Greece! | Day 1

Yes! Its the best time to travel to Greece. Even with financial crisis happening, it makes Greece more affordable to travel!


We chose Greece as one of the destination in our backpacking Europe itinerary.

May'15
Breezy noon with landed at Athens International Airport by Pegasus Airlines from Istanbul, Turkey. We got the air fare quite cheap! Return trip for Euro90 per pax! The plus of choosing this airline, they allow 30kg baggage allowance for check in, FREE! Seats are clean, staff is friendly. No complaints on that!


We booked our 1st stay in Athens through Airbnb.com (Rental of Accomodation). Basement room with ensuite and free breakfast. Another plus is FREE transport to/from airport (which is 15 minutes away!) cost us both Euro39 per night! Good deal!


Ahhhh, such a nice place!

Home in Greece

Common area

Kitchen

To our room in the basement

Our spacious room

Ensuite bathroom

Just 10 minutes walk to the beach nearby with cafes & Artemida Beach which is about 400 metres away.

my navigator behind!

Mini Market nearby

Artemida Beach - Wind Surfing beach

Greek Church

Interior of the Greek Church

Our host recommend us nearby beach cafe which is famous for their traditional greek dishes!

Cafe

Greek beer, Cheers!

Must HAVE - GREEK SALAD!

Souvalaki / Gyros, Euro 2

Our dinner cost us Euro10 for 2 pax. I must say, every meal with a Gyros is enough for me! We took a stroll back to our Home. Sun still brightly shinning at 8.30pm in Spring!

Can't wait for our early flight to Santorini tomorrow!







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Yangon, Myanmar | Day 1

If you didn't know, Myanmar (Burma) previously under travel visa ban and Aung San Suu Kyi repeatedly asked tourists not to visit Burma.

"I still think that people should not come to Burma because the bulk of the money from tourism goes straight into the pockets of the generals. And not only that, it's a form of moral support for them because it makes the military authorities think that the international community is not opposed to the human rights violations which they are committing all the time. They seem to look on the influx of tourists as proof that their actions are accepted by the world." (Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, January1999)




Back in Year 2012, when I search for information on Myanmar in Trip Advisor, not much choice of accomodation and information about them. I gave up & choose Cambodia over them.



The ban only been lifted in Year 2013 and their tourism industry start to flourish.


A chance to visit another Southeast Asia country, so lets go!



Upon reaching the Yangon International Airport, we have our Myanmar E-Visa which we did online, hence no queue for arrival visa and can make your way through the immigration. E-visa and the Arrival visa for Myanmar 30 days is USD50. Quite expensive for Asia!


A taxi is from International Airport to Downtown Yangon cost Kyatt8000 (Almost equivalent to USD8) per car.


Massive jam for almost 2 hours to Downtown around noon. So anyone of you plan to go/from airport/downtown, do allow about 2 hours drive. They said, normally 40 minutes will do, but not for us.



Met our with our friends staying with 30th Corner Boutique Hostel. A friendly hostel which allows us to leave our backpacks and go roam freely the Downtown Yangon! The rooms is small but clean. They do provide breakfast and free wifi, complimentary mineral water too! Room price is reasonable, about USD20 per pax if you are choosing double room. They also allow us to shower before going off to Aung Minglar Bus Station late evening!



Downtown Yangon

Opposite view from 30th Corner Boutique Hostel

Street Food

Bogyoke Aung San Market

Sule Pagoda from afar

Tea Leaf Salad at 999 Shan Noodle House

Sticky Shan Noodle at 999 Shan Noodle House

After our lunch, we took a cab, Kyatt7000 from downtown to Shwedagon Pagoda. 

To be continued..

JJ Bus Express - Yangon to Bagan

Hello!

I'm just back from my 1st trip of the year to another South East Asia Country - Myanmar!

So, here's my experience from JJ Bus Express, if anyone of you happen to take this route too!


I've book our bus seats with JJ Bus Express from their Facebook which they reply promptly! Do check them out.


Here's the bus schedule as at 31 March 2015:

We got the first class, that's the only class they have for this route. Cost about 18,500 Kyatt each person.

I must say, air-conditioned bus with comfortable seats (not cramp space!), blanket provided (you can request for extra!), they stop at a huge rest station which have everything you need (wifi, toilets, food!) and they do serve complimentary butter cake with coffee/tea.

Inside the Bus

The journey takes about 10 hours. Depart at 8pm from Aung Minglar Bus Station. Do be there at least 2 hours early than scheduled time because the traffic can be very jam!

We reached Bagan at 5.30am, which is half an hour earlier than scheduled time. In time to catch the Sunrise!

p/s: They have complimentary pick up service from your stay at Bagan to Bus station (No drop off service).