Hi,

Thanks to this awesome board, we were able to plan our honeymoon in Italy without a hitch. Now, as we approach our 1 year anniversary, we were hoping on celebrating it in Asia. I'm clueless as to where to start. We would like to visit a couple of countries in a 2 week period, but we're not sure which ones would be possible. The only country we plan on visiting for sure is Bangkok, Thailand. From there, what suggestions do you have?

We're also hoping to use our miles for this trip.

Any ideas or suggestions would be great. I'll be reading my guidebooks as well but those books don't compare to this message board.

Thank you all in advance!

It helps to know what activities you enjoy and when you're going. That information would help narrow down your options to those you would enjoy the most.

Weather also helps people recommend specific geographic locations for the time of year.

A very good two weeks would be 5 days BKK, 3 days in Siem Reap (Angkor Wat in Cambodia), 5 days at a beach (Phuket, Krabi or Ko Samui depending on the time of year) and 1 day back in BKK. Others may suggest Northern Thailand in place of SR.

Without knowing what your interest are, as a 2nd country you might also consider a week in Bali - an easy flight from BK. We recommend 2-3 days Ubud and 3 at the beach (we loved the very non-touristy fishing village of Amed on the east coast.)

gpanda has given a very good outline, but it is a lot of moving around but basically sound...

the logical countries to visit are:

cambodia, laos, vietnam, malaysia, singapore, myanmar and bali in indonesia....

it really depends on what you want to accomplish on the trip....

myself i could spend the whole two weeks in bangkok...

the usual thailand trip would be bkk, chiang main and a beach location....this cuts down on costs as travel within thailand is quite cheap even by air....the two main carrier are bangkok air and thai air

i would favor a trip like this: bkk 5 days (the first two days are really adjustment days), 3 days luang prabang, laos, 4 days at a beach in thailand and a final two days in bkk...

choosing your hotels is key to enjoyment....most of us prefer riverside hotels in bkk...

a good source is:

www.huahin.20m.com

6 days in bali would allow you a complete different experience....i have a discount site for that airfare if you need it but it is still almost $300 r.t. each....

where are you flying from.

i find city-beach-city cobos enjoyable.

TOKYO-bali-bkk-siam reap- phucket.

if you don;'t feel like spending all you miles on this trip you can check out cathey pacific's ALL ASIA PASS or malaysian airlines asia pass. which covers many cities for less then $1300

From reading your other posts, if your trip is in October, then you have a pretty broad range of options. While some beach locations will be having rain, you should be able to find alternative locations that would work if including some time at a beach is part of your plan. Take a look at weatherbase.com for historical temps and rainfall in the places you are considering. For example, I would avoid Phuket in October and the Koh Samui side of Thailand is not much better. Bali is a better choice. Bangkok is quite rainy in October and quite hot, but it is kind of relative as it is always hot and humid and rainfall does not in fact interfere too much with sightseeing.

You have to of course determine what interests you, a beach may not be part of the plan. As helpful as this site is, it is NOT really helpful in narrowing choices, as you will be getting a lot of opinions on what to do, including mine. You need to decide what you want to do and see, and what you don't want to do and see, do some reading, consider opinions here and then maybe ask more questions. Asia is HUGE (no one has even mentioned China which could eat up the 2 weeks extremely easily), so you have a lot to work with.

With 2 weeks, I would not try to "do" more than 3 places; 4 is possibly if they are very close by a drive or a quick flight. I believe you are coming from Los Angeles, which is a long flight over and a big time difference, so you have to give yourself some time to relax and recover.

India is too hot still in October (although a northern province like Ladkh might work, and the country of Bhutan is great in October, see below, if you want to trek you should consider this). The first week in October is a major holiday in the PRC and almost the entire country will be traveling. If your trip is planned for early October, I would NOT go to China. However, in later October, the weather will be quite pleasant, fall-like esp in places like Beijing and Xian and touring at that time is quite nice, you won't have the heat and quite the crowds you do in summer. That being said, if you only have 2 weeks, and definitely want to see Bangkok, it might be hard to just see a lot of China, although you could certainly do a 4 days in Beijing, 2-3 in Xian, and then go to Bangkok.

I have to put in a good word for Hong Kong, which has absolutely glorious weather in October, it is the weather we wait for all year. Great temps, low humidity, almost no rain. (If your trip was in July, I probably would not put it on the list, but October is so wonderful here.) Perfect weather to see the city and take advantage of the great walks on Hong Kong Island and outlying areas. An easy non-stop flight from LAX and then on 2.5 hours or so to Bangkok. You can also get to Bali in about 4 hours, so it could be a stop off between Bangkok and Bali, or a first or last destination.

The Siam Riep (i.e. Ankor Wat) or Laos suggestion is excellent if temples are one of your interests. Singapore is another good suggestion, and easy trip from LAX, also easy to get to Bangkok and Bali from there on quick non-stop flights. Vietnam would be another place, although rain is going to be an issue in October, look at weather websites. Bhutan is great in October and is in fact on of the best trekking months; you can fly from Bangkok in a few hours. Japan is a whole 'nother place to consider. I think you might first need to limit your own choices as there really are so many.

I know everyone has mentioned Bali, but I would skip it. It is very touristy and there are much nicer beaches & islands in Malaysia and Thailand. If you are into boats and beaches renting a sailboat in phuket is awesome bc there are so many islands to go around to.

If your first favorite destiantion is Bangkok, I respectfully suggest you to travel to Vietnam. From Bankok, you can take a flight to Hanoi or Hochiminh. From Hanoi you can travel to Sapa or Halong bay. From Hochiminh city, you can travel to Cu Chi tunnel, or NhaTrang, Hoi an...

The logical list of countries to visit should include Japan, if you are traveling from North America. Tokyo is enroute to Bangkok and you can stop there for free on a FF award ticket. On some paid fares a stopover in Tokyo is free or can be done for a small charge ($100).

But I think that Siem Reap, Cambodia is the first choice.

Personally I would spend no more than 3 days in Bangkok - the traffic is horrendous and the city is extremely smoggy (think breathing in exhaust fumes!). The airport is an hour's drive from Bangkok (because of traffic) so keep that in mind. The Palace is interesting as are a few other sites. If you stay in Bangkok for longer consider day trips out.

I would head north to Chiangmai & Chiangrai with a step into Myanmar (Burma). The north of Thailand is so much more interesting, prettier and cooler. The night markets are great plus visits to various tribal villages is a huge plus.

I would be inclined to visit Vietnam if possible (couldn't do that on my trip).

If you'd like my trip report on Thailand, please e-mail me at [email protected].

I'd suggest Cambodia - Siem Reap and Phnom Phen. Truly fascinating. Beautiful temple ruins, great food, wonderful people, and a history that is sad but the people are hopeful. There is a land mine musuem there that is run by a local that is worth the visit just to learn more about the lingering impacts of these terrible weapons. Cambodia is well worth a visit...get there before it becomes over run with tourists!