Embarking on my mega trip

I have finally embarked on my 2018 year end mega trip ! There's something different this time though. Previously, I will always finalize all my travel plans before travel so that when I begin, I simply follow according to plan without much deviation. 

But this time, I have yet to decide on one leg in this trip, which is immediately after I return to Asia on Asiana airlines flight from the United States. Whether to head to Europe or simply remain in Asia? I've come up with two options for myself. 

First option, I return to Europe, then book a budget flight to the United States, and then redeem a ticket on the world's longest flight from Newark back to Singapore. For this, I'm currently waiting and hoping for a discounted award fare on the date I need to travel. 

If this doesn't work out, then there will be the second option, where I simply remain in Asia. Then I just need to book a short, one-way flight (or ferry!) from South Korea to China.

My decision will likely be made in a week's time, then my entire trip will be finalized.

Anyway, it is a good idea to once again map out my trip using the free online tool great circle mapper. This is following option two of my travel plan, which I thought is the more likely outcome.



From the travel map above, I will be crossing the Atlantic ocean once and the Pacific ocean twice. This trip will also include a round-the-world journey on some consecutive legs of the trip.

The focus of this trip will be Eastern Europe, where I will explore some countries in that region. Below is the map showing part of my trip on Europe and Morroco, Africa (my first time!).



The total distance ? 94,297 km ! Compared to one round of the earth 40,075 km, my trip is more than twice round the earth again! This is slightly less than my trip in June this year. But still, it's a long, long trip.

If I were to follow option one, then the total distance will break my previous record, since I will be traveling from Asia to Europe and then returning to Asia again.

One more thing. Previously I began my travel reviews only after my entire trip is completed. But by then, some of my experiences may have slipped my mind. Thus, this time, I will try to review on the go, so that the experiences remain fresh on my mind and my review will be more detailed for memories' sake. 😀

Using miles to tour the Middle East

I just had an idea on how to redeem my Qatar Airways miles before they expire in 2019. I earned those miles when I purchased tickets for my previous Qatar Airways business class trip from Singapore to Scandinavia during a promotion. On hindsight, I shouldn't have credited the miles to Qatar Airway's program due to the limited ways to use the miles.

After some basic research, I had thought of a great way to maximize the values for those miles for myself. I wanted to put them down in writing before it's forgotten.

Here goes:

1. Frankfurt to Kuwait in Luthansa first class (& the Frankfurt first class terminal for 60,000 krisflyer miles)
2. Kuwait to Doha in Qatar Airways economy class (for just 7000 Qatar Airways miles)
3. Doha to Kuwait in Qatar Airways first class (for 21,000 Qatar Airways miles). For flights within the Middle East, Qatar Airways business class is referred to as first class. With that, I can access Qatar's first class lounge in Doha airport.
4. Kuwait to Dubai in paid flydubai economy class
5. Dubai to Istanbul to London in Turkish airline B77w business class (for 25,000 krisflyer miles)

This itinerary could form part of my European tour, since it requires me to originate in Frankfurt, Germany and end in London, UK. 

Other than enjoying the premium flying experience, I will get to visit Middle Eastern countries such as Qatar, Dubai and Turkey. I will probably not visit Kuwait as it doesn't really feature many tourist attractions.

I intend to book these flights as part of my travels in June 2019. My current 2018 travel plans is almost fixed. As tempting as the ideas are to me, I wouldn't want to disrupt my 2018 plans at this point, not when I'm about to commence my trip !

Bangkok, Diff hostel review

Bangkok is one of the most visited cities in the world. So it follows that there are many different types of accommodation to suit all travelers. 

In my case, I wanted to stay in a budget place, within walking distance to phaya thai station, the terminal station for the Suvarnabhumi airport train.

Diff hostel was my top choice in this case, as it is a 10-minute walk from the train station. at ~S$130 for a triple room for 2 nights, with complimentary breakfast and wifi, it is tough to beat.

Communal area within the hostel

 Main reception

Diff hostel is housed in a narrow building four stories high. Reception is on the ground floor, and the rooms are from the second storey onwards. There is only a unique, easy-to-operate elevator meant for luggages only. Everyone has to climb the stairs up. There is both an indoor and outdoor staircase, with views of the immediate surrounding.

 

The room itself consists of two decks. The lower deck has a single bed and the private bathroom.

A staircase leads up to the second deck

A mattress for two person, some space at the side for personal belongings, and a window with a view.

The reception area has a wall with a tour map of Bangkok

The breakfast area has limited seating, though it was never crowded for the days I was there.

