May 2024

Cambodia is part of the common Southeast Asia backpacking route. Temples such as Angkor Wat, the museums in Phnom Penh, and the beautiful beaches of Koh Rong attracts thousands of backpackers. And like its neighbouring countries, your money stretches far here and in this blog post I will show you how to spend less than $50 CAD per day in Cambodia.

Before we start, just an FYI that Cambodia uses the USD and the Cambodian Riel. While I did pay some stuff in Riel, I am going to put everything in USD for ease. It is common to pay in dollars and receive change (anything smaller than $1 USD) in Riels, which you can use for buying smaller items. Most stores use the exchange at 4000 Riel to $1 USD, unless otherwise stated.

As Cathay Pacific and British Airways are both part of the Oneworld airline alliance, I was able to redeem 7,500 British Airways Avios points and $69.41 CAD in taxes and fees for a Cathay Pacific flight from Hong Kong to Phnom Penh. When I was looking for flights, the cheapest I could find was $263 CAD and that was one with a layover. When looking at the market value (I am an accountant if you didn’t already know), this exact ticket that I got was $950 CAD! So using my frequent flyer points saved me quite a bit of money.

Even got Haagen Dazs on my flight!

I didn’t get a chance to eat a lot of Cambodian dishes due to a number of reasons. Since Cambodia was my last Southeast Asian country I visited, I started craving more western foods. It doesn’t help that Cambodia has a lot of western dishes available for reasonable prices. Like anywhere else, be wary of the many touristy restaurants that charge high prices. I’m looking at you Pub Street at Siem Reap.

My experience with Cambodian cuisine is that lots of black pepper is used in many of its popular dishes, like Amok and Lok Lak.

• Amok fish $5.50 USD. This traditional Cambodian dish consists of freshwater fish steamed in a savoury coconut-based curry. The one I had was fragrant and zesty.
• Beef Lok Lak $3.75 USD. Another traditional dish, its stir-fried marinated, cubed beef served with rice. The taste of this beef was also zesty as it uses lime juice and was very peppery.
• BBQ meat with baguette $1.88 USD
• Papaya salad and BBQ chicken $1.90 USD
• Fried noodles at Siem Riep’s night market $1 USD
• Caesar salad $3.50 USD
• Domino’s “medium” pizza $4 USD. This medium size pizza is more like a personal size back at home
• Dine in complete darkness while being served by blind waiters at Dine in the Dark $22.50 USD. While I think its a bit pricey for what it is, it was a great experience not being able to see your food, guessing to what you are eating and judging everything by its taste.
• “Happy” Pizza $6 USD
• Fruit shake $1 USD
• Medium taro Cha Time $2 USD

Amok Fish. 7.5/10 Beef Lok Lak. 7/10 BBQ Meat with Baguette. 8/10 Fried Noodles from Siem Riep’s Night Market. 7/10 BBQ Rats!

The roads in Cambodia were one of the worst I experienced. In fact, only about 50 percent of the roads and highways in the country were covered with asphalt. The roads were often not well maintained and was full of potholes. Especially riding in the back of a minivan, you will feel all those holes. Buses and minivans are the most popular ways of getting around the country as they are cheap and go pretty much everywhere in the country.

For booking transportation within Cambodia, I suggest using 12go.asia as I found their website have the best prices for booking trains, buses, transfers. They are convenient and I personally received great customer service from them. I was able to get a last minute partial refund from a train ticket in Vietnam even though I booked the wrong date.

Just like the rest of Southeast Asia, Grab is present in the country and is a great and cheap way to get around. There are even Grab tuk tuks available, which I haven’t seen anywhere else. For an example I took a Grab tuk from my hostel in Siem Reap to the airport (9 km) for $3.88 USD

The country is home to full of cheap accommodations. Places like Phnom Penh and Siem Reap, there are hundreds of affordable hostels, guesthouses, hotels to choose from. Here are the places I stayed in Cambodia and some of my comments.

