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where to go in se asia by myself?

where to go in se asia by myself?

Old Jan 11, 2007, 9:19 am
  #1  
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where to go in se asia by myself?

hello all.

disclaimer: before getting down to business, i'd like to admit that i did not search first because my ft access is painfully slow right now. but, if any of you know of an appropriate thread that i should jump on, i'm all ears.

now, here's my deal. i need to be in sin at the end of the month and have around 5 days to spare on the front end. i'm going to be using a dl se asia award that i issued last march, but never flew.

i just reserved myself pek-sel<stop to see friends for one night>-dps<open>-sin-sel-pek.

the reason i chose dps is because i received an email from a friend about a month ago informing me that he was going to be there for the weekend of the 26th. however, i'm not sure that's the case any more because he hasn't gotten back to me yet.

therefore, it's likely that i'll be free to choose any destination in se asia. so, my question, is dps a good choice, or should i consider another ke destination (han, sgn, bki, bkk, rep, hkt -- i left out the ones that i've already eliminated)?

my criteria:

-good place for me to go alone (i.e. not looking for some honeymoon place)
-relaxation is important, but i'm not a complete vegetable
-i like beaches and SCUBA, yet i'm not completely adverse to the inland stuff
-i need to be able to get myself to sin without breaking bank
-speaking of bank, i'd prefer to keep my land budget under $500 (for 4-5 days)
-i go to thailand often, but have no problem going back if that's the best call
-visas are pretty easy to come by in beijing so they're pretty much a non-issue

thanks in advance for your comments.
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Old Jan 11, 2007, 9:45 am
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I'd go to Saigon.... but you'd have to go to somewhere like Nha Trang for diving. You will need a visa. Very close to SIN.
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Old Jan 11, 2007, 4:55 pm
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Koh tao or Lombok in Bali best diving in the world
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Old Jan 12, 2007, 9:09 am
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another vote for Bali
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Old Jan 12, 2007, 9:15 am
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I think you would enjoy Bali if you like beaches... It's not very expensive there either...
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Old Jan 12, 2007, 10:48 am
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there are no bad choices here. only too many.

Since you've booked to bali, i'd probably do it. I by the way went around bali and I'd recommend the same to you. don't assume you'll stay just in one area. spend a night or two in ubud, maybe one in lovina and one or two on the south coast or some combination of such.

but you could do anything from going to malaysia (penang or borneo) to going to bangkok. there are way too many choices. and by the way, i've done all of these as a solo traveler.
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Old Jan 14, 2007, 2:45 am
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One more vote for Bali. The diving there is not great, but just about everything else is.

Siem Reap is of course worth a visit for Angkor Wat alone, but 4-5 days there would be stretching it unless you're really into temples.
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Old Jan 14, 2007, 8:45 am
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i want to thank you guys for all of the helpful replies. i haven't been especially active on ft recently because my access is really slow, but i have been watching this thread closely. some of my friends around here have given me negative bali comments (dirtier and less fun than ko samui, they say), but i trust you guys more than them. i still have my ticket on hold. all that's keeping me from pressing the "go" button, is that i'm awaiting confirmation from my boss about our sin meetings (i will not go to sin if those meetings don't happen and dps-sin doesn't seem to be all that cheap)
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Old Jan 14, 2007, 2:45 pm
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Another vote for Bali ^

You can always spend about $40 to rent a car, include a driver, to show you around Bali.

Everything is cheap and it's safe to travel alone.

Be careful of those people (tourists or local) that you met during your trip. If they do drugs, STAY AWAY, as Indonesia don't take drug crimes lightly. Same goes for Singapore.

With that out of the way, you'll have a fantastic time there
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Old Jan 16, 2007, 1:12 am
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Bali, dont forget

if you decide to go to Bali i would defenitely recommend you the east coast! Peaceful, and great diving at the Tulemben wreck!
Even snorkelling is good over there.

Have fun!

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Old Jan 16, 2007, 3:42 am
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OK... Bali seems to win...!

If nobody objects, I'll just flesh out my reasons for suggesting Saigon....


-good place for me to go alone (i.e. not looking for some honeymoon place)

Its a buzzing city... You can wander around markets, enjoy the night life, no need to be bored. English is well spoken where/when it matters. Vietnamese people are a friendly bunch. If you return to the same coffee place more than a couple of times you begin to feel you're not alone. Also there are some interesting museums/exhibitions you can go to. This is especially so if you're interested in some of the political history, kitsch propaganda art etc. There are "expat" places where you can have intelligent conversation with foreigners who live/work there and might show you around a bit. Or if you prefer you can hang around the backpacker/tourist places and compete on the basis of how dog-eared your LP guide is, how little you paid for your cyclo ride, and what's the cheapest way of getting to cambodia. My point is tourism is not the primary reason for its existance - there's more to it than that. And just by being there you won't necessarily be taken for a tourist.

