Good afternoon Lifers,
I’ve handed my notice in at my job, put my house on Airbnb, been pumped full of vaccinations and have booked a ticket to Bangkok to start 6 months of travelling.
I’ll be spending most of my time in South-East Asia, roughly in this order:
Thailand -> Cambodia -> Vietnam -> Laos -> Thailand -> Malaysia -> Indonesia -> Philippines -> Japan (for a couple weeks snowboarding) -> Hong Kong and then back to the UK for a wedding.
Has anybody done anything similar? Any advice? Visa advice? Things to pack?
Any recommendations? I haven’t really planned any of it so I’m very open to people’s suggestions. Are there any must see things?
Or things to avoid?
Any ideas of how much it might cost? There’ll be two of us and we’re hoping to not go over £10,000, our flights have already been booked and we know Skiing in Japan probably won’t be cheap so that won’t be included in the £10,000 budget.
Lots of questions, hopefully you lot will have some answers!
Cheers,
SWEnglandAddick
Comments
Let me know if you need anything more specific.
Will always remember the feeling of freedom as we were in the cab to central Bangkok from the airport. Made it through Thailand, Malaysia and ended up in Singapore.
I only lasted just under a month and came home skint & jobless but was still one of the best things I ever did.
take the night train from BK to Butterworth in Malasia and get the ferry to George Town in Panag
Train 2nd class air con. Dinning car was one of the best experiences ----all windows wide open the chefs doing their stuff over woks full of oil as the train motors through the night----- probably all gone these days
down south to Surat Thani on the overnight bus, boat to Samui, Pha Ngan then Tao.
Had it down to a £5 a day. That got my Khong Tip cigarettes, Bottle of Mehong, Corrugated iron beach front hut and food.
Thats when you could get a proper omelette on an island with no electricity.
Now they have airports.
Wouldnt want to go back following how it was, to what it is now.
I can offer a lot advice on the three countries I mentioned, but what sort of thing do you want? Do you want nice beaches, busy/quiet beaches, cities, local life in small/medium towns, boozy nights/lively nightlife, travel on the cheap/flights between each country? I'm quite good on where you can fly to and from easily at low cost if that helps. Give me a few clues as to what you want.
@RedPanda thanks mate. Not planning on staying in Thailand too long as I’m not a fan of big tourist traps. We’re staying in Bangkok for 3 nights then heading down to Trat/Koh Mak for 7 nights to sit on beaches and plan the rest of the trip then on to Siem Reap. Haven't really thought about the Indonesia part of the trip yet but Sumatra sounds good.
@thai malaysia addick we mostly want to just do whatever we want whenever we want. I’m not a fan of big touristy things mostly because of the amount of people and getting harassed but we do plan to see most the big sites. We enjoy a few beers but not really looking to party, good bars and good food is what we enjoy most and snorkelling. My girlfriend is a geologist so no doubt she’ll be dragging me into many caves. If I had to sum it up it would be: good food, swimming/snorkelling, a few beers most nights and good scenery (I’m a keen photographer/videographer).
A friend of mine just rented a motorbike and travelled from Ho Hi Minh to Hanoi and back (only breaking down on the last mile!). She said it was really good, very dangerous but a great experience, so we’re considering doing Ho Chi Minh to Hanoi (not back) to give us the freedom to see Vietnam and stop wherever we like whenever we like.
Thailand - Beer is always easy to find in Thailand, so that's not an issue. I think the scenery in the north of Thailand is excellent. Chiang Mai is a nice old city (not mad and busy like Bangkok). Near to Chiang Mai is Mae Hong Son, which is close to the Myanmar border. The scenery there is brilliant. It's not the liveliest at night but you can get decent food and beer without any trouble. As you say, a lot of Thailand is quite touristy but there are some quieter islands if you want beaches - they are just a bit more effort to reach.
Malaysia - Kuala Lumpur is a nice city to visit and well worth seeing. Outside of KL, there are some beautiful resorts but they can be a bit full. Penang is quite nice - there's a touristy beach which is nice (Batu Ferringhi), but I quite like Georgetown which is more of a small city with a beachfront but less beachy, if you get what I mean. It has some interesting history and is quite an interesting place to eat, drink and travel around.
Sarawak and Sabah are worth a visit. There's some good places and some boring places. I like Kuching. It's nothing special but just a nice town with small narrow streets, markets and decent bars/restaurants. I've only been to Sabah a couple of times, but there is a good wildlife sanctuary somewhere near Sandakan. But, don't expect wild nights in Sandakan.
Philippines - So many great places to visit. Honda Bay is amazing scenery near Puerto Princesa. The town of PP itself is nothing special but does have a couple of nice restaurants and bars. Boracay which is the most beach resort is a problem right now as they closed it for 6 months due to over-tourism and have only recently opened it in a limited way as I understand. Manila is a bit hit and miss unless you know where to go, but I love the city. I like eating and drinking around Malate, which has its iffy bits but is still fascinating, I think. Cebu is again a mixed city although I quite like it but the island off Cebu, Mactan Island, is really nice with some other islands near it. Alona Beach is a place that is on the up in Philippines too and now has an airport nearby. El Nido and Coron on Palawan Island are amazing for scenery.