Feliz Hostel Cafe & Bar for 2 nights at $8.32 USD per night

This place felt more like a boutique hotel than a hostel! It is a great place if you want a nice quiet place. Coming from a hectic schedule in Hong Kong, I wanted a couple of days to rest and take it easy. Feliz had comfy beds with privacy curtains on bottom bunks (which I got!) and clean facilities. They have a restaurant and a bar (rooftop too!) on site and the food from the restaurant was delicious and very reasonably priced. The hostel is located in the nicest area of Phnom Penh, Boeung Keng Kang (BKK), where many of Cambodia’s expats live. I have never seen so many Range Rovers in my life staying around the area. There are many western restaurants, cafes, and bars around. The Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum (S-21 Prison) is also close by (20 min walk).

The Big Easy Phnom Penh for 2 nights at $8 USD per night

A hostel in a more backpacker setting. Think cheap bars and street food (night market is 10 mins walk away). You get a really big bed (probably the biggest bed I’ve had in a hostel dorm) and privacy curtains. There is also a bar downstairs where you can get decent affordable western food. The hostel is located right near the Royal Palace.

The Place for 3 nights at $5.55 USD per night

Since Battambang is pretty small, everything from this hostel is pretty much walking distance. This hostel has a rooftop bar and hospitable staff. Unfortunately, one drawback is that there is only one shower per dorm room. FREE filtered water at the hostel is a plus!

Cozy Cloud for 3 nights at $5.67 USD per night

This hostel is a pretty chill hostel with a pool and a nice common area to hang out. The beds and room are clean and well maintained. It is also at a great location, not too close to the loud and crowded pub street but close enough to walk to it (10 mins walk). The hostel also arranges tuk tuks to Angkor Wat which you can share with other guests. Unfortunately, one drawback is that there is only one washroom per dorm room so try to get a four bed dorm room. Also another hostel with FREE filtered water.

Coming into Cambodia, I was interested in the history of the Khmer Rouge and the Cambodian Genocide. Often neglected in the rest of the world, this tragedy happened not that long ago, and many Cambodians today were affected from this event.

• Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum (S-21 Prison) and audio guide $8 USD. This museum was a school that was converted into Cambodia’s most important prison during the Khmer Rouge. Thousands were tortured here before being killed here or at the Killing Fields
• The Killing Fields of Choeung Ek and audio guide $4.5 USD. I shared the audio guide as it has two headphone jacks. One of the hundreds of killing fields scattered throughout the country. Prisoners were murdered in the most horrific ways here. Both are eye opening experiences and are musts when in Phnom Penh.

The barbed wires were to prevent prisoners from jumping to their deaths

• Roam around Phnom Penh’s Central Market. This is where you can find anything and everything in Cambodia. You can also see people getting their haircut right across fresh seafood being sold
• Ride the bamboo train at Battambang $5 USD if you share with another person
• Battambang’s Phnom Sampeu $1 USD. A hill with a killing cave of the Khmer Rouge. Here is where you can also witness thousands of bats exiting a cave at sunset.
• Floating village tour $18 USD. Unfortunately, it was the dry season so the village was not floating on water. Make sure to go when the water levels is right.

What a couple of tourists! Floating Village. Normally the water level would be a lot higher Sunset at Tonle Sap, Southeast Asia’s largest lake

Angkor Archaeological Park contains the remains of the capital city of the Khmer Empire. It is more famous for containing the Temple of Angkor Wat. This is the BIG attraction of Cambodia as you can see from the flag of Cambodia. Angkor Wat is considered the largest religious monuments in the world.

The hostel I stayed at arranged a tuk tuk to drive us around the little circuit for sunrise, which included notable sights such as:

We got here when it was still dark at around 4:30 AM and there was already a crowd gathering around the two ponds in front of the temple waiting for the sunrise. I was hesitant on seeing it during sunrise as I heard mixed reviews, but I was glad I did it. Not only the views at sunrise was beautiful, you are able to explore the temple early in the morning before the huge crowds. After the sunrise, I highly suggest going straight to the centre of the temple, as there is a line to get in the centre towers. Here you can see the view of the whole temple and the surrounding area. The temple is massive in size and you can spend hours exploring very nook and canny.

