Given that Hong Kong is one of the most expensive cities in the world in which to live, I'd always assumed finding an affordable, decently equipped apartment to rent in a central location (either on Hong Kong island itself or Kowloon) would be next to impossible. I classify cheap for Hong Kong as under $700 US a month, which is still quite expensive for other cities in Asia (except Singapore) but is definitely on the low side when it comes to Hong Kong rents. (By way of comparison, see my review of the Hong Kong Harbourview Hotel which is a YMCA affiliate and still costs around $80 US a night). For that money, you're looking at a Western style apartment that's well maintained.

While searching around I found the website for W Studios. I should stress that I have not visited W Studios so I have not seen it first hand, but from the website I was quite impressed with the concept - very small apartments at reasonable prices near to Hong Kong MRT or tram stations, with broadband internet and regular cleaning. Their current prices are

• Lite HKD$5000 ~150 sq.ft. - approx $650 US a month
• Standard HKD$6500 ~200 sq.ft. - approx $840 US a month
• Superior HKD$8000 ~240 to 270 sq.ft. - approx $1035 US a month
• Superior Plus HKD$10000 ~300 to 320 sq.ft. - approx $1300 US a month

As somewhere to live permanently it's probably not ideal, but as a base for travellers for a couple of months if you're out and about all the time and travelling around the region it could work very well. For Location Independent professionals needing a decent internet connection in their own living space, it could be a godsend.

If anyone has stayed at W Studios in Hong Kong, I'd be very interested to hear your thoughts about it and whether it's as good as it sounds from the website.

You can also find cheap flights from Bangkok to Hong Kong if you're looking to save more money.

This article was originally posted at: Travel Happy Get Backpacker Travel Insurance from World Nomads, as recommended by Lonely Planet

Cheap Apartments In Hong Kong – W Studios

This is a fascinating article from World Hum that does a good job not only explaining how introverts travel, but also in raising lots of questions about what travel means to different kinds of people.

It ties in with my Seven Reasons To Go Travelling Solo post here on Travelhappy about the pleasure of enjoying travel on your own, however scary it may seem - and for some people, being on your own is actually preferable to being surrounded by other people all the time.

This article was originally posted at: Travel Happy Get Backpacker Travel Insurance from World Nomads, as recommended by Lonely Planet

The Introverted Traveller

Last December I visited my friend Kiera, who is a yoga instructor and scuba diving instructor based on the island of Koh Phi Phi. I wrote a story about her - Scuba Diving Is The New Yoga - for Fah Thai magazine, explaining how scuba and yoga are actually quite similar because they're all about breathing.

Kiera invited me to try yoga for the first time and with some misgivings I duly gave it a go - and discovered that I really enjoyed it. She was a great teacher for an absolute beginner like me, explaining the different positions as we went along and some of the philosophy behind yoga.

I left Koh Phi Phi the next day to head to Koh Lanta, but I was intrigued enough about yoga to want to a bit more. As such, I recently started researching Bangkok Yoga schools, and here's what I found:

Yoga Elements - nearest BTS: Chidlom
This is the yoga school I signed up with, mainly because they had a very good value promotion on and because in the morning classes there aren't too many people attending. The school is located on the 23rd floor so there are big windows and views out over Bangkok from the yoga studio.

Absolute Yoga - nearest BTS: Thong Lor
I did one trial lesson at Absolute Yoga and found it quite crowded and the room to be small. I think Absolute Yoga positions itself as a bit trendy etc. It wasn't really to my taste, but the tuition was very good.

I haven't been to them, but I found several other yoga schools as well, as recommended some kind folks on Couchsurfing - you might want to check these out too

Futaba Yoga - nearest BTS: Ploenchit
All Seasons Place 3rd Floor

Harmony Yoga - most of the site is in Thai (besides the page I've linked which is in English) so a bit difficult to figure out

Iyengar Yoga - nearest BTS: Thong Lor
This is a small school located in the same building as Absolute Yoga, on a different floor.

I'm sure there are some other yoga schools in Bangkok, so if you have any first hand experience of them, please let me know in the comments below.

The main thing I found with the two schools I tried - Yoga Elements and Absolute Yoga - is that even when you go to a Beginner's Class, you get thrown in the deep end a little. The first couple of sessions I did there was a group of regular students present so there was little explanation or baby steps for yoga n00bs like me.

