South East Asia from Jan to June 2017 - Travel Companions?
Jan 30, 2017, 3:17 am
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Oct 2012
Posts: 762
South East Asia from Jan to June 2017 - Travel Companions?
Hey!
I am currently in Malaysia and will spend the first half of the year touring through South East Asia before entering Australia end of June. Maybe someone wants to tag along for parts of this trip or can share some insights on the route and help me plan a bit? Places I can skip, places I am missing etc... I got a map in the link below!
Upcoming: South East Asia
Thanks,
Chris
I am currently in Malaysia and will spend the first half of the year touring through South East Asia before entering Australia end of June. Maybe someone wants to tag along for parts of this trip or can share some insights on the route and help me plan a bit? Places I can skip, places I am missing etc... I got a map in the link below!
Upcoming: South East Asia
Thanks,
Chris
Jan 30, 2017, 7:27 am
#3
Join Date: Mar 2005
Programs: fwp blood diamond, dykwia uranium
Posts: 7,251
my 2 pesos: i'm not a fan of thailand outside of bangkok. over developed and everyone scamming you, especially on tours which do the ol bait+switch, and/or make you pay for some entrance fees on top of what you were quoted, then it turns out the park is some crappy private island or private property that has no use. eg: on a boat tour of reefs, the boat took us to some private island after dusk on a day trip. people just stood awkwardly on the beach for half an hour. entrance to this crappy park was about 1/3 the total cost of the bait+switched tour. then after we docked and before the shuttles would take us home, we had to watch a crappy 20 minute fire show. honestly we tired bruv. laos cambodia and vietnam play this game but ime a bit less. also those places have way nicer spots that are not as obnoxiously overdeveloped. only place in thailand (other than bkk) i liked was samui but that was because it was at a friends' house inland. but oh my word cat ba blows anywhere in thailand out of the water.
bangkok has tons of great places to eat, i like sukhumvit soi 1-5 which is the african and middle east area (AMAZING schwarma). also those department stores tend to have very nice groceries/buffets/delis. and the smokin' pug has very decent bbq for non-corean asia (they actually use hickory!). also the top of malls like terminal 11 (or 9 or whatever) have little hawker centers that are relatively sanitary and very fresh and cheap.
phillipines is also beautiful but it's also cops gone wild there.
this is based on low-to-mid end travel, i imagine high end travel in thailand would be nicer, but eish, it's so overdeveloped. they don't care about the environment. i love bangkok though.
anyways enjoy your trip, malaysia singapore vietnam cambodia are great. never done burma or indonesia although i hear jakarta sucks. also if you're in phnom phen and have a burger craving, this guy does it as american as it can get: http://www.npr.org/2012/07/04/156258...ew-burger-king. also i know it too late but if you're us based (or have a us based friend) have them withdraw $100usd in $1 bills (preferably new and fresh), the vendors there appreciate new greenbacks. plus you'll look like a boss carrying a bunch of ones
bangkok has tons of great places to eat, i like sukhumvit soi 1-5 which is the african and middle east area (AMAZING schwarma). also those department stores tend to have very nice groceries/buffets/delis. and the smokin' pug has very decent bbq for non-corean asia (they actually use hickory!). also the top of malls like terminal 11 (or 9 or whatever) have little hawker centers that are relatively sanitary and very fresh and cheap.
phillipines is also beautiful but it's also cops gone wild there.
this is based on low-to-mid end travel, i imagine high end travel in thailand would be nicer, but eish, it's so overdeveloped. they don't care about the environment. i love bangkok though.
anyways enjoy your trip, malaysia singapore vietnam cambodia are great. never done burma or indonesia although i hear jakarta sucks. also if you're in phnom phen and have a burger craving, this guy does it as american as it can get: http://www.npr.org/2012/07/04/156258...ew-burger-king. also i know it too late but if you're us based (or have a us based friend) have them withdraw $100usd in $1 bills (preferably new and fresh), the vendors there appreciate new greenbacks. plus you'll look like a boss carrying a bunch of ones
Last edited by cur; Jan 30, 2017 at 7:43 am
Jul 17, 2017, 3:50 pm
#9
Join Date: Mar 2015
Posts: 482
Thailand is one of my favorite countries in the world... people will see what they want to see, but Thailand is so diverse in environment, it's difficult to say anything general about it. You have backpacker ghettos on Khao San Road, rich kids driving nice cars and flashy nightclubs in Ekkamai and Thonglor, red light districts, quiet temples... all of that can be found in Bangkok alone. All depends on the experience you want, somewhere in Thailand can probably fit the bill.
Jul 25, 2017, 8:58 pm
#11
Join Date: Mar 2015
Posts: 482