My First Backpacking Trip ...

"Travel is not really about leaving our homes, but leaving our habits." - Pico Ly

‘Backpacking’ .. hmm .. sounds cool .. After tough days working on budgeting 2 years ago, I was ready for a backpacking trip with the gals (Devy and Shinta). It was our first backpacking trip to Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand in 5 days. The trip was kind a sponsored by Airasia cuz we got all the tickets for free .. yiihaaaaa ...

Everything was ready .. till another occasion came that made me have to cut my leave into 3 days only .. hiks .. Well, at least I didn’t lose the whole plans, especially the best moments. So here we go Backpacking !!!

Started with Devy and Shinta left to Kuala Lumpur for the first day trip, then moved on to Singapore the following day. I joinned them in Singapore on Day 2 night. I flew from Jakarta to Batam in the afternoon and then crossed to Singapore from Batam Center using Ferry. It was about 9 pm local time when I arrived and met them at Lucky Plaza where we stayed that night. Glad to know they had good experiences during 2 days trip in KL and Singapore .. one night before, they spent the night in the the train that brought them to Singapore from KL .. huhu .. cool .. next time I have to try that.

Unexpectedly, a month before, I got a free trip to Singapore after attending workshop in Batam. So, this was my second time visiting Singapore. Thanks Lord for giving me an exchange of my backpacking trip in Singapore :) Having enough rest at night, we took a small walk in the morning to find nasi lemak for breakfast, which was quite empty at that early time. After having breakfast, we packed up for our flight to Bangkok.

Around 11 am local time, we landed in Bangkok .. “Sawadhi Ka !!”
From airport, we went to Opera Hotel, near Phetchaburi Soi 11. Heading the direction to city centre of Bangkok, my eyes seized surrounding through the window. My first impressions about this city was that it's not so much metropolis like Jakarta. But soon I was wondering, why so many King’s pictures everywhere:-? Later I found that Thailand was preparing for King’s birthday. (So … what .. :-?? )

First Stop: Opera Hotel
We booked one room for three of us with an extra bed. Quite clean and cheap. After dropping off our backpack and praying, we had lunch in First Hotel, in front of Opera Hotel, which offered Moslem and Indian food. Having the energy back, we started our trip.

Next Stop: Pratunam Market
By walk, only about 15 minutes away from the hotel. Pratunam is the place for souvenirs (clothes especially) with quite low prices. Tiny stalls and shops are crushed together on both sides. Again my eyes caught something weird, everyone was selling yellow shirts. Then I got the same answer .. that’s for King’s birthday, cuz everyone would wear yellow shirts on that Day to show their support for the King. Hmm .. do people in Thailand very respectful to the King, or is it because the King is very narcissistic .. :-??

I’m glad we put Pratunam in our “Places to Visit" list that time. Shopping Bangkok was amazing, everything was cheap. You could get a whole new wardrobe if you want to .. just remember not to bring too many stuffs during backpacking !! :)

Next Stop: Paragon Mall
By Tuk tuk, around 20 minutes from Pratunam. Tuk tuk is a three-wheeled small taxi in Thailand, like Bajaj in larger size. Usually the driver doesn’t speak English. So all we had to do was just appoint the place on the map, then bargain :) Nevertheless the miss-communication with driver, Tuk tuk was our favorite vehicle in Thailand.

Paragon mall itself was like other malls in Jakarta. We just spent our time before we went to Chao Phraya in the evening.

Next Stop: Chao Phraya river
Chao Phraya is the most famous river in Thailand, not the longest one, but the most beautiful one I think. It stretch over 370 kilometers, with temples on both sides. Usually tourists come at night and have their dinner on the cruise, which cost around 1,200 baht per person (+/- Rp 300,000 that time). But we decided not to go with the cruise.

