MyCheapThrills

Amazing Vietnam in 2 weeks - North to south detailed itinerary

2018-11-11T19:47:00.001+05:30

Vietnam is beautiful backpacker friendly amazing places for tourist to visit. Its getting so popular among tourist now a days and would completely recommend to visit the country.

Its geographic shape makes it easier for travelling. since its narrow travelling is either North (Hanoi) to South(Ho chi minh) or the opposite. I started from Hanoi and ended in Ho chi minh

I traveled Vietnam for almost 2 weeks (15 days to be exact) to cover the most part of Vietnam. It wasn't a leisure trip for me, I wanted to see every beautiful place in Vietnam so I went extra mile to cover everything in short span

My itinerary

Hanoi -> Ha long Bay -> Ha giang -> Ninn binh -> Da Nang -> Hoi An -> Nha Trang -> Mui Ne -> Ho Chi Minh (Saigon)

Overview

Hanoi - 1 Night
Ha Long - 1 Night
Ha giang - 2 Night
Ninh Binh - 1 Night
Da Nang - 1 Night
Hoi An - 2 Night
Nha Trang - 1 Night
Mui Ne - 1 Night
Ho Chi Minh - 3 Night

If you are wondering about my other nights those where in my sleeper bus or Night train 😆

First things first !!

Flight Ticket

I Booked flight from Scoot Airlines - Scoot Airlines

Chennai (India) to Hanoi (Vietnam) - 120 USD
Ho chi Minh (Vietnam) to Chennai (India) - 120 USD

Visa for Vietnam - Cost (25 USD / 600.000 VND)

You can get visa in 3 ways

Stamped visa
eVisa
Approval letter

Stamped Visa : Its simple, get it stamped from your country visit your nearest Vietnam embassy or consulate.

eVisa : Easiest and most recommended option, I choose this option just upload passport copy and provide the details of the trip. It costs 25 USD. Official website (provided the link below) there are bunch of website calming the same but this one is the official.

Official Vietnam e visa link

Approval letter : Its another way of getting visa, you should find some agent who provide approval letter from Vietnam, there are so many websites which provide this letter its not difficult to find (I don't want to recommend any cause I never tried one). It may cost around 5 USD once you get the approval letter you need to pay stamping fee at immigration which costs 25 USD

Hanoi (Day 1)

Airport (Noi Bai Internation airport)

My First stop in Vietnam, I landed in Noi Bai Internation airport. Immigration was simple you need to go to the immigration counter where you can show them the eVisa they will put a seal on your photo copy and you need to show the same to your immigration officer and bam you can enter Vietnam 😎 If you choose approval letter you need to pay them 25 USD to get the seal.

Place I stayed : CENTRAL BACKPACKERS HOSTEL - OLD QUARTER

Cost : 5 USD / 100.000 VND per night

Details
Hanoi is the capital city of Vietnam, it had amazing weather, filled with lot of tourist and lot of traffic. I liked the city at first sight.

Train street

Streets of Hanoi

After roaming on the streets of Hanoi, I met one of my Vietnam friend in Hanoi. Her name was Hanh.

We planned to have some Vietnamese food and go to Hoàn Kiếm Lake which is quite famous tourist spot in Vietnam.

Tried street food for the dinner its called 'Pho' and its famous Vietnamese food. you can find 'Pho' and 'Bánh mì' throughout Vietnam and it tastes delicious.

Vietnamese food - Pho

With my cute Vietnamese friends ( Hanh in the middle and her friend to the left )

Hoàn Kiếm Lake

Ha Long Bay (Day 2 & 3)

Hideaway Tour - Cost : 92 USD

If you are visiting Vietnam, you cant miss ha long bay. Its a UNESCO world heritage travel destination. Its really one of the must see place in all of south east Asia.

There are 100 s of company to choose from exotic cruise to junk boat and the price varies accordingly.

I Went through my hostel and its called 'HIDEAWAY TOUR' Its basically a party boat. If you are into party you can choose this one it costed me around 92 USD Including one night stay in private island for 2 Days 1 Night Foods included too. You need to buy for your drinks. If you want quite atmosphere you can choose cruise there are plenty of companies doing ha long bay tour. You just need to check which one fits you the most.

