Budget Travel Tips and Travel Itineraries for the Budget Conscious Traveler

1. Banawe Rice Terraces

A 2000 year old mountain carvings that is referred to as the Eighth Wonder of the World. It is also part of UNESCO World Heritage Sites. About 9 hours drive from Manila.

Banawe Rice Terraces

2. Callao Caves (Tuguegarao City)

Home to the magnificent Callao Caves that has crystal rock formations and a chapel inside. Read our Guide to Callao Caves.

Chapel inside Callao Caves

3. Vigan (Ilocos Sur)

Vigan is another world heritage site. It houses an ancient hispanic town.

Vigan, Ilocos Sur

4. Ilocos Norte

Ilocos Norte is home to Pagudpod which is usually referred to as Boracay of the North because of its fine white sand beaches. Other than Pagudpod, there are a lot of tourist attractions like Cape Bojedor, Giant Wind Mills of Ilocos and Paoay Church.

Cape Bojedor Light House, Ilocos Norte

Gian Windmills of Ilocos, Ilocos Norte

White Sand Beach of Pagudpod, Ilocos Norte

5. Baguio City

Baguio City is a small, highly urbanized city that is known for its cold climate and pine trees. It was built by the Americans so there’s a certain “Old American” feel to it.

Kennon Road

Singapore is most probably the best place to go to if you are a foodie. Since I lived in Singapore for 3 years, I’ve tried almost every cuisine they can offer and can roam around the city with my eyes closed (locals ask me for directions, fyi). Ever since leaving the country in 2004, I’ve been traveling there every year to eat. Here are my top 8:

1. Laksa
   
   Curry like spicy noodle soup with coconut milk, thick vermicelli noodles, tofu puff, bean sprouts, slices of fish cake, cockles, prawns. This is definitely my favorite Singaporean dish.

    

   
   

2. Mee Pok
   
   Also known as minced pork noodles. You can have the soup combined in or separated (also known as dry in Singaporean terms). It is served with toppings of fish balls, sliced fish cakes, , minced meat, meat balls, lettuce, beansprouts, and sometimes with a crunchy meat topping. I prefer the “dry” version.A review of a famous stall that serves mee pok can be found here.

    

3. Fried Kway Teow
   Flat rice noodles fried with eggs , onions, garlic, prawns, cockles and chili. Yumm..

    

4. Cereal Prawns
   Best cereal prawn I’ve tried is probably at a restaurant near Kembangan Station. I forgot the name of the restaurant but its not so fancy, you just have to walk past Jln Masjid then turn left. You can easily notice it because a lot of people are eating there.

    

5. Tahu Telor
   This dish was introduced to me by a good friend. The best one I tried is from the food court of Raffles City Shopping Centre (just at the exit of city hall mrt station)

    

6. Yong Tau Foo
   Another noodle soup but this time you get to choose the ingredients (fish balls, crab sticks, bittergourds, cuttlefish, lettuce, ladies fingers, as well as chilis, and various forms of fresh produce, seafood and meats common in Chinese cuisine). Also available in soup or “dry”. I prefer the dry with the black sauce and flat noodles.

    

   
   

7. Fried Carrot cake
   It’s not really carrot but not sure why they called it fried carrot cake. You can find this at almost any hawker center in Singapore but I would recommend Lau Pa Sat (Raffles mrt station exit). Its available in black or white, but I prefer the black.

    

8. Roasted Duck Rice
   Roasted Duck is still better in HongKong but in Singapore, you can try the one along South Buonavista Road (Lim Seng Lee Duck Rice). They are one of the most famous food stalls that serves roasted duck rice/noodle. I should know, I used to live at Buona Vista park which is 2 minutes walk away from the place.

    

   
   

I love long weekends because we get to go on long road trips like the one we took recently to Tuguegarao City. 10 hours of long and winding road later, our bodies ached but taking the trip was all worth it. It’s a very scenic trip since you’ll be crossing 2 mountains on the way. If you’re traveling from Manila, the best time to leave is around 10:30pm so you’ll reach Isabela during sunrise.

How to go to Tuguegarao (where Callao Caves is)

Cebu Pacific has daily flights to Tuguegarao. Travel time by plane is about an hour.

By road, you can take bus from Victory Liner or Baliwag Transit which should take you there in 12 hours.

Since this trip was a photography trip, we decided to bring a car and just drive to Tuguegarao. Since it is our first time to drive there, we got lost 2 times so it took us about 10 hours to finally arrive in our destination. I relied mostly on Google Maps and our reliable tricycle drivers. Yes, if you’re unsure, just ask the local tricycle drivers, it doesn’t hurt to ask anyway.