We stopped our VIP vehicle (Tuk tuk) at Royal Orchid Sheraton Hotel, then walked to a private pier near Sheraton. There we rented a long tail boat which cost 1,000 baht per hour (Rp 250,000). The boat actually could carry a maximum of 6-8 people, but we were only 3 persons that time. No dinner on board, no live music like on cruise, but we enjoyed our trip so much. We found our self spellbound by the beautiful and fascinating view. The illuminated buildings on both sides, really awesome and romantic .. I wish I could be there again someday with my Hub :)


Next Stop: Phat Phong


This is also a very famous place in Thailand, especially for men :) A red-light district of Bangkok where you can see Thai ‘Not Real Girls’ wearing bikinis dancing in the lights and pubs. Bars and pubs were there among the stalls selling Thailand’s souvenirs. I was simply surprised and amazed by it all. From the outside, I couldn’t grab they were actually men.


Next Stop: Suan Lum
It’s the official night bazaar in Bangkok, a place where we can easily find Thai silk, or the intricately woven clothing, or handicrafts with the best price .. of course if we're patient enough to haggle.


We arrived there at 11 pm. Usually the stalls open till midnight. Unfortunately most of the stalls were closed that time, due to military coup taking over the power from Thaksin. Only some stalls still open, and we tried to find something for souvenirs.

People were all gathered in the hall, watching the announcement in the television. However we didn’t understand what the man said, no one speak in English either .. So we just went back to the hotel after bought some souvenirs.

Next Day: Grand Palace
In the morning, tanks and soldiers were just like artist, they were everywhere and people took their picture, including me :) The coup didn’t stop tourism activities in Thailand anyway. So we went to Grand Palace.

We were so delighted with the most beautiful temples we’ve ever seen; the Emerald Buddha, Grand Palace, Wat Po, and Temple of the Reclining Buddha.



Next Stop: Golden Mount
Not far from the Grand Palace, there was Wat Saket or Golden Mount, the oldest temples in Bangkok. To enter the Temple, we had to climb the stairs to the top. When you are at the top terrace of the temple, you would see a superb view of Bangkok. Best time to visit this temple is in the morning or in the afternoon when the sun goes down. Cuz if you come in the mid day, you’ll feel like there are 5 suns above Bangkok :)

Next Stop: Jewelry Shop
This is apparently not the nice part of our trip. We were informed by a ‘nice’ person in Golden Mount that there was a promotional program from the government in this Jewelry Shop. We went there, bought some souvenirs which were not cheap .. but later we found it not a good quality. Well .. that was a lesson to learn, to be more careful buying Jewelry in a new place.

End of story in Bangkok: Small reunion with old friend
It was a valuable moment meeting an old friend, Yanti in Bangkok, cuz it had been quite a while since we met last time in Djokdja. Yanti is one of my best friends when we were in college. And she was taking her Master in Bangkok that time. Too short to meet her but enough for a small reunion, and it was a nice closing of our trip in Bangkok :)


Next Destination: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
At 00.55 pm we landed in LCCT airport, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. By bus we went to KL City Center (KLCC). We searched for a hostel near KLCC. Then we found Wisma Mehta, and rented a room in the third floor which cost 70 rm. After dropping off our stuffs, at 4 pm we went to KLCC. We planned to go to Genting, unfortunately the bus was full. So we changed our plan.

Next Stop: Lake Gardens (Taman Tasik Perdana)
By taxi we went to the Lake Garden (Taman Tasik Perdana), it cost around 13 rm. Lake Garden is the botanical garden in the heart of Kuala Lumpur. It offered a wide range of facilities such as playgrounds, jogging tracks, exercise stations and rowing boats while other attractions within the park include a bird park, a butterfly park, flower gardens, and the National Monument. We spent most of our time in the National Monument because it was very cloudy that time and about to rain. On the way to the Lake Garden, we saw Istana Raja and stopped by for a while to take the picture

Next Stop: Masjid Negara
Located in Jalan Perdana, Masjid Negara is one of the most prominent buildings in the city, even in Asean. With modern design of traditional Islamic art, calligraphy and ornamentation, it become Malaysia's principal mosque. From ex Civil Engineer's point of view :), it is a unique building with 18 points of umbrella-shaped dome.

