r/travel • u/[deleted] • Jul 24 '14
Considering going to SouthEast Asia, except I have no clue where to begin.
[deleted]
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u/northern_redditor #vanlife Jul 24 '14
I went for ~2 months to all those places.
Cities in those countries I enjoyed: Singapore (good starting point too because it's really westernized) Bangkok Chiang Mai Hue Cat Ba Island Luang Prabang
Overall nothing too earth shattering.
Visas, well I needed a visa for Vietnam/Camobida/Laos. For Cambodia/Laos it was on arrival. For Vietnam I had to fill paper work out before.
Like you, I travel with 36L and less for every trip. In SE Asia both me and my girlfriend used a 36L bag. This fit all our clothes, reading book, ipad and camera and whatever else. Since it's super hot there, we only had muscle shirts and short shorts which don't take up much room. It's really cheap to do laundry, or to just buy new muscle shirts from a stand.
Vaccines, I need malaria pills and I had a few vaccines. Can't remember for what, except for Japanese Encephilitis, which in Ontario cost an arm and a leg.
For flights I spent about 1600, for living per day, no idea, but it couldn't have been too much. Hostels were in the 6-20$ range, meals were usually 1-2$ max, and alcohol and other activities were typically quite cheap.
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u/jefari Canada Jul 24 '14
Hey fellow Canadian, I am going to the area as well in November and just wondering for Camboida/Laos that you obtained on arrival. Do you need passport pictures for any of the Visas? I read on the Canadian gov website that I think you do for Laos?
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u/northern_redditor #vanlife Jul 24 '14
I just kept a few photocopies of passport photos in my backpack. They used it in every country but 1 (Vietnam maybe?) where they just took my picture for 1$ more I think
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u/radcopter2 Jul 24 '14
We didn't get any extra vaccines for our trip. We were in Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia, and Indonesia, plus China, Japan, and India right before and after. The one thing you might have to consider is malaria medication. Opinions differ on the best way to do it so I'd recommend reading up on that.
Flights throughout SE Asia are cheap but transportation is even cheaper if you consider taking a bus. We traveled overland from Bangkok through Chiang Mai, all through northern Laos, and into Vietnam (Sapa, specifically, then a train to Hanoi). We flew to Danang and then took a bus throughout south Vietnam and into Cambodia. It's really cheap and an nice way to see the landscape. It does take a lot longer than flying and the locals seem to have a hard time handling their motion sickness (lots of plastic bags being filled and thrown out the window). You will probably meet a lot of other travelers if you end up going by bus as well, and if you gang together while looking for lodging at arrival you can sometimes bargain down the cost of a room.
You should be fine with a 40L bag, especially if you're just bringing mostly clothes. I'd pack maybe a week's worth with the assumption that you can wear some stuff more than one day in a row. Make sure you're ready for the season you're traveling (hot versus cold, wet versus dry, etc). Lonely Planet guides are good for rough outlines and itineraries but do not rely on them for actual recommendations. They are out of date as soon as they are printed. Tripadvisor and other frequently updated online resources are much better. We got burned a few times following Lonely Planet with very outdated and inaccurate reviews of places.
We visited a few different places in each country so feel free to PM me if you have any questions when you get to the point of actually planning your itinerary. SE Asia is a great place to visit. People are really friendly and there are some stunning things to see. Bangkok, Hanoi, and Ho Chi Minh City are all very cool, Laos is beautiful, and Angkor is amazing.
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u/emsmeat (17 Countries) Jul 24 '14
I am curious, what kind of things you did via Lonely Planet that were outdated?
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u/radcopter2 Jul 24 '14
A few times (4-5 over about 6 months of travel) we stayed at guesthouses that were very highly recommended by Lonely Planet that had really gone downhill since the guide was published. One place in particular was in Phonsevan. The guidebook raved about the guy who ran it and the tours he gave of the surrounding countryside. We never saw the guy, nobody ever mentioned tours, and the rooms were in really bad shape (even for a small town in Laos). Reviews on tripadvisor confirmed our negative experience and even mentioned that they were ended up there by following Lonely Planet's recommendations. One reviewer did the tour and found it offensively bad. Some of these places seem to skate by with the Lonely Planet recommendation. Once you're in there, it's like a license to print money. The other issue we had were imitators trading on the name of highly recommended restaurants. They'll open up a few doors down and copy everything, from the name of the place to the sign/banner proclaiming the recommendation in LP.
It's a logical consequence of how popular and influential LP is in terms of tourist dollars. We found that while it is definitely a personal adventure, many others have been there before and getting their input (via Tripadvisor and wikitravel and other sites) will give you a more enjoyable experience. It's all on the pancake trail but some pancakes taste better than others =P
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u/VicieuxRose Jul 24 '14 edited Jul 24 '14
Hi there, I'm Malaysian so I'll help you out with figuring out Malaysia.