PRO TIP : You can also do this trip in very cheap way by doing cruise from catba island. Landscape will be almost similar and it will cost you just 20-30 USD for one day trip

cruising in Ha long bay

Chilling in the ocean

Also it was MY BIRTHDAY DAY - Yes I wanted to celebrate my birthday in ha long bay

It was amazing experience to spend my birthday with completely new people in a private island. This is one birthday I will never forgot for long time.

Drunken monkeys

Ha Long Bay

Wake up view

Kayaking in Ha long bay

Ha Giang - One of my personal favorite (Day 4,5 & 6)

Ha giang motorbike loop was one of the best thing I did in entire south east Asia thanks to all my friends who recommended it. I actually planned to visit Vietnam again especially for this loop. Its easily my personal favorite spot in Vietnam

So what is Ha giang loop ? And why it became my all time favorite

Its actually motorbike mountain loop which is 350 kms you can cover in either 3 or 4 days. If i have the time I will do it for a week.

You see beautiful mountains, valley, hills rivers its just magical. Nature at its best, every curve on the road bring new landscape which is completely jaw dropping and makes you feel like stopping at every corner of the road and enjoying the nature. Also its cold and driving there is really enjoyable with micro climate. you get to see all type of climatic change on a given day since its mountainous terrain. On top of that you see authentic Vietnam people who are super friendly and caring also cute children waving goodbyes and trying to give you hifis its really amazing experience. Words cant really describe how beautiful it is you should be there to see it.

Detail

Note : Please drive only if you can ride a motorbike well, definitely not the best place to try it out for first time, heard lot of accident in this place. Also totally recommend to use safety gears

update ***Recently heard they are asking for International license for renting motorbike because of increasing number of accident and police are kept in checkpoints to verify***

Transport : Hanoi to Ha Giang sleeper bus 200.000 VND

Place I stayed in Ha giang : Mama's Homestay totally recommend this place. Dung is the owner of the place, super friendly well more than friendly so approachable and you feel safe. Totally recommend this place. Also she provide motorbike for rent since we wanted to have something in 125 CC we rented in different place.

Motorbike Rent : QT Motor bikes

Yamaha 125 CC - costed 15 USD/380.000 VND per day

Petrol : Filled tank two times : costed 15 USD / 350.000 VND for the entire trip

Place I stayed in the loop

1st Night stay : QT Du Già Guest house - Du Gia

2nd Night stay : Green Karst - dong van

Map for Ha giang loop ( Not the exact one but it must be close)

Ha giang -> Quản Bạ District -> Du Gia -> Dong van -> Ha giang

My Journey

I met a person from New York in ha long bay, when I told him about the loop he got interested and joined me. He was a amazing companion lot of times when I dropped the bike or had some problem he always helped me and we had a great time.

Me and Diaphel - Bike mate

Yamaha - A true friend

Early morning view

Cave on the way

Ma pi leng pass

Buckwheat flower in Ha giang (Blooms only in October & November)

Border of Vietnam

PRO TIP : You can cross china which is not even 5 miles from here, many tourist have crossed and of course its illegal (you could go to prison for that ) but its not usually much guarded. its not even fenced just tomb with something written in Chinese

Well did I go to china ? well if you know me you will know what I would do 😋

On the way back I had a fall, but found this amazing Vietnamese in a village who helped me for first aid.

My Healer

Ninh binh (Tam coc) (Day 7)

People say Ninh binh is Ha long bay on land. Its definitely worth visiting the place. Riding bike is amazing experience because of the landscape.

Transport : Ha giang to Ninh binh sleeper bus 250.000 VND

Place I Stayed : Trang An Eco Homestay

Cost : 6 USD / 130.000 VND
Bike Rent : 6 USD / 120.000 VND

Short story on how I landed here
I was too confident i did not book any place to stay i thought i will reach there and figure out, but the bus reached by 3 am in the morning and i had no idea what to do.

