Favorite Asia Locations
 

We are traveling to Thailand and Siem Reap this year, but are considering future trips to Asia. We were wondering what some of the expert "fodorites" favorite Asian destinations are and why so that we can decide on future trips. Thanks!
June

HJi June: it's great to see you using the Forums for answers, but, can I just say, that the broader your questions get, the more useless the information gathered. YOU are the ones travelling.

What is cool for me, or anyone else may have nothing at all of interest for you. So, if you really want useful answers maybe you could tell us about YOU. 'Cos I know your name is June and you seem very keen - but that's all I know.

Are you Miss june the backpacker? The corporate executive? Housewife, mother of twelve? Miss June the grandmother? Mr and Mrs June? Ms June, militant feminist? Junie-baby, hippy chick? Madame June, stripper and masseuse? Judge June? Saint June? lol. I could go on for hours. heh. Better stop.

You have a great start on your Asia travels.

I return to Bangkok almost annually, as I use it as my gateway to Asia. We loved Luang Prabang in laos, and would like to explore more of the country. LP is slow, atmospheric, a step back in time.

We also enjoyed Hanoi. It's a fascinating city with great food, an amazing array of museums, interesting shopping. It still has some very old buildings - the Temple of Literature, for instance - as well as French colonial buildings and more modern buildings as well.

Malaysia has a great variety of places to visit. WE had a wonderful time in the Georgetown area of Penang, staying at the E&O and eating at the famous hawker stalls.

We've also been to Malaysian Borneo, both Sabah and Sarawak. We stayed in the primary rainforest and saw a fascinating array or wildlife, including orangutans. We loved the charming city of Kuching.

There is lots more to Malaysia, the gorgeous beaches of the east coast, for instance, and other old port cities such as Meleka. KL is good for a few days, but I find it not as interesting as other Asian capitals I've visited.

Indonesia has lots of travel options. Bali, of course, is most people's introduction to Indonesia. The unique culture there and it's accesability charm most people. For lovely beaches and a very different culture, there is Lombok. And Central Java with Borobudor, Prambanam, and a variety of interesting temples is a great destination. Yogja has the highest quality crafts of any of the places I've visited. I was there many years ago, and it's a place I want to re-visit.

Singapore is an interesting city - modern and clean, it has a wonderful variety of cultures. I've been there probably 6-8 times, but can always find new things to do. It's also famous for its food.

As you know, I've recently returned from Nepal. Nepal is quite an experience. I expect you may have read my trip report, so I won't go into more detail here.

Hong Kong is a fabulous city - so much to see and do. It's easy to explore with good public transport. When you visit Hong Kong, it's worth taking a day trip or an overnight to Macau.

Those are some of my favorites. I know I've left some out, but this will give you a start.

Luang Prabang is a great place regardless of how you answer Dogster's questionaire. It is slow and relaxing with great food. It is accessible whether you are a backpacker/hippy "chick" or a well to do matron and everything else. There is a wide variety of accomodations. You can take a boat from the border or fly in.

Specific information about your wants/needs and budget will allow for much more detailed advice. Just stay away from anyone named Jimmy.

I loved being in Burma. It seemed that because there were so few tourists people were not yet jaded and had not developed the hardness I see in so many places.

I loved Kyoto -- temples, gardens, shrines, the Gion district, Nijo-jo, the riverfront area.

Dogster...love the questionnaire!

With deference to Dogster, I will respond AFTER you have answered some of his questions.

I think I'm off the hook. The questionnaire looks like it's for people named June!

In the absence of the requested curriculum vitae Sherlock the Dog has been forced into action. As you can see, my associate, craig Holmes is staging a hunger strike until we know more...

Extensive research over many hours [well, 30 seconds] has revealed the beginnings of the truth...

'My husband and I (53 & 66) will also be in Thailand for 3 weeks late January/early February...'

The plot thickens. heh.

I thought June might be a stripper/masseuse type going to Thailand to check out the job market since all the high paying customers here in the US have gone broke - lol!

june could also be a football coach at southern methodist university.

Ok Dogster - you are a tough one to deal with. Over the past 9 months I have been religiously scouring Fodors Forum to learn all I could in helping to plan our trip. I thank you and all those others who contribute so much on this forum for your knowledge and for the countless hours of entertainment which my husband and I have enjoyed while tirelessly trying to do our homework. Dogster, my husband both hates and admires you and speaks frequently of your comments regarding the bicycle escapade that he nearly forced me to share with him in Siem Reap. I have wanted to smack you for your sarcasm and praise you for your witty comments. I hope we can be friends now, because I don't wish to suffer the wrath of your hostile words here!

