Intense Travelling 18/6/2008 - 15/7/2008

Subtitled: Or, why I am butt poor.

I can only handle so much decision-making in a morning.

I emailed all the guesthouses that me and Asa will stay in in Thailand, i.e.
1. Suk11 Hostel, Sukhumvit, Bangkok - 650Baht for a twin room, airconditioned
2. Sam's River Rafthouse, Kanchanaburi - 400 Baht for a twin room, airconditioned
3. Bann Kun-Pra Guesthouse, Ayutthaya - 600 Baht for a double room/two queensized bed room, no aircondition I think.

Waiting for them to get back to us. All in all I expect to spend like 1800baht (per pax) for 6 nights of accommodation, which isn't too bad I suppose. RM30 for one night. I do hope that the bookings will go through though.

Our tentative plan is

• 18/6/2008 - Reach Bangkok in the evening.
• 19/6/2008 - Take a train to Kanchanaburi for the Death Railway and surrounding museums, spend the night at Kanchanaburi
• 20/6/2008 - Go to the Erawan National Park for its beautiful waterfalls. Take a bus back to BKK.
  
• 21/6/2008 - Bangkok shopping
  
• 22/6/2008 - Bangkok shopping =D
• 23/6/2008 - Take a train to Ayutthaya, potter around for the day, stay for the night.
• 24/6/2008 - Leave Ayutthaya by train, be in time for the train back to Butterworth. Night in train.
• 25/6/2008 - Reach Butterworth, go to Penang, stuff face.
• 26/6/2008 - Leave Penang back to KL.

Anyone got any suggestions on what to do in Bangkok itself? Though our emphasis will still be on shopping, muahahaha. Bangkok - Yet another Promised Land! (Previous Promised Lands include Sweden and Japan.)

Then, 27/6/2008 - 30/6/2008 is reserved for LL who's gonna be back from Brisbane for a short vacation.

Val reaches on 1/7/2008.

• 1/7/2008 - Arrival, meander about, maybe watch a movie or something.
• 2/7/2008 - Take a bus to Cameron Highlands.
  
• 3/7/2008 - Maybe do a tour or some trails in Cameron
• 4/7/2008 - Back to KL, can use my mum's car 'coz it's weekend already, drive to Malacca, maybe without using the highway. We'll see what time we set off.
  
• 5/7/2008 - Malacca walk around, Jonker Street at night
• 6/7/2008 - Make way back to KL, passing through Putrajaya, Semenyih dam etc.
  
• 7/7/2008 - Crazy Package starts! - Leave KL in the morning to Taman Negara, pass by Jerantut and Kuala Tembeling, take boat at 2pm from Kuala Tembeling, reach Taman Negara by 5pm, do some jungle walks at night.
• 8/7/2008 - Trek up Bukit Teresek, go for canopy walkway, shoot rapids, meet orang asli, all in a day's work - optional night safari.
• 9/7/2008 - Leave Taman Negara at 8am, reach Jerantut at 10, take a bus and reach Kuala Besut at 5pm. Speedboat to Perhentian Islands. All transport connections arranged by tour agent.
• 10/7/2008 - Start Perhentian Islands package. Do island stuff, snorkelling, lazing by the beach, etc.
  
• 11/7/2008 - Island stuff.
• 12/7/2008 - Reach Kota Bharu by 2-3pm to check in for flight at 4 something. Reach KL in the evening.
  
• 13/7/2008 - Drive around somewhere. Weekend again woot!!
  
• 14/7/2008 - KL City Centre Public Transport Day Tour.
• 15/7/2008 - Val departs at noon.

Then. I leave for Singapore on 21st. The flow chart in the student guide says that I should be there one week earlier than the matriculation (on 24th), but I don't see the rationale in that yet, so I shall stick to 21st for the time being. If nothing to do after matriculation, tiptoe back to KL again. Then back to Singapore when school starts, early August.

The package that I'm taking to Taman Negara and Perhentian, if anyone's interested, is from NKS Travel.

The cost, per pax is:
RM370 - Taman Negara full board + activities package (ex-KL)
RM25 - Transfer to Kuala Besut jetty
RM440 - Perhentian package, staying in Flora Bay Resort
RM60 - One night extra accommodation in Perhentian
RM6 - Local bus transfer to Kota Bharu
RM76 - Flight from Kota Bharu back to KLIA
RM35 - one-way KLIA Express from KLIA back KL Sentral

And the total cost, for 5 nights' accommodation, food and transport is, *dang dang dang dang*

RM1007.

Aiyak. Just past RM1k.

The only thing that I could do to lower the cost is to set up the Perhentian itinerary on my own, which, according to some educated guesstimation would be like the following:

Fastboat - RM60 return
Accom - RM50 per night since it's high season, i.e. RM150(estimated)
Food - RM30 per day, i.e. RM90
Snorkelling trips with equipment - RM30 per trip for two trips: RM60

Perhentian trip cost: RM360, instead of RM500 like taking the package. But the accommodation would probably be more basic and I would have to go through all the hassle of booking and figuring stuff out. A source with some ideas of DIY Perhentian: *click*

The budget of the entire trip with Val I hope to keep it below RM1500, with Cameron and Malacca factored in.

The crazy back-to-backness of my plans is exhilarating yet faintly disturbing because it does look quite packed on paper. Aiya don't care lah. Calling NKS to book the crazy package now, and then have to install my scanner to scan some form that IRD NZ needs to refund my tax.

Guess how much they're giving me back? NZD83!!! For all that money they'd got from me, I get a dodgy NZD83 back! Sai hei.