Along with me there was some french people who had booked for the next day but did not have place to crash for the night and one more girl from states booked in hostel called Trang An Eco Homestay. Googled about this placed seemed good so thought will stay at that home stay.

Details

You can visit Ninh binh in two days : Some of the interesting places to visit

Dragon mountain ( Need to climb around 500 steps)
Tam Coc boat ride
Bái Đính Temple ( I didn't visit here)

Weather was mysterious and amazing. King Kong movie shooting was taken in this place

I Visited Dragon mountain with one group whom I met in petrol station. I went with one guy from Denmark we lost the way on the way to dragon mountain and had to find way back to meet with the rest of the group.

View from the dragon mountain

Dragon on top

Tam Coc boat ride

Went with this amazing Irish couple (Black jacket and yellow top )

Da Nang (Day 8)

Its one of the big cities in Vietnam, I liked the city so much it was much clearer less crowded and had amazing beaches. Kind of looked like cities in Europe heard many Vietnamese saying they want to get settled in here.

Transport : Ninh binh to Da Nang Train 850.000 VND (It was quite expensive in train it was more comfortable it was quite some distance 700 kms )

Place I stayed : BARNEY'S DANANG BACKPACKERS HOUSE
Cost : 130.000 VND
Bike Rent : 80.000 VND (Half Day)

Details

Its really clean city and weather is sunny, it has amazing beach beautiful bridge (Dragon bridge), Lady Buddha, marble mountain and very close to Hoi an (Which is my next destination)

So I rented bike driving around the city went to beach relaxed some time and went to visit lady Buddha statue. Then spend the night in hostel chatting with people where I met friendly Japanese group. Then hit some bars at night with Canadian & Denmark where they was telling lot of stories about their life.

Da Nang City

Da Nang Beach

Da Nang Dragon bridge

Magnificent Lady Buddha

Hoi An (Day 9 & 10)

Its one of my favorite cute place. Hoi an is famous for its ancient architecture and its lanterns. Ancient town located is known for his historic significance, they have still the ancient building model which looks amazing and at night its completely illuminated with lantern and its something you will not see daily. I personally call it Venice of Asia and its best honeymoon spot

Transport : One friend from south Africa gave me lift from Da Nang, its not far just 30 kms

Place I stayed : Sunflower Hostel Hoi An
Cost : 130.000 VND

Details

Hoi an is famous for its ancient town, it also offers amazing beaches. I was hanging out with Australians and they where really friendly and was hanging out with them the entire 2 days they kept calling me 'Ralph' 😆 amazing people i just remember names of two people 'shae' and ;Ellijah' . Hostel had their own bar and dance floor where I spend the nights.

Pro Tip : Visit Hoi an during full moon day, they celebrate lantern festival where they illuminate the town with just lantern and it looks amazing

Ancient Town - Lantern festival (Full Moon day)

Traditional wedding in traditional place

Lantern shop

NHA TRANG (Day 11)

Transport : Hoi an to Nha Trang sleeper bus (150.000 VND)

Place I stayed : iHome Nha Trang
Cost : 130.000 VND

Well this place is something I would have personally skipped and went to Dalat. It had nice beach and amazing city which is flooded with lot of Russians and Chinese.

If you want to do water sports activities like 'Fly board' and stuff this is the place. Have to admit the beach was amazing and city was amazing too. Went to some bars at night met some Australians they got me lot of balloon lol. Had amazing time with them.

Nha trang beach

Mui Ne (Day 12)

Transport : Nha Trang to Mui Ne sleeper bus (150.000 VND)

Place I stayed : iHome Mui Ne (Amazing Hostel)
Cost : 120.000 VND

I visited Mui Ne mainly for the Sand dunes, it has white and red sand dunes which i booked with my hostel

Details

You can stay maximum of 2 days to cover Mui Ne.

White Sand dunes
Red Sand dunes
Ferry steam

Cost for the tour : 150.000 VND

I went like tour package from my hostel (Its the best way to do it). It was a sunrise tour where you can see the sand dunes during the sun rise and it was amazing since its my first time witnessing sand dunes.