Another collection of temples near by, its famous for Bayon which has the giant stone faces that adorn its towers.

Unlike other temples, Ta Prohm is pretty much in the same condition when it was found. There are trees growing out of the ruins and jungle surrounding the temple. It is also famous for being in Angelina Jolie’s Tomb Raider. As the much of the temple has not been restored yet, I felt like Indiana Jones (minus all the tourists) exploring ancient ruins.

I got a one day ticket which costs $37 USD. I thought this was enough as towards the end of the little circuit, I was “templed” out and they all started to look the same. If you are interested there are other options to the one day ticket as are a three-day ticket for $62 USD and a seven-day ticket for $72 USD.

Here are my miscellaneous expenses while in Cambodia:

• A 30 day VISA on arrival for Canadians and many other nationalities $30 USD
• A Passport photo for the VISA $3 USD. Unfortunately, I forgot my passport photos in my checked in bag.
• ATM fee $5 USD with ANZ. I tried with other banks, it seems like this is the going rate across all banks. Make sure you dont pay any additional fees by using a debit card that doesn’t charge you for any foreign transaction fees. If you are from Canada, I recommend using STACK!
• Laundry for 2.6 KG of my clothes came to $2.60 USD

I found Cambodia to be a bit more expensive than its neighbours, Thailand and Vietnam. I think a big reason is that they use the USD for their main form of currency. Locals will try getting more money from you by charging US Dollars rather than Cambodian Riel for small things like food.

For the 11 days I was there, I spent a total of $530.91 CAD which comes out to $48.26 per day! Eating lots of western food added to my food & drinks budget to the point that it was the biggest category of my trip. Spending more time in Cambodia (in the Cambodian islands) and eating more local foods, will save you more money, and you can definitely have a budget of around $35 CAD per day while backpacking in Cambodia.

While Hong Kong is not part of the usual Southeast Asia backpacking route, I decided to hop over to Hong Kong from Hanoi to visit my brother who was part of a student exchange program at University of Hong Kong. What was originally just a short visit, became 7 days of exploring Hong Kong.

Currency Info: In January 2019, the exchange of the Hong Kong Dollar to the Canadian Dollar was around 5.9 HKD to $1 CAD.

Before I left on my gap year, I have amassed a lot of airline points through signing up credit cards (I will create a separate post on how I did it). But I was able to redeem 4,500 British Airways Avios points and $60.29 CAD in taxes and fees for a Cathay Pacific flight from Hanoi. The cheapest flight I could find at the time was $103 CAD, so I got to save myself $40! And I got to fly with a great airline with Cathay Pacific, which also included a free checked bag.

Homes and kitchens tend to be small due to a high population density and with the long working hours, take-out and dining out is also very common. Hence you can find so many great eats around the city. Its not only quantity you can find, the quality is also there. The 2019 Michelin guide contains a total of 82 starred recommendations for Hong Kong and Macau. Out of the 82, I ate at three of them, in which you can read more here. In the span of 7 days, I spent $228.56 CAD, which amounts to $32.65 per day which was my largest expense in Hong Kong.

