Spur of moment Asian destination question - weather, visas, etc
Aug 17th, 2010, 05:54 PM
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Spur of moment Asian destination question - weather, visas, etc
I'd usually never post a "not knowing us, where do you think we ought to go on holidays" question. But I think we at least have this narrowed down to choosing Northern Vietnam or just one region of China. Probably either Beijing or Guilin areas.
Apologies for the atypical lack of research but there's a don't miss fare sale going ***until tomorrow*** on Air Asia ($220 non-stop r/t, all in to Kuala Lumpur from where we live. Less than half the usual price and less than 1/4 the cost of any of the majors). Notably, they fly ultra cheap from there to most of SE Asia plus China, Korea, India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. The rub is that travel must occur in the April-August period next year. We've always traveled to Asia in winter, and even Feb in coastal Bali was way too humid this year! So not really loving steamy heat or monsoons, some quick weather research eliminated a lot of possibilities and those are the finalists. Please, feel free to talk me out of that notion, but the finalists have always been of interest, so either way is ok.
And here's the thing. We have to decide before tomorrow and I don't think I've got time to uncover the other possible "gotchas." So my apologies for the lack of knowledge about our choices, but they only became the short list in the last couple of hours.
Which leads to......The Questions:
- During a possible April/May travel period, is there reason to choose one of our destinations over another? Or bright ideas on places we've missed...
- Am I right about the weather being cool and not completely rainy in these places in April/May?
- Concern about events causing hotels being hard to come by in any of these places? Or the flip side, any cool events we *could* be catching if we timed it right?
- Visas. I believe China's must be in advance and I have no idea yet how hard that is where we live now. (I'm American, but live in Australia). Does Vietnam offer a visa on arrival or is that in advance too? If so, is either one easier/less problematic than the other?
Anything else that pops in your head due to the above and that you 'd like to share is fine with me...
Apologies for the atypical lack of research but there's a don't miss fare sale going ***until tomorrow*** on Air Asia ($220 non-stop r/t, all in to Kuala Lumpur from where we live. Less than half the usual price and less than 1/4 the cost of any of the majors). Notably, they fly ultra cheap from there to most of SE Asia plus China, Korea, India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. The rub is that travel must occur in the April-August period next year. We've always traveled to Asia in winter, and even Feb in coastal Bali was way too humid this year! So not really loving steamy heat or monsoons, some quick weather research eliminated a lot of possibilities and those are the finalists. Please, feel free to talk me out of that notion, but the finalists have always been of interest, so either way is ok.
And here's the thing. We have to decide before tomorrow and I don't think I've got time to uncover the other possible "gotchas." So my apologies for the lack of knowledge about our choices, but they only became the short list in the last couple of hours.
Which leads to......The Questions:
- During a possible April/May travel period, is there reason to choose one of our destinations over another? Or bright ideas on places we've missed...
- Am I right about the weather being cool and not completely rainy in these places in April/May?
- Concern about events causing hotels being hard to come by in any of these places? Or the flip side, any cool events we *could* be catching if we timed it right?
- Visas. I believe China's must be in advance and I have no idea yet how hard that is where we live now. (I'm American, but live in Australia). Does Vietnam offer a visa on arrival or is that in advance too? If so, is either one easier/less problematic than the other?
Anything else that pops in your head due to the above and that you 'd like to share is fine with me...
Aug 17th, 2010, 06:06 PM
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Both China anad VN require a visa in advance. VN does offer a pre-arranged visa, but there is no visa on arrival. The China visa is pricey.
I don't know where else you've been, but if you haven't been to Angkor, I'd consider that as a first choice. Air Asia has a nonstop from KL.
Here is historical weather info - check each city you are considering. SE Asia will be hot and humid. www.weatherbase.com Hanoi will be in the upper 70s and lower 80s typically at that time of the year, with twice as much rain in May as in April.
I don't know where else you've been, but if you haven't been to Angkor, I'd consider that as a first choice. Air Asia has a nonstop from KL.
Here is historical weather info - check each city you are considering. SE Asia will be hot and humid. www.weatherbase.com Hanoi will be in the upper 70s and lower 80s typically at that time of the year, with twice as much rain in May as in April.
