Southeast Asia Itinerary HELP!

Old Jun 2nd, 2013, 09:06 AM
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Southeast Asia Itinerary HELP!

Im currently planning my trip to SE Asia for February 2014, and I have my final draft, but Im not really sure if Im dedicating the right amount of time to certain places. My trip will be lasting about 25 days (including travel time), and I have a really tight schedule. I would really appreciate If you could tell me what you think about my itinerary, and comment on changes that should be made, or places that should maybe be eliminated in order to have more time somewhere else that could be more interesting and worth a longer visit
(in the itinerary, the visits to Tokyo and Kuala Lumpur are because of the stopovers of our plain tickets, were we spend an extra day to visit)

Here it is:

Japan
Tokyo-2 days
Vietnam
Hanoi-2,5 days (including visit to Halong Bay)
Hue&Hoi An-2,5 days
Cambodia
Siem Reap-3,5 days
Myanmar-5,5 days
(to visit Yangon, Bagan and Inle Lake, were not sure how much time yet in each place, help there needed too)
Thailand
Bangkok-2,5 days
Ko Samui-2 days
Malasya
Kuala Lumpur-2 days

Im really troubling because I want too see so many places, but I know I don't have much time. The place I was thinking of cutting out is Hoi an&Hue, which apparently in order to have a bit more time in other places.
Also if you know of interesting and worth seeing places in Tokyo and Kuala Lumpur would be great!
Please give me your feedback! Everything appreciated
Florenciaaguirre is offline  
Old Jun 2nd, 2013, 09:41 AM
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Frankly, this is nuts. You will spend most of your time in transit, no real time to experience or enjoy any of the places you have selected. If you have 25 days on the ground, you should be looking at perhaps 6 stops - not five countries!

Start by considering what you want to do/see experience on this trip. Then choose up to 6 stops to accomplish this.

Tokyo - given that your focus is SE Asia, I'm not sure it makes sense to spend 2 days in Tokyo. What do you plan to do during your two days there.

VN - 2.5 days in Hanoi - how much time do you really have? What time does your plane land? Have you figured in the time it takes to get through immigration? The time it takes to get to your hotel? Then you plan to take a full day of that time to go to Halong Bay. I don't think it is worth 6+ hours of driving to spend a few hours on a junk in a crowded bay. There is plenty to do/see in Hanoi itself. I'd recommend a minimum of 3 full days in Hanoi (more is better), which means 4 nights. Two and a half days for Hoi An and Hue? Again, have you figured in all of your travel time? Hue and Hoi An are a long drive apart.

Cambodia - 3 full days in Siem Reap is the minimum I'd recommend, so this may be the one stop that makes sense. It means 4 nights in SIem Reap to get three full days.

Myanmar is a special case - everything takes longer here - the infrastructure was built by the Brits and it has had little upkeep, let alone improvement. You will need to fly from place to place. (You will need to work with a local agent in Yangon to book your flights and hotels). I think 3 days is the minimum for Inle and Bagan (that means 4 nights in each). You can do with a full day in Yangon.

Two and a half days in Bangkok will barely scratch the surface. You'll be there long enough to be annoyed with the traffic, but probably not long enough to learn to get around and avoid the traffic. Two days in Koh Samui? Do you wan to relax? Then you need more time. Note that Koh Samui is an international beach resort, so don't expect any immersion in Thai culture.

Two or three full days is enough for KL, IMO, but I find it a fairly boring city.

Start by cutting destinations: I'd immediately cut Tokyo and KL. Frankly, I think you should save VN for another trip. That would leave you with Siem Reap, Bangkok and a beach and Yangon, Bagan and Inle in Myanmar. That will be a packed trip as it is, but at least you would have time to experience some of each place.
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Old Jun 2nd, 2013, 02:34 PM
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With 25 days I'd do Siem Reap at least 4 nights for 3 full days there; Bangkok at least 3 nights for 2 full days; beach area in Thailand due to time of year you're traveling I think a place on the west coast is best and if you want to relax at least 5 nights or 4 full days. That leaves you with several nights to allocate to a destination that interests you. You could think about Myanmar or what about Phnom Penh in Cambodia, Chiang Mai in Thailand? Not knowing what you like to see/do makes it hard to recommend anything. Since you mentioned Siem Reap, Bangkok and a Thai beach in your post I've given you my opinion on how much time to spend in each place.

