tropical cultural fun
 

Hello travel guru's,

We are planning a trip in January or February of 2008 and we are wide open to suggestions. Some info.

We are 27, Canadian, have no kids and no budget

We are looking for a unique place anywhere in the world that has:
tropical weather
great beaches
interesting culture (edgey is ok)
somewhere a little off the beaten track
adventure activities
plenty of fun

we have loved:
Mal Pais Costa Rica
Rio de Janeiro and Ila Bella Brazil
kerela and goa india
on previous vacations at this time of year.

Where should we go?

There are, of course, many options for you in Asia. I would note, however, that going to beaches typically takes you out of much of the local culture.

Consider:
Thailand
Bali
Malaysia

Thanks Katie,

anywhere specific in these countries?
major differences between them?
could you do a "best of" and combine them in a three week span?

Thanks, Jared

In three weeks, choose maybe 4 locations to visit. If you choose locations that are close together, you'll minimize your travel time.

Do some reading to decide what places interest you most. There are lots of excellent trip reports on this board: Here are my most recent two, one called Kathie's Borneo Trip Report, and the other called Kathie's Penang, Chiang Mai and Bangkok trip report (search for these on this board using the search box).

Here's the website with our photos for the last few years, they may give you ideas as well.

Not in Asia, but the Cook Islands (Rarotonga & Aitutaki) fill all your requirements - off-the beaten-path tropical paradise with plenty of culture and nature. Plus very affordable. One of our favorite vacations ever.

Thailand and Bali are the most obvious choices but I wouldn't consider either off the beaten path. The path is so well beaten they're paving it.

If you really want off the beaten path -- I've noticed quite a few Myanmar beach hotels springing up. Just up the coast from Thailand on the Andaman Sea side so some of the scenery should be similiar. You could combine time in Myanmar with Thailand if you wanted.

Thailand has those amazing sheer cliff into sea islands and great beaches. Bali has an amazingly unique culture, good enough beaches, good diving, cycling tours down from the volcano and parts of it are definitely more remote than others.

Do you want three weeks without any flights between places or are you willing to change locations a few times?

bali came to my mind immediately....thailand followed that closely...

i would rule out myanmar as i do not think there are really other than cultural things to do there--imo...

south africa is another possibility...

back to thailand....it offers such diversity within its borders: culturalism, big city life, fantastic food, sun, surf, fishing, climbing, shopping, city and rural life intertwined, did i mention fantastic worldly food....affordability....

tropical weather
great beaches
interesting culture (edgey is ok)
somewhere a little off the beaten track
adventure activities
plenty of fun

Bali offers all of the above. Maybe "good" on the beaches instead of "great" but it's definitely a one-stop culture and adventure destination. Off the beaten track? Yes and no. It's a bigger island than you might think; you can still find the weird and wonderful if you scratch the surface.

You could combine Bali with another Indonesian locale. There are some 17,000 islands so plenty of choices. On Java the Borobudur Yogyakarta area is a good choice as is Mt. Bromo. Lombok has some lovely beaches and a great mountain to climb. Komodo, Sulawesi, Borneo, Sumatra. . . there's so much out there.