for customs checking. You can bring Sambal che nor, sardin, nasi putih, beras, megi. No harm. Just declare it in the lists.
~ You can bring mini pot to cook. No worries. Otherwise you can buy Tahirah soap for samak if you wish to use hostels or Airbnb cooking utensils
~ You can buy groceries, vegies, eggs at PAKn' Save, Countdown, Fresh Choice. It's everywhere and the price also quite reasonable.

Macaroni cheese, strawberry and chocolate. All bought at Fresh Choice 

5) Language
~ English. Cakap melayu pun boleh xde orang marah.

6) Itinerary
~ Most of the places in New Zealand promise you beautiful scenery but need to have a walk or trekking for more than hours. So plan your itinerary carefully. Enjoy the day and view. There are no specific itineraries. Most of the place I went is not in the plan and we just stopped by during our road trip.

Mount Cook

7) Currency
~ The currency used is New Zealand Dollar. I think none left in my hand and I forgot to snap any picture. Sigh. 1NZD equivalent to RM2.78 approximately. 

So, thats all my sharing! Happy weekend!

What you should know when you have intention to travel to India??

Many of you travelled to India before, some yet and some planning to, soon. I would like to share some humble tips from my journey to India recently (including Kashmir). We might went to the same country and states, but the journey won't be the same. 

1) Visa: For Malaysian, the cost for 1 year multiple entry visa is RM462.56. You may visit Online Visa Application to fill up online visa application form. The form later on need to be printed out for the submission to Visa Centre together with the following:

a) Photograph size 2 inc x 2 inc (white background).
b) Passport
c) Return air ticket to India (not compulsary) 

Effective from 1 April, the centre has been relocated to Wisma Chase Perdana, Damansara. 

Refer to this website for updated info, time for visa application and collection time etc Visa India - Malaysia. Normally, it will take 3 days for the visa to be affixed to your passport.

Please be careful in filling up online application form since one mistakes can cause you to pay RM30 for corrections.

You also may apply e-Visa which is valid for 4 months with costs RM320. You may fill up the form and make online payment here e-Visa.

How the visa looks like. It will be affixed to your passport. Google picture. Of course i won't put my pasport here hehe.. 

2) Injections: Thyphoid, Meningitis, Hepatitis B & Malaria would apply but depends on your antibody system. The cost of injections however depends on clinics or hospital you are going. Klinik Kesihatan DBKL for example offered Thyphoid injection at a cost of RM41 and Meningitis injection at a cost of pada harga RM120 for Malaysian.

2) Injections: Thyphoid, Meningitis, Hepatitis B & Malaria would apply but depends on your antibody system. Aku kene inject sebab perut cap ayam

3) Food: If possible, unless your antibody is damn strong, please avoid street and uncooked food. The dusts, unsafe food preparations and the dirt environment is enough to cause your diagnose diarrhoea or any related viruses. If you stay in hotel, i can say the food is save for you to consume. 

Hawker selling foods at the road side

Wash cleanly should you bought this

4) Activities: India is too wide and contains a lot of hidden germs. Golden triangle is normal. You can try the other part of India such as Jodhpur, Amritsar, Chennai, Udaipur and many more. If you are nature lover, Jammu & Kashmir also Ladakh is attractive and enthralling enough for you to go for trekking (summer and spring) and having snow activities (winter). 

5) Transport: Various of transports including charter car, busses, trains, metro, tuk tuk and auto rickshaw, but is still depends on which city or state that you arrange going. For example, metro not available in Jaipur and Kashmir. So, do some research for city that you are going to. If you travel on the road, please spare a bit of your time for traffice jam since it may cause delay in your journey. 

I haven't tried the local transportation in my last trip since we book agent to drive us here and there. I should try in my next trip 😁

Taj Mahal in foggy morning view

6) Language: Most in tourism industries are fluent in English. The rests are nehi nehi. Its good for you to know basic Hindi as well. Worst case, you can download google offline for Hindi Language. 

7) Drinking water: Drink bottled and mineral water only. But, i have tried Chai during my last trip, the famous milk tea in India. Tastes good and give no harm to my stomach. 

Bottled water sold everywhere

8) Toilet: Most of them have bidet. But be prepared with wet tissues as well.  In my previous trip, i only used toilet/washroom at the hotel, airport and restaurants. The cleanliness is rated as acceptable and quite clean. 

9) Scams: Too many. Be careful in every of your steps, words and actions. While the car stopped at the traffic lights or while you stucked in the jam, there will be a lot of people knocked down your car window, selling stuffs and some are beggars. Don't give anything otherwise a bunch of the same will come to you soon after (You can do so if you are kind enough to entertain and 😬). 

If you plan to ride tuk tuk or rickshaw, careful also in bargaining the price. Preferably you made a research first rather than zero knowledge.

Don't ever exchange your money with the stranger to avoid chances in receiving fake notes. 

10) Price Negotiations: Please do even in a boutiqe or established shops 😁.

