1.5 months in Southeast Asia - Help Planning!
Sep 30th, 2013, 03:09 AM
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1.5 months in Southeast Asia - Help Planning!
I am a peace corps volunteer in Namibia and I am taking a trip to SE Asia when my service is finished. I plan to fly into Bangkok.
These are the places I'd like to visit during my 6 weeks there:
Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Singapore, and Indonesia. (was thinking about maybe Vietnam and/or Malaysia as well)
Does anyone have any suggestions as to where to go/what to see? How many days? And how to get around from place to place?
I will be backpacking, and as I stated before I will be going here after 2 years of volunteering so the cheaper, the better!
Any help would be GREATLY appreciated!! Thank you!
These are the places I'd like to visit during my 6 weeks there:
Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Singapore, and Indonesia. (was thinking about maybe Vietnam and/or Malaysia as well)
Does anyone have any suggestions as to where to go/what to see? How many days? And how to get around from place to place?
I will be backpacking, and as I stated before I will be going here after 2 years of volunteering so the cheaper, the better!
Any help would be GREATLY appreciated!! Thank you!
Sep 30th, 2013, 03:28 AM
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It would help you to get better targeted suggestions if you provided some more info on what interests you e.g. Cities, ancient monuments, countryside, beaches etc.
That said, with six weeks, my personal preference would be for Laos Cambodia and Vietnam, splitting the time more or less equally between all three countries ( maybe slightly less in Cambodia) All are still cheap for backpackers and a have a huge amount to see and experience from the villages of minority peoples to buzzing cities to iconic sights like The Angkor Wat complex.
Getting around by bus is cheap and relatively efficient if not always the most comfortable. Train travel in Vietnam is also a great way to get from north to south in what is a very long, thin country.
www.travelfish.org is a great site for backpackers and contains a wealth of information. I would suggest you sign up for there regular newsletter which has some great articles on less visited places.
That said, with six weeks, my personal preference would be for Laos Cambodia and Vietnam, splitting the time more or less equally between all three countries ( maybe slightly less in Cambodia) All are still cheap for backpackers and a have a huge amount to see and experience from the villages of minority peoples to buzzing cities to iconic sights like The Angkor Wat complex.
Getting around by bus is cheap and relatively efficient if not always the most comfortable. Train travel in Vietnam is also a great way to get from north to south in what is a very long, thin country.
www.travelfish.org is a great site for backpackers and contains a wealth of information. I would suggest you sign up for there regular newsletter which has some great articles on less visited places.
Sep 30th, 2013, 05:59 AM
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Singapore is quite expensive. A very modern city-state, I don't know if it would interest you.
With six week and lots of places you want to go, your task will be to cut out places on your list. More info on your interests can help us make recommendations.
I agree with crellston that Cambodia and Laos would be at the top of my list. I wasn't as taken with VN, but would highly recommend Burma as well as Thailand. Indonesia has lots to offer as well. But I'd suggest you keep it to three or four countries max. Buses are cheap, but note that Air Asia, a budget airline is pretty inexpensive. For longer distances, it can save you time and aggravation.
Note that you will be traveling at the absolutely hottest time of the year in mainland SE Asia.
Photos are often helpful in deciding where to go. Here is our photo site of (mostly) SE Asia:
www.marlandc.com
With six week and lots of places you want to go, your task will be to cut out places on your list. More info on your interests can help us make recommendations.
I agree with crellston that Cambodia and Laos would be at the top of my list. I wasn't as taken with VN, but would highly recommend Burma as well as Thailand. Indonesia has lots to offer as well. But I'd suggest you keep it to three or four countries max. Buses are cheap, but note that Air Asia, a budget airline is pretty inexpensive. For longer distances, it can save you time and aggravation.
Note that you will be traveling at the absolutely hottest time of the year in mainland SE Asia.
Photos are often helpful in deciding where to go. Here is our photo site of (mostly) SE Asia:
www.marlandc.com
Sep 30th, 2013, 11:32 AM
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rcancio26,
Your email really brings me back as I was a volunteer in Namibia (Rehoboth) on my gap year in 1986! Believe me most people had to look it up on an atlas back then to know where it was! back then SEA after Namibia would have been fabulously exotic, instead we made it up to Zimbabwe for a few weeks.
So SEA, it's been a while since I''ve done the backpacker thing and to be honest I think that's the reality for a lot of people on this forum. There are certainly people here who travel for longer periods, we'll be in SEA for ten weeks at the beginning of next year, but I think you'll find Lonely Planet's Thorntree is great for specifically budget options/discussions. However, I do think you're getting some good advice on the destinations/direction/pacing above .
Kathie is right Air Asia is a great resource as you'll want to spend as little as possible on transport. We use whichbudget.com to work out which budget airlines fly between places, it's a really useful tool.
You mentioned you may fly into Bangkok, but you may be able to get an open jaw for a similar price, flying into Bangkok and out of another city/country. It may be more expensive but it's worth checking out.
