bwiadca

Hello,

I'm planning my annual SE Asia trip for April and need some advice from the more experienced crowd.
I will be based in BKK for 10 days, and during that time I would like to spend 3 days in one of the countries.

I'm thinking about visiting one country from my bucket list (not necessarily in this order) :

- Myanmar
- Cambodia
- Laos
- Malaysia
- Sri Lanka
- Indonesia (Jakarta)

Flights to each of these countries are dirt cheap. Some are little longer than the others, but nothing over 4 hours.

The main goal is to see some local attractions (museums, historical sites), try local food and just relax in the city center

I have no idea which country to pick. Need some help from folks who already been there

Thanks

sandy86

Not much to see if you only have 3 days. Maybe one city of these countries, Bagan city of Myanmar, Luangprabang of Laos and Siem Reap city of Cambodia are my favorite cities.

ClimbingCook

I'd agree with aiming to see one interesting city in the time you have. There are lots of amazing things to see in Indonesia, none are in Jakarta. Phnom Penh is worth spending a couple of days exploring, same for Yangon, Penang, Luangprabang. If it were me, I'd probably go to Vietnam since you have lots of options for short direct flights to more remote places from BKK.

bwiadca

That's the problem. I have only few days and can't decide where to go. In perfect world I would spend a week at each city
I did Vietnam last month so not planning on returning there anytime soon. I'd rather spend few days in new country and try new food.

I'm on the border line between Myanmar and Indonesia. I like the idea that visa to Burma is only $20 and according to google maps, embassy is 12 minutes walking distance for me On the other hand I would love to go and see Angkor in Cambodia, and I would like to visit Laos Decisions decisions. I don't remember having problems like that before

BuildingMyBento

Since the OP mentioned "try local food," Jakarta's an excellent place for this (to try food from throughout the archipelago)...although at least one other FTer prefers Surabaya.

glennaa11

I'm glad you recognize how little time 3 days is. Especially when you figure in travel time. I think most of those places deserve more time. But I would say go spend 3 days in Luang Prabang. That's about the right amount of time there. Depending when you are going it may also be the New Year there as well as in Thailand.

All of the really interesting things in Sri Lanka take a while to get to. Colombo itself is nothing special.

Myanmar deserves a couple of weeks to see the worthwhile things. Unless you just spend your time in Yangon and see Shwedagon and the sights there. But if you're going to the trouble of getting a visa you might as well make it worthwhile.

Cambodia has a lot to do. 3 days is enough to scratch the surface of Siem Reap. But it will be very hot so you probably won't want to spend much time out in the heat of the day temple hopping.

Isn't Jakarta just swapping one giant city (Bangkok) for another? I've not been to Jakarta but I'm not under the impression that there's all that much interesting to see and do...and that traffic is horrendous.

bwiadca

I'm actually flying on Songkran out of DC. I don't want to be in Thailand during New Year. Everybody is drunk and they spray you with water. I'm too old for that


I would do Colombo because of the time constraint. Food would be my no.1 priority over there


Visa is not a problem. Just $20 and few minutes walk from my place. Lately I've been reading a lot about Burma and one area where I would like to go (museum outside Pyinmana) is listed as No Go for tourists.
It's listed on the embassy web page. I don't understand why they have museum in the area where you can't go?

For Cambodia the plan is to see few of the temples and then spend rest of the time relaxing. I don't mind the heat. When I'm in Thailand, I usually go out from my hotel around 6am and return around 5pm. All this time outside

Jakarta is high on my list because of the food. I found really nice resort between the airport and the port in the area Tangerang. I don't really need to see the city itself, but want to do street food there.
I see that you are also from DC area, so you probably know that it's very hard to find Malaysian or Indonesian restaurants in our area.


Thanks for all suggestions. I still have couple of weeks before I will make the decision.

tai4de2

I have been to all those countries except Sri Lanka, and I with 3 days I would choose Yangon. I'm kind of the "urban explorer" type though, so YMMV.

Shwedagon Pagoda is 1/2 day
Wandering around the tightly-packed streets of the old downtown is 1/2 day easily, plus another 1/2 day seeing the outside of additional dilapidated colonial buildings, if you're into that kind of thing
You can take a day trip to Kyauktan
...plus more

Not sure about street food though. I am not squeamish and consume it in e.g. Thailand, but the streets of Burma is a whole 'nother category entirely.

invisible

Cross Jakarta and Sri Lanka from that list. Jakarta is probably biggest, dirtiest and noisiest place in SEA. Flight to Sri Lanka and back will take one full day.

If you really is interested in food, try Georgetown in Penang and Ipoh nearby. If you rent a car, you can get to both places in three days and try and see other things in addition to food.

But if you have not seen Angkor, I'd put it high on the list, but don't expect anything outstanding in terms of food at Siem Reap.

mgmsteven

I have been to all the countries you list except Sri Lanka. On my list Myanmar would be in last place for food (including street & restaurant). Nothing will beat the food you find in Thailand.

ClimbingCook

Wow. I travel to Indonesia every two or three months and would rank the food in Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, Myanmar, Laos, and Cambodia ahead of what you find in Jakarta. I'm fairly certain Singapore is better as well, I just haven't managed to get there yet.

ClimbingCook

I ate incredibly well when I was last in Myanmar. I really like the Burmese restaurants in and around San Francisco so maybe I'm predisposed to liking it.

txflyer77

Big +1 for Penang. You could spend weeks eating your way through Georgetown (and I have!).

bwiadca

I'm still doing my research and reading reviews of the places I want to visit.
Right now I'm down to 3 destinations: Yongon, Kuala Lumpur and Penang.

Thanks

889

Among those three, go with Penang. KL's not completely without interest, but it hasn't got the character of Penang (or the food), and it's a big place that's tiring to move around in the heat.

Burma, like India, is one of those places that just doesn't lend itself to a drop-in visit. You need time to adjust to it, and three days won't be enough. Wait till you've got time to do the country justice.

Be sure to have Tandoori Chicken at the Kapitan Restaurant in Penang.

https://migrationology.com/restoran-...aurant-penang/