One "forgotten" option are the green tea plantations of Southern Jeolla province in Korea. This green tea is very light in taste and several of my Chinese friends have actually switched completely to Korean green tea for the purity and lightness compared to Chinese varieties.

The surroundings are also quite pleasant with plenty of local seafood and tasty other dishes available and also several spas in the area.

This is a pretty good idea! Alishan is very scenic and famous for High Mountain Oolong, and April's not a bad time to be in Taiwan -- although it'll still be pretty chilly up on the mountain, and I gather that the railroad up is still out of service.

http://wikitravel.org/en/Alishan

Great minds think alike. :D

Reading the possible (mostly SE Asia) arrangement from OP, I don't want to push too hard unless he can weave Taiwan into his itinerary. If he shows high possibility and interest, I'd be more than happy to provide some pointers for tea plantations in Taiwan. Some Taiwanese teas are prestigious. For example, the high mountain tea from Alishan is so good and famous that some Chinese guys/company registered and now own the trademark in China way before the authentic Alishan tea farmers. That particular Alishan "brand" you can buy from China is NOT grown nor made in Alishan at all. Who doesn't know Alishan is in Taiwan? Just like trademark infringement from domain names. The irony of the legal trademark thingy but I digress.

Yes, April is a lovely time to visit Taiwan. You are also correct that transportation might not be as smooth right now (not just railroads) in Alishan. But it's still possible. That's why I was holding it back in my other post up thread. Not to mention Alishan is not the only region in Taiwan that has tea plantations.

BTW, OP didn't ask but there are great coffee plants in Taiwan as well. ;)

Taiwan?
 

Thanks jpatokal and lin821.

Taiwan is certainly an option. I am actually now trying to hone in on the best airline / airfare, and it looks like there are many options through TPE (Initially I was only considering HKG as my through point for this trip.) EVA Air Business class airfare is quite attractive, I am trying to get a better feel for the product (looks good from what I have seen).

We may be moving the trip up a week (last week of March, first two and 1/2 weeks of April). Is last week of March too cold in Taiwan? We could also stop on our way back at the end of our trip...

Thanks again!

Lark

Guide?

Bummer that the forest railway is closed!

We'd also consider hiring a guide / driver to maximize our visit. How much does this run in Taiwan?

Do you fly TPE to Chiayi to access this area?

Trip planning
 

jiejie:

Thanks for the information! I am looking at a map right now and Yunnan is really not far at all from where we are hoping to travel. (It's closer than Taiwan, unless we fly EVA and actually go through TPE on our way to SE Asia...)

We plan to fly to HKG the end of March. Spend 2 - 3 days in HKG.

Then an intermediate destination for 3 or 4 days. We need to be in Bali/DPS after this, so ideally a destination that is between HKG and DPS (more or less). We might head from HKG to Jakarta and branch out from there for a couple of days. Or maybe stop in Saigon?

We'll then be in Bali for 6 days. This part is firm and booked.

After Bali, we will have another 9 or 10 days.

We are thinking Bangkok, Cambodia (Angkor), and Hanoi. If we are in Hanoi it looks easy to get to Yunnan as it is just over the border. Are there flights HAN to Yunnan? Or is train better? Another alternative would be a guide / driver...

Neither my wife nor I have ever been to this part of the world, so we are really looking forward to travelling around and all the new experiences. We'd prefer to visit fewer places and spend more time in each, so our trip will probably look something like this:

SFO to HKG - 2 or 3 days in HKG (last couple days of March)
HKG to Saigon, Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur? 3 or 4 days in this destination
Bali - 6 days
Bali to Bangkok - 2 days in Bangkok (we might skip Bangkok and save it for a future trip if we do not have enough time...)
Cambodia (there is an Amman 6 day Cambodia experience we are considering - 3 days in each of their resorts there. If we do this we will almost definitely eliminate Bangkok from this trip.)
Hanoi / Yunnan - total 3 or 4 days
Hanoi to SFO

EVA is a Taiwan-based airline. I have friends really love their Deluxe Class. You can find discussion about EVA in Other Asian, Australian and South Pacific Frequent Flyer Programs Forum.