Driving Directions from Manila to Tuguegarao:

From Manila, take NLEX then SCTEX going to Baguio. Upon the last SCTEX exit (Tarlac City), turn right and take the alternate route to Baguio via La Paz (through this path, you will take La Paz going to Victoria, Victoria to Pura then Pura to Guimba). Upon turning right to Guimba, turn left on the first major road that you will see. This will lead you to Maharlika Highway. If you’re unsure, ask the locals about directions going to either Science City of Munoz, Central Luzon State University or Maharlika Highway. When you see the Central Luzon State University, you are already on Maharlika Highway and you just need to traverse that until Tuguegarao (about 8 hours drive).

Here’s the map from La Paz to CLSU:

This map of Tuguegarao might come in handy:

View Larger Map

Where to Stay

We stayed at Hotel Roma and paid about 2,500 for a very big room for 3 people including breakfast. Our guide says its the best hotel in Tuguegarao. I haven’t tried the others yet but there are a couple of others that you can try (taken from http://www.lakwatsero.com/info/callao-cave/):

• Hotel Candice, Blumentritt St, Tuguegarao (Contact No: 078-8442001; Fax No: 078-8442003)
• Hotel Delfino, Gonzaga St, Tuguegarao (Contact No: 078-8441314)
• Hotel Lorita, Rizal St, Tuguegarao (Contact No: 078-8441390)
• Pensione Roma, Luna St, Tuguegarao (Contact No: 078-8441057)
• Bed & Breakfast Pension House (Contact No: 078-8464743/+639206666997)

What to Eat

You have to try Pansit Batil-Patong. You can read a reivew about this dish from OurAwesomePlanet. We had ours at Gretchen’s which you can easily find at the corner of  Magallanes and Zamora St.

You also have to try their Milk Candy. It’s like pastillas but flat and sweeter.

What to See

Callao Caves – a cave with magnificent crystal rock formations inside. This is a famous tourist spot that is featured many times on travel magazines.

Chapel inside Callao Cave

Giant Stations of the Cross (Calvary Hills, Cagayan) – the place is so picturesque with a great view of the skies and the river.

Giant Stations of the Cross in Calvary Hills, Cagayan Valley

Our Lady of Piat - Church that houses a virgin mary that is said to be miraculous. A walking distance from this church is a spring that is said to provide healing water. So don’t forget to bring a water container to get some.

San Pablo Church Ruins - on the way to Tuguegarao, you can drop by the San Pablo Church Ruins in Isabela. This is very near the main road (less than 5 minutes drive away). This church was already featured in CNN.

San Pablo Church Ruins

On your way back to Manila, you might want to stop by after the first hill that you will cross for this picturesque farm scene:

This guide is written based from my personal experience. We were in Tuguegarao for 2 days only. I relied heavily on Lakwatsero.com‘s guide. So you might want to check it out.

TIP: hire a local tour guide, you will only pay P500 for it but if you’re pressed for time and can’t waste time on getting lost, P500 is well worth it.

If Ho Chi Minh City is vintage, Siem Reap is ancient. Most structures there are from the 10th century. Its such a good feeling to walk on structures built thousands of years ago.  Siem Reap is such a small town housing temples built during the Khmer empire including Angkor Archeological Park which was designated as a UNESCO world heritage site.

Siem reap can be toured in a day. The best way is to hire a local tour guide. I got mine from AngkorTourGuides.com. It cost me $60 for the whole day including an air-conditioned car, english speaking tour guide with history knowledge and a driver. You can take Tuk-Tuk (auto rickshaw) for a cheaper option but since I’m bringing expensive camera accessories, I’d rather pay for a bit higher so I can leave my stuff in the car with the driver.

To be able to get into the temples, you have to purchase entrance tickets. There is a central ticket booth for all the temples. I paid $20 for unlimited one day entrance.

The best time to visit Angkor Wat temple is during sunrise. Around 530am, a lot of tourists are already waiting for the sun rise just in front of the water formation in front of the temple. Since it is cloudy when I went there, this is what I was able to take:

After the sunrise, give it another hour to tour the whole temple and learn about its history. Photographers will love the opportunities for taking good framing effect as you can see from some of the photos I took:

There are so many other temples aside from the Angkor Wat. The following are the other must-visits:

Bayon

The bayon houses a lot of small temples with several stone carved faces. Some say those are the faces of their Kings other says those faces are their Gods. To get close to these faces, you’ll have to go up through steep stairs with little steps. It’s pretty hard to climb up but its worth it. Make sure you wear rubber shoes.

Ta Phrom (a.k.a. Jungle Temple)

I think this is one of the places where Tomb Raider by Angelina Jolie was taken. This is where you can see big trees with its roots outgrowing the temples.

Elephant Terrace

This post is part 3 of my Saigon and Siem Reap Trip last September 2010. You may want to read Saigon one day itinerary and HCMC to Siem Reap road trip.

There are several buses from Saigon to Siem Reap. I took the bus from Sinh Tourist since its near my hotel (Asian Ruby 3). The bus ticket is around $21 and will take 13 hours (including 1 hour lunch break at Phnom Penh). It leaves at exactly 630am and will bring you to Siem Reap at around 800pm.