 

Breakfast is served on a tray with unlimited coffee. Food offerings alternate between scrambled eggs and sunny-side up together with sausages. Toast is always served.

Diff hostel is an easy-to-access, small, but cozy accommodation for the budget conscious traveler. It definitely fulfills my travel needs.

Travel updates

Since my last update on this blog, there has been changes to my year end trip which is happening really soon. Thanks to the affordable last minute fares. 

Initially, I would be getting from Asia to Europe on Norwegian airline, from Krabi to Stockholm. Recently, Norwegian airline released great, last minute deals on its route from Singapore non-stop to London Gatwick under S$200 one way. So I quickly booked it. 

Taking this flight instead would mean that I would have to forfeit my Krabi to Stockholm flight since it was booked on a non-refundable fare. But since I thought the advantages would outweigh the costs, I went ahead with the booking.

Other than the Norwegian's flight, Lot airline recently had really cheap, last minute deals in both economy and business class from Asia to Europe, for just S$100 and S$300 respectively one way. It's a charter flight from Ho Chi Minh City to Warsaw, but unfortunately the fixed date did not work out for me. Otherwise, this is actually a great opportunity to try out Lot's B787 aircraft business class, even if the catering might be the same as economy class.

Anyway, this will be my second and last time taking Norwegian airlines on this route. Sadly, the airline will be ending the Singapore to London route very soon. One less budget carrier on the route between Singapore and Europe. Then Scoot will be the only budget carrier from Singapore to both Athens and Berlin in Europe. 

Compared to Scoot and Norwegian airline, I prefer the latter as it offers complimentary PTV and usb port on its B787 aircrafts. Very few, if at all, budget carriers offer these amenities for free. Also, it sometimes releases fares below S$200 for a one-way trip on the Singapore to London sector. My first trip with the airline on this long haul route has been quite positive. I had realistic expectations since I knew I was travelling with a budget carrier.

On a positive note, SQ will be starting direct flights from Singapore to Seattle next September. Hopefully, I can try out its inaugural flight, in economy class. If its not too expensive! 

The good thing is, I get to visit London. Probably visit the Singapore brand Old Chang Kee outlet at Covent Gardens and taste their offerings, then watch a musical at London's west end.

At the moment, I'm still undecided on how to connect from London to my existing itinerary. There are too many options, too many places for me to visit ! 

From London, I could visit Bath, Stonehenge, Oxford or Cambridge universities. I could also cross the Channel to Paris and visit the only euro disneyland. Or I could just spend a day in Stockholm or Milan or another city. Of course, ultimately the flight price will guide my decision. Currently, the flight to Stockholm is the cheapest. But I intend to hold on for a couple of days before making a decision.

For now, it looks like I won't be visiting Jordan this year. As I would like to return to Singapore earlier, my Ryanair flights between Krakow and Amman will have to be forfeited. Fortunately, I booked them at a low price, so minimum impact on my budget.

Recently I have booked a cheap AirAsiaX flight, a budget airline, from Tianjin, China to Kuala Lumpur. This gives me a chance to visit the city of Tianjin for the first time, a short bullet train ride from Beijing.

This leaves me with one more long haul flight to decide and book, from any point in Europe to Beijing. Again, I haven't decided at this point due to too many available options at similar price points.

I have wanted, for some time, to take Lufthansa first class from Frankfurt to anywhere, with the lowest number of miles possible. And I want to experience its first class terminal in Frankfurt. This is an aviation enthusiast's dream haha! Currently, Lufthansa requires 60,000 miles for a one-way first class ticket to the Middle East, which is just Kuwait. The other Lufthansa destinations in the region doesn't feature first class flights. In that case, I will need an affordable flight from Kuwait to Beijing.

I also want to try out Aigle Azur direct flight from Paris Orly to Beijing for a reasonably low price. I'm still hoping for its prices to drop to an acceptable level for me.

I'm keen to visit Uzbekistan in Central Asia as well. There are flights with reasonable fares from Almaty to Uzbekistan but not outbound from Uzbekistan.

Then there are Iran and Egypt too! Again too many places to visit 😀

On the other hand, if I could not find an affordable flight from Europe to Asia, then I may not even want to get to Europe towards the last leg of my trip. I could just remain in South Korea and move over to China to take the AirAsiaX flight back to Southeast Asia. I might use this opportunity to visit Japan too.

Meanwhile, I'm also doing research on individual cities that I will be visiting. Such as what tourist attractions to visit and how to get there on public transport.

Yup, so these are the flight decisions that I need to make in the coming days. The rest of my travel plans here and here remain more or less the same.

