The hidden Hotel Puri found at last!

The story begins on our brainstorming today. Lately, we tried to figure out how we can help writers to perform more accurate research. Each writers have their own way to do their travel research. Yet, a slight change in terms of keywords such as homestay and guesthouse can yield completely different result.

Lately, we are using Malacca as for one of our example to explore how we can turn the research better. Surprisingly, we stumbled into this nice little hotel in a baba nyonya style, only today! The name is Hotel Puri. We completely missed it because of only playing around with keyword ‘guesthouse’. Looks like it is another good option for Mid Range, recommended by many travelers.

You strike a lucky draw and win a free flight ticket to Kazan, Russia, next month. Oops… stop Googling… Sit back and start thinking of what questions you will ask to help you plan your trip. Post your question here.

Transportation, accommodation, visiting, dining and shopping can be costly if you don’t plan wisely. In total, we have spent USD 330 per person for our 6 days Cambodia trip and this is excluding the airline tickets. In average, we spent USD 50 per day and following are our itemized expenses to be shared:

The price of our guesthouses:
Room rate of Mandalay Inn in Siem Reap:
$20 USD per night for family room (3 persons),
$18 USD per night (2 persons)

Room rate of Golden Mekong hotel in Phnom Penh:
$15 per room per night for all room types

Day 1 – Siem Reap:
Transportation from airport to hotel:
- It’s Free! Mandalay Inn provided us free pick-up from airport to its guesthouse.
Walk from hotel to Old Market, Central Market, Royal Garden and National Museum
- It’s Free! But it took us more than 40 minutes.
Entrance Fee to Angkor Museum
- USD 12, trust me it is worthy! A place you must visit before trekking the Angkor Archeological Park.
Tuk-tuk fee back to hotel
- Usually USD 1 per destination, however we had paid usd 3 on that day.

Total: Around USD 40 spent on day 1 including guesthouse, meals and mineral water purchase.

Day 2 - Siem Reap:
Transportation for Angkor Archeological Park day tour:
- We hired 5 tuk tuk to Angkor Wat from the manager at Mandalay Inn during our trip. Usually each Tuk Tuk will cost $14 USD per day (normal hours starts from 9am), but since we departed on 5am for sunrise, they charged us $17 USD per tuk tuk. Note that 1 tuk tuk can fit 4 persons. Tuk Tuk for 3 persons will cost $14 USD per day.
Entrance Fee to Angkor Archeological Park day tour:
- USD 20

Total: Around USD 60 spent on day2 including guesthouse, meals and mineral water purchase.

Day 3 - Siem Reap:
Tour to Floating Village
- USD8 per person, not really recommended taking this tour.
Visit to Artisan d’angkor
- Free and introduced by a friendly tour guide.
Shopping and meals
USD 30

Total: Around USD 50 spent on day3 including guesthouse, meals and mineral water purchase.

Day 4 – Phnom Penh:
Bus Fare from Siem Reap to Phnom Penh
We ordered from the manager at Mandalay Inn.
Mekong Express Limousine from Siem Reap to Phnom Penh will cost $11.75 USD per person. This includes shuttle service from Mandalay Inn to bus station. However, this only applies to big group for our case.
If you buy directly from the Mekong Express Limousine Sales Office at the Central Market in Siem Reap, it is $8 per person for the locals (or if you ask a local to buy it for you) but usually they will charge tourist $10 per person. However, shuttle service from guesthouse to bus station is not included.

Price of tuk-tuk to Killing Field and S21:
We managed to bargain from $25 USD to $15 USD per tuk-tuk. One tuk tuk is good for 4 persons.

Entrance fee to Killing Field
Normal price USD 3, there was a discount as we went there late evening.
Entrance fee to S21:
Normal price USD 2, there was a discount as we went there late evening.

Total: Around USD 60 spent on day4 including guesthouse, meals and mineral water purchase.

Day 5 – Phnom Penh:
Walking tour around Phnom Penh includes, Wat Phnom, Central Market, Sorya Shopping Center, Royal Garden.
- Wat Phnom will charge USD 1 for foreign visit.
Motodup to night market
- USD 1 per person
Tuk tuk from night market back to hotel
- USD 2 per 4 person, after several attempts of haggling.
Entrance fee to National Museum
- USD 3
Shopping:
- USD 1 for sewing Cambodia name to shirt
- USD 3 for face sketching in night market

Total: Around USD 50 spent on day 5 including guesthouse, meals and mineral water purchase.

