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Lonely Planet invites you to join Travellers’ Pulse Panel!

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Joining the panel is free and if you’re accepted to be a panellist, we’ll send you a free Lonely Planet 2010 calendar as a gift to welcome you on board!  Not only will you get to talk about travel, but we regularly run promotions exclusively for panellists where you can win prizes like Lonely Planet products and Amazon gift cards.

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We have travelled in South East Asia extensively and what we’ve always found is that guidebooks just don’t give you the full low down on accommodation and guest houses. They have a massive task to review all the guest houses in any one one place and the best they can offer is a quick sentence about how clean a place is or what the facilities are like… As a backpacker I wanted personal recommendations but that wasn’t always possible when I’d just been dropped in the middle of nowhere and everyone has their face in a guidebook.

So here is my list of the best budget guest houses in South East Asia…

1. Monkey Republic – Sihanoukville, Cambodia.

   This place has it all. Cheap rooms, great staff and the best music anywhere in town. If your looking for a party in Sihanoukville you should start there! Always filled with young happy people on a spot of gap year travel.

2. Treehouse Lodge – Koh Chang, Thailand.

   This has to be the worlds best beach bar. It sits over the water and the waves lap at the rustic floor. They’ve recently stopped providing accommodation but have another location on Koh Phangan which has sweet secluded bungalows on the beach.

3. Pinocchio Guest House – Sapa, Vietnam.

   In Sapa it’s all about the view and this budget guest house has plenty of it. Small log cabins perched on the top of a hotel, one of the cheapest options in town.

4. Sea View Resort – Koh Phangan, Thailand.

   A little more pricey but what you get for you cash is a great little beach hut right on the sands of Haad Rin. Ask to see the fire spinning from one of the staff, he keeps it very quiet but is one of the best in the world!

5. Serenity Bungalows – Koh Phangan, Thailand.

   Right on Haad Rin again but this guest house is up in the hills behind Mellow Mountain Bar. It’s often overlooked when the Full Moon Party rush happens but because they don’t take bookings they usually have spare rooms. The views of Haad Rin are stunning but the steps are a killer on a hot day.

6. Tie and Milly Sunflower Bar - Koh Phi Phi, Thailand.

   A gorgeous beach bar that was build from the wreckage left by the Tsunami. Still struggling to get back on their feet but budget accommodation is on it’s way. Go there to watch the sunset!

7. YaYa Resort – Railay, Thailand.

   Tree house like tower blocks with large balconies and regular visits from monkeys. It’s in the more expensive part of Railay but still a good budget option.

8. Komala Indah 2 – Kuta Bali, Indonesia.

   Great little bungalows that vary in price from dirt cheap to inexpensive. All situated around a large and luscious garden just a minute from the beach… Free breakfast!

9. Okay Guest House - Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

   Clean and busy, a great hub to meet other travellers, arrange trips or tickets or just to chill out.

10. The Grocers Inn - Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

    An oasis in KL’s vibrant China Town. A large roof terrace provides you with great views of the hustle and bustle. Clean rooms, free WiFi and best of all… Cheap.

Have you stayed in one of these places, found somewhere better or thing I’m barking right up the wrong tree?
Leave  a comment and let everyone know!
Another great resource is www.hotelscombined.com we often use it if we need to book ahead and it also comes with our recommendation… Enjoy beautiful people.

]]> http://happytimeblog.co.uk/travel-tips/the-top-10-budget-guesthousebars-in-southeast-asia/feed/ 6 http://happytimeblog.co.uk/other-stuff/free-travel-pictures-ebook/ http://happytimeblog.co.uk/other-stuff/free-travel-pictures-ebook/#comments Fri, 08 Jan 2010 14:03:46 +0000 Aaron Bradford | HappytimeBlog.co.uk http://happytimeblog.co.uk/?p=1790 Looking for a little travel inspiration, need something for your virtual coffee table, got one of those new ebook reader??? Then this is right up your street!

Since April 2008 we’ve been wandering the globe and along the way we’ve been taking snappy snaps of everything, everyone and everywhere…

We’ve put together an ebook of our 25 favourite travel pictures as taken by us, it’s completely free and probably the best book in the world ever – all you have to do to get one is subscribe to our updates by email… You get the latest from us straight up your inbox AND a lovely ebook to read…

Over the last few days I’ve been playing around with Mobypicture.com and more precisely their Geo-tagged picture map feature. I’ve found a way to have a map embedded on any blog that automatically centres on the last picture uploaded. What’s more it’s all done from a mobile phone… Perfect for any Travel Blog…

Other features include:

• Micro-blogging and blogging brought together.
• Automatic posting to twitter and Facebook etc.
• One simple upload from any GPS enabled phone perfect for travellers on the road.
• Centres on last uploaded picture.

Have a look at our Geo-Tagged Picture map. (might still have issues with Internet explorer, that’s not the map, it’s my limited code knowledge).

Here’s How to do it:

1. Sign up for free account at www.Mobypicture.com.
2. Connect it with your social network services. i.e. Twitter and Facebook.
3. Download the mobile app or set your favourite (Mobypicture has it’s own apps but I use Twibble).
4. Upload some Geo-tagged pictures from a phone or computer and it will put them in your stream, post them on your MobyMap (if you click on your Username on the right sidebar you will see a link that says “Launch MobyMap”) and update your selected social networks.
5. FinallyPaste this code where you want the map to appear on a page on your blog or website:               <iframe width=”920″ height=”600″ frameborder=”0″ scrolling=”no” marginheight=”0″ marginwidth=”0″ src=”http://www.mobypicture.com/user/YOUR USERNAME HERE/map/”></iframe>          (don’t just copy and paste… You WILL need to retype it or it won’t work!!!!!) There are a few options in that code too so you can customise it as much as you like i.e. size and border.

I’d love to know your thoughts and feedback or if you have a better way of doing it… Whatever leave a comment below or get in touch.

I know Geo-tagging isn’t a new thing but this is the best system I’ve found. What makes it great is it’s a free service, it looks much more elegant and easier to use than a simple Google map and it auto focuses on the most recent picture upload so site viewers don’t need to search through a mess of blue pins.
I’ve tried out Google and Flickr maps but this one knocks spots off them both in my eyes.

Last but no least… Next week we have been kindly invited on a blogging trip to Catalonia (Catalunya) in Spain for 3 nights. Information has been kept to a bare minimum except that we fly to Barcelona, should expect a spot of adventure and bring comfy shoes… What’s more it’s also my first trip to Europe (I know the UK is in fact in Europe, but I mean I’ve not been outside the UK… Inside Europe). Hopefully we’ll be able to microblog on Facebook and Twitter during the day while were out and about. If it has any holes they will show themselves then and if not then it will be a great addition to our blog. So keep your eyes peeled and see how we get on.
Why not stay updated on:
Twitter: www.twitter.com/happytimeblog
Facebook: www.facebook.com/pages/HAPPYTIMEBLOG/139393631747
Friend Feed: www.friendfeed.com/happytimeblog
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I’ve been keeping up with a few travel blogger friends and this morning I read a post from one of them asking for help to get him to the Antarctic… Now that’s an amazing thing and Gary Arndt from www.everything-everywhere.com is a fitting fellow for the task, all you have to do is register at Quark expeditions and cast a vote his way visit Gery’s page on the Quark Expedition contest site. You can read more about it on his blog HERE…

Get involved people…

A new plan has been hatched and this one is as final as we make them…

A new plan has been hatched and this one is as final as we make them…