Hi,
My DH and I are seriously thinking about spending the winter months (Jan - end of March) in South East Asia instead of Mexico. We are in our early seventies, like independent travel and would hope to spend time in Thailand, Laos (Luang Prabang), possibly Cambodia, and Vietnam. We would like to include down time at a beach location, but also want to take the opportunity to visit places like Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Hanoi etc. Our energy level is not what it used to be and bad knees rule out any serious hiking. I have done a lot of reading in guidebooks and also posts on the various forums. I guess what I would like to ask is if anyone else our age has made a similar trip, which mode of transport would be the most comfortable/advisable, and whether the sequence in which we visit the countries would make any difference. We like staying in private rooms in guest houses, and envision staying put in certain places for up to 2 weeks, may be renting an apartment or bungalow. We hope to use frequent flyer points and fly in to e.g. Bangkok and out of HCMC.
Thanks in advance for your help!
spending winter in South East Asia
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i often go for a month or 6 weeks but never for 3 months and we are in our late 60's.
internal flights or cars with a driver are the best way to get around, imo.
thailand has fabulous "serviced apartments"... they are similar to hotels but lack all the frills, but the rooms are big, with good kitchens, laundry, etc.. my favorite bkk one at the moment is chatrium on the river... marriott has several and my preference of those is marriott mayfair, followed by marriott sukhumvit park... ascott is a good chain too, so is centre point....one of our readers favors adelphi suites in bkk.... ascott has places in vietnam as well. most of these qualify as 4* with 2* prices...
in vietnam we really liked the 3* locally owned hotels: hanoi--gia boa grand... HCMC--Liberty Central...
you might hua hin as a laid back sea side place to stay in thailand...
i think overall you would really like SEA as an alternative to mexico... it is very different, but welcoming and easy to travel in...
look at air asia for flights within asia...
depending on your airline, look at some of their foreign partners for flights from n. america... korean, singapore, finn air, japan, ana, eva, virgin, air france, luftansa, brit. air... we much prefer them....this year i am flying finn air from nyc which is fantastic
Sounds like a wonderful trip. Asia, especially the less developed areas, moves slowly.
When you put together your destination sequence be aware that Lunar New Year will begin January 23/24, 2012. The holiday's affect varies from country to country. It can be a delightful time or an aggravating time depending on what you're trying to accomplish.
Also, suggest that you get medical evacuation insurance.