Day 6 – Phnom Penh:
Entrance fee to Royal Palace:and Silver Pagoda
USD 6.50 per person
From Hotel to Russian market, Cambodia Daily Office and Airport:
We manage to get a help from Mr. Neou Ty from Cambodia Daily to hire a van at USD 50, which is good for 10 persons each.
Shoping in Russian Market:
USD 20 for picture, karma and miscellaneous
Airport Tax:
USD 25
Total: Around USD 70 spent on day 6 including meals.

9 Oct 2008 Evening Banteay Kdei– Siem Reap
Shopping Rule of Thumb from Lily: Keep pretending not interested.
We were sitting along the lakeside opposite Banteay Kdei in Angkor Archeological Park. The golden sunset reflected from the lake surface and the windy breeze were comforting our exhausted body. Wherever we were in the Angkor Archeological Park, there are children and adults selling souvenirs or books. We used to say “No, Thanks you” with a wagging palm and walked away. However, we are too weary to walk this time. Our conventional way of “No Thanks and palm wagging” didn’t seem to work anymore.

There was our best seller I have ever met in Cambodia. At her age of 8 to 10 year olds, her ability and sincerity to sell out her souvenirs had impressed me.
“Buy something, Mr. Blue? “ She smiled to Wei Kiat in blue t-shirt, holding some postcards in her hands.
“No, thanks” Wei Kiat grinned.
“Mr. White?” She looked at me.
I didn’t say anything. Wearing a sun glasses, I acted a serious face and rejected.
“Where are you from?”
“Malaysia” I replied.
“Ok lah, Buy Something lah….”
We busted into laughter instantly after hearing our own English slang spoken by the little Cambodian girl.

“How about you, Mr Blue” She was looking at Nicholas who was in blue too.
“How much?”
“1 postcard, 1 usd”
“….”
“Ok, 1 usd, 2 postcard.”
The conversation goes on and it was a successful deal as I saw Nicholas has paid the little girl a few bucks for the postcards.

Meanwhile, Lily at the other corner was telling us that the quality of the t-shirt was actually good. She managed to bargain until one t-shirt at 1USD. However she insisted to pretend that she had not interest on the t-shirts to any sale-girls.

It’s almost time to leave. After getting into the tuk-tuk, we noticed that Lily and her hubby were not following and were inside one of the stalls. We waited patiently for few minutes and she came back cheerfully. She winked and pointed seven fingers out and continued with six fingers, gesturing that she managed to buy seven t-shirts with six USD only.

10 Oct 2008 Evening Old Market – Siem Reap
Shopping Rule of Thumb from Elaine: Bulk Purchase
Elaine planned to buy Karma – Cambodian Silk Scarf, as souvenirs for her family and friends. After asking all of us on the number to be bought, she planned to use bulk purchase for bargaining tartic.

Pointing to pieces of colorful Karma, she asked the lady owner of a stall in Old Market, “How much are these?”

The lady owner was a bit panic when seeing more than fifteen of us gathered in her stall. Since she heard we are speaking Chinese, she asked her favorable daughter, Ah Hua, to entertain us. Ah Hua has a fair complexion and is unique comparing to most of the Cambodian we had met. With her sharp-pointed nose and oval shaped face, she managed to speak a fluent Mandarin as a Chinese. Hence, our bargain sessions were in Mandarin.

“USD 3 per piece” Ah Hua replied.
“If we buy likes 20 pieces, any discount?”Elaine continued.
“Aiyooo… USD 2.50 per piece, I didn’t earn anything, didn’t cheat you.” Ah Hua insisted.
“We buy so many, give more discount, USD 2?”, Elaine gestured her disagreement on the price.
“These are USD2, those are USD 2.50”, Ah Hua directed us on two different quality of Karma. “USD 0.5 to you is like so cheap back in Malaysia, please have sympathy for us.”
“USD 2 per piece” Elaine insisted and intended to leave if her piece is not met.
“Deal, deal…” Ah Hua replied, “USD 2 then.”

