Visiting family in Kuching 1st week of July. Flying back to Canada on Aug 26. 7 weeks, no itinerary -- suggest your BEST trip plan! :)
Hey! I'll be visiting family in Kuching (East Malaysia) 1st week of July. Then a couple of other girls are joining me to travel around S.E. Asia for about 6 weeks. No plan whatsoever. What would a good trip be?
I'm the type of traveler that likes to spend more than just a few days in each place, I'd hate to go "everywhere" but not experience anything.
Interests: islands/beaches, meeting fellow travelers, eat eat eat, cultural heritage sites, religious shrines/sanctuaries/temples, absorbing local culture, nature/wildlife/national parks
Tentative itinerary:
Fly from Kuching to Bali. Visit Nusa Tenggara, spend 2 weeks in Bali. Eastern and central Java. Through Sumatra to west coast of Malaysia. Peninsular Malaysia. Up the Gulf coast of Thailand. -- Is this doable in 7 weeks??
I realise that it'll be rainy in most of Thailand/Cambodia/Vietnam during this time, which is why I'm thinking of sticking to Indonesia/Malaysia/southeastern Thailand.
Also, I realise that I'm trying to cover a lot of ground in just 7 weeks, so what are the must-see places?? And how much time would I need for each?
Wanna see:
- Komodo Island
- Mount Bromo
- Borobudur and Prambanan
- Lake Toba
- east coast of Sumatra?
- Tioman Island
- Langkawi
- Pengang
- Perhentian Islands
- Ko Samui/Tao/Phangan
- Khao Sok National Park?
Reply to this Anything is doable!!! but if you dont make it everywhere, there's always next time!!! Only you can gauge how long you can stay in a place, you might love or hate a place but only know when you get there. Its best not to plan too far ahead so you can do what you really feel like doing.
Tioman Island is on the east, but you can get direct busses from KL. I ate, ate, ate in Melaka... the nonya food there was delicious.
If you catch the ferry from Penang to Satun (Thailand) there are some great quiet islands to chill out on a little more north from Trang. these islands might be a bit more interesting culturally than Samui/tao/phangan. When you're over islands Khao Sok is fantastic! i was islanded-out and 11 nights at Khao Sok was the perfect medicine. If you go walking and it is at all wet, wear boots not sandals!!! the leech bites itched for weeks!!!
Reply to this In Nusa Tenggara (Lombok), you could visit the 3 Gilis , Gili trawangan, Gili Meno and Gili Air. These places are known for all its beach activities such as snorkelling, diving, etc.
If you have spare time in Yogyakarta, I would suggest the Dieng Plateau as well. Not as known as Borobudur and Prambanan, but it's quite lovely ( and the weather is cool up there, compared to the scorching heat of Borobudur ). I am not sure if you are into climbing, but climbing Merapi will be great.
For the east coast Sumatera area, maybe you can try Pulau Weh in Aceh, which is next to the North Sumatra province where Lake Toba is located.
So far, the weather has been good here, hopefully it will be the same upon your arrival in Indonesia.
And while we are at the "Sout East Asia" subject, I might also suggest you to visit the Philippines? I know it's quite far from KL/Thailand, but i went there last month and the beaches were breath taking. Try El Nido or Coron in Palawan. 😊
Good luck and have a great journey ! 😊
Reply to this If you have time and love nature, I suggest you go to Komodo Island, Urang Utan reservation (Kalimantan), or Toraja (Sulawesi). My husband and I visited those places few years back. Let me know if you want some specific information about those places. We are going back to Indonesia in August 2010. Have a great trip!
Reply to this I think Lake Toba is one of "must see places". There're also several places you can go around. <snip>
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