Now...for a bit of information. As I previously said, I am a 53 year old woman married to a 66 year old. We love to travel and have extensively traveled in Europe. We are not timid travelers and are not afraid of arriving in a place without reservations, although on this particular trip we have reserved most of our hotels in advance. Often we just wing it as we go. My husband enjoys driving and is not afraid to rent a car and travel independently wherever we go. We have never traveled on a tour and this trip will be the first time that we will be using a tour guide for several days. (We were fortunate to get Tong for a day and are still working on Siem Reap) We have recently driven in Turkey when everyone warned us leave the driving to the Turks. He wants to rent a car in China, but that's where I draw the line. We love ancient ruins, history, wandering the streets of cities aimlessly, traveling to the smaller towns, watching the people, tasting the foods, etc. We usually like to get a mixture of the large cities with the smaller towns and we like to spend enough time in a place to actually see it. We are not overly athletic, although we have enjoyed a good hike. We usually spend the entire day out and about and are not looking for a resort type of vacation. We can relax at home. That's not to say that at times we haven't stopped for a few hours at a beach when in Turkey and in Greece. We are both avid golfers, but we can do that at home. We are not fancy people, do not take a lot of clothing with us, limiting our luggage to a carry-on suitcase and a backpack each. We love our pictures, we love our grandchildren - yes I am a grandmother, no I am not a hippie, not a mother of 12 (God forbid!), not a stripper (only for the husband), like the massages, not a masseuse, certainly not a Saint, but fairly conservative. While I would tend to stay at the more luxurious hotels, my husband likes the midrange ones, telling me frequently that he does not need to buy the room, he only wants to sleep in it. (Honestly, we are rarely in the room long enough to worry). We like a diversity of beautiful scenery and foreign cities and we enjoy the challenges of travel.

Is this enough Dogster, or do you need my financial bracket, religious & political affiliation!!!

Geeze...that was tough. Enough information though???

Forgot to mention - not a Football coach and certainly not a cheerleader either!

Bravo! Fantastic. I'm laughing.

Just a little bit more information of your brand of breakfast cereal and I think we have it.

When I was reading your notes I thought that India might be great for you both. I think that's technically Asia. That might suit the old fella's adventurous nature.

Did you see Dogster's List of Secret Treasures? I'm prepared to release the contents to you now, lol. Let him play on that for an hour or so.

Bravo again! It's very hard to describe oneself, isn't it?

Hi June, I'd add the whole of Lao - don't just stick with Luang Prabang - I love it there but the rest of Lao is really interesting and I think from your CV you and your husband would like it. The south is nice as well as the north but less traveled at this stage. I'm much your age and we've gone back there 3 times and still want to return. It has ancient ruins (though not as impressive as Siem Reap) lovely mountain scenery, lots of people watching etc. Usually I'd also say don't bother driving yourself but you could there if your husband is so inclined - lots of obstacles like cows etc but a slower pace and less traffic than India.

Of course Malaysia is pretty good too and once you've been to Thailand you will probably go back time and again like most of us here do.

If you love ancient ruins (I do too!), consider central Java. Borobudor is simply amazing.

By the way, I forgot to mention Sri Lanka as another favorite location. We were there last year - ancient ruins, wildlife, cities, small towns and the gorgeous tea country. You may have read my trip report.

I think I've referred you to our photos: www.marlandc.com They may give you some ideas. The photos now have links to several of my trip reports.

thailand, thailand, thailand and especially bangkok!!

bali, lombok, luang prabang, hua hin, hong kong, burma for something totally different and not up to date...

yeah, have a look at this too.

www.pandaw.com

While I would never want to suggest that one should plan a vacation for the specific purpose of driving, IF your husband wants to undertake driving as part of a holiday experience, then Malaysia would be a good choice. That is one of the very few countries in Asia proper, where, IMO, it makes sense and is actually enjoyable to rent a car. Singapore is fine for driving, but would be like renting a car to be a tourist in New York City: a useless expense.

I know some people do rent and drive in Thailand, you can make up you own mind abut this after you have been there. I personally would see no reason to, mostly because the price of a driver is still quite inexpensive and less stressful than driving oneself. If that changes over time, then Thailand might be another place where rentals for certain areas would work, esp. resort areas. (Rentals on Phuket are certainly doable if not really necessary.) My thing about renting a car in Bali is that if you are in a car in Bali you are not spending enough quality time actually seeing the place, which IMO must be seen on foot or a bicycle. A drive by just doesn’t work there. I like to stick to one place for a while and really get to know it.

I think that driving in Taiwan would be a fine idea and a good way to see lots of the island.

If your husband wants to drive in China, well he can come to Hong Kong and rent a car and drive around the New Territories, lots of fun and some beautiful sights, and signage in English and everyone obeys the rules of the road (sort of). Not cheap to rent, and absolutely no free parking anywhere and gas is US$7 a gallon, but yes it can be done. As for diving in mainland PRC, I would see no point. In places where it is possible, like Beijing and Shanghai, again it would be like have a car in Manhattan. (If Manhattan had 18 million people instead of 3 million.) It would not really be a useful way of getting from A to B in such a vast country; no one is going to want to drive from Beijing to Xian. Signage would be a big issue, and road safety IMO would be a huge issue. Perhaps in places in the far west in silk road areas where there are vast empty stretches of highway this would be interesting and may someday develop into a tourist industry, but at prices at which you can hire someone who knows where they are going and can take you there, there is just no point (and sometimes no possibility) to rent a car in the PRC. India would be very much the same as is Indonesia and really most of Asia outside of Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, Taiwan and perhaps Thailand

While technically not in Asia, driving holidays in Australia and New Zealand are perfect and about the best way to see a lot of the country.

If you can get your husband off the idea of driving, then there are lots of places in Asia. One could not rent a car in Bhutan, for example, but that country offers so much to see and do that I believe would fit all of your above criteria other than self-drive. As would India of course.