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travel & cash

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travel south east asia + india and china
13 years ago, July 6th 2010 No: 1 Msg: #114938  
Hey everyone

new to backpacking and travel blogs etc. ive been in oz for last 4 months and have travelled for 2 and worked for 2 and now want a change from the oz thing. ive been trying to plan a trip around south east asia and its proving daunting to say the least. im definatly going to do thailand, cambodia, vietnam, laos and burma. is east timor worth a look as well?I also want to get in some of india and china as well. is this too much or how long will it take and how much money would i need. was reckoning around 3 months or so for travel. is this too ambitious(ill have round 5,ooo euro & $10,000 OZ

any help would be really appreciated

Thanks Reply to this

13 years ago, July 6th 2010 No: 2 Msg: #114981  
Hey, Niall!

These questions are always pretty hard to answer as they are so vague, though I completely understand your reasons for doing so. Big trip, strange countries, different cultures, no idea of costs or method of travel, visas, border crossings..... Everyone has been there before their first trip, no amount of planning will still the nerves, in fact sometimes the more you plan the more you worry; answered questions just seem to lead on to bigger more seemingly insurmountable problems! However, everyone forgets all about the initial worries within about a week of actually traveling! It's so much easier and intuitive than you think when stuck at home with your head in the lonely planet!

You have picked a great part of the world as an immersion point as Asia, especially South East Asia, is so easy to travel in and with a very well defined tourest trail, friendly and helpfull locals ans bags to see and do. You'll be fine. Perhaps leave India and China for the end of your trip because although truly magical countries, they can be a little daunting at first.

Anyway, to try and actually answer the specifics of your question. Money: 5000 Euro will be plenty plenty for three months in Asia, you'll have enough for all the travel basics as well as enough for a couple once in a lifetime activities. That is, unless you drink like a whaleshark or have very very demanding standards from your accommodation! If you were only going for three months I beleive, and this is only my personal take on things, that you are perhaps looking to fit too many countries into your plans. I would recommend doing Thai, Camb, Viet and Laos. That would give you 3 weeks in each country, enough time to take everything in without rushing through like a mad man. Travelling a little slower has a couple of advantages: it saves you plenty of money and, more importantly, allows you the time to get to know a place, its customs and people. When doing a whistlestop tour of several countries highlights the times when you can get off the beaten path to appreciate the everyday aspects of a country are few and far between.

It all depends on where you plan to fly into I guess. From Australia I think your cheapest will be perhaps Bali, maybe Singapore. If this were the case then you could consider Indonesia and Malaysia. Or you could fly to KL and travel overland from there into Thai, perhaps missing out Vietnam and seeing Burma instead. Or fly to Bangkok and do my initial suggestion! Or.....sod the rest and go for the best, close yout eyes, hold your nose, calm your brain and book a flight to India, travelling there and Nepal!! Or........

So, really, don't worry too much, if you were cool travelling Oz for two months you've clearly got the basics. My advice is to book your ticket to the place that excites you the most, get the requisite visa and go, the rest will work its self out just fine. And if you don't trust me I'm sure there are going to be plenty more here telling you exactly the same! Oh, this travelblog thingy is a great resource in itself, especially for tips for places to see in the countries where you are going - just search for blogs about, say, Thailand and hundreds will come up from people writing about exactly what you are planning to do. I've been to and blogged about some of the places you plan on going, pehaps have a look there!!

Best of luck Reply to this

13 years ago, July 6th 2010 No: 3 Msg: #115002  
N Posts: 1
Hey Nial,

If u going to bali and need some help u can ask me

Note; Bali is not expensive

cheers Reply to this

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