julies

Rather than doing the typical retiree snowbird thing in Florida or Arizona, we like to visit new countries with varied activities and intriguing cultural insights on offer. We try to escape when our winters are at their worst, so this means the time period from after the holidays to mid-April or so. And, we like to take trips of about 6 weeks (give or take).

We want countries that are reasonably priced and offer lots of varied things to see and do--from historical and cultural sites to outdoor and nature-oriented activities like walking, biking, or kayaking. Places that have some tourist infrastructure but are not super duper touristy are what we are looking for. Hard Rock Cafes, lots of souvenir shops, big busy cities with neon lights and frantic traffic, etc. are not what we are looking for. We are not just go to a warm climate and sit around and relax most of the time people. Weather certainly doesn't need to be tropical. In fact, we'd prefer places that aren't sweltering, so locales where we need long sleeves and long pants during the day with a light sweater in the evening are more than fine. Places where there is likely to be steady all day rain aren't what we are looking for either.

As far as Asia, we've spent 4 months in India spread over three trips (still more to see there though). We've been to Nepal, Cambodia, Vietnam (north and south, but not the middle) and Laos. Our preference would be for somewhere somewhat different from where we've been and somewhere where a country or a logical combination of countries could reasonably fill six weeks of travel.

Does anyone have any thoughts? I am not necessarily limiting us to Asia. And, I rather randomly chose the five tags I indicated solely because they are places we haven't been yet and because I'm guessing they might have warmer weather in the months I've indicated.

Thanks.

Kathie

Hi Julies, I am able to type again - though only in short segments.

You know I love Burma and would recommend three to four weeks there, including time in Mrauk U.

We also loved our time in Sri Lanka -different from India - much to see and do there.

And I've long loved Indonesia. I've been there half a dozen times or so and there is so much I haven't yet seen.

I've not been to the the Philippines.

crellston

In Asia I would consider South Korea. A huge amount to see in a compact area and at thatime of year it would be quite cool.

Sri Lanka I liked but didn't love and would not return and I suspect the temperatures would not be for you. Indonesia I would return to but again, very hot. The Philipines we just didn't take to and left after about 4 days!

A few ideas other than Asia.

New Zealand is one of our favourite places. Amazing scenery, wonderful food, people and the hiking is the best in the world. Last year we spent 7 weeks there touring both islands ( mostly south) in a Campervan - had a fantastic time.

South America is so diverse has so much to offer in terms of culture, scenery and the weather is always being be good on one part of the continent all of the year. Apart from the Amazon, temps are cold to temperate. Peru is where most first time visitors start although Jan To April is not the best time.amazing Inka architecture, mountains, jungles. Ecuador fits nicely with Peru and is often described as a South America in miniature in that it has everything ( inc. the USD as its currency!)

The far south will be in its summer so Patagonia - Chile and Argentina would be wonderful at that time of year. We have spent a year there over two trips and return for another few months in May. This time mostly to Colombia with a little Peru, Bolivia and Argentian thrown in.

marmot

Indonesia fulfills much of your culture/nature wish list. January-April except for the first week of January and a few days around Lunar New Year is a slow time for tourism so you'll be much appreciated. As I'm sure you're aware Indonesia is a big place geographically. You could easily spend 6 weeks in 6 different environments. I'd recommend you look at Bali of course, and also Central and East Java, Central and North Sulawesi, Sumba/Sumbawa/Flores, Ambon/Banda Neira and Raja Ampat.

Even in the most visited parts, Indonesia is a good value for the moderate traveller. Once you get east of Bali, it's remarkably cheap.

The downside would be that it's equatorial hot (HOT) all year though the impact is mitigated near the ocean or at altitude. January/February is the height of the rainy season in most parts of Indonesia. March/April are generally are transitional and mostly dry. You don't sound like beach people, so rain may not negatively affect your travel.

"Indonesia Etc." by Elizabeth Pisani is a wonderful commentary of travel to far-flung parts of the archipelago.

marmot

PS, I'd add that in 2017 the Balinese holiday of Galungan/Kuningan will take place around April 5 and Nyepi on March 28. These are festive periods with processions and huge temple ceremonies all over Bali.

julies

Yes, Burma is on my list of possibilities, but we'd need to combine that with another destination (perhaps parts of northern India we haven't seen).

I'm going to get some books from the library on Indonesia since I really know nothing about the country. HOT is not our favorite, so we'll need to think that part through. Marmot, you are right in the fact that we are not beach people, and a bit of rain would be fine with us. However, rain also adds humidity to already hot weather so we'd need to take that into account as far as trip timing.

