I am planning a trip through Asia with my daughter and I would be greateful for any advice I can get. I am flying from Ireland and my daughter is flying from Auckland, where would be the best place to meet up, what visas would we need to get and air travel cheapley from country to country as we have five to six weeks. We would love to get as much in as possible and do some trekking whil there also. How safe is it for women travelling alone in Asia.
Reply to this Hi Catherine!
Asia is a fantastic destination with many opportunities for you both. I think two women travelling together should be quite safe (in most places) and I have known some of my female friends to do it alone.
5-6 weeks is a great length of time to get a bit of culture, trekking, beaches and shopping into your trip. Is it your first time in Asia?
It would be good to meet in an international hub, that would be convenient to both of you like Singapore or Kuala Lumpur. You could both relax and get used to Asia's food in a modern environment for 3-4 days and do some shopping and sightseeing.
From there you could go by train to Thailand and spend a week down south checking out the beaches and beautiful scenery, and a week up north around Chiang Mai doing some light trekking, maybe see some tigers/elephants or visit some more out of the way places.
You could then slip into northern Laos and check out Luang Prebang where some monks train, and see some beautiful temples. Then ye could have a bit of fun tubing down the river around Vang Vieng for a few days. After that head to the capital of Vientiane where you could soak up the relaxed atmosphere and do some more sightseeing and croissant eating!
After Laos you can go by (slightly dodgy) bus to Cambodia to see some amazing temples (Temples of Ankor) and go to Phnom Penh to learn of the terrible history under the Khmer Rouge.
Then back to Thailand for a flight out of Bangkok!
1 week Malaysia/Singapore
2-3 weeks Thailand
1 week Laos
1 week Cambodia
Hope you have a great trip no matter where you go :-)
Reply to this Thank you Nigel for all of that advice, I think we will skip the shopping bit as the pair or us really hate to shop unless we need to, trekking will be our main thing and getting to see the real countryside would be more in our line of things. We wer also thinking of heading back to Ireland through India as we would love to see some sights there also, is this being a bit ott on our part do you think.
Reply to this Oooh well India is probably my favorite country that I've travelled in, but it's also the most...taxing? It is very rewarding, but also very draining so I'd recommend plenty of rest days in your schedule (also for train/bus delays....one time our 16 hour train from Delhi to Mumbai was delayed by...24 hours...while we were on it!!).
If trekking is really what you want to do then I would fully recommend Nepal as it's basically the top spot for a 2-3 hike! I did a 3 week hike with my 2 Irish buddies in Nepal and it was fantastic (but tough!). Also, a story ye would never forget!!
Have you been to Asia or done much backpacking before? Have ye done much hiking before?
Reply to this Hey Catherine,
There are quite a few budget airlines that fly between Australia/New Zealand and Asia, so I'd check those out first. A hub like Singapore is likely to have good links and prices to both locations.
Travelling overland to Ireland sounds amazing. I assume you are going to take more than 5-6 weeks!
Nigel's route of Thailand, Cambodia and Laos sounds good. You could do Singapore and Malaysia or Vietnam along with that. They are both typical backpacking routes with a lot of other travellers doing the same thing so pretty safe.
Reply to this As a Taiwanese, I would like to invite you to come to my home town.
Specially around July. It summer time here in Taiwan.
Almost everywhere you can see great things. And the weather will be much warmer and lots sunshine.
1-2week you can travel around Taiwan by travel bus or train.
Experience the local and passion.
It is quite cheap in Taiwan, living cost, food...
About USD$20 for a night at backpacker/ USD$40 one night stay at a guest house or BnB. USD$2-4 you can have a meal!
And most funny thing is you can spend whole night stay at our famous night market around our country.
Think about it! I believe you will love it!
Reply to this in my opinion you guys should start from Sri Lanka uptil Nepal.
Reply to this I will suggest you to choose Nepal. You will enjoy the beauty of Himalaya.
Reply to this Hi Catherine!
Asia is a relatively safe region to travel but I would caution you against hiking alone, particularly in South Asian countries.
With regard to my recommendation on a place to travel, I suggest Sri Lanka (please keep in mind that I am Sri Lankan, so I am obviously biased 😊 ).
The main advantage of traveling to Sri Lanka is that its a small country which affords divers experiences. Beaches, hills, adventure, wildlife.. you name it and Sri Lanka has it! There are number of trekking sites in historic city of Dambulla & Sigiriya
<snip>
and in hill country towns such as
Nuwara Eliya
Ella
Haputale <snip>
You have not mentioned as to when you intend to travel, but April and May is considered the low season hence accommodation cost tends to be low as opposed to November – February when it’s the peak season. If you need further information on Sri Lanka let me know.
[Edited: 2013 Mar 18 04:24 - RENanDREW:52015 - Please refrain from posting commercial links on the forums thanks.]
Reply to this Hi Catherine!
You can travel to India a wonderful Country...
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[Edited: 2013 Apr 04 00:41 - Rat on the Road:23681 ]
Reply to this Hi
Yes ,India is a beautiful vast country . In south India you can visit Yercaud a hillstation you must visit.Yercaud is one of the best hillstations in Tamilnadu, SouthIndia . The best location eco-friendly destination in South India .Spend
the enjoyable holidays in a pure , hassle free environment.Grand Palace in Yercaud is an ultimate destination for Holidays in hill,weekend get away .
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