I’ve enjoyed reading all the wonderful reports and comments from the wonderful Fodor’s Asian experts like rhkkmk, Cicerone, Kathie, Hanuman, thursdaysd and others, but was especially inspired to make my first trip to Asia after reading NeoPatricks Asia trip report and Iowa_Redhead “A Redhead in China” report.

I’m only in the initial planning stages and have decided on November 2012 which seems to be the ideal time weather-wise (but know that anything can happen) and thought I would spend 3 weeks (not including travel days to/from US). These are the places I’m hoping to visit in no particular order as that will depend on the best available fares getting to those routes and also which would be the easiest logistically getting to/from each other:

Thailand/Vietnam/Cambodia
China/Thailand/Vietnam
Thailand/Vietnam/Singapore

I’m one of those leisure-travelers who just like to experience the people/culture of the places I visit and don’t like to rush from place to place and don’t believe in seeing everything on my first trip because I feel if I enjoyed the place I could always come back, which is always my hope. I also don’t travel for food, because I don’t consider myself a big foodie. I don’t eat red meat, pork, shell-fish of any kind and only some fishes. I do love Thai and Vietnamese food. If I decide on an itinerary that includes China, The Great Wall is a must-see for me. Other than that I could simply explore things in each country as I go.

As this will my first (and hopefully not my last) trip to Asia and I might be going solo (female), which I’m rather use to traveling solo, I’m wondering how daunting going to Asia for the first time alone would be, especially with regards to the language barrier. I do know a few Chinese and Vietnamese greetings and will have plenty of time to learn more. I plan on doing plenty of reading through guide books.

I would appreciate any and all comments regarding the best itinerary for me leaving out of the Washington-DC area for November 2012, but I’m flexible if there’s a better time to visit Asia.

Thanks to all in advance.

jdc

November is a fine time to visit SE Asia. Personally, I wouldn't want to be at the Great Wall in November - too cold for me - but you might be fine with that.

I'd suggest you choose a SE Asia itinerary and leave China for another trip. Why? China is a whole trip (or many trips) by itself and the weather considerations are different for China than for all of the other places you've listed.

In SE Asia, you'll find the language barrier to be much less of a problem than you anticipate. Most of the people you have contact with will speak some English. When you have no common language you'll find that you (and they) can still figure out how to communicate.

I find SE Asia a very easy place to travel as a lone woman.

Three weeks for three countries will give you enough time to sample each country. Singapore, as a city state, is much smaller than the other countries you've listed, and I doubt you'd want to spend a week there. So I'd suggest three of these: Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, VN. Generally, using Bangkok as your port of entry to SE Asia is the least expensive and most efficient option.

I expect (since you've mentioned my name) you've seen our travle photos, but you might find browsing them will give you a better sense of which places especially strike your fancy: www.marlandc.com

Happy planning!

> I’m wondering how daunting going to Asia for the first time alone would be, especially with regards to the language barrier

My first trip to Asia was to Japan and my second was to China, both trips were solo. In each case, I learned a few words - mostly just the pleasantries - before hand. I won't say it was easy, but it was definitely manageable. In fact, I found some places (e.g., Beijing) easier than parts of Europe because there was extensive English signage. If you haven't seen it, you might find my China trip report of use:

http://www.fodors.com/community/asia...na-amazing.cfm

cut things back as much as you can and do china another time.... 3-4 days at each stop is good and a travel day in between... so this will limit your movements more than you might like..

check out air asia for good transfers at a very reasonable price.

we will be glad to help you more once you have a better outline and a budget..

Thailand, Vietnam, and Cambodia would be a great mix. I agree with rhkkmk about China-- China alone could take up the full three weeks.

www.journeywoman.com excellent solo female

planning info for you.

www.weather2travel.com Climate Guides

Rule of thumb for me southern latitudes in winter

Northern latitudes and mountain areas in summer.

Develop a route after researching guidebooks.

www.asiarooms.com www.agoda.com www.airasia.com

can save a lot...

Careful research yields better experience

travel.state.gov for a heads up on entry safety

mdtravelhealth.com health issues

insuremytrip.com always cheap wise.

Have fun,

Kathie, kja, rhkkmk, krgystn and qwovadis, thank you all for the wonderful information. I will take Kathie and rhkkmk and save China for another trip possibly 2013 and concentrate on Thailand, Vietnam, and Cambodia.

