Hi! I'm hoping to take a month long trip to Thailand, Laos and Vietnam in summer with a friend, I've never been travelling or to Asia before so I'm looking for advice on when are the best times to go, popular attractions and activities, suggested routes/structures for the trip, places to stay and just general tips for travelling in South Asia, Thanks 😊
Reply to this Hi
Welcome to Travelblog!
The trip you have picked is a really common one and very easy for new travellers. Where are you flying from? The usual entry point is Bangkok. If you are going to travel Thailand, Laos and Vietnam, then you would head north from Bangkok, up to Chiang Mai, where you can do some trekking and elephant riding. From there you can go to Chiang Rai and then on a 2 day boat ride over the border and to Luang Prabang in Laos. You travel through Laos via Vang Vieng to Vientiane, and then take a bus to Hanoi in Vietnam. That journey is a long one, so I would look into flying if you can. In Hanoi you would visit Halong Bay, and maybe Sapa in the far north and then from Hanoi you travel down through Vietnam via Hoi An - an old town on a river where you can get clothes tailored cheaply, to the beach at Nha Trang and/or Mui Ne and then to Ho Chi Minh City. If you are not planning to go to Cambodia, you would fly from Ho Chi Minh back to Bangkok.
There is quite a lot to visit on the route, and you only have a month, so if I were you, I would look at flying the long distances, like Chiang Mai to Luang Prabang, Vientiene to Hanoi and Nha Trang to Ho Chi Minh City. There are budget airlines in Asia: check out Air Asia, Tiger Airways, and Vietjet Air to start with, although there are many.
For some great inspiration, try reading some of the
Asia Travelblogs As I said, lots of people are doing this route and you can see what they are doing, where they are staying etc. This was the first route we traveled in Asia and it's how we found out lots of things.
Hope this helps you and let us know if you need any further information.
Happy Planning!
Kate
Reply to this Hi again, thank you both for the advice! I was also wondering how many pounds (Stirling) would be advisable to take fit a month long stay? (I'm currently thinking of around 500 but I'm not sure if that's a gross underestimation!) I was also wondering whether Bankok would be the best place to start and finish the trip, or if other airports/cities are more advisable?
Thanks again 😊
Reply to this Hi
Does that £500 include your flights? If not, then it sounds fine.
As for airports, I think Bangkok is the only city on your route that has direct flights and it's likely to be the cheapest place to fly to. However, if you wanted to start or finish in a different city, you could just fly back to Bangkok from wherever.
Reply to this Noo that's excluding flights haha, ok thanks very much for the advice 😊
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