First off, if you are using Air Asia, you will probably land in KLIA 2, which is in the state of Selangor. You can visit Kuala Lumpur, the capital city of Malaysia. Its probably an hour away from KLIA 2, if using taxi and not counting traffic jams.
Kuala Lumpur has good night life IMO. I recommend Changkat Bukit Bintang. Alot of locals go there. My college mates love to go to Changkat on the weekends.
More info about it(you can check out the beer price in one of the pictures): http://backpackies.wordpress.com/2011/01/05/changkat-bukit-bintang-a-very-nice-place-to-chill-catch-up-with-friends-have-drinks-and-food-in-kl/
More places to go in KL: *Bukit Bintang (mainly just shopping, tons of malls) *KLCC (shopping as well, loads of designer stuff. But you can see the Petronas Twin Towers, a landmark) *old KTM station (if you're interested in Malaysian architecture, here's a building that represents a merge of British Colonialism and Islamic sensibilities. Favourite building in KL!) Here's a picture: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/71/Kuala_Lumpur_railway_station_(Rawang-Seremban_%26_Sentul-Port_Klang_Line)_(frontal_facade),_Kuala_Lumpur.jpg *Batu Caves (you wanted to visit temples so you should visit this place. It's a network of Hindu cave temples with a gigantic statue) Here is a picture: http://www.festivals-holidays.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/Entrance-to-Batu-Caves-_Dave-B.jpg
_(frontal_facade),_Kuala_Lumpur.jpg){kind=link}
Usually you can live on 35 USD per day in KL. Take in mind that this is with cheap hawker food, not upscale restaurants. And not much shopping.
FYI, it's usually 30-35 degrees Celsius in Malaysia, and also very humid. You would be sweating alot, so bring more clothes. Take an umbrella because it will rain quite frequently.
English is widely spoken, so dont worry. Especially in Kuala Lumpur.
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u/VicieuxRose Jul 24 '14
For beaches, you can go to Kota Kinabalu, which is in another state, Sabah. The beaches and the sea there is probably the best in Malaysia. There is a mountain (Gunung Kinabalu) if you are into that sort of thing. Loads of fresh seafood, beautiful blue seas and islands. And somehow there are alot of Korean and Japanese tourists there. No idea why Kota Kinabalu is so popular with them.
For temples, it is best to go to the historical town of Melaka. You can see old palaces from the ancient sultanate of Melaka, and building with Portugese architecture due to colonization, and chinese temples and mansions built by the wealthy Chinese merchants. Food is great as well (try chicken rice balls) And the mish mash of many type of influences in architecture makes Melaka very special.
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u/WHY_YOU_LIDDAT Jul 24 '14 edited Jul 24 '14
I just came back from my 2 months in Southeast Asia.
2 months for these countries are not enough. I recommend just picking 3 ; Vietnam, Thailand and Laos/Cambodia for a leisurely pace. I did a rush through of Southeast Asia and I regret it. It was just sitting on buses all day long and not enjoying the moment of being abroad.
Go read wikitravel on all the countries you want to visit and get a pen and paper and list down what you want to see.
For me I went to
- Malaysia ; Kuala Lumpur / Penang
- Thailand ; Koh Tao / Koh Phangan / Bangkok / Chiang Mai / Pai
- Cambodia ; Siem Reap / Phnom Penh / Cambodia
- Laos ; Don Det / Pakse / Savannakhet
- Vietnam ; Da Nang
The costs in SEA vary from where you go, especially in Thailand. In Northern Thailand (Pai) I had a dorm for 80 baht, but in Koh Tao it skyrocketed to 300 baht.
Most important thing to bring is earplugs & slippers. Finding a good pair of footwear that is big enough for my feet was a nightmare. Everything else can be bought.
English fluency varies from country to country. In Laos and Vietnam, English is not widely spoken, but Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Cambodia speaks pretty acceptable English.
If I may be so bold, I suggest that you start in Hanoi (Vietnam), make your way down south to Ho Chi Minh City, crossing over to Cambodia and westwards towards Bangkok, Thailand, going up to Chiang Mai, Pai and then eventually down south to the islands.
It's important to keep your itinerary flexible because you may meet some people that you want to hang with or you may fall in love with a certain place and never leave. I extended my stay on Koh Tao for 6 days because I loved the tranquility of the island and the company of the people in my dive class.
I don't think malaria pills or Japanese Encephilitis jabs are necessary. Just get your Heps and Tetanus.
I spent about 1700 USD for my 2 months, but I was scrimping on everything. On hindsight ; it wasn't really smart.