• Beef brisket noodles $33 HKD ($5.59 CAD)
• A half roast goose at the Michelin Star Yat Lok Restaurant $310 HKD ($52.54 CAD) which I shared with two other people
• Seafood meal at Lamma Island’s many seafood restaurants $144 HKD ($24.41 CAD)
• Szechuan beef egg sandwich at Sun Hang Yuen $23 HKD ($3.90 CAD)
• Condensed milk and peanut butter toast at Sun Hang Yuen $10 HKD ($1.69 CAD)
• Pineapple bun from Kai Kee Restaurant for $11 HKD ($1.86 CAD)
• Beer for one of the best views of the city at the Peninsula Hotel $100 HKD ($16.95 CAD)
• Breakfast set (which includes the best scrambled eggs I’ve ever had) at Australia Dairy Company $32 HKD ($5.42 CAD)
• Steamed rice rolls at Hop Yik Tai $8 HKD ($1.36 CAD)
• Create your own burger at McDonald’s $61.50 HKD ($10.42 CAD)
• Refreshing VLT tea (half tea, half lemonade) $7.5 HKD ($1.27 CAD)

Make sure you check out what makes it to the Top 5 Eats in Hong Kong & Macau!

Beef brisket noodles. 7.5/10 Steamed rice rolls at Hop Yik Tai. So simple but so good!. 8/10 Create your own burger at McDonald’s. 8/10 A must get! Hong Kong Milk Tea

While in Hong Kong, I highly recommend getting the Octopus card. It is a prepaid debit card that can be used to pay for all kinds of public transport, and some stores such as 7-Elevens and McDonald’s. It is so much convenient tapping this card when taking the MTR, buses, or trams rather than hassling around with coins. There is a slight discount on MTR rides when you use the card, and is useful when taking buses as you need to pay for exact fare (no change is given). An Octopus cards cost $150 HKD ($25.42 CAD) for $100 HKD in credit plus a $50 HKD refundable deposit. Unfortunately, there is a $9 HKD service charge if the card is returned for a refund within 90 days.

Hong Kong is home to one of the best public transportation in the world. You can get around the city in so many different ways. Here are some of the ways:

• Mass Transit Railway (MTR). This way is the fastest way to get around as most of the tracks are underground but is also the most expensive. Fares depend on distance.
• The double-decker city trams. You can find these if you are along the northern section of Hong Kong Island. The fare is a flat $2.3 HKD ($0.39 CAD), but they only take exact change or Octopus card. They are a cheap way to get around and a great way to sightsee as you will have an elevated view of Hong Kong Island.
• The double-decker buses. These buses are found all over the city, and is also a pretty cheap way to get around. Like the MTR, fares depends on distance. Take a seat in the upper deck and watch the city go by!
• Ferries. These ferries go between the many islands of Hong Kong. The most popular line goes from Tsim Sha Tsui (Kowloon) to Central and Wanchai (Hong Kong Island) and offers amazing views of the Hong Kong skyline. This a must do when in Hong Kong and is only $2.2 HKG ($0.37 CAD)!

View from the Star Ferry

Due to many reasons, Hong Kong has been consistently ranked as the least affordable housing in the world. Tens of thousands of Hong Kongers are living in spaces that are the sizes of small bathrooms. This is reflected in the accommodation prices. It doesn’t help either that I had been spoiled by the cheap prices in Southeast Asia.

Rainbow Lodge HK for 5 nights for an average of $152.14 HKD ($25.79 CAD)

Location, Location, Location! The most important aspect of any place, this hostel has the perfect location. It is located in Tsim Sha Tsui, the major tourist hub in Hong Kong, with many shops and restaurants. The area is also very convenient as its in middle of the local eateries in Kowloon and the sights in Hong Kong Island. The hostel is right across the MTR station, and is walking distance to many places such as the Kowloon ferry terminal to Macau, the Hong Kong Museum of History, and A Symphony of Lights. The staff are friendly and hosts activities such as dim sum nights and going to Happy Valley Racecourse. The downside is that the beds are tiny and squeezed together in small rooms. But this seems to be the case in most accommodation in Hong Kong.

The 10 bed dorm. Try to get the 6 or 4 bed dorms!

Yesinn @ Causeway for 1 night at $104.15 HKD ($17.65 CAD)

One of the nights, Rainbow Lodge was full so I had to move to another hostel. I decided to stay at another hostel as it was the weekend and Rainbow Lodge was charging almost double on the weekends (Too much for my budget). If you want a cheaper place and in Hong Kong island, I recommend this place. I had nothing to complain about this hostel, but the friends I made were already at Rainbow Lodge.

