How to Save Money When Traveling
The thing about coming from the West to South East Asia (SEA) is that our money goes a lot further than it does at home. This is why you will typically see younger backpackers in SEA that you will in countries our dollar does not go as far, such as South America (specifically Argentina and Chile.) In SEA, hostels are anywhere between $2-$5/night for a bed in a dorm room. I was lucky enough to be traveling with a partner, so we opted for the $10-$12/night hotel room option instead of the hostel dorm rooms. And as any good backpacker knows, the best way to save on lodgings for the night is to take the overnight bus instead of the day bus. Jordan and I took the overnight bus in many countries during our travels, but SEA was by FAR the nicest.
The overnight bus to Chiang Mai
One bus Jordan and I took from Bangkok to Chaing Mai was a big double decker bus. We bought fruit from a stall in the massive Bangkok bus station after we finally found the corner they had our busses in. (If you ever want an adventure, take the bus out of Bangkok. It’s a puzzle of a travel game trying to wind your way down packed corridors for Thai people waiting for their transport, sleeping on the floor while they wait, loudly calling to others from across the station. Travel game objective there is to find someone, anyone (because the information booth people certainly did not speak English) who speaks English and hopefully they also know a bit about what’s going on in that circus they call a transport center.
That bus was a longer ride, maybe 15 hours. It was a double decker bus with assigned seating. Jordan and I were not assigned together, in fact he was upstairs and I was in the very front row of the bottom deck. I had the window seat and in front of me was a giant tv for the bus to watch that blasted Thai sitcoms and shows. Everyone got a blanket, which I snuggled up in. In between the two front rows was a tiny door for the host to come in and out of so she could check on the guests. I remember the host bending through the door and slipping her shoes back on so she could do her job. (Remember, Thailand does not wear shoes inside, so the cock pit must have been a very homey place on this bus.)
There was a little old Thai woman who sat next to me on the bus. She could tell by the size of my eyes that all this was new and exciting for me. I loved the weird Thai tv play we were watching and driving by the weirdest outdoor food markets. The old woman smiled at me and handed my a few fruits to eat that I had no idea what they were. They had a hard purple skin that stained my hands pretty bad. I watched her peel the fruit effortlessly and reach the white pods inside. To this day, the fruit she gave me is one of my favorite fruits in the world. If you haven’t tried mangostein but are ever given the opportunity, treat yourself! I could go off on a tangent of how amazing this fruit is and the history of how America got all our foreign fruits but why this piece of heaven was left out….but perhaps in a different post.
The Overnight bus to Sapa
When Jordan and I arrived in Hanoi, we wanted to go to Sapa from there to see the rice fields. The woman who was running our hotel told us “no no no, we did not want to book the cheaper bus to Sapa. She would book us on the slightly more expensive travelers bus” as she called it. Slightly concerned we were being scammed (but not too worried because it was only a couple dollars more each) we rolled with it. And boy are we glad we did.
Our hotel lady was right. We were on the travelers bus. Like most rides in SEA, a smaller bus came to our lodging to pick us up and weave us through the crazy scooter traffic to a spot where we could transfer onto the real bus. Our bus was full of travelers from all over. Not only that, but this 20 hour ride was going to be THE BEST EVER!! Every seat was a reclined bed. They didn’t go fully flat, as our feet tucked under the heads of the seat in front of us. But it was the most comfortable overnight bus I’m sure I’ll ever have in my life.
I don’t remember a bathroom being on the bus but I do remember getting out at a few stops to use the restroom and check out the food at these seemingly random stops along the dark journey to Sapa.
I have fond memories of listening to the Italian family talking loudly and laughing through the night while I rested with my eyes closed and a slight smile on my lips.