I find that making travel plans for myself gets me excited at times. Especially when I come across reasonable to amazingly cheap fares to new cities I have yet to visit. I have since abandon the idea of travelling in a tour group, since this usually turns out way more expensive. And I do have a limited travel budget. So I have to embrace solo travel.

Travelling solo to new cities does require me to step out of my comfort zone. I need to do a lot of research to find out where to visit,  how to take public transport in a city, and most importantly, how to keep myself safe in a foreign city. I am, in a sense, my own tour guide.

Fortunately, after some experience in exploring places such as Skopje, Macedonia, and Mexico City, I feel that it is totally possible to have a safe, enjoyable and reasonably affordable budget d.i.y. tour.

In Bangkok !

Bangkok is one of the most visited cities in the world. Personally for me, it is a short flight away from Singapore. Things are relatively cheap. There are plenty of sightseeing options. It is relatively safe. It is easy to get around with the subway, tuk-tuk or the taxi.

After alighting from Phaya thai station on the airport train, I walked to my accommodation for my two-night stay. 

I didn't purchase overseas wifi for this trip, but rather, I used the google offline maps, which is actually a great alternative to locate places. The maps need to be pre-downloaded using wifi before travel. When in Bangkok, the maps' GPS is able to identify my position. The only thing that it cannot do offline is to provide walking directions. So based on me and my destination's positions, I will have to decide on the walking direction myself. Not that difficult, at least in Bangkok. I'm keen to use the offline maps for my year end trip too, reducing my travel budget as well!

Anyway, my accommodation for my bangkok trip is diff hostel, an easy, 10-minute leisure walk from phaya thai station. I shall review this wonderful hostel in my next post.

When in Bangkok, the highlight is the Grand Palace. I walked from the accommodation to there, taking close to 3 hours. Though I stopped numerous times along the way. On hindsight, I should have taken the local bus.

Passing by tesco lotus supermarket with a food court

giant swing

At the grand palace

After that, a taxi ride to the MBK shopping mall for lunch and shopping for local produce. 

Mango sticky rice

There is free wifi at the MBK mall, though it is only for 60 minutes once registered.

After the Grand Palace, it is the Erawan shrine, another popular tourist destination.

Thereafter, it is a short 10-minute walk on the elevated walkway towards the Platinum shopping mall for cheap fashion wear.

On my last day in Bangkok, I spent the morning, first at Wat Yannawa (boat temple), then to the famous Chatuchak weekend market for anything cheap.

 Wat Yannawa

At the crowded chatuchak weekend market

And with that, I checked out of diff hostel at 12pm and headed to don mueang airport for my flight home. A well-spent holiday in Bangkok !

Comparing Bangkok's two airport experiences

Bangkok has 2 airports, the main (newer) Suvarnabhumi airport, where most flights arrive, and the smaller (older) Don Mueang airport, which now caters to mainly budget airline flights.

Display at don mueang airport

I chose to arrive at Suvarnabhumi airport and depart from Don Mueang airport in order to compare my airport experiences. 

Suvarnabhumi airport is connected by the airport train which takes travelers into the city quickly and easily. From what I see, most passengers got off the train at the last stop, phaya thai, close to the centre of the city. There are BTS (subway) connections from there to other parts of Bangkok.

On the other hand, Don Mueang airport currently has no train connections. Other than public buses, there are two airport buses, A1 and A2, that brings travelers close to the centre of the city. Bus A1 stops at mo chit station near the famed chatuchak weekend market. Bus A2 stops at victory monument station. Both stops have bts connections as well.

Towards the airport, I took bus A1 at the bus-stop at exit 3 of mo chit station. It's just a short 2 minutes wait before the bus arrives. The bus has limited seats and is more similar to a public bus, so not much luggage space. I boarded the bus and found a seat. Later the bus conductor comes on board to collect the fare from the passengers. The bus stops at don mueang airport terminal 1, where most, if not all, passengers alight. Not sure if the bus stops at terminal 2 though.

Bangkok airport bus A1

Airport bus stop next to mo chit bts station, a short walk to the famous chatuchak weekend market

Comparing both airport experiences, I find that they are well-linked by public transport to the city centre. Being the newer airport, Suvarnabhumi airport feels more modern and spacious. Don mueang airport, though smaller, is easier to navigate and there are quite a number of shops airside as well.

And for the aviation enthusiasts, my Scoot dreamliner flight operates from the gate at the end of the terminal, which isn't that big, but it offers unobstructed views of the airport runway and planes taking off and landing.

My scoot dreamliner flight, arrived from Tokyo, Japan. Nicknamed lickety split

Plane-spotting at don mueang airport departure gate area