ledhead

Hi everyone, I am divorced and turning 60 in February 2017. My daughter and I want to plan a different exotic and cultural trip for around that time. We have been to Europe twice but nowhere else in the world. We thought about segments on world cruises as well as independent travel. Thinking about Bali, Dubai and India cruises, French Polynesia, Thailand etc.. Would like to see as much as possible. We are not interested in South America, Mexico or Australia. Would love to have some suggestions as I would like to plan ahead and need to save money for this trip. Thank you!

MmePerdu

If you "Would like to see as much as possible", I suggest not a cruise, a good way to see as little as possible.

Regarding "exotic" I'd recommend either Bali or India. Bali for exotic and easy, in my experience the food will never make you sick and the people are as charming as it's possible to be. India, less easy for a multitude of reasons but about as exotic and fascinating as it gets.

Gardyloo

How long do you have and any idea of budget? Top of the head, a combination of the Middle East and South Africa. Moderate temperatures in the Middle East, summer in southern Africa. Jordan/Israel and Cape Town?

kja

How much time you anticipate spending on this trip is, IMO, a critical factor.

suze

Just how much adventure are you up for? Places like Thailand, Bali, French Polynesia, are a lot easier traveling than India (assuming independent planning & travel in all locations).

TC

Of the places you mention, I've been to Thailand and French Polynesia. For the type of travel you speak of, Thailand would be a better choice than FP. We sailed FP. It was amazing. However, if you don't sail, you are pretty much stuck on one island or the other. The majority of "things to do" are centered on the sea -- diving, snorkeling, etc. It is extremely expensive. You will see much more "culture" in Thailand. Bangkok, alone, can take a week to explore. I would highly suggest you engage private guides however. It is a difficult place to navigate without language skills. Thailand is somewhat inexpensive once you arrive. We used beautiful hotels and ate in amazing places for very little money.

Have you considered an African safari? Having done that three times, I can say without reservation that it is the most amazing thing I have every done. Have a look at Botswana. The "green season" special pricing is about 40% discount during Nov Dec Jan Feb. I also like that everything is included in your quoted price, so no surprises along the way. Camps such as Wilderness Safari or Kwando are beautiful locations.

If you want to do an organized tour for ease, think about China. We spent three weeks in China with R. Crusoe Company. It was a beautiful trip starting in Hong Kong and ending in Beijing. We saw the Great Wall, the terre cotta soldiers, sailed the Yangtze river and a lot, lot more. They do an excellent job of getting you behind the scenes into places other tourists don't go.

Happy Birthday!

thursdaysd

" I would highly suggest you engage private guides however. It is a difficult place to navigate without language skills."

Nonsense. I have zero language skills and have had NO difficulty in Thailand. Or anywhere else in southeast Asia. for that matter.

"If you want to do an organized tour for ease, think about China"

You do not want an organized tour in China. See many threads on the Asia board for why.

TC

Thursday....I guess it depends on what you want to see and do and how much energy you want to expend. Yes.....one can do these places alone, but they won't get to walk on the floor among the terre cotta soldiers, they won't have a tour of the vaults at the Shanghai museum with the curator, they won't have restaurant chefs to dine with or tour the kitchen or get cooking lessons from.

You can read the English abbreviated explanations at palaces and shrines, but we loved hearing what the shrines meant to our guide on a personal level. You can eat in your hotel or tourist places listed in guide books........or you can have a local who takes you to places never listed in books and explanes the menu. She would interpret all the culture, introduced us to family and friends, bargained with shop owners for me while shopping, took us to out of town markets in her auto. Well, I could go on and on. We travel independently all over the world, but China and Bangkok were two places that we really enjoyed the luxury of a local friend and guide. After a week in Bangkok we did spend four more weeks traveling independently, sailing the Adaman Sea and islands, traveling to the North mountains.

There are places where independent travel is the best way to go. However, I feel a guide in Bangkok and a tour in China were extremely worthwhile.

MmePerdu

Guides & tours are perfect for those who like to be steered, nothing innately wrong with that, unless you're someone who prefers the freedom to wander. I like to wander more than I fear missing a "must-see". I think the difference between the 2 approaches is pretty clear-cut and pointing out the superiority of one over the other is pointless. Everyone knows what they prefer at whatever point or given day in their travel life they find themselves.

thursdaysd

Or you can have a local who isn't paid, doesn't get kickbacks from stores, and won't parrot the government line:

http://www.globalgreeternetwork.info

ledhead

Thanks TC. You all had some really good suggestions. The general feel I get is India may be a bit difficult for my daughter and me. Am going to research Thailand and surrounding area or Bali. We have about a month and though I am far from having tons of money, we will be starting to save now, so hopefully if we are careful money won't be a problem. Will update soon. Thank you all again!

kja

For China, at least, I am in total agreement with thursdaysd -- the chance of a competent guided tour that actually provides you with experiences you want and can't have on your own is slim, and traveling in China independently is not all that difficult.