Aug 17th, 2010, 06:18 PM
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Hi Kathie - yes, we've been to Angkor (plus PP, Battambang and Kampong Chhnang) and dearly love Cambodia. We'd dearly love to return again. Life changing.
But looking at Weather Underground historicals, it seemed the temps were pretty high (except in the Dec-Jan time frame) and I think might make "some of us" a bit miserable. No names..
70's and 80's seem reasonable, I think ... but 90's and high humidity were kind of a deal killer over here.
Good to know about the precip difference between April and May in Hanoi.
One thing VN does have going for it, besides that we haven't been yet, is that we love the cuisine.
But looking at Weather Underground historicals, it seemed the temps were pretty high (except in the Dec-Jan time frame) and I think might make "some of us" a bit miserable. No names..
70's and 80's seem reasonable, I think ... but 90's and high humidity were kind of a deal killer over here.Good to know about the precip difference between April and May in Hanoi.
One thing VN does have going for it, besides that we haven't been yet, is that we love the cuisine.
Aug 18th, 2010, 02:06 PM
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Thank you Kathie.
Still haven't sorted out our choice yet, as it seems to come down to a lot of unknowns, such as visa costs and procedures other than that most of southern Asia will be hot, and..
- Hanoi in the 80s, drier in Apr than may. Has pho.
- Guilin very wet most of the spring, in 50's in Apr. Has karst views
- Beijing in 60s yet, but probably more inside activities. Has lots of well known sites.
Guess we'll work this out today, one way or the other.
Still haven't sorted out our choice yet, as it seems to come down to a lot of unknowns, such as visa costs and procedures other than that most of southern Asia will be hot, and..
- Hanoi in the 80s, drier in Apr than may. Has pho.
- Guilin very wet most of the spring, in 50's in Apr. Has karst views
- Beijing in 60s yet, but probably more inside activities. Has lots of well known sites.
Guess we'll work this out today, one way or the other.
Aug 18th, 2010, 06:53 PM
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That is a bit of difference when multipled by 3 on a fairly short budget trip. Thanks so much for that info. Got so much going on and hadn't on doing a crash research session on multiple locations! The fares were just too hard to pass by.
Aug 19th, 2010, 07:04 PM
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Before proceeding to some of your other questions, as the cheap flight is to KL, you might actually just want to stay in Malaysia, as the months you mention are excellent for places like the lovely east coast island areas, the highland tea areas and the rain forest areas like Taman Negara. There are also Penang and Malacca which have a good bit of colonial history and architecture. And these are all on the KL peninsula and would be reachable by car, train, bus or short flight from KL. You can even rent a car and drive yourself, as Malaysia is one of the few places in SE Asia where IMO self-drive is a good option. Lovely people, good food, interesting mix of cultures. No visa fees or prior application needed. You could also fly from KL to Kalimantan (i.e. Borneo) and see orang utans, “headhunters”, climb Mt Kinabalu, etc. That would be better in the spring months as summer can be a bit rainy. But IMO there are many good choices in Malaysia in those months. Singapore could be included as well if you have time. (When I say “good weather” I do however mean warm to hot and possibly humid. It is SE Asia after all. But little rain; although KL and the west coast can be a little bit rainy in the early spring months, but in KL or Penang weather is not such an issue as there is lots to see and do which is not affected by weather. I can’t tell if you would rule out places completely because they are hot/humid. Also as it is winter in Australia in some place in some of those months, you may appreciate a warmer climate then. Not sure where you are in Australia.)
Another place to consider would be Bhutan, which would meet your weather requirements and is extremely interesting. There are usually festivals in the spring months You would have to transit via Bangkok or Kolkata to get there from KL. Nepal is a possibity as well, although they can have heavy rains in the summer.
For the PRC, I would avoid the fist week in April if possible. There is a 3-day holiday at that time and hotels, transport etc can be crowded or more expensive. You may have some hotel/transport issues with Easter, mostly from locals in other places possibly travelling to the PRC during Easter break (in Hong Kong, Good Friday and Easter Monday are public holidays, which is a popular time to travel.)
You might consider Kunming/Lijiang for April and May, as temps a bit cooler than Guilin and they have less rain. Beijing would be OK for the spring months, although I think they have dust/sand issues in April (they definitely do in March). It can be very hot there in the summer months.
