Right now, as I’m writing this, I am at work. I can’t concentrate and I am constantly looking out of the window. Because I feel trapped. Is this the real meaning of our existence? Getting up, having breakfast, going to work, going back home, making dinner, watching TV, a little bit of scrolling on Facebook in between all of that, and eventually going to sleep. Living in a rat race, day after day, 5 days in a week. And then 2 days of spending almost all your money you’ve earned that week.
So here we are, standing on the Goodwood race track to make a lap around the circuit together with 250 other cars. This is the official start of the Mongol Rally 2016, the largest event of stupidity this year. We are all revving the engines, everyone is honking and after one year of preparations, we can’t wait to test our little cars. Let’s see if Niki, our Lada, can survive this trip. We’re even not sure if we will survive it!
It is not so easy to visit a country like Turkmenistan. You better not apply for a tourist visa unless you want to book an expensive guide for your whole visit. It’s much better (and easier) to get a transit visa. However, the problem is that this visa is issued for only 5 days. So you don’t have much time to explore the country, especially when you’re backpacking or cycling across Turkmenistan. The country is very different from anything else. The government is in control of everything and they make sure that you don’t do things they don’t want you to do. Random police checks can happen everywhere, and in Ashgabat, the military is on every street corner to watch every step you take. That’s why Turkmenistan is the seventh least visited country in the world, receiving only 7,000 visitors per year. And we were one of them!
Hiking Mount Hua isn’t just a walk in the park. Standing on the edge of the cliff, on a one-foot-wide plank, and looking more than 6000 feet down into the valley isn’t something that everyone would do. There are stories that an average of 100 people die each year from falling off the cliff. We don’t want to be one of them. We’re doing this step-by-step, and every step we take is made carefully. The views are breathtaking! But at a certain point, the plank path stops and the only way to get back is by taking the same route again. But now we need to overtake numerous of scared locals on this narrow path. Is this really the most dangerous hike in the world?
When we were in Sapa, with an almost expired visa, we had to go into Laos so we wouldn’t overstay our visa. We hesitated a lot what the best option could be, but knowing that we’re on a budget, we opted to take the bus journey to Muang Khua in Laos. There are a lot of horror stories about the bus ride on the internet that scared us. But it seems that a lot of them are outdated. Here you’ll find our thoughts and up-to-date facts about this 24-hour journey.
Lopburi is a historic city, one of the oldest cities in Thailand, and just 3 hours away from the hustle and bustle of Bangkok. It’s divided into two areas, New Town and Old Town. While there’s not so much to see in New Town itself, let’s say that Old Town is rather … interesting. Most of the domestic and international visitors don’t come to Lopburi to see the old temple complex, but to do some macaque spotting. That’s right, the Old Town of Lopburi is full of them, and they aren’t the kind and cute monkeys that you’re used to see in the zoo.
Thailand is a super backpacker-friendly country, which makes it easy to spend some time in the country on a very tight budget. We’ve spent almost two months in Thailand and managed to spend only $10 a day, even when we were traveling between places. Of course, not every day is the same, and there were days that we’ve spent way more than this. Especially, when doing tours or activities that cost money, it’s difficult. But still, it isn’t impossible. That’s why we wanted to share our experiences and tips on how we managed to travel cheap in Thailand on only $10/day.