I thought that because I’d be in Hong Kong for a week, I would be able to have time to work on my blog and relax a bit. Unfortunately (maybe fortunately), I did not find time to do that as the city is filled with so many things to do!

• The best thing on a Wednesday night, go to Happy Valley Racecourse $10 HKD ($1.69 CAD). I also made a bet of $40 HKD ($6.78 CAD) and lost 🙁
• Learn more about past and present of Hong Kong with Hong Kong Free Tours FREE (of course don’t forget to tip your guide!)
• Learn more about Hong Kong’s often neglected Kowloon area with Hong Kong Free Tours FREE (of course don’t forget to tip your guide!)
• Check out what I think is one of the best FREE museums at the Hong Kong Museum of History
• View the Hong Kong skyline on the Sky Terrace at Victoria Peak $52 HKD ($8.81 CAD). If you want night time shots, get here early as it will be crowded. There are multiple ways to get up and down:
  • Walk up and down (approx 45 mins each way) FREE
  • Take a taxi
  • Take the tram
• Watch as Hong Kong’s skyline lights up in A Symphony of Lights which is dubbed the world’s largest permanent light and sound show. To be honest it was pretty disappointing. Apparently there are narrations if you tune in into a specific radio frequency. FREE
• Join the commuters at the Central–Mid-Levels escalator and walkway system, the the longest outdoor covered escalator system in the world. FREE
• Have a photo shoot at the very instagrammable Monster House and Choi Hung Estate. FREE
• Relax at the tranquil Nan Lian Garden. FREE
• Take a day trip to explore one of Hong Kong’s outlying islands, Lamma Island. It has rustic villages, walking trails, beaches and amazing scenery. It is popular destination for those that want to get away from the hustle and bustle of Hong Kong. All you need is a ferry to get there.

Buoyant Boy couldn’t win 🙁 Sunset at Victoria Peak A couple of tourists at the Central Mid Levels Escalators Locals playing cards at the Monster House Away from the hustle and bustle at Nan Lian Garden View at Lamma Island. Can you believe this is in Hong Kong!

I didn’t have any other expenditures in Hong Kong as:

• Canadians like many nationalities do not need a visa to get in
• I decided not to get a SIM card as I thought I can last the 7 days without data. I thought there would be more places that would have WiFi, but I still survived without data. FYI, all the MTR stations do have WiFi.
• Even though shopping is huge in Hong Kong (no sales taxes helps), I did not buy any souvenirs or clothing.
• No ATM Fees! I used HSBC and they didn’t charge any fees. Make sure you use a debit card that doesn’t charge you for any foreign transaction fees. If you are from Canada, I recommend using STACK!

Right across Hong Kong is the former Portuguese colony of Macau. Macau is known for the gambling capital of the world (yeah not Las Vegas) as it generates more revenue from gambling than anywhere else on the planet.

Like Hong Kong, Macau is designated as a Special Administrative Regions (SAR) of China. This means that they have separate immigration from mainland China and Hong Kong. Something that I forgot, as I made it all the way to the the opening of the Hong Kong–Zhuhai–Macau Bridge without bringing my passport. So I had to go all the way back to my hostel to get passport. So, don’t forget to bring your passports!

While you are in Hong Kong, I highly advise on taking a day trip to Macau. Even if you are not a gambler, the cobble stone streets and its rich Portuguese influence is enough to make you visit.

Check if any thing I ate in Macau made it to the Top 5 Eats in Hong Kong & Macau!

