Asia - Sri Lanka, Manilla, or ???? from SIN?

I am going to do a SIN run on UA before Feb to use up two of my Sweet Spots and take advantage of the Triple miles deal UA has. I'm not interested in going over and turning around, so I plan on a week or two while there.

I'm been to SIN, Malaysia, and over to Batam Indonesia so I'd like to do something new. I went to BKK last year and overland through Cambodia to SGN (loved it). I've spent most of the day looking at alternatives on where to go (my eyes are buggy)?

I've come up with using 20K UA miles for a *A trip from SIN to Sri Lanka or Manilla. Both aren't exactly highly recommended on the US Government web site (safety), but I only take that with a grain of salt.

I like to see lots of different things (way of life), some scenery (but not that much), and move around (not necessarily stuck in one spot). Beaches are OK for a day or two, but I like to be busy, not just soaking up the sun or looking at trees or plants the whole time. I only want to spend 20K *A miles on the incremental trip (although I might pop for 30K on a Business seat) so that limits me to the "SouthEast Asia" area.

So my questions are:

1. Any other suggestions on where to go from SIN?
2. What do you know or recommend about Sri Lanka?
3. What do you know or recommend about the Phillipines?

Appreciate any and all comments or suggestions?

Thanks....

Here are my top destinations from SIN

1. Chaing Mai Thailand or Phuket if you Dive

2. Cochin, Kerala South India

3. Sri Lanka is okay now if you stay at high end resorts and have a local driver.

Chaing Mai is the best place in Thailand and there is elephant trekking, shopping that is fantastic and great sightseeing. Stay at the Westin and hire a private car and driver for about $40 US

My top choice would be Siem Reap, Cambodia to see the Angkor site. Bangkok is a better launch point, but S'pore is ok.

Bali is another good destination. I'd avoid Kuta and Nusa Dua and go to Ubud and from there North to Lovina or East to Candidasa, but I think that may be a minority opinion here.

Sri Lanka is great. I found lower end places just fine, the food great, and the people very friendly. Kandy is a good base. Ella and Mirissa are nice. Travel is pretty easy and cheap using public aircon bus and 2nd class train. A driver + car is helpful going from, say, Kandy to Ella to Mirissa or Galle.

Another possibility is Laos. Vientiane is ok if you have time to take the bus from there North to Vang Vieng and then on to Luang Prabang. Otherwise, just go to Luang Prabang.

Myanmar/Burma is close, too.
Rich

If you wanted to try Sri Lanka and also get a taste of the Maldives (like you, 2 or 3 days at the beach is enough for me), you could get an open jaw *A award SIN-CMB, MLE-SIN, and buy a one-way ticket CMB-MLE (about US$100). I really liked Sri Lanka and can't wait to go back, although the capital, Colombo, is only worth about a day at most in my opinion.

I'd take the above suggestions and avoid Manila. Not much to see/do there and safety really is an issue.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by jtrader:
I'd take the above suggestions and avoid Manila. Not much to see/do there and safety really is an issue.</font>

I second that. I go to Manila on business every 6 weeks or so. While I have lots of great friends there, I wouldn't dream of going there if my job didn't require it. In addition to the safety issue (which is big because it severely restricts one's movements), it is dirty and crowded. On the bright side, it is very cheap. Maybe you should check out Cebu instead; I think you can fly there directly from SIN.

Thanks for all your input!

I changed from SIN to BKK based on your feedback and just ticketed it this morning. Now I'm gonna take an overland circle trip from BKK up through Laos, Chiang Mai, and Myanmar.

I still like the Sri Lanka idea but if I do that I'll do it later with all *A miles.

Lao-Thailand border is open for overland travel, but I don't think you can do much overland from Thailand-Myanmar except for a day trip.

You can fly from Chiang Mai to Yangon, however. (Corrections on this welcome.)

Also, overland travel in Lao isn't necessarily super efficient, so allow plenty of time.
Rich

The Sri Lanka idea is fantastic. I'm about to embark on an AAdvantage award, routing LHR-BA(F)-HKG-CX(J)-CMB-CX(J)-HKG-BA(F)-LHR.

I'm doing the following whilst I'm there:

2 nights in Negombo, 2 nights in Habarana, 1 night Kandy, 1 night Nuwara Eliya, 2 nights Hikkaduwa, 3 nights Colombo. Total tour cost is USD1640, including top-end (4 and 5*) hotels throughout, airport transfers, breakfast and dinner whilst touring, all entrance fees, services of an english-speaking driver with private vehicle and all taxes. We also get the car and drive for the 3 days we're in Colombo. I know Sri Lanka like the back of my hand, but I chose to do a pre-arranged tour on this occasion as it's my wife's first trip there and really, at the price we're paying for two people, it's phenomenal value.

If anyone needs anything pre-arranged prior to arrival in Colombo, I used a company called Gabo Travels. (www.gabos.com)

E-mail me if you need contact names. http://www.flyertalk.com/travel/fttravel_forum/smile.gif