Next Stop: Masjid Jamek
At 7 pm we went to the oldest remaining mosque of KL, Masjid Jamek. The architecture of Masjid Jamek was pretty awesome. With red-bricked structure, it features attractive gold onion-shaped domes. This striking red-brick and marble building is inspired by the Indian Islamic architecture. The mosque was easily to reach by LRT (station Masjid Jamek), and only one LRT stop to Pasar Seni Station where we would find the Central Market nearby.

Next Stop: Central Market
Just 10 minutes walk to reach this place after stopping at Pasar Seni Station. Central Market is a one stop center for Souvenirs from Malaysia, many different handicraft items, paintings, etc can be found here. We bought some souvenirs before the stalls were closed. It was almost 9 pm that time. But I was happy enough cuz I’ve got the Fridge Magnet to complete my collection. Fridge Magnet is a small but must to have souvenir wherever I go. Then we went back to the hostel for rest.

The Following Day: The last day of backpacking
We woke up early in the morning, packed up and got ready for our last day trip. It was 6.30 am when we checked out from the hostel (finally, after we hardly tried to make the Indian man opened his eyes and realized that 3 gals were about leaving his hostel :). Then we had our breakfast downstairs where an Indian Restaurant was already open.

First Stop: The Famous Petronas Twin Towers
At the last day of our trip, we went to the most famous and attractive building in Malaysia, Petronas Twin Towers. Having a pair of 88-story buildings with 452 meters of height, Petronas become the world's tallest twin towers. We were lucky that time cuz we came early in the morning (even before the ticket counter was opened – 8.30 am), cuz usually there are post-timed later and you'll need to come back for next schedule. To manage the visitors and considering the building capacity, a schedule was made so everyone can enjoy visiting the building.

First a group of visitors which consist of 15-20 people were directed to an area to see exhibition of historical facts and information about Petronas. Then after about 15 minutes, we would be directed to a small theatre for a viewing of an introduction movie of Petronas. After the screening we were led into a service elevator to go up to the sky bridge. The bridge connects the two towers in two floor levels, 41st and 42nd floor. The 41st floor was the one that is open to the public for viewing. It wasn't that high, but quite good enough to see the city in bird's eye view.


Next Stop: KL Tower
It’s close enough to walk from Petronas to KL Tower. KL Tower is telecommunications and broadcasting tower, located on a hill. That’s why it appears taller then Petronas. The height it self is 421m. Actually this tower has an observation deck, where we could get a better bird's eye view of the city than at the Petronas Towers. But we didn’t go to the top that time. We enjoyed watching the Tower from the outside. Besides, I was really interested with a musical show at the upper ground.

I felt so familiar with the instrument .. yeah .. it was Gamelan. Our traditional Javanese music. Suddenly my nationalism was revived. I wanted to know how they introduce this instrument to the audience .. So I got closer to the show, then I was relieved getting the answer, “It’s from Java Indonesia”, said the player.

KL Tower also provided a romantic dinner at the top of the Tower, but of course we couldn't make it that time cuz we visited it in the afternoon and gotta flight back to Indonesia in the evening. Hope I could make it sometimes with my Hub :)

Next Stop: Butterfly Park and Bird Park
Now it’s time to really enjoy the Butterfly Park and the Bird Park. I usually am not a massive fan of animal attractions, I don’t really enjoy seeing caged animals. But this is a really great place. If you are a keen photographer as the birds seem to almost pose for the camera. See this one :)

Well .. that was end of our backpacking trip story. At 3.30 pm we rode a bus to LCCT airport to catch Airasia. Our thankful to Airasia which flew us to 3 countries for free. And a special greatful thanks to my mates Devy and Shinta for the unforgettable trip. Wondering for the next free backpacking trip with you gals, or with you my Hubby :)