South Korea never entered my mind as far as having the right range of temperatures in the time period we'd want to visit. This year we flew through Seoul in mid-January, and I remember the temp the pilot announced was not very nice. Perhaps by mid-Feb. or March things improve. I'll have to do some investigation.

New Zealand was on our radar a number of years ago, and at that time I remember reading about the camper van rental. We managed Ireland with a rental car and me frequently yelling, "Left, left, left" at my husband, so I suppose we could tackle the driving there too.

As far as South America we've only visited Peru and the Amazon, so there are lots of places there we could add to our potential list. Just yesterday I looked up high season in Argentina since we've had a number of people recommend it to us. Unfortunately, our preferred time frame is considered high season, but we've visited other countries too during their high seasons.

Crellston--Philippines 4 days?? Can you briefly tell me why?

Thanks all.

Kathie--Glad to hear that you are starting to slowly recover.

yestravel

I was going to suggest SA also. It has the diversity and range of things you like. Temps in most places are generally good. We've just returned from 7 weeks in Ecuador and Colombia and enjoyed both countries. We could have easily spent more time in Colombia as we felt there was much more to see. We only did the highlands in Ecuador, so again, much more could have been visited. Patagonia is beautiful, though cold in parts, but fascinating. We've loved what we have seen of ARG and part of Chile were nice. I dont believe the NW of ARG is high season during those months -- it wasn't when were there. BA would likely be too hot for you in Jan and possibly Feb, but okay in March.

What about Bhutan? haven't been, but have only read good things about it.

inspiredexplorer

Japan! All kinds of things to see and do that would intersect with your interests, active pursuits as well as rich historical and cultural offerings, great tourist infrastructure (but you'll never really feel like you're on a tourist trail or surrounded by other tourists), fantastic food, and if you went March through mid April, you'd be able to experience the delight of Japanese spring and the blooming of the cherry blossoms. You can easily avoid the bright light big city places to favor more small cities and towns.

It won't be quite as warm as other places you are considering, but March to mid April is quite mild.

Otherwise I'd also agree to look at Argentina or Chile at that time of year. I haven't been to Sri Lanka or Burma, but those also sound like good options.

inspiredexplorer

Forgot to add, USD to Japanese yen is still very good value. 6-7 years ago you'd get 80-90 yen per dollar, and the rate now I believe is between 110-115 yen per dollar.

crellston

Re the Philippines - we originally planned on a month there but arrived in Cebu and, for some reason, we just did not take to the place. It all seemed very westernised and not really what we were expecting.

The original plan was to explore the main islands and do some scuba diving. Getting around was the big issue. No doubt spoilt by excellent and cheap transport infrastructure elsewhere, it just seemed incredibly difficult and time consuming to get from A to B, usually involving several buses, boats etc..

Maybe we were experiencing travel fatigue at the time (we were both recovering from viruses), maybe I just "threw my toys out the pram" and didn't give it a fair chance! Probably should have done more research. In the end we changed our flights and flew out to Borneo (and loved it!)

As yestravel mentions, NW Argentina is definitely worth considering, Probably better in late feb/March than Jan. driving a circuit from Salta was one of our best travel experiences. It has some amazing scenery, hikes etc. some photos on our blog http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog...ai/1/tpod.html entry 70 covers Argentina

Apart from Patagonia, I don't think the high season would be too much of an issue in Argentina.

julies

We just do not want to spend the money that Bhutan requires tourists to spend, especially if we are traveling for six weeks.

I'll take a look at Japan and temps there, but of course it would have to be towards the end of our preferred travel months. I have always thought of that as an expensive destination and did not realize that now exchange rates are pretty favorable.

Sounds like I need to check out some books on Argentina.

We too are looking at places in Asia that are not extremely westernized so I certainly understand the comment about not liking the Philippines. I also get it that sometimes travel fatigue sets in and colors ones impressions about a country.

Thanks again.

LancasterLad

We're heading out of our normal comfort zone at the end of next month, with 4 weeks in Nicaragua.

We've got 8 different accommodation stops planned. Some at sea level on the Pacific coast where it'll be hot, and some in the hills where it should be a pleasant climate.

LancasterLad

Like Crellston, we've done campervanning through North and South Islands of New Zealand. Fantasic time, particularly off the beaten track.

thursdaysd

I would have thought South Korea would be cold, but maybe you could combine it with Taiwan and visit Taiwan first.

