Hi,

After 5 years of long wait, my boyfriend proposed me (and I said yes) in december. But he is too slow in making arrangements, even about announcing our engagment (he announced it this week). So, with his pace, I think we can get married in october or november, 2005 .

As you may guess, I do not want him to plan the honeymoon. (if he tries to plan, we will go in december 2006) Together we have been to some parts of europe (england, italy, greece) and states (nyc,vegas, orlando). Therefore, for our honeymoon, I want to go to a romantic destination in asia. Nowadays, maldives, mauritus and malaysia are the popular destinations in all the ads.

But I do not want to share my honeymoon with a crowd of tourists, nor I can not lay on the beach whole day. So the place must be quite , serene and at the same time near historical and cultural places that we can visit.

Any recommendations for honeymoon in asia?

Thank you

Bali...tons of culture, hotels and resorts in every level of luxury, size, and style, and ranging in price from $10.00/night to over $800.00/night. Beaches if you want that, though not the best in Asia, are certainly nice enough. Mountains, hiking, river rafting, cycling, arts, food...and tourism is way down from 10 years ago so there aren't as many tourists about as there used to be.

Thailand has some of the most beautiful beaches I've ever seen, fantastic hotels, terrific food. The only thing about Thailand that makes me put it second here is that in spite of it's rich history and culture, it just isn't as accessible as in Bali IMO.

In Thailand we completely enjoyed ourselves relaxing, swimming, visiting temples and markets, riding elephants...but in Bali we enjoyed ourselves differently. In Bali, we could learn traditional dance, learn to do batik, make things from silver, play the gamelon, be welcomed into homes and hearts. In Thailand our experiences haven't been nearly so rich. Still a LOVELY place to go though, and depending on what you are looking for, I think either one might be perfect.

Another vote for Bali - based on what you have said, I think Bali is a perfect fit. For an idea of what it might be like, please read my six part trip report:
http://www.balitravelforum.com/archive200307/11747.html

I always thought Bali is packed with package holiday tourists. After reading Kimjapan & Craig, Bali is going to move to our top list of honeymoon destinations.(by the way, there is only bali and thailand in the list now.)

Thank you Kimjapan and Craig.

Any more suggestions?

Bali...Happy Travels!

Either Bali or Thailand would make wonderful honeymoon destinations. Since you've not traveled in Asia before, I'd suggest that whatever your choice, you give yourself a small sample of what else is available in the area. If you go to Bali, spend part of your time by the beach and part of the time inland (Ubud area) and maybe a few days on Lombok. If you go to Thailand, you might want a side trip to the temples at Angkor (easily done as a three or four day trip from Bangkok). If you opt for Thailand, you have choices that include big city (Bangkok) beaches (Phuket, Koh Samui, many more) and rural areas (like the Golden Triangle).

Of the places you mention, none of them have the mix of cultural and historical activities readily available.

Depending on the length of your vacation I would not try to fit in too many destinations- pick one or two and enjoy what they have to offer- after all I'm willing to bet this will not be your last trip to Asia. By confining your stay to one or two locations you won't spend $$$ and time traveling to and from. We concentrate on one location knowing that we will return to Asia again and again.
Maybe just do Bali this time.

Thanks for all responses.
After a long discussion with my husband to be (and craig's beautiful report), we concluded that BALI will be our destination.

What's wrong with going somewhere with lots of tourists?? It's pretty hard to go somewhere in Asia that has historical and cultural things and yet be non-touristy. Notice you only got 2 suggestions for places to go to??

But then again, after all the stress and headaches from the wedding, you'll probably want to go somewhere where there's very few tourists so you can just relax and do nothing.