Also if you want to try driving ATV this is the place to try it. Its costly (around 50 USD) but I guess its worth it to ride ATV on sand dunes. When you reach the white sand dunes people usually ask you for riding top of the dunes with ATV on the back for 150.000 VND but its definitely not worth it. It just takes 20 Minutes of walk to climb up

Also this is the first place where I tried jet ski for the first time.

PRO TIP : Do no drive bike if you don't have international license, police usually catch you and ask you to bribe millions of dong. This is the only place in Vietnam you need to careful while driving your motor vehicle without license

PRO TIP : Grab/ Uber is not available in this place. so you need to plan for your own transportation.

For this tour I went with french couple (Amazing couple who loved photograph) and Australian who was super friendly too.

Sun rise White Sand dunes

White Sand dunes

Red Sand dunes

Ferry steam

Ho Chi Minh - Saigon (Day 13,14 & 15)

Transport : Mui Ne to Ho Chi Minh sleeper bus (150.000 VND)

Place I stayed : The Hideout
Cost : 130.000 VND per day

Ho chi minh is the most vibrant and busy city in the entire Vietnam, it features tall buildings lot of traffic and crazy night life. Also it has many historic significance and lot of tourists of course.

Details

I was totally tired by this time as i was travelling daily and didn't have proper food. I just want to relax and chill out. I was just staying in the hostel for first night and was chatting with people. To my surprise I met this friends whom I met in Hanoi. It was really surprising to meet these people again in Ho chi minh guess their name was aneesa and anisole from Ireland. Then I headed to pub street which was super crazy full of music, street performance, street food and people dancing on the road. Also met many people from Poland that day, one of them was travelling mainly to try different food. He took me to one Banh mi shop and it tasted amazing.

Place I visited

Cu Chi Tunnel - 150.000 VND Transport & Guide + 110 For entrance
War reminiscent museum - 60.000 For entrance
Grand palace - 60.000 For entrance

Cu Chi tunnel is a must visit place, its a historic place where it tells about how Vietnamese used tunnel technique to attack and ambush on Americans. We can actually try one of the tunnels and place where we can fire guns. Went with one of my friend whom I met in hostel his name was David from Holland. On the way back I made friend with one of the Vietnamese, her name was Nhung and went for dinner to try some Vietnamese food.

Traps

Firing guns

Next day, i just planned to visit War reminiscent museum the things i saw was so depressing the suffering people had. It was horrific how they tortured prisoners and raping every women.

But to my another surprise i met a friend whom I met in Hoi an his name was Nicolas from France. It was really shocking to see people again and it was amazing at the same time.

Grand palace

Well this was my last night in Vietnam, I was sad but at the same time with lot memories and lot of new friends i was happy to head back to home. Last day I went to sleep early my flight was next day at 9:30 Am so I reached airport around 6:30 AM my transit was in Singapore airport. It was a long halt around 12 Hours. But they had movie theater and gaming center so I had good time on the airport. Then got my flight back to my home sweet home !!

Perfect 5 Days trip to Bali-Must see place

2018-05-05T09:52:00.001+05:30

Bali was one of my favorite trip, and I am gonna cherish this memory for very long time..

So Bali in few words
Bali is part of Indonesia, and its a separate island well one of the most beautiful island present in Indonesia.
Bali is a tropical paradise, it pretty much offers everything world class beaches, Rice terrace, Volcanic mountain, culture heritage, Beautiful temples, Rich vegetation, Warming people, wild night lift and lots of tourist

Trip Overview
I pretty much had balance of everything- Adventure, Exploring, Surfing, Night life as part of my trip

Do watch My Bali Trip - 2018 Video

Follow my IG @rahulalaire

If you travelling for first time check out my blog : Things to know while travelling for the first time

MY Bali Calendar

DAY 1
Mount Batur trekking - 450000 IDR
Uluwatu Temple - 100000 IDR
Sky garden

Day 2
Bali Swing- 450000 IDR
Tirta Empul
Karaoke night

Day 3 - 450000 IDR for Fast boat to Nusa Penida from sanur

Angel billabong

Broken bridge

Kelingking beach
Sanur beach

Day 4

Nyang Nyang beach

Kuta Beach
Surfing - 100000 IDR

Day 5

Tanah Lot- 60000 IDR

Double six Beach

So Overall you can do your trip for 300 USD

Arrival in Bali

I booked my flight using Air asia and it will cost around 280 USD for Return. Well i recommend to book a window seat. During the landing you will be blessed with beautiful views.

