Help needed for 7 week trip around Asia
 

My girlfriend and I are leaving for Asia at end of Sept 04. 7 weeks to see and do everything, the more diverse the better - beaches, cities, historic etc. We would like to visit China, Japan, Thailand, Indonesia and Phillipines. Any advice, information would be helpful!

HI

My wife and I have been to trips to China (Beijing, Xi'an, Hong Kong) and to Thailand (Bangkok, Hua Hin, Krabi, Koh Samui, Phuket) and I have posted trip reports and pictures from the trips on my personal homepage www.gardkarlsen.com :-) Maybe you can find some useful information there. Have a great trip.

Regards
Gard
Stavanger, Norway

From Thailand u could cosnider buying a Mekong Pass on Bangkok Air and add Cambodia and Laos to your travels. Siem Reap 3 nights is good. Ditto Luang Prabang.

1 get cathey pacifics airpass.

here are some diverse area

1 Yangshuo, china, stunning Karst hills
2 kyoto. lovely gaisha girls strole the city.
3 Manila, the famouse hobbit house bar. midgets server you.
4 borneo, malaysia. head hunters. NO MORE
5 Siem reap, Cambodia. Angkor watt.. nuff said
6 singapre/KL hodge podge of asian cultures co mingle in modern cities.
7 Bangkok, hodge bodge of freaks co mingle. especialy in thyrmee bar (DONT GO)

You're trying to cover a lot of territory in 7 weeks. Remember that there are thousands of miles between your destinations. You have a choice, either you can skim through the countries you've listed, or you can choose several places to concentrate on. For instance, China is a huge country - what do you most want to see in China? Seven weeks sounds like a lot, but the distances are huge and travel in Asia is generally slower than travel in other places.