Yes, Chinese visas are expensive. But you probably will find the process easier to do in Australia, esp if you are in a city with an embassy or consulate. You can probably make an application fairly easily in person in that case (i.e. no long lines, it may be possible to send an assistant to make the application.) It does not matter if you hold a US passport, you can apply for the PRC visa anywhere you are resident.
When I was in Vietnam last, about 2 months ago, there were introducing a pilot visa on arrival program. You might check the website of the Vietnamese embassy in Canberra at http://www.vietnamembassy.org.au to determine if this program is being extended or made permanent.
If are employed in Australia, and plan to travel in Asia regularly, then you might want to consider looking into whether you are eligible for an APAC Business Travel Card, which is a visa-waiver card which will let you into the PRC, Vietnam and a large number of other countries in Asia an unlimited number of times <i>without</i> needing (or paying) for a visa. You also get to use special immigration lines which are shorter (and can use air-crew lines in the US.). See http://www.immi.gov.au/skilled/business/apec/index.htm for information on obtaining the card in Australia. I am not sure of the conditions required for persons resident but not citizens of Australia; for Hong Kong anyone who holds a permanent resident card can obtain an APAC card, you do not have to be a citizen.
Other than festivals in Bhutan, Songkran in Thailand and Ching Ming and the Bun Festival in Hong Kong, I am not aware of big religious festivals in the spring and summer months in the places you mention as possiblities. But check websites. Songkran might be interesting. (Ching Ming has only recently been permittd to be celebrated in the PRC and not sure you would be able to observe much and as mentioned that can be a crowded time to travel in any event.)
Another place to consider would be Bhutan, which would meet your weather requirements and is extremely interesting. There are usually festivals in the spring months You would have to transit via Bangkok or Kolkata to get there from KL. Nepal is a possibity as well, although they can have heavy rains in the summer.
For the PRC, I would avoid the fist week in April if possible. There is a 3-day holiday at that time and hotels, transport etc can be crowded or more expensive. You may have some hotel/transport issues with Easter, mostly from locals in other places possibly travelling to the PRC during Easter break (in Hong Kong, Good Friday and Easter Monday are public holidays, which is a popular time to travel.)
You might consider Kunming/Lijiang for April and May, as temps a bit cooler than Guilin and they have less rain. Beijing would be OK for the spring months, although I think they have dust/sand issues in April (they definitely do in March). It can be very hot there in the summer months.
Yes, Chinese visas are expensive. But you probably will find the process easier to do in Australia, esp if you are in a city with an embassy or consulate. You can probably make an application fairly easily in person in that case (i.e. no long lines, it may be possible to send an assistant to make the application.) It does not matter if you hold a US passport, you can apply for the PRC visa anywhere you are resident.
When I was in Vietnam last, about 2 months ago, there were introducing a pilot visa on arrival program. You might check the website of the Vietnamese embassy in Canberra at http://www.vietnamembassy.org.au to determine if this program is being extended or made permanent.
If are employed in Australia, and plan to travel in Asia regularly, then you might want to consider looking into whether you are eligible for an APAC Business Travel Card, which is a visa-waiver card which will let you into the PRC, Vietnam and a large number of other countries in Asia an unlimited number of times <i>without</i> needing (or paying) for a visa. You also get to use special immigration lines which are shorter (and can use air-crew lines in the US.). See http://www.immi.gov.au/skilled/business/apec/index.htm for information on obtaining the card in Australia. I am not sure of the conditions required for persons resident but not citizens of Australia; for Hong Kong anyone who holds a permanent resident card can obtain an APAC card, you do not have to be a citizen.
Other than festivals in Bhutan, Songkran in Thailand and Ching Ming and the Bun Festival in Hong Kong, I am not aware of big religious festivals in the spring and summer months in the places you mention as possiblities. But check websites. Songkran might be interesting. (Ching Ming has only recently been permittd to be celebrated in the PRC and not sure you would be able to observe much and as mentioned that can be a crowded time to travel in any event.)
Aug 19th, 2010, 08:33 PM
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Cicerone, thank you very much. This is some great, and comprehensive information and I am going to reference this often, I am sure.
Unfortunately, the air fare sale that sparked the rush to book a trip ended last night. Worse, we had a family emergency here that took us away from home and computers when we thought we'd be buying tickets.
