Couchsurfing! A great way to travel and meet new friends!

      Are you familiar with couchsurfing? Have you been hosted by someone abroad or locally through this wonderful website or have you hosted someone at your home?
      Back in 2014, my friend and I started our couchsurfing account because we were about to travel to Macau and Hongkong. We wanted to try this site and see how it works. But since we just started then, we were not able to find any host so we ended up in hostels.
       Couchsurfing is a website mostly for backpackers. This is a global site so you will get to meet global friends. I live with my parents so I also have to inform them that we are going to have a guest. My parents were hesitant at first, but since I started hosting, many other guests stayed at our home after the first and so my parents started to like the idea.
        Personally, it is a great way to connect with people from around the world as you will talk about culture and exchange travel experiences. At first you will feel shy talking to foreigners but you will get used to it once you begin. For travellers, this is a very good idea. But mind you, you will not always be lucky to be hosted when travelling.

Why did I join?

Back in 2012, my friend and I have travelled to Finland for an international conference. We asked the organizer if there WAS someone there who can accommodate us so we don't have to spend for hotel because the airfare alone was expensive already. Lo and behold, there was a very nice lady, we called her Ait ( mother in Finnish) who welcomed us to her home together with her beautiful and kind sons.
So when I stumbled upon this site, I joined because in my mind this is my way of paying it forward! :)

Hosting Experiences:

        To date I have hosted the following people from 2015 up to present:

Turkey - Gokhan, Mehmet, Oguz, Tebes, Galip and Ismail
 UK      - Irving
 Germany - Sophia and David
 Czech Republic - Sibl (stayed twice, 2015 and 2016)
 Indonesia - Natalia
 China - Lisa and Peter
 Hungary - Gusti
 Canada - Gabriel
 Spain - Jesus

       I also have met people through meet ups and also became a good friend in the process.

Being Hosted:
     I also travel so I also use this site. So far I have been lucky as I have met generous and kind hosts both locally and abroad.

Local Hosts:

Kalibo, Aklan - Jamaica
Iloilo City  - Wewe Minerva
Dumaguete - Ivan Paul

Abroad:
Kota Kinabalu, Sabah - Dixie
Yogyakarta, Indonesia - Dyanra
Bangkok, Thailand     -  Jee

 A word of caution!

    Read profiles and read beneath the line. If you live by yourself, ask a friend to join you if you have a guest. There is always safety in number. It's always good to be cautious because your guest is still a stranger!

Couchsurfing memories!

    Here are some photos that I would like to share.

This is our baby D from Yogyakarta. We stayed with her for a week! Awesome!

I found a squadgoal in Kota Kinabalu throughmy CS host! Amazing!

Meet up and ended as friends! 

CS South Manila gathering!

      The world is getting smaller and smaller and it is very easy to connect to people! As long as it's possible, I will accommodate people who will visit Philippines! Happy travelling! Happy backpacking!

Backpacking SEA - Part 2: Thailand

After five days in Myanmar, we set off to Bangkok, Thailand. Our trip was DIY so we don't have any set itineraries. We know that there are also beautiful temples in Thailand, but because we came from Bagan, Myanmar where there are thousands of temples, we opted not to visit any temple at all in Bangkok. So, what did we do then?

The first day we arrived, we stayed at a not-so-good hostel but it is close to Khaosan Road. It's our fault though for not reviewing the hostel. Anyways, we just walked around and eat a lot of Thai food for the next three days. We also met a friend from www.couchsurfing.com who hosted us for a night.

At Khaosan road, we ate a lot of Thai food and drank local beers with friends we met along the way. We hanged out with Burmese people who are working there. They were very nice and so helpful too. We also met two brothers from Spain and made a group as we explored the bar at Khaosan Road. Meeting new friends in a foreign land is one of the best experiences when you travel.

Our next stop is Laos. At first we were thinking of taking a bus from Bangkok going to Vientiane, then Luang Prabang then back again to the former to catch our next flight. But then we learned that from Chiang Mai we can travel to Luang Prabang. So we head off to Chiang Mai.

Chiang Mai

What's in Chiang Mai? We went here without any plans or place to stay but the good thing is that hostel staff comes to the terminal and advertise their hostel with a free service of transportation. All you have to do is hop in to which you have chosen. So we decided to go with lady driver. As it was very early in the morning, our brain is still foggy so we didn't talk with anyone from the transportation service.

We got ourselves a private room with a bathroom with an affordable price. Sorry I wasn't able to take a picture but it is in a nice and quiet neighborhood and from there you can walk the old town of Chiang Mai.

Where to go:

1. Lanna Folklife Museum

2. Wat Chedi Luang

3. Wat Suan Dok

5. Wat Phan Tao

These temples are walkable from each other and there is no entrance fee.

6.  Buddhist Manuscript and Library Museum

We only stayed for almost two days in Chiang Mai but we liked it there because of its beautiful old town. But we were dehydrated in this town because it was so hot and we were walking for a long time. Be sure that you have water with you. Unlike in Myanmar where water is abundant and free, here you have to pay. On our second night, we travel to Luang Prabang which we booked from our hostel.

Next Part: SEA Travel - Part 3: Laos