Ayutthaya: God and Man

This picture was taken by me during trip in Ayutthaya - Thailand.

See the comparison between the man and the Wat always give me a little bit of chill. The Wat represent GOD's home and yes it is BIG comparing to the man standing. The man look so tiny!

Absurdly Beautiful: Mui Ne Sand Dunes

Personal Notes

After almost 6 hours on the bus from Saigon, we arrived in Mui Ne at 9 PM. It was already dark. Checked in at our hostel then we went to search for any food. In a second I know that Mui Ne has way different of tone compare to Saigon. Mui Ne is laid back and very relaxing beach town. I feel the holiday-vacation atmosphere. Tourists is normally everywhere and there is no typically Saigon hustle and bustle of course.

My main activities in Mui Ne was to see its Sand dunes. Coming from tropical country, never saw any Sand Dunes for my whole life, I had no expectation on what will I see in Mui Ne. Best time to visit the sand dunes would be either in Sunrise or Sunset when the temperature is not too high. I believe that each hostels have the sand dunes tour, just make sure that the price is normally fair. You need to get 4WD if you want to explore the sand dunes.

A blink and A glimpse: Saigon - Vietnam

When
6 – 9 December 2009


Travel Mate/s
Jack & Sat


Itinerary
6/Dec/2009 Jakarta (Indonesia) – Ho Chi Minh City (Vietnam)
7/Dec/2009 Ho Chi Minh City – Cu Chi Tunnel – Mui Ne
8/Dec/2009 Mui Ne – Ho Chi Minh City
9/Dec/2009 Ho Chi Minh City – Jakarta (Indonesia)


Travel Notes
Why I go to Vietnam then..it is all because of the spontaneous attitude toward the budget airline fair price and a friend invitation, a great opportunity combine with a tempting offer. And suddenly I have booked the ticket ^_^


Are you sure to have a holiday in Vietnam? Don’t you worried about the war? Yup that was my mom first reaction when I told her about this plan. The fact that Vietnam is famous because of the war which inspired some of great movies. But now Vietnam is an interesting destination for travel, because of its rich historical sites and nature beauty.

My Prayer Journey - Saigon (Vietnam)

When
6 – 9 December 2009

Travel Mate/s
Jack & Sat

Itinerary
6/Dec/2009 Jakarta (Indonesia) – Saigon/Ho Chi Minh City (Vietnam)
7/Dec/2009 Saigon/Ho Chi Minh City – Cu Chi Tunnel – Mui Ne
8/Dec/2009 Mui Ne – Saigon/Ho Chi Minh City
9/Dec/2009 Saigon/Ho Chi Minh City – Jakarta (Indonesia)

Personal Notes
What always make travel interesting would be: travel often placed us in an unusual condition to do our usual activities. And it will change our perspective on our usual activities forever.

Visit Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City) - Vietnam in 2009 exposed me to new level of traveling experience. I am a moslem, Saigon was my first visit to a city which moslem is not the majority unlikely in Jakarta (Indonesia) or Malaysia. The challenge was higher related with the food and my routine prayer.

Thailand – Cambodia Crossing the Border by Land: I dare you!

When
13 – 21 August 2010

Travel Mate/s
Atrie & Mik

Itinerary
13/Aug/2010 Jakarta (Indonesia) – Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia)
14/Aug/2010 Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia) – Chiang Mai (Thailand)
15/Aug/2010 Chiang Mai – Overnight in train to Bangkok
16/Aug/2010 Bangkok (Thailand) – Siam Reap (Cambodia)
17/Aug/2010 Siam Reap
18/Aug/2010 Siam Reap (Cambodia) – Bangkok (Thailand)
19/Aug/2010 Bangkok City Sightseeing
20/Aug/2010 Bangkok – Ayutthaya – Bangkok
21/Aug/2010 Bangkok (Thailand) – Jakarta (Indonesia)


Travel Notes

Back to year 2010, as part of my Thailand trip, I had a chance to insert a short trip to Siam Reap, Cambodia to see the majestic Angkor Wat.

The easiest and most comfortable way going to Cambodia from Thailand would be by Air. BUT at that moment (and might be until now), the airline cost from Bangkok to Siam Reap is high. One way ticket can cost me USD 200 more or less for only 1 hour of flight duration. This happenned due to the monopoly of Bangkok Airways (through Siam Reap Airlines as its affiliated) for the route.

Why I Like..or possibly Need to Travel?

