huntley

I am planing a UA mileage trip to India in January (about 2 weeks in India) and would like to combine that with visits to Bali, KL, AW and Yangon over approx. 10 days. I have been to Bali before but not the others.

I am looking for advice on how many days I need to allocate for each. Also, in Myanmar, should I go to Bagan or Yangon, if I am limited to one place?

I have just started looking at Air Asia's cheap fares; I am also an BA Avios member and might use that to go from KUL or DPS to Chennai and back.

Many thanks.

marmot

Do you mean to cover all of those place in 10 days? Perhaps I'm misreading . . .

I would say at 4/5 days minimum for Bali (7 to 10 would be better) and 4/5 days for Angkor. I'd give KL a miss unless you have a compelling reason to go there.

Burma is a category in itself. Not an easy place to get to and move around in so if you go you should devote some time. It's been two decades since I was there, and I was profoundly moved by both Yangon and Bagan, but if I had to choose one I'd say Bagan and I'd say 4/5 days there too.

Kathie

10 days total? Choose one: Bali or a brief trip to Burma. You could combine Angkor Wat and KL in 10 days, but the idea you can do all four destinations in 10 days is madness.

mareeS55

Gee, that's the trouble with South East Asia and the South Pacific. There's just so much of it on land, let alone by boat. Ten days is very ambitious.

We've been around the place in 40 years, but hardly anywhere if you put land and sea space together.

Give up on 10 days and multiple destinations, Huntley, pick a single destination (Rangoon would be my pick just for the architecture, but that may not be your thing).

We're repaying Georgetown a 40yr compliment in February for the architecture and food. Penang as an 18yo will be different to the place as a 58yo, but it'll be interesting anyway.

huntley

Thanks. I meant for this admittedly whirlwind trip to be a quick sampler, so that I can return with my wife when we have more time.

Anyway, I have decided to limit the SE Asia jaunt to Bali and Angkor Wat, approx. 5 days in each.

I would like your suggestions on inexpensive ways of moving from Denpasar to Siem Reap, and then to Chennai (MAA). Any suggestions on accommodations would be much appreciated as well.

marmot

For flights Air Asia would be my first choice for reliability and safety, I'm not sure how the connections work for your destinations. Singapore Airlines would be a good but more expensive option.

In Bali I'd either spend the whole time in the Ubud area or split your time between Ubud and one of the southern beaches. Rain in January can be heavy at times which may affect your decision.

There are oodles of resorts in all locations, so I'd suggest narrowing in on your general destination first, then finding something in your price range.

In Ubud I like Alam Sari, Alila, Uma Ubud. In Seminyak Beach The Colony. There are many, many other choices. The first week of January is generally pretty busy and rates are high. After that occupancy and rates drop off considerably.

Kathie

From Denpasar to Siem Reap, you can fly Denpasar to Kuala Lumpur on Air Asia, then take another flight on Air Asia from Kuala Lumpur to Siem Reap. All Air Asia flights are point-to-point, as it is a budget airline. You will have to go through immigrations and customs in KL and check in again at the Air Asia desk, so make sure you allow time for this.

I'm not sure of the best way to get to Chennai. You would have to connect though either KL or Bangkok. Check on connections via Jet Airways, an Indian airline. I know they fly between Bangkok and Kolkata, and that might be your closest connection to Chennai.

It will take a day to get from Denpasar to Siem Reap, and I don't know if you can get from Siem Reap to Chennai in one day, you might have to overnight somewhere, depending on flights times.

For full-service airlines that will earn United Miles, look at SIngapore Air and Thai Air, both excellent airlines.

huntley

The big trip - IAD-FRA-DPS-kul-MAA-HYD-MAA-kul-REP-pek-nrt-sfo-IAD (lower-case = connections) is almost finalized.

IAD-FRA on 1/15
3 days in Frankfurt
5-7 days in Bali (side trip to Jogjakarta)
To India (MAA & HYD) for two weeks, via Kuala Lumpur (Air Asia)
MAA to Siem Reap (via KUL) via Air Asia for 3-4 days
Back to IAD from Siem Reap via PEK, NRT and SFO

I haven't booked the four Air Asia segments as yet:
DPS-KUL, KUL-MAA, MAA-KUL and KUL-REP.
The segments add up to around $350. This is to ask if anyone has any suggestions on other routings or better fares. How late can this be booked without risking big fare increases?

Many thanks

rhkkmk

drink plenty of coffee

Kathie

I assume you are asking about the Air Asia portion only.

The routing you specify is probably the best you can do. The fare will go up as you get closer to your travel dates. If your dates are set, buy now. $350 for all of those segments is dirt cheap.