Your flight will land in Ngurah Rai International Airport-Denpasur (DPS). So once you arrive you will have two option for your visa

Visa on Arrival - 30 Days - Free

Extendable Visa - 60 Days - 35 USD

Many countries have Visa on Arrival

**https://www.bali.com/visa-on-arrival.html ( Check this website to know if your country has visa on arrival option)

Its going to be a big queue and can take up to 2 hrs to complete the immigration process and to enter inside city.

Once you have cleared the immigration, you will need to fill up the form for Customs declaration. Its pretty simple form where you will need to select No for everything and you are good to go

Currency Exchange

Well I got to admit, Indonesian currency is confusing as hell

1 USD = 13,500 IDR (Indonesian Rupiah)

You can change your currency at the airport, they exchange at good rates.

SIM Card

Do not buy the SIM Card at the airport, its so costly when you buy at airport almost 5 times costlier. I bought one at the airport for 450,000 IDR close to 30 USD. Its way more cheaper if you get it in the city

Airport to city

Everyone in the airport will try to approach you for dropping you at your hotel. Never try to bargain with them just keep ignoring them or say No thanks. They will say you wont get GRAB/UBER inside the airport. But its not true. You need to go to Drop off point, just ask the people around you to get there, Book your grab drive and go to your destination. If nothing works out you can opt for Blue Bird Taxi which is metered taxi so its pretty reliable

Place I Stayed

I stayed in Capsule Hostel which was pretty amazing for backpackers. It had pool, rooms where clean and it was located in Seminyak. Booked using hostelworld

It costed me around IDR 600000 (close to 50 USD)

Going around the city

The best way to go around the city it to rent a motor bike. It may cost IDR 60000 and fuel is very cheap too.

If you are not fan of riding motor bike. Use a app called Go-jek it has both motor bike and car service and its quite cheap compared to grab/uber

Day 1
Mount Batur Trekking
It was a mixed experience, while it was physically challenging it had rewarding views which just eased out all my pain

I booked for batur trekking through my hostel, it costed me 450000 IDR where they pick you around 1:00 am from your hostel. They came around 1:30 am and we started our journey, they stopped at a place for some food. We were group of 4 one Spanish guy and two brothers from Britain.

We started our climb around 3:30 am and we need to reach the summit by 6:00 am to see the sunrise. First 30 minutes was piece of cake then my leg started paining and I had no stamina. Well this was my first trek thats my excuse . But my group helped me a lot in reaching the summit on time 😊

That breath taking View

My Trek Mates

MT Batur Conquered

The descent

Uluwatu Temple
This is something never to be missed. Best time to go this temple is around 5 pm where you can see the sunset and also Indonesian cultural dance (kecak dance) which starts at 6pm and its famous. It cost 100000 IDR and getting a ticket is quite difficult so once they start selling rush to get the ticket

Sunset View at uluwatu

Kecak Dance

Sky garden - Bali

Day 2

Made friends with Indonesians who offered me to visit places together -

Bali Swing

It was in my bucket list to visit this swing - A pure adrenaline rush

It costed around 35 USD and you can swing how much ever time you want. They had like 4 swings and some photo shoot spots.

Tirta Empul

The temple pond has a spring which gives out fresh water regularly, which Balinese Hindus consider to be holy. It had beautiful architecture and it was so peaceful there

Day 3

Nusa Penida

My Favorite day of my trip. Nusa penida is one of the most beautiful island i have ever been. I am gonna write a separate blog for just this place.

