kellyog

Ahoy fellow travellers.

I hope this isn't too big of a question but.... my partner and I are currently planning a 6-ish month trip to South East Asia, from Jan 2017 anywhere up early September 2017.

Planning the itinerary to make sure we stay with the good weather is proving to be difficult as I really want to travel quite slowly but I don't want to stay in one place too long and miss all the good weather! I'm hoping someone with a litttttle more experience than I, might be able to give us a few tips!

So far, I'm thinking;

Arrive Bangkok - 1 week (early Jan)
Mayanmar - 2 weeks ( mid Jan)
Northern Thailand - 3 weeks (late Jan/Feb)
Laos - 2 weeks (late Feb)
Vietnam - 4 weeks (March)
Cambodia - 2 weeks (early April)
Thailand Islands - 3 weeks ( late April-May)
Malaysia - 4 weeks (late May/June)
Singapore - 3 weeks (June)
Indonesia - 8 weeks (July-August)

I feel like certain places may be rushed but I wanted to make sure we got back to the islands for April/May because I've heard any later than that and we really risk not so great weather.... and I really don't want to skip Mayanmar!

I've also heard 8 weeks in Indonesia will be easy to fill due to how big it is so.... I'm thinking it looks like a lot, but maybe not?

Anyway, I've done a bit of research but, as i'm sure you guys know there is a LOT of information out there and I would love to hear from people who have actually done it/have the experience! I have no shame in admitting I am a total rookie ha-ha.

Thanks guys!!
PS. If anyone is actually planning SE Asia for 2017, would love to hear from you!

crellston

I have done several long trips to SE Asia and I am in the midst of planning another Asia / Australasia trip from May to Nov this year. One of the biggest issues is trying to be in the right place at the right time to make the best of the weather patterns/various monsoons etc. As far as that is concerned, you seem to be doing pretty well. My only concern would be the crop burning season which can cause chronic air pollution from mid Feb through to May in much of northern Thailand and Laos.

In terms of time allocation I would make their following observations which are entirely subjective.
1. Way too much time in Singapore- three days rather than three weeks would be enough for me. It is also the most expensive place in SEA.
2. The maximum visa on arrival you can get for Indonesia is 30 days. You could apply for a sixty day visa from an embassy or leave the country and return.
3. Three weeks is probably a little too much for northern Thailand (although I have spent this amount of time there. Depends on what you want to do there.
4 given 3 above, I would probably increase the amount of time in Burma
5. Vietnam is a long thin country which lends itself to "end to end" travel - entering the north from Laos and exiting through Cambodia in the south would make a lot of sense and is a terrific overland trip. - do check the visa situation though.

Other random thoughts:

Travel light - carry on only

Build in some down time occasionally. Travelling for extended periods can be exhausting.

A great resource for this type of travel is https://www.travelfish.org

Our own blog is at https://accidentalnomads.com I will be posting our itinerary there (and probably here) hopefully before too long. Who knows? Our paths may cross..

kellyog

hmmm, thanks for that! Definitely wanted to try and avoid the crop burning, so that is a bit of a concern!

Yes, I'll definitely cut down time in Singapore and add on extra time in Mayanmar (can't wait to go there!)

Love your tip regarding carry on, I have looked into this a few times! I was worried about weight.. I feel like we could definitely make the carry on size work but 7kg??! How have you found the carry on weight in your SE Asia air travels?

I will definitely check out your blog - thanks so much for your advice

crellston

Under the travel tips section of the blog you will find my complete packing list for 6 months in South America. As much of this was at altitude and cold it included cold weather gear which you wouldn't need in Asia.. That came in at around 10 kg.

The 7kg limit is a challenge but most Asian airlines pay only lip service to the limits for carry on. We always checked in online and printed boarding cards so avoiding the need to check in at the desk and have our bags weighed. 20 odd flights throughout Asia and we didn't have a problem.

marmot

I don't think you'll have any problem filling up 2 months in Indonesia. I'd suggest that you read Indonesia Etc. by Elizabeth Pisani.

July/August will have good weather throughout most of Indonesia, though maybe less so in the far eastern part of the country. It is, however, the high tourist season and rates will be inflated and everything crowded.

More importantly, this year Ramadan will begin around May 26/27. The Islamic Holidays following Ramadan (which are called Lebaran in Indonesia) will take place from roughly on June 27. The week before and after Lebaran will be an extremely busy travel period in Indonesia as millions of people will be on the move. Trains, buses and ferries will be swamped.

So, my advice would be to either plan travel to the Muslim parts of Indonesia before May 26 or after July 3. The islands most affected would be Sumatra, Java and Lombok, plus parts, but not all, of Borneo, Sulawesi, Nusa Tenggara, Maluku, Timor and West Papua.

Hindu Bali is not directly impacted by Ramadan except that it gets an influx of travelers from other parts of Indonesia during the holidays.

As noted, you can enter Indonesia visa free for 30 days; however you must also exit from a port/airport that offers the free visa.

While in Indonesia, you can extend the 30 day visa for another 30 days (60 in total) but in order to do that you must 1) Buy a visa-on-arrival when you enter 2) stay for about a week in a place while your visa is being extended. You can process the extension in several places in Indonesia. In Bali an agent will charge about USD75 and will keep your passport for about a week. You can also handle it yourself for a fraction of the cost but it requires several trips to immigration.

Or as Crellston notes you could get a 60 day visa outside of Indonesia, but be aware that this visa has an expiration dates.

Your passport must be valid for at least 6 months after the date of your arrival in Indonesia. They are very strict on this.

The best way to get from island to island in Indonesia is to fly. The budget carriers are inexpensive, though flights can often be delayed or cancelled. I would not recommend traveling by ferry as these can be both unreliable and unsafe. An exception would be the ferry between Java and Bali and the fast-boats between Bali and Lombok.

There are many charter boat tours that operate in the eastern part of Indonesia -- Nusa Tenggara to Papua. Many of these are live-aboard that combine island hopping with snorkeling or diving. If you do this, be sure to vet the boat and operator very carefully as there have been many safety issues.

Use AirAsia whenever you can, in Indonesia and throughout Asia.

Lastly, make sure your are covered by medical evacuation insurance. The SCUBA organization DAN offers a good, inexpensive plan, but there are many others.

marmot

PS, Did you mean 2018 instead of 2017? In that case, the dates for Ramadan would be May 16 to June 14 and Lebaran a week before and a week after June 14.

kellyog

Yes! I did mean 2018... thank you!

Good tip, I'll keep that in mind for Indonesia - thanks for all that information

Kathie

I agree with the comments others have made: increase your time in Myanmar Though note the maximum time you can get in the country is 28 days (and you must get the visa in advance).

I agree you should reduce your time in Northern Thailand and especially in Singapore.

I note that you are in Cambodia in April, which is the hottest month of the year. You might want to re-think that, as Cambodia is pretty hot year-round..

Where are you planning on going in Malaysia? Have you looked into this? There is Malaysian Borneo (Sabah and Sarawak) and well as peninsular Malaysia. They are quite different from each other.

I undertand that this is a very rough outline, but spend some time filling in the blanks with specific areas.