Another vote for SA, but for Patagonia - click on my name for my SA TR, I also loved NZ.

In Europe consider Portugal combined with Morocco. Or Sicily with Southern Italy.

julies

LL-- You'll really like Nicaragua. I've been there twice. Do you already have everything booked and planned as far as lodging? Do you have a good grasp of Spanish?

Since you have a month, if you want a bit of work on your Spanish you may want to consider starting your trip with a week stay at this language school that also has afternoon and weekend sightseeing possibilities. It was intense, but I liked the place when I spent two weeks there.

http://mariposaspanishschool.com/

I'll have to look more into the campervanning idea in New Zealand. Plus, my husband is a fly fisherman, and I seem to recall reading that this is fly fisherman heaven.

For those of you who have been to New Zealand, is it mostly all outdoor activities, or are there a few historic tourist sites too?

Now that the dollar vs the euro is once again affordable, I have thought about a return to Europe. Even though they call it winter and cold, it is definitely much better than where we live. In fact, since we so enjoyed our trip to Sicily this past fall, I have kind of been keeping an eye on the weather. Winter temps were not bad at all.

yestravel

Have friends who spent this past winter in Southern Spain and had very nice weather. We had looked at going there in Jan/Feb one year and rejected it due to weather concerns. Will be rethinking that.

LancasterLad

@Julies<<<You'll really like Nicaragua. I've been there twice. Do you already have everything booked and planned as far as lodging? Do you have a good grasp of Spanish?>>>

We're being picked up from Managua Airport by an American who owns this place...

https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Hotel_...epartment.html

...that'll give us a 'soft-landing' for our first 3 nights. And I'm hoping that our host will put us right if I've made any silly decisions.

Then our plan is to just wing it, starting with taking a public expresso bus to Leon, La Penitas, Estelli, Matagalpa, Granada, Isla de Ometepe, finishing off in Masaya and or Laguna de Apoyo. I've identified a couple of places to stay in each destination.

<<<Do you have a good grasp of Spanish?>>>

Nope. I can count to diez, can order dos cerveza, have got a phrase book, 5 fingers on each hand, a pen and paper, and a sense of humour, and a lifetime's experience of taking the wrong turn!

LancasterLad

@Julies<<<You'll really like Nicaragua. I've been there twice. Do you already have everything booked and planned as far as lodging? Do you have a good grasp of Spanish?>>>

We're being picked up from Managua Airport by an American who owns this place...

https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Hotel_...epartment.html

...that'll give us a 'soft-landing' for our first 3 nights. And I'm hoping that our host will put us right if I've made any silly decisions.

Then our plan is to just wing it, starting with taking a public expresso bus to Leon, La Penitas, Estelli, Matagalpa, Granada, Isla de Ometepe, finishing off in Masaya and or Laguna de Apoyo. I've identified a couple of places to stay in each destination.

<<<Do you have a good grasp of Spanish?>>>

Nope. I can count to diez, can order dos cerveza, have got a phrase book, 5 fingers on each hand, a pen and paper, and a sense of humour, and a lifetime's experience of taking the wrong turn!

julies

LL--

I think you'll be fine, but I do have to tell you something. It was on the plane home after our first trip to Nicaragua that I said to my husband, "I think I want to go to a Spanish school to work on my Spanish." Traveling in a place (Nicaragua) where there was not a lot of English spoken reinforced this need. I knew a teeny bit of Spanish already, but that trip brought home to me the need to try to learn more of a language that would be helpful in many different places throughout the world.

ElisPonce

South Korea is a good pick for nature, activities and food but winter could be harsh. Southeast Asia would be excellent picks instead especially that the first quarter of the year is lean for travel. Beaches in the Philippines and Thailand are great! In the Philippines, you can go to Palawan (for peaceful nature) or Boracay (if you're into beach parties) but beaches in both provinces are excellent, a lot better than in Thailand (Phuket) but it is true what was mentioned that transportation in Ph could be horrible. Food is very westernized as well. Patong beach in Phuket is a haven for European tourists and it could get very crowded (but still very clean) mostly because of Bangla District, which is a riot (in a good way!) every night. Thai beats Ph food any time. Value for money is excellent as well. In Thailand, you get around using Tuktuks or taxis, and it can also get inconvenient and expensive for tourists.

Singapore and Hong Kong have excellent transportation but be prepared to do mostly urban activities, maybe not much different in modern US cities.

Good luck picking!