It was only after a few sessions that I encountered a teacher who started from the very beginning, talking about breathing and explaining how it works and why it's so important etc. My point is that if I'd not had that first lesson with Keira where I got a bit familiar with some basic yoga positions, I think I would have felt pretty intimidated by my first yoga lesson in Bangkok.

I'll be continuing to do yoga here in Bangkok and then I'm hoping to spend some time down on Koh Lanta early next year where there are several yoga teachers - I definitely preferred doing yoga outside so I'm looking forward to trying yoga on Lanta. Hopefully by that point I might be a bit more fit and flexible too.

This article was originally posted at: Travel Happy Get Backpacker Travel Insurance from World Nomads, as recommended by Lonely Planet

Yoga In Bangkok

Over on my other site Apartment-Bangkok.com I've put together a quick guide about how much money you need to live in Bangkok, giving a rough idea of what to budget for rent, food, bills, transport etc. There's more info on the site about the areas of Bangkok to consider living in, why you need to be near a Skytrain or MRT stop if you can manage it, and the best sites to look on to help you find your own Bangkok Apartment. The guide is a work-in-progress, so all comments are welcome. Don't forget the classic Travelhappy article Finding long term accommodation in Bangkok.

If you're looking for info on what budget you need as a traveller in Thailand, see How Much Money Do I Need For Thailand, along with the other articles How Much Money Do I Need For Vietnam, How Much Money Do I Need For Laos and How Much Money Do I Need For Cambodia. These are all useful rough guides as to what you'll can expect to spend day by day travelling through each of these countries.

This article was originally posted at: Travel Happy Get Backpacker Travel Insurance from World Nomads, as recommended by Lonely Planet

How Much Money Do I Need To Live In Bangkok?

I'm typing this with the distinct sense of missing something - that would be two of my wisdom teeth, which I had removed at Bangkok Hospital this weekend. My poor gums still feel a bit tender and I'm on the soft foods for a few more days yet, but the procedure went as smoothly as could be expected.

I've been going regularly to Bangkok Hospital for the last couple of years for both medical and dental treatment as I very much like their quality of service. There are numerous other prestigious private hospitals in Bangkok, but I've had little reason to seek treatment elsewhere as I've found their doctors and dentists to be excellent. Virtually all Bangkok Hospital's doctors gain their qualifications in the US or Europe, so the service is comparable to what you would get at home - actually, from a UK point of view, it's much better because there's no waiting around. This also means that virtually every Thai doctor speaks fluent English too. You make your appointment, you turn up and everything happens like clockwork in pristine surroundings. Indeed, three of my friends have had their babies born in Bangkok, so great is their trust in the private Thai hospitals.

The cost of getting my two wisdom teeth removed was 4000 Baht - around $120 US. That is extremely reasonable and you can see why a lot of people get medical treatment while in Thailand - things like cosmetic teeth whitening in Bangkok is very popular, as you can do it while here on holiday. Planning a trip specifically to get particular medical treatments while in Thailand is also increasingly common - it is certainly worth investigating the cost of coming to Thailand for treatment versus what it would cost back at home.

Sometimes it may not be worth it - for example, I am currently in need of a dental implant. At Bangkok Hospital it will cost 80,000 Baht - $2800 US approximately - to have it done. That's almost as expensive as getting it done in the USA or UK, as far as I can tell from online research. There are some cheaper alternatives in Bangkok, but for something major like a dental implant, I really don't want to cut any corners.

Which brings me to he big issue with getting medical treatments in Thailand - you do not have that much comeback if something goes wrong. I am definitely not a legal expert on these matters but I think there is limited liability if there are complications with a medical procedure in Thailand. Therefore it is important to check your rights thoroughly before you seek treatment if you are undergoing complex procedures.

That caveat aside, there are a lot of excellent doctors and dentists in Bangkok and the price of treatments in Thailand mean that it should be one option to consider if you are weighing up the costs of getting treatment.

This article was originally posted at: Travel Happy Get Backpacker Travel Insurance from World Nomads, as recommended by Lonely Planet

Wisdom Teeth Removal In Bangkok

This article was originally posted at: Travel Happy Get Backpacker Travel Insurance from World Nomads, as recommended by Lonely Planet

Comrade Duch – The Lost Executioner

Much of the writing you'll find about living in Bangkok tends to follow the same lurid formula - Western man arrives in city, is dazzled by the nightlife and seeming lack of rules about anything, proceeds to overindulge in every possible vice and then ends up penniless, dead or in prison (sometimes all three). There will always be a market for writing that cashes in on Bangkok's reputation, but there are many other aspects to the city besides the fleshpots of Patpong and Soi Cowboy. Tone Deaf In Bangkok shows a different side of Bangkok that rarely gets a look-in in most accounts of the city - the sheer bewilderment, wonder, and exhilaration of arriving in Bangkok and trying to come to grips with a culture utterly different to the west. Capturing these moments - especially after you've become an old hand at living in the city - is where the real magic of travel happens, the moments where the everyday of somewhere else is still exotic and life-affirming - even lifechanging.