In short to go there you must reach Sanur around 8 AM and get a fast boat to Nusa peninda it will cost around 400,000 IDR and bike rent inside the island will cost 80000 IDR

Note : Rent and ride your own bike only if your are very comfortable with motor bikes, roads are really not that great its very rugged and stony and you could get lost easily. I just met few Indians there and tagged along with them

Places not to miss

Angel billabong
Broken bridge
Kelingking beach

Nusa Penida (Kelingking Beach) from my window seat

Fast boat to Nusa penida

Angel Billabong and broken bridge are so close to each other

Angel billabong

Broken Bridge

Keliking Beach

Day 4

It was beach day I rented bike and was going around bail visited Nyang Nyang beach and kuta beach (from white sand to black sand ) and just made stop overs in between to see beautiful landscape

Nyang Nyang beach
Reaching the place is bit tricky and it involves trekking in hot sun. But in the end its definitely worth the efforts

Nyang Nyang beach

Kuta Beach
Its like one of the most popular beach in bail and it is usually so crowded. I did my first surfing in this beach

Kuta Beach

Surfing for first time

Thanks to Harry for teaching me

Day 5

Even though I was so tired, I didn't want to just sit in my room and waste my final day.

Tanah Lot

I visited this temple Tanah lot. It had beautiful landscape and entrance costed 60000 IDR

Tanah Lot

Beautiful Balinese

Double Six Beach
One Last time before going to airport just went to Double six beach in seminyak after checking out from my room

Double six beach

I just booked Go jek from the beach to airport and made my way back to my home

Denpasur Airport

Thanks for reading the Blog. Please do share your travel experience of Bali in the comments section below

Do Follow my Instagram @rahulalaire https://www.instagram.com/rahulalaire/

Things to know while travelling abroad for the first time

2018-03-25T19:37:00.003+05:30

"To Travel is to inspire and to get inspired"

Hey you, welcome to my first blog

I haven't traveled so many places, but i have did some solo travelling. I will be sharing you some tips based on my experience. If you are planning doing it for first time and you have no idea where to start what to expect, you are in the right place :) Just feel like home in my page.

Work Save Travel Repeat !!

Why you need to travel ?

"Not until we are lost do we begin to understand over selves" - Henry David Thoreau

First thing I would like to tell is, you don't need any particular reason to travel places. You just need to love travelling that's it.

Do not go via travel agency, you might miss lot/most of fun in doing so !

1. Get your passport

First things first. Get your passport.

Apply for passport using this link (For Indians)

Apply for passport using this link (For Filipinos)

For folks from other countries its a simple google search and BAM !!

2. Know your passport

Know the list of countries you can travel for free with your passport.

With Indian/Filipino passport there are not too many places you can visit for free, but still here is the list

Visa on arrival for Indians

Visa on arrival for Filipinos

Singapore and South Korean is said be the most powerful passport using which they can travel up to 163 countries for free.

Click here to know Power of your country passport

3. Finalize your place

Some places are easier to travel to than others. If this is your first time out of the country, it might be worth considering one of the easier destinations like (Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Srilanka, Indonesia).

Davao, Philippines

Well you need to get permission from your office and home :p

Getting permission from my family was not a problem for me, but could be for many people especially being Indian and if you want to do solo travel.

I cant provide you tips to convince your family. But its worth trying so hard or you could miss the journey of finding better part of yourself.

Now getting permission from office, well its better you tell them in well advance like 3-4 months and don't take any other unnecessary leave. Just save it for this and trust me its gonna be worth it.

4.Check your Visa requirement

Check your visa requirement first before finalizing the place, some of the most difficult requirements could be

Bank balance for six months
IT return for 3 years
Invitation letter
Permission letter from office (Guess for public section they need to get some No Objection certificate)

First time its better to visit place where you can get stamped easily, like where they allow eVisa or free visa on arrival, the more stamp you get, immigration process will get much more simpler. Being first time you can expect some questions from immigration officers.

eVisa also called as Electronic Visa which can be applied online and confirmation will be sent to your mail in PDF format which you can take a print out and use for immigration

Most common thing that will be asked in immgration

Your return flight ticket
Hotel booking confirmation
If you have enough currency to stay there
Purpose of visit and for how long

My first trip was to Philippines and It had like worst nightmare, well I was investigated by immigration officers at Ninoy International airport (Manila airport) and I need to answer a lot of question before i can enter the country.

