South East Asia in 2 Months

Hello all,

I am traveling to South East Asia for 2 months.

I land in Singapore Nov 22 and leave from Jakarta, Indonesia Jan 19th.

Im very adventurous and will try anything. I am mainly looking for a cultural experience. Since never being in South East Asia I want that culture shock. Beaches are a must on the way....

Basically I have no set plan, 2 months, what should I do people!? Reply to this

hi Paul, i'm sure winging it will still get you culture shocked ;-) are you into trekking and outdoors stuff or more into clubbing? do you want to cover as many cities as possible or go at a slow pace?

if you're really really adventurous 2 months is sufficient to cover singapore, malaysia, thailand and indonesia. There are so many places you can fly to if your budget allows it. You can go up to northern thailand - chiangmai then make your way down south from there, or see if there are any good deals to bali and just cover bali, a few cities in malaysia, indonesia and singapore.

if you want to make your way up north overland then fly south to indonesia: singapore is a good place to shop for electronics (sim lim square or muzaffar - ask about their 24 hour store , it's in little india) you can also find great bargains in malaysia and thailand. i'd stay a couple of days in singapore then take a bus to malacca. it's about 3-4 hours by express bus. you can either catch a bus from golden mile complex or take a MRT to Lavender station and tell them you want to get to the singapore-malacca bus station. if you are not into a lesson for history in malacca, you can opt to take a bus direct to kuala lumpur. there's plenty to do in KL (e.g. visit the twin towers, indoor and outdoors dining, you can easily do a search for KL activities). again it's a metropolitan city but nicely sandwiched in plenty of culture.

I'd suggest you go to the east coast islands from KL where there's great diving to be done but sadly, it's monsoon season in december so you may have to give the east coast a skip this time. if you are into a bit of adventure and don't mind leeches, you can take a bus to the National Park (Taman Negara) where there's plenty of tropics to be experienced ;-) or you can take a bus from KL to cameron highlands to have a peek at malaysian tea plantations. in Malaysia, some worthwhile places to cover are urban KL, historic malacca, Penang island, endau rompin national park or the national park.

As for Thailand, there are so many options. I'd take the bus/ train/ fly to the southern islands or maybe go to Chiang mai or bangkok. by train, you can take the International Express from Penang to Bangkok, or fly from KL to Bangkok / Chiang mai/ destination of your choice and tour from there (for budget airlines, check out www.airasia.com, or singapore's budget airlines - tiger air). Then towards the end of your trip, you can fly from Thailand to Jakarta.

Another option is to fly direct from singapore to thailand then slowly pace your way down south to Indonesia. You can more likely get better fares to Jakarta if you fly from Singapore or KL ;-)

Do some research on what you'd like to see and experience and I'm sure you'll have a very fun filled 2 months. Good luck !! Reply to this

Singapore's a good place to start. you'll see a nice mix of old and new architecture. the old buildings are well preserved and its architecture are very similar to those in older towns/cities of Malaysia e.g. Malacca, Penang and less commercial towns. (the same goes with food - you'll learn very quickly that the Malaysian and Singaporean culture is 99% represented by its food. What you find in Malaysia, you'll find in Singapore though each city/town in Malaysia usually prides over their own signature dishes).

Singapore and malaysia were both part of the malaya federation in the past so languages are similar. you'll get by okay in english in both countries. singapore is a lot more structured, with the metro train linking virtually every part of the island, whereas malaysia is a bit more disorganized. you'll find only metro trains in the heart of kuala lumpur and even that, the system is managed by several companies. i'd avoid taking taxis in kuala lumpur to get from one attraction to the next but sometimes it is unavoidable due to underserved public transportation. before you get into a taxi in kuala lumpur, tell the driver you want to go by meter. avoid peak hours as they would demand outrageous fares. suggest you look for a guesthouse near bukit bintang or pudu. though those 2 areas can get pretty shoddy in the night (be careful with your wallet & passport etc. there's been a lot of unreported incidents of tourist related snatch cases )

when you're in malacca, make a point to walk around jonker and heren street, and explore the interior of at least 1 building along those streets. malacca (and penang) is known for its rich history and baba-nyonya heritage so take your time exploring the architecture. make sure you enjoy a strong cup of 'kau' coffee in malacca or penang. and ask for 'roti kahwin' (translated as married bread - butter and local jam toast). you cannot get more local than that.

the oldest chinese temple in malaysia is in malacca. it's a historic mark not to be missed. get a guide to tell you about the carvings along the rooftops. if you're into traditional influences, give some attention to the different architecture of malay 'kampung' (village) houses in each malaysia state. houses in the southern side of malaysia usually gets its influence from java indonesia.

you'll see a lot of similarities across the SE asian countries esp. in the colloquial languages. historically the port of malacca was the hub of trading. so traders from all over asia would pass through malacca. that and the fact it was occupied by the dutch, british, portuguese etc has earmarked it as an important pitstop. its unfortunate that greed for development has caught up with this old whispery town but if you give it some careful attention, you'll discover its charm quite easily. Reply to this

Hello Paul 😊

no givers?.......alright ill wing it

More like your question is so broad that I dont know what to say. 😉 There are so many things to do in SE Asia for different types of people. I have a 3 inch thick Lonely Planet guide book for SE asia full of information. Speaking of which, that might be exactly what will give you the information to help you decide what you want to do. It is called South East Asia on a Shoestring by Lonely Planet. If you are not on a shoestring budget it is still useful because it has suggestions for those on high budgets too.

Mel Reply to this