Tips planning around SE Asia
 

Thinking of doing a trip to South East Asia (Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia[must include Bali!]) as well as Hong Kong.

Anyone here have any experiences or trips they have done before?

Any specific locations, things to do or cities you suggest and/or any particular order you prefer?

I will be using a reward ticket that allows for an open-jaw or 1 stop over. I was thinking of the following order: YVR -> SE Asia -> HKG -> YVR

Any help is appreciated!

Thanks! :toot:

Time of year for the trip? I've only been to HK in that list, but if you're planning on going in the summer-time, prepare for a different kind of hot. And freak thundershowers. If you're going July-September, you should also be aware that you may be delayed in your travels by typhoons.

what are you looking to do more? eat? sight see? buy?

singapore would be a nice place to check out for their diversity in food, but there isn't much to see. Same with malaysia, unless you plan to visit the outskirts and remote areas.

Fly with Air Asia. With the recent events, i am sure prices will be attractive and the planes will probably be pretty empty.

I am thinking more of the Fall 2015 time. The reason why I am slowly gathering information is because I want to make the travel as smooth and as ordered as I can. For some reason I can foresee a ton of hassle in booking tickets and hotels etc etc since I want to travel to a ton of cities.

I doubt I will do any shopping. I just want to roam the area, sight see, eat good food but not in a backpack sort of way. I've read some stuff to do such as surf in Bali and snorkel etc. So I do not mind exploring/adventuring.

I don't mind going to the outskirts to sight see! I have been to Singapore a couple times already and I really enjoy it (which is why I am returning).

Went to HK last Step and is still hot as hell outside. I was wearing T-shirts and Shorts the whole time. Is a different type of hot there. In Van/Calgary the hot is like really dry but in HK is very humid so you sweat a lot.

How many days/weeks are you going for?

Thinking around 3 weeks.

Narrowed it down to Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia, Hong Kong, maybe Laos and Cambodia as well.

That's a lot in 3 weeks. You're spending less than 3 days at each country...and now add onto the time it takes to get to/from airport + the flying/transportation time.


It's like saying "I want to see the whole Europe in 3 weeks"...

I just returned from a 3-week trip to SE Asia, ironically. We were in Asia from Nov 17 through Dec 8.

We started in Singapore (3 days), then went on to Bangkok (3 days), Krabi/Railay (7 days), Chiang Mai (4 days), and finished in Hong Kong (4 days). I posted a few photos from the trip in this thread if you're interested.

I recommend finishing the trip in Hong Kong, personally... it worked very well for us, because there's several direct flights from HKG to YVR. Singapore, obviously, is much further (another 5 hours or so beyond HK) and therefore a more arduous trip... I prefer to have the worst flights/travel to begin the trip, when there's something to look forward to when you finally step off the plane.

Since you've been to Singapore already, I won't bother telling you about that. (Spoiler: it's awesome.)

Bangkok is pretty chaotic, busy, and difficult to get around. Many people told us we didn't need more than a few days there, and I agree... it's just a huge city with terrible traffic, which makes getting around the city a pain at times. Don't get me wrong, there's stuff to see and do, but I'd recommend just a couple of days in Bangkok at most.

In the Fall, when you're going, it's the dry season on the Andaman coast, which is where we went... we were on Railay Beach (flew into Krabi) and it was *awesome*. Top-notch beaches (the country's best, I was told), beautiful resorts, lots of sunshine and things to do.... it's beautiful there, as you'll see if you check out the other thread with my photos. You can fly into Krabi or Phuket from Bangkok for <$100, and from there it's fairly easy to get to beaches, resorts, the Phi Phi islands, etc. If you like beaches, it's a must-do.

The opposite coast (the Gulf of Thailand side) experiences the "wet season" during Fall, and is drier in the Spring... I'm told it's also amazing (Koh Samui looks great), but being on the beach in a torrential downpour isn't that ideal.

Chiang Mai is like a greener, calmer, more beautiful version of Bangkok. It's got all the cultural tourism stuff you could want -- hundreds of wats and templates and history -- but without all the scammers, traffic jams, etc. Unlike Bangkok, there are no huge office towers or modern mega-malls... it's still a big city with great nightlife and all the conveniences you're used to (including a great airport), but it's more authentic and pleasant than Bangkok. Stay in or near the Old Town and you can walk to most of the city's top tourist spots. Outside Chiang Mai, you can visit one of 30+ elephant parks, hike in the jungle, take a river boat tour, ride an ox cart, see a monkey show, etc etc.

