After working in Beijing I have 4 weeks before a flight home from Bangkok. Do I overland to HK for 2 weeks, then fly & spend 2 in Thailand or do I miss HK and try a completely different route?
So I will have spent 8 weeks in Beijing and hopefully seen Great Wall, Shanghai and nearby to Beijing attractions. I will then have a month before flying home from Bangkok.
My boyfriend may be meeting me in Thailand for the last two weeks leaving me just 2 weeks to get to BKK/Thailand from Beijing but this is not definate.
Just trying to think of the best route in my limited time of 2-3 weeks from Beijing to BKK. Do I stick with my original idea - overnight train to HK (possibly stop somewhere one way if theres a villiage worth visiting or 2?) then fly to BKK and hop down to a thai island. (Although I have previously been to Thailand).
Or is there a different route anyone can recommend? The main backpacker trail seems to be in the southwest and not on the route I am taking and as I will be a solo female at this point i'm not sure if I should fashion a route to HK and fly on, or just train/fly to Vietnam where things are cheaper and more backpacker orientated and make my way overland to thailand from there?
I will be leaving beijing at end of october and flying home from Bangkok beginning of December if this makes a difference. Heading out to China end of august so just want to try and get post travel plans roughly organised so if i need to book a cheap flight I can do so before prices go up! I will also be on quite a tight budget as I will not be being paid for my internship!
thanks for any help!
Reply to this I saw your question a couple days ago, but let it go thinking that others would chime in and offer good advice. Seeing that no advice has been forthcoming, I thought I would give it a try. It is hard to answer since we don't know much more than what you have in your statement...that you will have seen some of China by the time you leave Beijing, that you perhaps wanted to see more of southern China on the way to Hong Kong, but that you will be restricted budgetwise, and wanted to plan this while you can still find cheap airfares. It's that last part that perhaps I can help you with.
I did a quick check of one discount airline (Air Asia) and found that prices drop quickly three to four days before your anticipated departure. So you do not have to plan months in advance to buy a cheap ticket. Given that, you can delay your decision as to whether to spend the two weeks seeing more of China or flying directly to Southeast Asia. As you near the end of your time in Beijing you will know whether you have had enough of China or must have more.
In any case, you will need to travel to the Chinese cities that are served by the discount airlines with connections to Southeast Asia (e.g., Air Asia doesn't serve Beijing but serves Shanghai and other more southerly cities). Perhaps you can visit Xian suring you time in Beijing, and save Shanghai for your transit.
Hope this helps.
Reply to this I haven't completed the route you have suggested, as I haven't visited Vietnam.
However, I can agree with Bob and Linda's post, Xi'an is an important stop due to the number of historical sites such as the Museum of Qin Shi Huang Terracotta Warriors and Horses and the Han Yanglin Mausoleum.
If you get to southern Vietnam and wish to head overland to Cambodia, ensure you stop at Siem Reap for a few days and visit the great Angkor Temples (such as Angkor Wat).
If you decide the fly to Bangkok, the cheapest prices do appear to be out of Ho Chi Minh City. Taxes used to be a bit high at Hong Kong airport (that may have reduced recently) so do a few dummy booking on Air Asia (for example) to see what prices you get at different airports.
Reply to this thanks for your replies, only just managed to find time to write back!
I am thinking now of taking a soft sleeper overnight train direct from Beijing to Hong Kong (as I will likely see Xian and Shanghai before I leave anyway). I debated hard class but seeing as I will be alone with a fair amount of stuff and valuable items I think soft will be best, and the cost difference is probably worth it for the 24h journey.
Does anyone know if there is a price difference between bottom and upper bunks in the soft sleeper? I think I read something about this for the hard sleeper, but i'm unsure if there is for the soft one, and cant seem to find any mention on the Seat 61 site.
I have found an Air Asia flight for 1st Nov HK-BKK for a very good price, so if I say arrive in HK midday on 27th Oct, would 4.5 days be enough to see a fair amount of Hong Kong? I will probably come back at some point in the near future to see anything I miss.
I will then have a month in/around Thailand which I dont mind planning as I go, possibly visiting Vietnam/Malaysia if time/money allows aswell.
Please let me know if you think what I have so far is a good plan or if there is anything i should shuffle/tweak. Thanks very much!
Reply to this There is a price differential between the lower and upper bunks in soft sleeper - I took a soft sleeper between Xi'an and Beijing a couple of years ago. The difference in price is not great - I recall it was no more than five dollars on that sector.
4.5 days is enough time to see Hong Kong - you should be able to take a fast ferry to see Macau for a night or two if you get a bit bored. A full day in Macau for sightseeing should suffice.
Reply to this I and my family took a soft sleeper from Lanzhou to Xian in May 2009. We had all four beds. They were really nice and comfortable. The windows even had lace curtains. Anyway, I don't remember paying a price difference, so I will concede to Shane. As he says the difference isn't worth worrying about...just take the level you like best.
Your plan sounds good for now; since you have found Air Asia, you can plan as you go. You might even throw in a trip to Bali, which is quite cheap from Bangkok!
Reply to this There is a price difference between upper and lower (i.e. upper slightly cheaper) but, as Shane says, it's a small fraction of the overall cost of the ticket. Bear in mind that during the daytime the lower bunk is used as the seating for both upper and lower passengers (plus any visitors), so the upper bunk has the advantage of being an oasis if you get caught up in, say, a businessmen's convention in your compartment.
Reply to this Thats good to know, I think i will prefer the top bunk anyway, and i am short and dont mind small spaces so its probably the best option for me.
I may throw in some cheap flights here and there if my budget is doing okay, havent thought about Bali, that might be worth a look!
thanks 😊
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