Pashmina sellers

11) Sim Card: You can buy it through Lazada or any online based shopping cart. Other than that, you may purchase it at the airport upon arrival (if you are not roaming). 

Vodafone is widely used as compared to other operator. 

12) Donations: Contrary to No 9 above, if you go to Kashmir, please reserve some portions as they are Muslims and deserve for it. You can give as a tips for their tourism service or by saffron or pashmina from them since some of the villagers are selling pashminas and saffrons at very cheap price. 

1g of Saffron sold for Rs100. Super cheap! 

13) Expect the unexpected: Some tourist attractions can be closed without early given notice. I experienced this when Qutub Minar closed due to ticketing system down in the afternoon and Red Fort also closed due to the cultural performance held next door to the Fort. What a bad day!

• Kindly share yours. Would love to read it! 

Incredible India Final Part

Being the last day in Kashmir and second final day in India, we woke up at 5am and get prepared to ensure we reached Srinagar Airport by 7am.

It is time to say goodbye to Kashmir. Again, we need to fill up departure form at the Airport. Will do come again, in the near future, of course!

Being a state of isolation, it is difficult to get internet and mobile connection here unless you bought local sim card, Airtel. You cannot roaming with your home country network and the best to get connected is by using Wi-Fi at your hotel. Please be reminded that boat house not providing you with Wi-Fi connection hehe.

Before leaving the boat house

The boat rider picked us at house boat at 6.15am while Fajr Adzan reverbed from the surrounding mosques. The boat ride to the road side took 20mins. The driver reached 10mins later and headed us to the airport.

The Shikara 

We reached airport around 7am. Airport gate was closed. We, and other vehicles waited outside the gate until its opened. After passing the gate, we need to go out from the car and get our luggage to the inspection belt for immigration inspections. We took back our beg and proceed to the airport main entrance.

We queued up at the main entrance for 30mins before the army allowed us to get into the airport (of course we need to pass through one more immigration inspection just after the entrance), and proceeded to the gate for boarding. And as usual, the flight got delayed again, for hour.

Kashmir from the air 

We, finally reached Delhi at 12pm (yeah, again!), picked up by Lucky Flower's driver. We supposed to go to Agra directly today. But, as usual, it is Delhi. We stucked in the traffic for almost hour before we exit to Yamuna Expressway.

Usual traffic conditions in Delhi

Stopped by at the road side stall to buy snacks. We skipped our lunch to rush to Agra but yet unlucky

We stopped by rest and relax plaza a long the way. Nothing much there except for the food and drink stalls. We had chai before leaving.

The guy selling Chai at rest and relax along the way to Agra 

A cup of Chai can keep away your worries for not arriving Agra on time hahaha

I worried actually that we couldn't make to Agra Fort and Taj Mahal this evening since we were still on the road at 4pm. Both monuments closed at 5pm. Either we let it go or visit either one the next morning before off to airport. At least something rather than nothing.

As expected, we reached Agra at 5.30pm and everything closed. The guide which waited us at the hotel brought us to tour the Agra Fort from the outside. What a bad day again! We could see the gate only of course!

Agra Fort. This is believed as Shah Jahan's room during his reign. 

An evening in Agra

We stopped by jewellery shop to look into rubbies and watch musical bands before back to hotel with high level degree of frustrations.

Hoping that it is fine, clear wheather early morning tomorrow.

Day 6

So, the final destination on the 6th day is Taj Mahal. We were given only 30mins to visit Taj Mahal and took pictures.

Me, in the background of Taj Mahal

Taj Mahal gate

The Taj Mahal is also known as "Crown of the Palaces". It is an ivory-white mausoleum made of by marble on the south bank of the Yamuna river in Agra. It was built in 1632 by the Mughal emperor, Shah Jahan (reigned from 1628 to 1658), to house the tomb of his beloved wife, Mumtaz Mahal.

How lucky Mumtaz, but in fact, i, myself don't need this. The truth of love is trust, respect and loyalty. That's it. 😁.

We rushed back to Delhi after half hour in Taj Mahal. It's not our luck again to snap good picture since it was a hazy morning. It's ok. Redha.

Our flight to Malaysia is at 1 pm Delhi time. We reached Delhi Airport just in time at 11.00am. Today, the driver aware the urgency as compared to yesterday, if not we might miss or late to catch the flight.

That's all about India journey. We missed a lot of things and places but it is not the sign that we are not going to repeat India. The visa damn expensive, so I need to fully utilise.

I will share the tips for India in my next post.

Full of uncertainty.

THE END.

Incredible India Part 4

Day 4

We have been brought to Pahalgam today. A

 Town which located 97km or 2.5hrs drive from Srinagar. Its lush green meadows and pristine waters of Lidder rivers enough to attracts tourists to visit. In winter, everything looks white and even the water is almost frozen. So, again, i will repeat this place during spring or summer next time Insyaallah. 

Road to Pahalgam

What's unique on our day to Palhagam was, the Prime Minister of India paid a visit to Dal Lake. Hence, all shops closed, people spent their precious time at home and very few seen on the road or town except for the police and armies. Easy to move around since lesser cars but some roads are closed so we need to go for alternatives. 