Ah Hua started to grin and busy putting the all the selected Karmas to plastic bag for us.
“You speak Mandarin so well, where do you learn it from?” I asked.
“It’s from local language center”
“Do you have magnets?”
“Yes, certainly, come over here…”
After paying all the souvenirs, I joked with Ah Hua “You have an awesome earnings today!”
“Aiyooo.. I didn’t earn anything, didn’t cheat you” Ah Hua grinned while patting on my right arm.
We left Ah Hua stall after Daniel taking photo for Ah Hua and me.

10 Sep 2008 Night Market – Siem Reap
Shopping Rule of Thumb: Check out the better bargain in night market
It was our last night in Siem Reap before traveling to Phnom Penh next morning. After surveying around, it was found that the night market offers a better bargain than the Old Market. The better quality of Karma is selling USD2 in night market. Some of the adult and baby t-shirt are selling cheaper.

12 Oct 2008 Sorya Shopping Center – Phnom Penh
Shopping Rule of Thumb: Buy groceries in shopping center as locals do
Strolling along the grocery market of Sorya Shopping Center, I was looking for mineral water for drinking and Coke cans for collection. Since the market is visited by locals mostly and the price is fixed, I managed to purchase some groceries with a fair price as a local did. Normally, Cambodians intended to sell some products to tourists starting from 1 USD. The locals used to get a lower price.

13 Oct 2008 Evening Russian Market – Phnom Penh
Shopping Rule of Thumb from Siew Ling: Ask for the half of price given
It was our last market visit in Cambodia. Daniel and Siew Ling had planned to grab the last chance to purchase some pictures in Russian Market for their house decorations.

“This Angkor Wat picture is USD 20” the stall owner informed on the price.
“USD 10, USD 10” Siew Ling replied boldly.
“No, no, USD 18.”
“Ten, Ten” Pointing out all of her fingers, Siew Ling repeated.
“No, no…” the stalls owner declined the price, and lowered the price.

The final deal of the purchase didn’t go to USD 10 though, however, the price has been marked down much lower than the original price.

Gear you should pack - Medical Mask

As you travelling around Cambodia with a motordup or a tuk tuk or walking, especially to the floating village in Siem Reap, and the Killing Field in Phnom Penh, the journey will be very dusty. You are advised to wear a medical mask during the journey. Most of the locals are doing so.

Food you shouldn’t miss - (Kuyteav) Chicken rice noodle soup (5000 Riels, 1.25 USD)

You should try this yummy rice noodle early in the morning at the Soup Dragon, inside Old Market Area of Siem Reap. Take a slurp on the hot rice noodles in the morning with a sip of local brewed coffee.

Budgetary place to eat- Chao Praya Cafe/Restaurant

Situated opposite of the Angkor National Musuem in Siem Reap, the Chao Praya Cafe is the best place for you to chill out after a lengthy walk in the museum. Enjoy the air-conditioned and Wifi (USD3 per hour) access cafe, with comfortable sofa. You must try the cold Frappe (Ice Blended Mocha and Chocolate) and the stir fried basil with chicken (USD 2.50) in this restaurant.

Riverfront of Phnom Penh

There is an on-going project for flood protection and drainage improvement at the Riverfront of Phnom Penh. This project is planned to be completed at year 2010. Riverside walking pathway are expected to be constructed by then too!

Royal Palace and the Silver Pagoda opens at 8am to 11am and 2pm to 5pm everyday.

There is a Night Market inside the Old Market Area of Phnom Penh at night during Saturday and Sunday. It is visited mostly by locals. Experience the lifestyle of Cambodians while shopping in the night market.

If you would like to experience the city view of Phnom Penh, you are suggested to go to the top floor of Sorya Shopping Center. Grab a Grilled Chicken Burger at the Mc Grill and enjoy the city view of Phnom Penh. It is a great hang out place for teenagers who like roller skating.

If you like the calligraphy of Cambodian, you are suggested to walk along the Street 53 south of Sorya Shopping Center. Along this street, you will see a lot of locals sewing Cambodian names with a sewing machine. Students in Cambodia are required to wear uniform with their name sewed at the top of the right pocket of their shirt. Hence, if you would like to get your name sewed, you can ask the local to get your name translated and sewed on your shirt at USD 1. Their dexterity in handicraft can get your name done in minutes.

There are a lot of places to eat in Yangon. It depends on what kind of food do you want to eat. At the food stalls on the road sides or at a restaurant? Or even hotel?

