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Advice needed for trip to Asia in 2010

An overland trip through some of the countries of Asia, help needed in preparation.

14 years ago, July 10th 2009 No: 1 Msg: #79129 Delete Edit

Ikas90
Saki Galaxidis

B Posts: 54

Hi

I've been planning for quite some time an overland trip from Singapore to London. I need help getting into all the countries along the way, which I will outline in the following itinerary:

First of all, I take a one-way plane ticket from Australia to Singapore. First of all, am I allowed to leave Australia with a one-way ticket? (Yes I'm an Australian citizen with an Australian passport)

Secondly, after arriving in Singapore, I plan to spend a few days, then catch the bus to Kuala Lumpur. From Kuala Lumpur, I want to catch the train through to Bangkok. Now I have a few questions regarding this leg of the journey:
1. Will I need any visas to get me from Singapore to Malaysia to Thailand?
2. The train from Kuala Lumpur (or Butterworth) to Bangkok passes through southern Thailand, which is where the political unrest is. Is it safe to go through, even if I'll be staying on a train the whole way?
3. Is it possible/ideal to stop in Phuket along the way, or is it easier to get to Bangkok first, then book a tour to Phuket (if there are tours to Phuket available from Bangkok)?

After Thailand, this is where it starts to get difficult. I want to take a tour to Chiang Mai, then after that, head to Laos. From here I'll check out all the interesting parts of Laos. The hard part however, is the visas. The questions I have:
1. Will I need a visa or any other requirements to cross from Thailand into Laos?
2. Will the border be always open?
3. Will I need to have specific dates mentioned on my visa for the time I wish to enter and exit Laos? The thing here is, I have no idea how long I'll want to spend in one country or another, and I have no idea how long it will take me to get from one country to another. This is the main question I have for all countries I plan to travel through that require a visa. This is a trip I'm trying to "wing" and just be able to enter and exit a country without having to have a specific date on my visa. If I have the 23rd of May on my visa, for example, but I don't get there until the 24th. I don't want that kind of a nuisance. Is there a way to overcome this?

Anyway, that's Laos. Then it's to Cambodia. But I'm not sure if I'll be going back to Thailand first, and then into Cambodia. I will also need a visa for Cambodia, but can I do it without having to mention specific dates on my visa? I need flexibility, BIG time.

After Cambodia, it's Vietnam. I also require a visa. Again, I need to know if I have to specify exact dates on my visa, and if so, how I can bypass it?

After Vietnam, the plan is to travel to China. This is tricky as well. Same question in regards to the visas. With that issue out of the way, I'll need to know how to get from Hanoi to Hong Kong (and if I need a double entry visa to get into Hong Kong and then back into China), Hong Kong to Shanghai, then Shanghai to Beijing. Should be simple, right? Anyway in Beijing I plan to take a tour of the Great Wall.

Now, there is another tricky bit. This involves the trans-siberian railway. Actually it involves all three branches; the trans-siberian, the trans-mongolian, and the trans-manchurian. From Beijing, I want to take the bus or train to Harbin, then get from Harbin to Vladivostok. Is this possible? If so, the desired journey continues from Vladivostok to Ulan-Ude. After Ulan-Ude, it is back to Beijing via the trans-mongolian line, stopping in Ulaan Baatar along the way. Once back in Beijing, I plan to take the trans-manchurian line back to Ulan-Ude. Do you follow? Now I will really need help with this bit. I will need a double entry visa for both Russia and China. Is that easy to get? As a simple backpacker tourist, can I get a double entry visa for both countries, or am I screwed and have to change my travel plans?

After Ulan-Ude, I think I can figure the rest out all the way to Moscow and then into the European Union. Should be easy as pie from there onwards.

If anyone will be able to help me with this, I'll appreciate it so much. This trip really means a lot to me, and I feel like I really have to do it to achieve my personal goal in life, which is to travel the world. I feel very strongly about travelling, but the visa situations and political unrest in some countries really puts me off. I am going to try as hard as I can to do this, because it is my main ambition in life to travel, and I have been planning this trip for a long time. If anyone can help me, I'll well and truly greatly appreciate it.

Thanks so much if you can help. It means everything to me.

Regards,
Saki Reply to this

14 years ago, July 11th 2009 No: 2 Msg: #79169 Delete Edit

Rat on the Road
Kris and Kate

B Posts: 1,411

Hi
Sounds
like a cool trip.

I can give you some info on the SE Asian part of it, particularly visas. I'm afraid I don't know about the Trans-siberian. I would love to do it though. There is a thread dedicated to it on the overland forum on here. There is a link there to 'The man in seat 61' website, where he talks alot about this train route and various other overland options.

I did here from a backpacker recently that you have to get a Russian visa inside your own country. So you might want to look into that.

There are companies who will help you arrange your Trans Siberian trip.

Visas:
If you are crossing from Chiang Kong to Laos you can get a visa on the border. You will be given 30 days, or whatever it is then (sometimes the amount of time you are given changes). The same with Cambodia and Thailand. For this visa you are supposed to show proof of onward travel e.g. a flight ticket. I don't know how strict they are about this on land borders. My guess is that they might ask you to pay them a little 'extra' if you don't have proof. On a land border you will only get a 15 day Thai visa at the moment. They have changed the visa regulations for Thailand loads lately, so this might change. You can get a free 60 day tourist visa for Thailand at your Thai embassy at the moment.

The Vietnamese visa you can't get at the border. You get it from a Vietnamese embassy in another country. There are plenty of travel agents in Bangkok that can arrange it for you. I'm pretty sure the same goes for Phnom Penh. You again get 30 days. You don't have to specific the date of exit for any of these visas. If you need to stay longer you can sometimes get extentions to the visas too.

China is more complicated. I suggest you look online for the restrictions. Try the Chinese embassy in Australia for more info. Or someone else on here who has got a Chinese visa recently will probably be able to give you more info.

You don't say when you are planning to make this trip. The visa regs change a lot, so make sure you check again that they are the same before you start your trip.

Hope this helps.

Kate Reply to this