distant_traveler

Before I get to old and have a hard time getting out of my chair, I want to travel to the most exotic place on earth. I can spend about $5000 on the trip. I want to go to a place where I feel feel like I am at the edge of the earth, so far from America that I will get a rush from it. A place where American influences and products are extremely rare and I can just say WOW.

Where is the most exotic and interesting place in Asia?

cruisinred

Bhutan
Or some of the more remote islands in Indonesia, such as Sumba www.nihiwatu.com)

Kathie

Paupa New Guinea

Girlspytravel

Bhutan, Sikkim, Darjeeling, Varanasi in India, Tibet, (the roof of the world)-parts of Nepal (that fabulous stupa with the large Buddha eyes painted on the side looking out on the city of Kathmandu is pretty exotic looking-I'm going there in January, to get a better look!). Yes, and would agree that some of the remote islands of Indonesia, such as those off of Irian Jaya, Raja Ampat, with fabulous marine biodiversity, might also fit the bill.

Craig

Bagan and Inle Lake, Myanmar are a couple of the most exotic places I've ever been. As you've probably heard in the news recently, the country is pretty isolated. $5000 goes a LOOOOOOONG way in Myanmar but bring it all in cash because they don't take credit cards or checks. Keep in mind that a visit to this country is controversial because of the government's repressive ways.

glorialf

Mustang
South Sulawesi
Karakorum Highway area
Central Hightlands of Vietnam (NOT Dalat)
Moguk (not sure of westerners allowe there)
Inle Lake

cruisinred

gloria-

Have you heard anything about the new Malikha luxury lodge in the highlands of northern Burma? It looks lovely, but the prices are $$$ and I've wondered what kind of ethical concessions they needed to make in order to get permission to build in such a remote loction.

http://www.easternsafaris.com/malikhalodge.html

baaj

Asia as a whole is exotic for our western sensibilities

This is a great thread! Many of the above are exotic, but are they MOST exotic?

Places that have or would blow my mind:
*Bagan is definitely up there in my book.
*Rakhine State
*The eastern tribal areas in Bangladesh.
*Mustang, defenintely.
*Iryan Jaya & Papua New Guinea.
*Olgiy in western Mongolia & Tuva in Russia
*Somewhere in Eastern Tibet - the real Shangrila is there somewhere, I know it!
*Xinjiang blows my mind every time I go there.
*Arunachal Pradesh & Nagaland

Girlspytravel

You know, I hadn't thought about Mustang, but now, that's a place that would DEFINITELY be in the top three exotic places of the world, I should think!

And we're not talking Oklahoma, or Ford Motor Company, either!

Mitch04

Instead of going to ALL the most exotic places in Asia, only go to 50% of them and take me as your travelling companion )

rhkkmk

i'm guessing that the poster is perhaps a bit advanced in age???

some of these places might be difficut for them

if $5000 includes airfare then the alternatives may slim a bit...

i think for non-western, non-difficult travel Bali might win my vote... besides it is a destination with many other activities available and unlike a place like Bagan (which is of course fantastic), it would hold wider appeal...it is exotic in a unique way...

smartcookie

the important question here is:

- what type of travel are you looking to get for $5,000? are you only looking to stay at 5 star hotels or you are a budget traveler? how long would your trip be?

- Asia is a continent. It consists of many countries. And then the cities and areas within each country are all different. If you go away from major cities, it can "blow your mind" if you haven't seen anything like it before

- It would also help to know where, if anywhere, you have already been (and do you currently live in the US?) and which of those you considered interesting and/or exotic or not.

travelduo

I like Kathies choice!!!! I watched that show last year where those two brits went to live with the Bunlap tribe for awhile. I would love to do that!!! While I am still young, it didnt look like much fun once you get older. Also I wanted to go because it was the Bunlap tribe and our last name is Dunlap, close enough for me! I am sure Bob will now come up with something comical about that

suze

$5000 could go a long ways in indonesia

chimani

Himachal Pradesh in India if you really want to explore. Or the Hunza Valley, or, for sure, Bhutan, or you could go to Spiti instead.

But we have a problem here.

You mention wanting an absence of "American products" which brings me to the post of cruisinred (a classic).

Can I quote?

"Gloria, Have you heard anything about the new Malikha luxury lodge in the highlands of northern Burma? It looks lovely, but the prices are $$$ and I've wondered what kind of ethical concessions they needed to make in order to get permission to build in such a remote loction."

Do you really believe that such a place would be Coke-free? And even if it were, it is still going to be a piece of the "West" transported to an "exotic destination" for wof the tkit t

Do you want your destination to be coke-free?

ega prices - with gourmet food, and local flunkies to serve your every wish?

If it is, then fine.

If it isn't Yeh, I guess it probably is.

cruisinred

chimani-

As usual, your post is not even worth responding to. But since you mentioned my name, I will. What is with your penchant for vilifying anyone who even mentions accommodation that is the least bit luxurious? Staying in a hut without running water does make you a better person or a more insightful traveler than those of who enjoy the occasional stay at the Peninsula or Oriental. Get a grip and leave us alone. No one here likes you, but you already know that.

baaj

chimani, you raise an interesting question.

I know someone who did go to the Rakine state (one of the places in my list where I haven't been yet). And just by by the virtue of her being there, she put every person with whom she came into contact (who wasn't a government agent) at extreme danger of being arrested, abducted for government-sponsored forced labor or killed outright on the whim of someone with a gun. This was one of the most selfish acts I have ever witnessed. Definitely not low-impact tourism.

But that isn't the question posed here. Could you feasibly get there for less than $5000? Sure.

Should you go there now? If you care anything for the Burmese people, absolutely not.

But oes any of this make the destination any less exotic and intersting?

USNR

If it were my choice, I'd return to Angkor Wat and spend more time among those crumbling Cambodian temples. Despite the tourists, these temples are so mysterious, so entwined with tree roots and orchids, so enormous in their expanse, they filled me with a kind of awe I have never experienced before or since.

chimani

cruisinred:

I was addressing this particular point in the OPs post.

A place where American influences and products are extremely rare and I can just say WOW.

And I now want you to tell me whether the Malikha Luxury Lodge in the highlands of Burma will qualify.

Is it a Coke-free zone? Is it a satellite TV-free zone?

That's what the OP appears to want.

Of course, they may not mean us to take that statement at face value.

Nothing to do with price - everything to do with whether it would fit the OPs desires.

You don't like me - your problem not mine.

cruisinred

Chinmani-
Just to clarify, I was not suggesting that lodge in Burma for the OP, I was simply asking gloria if she had heard of it....