Philippines is a beautiful destination but definitely not a destination for first time unless its something so important.

NOTE : Read visa requirements thoroughly, requirement can vary based on your departure place.So again read about visa requirement with full attention. you never want to get deported but still that's an unique experience too :)

5.Booking your flight ticket

Well the part where you need to spend some real money. You don't have too much of option at this point but let me provide you some tips based on my experience.

I will be covering few of the topics here while booking your flights

When to book
Where to book
Transit flight
What to keep in mind while booking using separate flights
Check the terminal at transit location
Baggage and meals

When to book

People say book like 6 months prior so prices will be low, well i kind of agree to that fact because the more near it gets to your travel date it gets costlier. But from my experience you can book 1-2 month prior to get the best price cause you never know what could happen in 6 months.

Where to book

Book using Airasia, it is the best low cost airline as long as you want to cover south east Asia. you can rely on Airasia which is pretty cheap, compare to other airlines. But remember its low cost airline and dont expect much of luxury.

Airasia Website

Also you can check for Tiger air, scoot.

I Suggest you to book directly from Airasia website. I dont prefer booking from Goibibo, Yatra or other 3rd party website.It could be pain in the ass if you want to change some details in future.

If your itinerary is confirmed, book Non refundable flight which will be lower in cost.

Google flights comes in handy in comparing price date wise. I always compare price using that.

Transit Flight

If you are not sure what transit flight is,
A direct flight with a stopover(s) i.e. with one or more stopover, example if you want to go to Bali, Indonesia your flight will stop at Kuala Lumpur airport Malaysia where you need to transfer it all happens inside airport.

Also you can get cheap flights if you are willing to stay in transit for longer period. Well i enjoy my time at the airport. so you can opt that too.

What to keep in mind while booking using separate flights

Sometimes when you book which does not have direct google flights will give suggestion to book as two separate tickets so your price can be low. Two separate flight means you need to take two tickets one at the point of departure and one at the transit which means you need to clear immigration point at transit place for which you might require visa. So if you are doing that be sure to read visa requirement at transit point.

Note : Also remember if you are booking as two different flight, make sure there is enough time gap between the two flights. If the first flight gets delayed they wont be responsible if you are not able to catch the next flight

Check the terminal at transit location

Always check for the terminal, some could be different terminal for which you need to leave the airport. So again for that you need to have transit visa. So while booking make sure its in the same terminal.

Baggage and meals

Well i wouldn't opt for baggage or meals. I can sit in flight for 3-4 hours without having meals and coming to check in baggage again it depends on the individual if you are doing solo travelling you can fit stuff with the provided 7 KG. I never do check in baggage. You can buy a shirt or jeans there instead of spending it on check in baggage.

If you are a shopping person well you can opt for check in baggage during your return.

I recommend not to opt for baggage as well as meals.

6.Booking for stay

Always book in advance. Its not recommended to book on reaching the place.

There are 3 ways using which you can book for your stay

Staying in hostel
Staying in hotels
Free stay

Staying in hostel

Most recommended and the best way to stay.

HostelWorld (One of the best website to book hostel around the world)

Whats the advantage of staying in hostel

Its so cheap
You can meet people from different part of the world
So many solo travelers like you; willing to socialize
They guide you on everything
You can get a friend for lifetime
Mostly all the hostels are so friendly
Party nights

Place where I stayed in Kuala Lumpur (Step Inn too)

Staying in hostel is the way it meant to be traveled.

While booking small percentage has to be paid for reservation, and the rest to be paid during check in.

There is always free cancellation.

Staying in hotels

Some people might like to have peaceful time and time for themselves, for them you can stay in hotels

Booking, Airbnb (Some popular website to book hotels)

Usually while booking it will ask for credit card details, but will not charge anything. It will only be charged if its not cancelled until one day prior to checking in.

Free stay

Everyone might been interested in knowing about this first, well its not easy as it seems. There is a website called couchsurfing where you can interact with the locals who are staying and willing to let you in their home to have company.