• The TurboJet Ferry from Hong Kong to Macau 180 HKD ($30.51 CAD)
• The ferry back to Hong Kong 190 HKD ($32.20 CAD)
• Macau’s famous Pork Chop Sandwich 35 MOP/HKD ($5.93 CAD)
• Betting roulette at MGM Grand 20 HKD ($3.93 CAD)
• Portuguese egg tarts from Lord Stow’s Bakery $12 HKD/MOP ($2.03 CAD)

Macau’s Pork Chop Sandwich. 7.5/10 Ruins of St. Paul’s Casino Lisboa, one of the many many casinos in Macau

This trip to Hong Kong was definitely a price shock coming from Southeast Asia! For the 7 days I was there, I spent a total of $637.02 CAD which comes out to $91 per day!

I found that there were plenty of attractions and things to do in Hong Kong and Macau that are completely free, which why you can see why my activities budget was pretty low.

Nightlife and drinking is something that really kill your budget in Hong Kong. A place to go for nightlife is Lan Kwai Fong which is home to many bars, clubs, and restaurants. However, beers at the bars start around 60 HKD ($10.17 CAD)! Therefore what I (any many other people) did to save money was to buy at the 7-Eleven in the area and drink on the streets. You can find just as many people partying and drinking on the streets compared to inside the bars and clubs.

5 weeks 10 countries visited 13 train rides

I will give you a brief review of my Europe Grad Trip (only brief review, as this trip was over 4 years ago). Having planned this trip since my first year of university, I saved a lot through my numerous part time jobs. I felt like being able to do this kind of trip with my closest friends can only be done right after graduation as its the only time when you and your friends can have that much time off. Once we start working full time, it will be close to impossible to coordinate a trip of this magnitude.

Paris

Notable Sights & Activities

• Sacré-Cœur Basilica & Montmartre
• L’Arc de Triomphe (too bad half of it was covered in scaffolding)
• Eiffel Tower
• Notre-Dame
• Eating Duck Confit

Zurich

Notable Sights & Activities

• Uetliberg
• Bahnhofstrasse
• Eating delicious chocolates!

Milan & Como

Notable Sights & Activities

• Duomo di Milano
• Sforza Castle
• Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II
• San Siro
• Lots and lots of pizza

Pisa

Notable Sights & Activities

Cinque Terre

Notable Sights & Activities

• Hiking between villages
• Eating amazing seafood!

Venice

Notable Sights & Activities

• Piazza San Marco
• Rialto Bridge
• Grand Canal

Vienna

Notable Sights & Activities

• Schönbrunn Palace
• Hofburg
• Belvedere
• St. Stephen’s Cathedral
• Karlskirche
• Mozarthaus
• Eating the best cake I have ever eaten!
• Watching an orchestra

Budapest

Notable Sights & Activities

• Buda Castle
• Hungarian Parliament Building
• Bath Party at Széchenyi thermal bath
• House of Terror Museum

Bratislava

Notable Sights & Activities

• St Martin’s Cathedral
• Old Town Hall
• Main Square
• Blue Church
• Slavín monument
• Cooking Halušky at the hostel
• Watching X-Men: Days of Future Past at Eurovea

Prague

Notable Sights & Activities

• Charles Bridge
• Prague Castle
• Church of Our Lady before Týn
• Astronomical Clock
• First time trying Absinthe at the Prague Pub Crawl

Berlin

Notable Sights & Activities

• Brandenburg Gate
• Reichstag building
• Checkpoint Charlie
• Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe
• Berlin Wall
• DDR Museum
• Topography of Terror
• Deutsches Historisches Museum
• Playing table tennis in a bar while at the Alternative Pub Crawl
• Eating Currywurst

Amsterdam

Notable Sights & Activities

• Red Light District
• Oude Kerk
• Checking out a “Coffee” shops
• Eating a stroopwafel

Brussels

Notable Sights & Activities

• Grand Place
• Manneken Pis
• Eating Belgian Waffles and Fries

The Sum Of My Europe Grad Trip

Overall, I think I was able to spend wisely during my travels. The five week trip cost me $5,033.05 CAD. We got the Eurail Pass, which we took full advantage as we took trains for getting around the cities. Also going in May saved us from high season flight and accommodation prices. Even though I spent all the money that I had and came back broke, I definitely had no regrets!