I used to eat Kyae-Oh when I go back to Yangon. It is a kind of rice noodle with chicken or pork soup with different kinds of pork organs (you can eliminate them if you don’t eat those). You can order without soup too. It is called Si-chat. Some said it is Chinese food, some said it’s Burmese. Well, it is still good no matter what. One of the famous Kyae-oh houses is YKKO. They have seven or eight branches. There you can order grilled potatoes (kind of barbecue, tiny potatoes put into sticks) and grilled ladyfingers (a kind of veggie).

You can order fresh drinks too. I used to have sugar cane juice. It is freshly juiced and natural. I can’t find the address right now. One is one Sayasan Road, near Kokine Swimming pool. One is near Hledan Junction. One is near Myay Ni Gon Junction.

If you go to China town, you can see a lot of food stalls along the road too. For Thai food, Sabai Sabai is one that I recommend. The house looks colonial style and it is clean too. Another one is Phai Lin on Pyay Road. I don’t have a Yangon directory here in US. I’m sorry about that. I hope you can find the directory in hotels inside the country.

For snack, fried gourd on the bank of Inya Lake is pretty famous and it’s a place where university students used to hang out. Along the Mahabandoola Road in downtown, there are several food stalls which offer indian snacks like samusa, onion balls, grilled or fried chicken in indian style and other Burmese recipe too.

For fine dining, I suggest Karaweik. It is on the big golden mythical bird shape boat facing the serene Kandawgyi Lake and famous Shwedagon Pagoda. It is really beautiful. I guess they have buffet for evening (I ate there last year). So, I hope they still do. In the evening, they have traditional burmese dance and several other show which is free if you have dinner there.

A4tripians are always trying their best to provide a comprehensive and yet affordable guide and of course other than that, we are trying hard to break the language barrier. After few weeks time of translation, we are happy to announce that Phnom Penh guide now is available in French Version.

Big credit goes to Chinseng, Lina, Marie Claude, and Nicholas. *clap clap*

Pssst…. Phnom Penh in Simplified Chinese is coming up too!

Buy & Download Phnom Penh Guidebook here!

Beef Noodles
Hanoi is famous with its beef noodles. Tourist can see a lot of stalls selling beef noodles along the streets. Vietnamese will use yellow beef and quality rice to make the beef noodles. Hence, Beef noodles is a must try in Hanoi.

Chicken Noodles
Chicken noodles are famous as beef noodles. Tourist can find lots of stalls selling chicken noodle in Hanoi, too. A bowl of chicken noodles not only contains chicken and noodle but also eggs, meat and vegetables. The stall owner will put some fresh lemons on the table. It’s totally your choice, to add or not to add the lemon into your chicken noodles.

Prawn Cookies
Famous food in Hanoi. Restaurants located in West Lake sells very nice prawn cookies.

Fried Spring Roll
Vietnamese favorite food. Outer part of the spring roll is made by glutinous rice.

Green Bean Cakes
Green Bean Cakes are Vietnamese traditional cakes. The most famous shops which sell these cakes are golden dragon brand.

Baked Squids
Baked Squids is also a well-known snacks in Hanoi. It can buy in Hanoi’s old street night market.

Hanoi Travel Guide

1. Forbidden City ( the Imperial Palace )
The Forbidden City was the place where the emperors of the Ming and Qing dynasties lived and ruled. Now it is open to the public as a museum where people can see the great traditional architecture, enjoy the treasures kept in the palace, and learn legends and anecdotes about the imperial families and their court.

2. Tiananmen Square
The Tian’anmen Square is the center of Beijing and the largest and most famous square in the world.

3. Great Wall
The Great Wall is famous for its length and the difficulties of its construction. It stretches about 5,000 kilometers from Shanhaiguan in the east to the Jiayuguan in the west. Used for defense in ancient times, it is now one of the few objects on earth visible from space. Some sections that have been renovated and are opened to public in north Beijing are Badaling, Mutianyu, Jinshanling and Simatai.

4. Summer Palace ( Yiheyuan )
This man-made park, with its large lake and high hills, was built in the 1700’s.

5. Temple of Heaven ( Tiantan )
The Temple of Heaven Park is a large park in southeast of Beijing. It was once an imperial place of worship.Emperors worshipped at this Temple.