Along the journey, I could see Saffron field, which widely planted here. For those who don't know what is Saffron, it is a kind of spices used in the cookings derived from the flowers. Other than that, it can help to sharpened your memories and prevent cancer to your digestion system. Very expensive and in Malaysia, you can get it around RM28k per kg. In Kashmir, some villages will sell it to you at very cheap price. Take it and pay. This also one of the method to contribute and help them.

The lonely road

Saffron Field

This toll will be operated soon in Kashmir. The only toll that we found here. 

The lonely city

Finally, welcome to Pahalgam

We, finally reached Palhagam. The backdrops mostly covered with white blanket of snows. Pretty cold with temperate of 2degrees or lesser. The view, not much different with Sonamarg. The driver brought us to the touts.

The villages in the background of mountains

Lidder River

The activities here

The touts briefed us the activities that are available in Pahalgam. They offered horse riding to Baisaran, Dabyan, Kashmir Valley (1 route), Phalgam Valley, Kanimarg and Tulan Lake. So many places here but since we had little money left and cold and getting tired, we decided to choose Baisaran, Dabyan and Kashmir Valley only for horse riding route. The cost for this route after bargaining is Rs1000 per person, 1.5hrs return journey. 

Locals walked around. Maybe some of them are touts or horse guiders. 

The horses. Not much tourists here during winter

We passed by Kashmir Valley and Dabyan before reaching Baisaran. Very stunning view here with the half frozen pines, the white hills and the snow clad mountain at the back. 

Riding a horse also a new experience to me. A bit ackward to get into the horse and when it comes to the hilly route, i really felt like to fell down from the horse! 

At Baisaran, you can see people hanging cloths on a piece of wood. At first, i thought they were drying the cloths hehe. But when i came closer, actually they provided Pehran rental for pictures. The price is Rs100 per sets. Really cheap and I really suggest you to take this. On top of that, they also selling pashmina with cheap prices. Since we already bought a lot of pieces days before and our money not much left, so we refused to buy (I felt guilty actually and hope that better rezeki will comes upon them).

Selections of Pehran for rental 

The man assisted me in wearing sets of Pehran. I really love this! 

Me in Pehran

Horse riding

After the riding, we went to the restaurant nearby to have lunch. Lets look what we have at the picture below. The price is around Rs400 per persons. 

Kabab Kanti and Plain Bread. Delicious and i love this too! 

Switches in the restaurant. Only in Kashmir

After the lunch, we heading back to Srinagar. The Prime Minister still in the town so, some roads are still closed. Unfortune things happened when the driver need to u turn the car upon the road closure and the car tyre hit the steels that the police put in the middle of the road. So, the tyre became flat. We stopped by at the road side to change the tyre. It tooks around 20mins and the temperature outside was very cold. We, then continued our journey to the boat house. We will overnight in the boat house tonight. Again, unlucky, the road to the houseboat is closed. The driver asked me to negotiate with the army to open the blocks for our car to go through. Herm, me like...i believed that i am a brave person 😜. So, i spoke to one of the army, telling him that we were tourists and would like to get into our houseboat. The army told me to come back half an hour later since the VIP is still meeting at the Lake. OK then. 

The driver brought me to their relatives house. We have a rest here, has some biscuits and do some shopping! Again! Yes, they sold variety of cloths with cheap prices and accepted credit card payment. I bought 2 kurties with a price of RM30 for my mum 😁. 

We supposed to ride Shikara the boat, after dropped off our stuffs at the houseboat. But, yeah, its getting dark and do you think riding Shikara at night will give a great and amazing view? Of course not! So, we keep on waiting at the house. Of course its not half an hour as per army said 😭😭😭. 

The heater. Unique. 

Biscuits and Kahwa Tea

Around 7pm, we managed to get into our houseboat. Its very dark outside. We took the Shikara ride since it was already included in the package. Just enjoyed the night even i believed i could not see anything. The rides took around 1 hour. We passed by the night markets, hundreds of boat houses and....i don't know what since it was really dark!

On our way back, an old man with his boat came closer to our boat selling saffron. I don't have any feeling to buy anything that time, with little money, frustration for Shikara ride and of course the tiredness made me felt like nothing. I didn't entertain the old man but my friend did bought some. After came back to Malaysia, i felt so guilty for not buying (even 1 box) and prayed that Allah will bless him with a good life forever.

Shikara Ride

We went back to the boathouse after the ride and had our dinner. The houseboat located in the middle of the Dal Lake and i could say the weather is really cold even you were in the blanket. The heater also was very traditional. Using the gasoline to heat it up, with the smokes, the fire burning from the heater..  Errr... Pray that everything went alright. Refer to video below:

The host heat up the heater

The house boats

Its not our luck to enjoy the stunning view of Shikara ride at Dal Lake. Until next time. 

We slept early to catch the morning flight to Delhi the next morning! 

To be continued. ...