AJCU

Greetings folks,
In May I will head to SE Asia for about 7 weeks. I am not huge on planning things, but I want to book some secondary flights to firm up the loose itinerary I have created. I am asking here to see if you think this is too much, too little, too stupid or well anything really.

Currently, I am booked to fly into Chiang Mai on the 11th of May, and fly out of Singapore on July 1st. So far, I have a small Air Asia flight booked from KL to Kuching from the 24th-27th of June. I might skip the last leg of this guy and take a flight straight to Singapore, but who knows.

Between these hard dates, I have nothing planned, and was thinking something like this:

• 5 days in Chiang Mai
• 2 weeks in Myanmar, despite it being hot, then fly to BKK
• BKK for a few days, over a weekend to check out some cool market thing.
• Overland to Ko Tao, stopping along the way, about a week total including time in Ko Tao
• Fly to Penang, and make my way to KL via Cameroon Highlands
• Fly to Borneo, 4 days there, then get to Singapore, somehow.

Too much? Any considerations are of course greatly appreciated!

jiejie

This is doable in 7 weeks, if it's what you want to do. To me, it seems a bit all-over-the-map so I'm assuming that you have been to SE Asia before and are filling in gaps in previous experiences. Flying to Borneo/Sarawak for just 4 days seems especially curious. Best part of the plan is the Myanmar bit. Least interesting/least worthwhile part IMO is the Ko Tao bit unless you are going there specifically for the diving. If this visit is not until May, there's no reason to pull the trigger this early on booking flights.

It's certainly possible to come up with alternative suggestions but would need more information from you on interests, dislikes, any objectives for this trip, budget limitations, where you've already been, etc.

barte

Whatever you do, make sure you also fit some time in Luang Prabang, Laos in there.
5 days in Chiang Mai seems too much to me.
a few days for BKK is indeed enough.

glennaa11

That doesn't seem like an unreasonable amount of stuff for 7 weeks to me. Certainly it's better than the folks who try to jam all of that into 2 weeks.

I suppose May/June is not high season for Myanmar so you could be able to wing it. But when I went it was hard to get hotel reservations and so forth without planning ahead.

I think 5 days is not too much for CM. There are some interesting day trips in the area that could easily fill that time beyond what there is to do in the city itself.

If you haven't been to Bangkok before I might plan to spend a little more time there. In my many visits I've never felt the need to visit the weekend market. But I don't like markets in general. And a hot, crowded market doesn't sound like a place I want to go. But there are places in and around the city that I like.

Without knowing the sorts of things you're most interested in it's hard to make too many recommendations.

AJCU

Ko Tao was a thought to hang out on the beach for a few days, and offer as an alternative to Phuket which is apparently really rainy that time of the year. Also, there was a direct flight from Ko Samui to Penang, which would make getting between the two easier.

Borneo was a $40 ticket during a promo that Air Asia had, and was a "why not?" decision. Seeing some orangutans or something like that, even in captivity, might be kind of cool. Researching some of the things to do there, it seemed easy to spend a few days there without getting bored.

The only reason why I want to pull the trigger on flights is so I don't have to think about it anymore haha.

I was toying with the idea of Laos vs Myanmar, and would rather spend a lot more time in one of the countries instead of rushing through each of them. If I went to Laos, I would probably skip Ko Tao or something. But it is a pretty difficult decision to decide between Myanmar and Laos, and that decision is still up in the air...if I went to Laos, I think I would try to end up in Cambodia instead.

CM was designed mainly because I know someone that will be there and would probably do some of those day trips. I twas also to get a grip on life after the double red eye in coach (routing through Europe to get to Thailand...thanks UA awards for the "no two oceans" clause).

What did you enjoy about Bangkok, in particular? I was thinking of spending a little less time there, mainly because it is a gateway. I usually spend less time in the gateway cities, because there is a 100% chance that I will end up there again. Meaning, I can spend a few days, then catch what I missed next time. I look at it as it is better to see the things that are changing rapidly than sticking around to see the things that have (A) already changed, or (B) changing really slowly.

My Interests:
I really enjoy just taking in the sights around me. Nature usually trumps cities most of the time, and public transit should be one of the eight wonders of the world (I love it). Natural and historic sights are great, but food often trumps things like that, which ultimately leads to culture. I really enjoy culture. Getting off the tourist trail is a must in my book. Part of culture is the ruins and touristy sights, but the backdoor culture is better, meaning markets, weird restaurants that have not much English and really authentic food, and genuine encounters with people. The things that you can not plan, but more so stumble upon are the best experiences I have ever had.

Beyond that, I enjoy activities, like biking or hiking or riding motor bikes (I can only imagine this one). The sights are cool, but the people are better.

Thanks for all your help guys, and of course, any more suggestions are wonderful!

barte

Well Cambodia was also really nice, so Laos + Cambodia should still be a contender. in Laos I rode bikes everyday btw, was my main transportation
Luang Prabang is ok from a tourist crowd perspective, Siem reap off course is filled with tourist. But I'm sure you can get many non-touristy places in Laos to spend your time.

As for Bangkok : I spend 5 days and wish I spend less.
I would take 1 day to go to the sights and temples. 1 day to go to floating markets. an extra day for shopping, but something tells me that you're not interested in that It's off course very touristy and honestly, not my favorite city. I wish I've stayed more days in Laos/Vietnam

AJCU

Looking at dates, the itinerary that I proposed would put me in Malaysia at the start of Ramadan. Is that a big deal from a tourism stand point?

AJCU

Does anyone know of any good contacts/ resources for Kengtung, Myanmar? SOunds like there are some hill tribes and such that would be nice to visit, but you need to find those people that will take you there!

jiejie

Yes.

Yes and Yes. But this is an area that needs commitment, and a plan to get there either from inside Myanmar by flight, or from Thailand at the Mai Sai/Tachilek border crossing. The latter method has recently been mostly open but is not guaranteed. Kengtung area needs 5 days minimum: 3 (or more) in the Kengtung area, depending on your hill tribe and hiking interest, and 1 each for travel to and from regardless of method.

It's unclear whether you have solidified your itinerary plans enough yet to know whether Kengtung even makes sense.

AJCU

Looking at ways to get into Myanmar, this looked the best. So I think I am pretty firm on that one. There is a flight to Inle that I want to catch on May 22nd, so that confines the dates pretty much. I would spend 4 days in Chiang Mai, then to Chiang Rai for a day or two, which would leave 5 days in Kengtung, including departure day.

Otherwise, it is a $120 flight to RGN, which makes the cost of getting to Kengtung comparable, if not cheaper.

Any idea on where to find some decent guides, or how much they are? Accommodations? Booking.com has one place that is sold out haha

jiejie

I think if you dump the Ko Tao part and put it to Myanmar to total 3 weeks there, you will thank yourself in the end. If you intend to enter Myanmar into Shan State then fly to central Myanmar, you will need a regular Myanmar visa in your passport before entering. The 14-day border pass/limited visa thing that allowed one to enter at the Tachilek crossing, go to Kengtung, then return the same way back to Thailand, won't work for you. Routing Kengtung > (flight) Heho/Taunggyi/Inle Lake > (overland) Kalaw/Pindaya > (overland) Mandalay > (flight or overland) Bagan > (flight) Yangon would work pretty well. With 3 full weeks, you'd probably have time to stick a beach destination in there for 2-3 days. The Yangon - BKK and pick it up from there.

If you knew the history of the New Kyaingtong Hotel you'd avoid it anyway. Check PM's for the rest of the information you need, which I'd prefer not to post publicly.