Kathie, excellent photos of your travel journeys. I will also exclude Singapore from this trip and concentrate on the above three.

kja, I’ve traveled around Europe quite a bit and the language was not a huge barrier for me since I’m better at reading French and Italian than I think I will be at reading the Asian language, but like you said learning a few phrases/words of pleasantries will make a difference. I will definitely read your trip report for my China adventure.

rhkkmk, since I’ve cut out China, I will tailor my itinerary to where I won’t have to move around too much. I much prefer having a home base from which I can do plenty of day trips or even a couple overnight stays, but want to definitely eliminate too much moving around. Thanks for the information of “Air Asia for good transfers at a very reasonable price”. I’m sure it’s too early to start looking at fares well over a year in advance, but glad that I have them for when I start pricing my fares/routes.

qwovadis, thanks for the many links. They will be very helpful.

I’m actually thinking that if I plan on staying one week in each of the locations it may be less expensive to rent an apartment. What are your thoughts? Is renting apartments a common thing in SEA as it is in Europe? Not that I don’t like hotels, but I find that if I’m staying more than 3 days in one place, it makes me feel more like a local when I rent an apartment.

Thanks again for your help.

jdc

I'm glad my trip report was helpful!

I hate to see you drop China as I had such a wonderful time there, but I do think that you're making the right choice. You could easily spend 2-3 weeks in China and still want more time. If you tried to see China as well you'd just end up completely rushed.

One trick that really helped me was to print out a couple pages of words, phrases and locations that I thought would be useful. That way if/when I couldn't remember how to say a word, or my pronunciation was awful, I could point to my page and at least have basic communication. You can also add food names to those pages.

Definitely learn hello, thank you, please and bathroom in each language. An attempt at the local language and a smile goes a long way. If you're decent with languages and can keep the languages straight, add more words/phrases.

You mentioned that you don't eat shell-fish; is this an allergy or a preference? If it's an allergy then ask someone to translate a note for you so that you can inform someone in a restaurant that you have the allergy and can't have anything that has even been prepared beside or on the same surfaces as shell fish (depending on how sensitive you are). You might want to list types of shell fish to be safe. If it's a preference then you can just watch what you eat, it's an allergy then preparation areas may matter. My uncle is allergic to shell fish and he can't have anything that has been prepared on the same surface or with the same tools without needing an epi-pen and an ER trip.

Good luck with planning! The worst part now is the waiting.

SInce you've travelled Europe quite a bit, you will be amazed at how affordable Thailand, Cambodia and VN are!

Serviced apartments are available, especially in Bangkok, though they may or may not save you money. I think of them more as a life-style choice than a way to save money. Take a look at some of the hotel booking sites (serviced apartments are also on these sites and often are not differientiated from hotels)
www.sawasdee.com for Thailand
www.asiarooms.com
www.agoda.com

Check into the Bangkok Air Discovery Pass. You have to fly three legs on Bangkok Air, and it gives you a substantial discount. The most expensive flight of this itinerary is Bangkok to Siem Reap, using the Discovery Pass will help a lot. Where Air Asia flies, they are cheap (but with the usual caveats for a budget airline).

I like the space of a serviced apartment. It's nice to have a bedroom that is apart from the kitchen/living/dining, even when I'm staying there alone!

My own favorite is Adelphi Suites on Sukhumvit soi 8; but you may want a different location than that. It is very handy to the Nana skytrain station escalator UP (you'll find that to be a real PLUS). It's maybe a 2-minute walk, if you are strolling. If you are in a hurry to get there, it's much shorter than two minutes.

Do enjoy your trip!

Carol

Iowa_Redhead, I really did enjoy your report and may very well use the same itinerary for my trip to China, hopefully 2013. I’m not allergic to shellfish so I guess you can say it’s a preference or a strong dislike for anything shellfish related.

Kathie, I love Europe and try to go at least one a year, but with the decline dollar vs euro has made it very expensive to travel there. Glad to know that Thailand, Cambodia and VN are more affordable. Thanks for the information about Bangkok Air Discovery Pass. I love a discount.

simpsonc510, I also like apartments for the same reasons. I’m not against staying in hotels, but when I get to the point where I start booking my accommodations, it helps to know the advantages/disadvantages of apartments vs hotels, price-wise.

Once I’ve narrowed down my itinerary and what I would like to do/see, I will come back for everyone’s input and comments.

jdc