Asia - Two week Asian vacation -- itinerary advice

Greetings all.

I'm planning a two-week trip to Asia in March, and would love folks thoughts on which of the two itineraries below we should take:

Option 1: two nights in NRT, followed by five nights in BKK (with possible day or overnight trip to Cambodia/Vietnam/Laos/Myanmar), followed by four nights in HKG

Option 2: six nights in NRT with side-trip overnight to KIX, with five nights to follow in either BKK or HKG.

Right now, we're leaning towards Option 1, as it gives us better diversity. I've also spent three weeks in NRT before, so my preference is to explore out of Japan. But I've never been down to Osaka or Kyoto, and they also look like good places to visit.

If we had to pick between BKK and HKG, which would you choose?

Any advice at all would be most welcome. Thanks!

hamburgler.

you mean you have spent 3 weeks in Japan and have never been in Osaka and Kyoto ?

where you visited in Japan ? Osaka and Kyoto certainly worth a visit, especially Kyoto. It is considered by many visitors being the "true" capital of Japan. (It was. and Osaka, too.)

It really depends what are your main interests.

your 2 options are totally different from each other.

Option one is very "underdeveloped countries" oriented.

Option two is the exact opposite.

I dont know what you look for in Option one. I do believe it would not be easy to take overnight trips from BKK to those places. Transportation logistics in that part of the world can be quite nightmarish. Besides, Myanmar has not been a safe country to visit. Suggest you check travel advisory from Dept. of State first.

Option 2 : both BKK & HKG are worth a visit. BKK is a lot more chaotic than HKG and the contrast between "rich" and "poor" are far more drastic than HKG. Also BKK traffic is far worse than HKG (though HKG is already quite bad).

If you have to choose one, I vote for HKG.

I agree with Happy. If you are going with option #2, I would spend fewer days in Tokyo and at least one night in Kyoto and add in a side trip to Nara, close to Kyoto.

If you are going with option #1, I would skip Tokyo all together, considering you have already spent three weeks there already and go directly to Kyoto.

We were in Kyoto last summer. Did 2 days and nights. Search under my name from August 2003 for a report.

We went to BKK (2 days and nights); and Chiang Mai (3 days and nights) on the advice of this board. Probably could have spent 5 days in BKK, but wanted to explore another city. CM is the 2nd largest city in Thailand. Would have been nice to see the other cities, but it will have to wait for another trip.

Scroll back the last year and you'll read lots of interesting info.

I enjoy Thailand and HKG much more than Japan, but would go to Japan anytime too.

Nara and Kyoto are my favorites in Japan.

BKK is exciting, but go to near the northern border and to the southern islands.

HKG is really exciting.

A quick trip to Anghor Wat is great too.

First forget the cambodia/vietnam option.

It's totally unrealistic, not even counting the expense. (You can't see Angkor Wat in less than 2 1/2 days) and to fly from nrt to bkk is like 4 hours to start with and then you would have to fly to cambodia or vietnam. You'd spend all your time travelling.

Since you've been to japan, my vote would be for thailand and there is plenty to do in bangkok and in the nearby old capital city.

.....

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by hamburgler:
I've also spent three weeks in NRT before, so my preference is to explore out of Japan. But I've never been down to Osaka or Kyoto, and they also look like good places to visit.</font>

I'm assuming that when you say you spent three weeks in NRT, you mean Tokyo and not Narita city proper. (Three weeks would be a long time to spend in Tokyo, but Narita... http://www.flyertalk.com/travel/fttravel_forum/eek.gif

I would skip on Osaka, unless you like big, faceless cities or you're a big Universal Studios Themepark fan. Kyoto has more character.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by Scandalous:
Obviously this is taking a toll on the fragile artifacts so probably in the near future they will have to go to much more limited tours where tour groups are led by official guides to see the artifacts from behind roped off barriers.</font>

This is already happening. We went to Banteay Srei about 20mins north-east of Angkor Wat and whole sections of the temple were roped off. The carvings on this temple are (unbelievable as it may seem) even more breathtaking than the ones at Bayon and Angkor Wat. It's easy to see why they want to prevent tourists from "eroding" the carvings with their fingers. It's heart-breaking to see all these tourists rubbing the immaculate carvings and trampling on the temple stones.

Pretty soon, one will only be able to admire the temples from a distance. I can see the authorities preventing people from climbing to the top of Angkor Wat, as an example, due to unsafe conditions which would be a total shame. Some of the best apsara carvings (and views of the surrounding area) are at the highest gallery. I hope the authorities will resort to strict monitoring and continuous education instead of expulsion to preserve the temples.

That said, Angkor is a trip of a lifetime. Go now and know that the less you touch, the more there is to see and inspire for our children and their children http://www.flyertalk.com/travel/fttravel_forum/smile.gif

Skip Bangkok and Hong Kong unless you want to do some shopping. Spend your time in Tokyo, Kyoto, and Cambodia... OK, you'll probably have to pass through Bangkok anyway, so cut back on Tokyo http://www.flyertalk.com/travel/fttravel_forum/smile.gif While you CAN do a day trip to Angkor Wat, I wouldn't recommend it. I spent four days there (they sell three day passes and the first evening was free since it was past sundown). Four days might be too much also, but Angkor Wat was at the very top of my to-see list for more than a decade... I was pretty happy.