Every year, I like to escape the harsh Canadian winter to a tropical place where I can soak up some much needed sun. In the winter of 2017, I decided to do a G Adventures tour of Costa Rica, specifically on their Costa Rica Quest tour. I heard many great things about the company through word of mouth. They provide small group travel for an affordable price. Here is my adventure with them:

I arrived in the capital, San Jose, a day earlier than the start of the official tour as I wanted to explore before the start of my tour. I took the day to wander around the city centre. In the morning, I headed to the main market in the city centre; Mercado Central. Here you can find a plethora of food vendors with fresh fruits and local eats.

Walking around the city, I was quite shocked to also find a Chinatown in the city. For lunch, I went to a Costa Rican soda. A soda are small restaurants that serves only traditional Costa Rican food. It’s the best place to experience eating out like a local. I got the pollo en salsa, which is a plate of chicken with common sides such as rice, beans and coleslaw. A plate can only cost $3 USD!

From there, I spent the afternoon in La Sabana Park — the city’s largest urban park. This is where the National Stadium is, where the Costa Rican national football team plays. It also has a large artificial lake, several sports fields, and running tracks. It is a great place to watch the locals!

Fortunately, one can explore most of San Jose in a single day. The entire city centre is walkable and if you have data or access to WiFi, you’ll find that Uber is very affordable (around $3-5 USD for driving across the city). While I did not have time to go, I highly recommend visiting these museums if you ever get the chance:

• Museo de Oro Precolombino (The Gold Museum)
  • The collection consists of 1600 pieces of Pre-Columbian gold work dating from 500 AD to 1500 AD.
  • Entrance fee: $9 USD for foreigners
• Museo del Jade (The Jade Museum)
  • Entrance fee: $15 USD for tourists, $5 for locals
  • The largest collection of precolumbian Jade in the Americas.

Later that night, I met up with my G Adventures tour group in the hotel that we were staying. The group members were a good mix of couples, friends and solo travellers. We also were introduced to our tour guide, or what G Adventures call CEOs! (Chief Experience Officers). His name is Gabriel and is from a small town in Costa Rica. He went over the itinerary of the trip, rules and guidelines, and what to expect of the relationship between a CEO and its . A great thing about G Adventures is that they do small group travel. My group came to around 12, which was a great nu We all got to know each other by the end of the trip.

The next morning, we started our journey by visiting Mi Cafecito Community Coffee Plantation. G Adventures is big on responsible travel and partners with Planeterra Foundation, a non-profit organization helping local communities earn an income from tourism. In the plantation, we learned everything about coffee. From harvesting, to husking, drying, and roasting the beans

Costa Rican “Weird Al” serving us coffee.

Located just a three hour drive northwest from San Jose, the small town of La Fortuna is an excellent base for adventure, where you can hike the area’s nature trails and the Arenal Volcano, swim in La Fortuna waterfall, go canyoneering, or white water rafting, among other things.

I really enjoyed my past experience of white water rafting in Quebec, thus I decided to pursue a more advanced level (Class III-IV rapids). This particular activity took up the whole day as we had to venture a bit further from La Fortuna, but it was definitely worth it!

Ceviche. Made up of raw fish and seafood and soaked in lemon juice and seasoned with coriander, onion, garlic, cilantro, and chili. 8.5/10

Being right beside the Arenal Volcano, there are plenty of hot springs with therapeutic waters heated by the earth’s magma and infused with healing minerals and salts.

At night, our tour guide led us to a “local” natural hot spring. I don’t know how local it is per se, but I did not hear anyone else speaking anything outside of Spanish so it must be legit right? It was a great place to chill and relax. Afterwards, we headed to a resort to access their slides and thermal hot pools. Funny story — I was holding my glasses in my hands (stupid me!) while going down the slide, and the hard impact of landing in the water broke them in two pieces. As I had no back-up pair, I MacGyvered my way out of an unfortunate situation by using a combination of tape and bandages to temporarily hold my frames together for the remainder of the trip.

