Tag
Travelers from Bangkok mainly use the city of Vientiane as a jump-off point for their journey to the town of Vang Vieng. In our case, we came from Thanaleng via minivan (THB 150), and were dropped off at the Talat Sao Mall in Central Vientiane.
I don’t consider myself a (legit) mountaineer, though I am the type of person who constantly craves hikes. Sometimes, I do it just to break the monotonous 8am-5pm routine, but most times, to remind myself this: that once I start to pursue something wonderful, things will surely get hard but I just have to keep moving forward. Last May, I was delighted to discover that this craving was also shared by my officemates. They were mostly first timers so we decided to conquer a mountain that is forgiving to beginners: Mt. Ulap.
Last November, we, along with our bestfriends (aka boyfriends), traveled to the land of xiao long bao (we made that up)–thanks to an impulsive promo fare booking done almost a year ago. In 5 days and 5 nights, we were able to (in no particular order) visit the Chiang Kai Shek Memorial Hall, shop at Ximending, try the original Din Tai Fung in Xinyi, climb Elephant Mountain, feed our artsy souls at Huashan1914 Creative Park, explore Northern Taiwan, visit a national park, walk around Beitou and eat our hearts out at the Shilin Night Market. All these in under P20,000, including airfare, visa application fees, taxes, etc.