I agree with Kathie that you have too much in your original itinerary. You won't remember anything and you'll be exhausted. SE Asia is best experienced in a relaxed pace in my opinion.
chris45ny is offline  
Old Jun 3rd, 2013, 09:39 AM
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Just so you have an idea with which to compare, here's my recent itinerary for Asia:

So. China - 4 weeks.
No. Vietnam - 3 weeks
Bangkok - 1 week
Burma - 3 weeks
Singapore - 1 week

It was about the right amount of time for me. You get the drift.
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Old Jun 3rd, 2013, 09:58 AM
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I think you have set yourself up for a failure quite honestly...

not even a fast moving tour would contemplate this movement and they know how to do things quickly, read "drive-bys"...

what do you want to do most? beach/ city/ historic???

K/L is almost a waste of time and is easily cut... Tokyo deserves much more time---goodbye..

halong bay could be a miss, but Hanoi is fab and hue and hoi-am with Hanoi would give you an excellent feel for VN...

bkk and a beach would be perfect for Thailand... 5 nites bkk and 4-5 at a beach (hua hin, samui, khao lak, or krabi)..

this would be a cost effective and memorable trip... save Myanmar and Cambodia for other trips in the future..
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Old Jun 4th, 2013, 10:49 PM
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Quite frankly,I don't see even Heads of State attempting this kinda schedule.
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Old Jun 4th, 2013, 10:54 PM
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You certainly need help.

25 days? Just look at 2 countries,preferably next to each other.Enjoy the pace.

You aren't attempting a record,are you?
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Old Jun 7th, 2013, 06:30 AM
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I agree with the 2 countries idea. Also agree that with 2.5 days in BKK, you barely get a feel for it. In fact, we made the mistake of taking a day trip, even. In the end, we were exhausted and felt it was the weakest link of our wonderful trip and we had not given it the time to enjoy it.
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Old Mar 24th, 2016, 05:09 PM
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Hi All...My family (6 people total) and I are planning a trip to Southeast Asia in December of 2016 and are struggling to pick which countries to travel to. We have a little over 2 weeks (December 17-January 1 including travel days) and don't want to feel rushed but would still like to experience much of the region. Currently we are considering starting off the trip with 4-5 days in Luang Prabang and then flying into Siem Reap for 4 days and then heading to Koh Rong or another island in the Gluf of Thailand. We also considered spending the entirety of our trip just in Thailand (hitting Bangkok, the north for 4-5 days and then heading south to some beaches) or Vietnam (starting in Hanoi, heading to Sapa, Hoi Ann, and then maybe south if time allows?)

We would love to see some authentic culture, colorful street and floating markets, palaces and temple ruins, rice terraces, elephants and other wildlife, mountains with excellent treks, waterfalls, karst scenery, streets at night lit with lanterns, and just experience real Southeast Asia. I know we have a long wish list but hopefully we can find a few places that can somewhat accommodate all these wants! I would love to avoid places that are overrun with tourism or massive amounts of tourists that is, however I do know that, traveling in peak season, we may experience some of that in some places. We would also like to dedicate at least 5 days to and island or beach.

Please...we need suggestions!! At this point we are open to any and all places! I am worried that in some places we won't be able to find accommodations for 6 without blowing our budget as well as paying for safe intercontinental flights with international flights tacked on to that. Any ideas or suggestied itineraries would be much appreciated!! Thank you!!
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Old Mar 24th, 2016, 05:15 PM
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Graceeo, above, has sensibly started a new thread:

http://www.fodors.com/community/asia...a-564475-2.cfm
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