After La Fortuna, we headed to Monteverde, a town in the mountains renowned for its biodiversity. The famous Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve shelters countless wildlife species, including jaguars, ocelots, sloths, and many more. National Geographic has dubbed it as the “the jewel in the crown of cloud forest reserves”.

It was here that I oversaw the tree tops of Monteverde’s Cloud Forest by crossing a series of hanging bridges. You get to see the rainforest from a different view, as sometimes you are 20 metres from the ground. I don’t know necessarily if it is a better view, because I didn’t see much wildlife. But I am also an impatient guy, so maybe it was just me. The one I went to cost $35 USD, which was quite steep in my opinion.

Note the bandaged glasses

Then we headed to Aventura Canopy Tours, where I went zip-lining. The company advertised themselves as “the longest zip line in Latin America”. While I have never zip-lined elsewhere, I found that some of the zip-lines were pretty long, lasting 2 or 3 minutes. They also included superman cables, rappel, an ATV ride, and the biggest tarzan swing in Costa Rica. I really enjoyed my experience there and would definitely go back. As this was part of my adrenaline package with G-Adventures, which was $182 USD with the white water rafting I did in La Fortuna.

At night we went on a guided forest tour, which was included in the tour. Our guide was able to show us some of the animals that lurk in the forest. He was able to point out a tarantula, a sloth, bats, and snakes, among other creatures. He also was very knowledgeable in the different animals and fauna that roamed around the rainforest.

Our last stop was Quepos and Manuel Antonio National Park. This park is a popular destination and is well known for its beautiful beaches and hiking trails. In 2011, Manuel Antonio was listed by Forbes among the world’s 12 most beautiful national parks.

I decided to sign up for surfing lessons, as this was my first time surfing. This is when I learned why surfers have six-packs. The sport is an amazing workout, and really builds your abs and core. It also really tires you out as the waves kept on crashing my body as I try to go deeper to catch the waves. After surfing the instructors showed us a local watering hole with a waterfall. It was a great place to chill and relax after a tough workout. This half day tour was an additional $55 USD.

Surfs up!

The next day, we headed to the beach. After all, this is the real reason I went to Costa Rica in January — to catch some sunshine and tan!

In the afternoon, we went on a catamaran tour which included drinks, food, and snorkelling. We also got lucky and were able to see dolphins! This optional activity cost approximately $102 USD.

This was the last activity as we returned back to San Jose. We all had one last dinner, said our good byes, and went our separate ways.

All in all, it was an amazing trip! I was able to experience a lot of new things such as:

• Exploring a new country – Costa Rica
• Travelling solo in a tour group with G Adventures
• First time zip-lining
• First time surfing

Pura Vida!

The Sum of Exploring Costa Rica with G Adventures

All together, this was one of my more expensive trips at $2,671.56 CAD($2020.44 USD) for 10 days. I have no regrets going with G Adventures. They are a great company to book a tour with as they have amazing guides, awesome itineraries, and outstanding customer service. G Adventures was highly recommended by many friends, and I wanted to do and see a lot in a short timespan (only 3 weeks of vacation at work, can’t use it all up in January!). They also offer an alternative tour, Costa Rica on a Shoestring (around $300 CAD cheaper) for those of you on a tighter budget. Check below if its on the last minute deals!

I read that Costa Rica is one of the easiest places in Latin America to backpack as they have great infrastructure with abundant accommodation, lots of public and private transportation, and that there a lot of Costa Ricans that speak English. Therefore, if you want to save money, I really suggest going alone and booking everything yourself. I figure you can save up to $500 from my total spend.

To note, I booked this trip two weeks before I left, hence I could have saved more in the flights had it not been so last minute. There are some flights from Toronto to San Jose for as low as $300s (CAD).