Hear the question often lately due to my recent travelling vacation.
Actually, there are so many reason why I like to travel. For me travel is a desire or passion to see the other part of the world; see how it works and hopefully understand.

It is always super fun; the idea of once in a while putting myself in a distance & different situation/condition from my daily routine life. There is some energizing chemistry when we meet new people and exploring new places.

Some View from the Top - Mt. Kinabalu

It's the Climb - Mt. Kinabalu

When
17 – 19 May 2009

Travel Mate/s
Nian & Astri (my best Gals)

Itinerary
17/May/2009 Kota Kinabalu: City Center – Mt. Kinabalu
18/May/2009 Kota Kinabalu: Mt. Kinabalu
19/May/2009 Kota Kinabalu: Mt. Kinabalu – City Center

Travel Notes

(Happy Climbing)

Climbing Mt. Kinabalu – 4,092 metres above sea level – was my main reason going to Kota Kinabalu as part of my 2009 new year resolution to do something ‘extraordinary’ (refer to previous blog post: ‘Pack My Backpack to Kota Kinabalu’).

Pack My Backpack to Kota Kinabalu!

When
16 – 21 May 2009

Travel Mate/s
Nian & Astri (my best Gals)

Itinerary
16/May/2009 Jakarta (Indonesia) – Kota Kinabalu (Malaysia)
17/May/2009 Kota Kinabalu: Sunday Market in Gaya Street – City Sightseeing – Mt. Kinabalu
18/May/2009 Kota Kinabalu: Mt. Kinabalu
19/May/2009 Kota Kinabalu: Mt. Kinabalu – City Center
20/May/2009 Kota Kinabalu: Tunku Abdul Rahman Marine Park – Philipino Market – Waterfront
21/May/2009 Kota Kinabalu: Mall Hopping – Kota Kinabalu Airport – Jakarta (Indonesia)

Travel Notes
Why to go to Kota Kinabalu?
It was a part of my new year resolution back then in 2009, to do something extraordinary. Climbing Mount Kinabalu (4,092 metres above sea level) – located in Kota Kinabalu) which is a prominent & the tallest mountain on the island of Borneo (Kalimantan), the 20th tallest mountain in the world (*refer to wikipedia) and include in top 5 highest peak in Asia..well it should be one of the definition of ‘something extraordinary’ :)

And yes again, Mount Kinabalu is known to be the most accessible mountain in the world. It means no specialized mountain climbing skills required to conquer it. It is perfect!

Singapore - back then in 2008

(pedestrian crossing in Orchard Road)

It IS my First Time – Singapore!

When
14 – 18 February 2008

Travel Mate/s
Ata (my best friend in work)

Itinerary
14/Feb/2008 Jakarta – Batam – Harbourfront (Singapore) – Orchard Road (Singapore)
15/Feb/2008 Singapore: Bugis Village – Chinatown – Kampung Gelam – Suntec City – Merlion
16/Feb/2008 Singapore: Vivo City – Sentosa Island
17/Feb/2008 Singapore: City Hall – Raffles City – Clarke Quay
18/Feb/2008 Singapore: Harbourfront (Singapore) – Batam - Jakarta

Travel Notes
Yup Singapore, was first place for my overseas leisure trip as budget traveller.
Excited! I still could recall my feeling clearly toward our trip :)
Come from Jakarta, a crowded city, city of hustle bustle complete with its endless traffic jam during workdays (sometimes also in weekend), Singapore is like the opposite:)

The Introduction

Hi whoever you are who accidently or on purpose read this blog now. Welcome!

My name is Dian-the ordinary girl, born and lived in Jakarta, capital city of Indonesia. This is my travel blog. This blog will be about my travel contemplation, the places I have visit, might be about the people whom I met also the adventures that have changed me and become a part of me now.

Hope it will be nicely written, thus I could share what I have found during my travelling time, finally hope this blog could give you a glimpse of useful information, I will be more than happy if it could help you to plan your travelling or even just make you consider that travelling would be a worth to try new interesting activity:) .

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia in 2007 was my first time in overseas trip. It was business trip actually. After that I have travelled to Singapore, Kota Kinabalu (Malaysia), Ho Chi Minh City (Vietnam), Chiang Mai, Ayutthaya & Bangkok (Thailand) and Siem Reap (Cambodia). In Indonesia, I have visit Lampung (my mom’s hometown), Yogyakarta (my dad’s hometown), Bali, Jambi and Dieng.

Back to now March 2011, I plan to finish blog posting about places mention above before May 2011 when I will have my next destination ^_^.

Cross my finger.