Thailand International Balloon Festival 2011 - Day

Luckily for me that I'm still around here in Chiang Mai during cold season this year.  The weather here is very nice during this time.  Many events and festivals are held almost every week which attract lots of tourists coming to the city.  Thailand International Balloon Festival came to Chiang Mai this year.  The festival was set up on a football field of The Prince Royal's College.  I was looking forward to join this festival since I knew that it will be held there, taking this chance to visit my old school too!

Balloons flew up continuously in the early morning from 6am til 7am.

They flew to the south of Chiang Mai during the day and came back in the evening.

Night >>>

Phayao Lake is waiting

This is a view of Phayao.  The city is located at the Phayao Lake (Kwan Phayao) which you can see in the middle of picture.  This lake is an important freshwater source for this valley.  70 years ago before the lake was constructed, its area used to be an old town.  In the lake, there is a ruin of Wat Tilok Aram, a 500 year temple and people usually take boats with lighted candle in hands around the ruined temple instead of walking in Buddhist Holidays (Buddhist practice).

Modern spirit house in Pai

This is a spirit house of "Coffee in Love", a beautiful coffee shop in Pai.  It looks like a fairy tail house which is totally different from the traditional style shrine.  Hope the spirits enjoy their coffeehouse style home.

Berlin aerial view

This is the aerial view of Berlin, Germany.  The plane was turning left and soon landed at Berlin Tegel Airport.  I think this shot was taken while I was flying over somewhere in northeast Berlin.  I found later that it's a little bit south of a town called Ahrensfelde.  Großer Müggelsee can be observed from this view far away to the southeast near skyline.

10 things to have in your backpack

Backpacking is one way to travel with your backpack.  This means you should take only important things to keep the lowest weight.  To be ready for your backpacking trip, you need these 10 basic items in your backpack.

1. Clothes - This can be varied, up to the climate of the place you travel.  But basically, you should have 3 pairs of trousers or shorts and 5 t-shirts.  They should be easy to wash and dry.  Bring at least 3 underwear and wash it daily!  In case something exciting happens, you can buy new clothes during the travel.

2. First Aid kit - This is very important.  Keep traveling with pains feels like you fail on that trip.  Three basic items are paracetamol, plasters, and alcohol for cleaning the wound.  Don't forget to bring other medicines if you have a special disease.  

3. Towel and hygiene kit - Bring small and thin towel to save backpack's space.  Soap, shampoo, toothbrush, and toothpaste shouldn't be forgotten.

4. Flip Flops - Your feet need to breathe.  Select the cheap one which you won't hesitate to throw them away.

5. Camera - If your main point is to take photos, bring compact tripod and enough memory cards and batteries, if not, bring less equipment.  For me, I prefer a light compact camera because I like to do snapshot.  Don't hesitate to take photos.  Do it as much as you want and you won't have the feeling like "Oh...I should have taken that shot." after the trip.

6. Guidebook, notebook, and pens - Another great idea is to put those important information from the guidebook to iPod or mobile phone to save your backpack's space.  Try closing your guidebook and traveling with your mouth to face new experiences.  Don't forget to write the diary everyday.  You can share it to your friends and it will be the best guide for yourself when you come back again.

7. Victorinox knife - It is not often to be used but when the unexpected time comes, it is worth to have this item with you.  It may protect you from bad guys or help opening a locked bag with the keys inside.

8. Plastic bags, plastic band or rope - Plastic bags is useful when you have to carry wet clothes or have a carsick.  The band or rope is multipurpose.  I believe you must have a chance to use it.

9. Flashlight - It is quite important if you travel to the remote area or camp outdoor during the trip.  Don't forget to bring its batteries as well.

10. Pocket book - A pocket book will reduce the distance of your journey.  I use a guide book as a pocket book to kill the time during traveling by planes, buses, and trains.


After you have those 10 items prepared, pack it wisely.  If you travel with a baggage, here is a way to pack it.

Cambodia in October: Kampong Som / Sihanoukville

Finally I arrived the southern beach.  Cambodian blue sea is clean and quiet.  There were not so many tourists yet but the place is getting famous every year.  This can be an alternative choice for those who want to relax at the tropical beach in Southeast Asia.

The kids kept jumping at the pier, swimming back to the beach, and running back to jump again and again.  They asked me to take photos each round too!

Cambodia in October: Heading to the south on Highway No.4

I rode in a car going south to Kampong Som or Sihanoukville.  Not so long after riding out of the city along Highway no.4, I saw such a damped accident.  In the middle of crowd lied two bodies and scrap parts of motorcycle behind a ten-wheeler truck.  Traffic in Cambodia is very terrible.  Many motorcycles buzz around without fear.  Away from suburbs of Phnom Penh, we passed  through toll gates and after that all I saw were beautiful paddy fields and palm trees with mountains background.

"Tob" means room and "Tuek" means water in Khmer so the toilet is called "tob tuek".  In Cambodia, the official currency is Cambodian riel but actually US dollars are used universally even in the supermarket.  There are many ATM s in the major tourist areas which dispense US$.  If you pay something in dollar, you will get riel back for the change with a fix rate of 1$ = 4000 riels.

Cambodia in October: Phnom Penh riverfront at night

After leaving bags at La Parranda Hotel, I took a ride on a local tuk-tuk to the riverfront.  Along the Tonle sap river is a long park with palm trees.  Cambodians usually come and relax around here in the evening to enjoy the atmosphere.  I took this picture from the terrace of FCC Phnom Penh.  A colonial style bar and restaurant was once a gathering place of foreign correspondents during war time.  Rooms and free WiFi are also available here!

Cambodia in October: Flood 2011

Flying away from the Bangkok's biggest flood in 50 years, I still meet the water in Cambodia.  The unusual heavy rains in monsoon season this year causes major floods almost everywhere in Southeast Asia.  I took these photos when the plane was about to land at Phnom Penh Airport.

The enormous amounts of water covered the land endlessly.  Not sure if the it was inundated or overflowed from the river.

The city of Phnom Pehn was still totally dry.  They can manage the irrigation very well or maybe the water didn't reach the city yet.  I really like the terracotta color of the roofs in this city.  You can see the empty land on the left side of picture.  It used to be a lake called "Boeung Kak", Phnom Penh's backpacker's area.  Unfortunately, the government started filling the lake in past August for foreign real estate developments.