In case you didn't know this open secret, TPE is kind of a sweet spot sometimes for either Mileage Run or stopover. Having TPE as a strategic point can save you $$. I've never done it myself but I read quite a few successful stories. Maybe our frequent in airline fora of your choices can give you more tailored tips. Nail down your tix first. If having TPE is to your advantage, you can then start planning for the Taiwan portion. This Taiwan thread may give your some general ideas. ;)

If you can deal with SFO, Taiwan can never be as cold. Mountains are different stories though. Spring is lovely with flower blossom in March/April. You may run into some rain but it's manageable.

If I were you and never visited Asia, I probably would focus on S.E. Asia and possibly Taiwan for this trip, considering the places you have to be and the size of China. You can have China some other time in another whole different trip/s.

Since you have never been in Asia before, let me advise you that you are trying to cover too much ground in 3 weeks. No, you cannot do Hanoi/Yunnan in 4 days no matter how close they look on a map. You need to sharpen up on priorities or you will see way to much of transportation venues and not enough of Asia. An asthma sufferer should definitely avoid smoky agricultural burnoffs.

Will you likely come back to Asia at some point? Let's be positive and say yes. I would drastically cut down number of countries to no more than 3 or 4 and that includes your entry gateway (HKG or other). I would actually cut Cambodia and Vietnam on this trip, and save them for your next. I'm of the strong opinion that to go to Vietnam with less than 10 days to spend is a waste of money and effort. With that assumption:

If you are committed to entering at HKG, then for the oddball 4 days, I'd tend to fly to KUL and get up to the Cameron Highlands for tea, maybe to Penang or Melaka, time permitting. Fly KUL-DPS, easy nonstop options. After Bali, spend rest of time in Indonesia, maybe with a day or so in Singapore before heading home.

If you are intrigued by China, of which Yunnan even without the tea is one of the more fascinating areas to spend time, then I'd do HKG-CGK-YOG-DPS-KMG (via BKK connection)-HKG. Tea of course, in Yunnan.

If you manage an EVA flight via Taipei you might use that as your gateway. Save the stopover and Tea in Taiwan for the homeward leg as weather will be better in April.

Good Advice
 

This is good advice. Even in one of my previous statements I said we preferred quality over quantity and then I start thinking about a whirlwind all over SE Asia! I told my wife what I had written here earlier and I think her exact words were 'Are you nuts?' :)

Yes, we will be back! (At least, I think we will. I am approaching middle age and this is my first trip... We are of Euro heritage, so that is where all of our International travel has been...)

So, here is my revised thinking:

Gateway will almost certainly be HKG. CX will certainly (if we can make the dates work) be our Transpac airline.

I think we will skip Northern Vietnam and China this time. Skip Taiwan too if CX comes through.

SFO to HKG 3/28
- 2 or 3 days in HKG

HKG to KUL 4/1
- 4/1 through 4/6 exploring this area
- I've got to check out options here -'get up to the Cameron Highlands for tea, maybe to Penang or Melaka, time permitting.'

KUL to DPS 4/6 (firm)
- 4/6 through 4/11 Bali

DPS to JOG via CGK? (I think Yogyakarta is JOG)
- 4/11 through 4/14
- My travel agent has recommended a place to stay here for 2 or 3 days

OK, I am still tempted by the Amman Cambodia experience and Angkor Wat...

CGK - Cambodia on 4/14
- Cambodia 4/14 through 4/20

Cambodia to HKG 4/20

HKG to SFO 4/21

Am I still trying to do too much?

I don't know Indonesia well at all... But let's say we stay in Indonesia 4/6 - 4/20 (Bali 4/6 - 4/11). What would you suggest for the 8 or 9 days after Bali? We will probably have had our fill of beaches...

