My girlfriend and I have recently decided on a 6 month trip throughout Asia/Australia starting this June or July. There is a wealth of info online for visiting each country individually but we're having a little trouble finding info on the basics of putting the trip together, i.e where she would go first, best way to plan and budget, who offers the better all-inclusive travel passes (air and or air and train, etc), what cities/places we must see, places to avoid, etc.
Taking into consideration:
- We want to do it relatively cheap, say $20-25,000 US dollars between us. Hostels and other forms of cheap lodging are the goal as well as cheapest way to travel w/in each country.
- Japan, China, Thailand, Vietnam, Laos, Hong Kong, Singapore, Australia and New Zealand are musts.
- We are in our late 20's, active and fit. We want to see the major attractions but would like to split them with "off the beaten path" destinations as well. Interesting/good food will be a focal point but not a priority. (We are both big time adventurous food lovers).
I know this is a very general request so any helpful hints/advice would be much appreciated. Maybe a good thread, sites, books (besides Lonley Planet), mags, etc.
thank you very much!
Phil
Reply to this You will want RTW tickets - we got ours with the Star Alliance group (Air NZ, Asiana, Lufthansa, British Midland, etc..). One World (BA etc...) also has RTW tickets as do others. Recommend that you get Rough Guide books - they have one for each country you mention and are very good for uncovering money-saving ideas.
Get into contact with friends, friends of friends or distant relatives. My father's second cousin whom he hadn't seen in over 40 years put us up for 3 nights in Australia for example. Another old friend put us up for 9 nights in Hong Kong while another put us up and let us use his car for 2 weeks in NZ. It's not cheap to travel in Australia or NZ. One possibility is to buy a used car privately and then sell it, trying to get as much as you paid for it, when you leave. Have a look at our blog for more ideas...
Reply to this Thanks Mac. We have a couple Lonely Planets; Australia/N.Zealand and S.East Asia on Shoestrings and Japan. We'll definitely grab a couple Rough Guides.
Before buying the tickets we're trying to decide where and when we should start (sometime this summer) so as to avoid crappy (rain season) weather. Thx for your recs. We'll come back with better structured questions.
Reply to this was in thailand last december and one place you HAVE to visit is koh tarutao off the south west coast. its got some of the sweetest beaches i've ever been on and when i was there i pretty much had them to myself. there's nothing in respect of a nightlife as its a national park but theres a canteen and small shop, and koh lipe is only a boat ride away if you feel the need to party. id recommend camping as you wake up 30 metres from the sea but theres bungalows to rent as well. with regards to food i ate at the night markets which have some of the cheapest and tastiest stuff you could want (30 baht for a huge portion of noodles and spicy fish), think the best one was in krabi which is on the way to pak bara where you can catch the ferry. i was told by loads of people before i left to be really carefull of the food and not to eat from street vendors etc but in my opinion thats bull as thats where you can get the most interesting stuff
hope this helps
Reply to this If you want to do any internal flights within Australia or a flight between Japan, South East Asia or New Zealand and Australia, start looking now. There is virtually a price war going on at the moment. I picked up flights for the end of the year for $3, but the availability extends to time periods much sooner as well. Could have gone to Japan with my partner for $1000 total had we not already booked for $1000 each.
Reply to this That's great to know 40. Thanks! I will bring it up with our Air Treks travel agent ensuring we get the best deals.
As of right now we're going to book a RTW ticket including flights to Tokyo from NY, Seoul to Beijing, Hong Kong to Hanoi, Bangkok to Sydney, Sydney to Auckland, Auckland to Cook Islands, Cook Islands to New York.
If you or anyone has any advice pls let us know
thanks much!
Phil and Michelle
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