TC

So Thursday....how do you know who my Thai guide was, how much or if she was paid, that she shilled shopping? That's a lot of assumptions to support your way of traveling.

As for China, my next door neighbors are Chinese. The husband still lives in Hong Kong and owns a large manufacturing operation on the mainland. The wife and children return multiple times each year. When I asked for guidance, he told us that he would want a guide for his own family if touring mainland China. The multitudes of dialects making communication difficult even for a native speaker.

I think there is a big difference between a well organized cultural tour and the run of the mill bus tours. Our time in China was too expensive to wander aimlessly. I really wanted to learn something...not just see the sights. The R Cruseo immersions did just that.

Please be less judgemental of travel styles that differ from your own. This is a forum that should respect all.

MmePerdu

I'm not on anyone's side in this discussion but will point out firstly, TC, that "wandering" is not necessarily "wandering aimlessly". I don't know whether the hyperbole is for effect or you really don't know the difference.

Secondly, comfortable trips in China can be extraordinarily affordable without a middle person to up the ante, another reason to make one's own arrangements. So I reject the idea that, in general, China is "too expensive". Or maybe you just like saying that your trip was expensive.

Lastly, regarding learning something. You may indeed learn something, however, Chinese guides are the most notorious on the planet for spouting the party line and complete fiction where history is concerned what you learn from them may or may not bear any resemblance to the truth, and telling us that it was true will not make it so. So doing one's homework in anticipation of a self-guided wander, and going to those places that interest us the most and are on no tour, can be the most educational approach of all.

But all the above takes some effort and, I understand for many, an expensive tour beats doing the work, despite any down side.

TC

Again, I do not understand the absolute need of some to put down what one traveler enjoys in order to promote their own sense of style. I also do not understand the lack of diligence prior to posting. I did not say that my TRIP was "too expensive", I said my TIME was too expensive. I also state that I traveled independently for many weeks in Thailand after spending time with a local in Bangkok. Your statement regarding who we spent time with and what we learned are again, silly assumptions. How do we know what guide book you used or whether it spouted the party line in its writings. I would never make that assumption. As for going to places "that interest us".....well, aren't those just the places you are able to read about in your "homework"? We went places and met people that you would never have found in your homework. I'm not putting down what you did (although that seems to be the sport here), the OP was talking about doing cruises to various locales. A guided tour is simply another way for she and her daughter to feel at ease in a foreign culture.

Please be more helpful and less judgemental.

MmePerdu

I have no idea, nor does it interest me, regarding the details of your trip, TC. But I do know in travel as in everything, the devil is in the details and your posts are not without judgements and silly assumptions about even your own style of travel. One can give information without making it a my-way-is-better-than-your-way fisticuffs. How do we know this, how do we know that...give it a rest.

TC

Although you say my travel and posts do not interest you.....you sure seem to hang on every word and be very interested in besting someone you don't even know. This isn't a contest, it's a travel forum. Room for all.

I am certain that the OP will pick her own style of travel.

MmePerdu

"Although you say my travel and posts do not interest you.....you sure seem to hang on every word..."

Last word. Gag.

TC

Proving my point....who is mature enough to know how to travel well?

thursdaysd

@TC - I have no interest in discussing whether a private guide or organized tour is a good idea <b>in general</b>. That is a personal decision. What I am taking exception to are two <b>specific</b> statements that you made.

" I would highly suggest you engage private guides however. It is a difficult place to navigate without language skills."

That is simply not true. Thailand, including Bangkok, is full of tourists managing just fine with no Thai language skills. As it seems from your later posts you yourself discovered. There are some reasons you might <b>want</b> a private guide in Bangkok, but you don't <b>need</b> one just because you don't speak the language.

"If you want to do an organized tour for ease, think about China"

There is no reason to single China out specifically as a place to use a tour, and a number of reasons not to. Nor do you need an expensive tour.

I have visited China three times. On an expensive Smithsonian tour that visited the standard eastern sights. On a budget Intrepid tour from Beijing to Islamabad that included such "off the grid" experiences as driving across the Taklamaklan desert and staying in Hotan. And seven weeks on my own, traveling by train from Datong to Nanning via Szechuan and Yunnan. I had a far more immersive experience on my own than on the Smithsonian tour, which felt like a comfortable cocoon. On the Intrepid tour I was still with a group, on my own I visited places that had never seen a tour group.

My comment about kickbacks applied to China, although it a standard of the tourist industry that guides get kickbacks. One well-known European tour company advertises the fact that its guides don't take them as a selling point.