Thank you for your feedback!

Nope, take the high-speed train -- it's a Japanese bullet train and an experience in itself, and there's a station not far from the airport (take bus or taxi). That said, instead of going direct, you'll probably want to drop into Taipei for a day or two, as Chiayi itself is a bit of sh*thole and not the best introduction to Taiwan.

Our story from 2007: http://extra.world66.com/blog/jani/t...an_tales_index

Cameron Highlands
 

izzik: Your suggestion is the one we are going with. Can you tell me more?

We're flying in to KUL around noon. Spend the afternoon at our hotel, a little walking around and sightseeing.

It looks like Cameron Highlands is quite a ways from KL. We'll probably turn this in to a two day trip so we don't spend one entire day in transport...

What is the best way from KL to Cameron Highlands? Hiring a taxi / car would be easiest, but the most expensive too. What other options are there?

Regarding places to stay in Cameron highlands - any suggestions?

Thanks for your insights!

reply to my own post?
 

I know it is bad form to reply to one's own post... But....

We've taken jiejie's suggestion to heart. For this trip, we're just going to do the south part of SE Asia: Malaysia and Indonesia. Plus three days in Hong Kong on our way home.

Fly in to KUL, with 4 nights here (or as I said above, touring outside of the city too! Malacca, Cameron Highlands, Fireflies.... We want to get around a bit, but don't want to spend too much time in a bus / train / car...)

KUL to DPS, spend the majority of our time in and around Bali. Up to Java too...

Then to HKG for three days and then return home.

This means we will definitely have to return to see much more!

Yes, its a long way from KL which is why I suggested Bandung instead (direct flights from KUL, SIN or DPS). Believe it or not, when I seek cooler weather its easier for me to fly to Bandung than to go up to Cameron Highlands, and I live in KL !

For CH, its best to rent a car and drive yourself, the roads used to be narrow and winding but I havent been up since the new highway was completed. Cant think of any place in CH that I would recommend, but the 'best' up there at the moment is supposed to be the Cameron Highlands Resort http://www.cameronhighlandsresort.com/ which is actually along a main road.

Further thoughts?
 

mario: Thank you for this additional insight / information!

The Cameron Highlands Resort looks very nice, and it is really the type of thing we are looking for. Nice enough place to stay. Right at a Tea Plantation. Get to tour and see the whole tea growing / making process...

However, your other suggestion also looks attractive...

Theoretically, if we go with the Bandung option, we could:

Arrive KUL 4/2 around noon. Stay around the hotel / nearby walking / sightseeing. First full day in Asia.

4/3 - Day touring / sightseeing in and around KUL. Malacca looks worth a visit. Would we have to dedicate a full day to a Malacca excursion? Are you full time in KL mario? We'll have to meet so I can buy you a drink...

4/4 morning sightseeing in KL, afternoon flight to BDO (3:30 Indonesia flight 7594)

I'll take a look at this place; The OP may also find this resort interesting (disclaimer : I have not stayed there before) http://www.next-age.info/eng.html

4/6 BDO - DPS Looks like there is only one daily option - Indonesia Flight 7156 - at 3:35 PM, which would work just fine for us to arrive DPS at 6:20 PM

YMMV, but I don't really get what people like about Bandung, it's a big, sprawling and not particularly attractive Indonesian city. I'd go for Cameron Highlands instead, it's an entirely different side of Malaysia; and given how limited your time is, I wouldn't spend a full day on Malacca.

Malaysian driving is fairly sane by Asian standards, but it's still pretty wild if you haven't experienced it before. Driving in KL, in particular, is very confusing and the traffic can be murderous. It might thus be worth it to first head to Ipoh (there's a fairly spiffy new train service) and head out from there by eg. chartered taxi. There are also direct buses from KL, but it's about 4.5 hours one way.