6. Ming Tombs ( 13 tombs in Ming Dynasty )
Most emperors in Imperial China spent exorbitant sums on the construction of their tombs. The Ming dynasty tombs are to the northwest of Beijing and the Qing tombs to the east and southwest of Beijing. They are a considerable distance from the city. Most tourists find it better to join a tour. Usually, people visit the Ming Tombs and the Badaling Great Wall on the same day because they are close to each other.

7. Hutong Pedicab Tour ( Shichahai Area )
Shichahai is one of the best places to view well-preserved hutong and siheyuan. Visiting hutong by pedicab is a popular activity for visitors from China and abroad.

8. Lama Temple ( Yonghegong )
Yonghegong was originally the residence of Qing Emperor Yongzheng before he ascended the throne. After he entered the Forbidden City to be the emperor, he converted it to a lamasery. A lamasery is a temple for lamas and is similar in style and decoration to the Buddist temples of Tibet.

9. Beihai Park ( Winter Palace )
Beihai, once an Imperial Palace, is now a public park that attracts many visitors. Try boating in the North Sea or make reservations for a meal at FangShan, a popular restaurant located right in the park.

10. Beijing Capital Museum
The Temple of Confucius was initially built in 1302 and additions were made during the Ming and Qing dynasties. It has a total area of 22,000 square meters (5.4 acres). It is the second largest temple constructed for Confucius, the greatest thinker and educationalist in ancient China, ranking only behind the Temple of Confucius in Qufu, Shandong Province.

Beijing Travel Guide

Just to let everyone have a little sneak peak of what’s coming up within the next few weeks. a4tripians are working hard to make sure that more travel guides are going to be released and ready for sale by these coming weeks. So, that means more varieties of travel guides (in terms of different places and different languages) will be available for everyone’s convenience.

So, guidebooks that are currently ready and on sale are:

Cambodia - Siem Reap English Travel Guide

Cambodia - Pnom Penh English Travel Guide

Also, we have just launched our:

Indonesia - Yogyakarta English Travel Guide

Apart from these which are already launched and on sale, we have a few draft travel guides on sale such as:

Cambodia - Siem Reap French Travel Guide (Draft Version)

China - Beijing English Travel Guide (Draft Version)

China - Beijing Chinese Travel Guide (Draft Version)

Of course, there are other travel guides which aren’t ready yet as some of them are still under the proof reading stage. For example:

Cambodia - Siem Reap Japanese Travel Guide
Vietnam - Hanoi English Travel Guide

With all these goodies coming out soon, it looks like Christmas might be arriving a little earlier than expected

In the far northwestern coast of Peninsular Malaysia, lies an archipelago of 99 peaceful islands called Langkawi. This gem of Kedah is mysteriously hidden with a fascinating heritage of legends and myths, which depicts giants and gigantic birds, warriors and maidens, wars and battles.

As a natural paradise, Langkawi is gifted with beaches, waterfalls, mangroves, caves, rainforests, hills and mountains. Thanks to the power of nature, Langkawi has been given the Geopark status by UNESCO, for its geoheritage features and outstanding geological landscape. Thus, making Langkawi Southeast Asia’s the first geopark and Malaysia’s pride.

Langkawi islands are laced with fine white sandy beaches, and surrounded by clear emerald water. Langkawi is a perfect place for doing everything or nothing at all. You can either enjoy nature-based activities such as watersports, scuba diving, caves exploring and jungle trekking, or laze by the seashore and watch the world go by.

Wait! There’s more! There are also other tourist attractions that are worth visiting and sight-seeing. Leave your worries and doubts behind, and make your way to Langkawi. Treat yourself a relaxing holiday and explore this mysterious island. A host of adventures await you…

Langkawi Cable Car, at Oriental Village. Taken this view at 708m above sea-level. The top station provides a spectacular 360 degree panoramic views of the Langkawi islands, Kedah, and Southern Thailand.

Pulau Payar. About 45 minutes by ferry from the main Langkawi Island. The marine park teems with a fascinating diversity of marine life and vegetation.

Tanjung Rhu. Another beach which is located in the northern tip of the island.

Pantai Cenang (Cenang Beach). The most famous and most happening place in Langkawi, where you can enjoy all sorts of activities at the beach, like watersports, BBQ-ing, drinking beer, sun-bathing, taking a stroll along the shore or just watch the sun slowly set behind the horizon.

Langkawi Travel Guide