Off my head ; these are some of touristy/backpacker (lol) cities in Southeast Asia.
Vietnam : Hanoi/ Halong Bay/ Phong Nga/ Hue/ Hoi An/ Mui Ne/ Ho Chi Minh City/
Cambodia : Phnom Penh/ Kampot/ Kep/ Koh Rong/ Sihanoukville/ Siem Reap/
Laos : Luang Prabang/ Vientiane/ Vang Vieng/ Savannakhet/ Pakse/ Don Det (Four Thousand Islands/ Si Phan Don)/
Thailand : Koh Rong/ Bangkok (duh)/ Ayutthaya/ Sukhothai/ Chiang Mai/ Pai/ Chiang Rai/ Chumpon/ Koh Tao/ Koh Phangan/ Koh Samui/ Phuket/ Krabi/ Koh Phi Phi/
Malaysia : Penang/ Perhentian Islands/ Malacca/ Cameron Highlands/ Kuala Lumpur/
I'll love to answer any more questions if you have any. PM me!
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u/chanjs Jul 26 '14
Yeah I'm definitely starting to consider upping the amount of time overseas while dropping the country count, seems like the best option.
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u/PoptartsRShit 59294 COUNTRIES VISITED, AND IM ONLY 14 YEARS OLD. YOU A NOOB? Jul 24 '14
Thailand seems to be the classic starting point for SE Asia.
English, your hands and some patience are all you need to travel basically anywhere including SE Asia.
You can find visa, safety and other travel info for any destination at http://travel.state.gov/content/travel/english.html it is more useful if you are American obviously, but it still has practical information even if you are not.
I have little experience in SE Asia (exactly none to be precise), but I often pick where to go from a combination of just good ol googling, and using an image search or discovery search of the area (google maps and then turn on the images, you can see what looks cool in what areas).
If you are not experience in traveling cheap, you might want to budget a little higher than 35 a day. SE Asia can be very cheap, but a lot of touristy areas and night life can get expensive quick especially if you are not experienced in traveling cheap.
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u/thisisjapanasia Jul 24 '14
I have been to Singapore and I think it is a rather dull place to visit.
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Jul 24 '14
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u/Noedel Netherlands Jul 24 '14
I spent about 5500k in 4 months of Thailand, Laos, Myanmar and Nepal. However, I did not go to popular islands to party, which has saved me a bunch of money. I did spent a lot for our trek in Nepal, so It may as well even out.
I had more money to spend, but decided to save up for another trip to South America.
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Jul 24 '14
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u/Noedel Netherlands Jul 24 '14
Well it just depends on your standards as well.. I like the below the radar experience, which means remote destinations, which means cheap. If you want to hope all the islands, things will be twice the price.
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u/manhorse Jul 25 '14
I'll start in Singapore since it's more Western like then go up to malay then Thailand, Cambodia. Vietnam last since it's the most Hardcore out of s.e.a (imho)
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u/aparallaxview Sep 04 '14
I wish I lived in a country where a 2-month holidy is a possibility, but alas my "big" trip is looking more on the 14-21 day front. With that short a time scale in mind what wonders do you think my wife and I can hit that would give us the best overall feel of the region? We are less into shopping and more into cultural and historical experiences.
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u/Noedel Netherlands Jul 24 '14
In 1-2 months I'd skip at least half of those places. It's a waste to just run past everything and take your time to explore. Don't plan... Just go with the moment. You will change your plan within the first week of travel anyway.
Shots: any travel doctor will tell you what you need. Visas are all on arrival, except myanmar and vietnam.
35 a day is MORE than enough.
Long story short: just buy your ticket and go. It's not that hard once you're there.
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u/chanjs Jul 26 '14
yeah I'm definitely considering spending more time there and cutting out some places, in terms of the whole "going with the moment" thing, how easy is it to just find lodging, get flights and stuff last minute there?
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u/chanjs Jul 24 '14 edited Jul 24 '14
Wow woke up to tons of great advice and insight, thanks so much everyone :)
I still have lots of time before I'll even begin the process of booking for this trip but this really helps confidence wise.
I'll try to get to replying to everyone when I get a chance.
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u/DontCallMeLarry Amsterdam Jul 24 '14
For both the OP AND Coolwalled: Buy the South East Asia lonely planet. The itineraries it proposes are excellent.
Also searching r/travel should give you plenty of advice, there are many posts about the so-called "banana pancake trail" ... but basically, you can go into Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia, Malaysia and Indonesia without any kind of preparation except for investigating the visa situation between your country and the one you're visiting. There's so much tourist infrastructure in these countries, you could visit them without a travel guide if you wanted to. You'll just have to figure out what it is you want to see and do.
Ps. Start in Bangkok.