Hong Kong is quite simply a top-5 "must visit" city... in my books, it's up there with Paris, London and NYC. Incredibly unique city that truly has an "East meets West" vibe. It's got the jaw-dropping skyline and city sights, plus the history, incredible shopping, and tourist spots of all sorts to keep you busy for as long as you're there. We stayed on Nathan Road (Kowloon), and it was a great location... but anywhere in the central areas of the city (both on HK island and Kowloon) you're usually within walking distance of everything, or you take a cab (or train) and it should be quite cheap.

If you've got enough time (and you should def give HK at least 3-4 days), I strongly recommend a visit to Stanley and some of the lesser-known areas of HK -- it was so much more beautiful than I had imagined (reminded me a lot of the Monaco or the Riveria). We also did a day trip to Macau (there's a 50 min ferry leaving every 15 mins), which was pretty cool... not a "must do" in my eyes, but it's definitely a bizarre place that's worth seeing if you've got time.

Everything in Thailand is cheap, especially if you're willing to take the "budget" option on various things (ie. eat at street vendors, stay in smaller cheaper hotels). We prefer a more upscale travel experience, so we didn't go for any super cheap hotels/tours, but our beautiful 5-star hotels in Bangkok and Chiang Mai were both less than $130/night including tax and breakfast. Outside of big hotels/resorts, a good meal shouldn't cost more than $7-$10 per person, including beer & tip.

Hong Kong, on the other hand, is really expensive... probably 10-20% more than Singapore (based on my limited experience). Especially food. Our hotel was very nice (but not insane) and it was around $300 CDN per night... expect to pay at least $150/night for a decent hotel in a decent location.

Despite it being the "cool" season, it was hot as shit in all the places I've mentioned above, except for Hong Kong (where it was around 15 degrees & cloudy/windy)... I only wore pants/sweater in HK. Everywhere else, I was in a shorts and sandals, and usually rocking a sweat-drenched shirt. Chiang Mai was milder thanks to lower humidity, but daytime highs were still 25-30*C.

If you're a less experienced traveler, or you want an 'easy' travel experience, Thailand is for you. It's way more developed than I had imagined, and I always felt safe, even walking around unlit streets at night. English is everywhere, things run more or less on time, and we never got ripped off or scammed... if you're not completely retarded, you can travel around Thailand without any problems at all.

I've never been anywhere else in SE Asia, but we talked with many people on our trip who had been elsewhere... Vietnam/Cambodia are probably the next most popular spots, with relatively developed tourism industries in both. Laos and Burma are your go-to spots if you want to get off the beaten path and enjoy some adventure/real cultural immersion... both are pretty undeveloped, so if you want to see them before they become as cliche as Thailand, now's your chance.

In three weeks, though, I'd personally suggest: Singapore, HK, and one or possibly two other SE Asian countries. Getting around from place to place takes time -- budget a full day of travel if you're getting on an airplane, even if the flight is only an hour long. Our 3-week trip was perfect, and would've been rushed if we'd tried to cram any more into it... you could spend less time on the beach (we had 6 nights in Railay) and visit more places with that time, but I wouldn't stretch it too far or you'll be exhausted and ready for another holiday by the time you're finished.

Have fun.
:fuckyea:

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You could easily spend 3 weeks in Thailand and not have scratched the surface of all the things to see. There is no point to going to 5-7 countries for 3 weeks total trip, as has been mentioned, you will spend as much time and money getting between those countries as actually in them.

My recommendation would be to pick 2 or 3 countries - for example, Indonesia, Singapore, and Thailand and actually get to see some of them, ie more than one city, and not simply their capital (obviously not talking about Singapore). The difference between Bangkok and Krabi is night and day - they might as well be different countries. I think refining your focus to your top choices for countries will not only save you a ton of internal transport $$$ but also make the trip much more enjoyable.

Mark

Great idea! For big countries each city is very different lol. I am going back to China again in June and I am going back for 15 days but only visiting 3 cities. Even then I think is pushing it because of flight and travel time.

Very true. I think I would probably narrow it down to Singapore, Hong Kong, Thailand and Vietnam.

I have already been to Singapore and Hong Kong numerous times so there is not much I need to do there except re-visit specific restaurants/places.

As for Vietnam and Thailand, these two are very new to me! :)