Affordable & Safe Place to Stay in Laos

3 hotel 3 city in Laos in my experience, let’s start! So far all of these place safe for woman and solo traveler! 

📍Vientiane, Sailomyen Hotel

If you check google review, you’ll see high rating on Sailomyen, like people said for the first timer Vientiane its the best try. Also I found a travel contributor that I followed recommend it so here I am. They have dormitory room & private room. I choose private one for around 4xxK IDR. It’s very nice like clean bedsheet & bathroom and delicious breakfast include, comfortable lobby area and also have cafe so you no need to worry if there any heavy rain and hungry. 

But the minus point is : stairs to the 3rd floor, the window is very visible from outside even you have the shade on its not 100% cover so, girl, be careful. Also the bfast start at 8 so if you catch morning train and be pick-up at 8 actually unable to get the bfast.

There are 2-3 food stall in front of it too that already open since 8 in the morning, I try a vietnamese noodle for 50,000 Kip and it a lot. 

Chicken broth noodle

📍Luang Prabang, Villa Champa

It’s the most value booking during my Laos trip guys! I really like it. Can you feel that 160K IDR per night I got this private room with balcony? OMG. 

Already feel homey since touch down the lobby

You can directly see the alms giving right from the window

Also you got free breakfast, free flow tea coffee with hot water on the lobby, and the most important is the alms giving just in front of the hotel. 

They have various kind of bfast you can order in the receptionist every morning

It’s clean enough really! A bit old building but well clean like you feel homey at all. 

📍Vang Vieng, Annecy Hotel 

I don’t really recommend it if you don’t have any needed why need to book here. In my case because it’s just beside the van for me to back to Vientiane (Sarah Transport), so I want to convenience to be able to get to the van on time. This the only reason I book this hotel. 

Overall it’s not too clean, it feels like a hotel that almost close forever 😂 When I come in the lobby is like no living, only 1 friendly reception. And the bedsheet also not really clean luckily I have my sleeping bag with me. 

Vang Vieng iconic view with my wet shoes haha

Got free buffet breakfast too but overall I don’t recommend it unless you also want to catch the van on time like me without more effort hehe. I booked for 349K IDR per night. 

Overall I have pleasant stay in Laos! Thank you Laos for having me and treat me well. By the way you know when I arrive at Luang Prabang it’s raining impact from typhoon in North Vietnam then I took the shared van then they drop me on a road and tell me that one is your hotel Villa Champa that one with tuk tuk and I go straight according to his direction but I didn’t see any tuktuk and I stop and see a lady in receptionist in front of me and ask : Excuse me, which one is Villa Champa?

And that one is Villa Champa! First attempt and on the target haha. 

Kupang for Chill & Pork Lover | NTT, Indonesia

Have you ever been to East Indonesia? I believe most of people havent been there even the local Indonesian like me haha. Yes, it was my first time to touch East Indonesia and I start it from Kupang, the capital of Nusa Tenggara Timur Province. 

It such a 冷門景點 unpopular destination and why I start here is because its not my destination for this trip, my destination is Sumba but there is no direct flight from Jakarta, the only one I found is Jakarta - Kupang - Sumba or Jakarta - Bali - Sumba, so of course I choose through Kupang as I haven't been there hehe. No rugi rugi club haha. 

Btw you know this time I decide to go to Sumba because at the beginning the original plan was Laos and back thru Bangkok then suddenly the flight become so expensive and found a voluntrip that always on my bucket list years ago. Then I see the news Bangkok earthquake and here I am coming to east Indonesia. 

I have my (not really) 3 days in Kupang OMG its because the flight to Sumba reschedule to the next day so I need to stay in Kupang one more night oke lah, sometimes God gives another way because you can’t see the future but He can, cieeee, so I guess my Kupang stay would be awesome. 

Searching for open trip or walking tour here is totally unable to found. Seems Kupang is a transit city and less people will have city tour, I ask few trip provider all only have private trip or suggest me to rent car with driver. Mostly if people join the trip they will go to Rote Island. 

Touch down El Tari International Airport you can feel the different ambience, less people, bright sun and even the queue for taxi ride is empty haha. You can use grab from the airport but anyway it same with directly take the taxi because the airport taxi operate by Koperasi and they are the only who can take grab order from airport but when they send passenger out of airport they cant take another passanger go to airport or other places, they need to come back to the aiport.

El Tari is the name of NTT governor back then in 1926 - 1978

So basically after my research, what to do in Kupang is : chill, eat pork, enjoy the beach. 