Upon reaching the boundary of Cambodia and Vietnam, the bus operator will ask you to change to Riel (Cambodian currency). Personally, I’d recommend you to stick with your USD since USD is widely accepted even with street vendors.

Since the ride is really long, 6 hours from Saigon to Phnom Penh and another 6 hours from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap, I would suggest not to drink too much water since the stop over going to Phnom Penh doesn’t have a clean toilet. You can only have access to a more comfortable toilet upon reaching Phnom Penh.

The above photo is the market where you will stop over on the way to PP. It looks like spiders and some other insects.

From Phnom Penh to Siem Reap, the ride is a bit very bumpy so I’d recommend to sit near the front of the bus and not to put any fragile items in the trunk.

Upon reaching Siem Reap, there is a restaurant (a few blocks away from Sinh Hotel where my bus stopped) offering buffet of Khmer and Vietnamese cuisine for $12. Just walk past Angkoriana Hotel and you will see this restaurant.

This post is part 2 of my Saigon and Siem Reap Trip last September 2010. You may want to read Saigon one day itinerary and Siem Reap One Day Itinerary.

In September 1, 2010, I flew from Manila for a 4 day trip to take photos of the beautiful city of Saigon and the ancient structures in Siem Reap.

WHAT I LOVE ABOUT SAIGON

I love Saigon for its vintage feel – old low rise buildings, people on bicycles, vintage italian bikes and of course, beautiful asian women.

WHAT I LOVE ABOUT SIEM REAP

If Saigon is vintage, Siem Reap is ancient. Walking around the Angkor Wat temple, takes you back to travel hundred years ago when everything is about and for the King.

What follows next is probably the best budget itinerary you can follow when planning to visit both saigon and siem reap from manila.

DAY 1 – Manila to Saigon

HOW TO GET TO SAIGON FROM MANILA

There’s a direct flight from Manila to Saigon via Cebu Pacific. Regular prices starts at around US$150 for a round-trip air fare but you can check the promos and book ahead for less than $100 for a round trip tix. The problem with Cebu Pacific flights to Saigon is that it will get you there at past midnight.

Touching down the airport, you can get a taxi for around VND 80,000.00. Do not go with the private taxis who will approach you since they will charge you almost VND 1,000,000.00 and charge you with parking and entrance fees which shouldn’t be. If you want less than VND80,000.00, you can take a motorcycle taxi for only VND20,000.00 (around US$1.20). Since you’ll be touching down from Manila during midnight, it is ok to take the motorcycle taxi.

Day 2 – One Day Saigon Itinerary

The best way to go around Saigon is to take a motorcycle taxi. This way, you can easily get away from traffic and you can experience how most of the locals travel. There are motorcycles that you can rent everywhere but I suggest that you just ride as a pillion. One thing I noticed is most of the motorcycles in Saigon doesn’t have side mirrors so driving a motorcycle around Saigon would need a lot of practice.

Since I’m an Italian bike lover, I signed up with Vietnam Vespa Tours. You can see me with the Vespa near the Ho Chi Minh City Hall (our first stop) in the photo above.  The city tour is half day which starts at 8am. The tour guide is an English speaking local who will also give you a brief history about Saigon. Our historic and scenic destinations include:

• Ernst Thalmann School on Tran Hung Dao Street
• The Historic side of  District One
• Hindu Temple in District One
• Reunification Palace
• Post Office
• Cathedral of Notre Dame
• Opera House
• Fall of Saigon (famous helicopter escape of CIA)
• Experience motorcycle ferry to cross the river to District 2
• Chinatown
• Cai Dai Temple
• Francis Xavier Church (was used as a coup hide out)
• Chinese Community Spirit House to the goddess Thien Hau

After the tour, you may talk to your tour guide and hire him as your private tour guide so you can go around shopping sites such as ben tanh market. I was able to finish everything in about 8 hours (including shopping) so the next task is to book my bus to Siem Reap. From Cafe Zoom (de tham road), there is a tourist office called Sinh Tourist where you can book your bus from Saigon to Siem Reap (I paid around $21 for my trip).

Here are some more photos I took around Saigon:

This post is part 1 of my Saigon and Siem Reap Trip last September 2010. You may want to read HCMC to Siem Reap road trip guide and Siem Reap One Day Itinerary.

Hello and welcome to my site. Just call me the Budget Traveler. Right now, I make a living by managing/owning an internet marketing firm based in Manila, Philippines. Two years from now, I want to earn a living by just blogging and traveling around the world which leads to the birth of this blog.

I’ve been traveling to a lot of places – around Asia in particular but I go to the USA at least once a year. On this site, I will mainly post about my travels and some photos. Sometimes, I might post about foreign movies too, I love watching foreign movies since you get to see how other cultures work.

Anyhow, I hope you enjoy this site. My very first post will be about the trip I made 3 weeks ago – Saigon and Siem Reap.