Although I am not an expert on Vietnam, you must go to Hoi An, it's an hour from Da Nang and just magical. Google Hoi An and look at the images and you'll see why.
As for airlines, Air Asia (locally known as Air Delaysia) cover a lot of routes cheaply between most Asian countries - they are OK. Cebu Pacific are cheap around Philippines.
Let me know if you need more help.
As for the rest of your trip Cambodia is, Imo, the gem of SE Asia. Kampot is literally heaven on earth!
Ko Chang archipelago in Thailand is still wonderful (easy from Bangkok) if you keep heading south but NOT under any circumstances Phukhet or even more disgusting, Pattaya. From Trat you can cross the border into northern Cambodia which is wonderful but has some lovely spots screwed up by mass Korean /Chinese tourism (casinos/high rise hotels). Sihanoukeville is going down hill but of you can get out to some of its outlying islands there are some really weird and wonderful spots to disappear in paradise. Hoi An is a bit "Europeans do Asia" as is Luang Prabang in Laos but both make charming, albeit slightly artificial soft landings, while climatising to the south-east Asian scene.
I spent several weeks in Myanmar (Burma) and that is possibly the most fascinating of all but not soft or user friendly and any well known tourist spot (Bagan) can be surprisingly expensive. Rhakine province is fabulous (Ngpalii) if you steer clear of the trouble spots. You will need a visa in advance (at least you did). On a boring note, the one sensible precaution is to invest in decent travel/medical insurance, just in case. The Post Office used to do the best long term one but not sure of they they still do or if there are still any Post Offices left.
Tough to summarise such a vast and diverse area with so much natural beauty and culture but if you are comfortable off-grid and you want to be adventurous and see something different just get as far away from places with airports as possible. Stick to buses, trains and ferries and just get lost. Even if you prefer to play safe and just tick off boxes and see the tourist spots, you will have a great time. Enjoy.
Ko Lanta is lovely
Northern Thailand is stunning and worth a few days, get the sleeper from BKK. As for the tourist areas, yep there are some places that have been over commercialised here in the last 15 years. There are still some great islands and beaches though, Koh Mak, Koh Kood and parts of Koh Chang are very nice. Some areas of Phuket and Pattaya are to be avoided, other parts are ok. I personally escape BKK to one of the 5* hotels at the northern end of Pattaya (Hard Rock, Holiday Inn or Amari) and don't leave that little stretch. Same in Phuket Mai Khao is nice and you get some good pics of planes if that's your thing. Cape Panwa also nice.
Malaysia has some cracking beaches and I'd recommend the Perhentians. Cities and towns in Malaysia I'm not much of an expert on. I hate KL but I know others like it. Penang has some good photo opportunities and a nice mix of cultures.
Vietnam is a very cheap and currently my favourite escape from Bangkok. Da Nang is interesting and worth a look, as well as the north above Hanoi. HCMC is good for a sit down, grab a coffee and watch the world go by.
For Japan, as well as the big cities I'd recommend Fukuoka for some peace and quiet, a nice beach and an example of a more typical Japanese city. Naha on Okinawa is also quite good fun and a very different kind of view of Japan.
I think you are doing it the right way though. You'll find your own way and own journey. Go with the flow and have an amazing time.
As a general rule, the grimmer a place looks, the better the food will be. Look for places the locals are eating.
SOUNDAS ESSENTIAL EMERGENCY TRAVEL SHIT KIT.
Comprising of:-
Toilet Roll
Antibacterial Hand Wash
Small Hand Towel
Toilet Wipes (optional).
Can be put into a small suitable bag or toiletries bag.
May seem a bit OTT to some of you but believe you me a godsend when you find yourself in a situation where there are little or no toilet facilities.
I went to Medan in Sumatra which is a total hovel. Bukit Lawang & Gunung Leuser National Park are a few hours north though and is one the best places to see orangutans. Then I went to Lake Toba which is a volcanic lake and has an island in the middle. The island is really relaxed, quiet, obviously scenic and mushrooms were/are legal. My hostel was great too, they’re not everyone’s scene but you can always get a private room for privacy and peace. If there’s a bar you will meet some cool people. Indonesia you don't get the divvy gap year kids either, except for Bali I imagine.
I made the stupid decision to fly out of Padang and it took 27 hours to get there from Toba. If you do Sumatra then you’re best off going back to Medan then you can fly on to KL, Singapore or Penang. I’ll +1 the Penang shouts, there’s not that much to do but it’s a nice stop-off point and the food was excellent.
Got one of those goldfish bag type dinners from someone who sold through the train window.
My god, got to Bangkok and had to run to get a shower key.
Just stood in the cubicle naked puking and shitting at the same time.
My god, i was rough.
One thing i do remember was that it was the coach journey from hell through Sumatra. Broke down an hour in to our journey and broke down about 3 times, dont think i washed for 3 days. Absolutely rotten. Was never so pleased to get in to Malaysia. Cant really remember much about either place, just that i wanted to get out of there, didnt think much of Jakarta either. Had obviously enjoyed Bali but that was it for my time in Indonesia. I was not a fan.
Very jealous of your trip SWEngland. I know the above journeyed posters have slated Phuket but i have been recently and enjoyed myself, very touristy but still enjoyable.