 SE Asia travel intinerary...am I being too ambitious!? |
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| Travelling SE Asia and need some advice on how long I would need for my planned trip and how much money I should budget for it. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
giggler Carys Duckworth Post Count: 2 Msg: #1 26 days ago, November 5th 2009 | Hi, | I'm pretty new to lone travelling and I’ve never been to SE Asia, but I would like to see as much as I can! I'm Volunteering in Sabah for 10 weeks starting in feb 2010 which is already budgeted for but I would like to travel afterwards. My plan was to fly out of Kota Kinabalu to Macau/ Hong Kong, travel pos by train to Hanoi and drop down Vietnam stopping at Hoi An and Ho Chi Min, then enter into Cambodia seeing Phnom Pehn and boating to Siem Reap. I don’t mean any disrespect but the advice I have read seem to highlight Thailand as quite dangerous, especially as a lone female traveller so my only stop in Thailand is to Bangkok, where I fly back to Malaysia to Penang and then travel to Kuala Lumpur where I can get a cheap flight back to England. I’m hoping with this itinerary I can get a rounded taste of SE Asia within my limited time frame of approx a month (for budget reasons) mid April-mid May. So my questions are; am I being too ambitious with my itinerary? Are internal flights and train tickets still cheap if you book it last minute? How much money per day should I budget as a rough guide (staying in Hostel like accom)? Am I getting a rounded taste of SE Asia? All Advice is gratefully received. Thank you!!!! :-)  Rat on the Road Kris and Kate Post Count: 435 Msg: #2 26 days ago, November 5th 2009 | Hi | So, in a month you want to go to Hong Kong, Macau, Hanoi, Ho An, Ho Chi Minh City, Phnom Penh, Siem Reap and Angkor, Bangkok, Penang and KL. 10 places, 6 countries, in 4 weeks including travelling time does seem a lot. It's 2 1/2 cities a week including travelling between them. Train from Hong Kong to Hanoi is going to take you a day. Ho Chi Minh to Phnom Penh is 6 hours by bus. It's another 4-6 hours to Siem Reap. Are you only planning to spend a day at the temples at Angkor? They are really worth a 3 day ticket, but if you don't have time you will just see a couple in 1 day. Siem Reap to Bangkok is a full day of travelling again. Between KL and Penang takes a while too. You are going to spend a lot of time travelling and not much time actually seeing anywhere. If that's what you want them cool. You will see a lot of different places, just not much when you are there. It could end up more expensive and very tiring. But that's ok sometimes too. The budget airlines like Air Asia, Jetstar Asia, Tiger Airways etc. are often still quite cheap if you book last minute. The Air Asia flight from KL to Stanstead you need to book in advance though, to get the cheaper tickets. Flights in and out of Siem Reap are usually pretty expensive all the time though. Train tickets may sell out, so you sometimes have to be a bit flexible about when you travel. Sometimes if you book train tickets last minute in Vietnam, for example, you don't get the most private and/or comfortable seat or carriage. However, I would suggest you fly in Vietnam as the distances between the cities you mention are pretty huge. I'm not sure what you mean about Thailand. I don't consider it a dangerous country. I wouldn't say it's any more dangerous for a single woman than Vietnam or Cambodia. Are you talking about that TV programme that's been on about Thailand showing trouble in Pattaya and at the Full Moon party? When you are travelling, especially as a single female, you will meet lots of other people who you can travel with, so you won't be alone for long. Accommodation in a big shared dorm room in hostels in the cities in Vietnam can be got for $5 (US) or so. In Bangkok you can get your own room in a guesthouse on Khao San Road for about £5. Hong Kong and Macau are going to be a lot more expensive. Malaysia is more pricey too, but maybe not as pricey as Hong Kong. Your big expenses are going to be transport and visas. Train tickets and flights. You need visas for Vietnam and Cambodia. With a return ticket you can get a free visa on arrival for Thailand. Anyway, think that's enough info for now. Hope it helps Kate  Mell Mell Post Count: 13958 Msg: #3 25 days ago, November 5th 2009 | Hello Carys |   ....the advice I have read seem to highlight Thailand as quite dangerous, especially as a lone female traveller so my only stop in Thailand is to Bangkok,.. That is strange advice you got about lone female travellers in Thailand. I generally recommend it as a first destination for lone female travellers. Violent assaults on women are rare in Thailand(on foreign women anyway. I dont know anything about how it is for Thai women) and it is the only country in the world where I have never experienced sexual harassment. A month is a short time to visit a lot of coutries and some of the countries require visas which make staying longer in each a more economical thing to do. Thailand and Malaysia give free of charge visas on arrival to UK citizens, so they may be the countries to spend your month in. Train tickets and bus tickets are very cheap, in most SE Asian countries, compared with what they cost in Europe. For most SE Asian countries 15 to 20 Euros per day would be enough, and some money put asside, in case of an emergency. Mel giggler Carys Duckworth Post Count: 2 Msg: #4 25 days ago, November 5th 2009 | Thanks guys | I saw the warning stuff on the FCO website and it said a lot of the southern regions were dangerous and should be avoided and yeah the full moon parties are dangerous too coz they are likely to be demonstrations etc. I think there are a few ppl from the voluntary service that im working with that want to travel afterwards, but I quite like the independance of travelling on my own, at least some of the way. Thanks for the info on daily budget and travel that will really help me plan. I kinda knew I was being over ambitious. I got a bursary award to go out there to volunteer so I want to take advantage of it while im out there especially as it is so cheap there, and I dont know when i'll be able to travel quite so far again. Big Thanks again!! Rat on the Road Kris and Kate Post Count: 435 Msg: #5 24 days ago, November 6th 2009 | Yes, the three Southern provinces next to Malaysia should be avoided. But it's a big country and the rest of it is fine. | The Full Moon parties just have their fair share of problems that you get when lots of people are off their faces on various things. The same stuff you get in UK cities on a Saturday night, drunken related violence, alcohol poisoning, opportunist thieves and criminals. But a lot of people just have fun there. The political demonstrations generally occur in Bangkok, but you can totally avoid the areas where they are. We were in Bangkok when all the demonstrations went on when they closed the airport and saw no trouble or danger at all. Keep away and you are fine. If other people are travelling you can always travel with them sometimes and leave them others. Anyway, have fun! Kate Number of Users: 3 | Number of Posts: 5 | |||||||||||||