My husband did some backpacking in Laos a few years ago with my brother and they loved it, particularly the river journeys which they enjoyed. For what it's worth we found Borobodur fascinating and it spoke to us more than Angkor Wa, though they're completely different. I agree with Kathie we weren't as taken with Vietnam but it's an easy place to travel and quite reasonable. I agree with the idea of limiting the amount of ground to be covered. Cambodia, Laos and Thailand sounds like a good plan to me though this is all very vague, what do you want out of the trip?
http://www.seat61.com/ is a great resource for train travel, we're currently looking at trains in Malaysia which look like a great way to get around.
Hope this helps.
Your email really brings me back as I was a volunteer in Namibia (Rehoboth) on my gap year in 1986! Believe me most people had to look it up on an atlas back then to know where it was! back then SEA after Namibia would have been fabulously exotic, instead we made it up to Zimbabwe for a few weeks.
So SEA, it's been a while since I''ve done the backpacker thing and to be honest I think that's the reality for a lot of people on this forum. There are certainly people here who travel for longer periods, we'll be in SEA for ten weeks at the beginning of next year, but I think you'll find Lonely Planet's Thorntree is great for specifically budget options/discussions. However, I do think you're getting some good advice on the destinations/direction/pacing above .
Kathie is right Air Asia is a great resource as you'll want to spend as little as possible on transport. We use whichbudget.com to work out which budget airlines fly between places, it's a really useful tool.
You mentioned you may fly into Bangkok, but you may be able to get an open jaw for a similar price, flying into Bangkok and out of another city/country. It may be more expensive but it's worth checking out.
My husband did some backpacking in Laos a few years ago with my brother and they loved it, particularly the river journeys which they enjoyed. For what it's worth we found Borobodur fascinating and it spoke to us more than Angkor Wa, though they're completely different. I agree with Kathie we weren't as taken with Vietnam but it's an easy place to travel and quite reasonable. I agree with the idea of limiting the amount of ground to be covered. Cambodia, Laos and Thailand sounds like a good plan to me though this is all very vague, what do you want out of the trip?
http://www.seat61.com/ is a great resource for train travel, we're currently looking at trains in Malaysia which look like a great way to get around.
Hope this helps.
Sep 30th, 2013, 11:49 AM
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Thank you all for the replies. My main interests are to see some beautiful temples and gorgeous beaches. I would like some delicious cusines as well. The problem I am having is, I have always wante to visit SE Asia, but dont know much about it regarding the cities and sites. That is why I was hoping to get some ideas as to where the must sees were. I would really love to visit Bali while I am there tho.
Sep 30th, 2013, 12:42 PM
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Best places for temples: Thailand, Burma, Laos and Angkor Wat in Cambodia. Also Borobudur on Java (all these at the photo link). Sri Lanka has stunning Buddhist ruins.
The problem is that if you travel real fast, it will only take you 2 years to see all the "best" places in SE Asia. So your task is to edit, edit, edit.
The problem is that if you travel real fast, it will only take you 2 years to see all the "best" places in SE Asia. So your task is to edit, edit, edit.
Sep 30th, 2013, 08:37 PM
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I think you need move down from the country level to preferred destinations. These may be cities, or areas or beaches or sites. Make a list of the places (not countries) you are interested in, then cut it back to about 6 or 7 places.
There are budget, backpacking options in most Southeast Asian countries (Singapore may be the exception) and although your daily expense may vary somewhat from place to place you should be able to stay within an average budget for food, accommodation and miscellaneous costs like laundry, sightseeing, local transport.
In order to get from place to place you'll have to fly. Air travel will be your biggest cost.
So choose 6 or 7 places and spend some time on the websites of Air Asia or other budget airlines and see how much it will cost you to get from place to place. If that's too much then you may have to pick 3 hubs and travel by surface -- bus most likely, but maybe train -- to closer places.
My top 3 destinations would be Bali, Bangkok, Siem Reap (Angkor) for sure. For the remaining 3 or 4, it would be among 1 or 2 places in Laos, a Thai beach, 1 or 2 places in Java and one of the outer islands in Indonesia like Sulawesi, Flores, Sumba or Sumbawa.
There are budget, backpacking options in most Southeast Asian countries (Singapore may be the exception) and although your daily expense may vary somewhat from place to place you should be able to stay within an average budget for food, accommodation and miscellaneous costs like laundry, sightseeing, local transport.
In order to get from place to place you'll have to fly. Air travel will be your biggest cost.
So choose 6 or 7 places and spend some time on the websites of Air Asia or other budget airlines and see how much it will cost you to get from place to place. If that's too much then you may have to pick 3 hubs and travel by surface -- bus most likely, but maybe train -- to closer places.
My top 3 destinations would be Bali, Bangkok, Siem Reap (Angkor) for sure. For the remaining 3 or 4, it would be among 1 or 2 places in Laos, a Thai beach, 1 or 2 places in Java and one of the outer islands in Indonesia like Sulawesi, Flores, Sumba or Sumbawa.
Oct 1st, 2013, 12:18 AM
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Thank you Marmot, your advice is really helpful! I will definitely narrow it down. The 3 top choices of yours were also mine. So I will check out where else I would like to go. I think as far as a Thai Beach, I was leaning towards Phu Ket.
