General Help required for a planning a huge trip!!! : )

We are planning a huge trip & set to depart in December 2009, just in time for NYE. We are determined to cover the following countries over a 6 month period of hardcore backpacking in Asia:

Singapore
Malaysia- Kuala Lumpur, Penang, Langkawi
Thailand - Krabi, Phuket, Koh Samui, Koh Phangan, Pattaya, Bangkok, Chiang Mai,
Laos - Vientiane
Vietnam - Hanoi, Hue, Hoi An, Dalat, Ho Chi Minh City, Nha Trang
Cambodia - Siem Reap, Phnom Penh
Hong Kong
China - Beijing, Shanghai, Chengdu, Xian, Nine Valley Villages, Mt Everest Base Camp
India - Mumbai, Delhi, Agra, Goa, Rajasthan.

Once we have finished in Asia we are considering the Trans Siberian Railway to Russia for a brief visit and then onto the UK to work for a few months or more, most likely more, so that we can save for a European tour and there will also be many weekends away in between from London to wherever we can get!!!

If you have any tips, suggestions, secrets, connections or advice - please, do tell : )
We would especially appreciate any advice on our itenary as above - it is not exact and is not in order... We don't know anyone who has done this before so we don't know what cities we really want to go to - we don't want all the places we visit to be packed full of tourists, as we are looking for a diverse cultural experience. Also most importantly we are looking for information about travel budgets. We are aiming to take approximately $15,000 all up to last us through Asia for the approximate 6 months (We party hard) and then settling into the UK, as well as any last minute destinations (eg Russia). If you have info regarding daily spending in each of the country's above that would be a huge help!

We would love to hear from you 😊
Reply to this

Hello fellow Brisbane people 😉

Your itinerary is a good one, as it enables you to travel between most countries overland, thus saving on airfares and money. I cannot really comments on costs, because I don't do the partying thing (which saves money) but don't do the backpacker scene (which costs money), but here is some general advice about the countries:

India - get used to travelling in a different cultures before heading to India - it will overwhelm your senses otherwise, and may still do even if you have been to other cultures! Avoid your listed Indian cities between April-September - unless you like 50+ degree temperatures and/or heavy monsoon rains.

Thailand - crossing by land border now only allows you a 15 day visa - see Important *New* Thai Visa Information. There are plenty of other threads branching from this one, and I am not sure of the latest information.

Cambodia - Be prepared for the ride from hell if you take the road from the Thai border to Siem Reap. I didn't do it after reading some of the horror stories of the bumpy tooth-filling-removing journey.

Airfares - There are some great cut price airlines operating in Asia that may get you around the region quicker - particularly Air Asia (flying out of KL), JetStar (from Singapore), Tiger Airways (also Singapore), and Bangkok Airways (coincidentally flying out of Bangkok) to name just a few. Just be aware that the taxes flying from Singapore are steep.

I could ramble on here for ages, but this is at least a start. Reply to this