Southeast Asia

Hello Nikiki 😊

I can recommend a book which will give you a good overview.
South East Asia on a Shoestring by Lonely Planet. It costs around 30 Euros and is available in most bookshops around the world. Lonely Planet is the one which most backpackers travel with.

It is so difficult to choose a personal experience to talk about. I wouldnt know where to start. 😊 Also difficult to talk about what there is to see that would interest somebody I dont know. Travelling is subjective.

Mel Reply to this

I understand Mell about travelling being subjective.I read lonely planet and honestly I cannot stand travel books! 😊I feel like they give such a brief overview and I learn more from people travelling to places telling what they saw and found special than a book! I learn what is a tourist trap and what is not from people. That is why I asked.

😊 awwww thankies dharmakaya!awesomeness. how long are you there for? Reply to this

hahahaaa I have no dreads!!!Curly hair but nooooo dreads sadly.....😊

I find dreads hot on a guy though!

woahhh I will be there around julish....are you going all over south east asia?
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Hi - I haven't been to Malaysia so can't comment on that, but Thailand has some amazing places to see - bangkok is a really interesting city and worth a few days at least to explore, there are some beautiful temples (eg Wat Arun, Wat Pho and the Golden Mount) but also just walking the streets of Bangkok, going into the traditional neighbourhoods where you see all the wooden houses on stilts by the river, or wandering through Chinatown, or taking the sky train - there's a lot to see! If you go north from Bangkok, you can stop at the River Kwai in Kanchanaburi, also a nice place, and further up you can see some amazing Buddhist ruins in Ayuttaya and Sukothai. Lampang, where there is a great elephant conservation centre, is also worth a visit, if you;re on your way to Chiang Mai.
I went to a couple of the Thai islands too - personally, I preferred inland Thailand which is much less touristy - the islands are quite pretty and nice for chilling out, but the heart of Thailand and the Thai people is in other places.

Laos is a really really beautiful country - the mountain scenery when you travel from place to place is amazing. Luang Prabang is a lovely city especially.

Both Thailand and Laos are pretty chilled out places to travel in, and quite easy, especially Thailand. In Laos you will encounter a bit of hassle towards tourists but not much compared to other places in SE Asia. thailand doesn't really have any of that, but then it's more developed as a country so there's not the need. It's very easy to move from place to place and generally I found both countries pretty safe for travelling.
Only a word about travelling around Bangkok - taxis in general are cheaper than tuk-tuks, strangely enough - but insist that the taxi driver puts the meter on instead of quoting you a price (which will always be lots more!). Generally as long as you get a taxi a little bit away from the travellers' areas (ie on the main road) they'll be fine, and have the meter on already. But local buses are also good, very cheap and normally quite regular too.

You'll have a great time!

I agree with what you say about travel guides, it's often much more useful to get other travellers' perspectives and like you say you get more of the 'personal' experience stuff. Reply to this

It is true that the Lonely Planet travel books dont venture much off the beaten backpacker track but they are excellent for safety and health information.

Mel Reply to this