Brown first arrived in Bangkok in the 1990s before the economic crash of 1997, when the Westernisation of Bangkok was still relatively new and foreigners had to integrate if they wanted to get the most basic things done. Her vignettes of everyday life - going for food, exploring the city, going out clubbing, trying (and failing) to learn the delicate tonal nuances of the Thai language - provide a fascinating picture of how this American middle-aged woman gradually fell in love with the chaotic, polluted concrete jungle that is Bangkok. Brown's deft portraits of routine tasks provide a deeper insight into the Thai psyche and how a foreigner will always brush up against it however hard they try to integrate. Her prose conveys a deep love of her surroundings without being gushing or blind to Bangkok's darker side, and she shares her own frequent faux pas with great comic timing. There is also something here about Brown finding a sort of peace of mind for herself within the city - although she left to return to America for several years, she has recently returned to Bangkok for good. For anyone looking to spend time in Bangkok beyond the usual tourist haunts, I'd say this was still an essential insight into what the guidebooks aren't able to tell you.

This article was originally posted at: Travel Happy Get Backpacker Travel Insurance from World Nomads, as recommended by Lonely Planet

Tone Deaf In Bangkok – Janet Brown

Last Friday I attended the hugely successful LUSH party organised by In Search Of Sanuk, which managed to raise nearly 35000 Baht (or $1000 US) for the Urban Garden Project, which aims to create a large green space for families in Bangkok's slums to use, both as a place to get some peace and also as a way of giving them an area to grow their own fruits and vegetables. It's just one of a growing variety of projects that is being run by InSearchOfSanuk.com, a charitable organisation headed up by Atlanta native Dwight. (In case you're wondering, sanuk is the Thai word for fun).

What ISOS is doing is working with existing Thai charities in Bangkok and helping bring them funding and whatever other assistance they need through events like last week's LUSH, as well as raising awareness that these charities actually exist. Given the attendence at LUSH, I think they're doing a pretty good job of it so far. (You can read more about the LUSH party and the Urban Garden Project on their site). Dwight sounds pretty serious on ISOS's blog, and there's no doubting his commitment and passion, but in real life he's a very friendly, funny guy who doesn't take himself too seriously. It's probably these qualities that help him bring together so many people.

You can contact ISOS direct and find out about short term volunteer work in Bangkok and also their longer term projects - plus of course, find out when their next event will be. You should also take a look at the Real Volunteer Thailand site for other suggestions of how to volunteer without hefty voluntourism costs.

This article was originally posted at: Travel Happy Get Backpacker Travel Insurance from World Nomads, as recommended by Lonely Planet

Volunteer Work In Bangkok – In Search Of Sanuk

This article was originally posted at: Travel Happy Get Backpacker Travel Insurance from World Nomads, as recommended by Lonely Planet

Jumping Cat Monastery, Burma

A friend recently asked me if I had any tips for reliable travel agents in Myanmar (formerly Burma), so I thought it would be good to post the info here too. When I went to Myanmar back in March 2007, I was there for just a week to see Bagan, with a couple of days in Yangon too. I had a fantastic time and definitely plan to return to explore more of this fascinating country. (You can see my posts on Mount Popa: Temple In The Sky and The Giant Reclining Buddha of Yangon as well as How To Get A Myanmar Visa in Bangkok).

The Myanmar Travel agent I would recommend is Radiant Tours - I found them through several word of mouth recommendations on the Lonely Planet Thorn Tree discussion board and they were extremely helpful and reliable. English is still widely spoken in Burma so there were no written communication difficulties either. They have a decent website at www.radianttours.com and respond rapidly to email - their address is info@radiant.com.mm - you can also go to their offices within Yangon to collect tickets etc - I'm not sure if they do delivery outside of Myanmar, but you can always ask.

This article was originally posted at: Travel Happy Get Backpacker Travel Insurance from World Nomads, as recommended by Lonely Planet

Myanmar Tour And Travel Agent Recommendation: Radiant Tours