Well its more like they are letting you stay at their to have good company, to share great experience and to try and learn about people from different culture. You need to have very good profile for that so that they might be interested in you.

Don't expect your first time travel to be in couchsurfing

I recommend staying in hostel for the first timers.

7.Boarding flight for the first time

Never forget to get travel insurance !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

If you are going to be boarding the flight for first time, its usually goes like this

Initial Security
Boarding pass
Immigration
Security
Stay at Airport
Boarding flight

Before going to airport always check these things

Passport with visa
Cash
Flight booking copy
Travel Insurance

Initial security

If you are going for first time, I would suggest you to go 4 hours prior to the flight departure. Once you reach airport go to the correct terminal it will be available in your flight ticket. you will be checked by security with ID proof. So bring a original ID for international anyway you will be carrying passport so not an issue.

Boarding pass

Now time to get boarding pass. check for your airline counter if you could not find ask someone. In airport everyone will be so friendly and dont be afraid to ask help. Now go to the counter and get your boarding pass. If you have any check in baggage you need to give it to them at the counter where they will check the weight of the baggage and they will stick sticker with your boarding pass.

Do not lose the boarding pass. Better to carry a pen

You will be asked to fill the immigration form on getting boarding pass, where you need to fill the basic information like Name,flight detail, passport number etc.,

Immigration

Then you need to go through the immigration process its pretty simple, but mostly it will be a big queue. they will just make sure you have visa for your destination and make a stamp in your passport indicating that you have left the country. once you pass the immigration its difficult to return back.

Security

Now it will be followed with security where you will be asked to remove anything metallic starting from your belt, coat etc.,if they find anything like flammable perfume/anything sharp they will take it, also note water/food is not allowed from outside.

Stay at airport

Now that's it, you have to wait until they give the announcement for your flight so you can go respective gate, if you are not sure how to go to the gate look for the sign board its all over or you can ask people around they will be ready to help.

If you want to buy anything from the airport you can buy using the local currency of the country or any other currency but the change will be given to you in their local currency example if you are in Malaysian airport you can buy using US dollars, but the change will be given in Malaysian ringgit and they do not accept coins in the airport. But avoid buying anything in airport which will usually be bit costly. And also do not exchange currency in airport you wont get the best deal in airports.

Airports are usually good, with all basic facility Toiletry, Wifi, good place to sit even they will have mobile charging port but are usually crowded. Always charge your phone and try to keep it full.

But if you are charging your power bank and someone wants to charge their mobile allow them to charge first :)

Keep alarm like 30 minutes before they start boarding passengers, usually people sleep at the airport so better be alert and dont miss the flight.

at Hong Kong airport

Boarding flight

Usually they will start letting passenger based on class, they will let business class passengers first then they will let in passengers based on the zone in flight (ie based on the seating arrangement). Don't try to go in different zone cause it will make it difficult for the Air hostess to manage inside flight.

So once you are in the flight they will give you instruction regarding safety and if you are lucky to have the window seat you can enjoy the blissful view.

ALWAYS FASTEN YOUR SEAT BELT !!

Sometimes you might feel bit uncomfortable with your ears, cause of altitude change. you can carry a gum with you if you feel any discomfort you can start chewing it but dont worry its common.

If its a transit flight then you might need to go to transfer from there you can reach your respective gate. Do not go to immigration that's like you want to come outside airport and visit the country.

If its direct flight you will reach the destination and you can proceed with immigration followed with baggage claim. In immigration you need to show them the visa, they might ask you for return flight ticket, maybe some question depending on the country and will let you proceed. Then you can proceed to claim the baggage, tie it with some colored ribbon so it will be easy for you to identify. Once you claim the baggage you can leave the airport.

So yikes you have reached your destination :)

Thanks everyone for reading it !!

I hope this was helpful :) This is my first blog so I pretty sure its not so professional. If you would like to give me some suggestion, please feel free to contact me on Facebook also if you are willing to join me to partner up I am pleased to hear from you :)

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What to expect when you reach new destination ? I will be writing article on this

I will be posting much more articles on travelling and other existing things. So be in touch and do let me know about your first travel experience in the comment section below Thanks.