When you find for an accomodation in Kupang here is my suggestion :

• With breakfast : Not really easy to find some breakfast, there are pork noodle for breakfast but its not that easy unless near your hotel have the resto 
• Near the sea : You can choose sea view room or the hotel directly on the beach 
• Mostly they 

This time I stay in 2 hotel : Neo Hotel Kupang & Swiss-Bellcourt Kupang. The reason was Neo Hotel is near the airport and I got IDR 3xxK for balcony sea view room and they let me early check in but at first the ready one is block by wall then what’s the purpose of having sea view so I ask to change to other room. Overall it’s just nice with the view and balcony like very worth the price and have drinking water dispenser but for the cleanliness so so or even a bit dirty. For breakfast I do think so so. 

I got the room on the right at the first, so pls make sure you got the room with real sea view

Swiss-Bellcourt Kupang is very nice with the location directly on the beach and have semi outdoor lobby & resto. The only reason I choose this hotel just because I want to have sunset but lazy to have it in the beach so the answer is to have a hotel by the sea then you can have sunset directly. Breakfast is a bit downgrade since this is Swiss-Bell. Cleanliness also not really clean, it just a place where you can buy sunset seat. 

not color editing, the original sunset in Kupang that time is this pinky

Storm before & after the sunset

Cant stop even blink so fast because the sunset is so adorable

Grab is very common here complete from grab car, grab bike, grabfood it’s easy to get in Kupang but the fare is not that cheap compare to other county in Java, the fare is more similar to Jakarta. 

Grab car here mostly dont use AC and have timor style music haha. But they all kind, at least all grab driver I met all very nice even we can have small talk. One of it was the crew in Neo Hotel and asking my review about it so they can improve, another one is Javanese and move to Kupang because his wife, and other interesting story. 

Tirosa Statue (Timor Rote Sabu)

Kupang do have mall, I visit Lippo Plaza Kupang.

Nah come to the part that I love about Kupang other than sunset is the food woohoo!!!!!

Se’i is the must eat in Kupang, there are pork & beef se’i of course I repeat the pork se’i. The famous one is Se’i Babi Baun, the first se’i in Kupang and it taste more smokey. 

I do try se’i babi Hoki but as you can see even there are 3 se’i babi in a row so if you are really hungry just try one to another haha. 

green beans with pork bone soup, papaya flower & sweet potato leaves, fried noodle

Babi Bakar & Rumpu Rampe so this is grilled pork & kinda leaves mix together (daun pepaya, daun singkong, jantung pisang, daun kelor). 

La Moringa is one of the interesting place in Kupang, Originally come from Kupang they sell various food, gelato, snack, drink all ingredients with moringa (daun kelor). And guess what I got treat by La Moringa what a day! The drink is very fresh feeling & the moringa gelato is very unique taste, love it. 

They also sell some snack like sorghum, flour from east Indonesia to substitute with rice. 

Before heading back to airport, luckily I found Casa Italia Kupang, OMG so so good. They sell thin crust pizza and have pork topping. Don’t forget to try the fresh orange juice with yakult and condensed milk. I really can sit long time here in outdoor area very chill. 

So overall how I rate Kupang? Worth to visit once a lifetime, a place for pork lover, very hot, suitable for introvert and quiet but have the convenience of big city. 

Thank Kupang and I’m heading to Sumba. 

Where to Stay in Ho Chi Minh | 3 Recommended Price Worthy Hotel

 Xin Chao! So I’m very glad to share this post because I found a price worthy hotel in Ho Chi Minh which push me to leave a very high five star hotel for them yeay! So if people like me whose lazy to leave review could be like this its only 2 possibility : very good or very worst haha 

Let’s start! 

Odys Boutique Hotel 

Well, it’s really a beautiful small hotel with contemporary design and great ambience. The staff was so nice, they will help your luggage until the room and provide the information with great knowledge and communication skill. You will get a snack bar on the rooftop and able to choose various type of pillow. Also when you order grabfood they will send to your room, usually the hotel just ask you to put on the lobby. They service is so thoughtful anyway. 

The ambience and cleanliness is thumbs up. I really like this hotel. 

The Hammock

It just beside Odys. For the room ambience, I like Odys more but but but here you have free flow snack & free washing machine + dryer. So I think this is the big plus point especially if you come from nomaden trip also that need to wash your clothes. They provide the detergent ball also, really helpful. I think I wash like whole my clothes in my luggage haha. 

They also provide the breakfast and you can choose 1 of their variants. 

Triple E  

Around 30-50 meter from Hammock you will found this little hotel on the line of many food stall & durian pie shop. Compare with Odys & Hammock it’s more compact. No breakfast only a cup of coffee or tea on the morning. The elevator also bit tiny and the room is the cleaniest among these 3 but it’s really compact. 

Stay tune for the other hotel recommendation ❤️