But - Air Asia seems to have a lot of sales, and even sometimes from here (we're in Melbourne) and I'm on their email list, so we'll probably get another shot as the time gets closer.
Great idea about the card. I'll have to check into that and see if we're eligible (although often our daughter goes with us, so that might still have us doing things the old fashioned way).
Also liked the run down on destination ideas. Yeah -- we've done a couple of hot weather/high humidity trips. Bali was one. Then genius me once picked May for a Nicaragua trip, missing the fact that it was their hottest month. Driest too, but that's a very relative point. And each time, I've heard "Never again" in no uncertain terms. So, I've sort of promised to keep my SE Asia addiction to the optimum set of months, unless I can prove cool highlands are the focus of the trip. I got to say, I think it must have something to do with where you come from or something. Besides us, my poor 2 year old likes traveling and did great in Peru, but looked a bit like she was melting in Bali, (around Tanah Lot and Seminyak, etc) in March. Ubud was a nice break for us all. So if I can help them out a bit by picking someplace higher up or further north in the later months and saving SE Asia for the Nov-Feb period, I'd probably try to do that for everyone.
Bhutan now... That's been on my list for a long time. It'll probably stay there a while longer. Used to be at the top of the "wish" list, but I've wavered a bit with some comments posted on the board here. Comments about sites being a bit reconstructed for tourism's sake? Not sure about the validity of that. But more about the possible realities of being "stuck" with one pre-booked driver when it's not going well. We've never been in that situation before. We've done a lot of self-drives in some interesting places even to avoid it (Thailand, Nica, Morocco, Romania), which does make what you said about Malaysia even more interesting btw...
Anyway, a great post and very much appreciated. It won't go to waste.. even if it's on the shelf for a bit. Thank you.
Unfortunately, the air fare sale that sparked the rush to book a trip ended last night. Worse, we had a family emergency here that took us away from home and computers when we thought we'd be buying tickets.
But - Air Asia seems to have a lot of sales, and even sometimes from here (we're in Melbourne) and I'm on their email list, so we'll probably get another shot as the time gets closer.
Great idea about the card. I'll have to check into that and see if we're eligible (although often our daughter goes with us, so that might still have us doing things the old fashioned way).
Also liked the run down on destination ideas. Yeah -- we've done a couple of hot weather/high humidity trips. Bali was one. Then genius me once picked May for a Nicaragua trip, missing the fact that it was their hottest month. Driest too, but that's a very relative point. And each time, I've heard "Never again" in no uncertain terms. So, I've sort of promised to keep my SE Asia addiction to the optimum set of months, unless I can prove cool highlands are the focus of the trip. I got to say, I think it must have something to do with where you come from or something. Besides us, my poor 2 year old likes traveling and did great in Peru, but looked a bit like she was melting in Bali, (around Tanah Lot and Seminyak, etc) in March. Ubud was a nice break for us all. So if I can help them out a bit by picking someplace higher up or further north in the later months and saving SE Asia for the Nov-Feb period, I'd probably try to do that for everyone.
Bhutan now... That's been on my list for a long time. It'll probably stay there a while longer. Used to be at the top of the "wish" list, but I've wavered a bit with some comments posted on the board here. Comments about sites being a bit reconstructed for tourism's sake? Not sure about the validity of that. But more about the possible realities of being "stuck" with one pre-booked driver when it's not going well. We've never been in that situation before. We've done a lot of self-drives in some interesting places even to avoid it (Thailand, Nica, Morocco, Romania), which does make what you said about Malaysia even more interesting btw...
Anyway, a great post and very much appreciated. It won't go to waste.. even if it's on the shelf for a bit. Thank you.
Aug 25th, 2010, 12:06 PM
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Hi - visa on arrival for Vietnam can be had here www.myvietnamvisa.com
ordered and delivered within less than 24hours - have the paper work for the airport (you must arrive via airport for this) and the stamp at the airport is $25 pp
hope that helps - have not yet had time to read this entire thread
thanks
Pat
ordered and delivered within less than 24hours - have the paper work for the airport (you must arrive via airport for this) and the stamp at the airport is $25 pp
hope that helps - have not yet had time to read this entire thread
thanks
Pat