-relaxation is important, but i'm not a complete vegetable
I'm a lazy sod, and being a warm place I'm not keen to rush around. If you can ride a bike, you can hire one and shoot around like the locals do. There's the usual stuff that most cities would have - bowling alleys, fitness centres etc. I tend to hang around coffee shops. If I wasn't so ignorant, I'd probably read books there. What a pity I can't show off to my friends about how I read "The Quiet American" whilst at the Continental Hotel.

-i like beaches and SCUBA, yet i'm not completely adverse to the inland stuff
Saigon falls down here. For beaches you could go to Nha Trang, Mui Ne, or Phu Quoc. All require a journey of some sort - you need to spend at least a night away for it to make sense. Trips up the Mekong are always well spoken of. But the city grips me more than would a muddy old river or....

-i need to be able to get myself to sin without breaking bank
You can get yourself to sin or into sin pretty cheaply.

-speaking of bank, i'd prefer to keep my land budget under $500 (for 4-5 days)
No problem. Not sure what diving costs though. These people are the most well known: http://www.divevietnam.com/

Saigon is changing rapidly as its economy booms. Trendy "coffee shops", night clubs etc popping up every 5 mins. I feel this is a further reason to go, it could be different and more expensive in 5 years time and anyway its nice to be in a successful place. Even the old terminal at Saigon's Tan Son Nhat airport will be gone shortly.

Everbody goes to Bali - probably why I've never been there - perhaps if I had I'd be extolling it too!
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Old Jan 16, 2007, 6:03 am
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Originally Posted by jimbo99
If nobody objects, I'll just flesh out my reasons for suggesting Saigon....

Its a buzzing city...
It most certainly is. A great city to visit for a couple of days. Warm and welcoming people.

But you forgot to mention two other great reasons to visit: the food and the coffee. ^
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Old Jan 16, 2007, 9:02 am
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Originally Posted by Chapel Hill Guy
But you forgot to mention two other great reasons to visit: the food and the coffee. ^
Yes... quite right. I only wrote "I tend to hang around coffee shops"... !

Forgot to mention I drink the stuff, which I love... Its really funny. I'm sitting here in Taipei just settling into a cup of Vietnamese coffee when I read your post!

But its quite possible to go to enjoy the coffee shop without drinking anything more than a lemonade (or better still a soda chanh). "MGM" on Nguyen Dinh Chieu seems to be the trendiest place right now. People really dress up to go to these places... The path to the main door is more like a catwalk!

Or one can settle for the "Highland's" chain. I'm told the trendiest is on Le Loi. But I like the small one by the Metropolitan building overlooking the cathedral. Could it be the nearby modelling agency that makes the clientale a cut above the rest? The ones in the Thuong Xa Tax shopping centre (the "old russian market) are also pretty nice with views of the old Hotel D'Ville, Rex and Theatre.

But I'll never forget "Windows 2" (Pham Ngoc Thach/Tran Cao Van) a couple of Christmases back. The whole thing was clad in drifts of "snow" .... Crazy - would have been closed down as a fire hazard anywhere else.

And of course the food is great as you say. Seafood is especially good in VN I think. Then there's the noodle soup - Pho. My favourite place is Huong Binh on Vo Thi Sau near the junction of Hai Ba Trung, opposite the end of Pham Ngoc Thach. About US$1 for really good Chicken pho, which I prefer to the beef. Bit hot of course, but there's always the Pho24 chain with its aircon and English menus for those that need them.

The nice thing is its pretty impossible to get bad food in VN (unless you are going for non-VN dishes, which can be variable). If you call something into the dodgiest karaoke bar or just sit in a mediocre hotel and call room service, the food is likely to be excellent in my opinion.

Found some "pho" here in Taipei. It was dreadful. Slap on wrist - should have known better.
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Old Jan 16, 2007, 9:35 am
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Originally Posted by jimbo99
Or one can settle for the "Highland's" chain. But I like the small one by the Metropolitan building overlooking the cathedral.
I bought several bags of coffee at this location to bring back with me. In fact, I opened my next-to-last bag last week.

Can't find VN coffee here in Chapel Hill, even though we have lots of coffee shops, including one gourment shop that must sell 75+ types of beans.
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Old Jan 16, 2007, 9:42 am
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Originally Posted by Chapel Hill Guy
I bought several bags of coffee at this location to bring back with me. In fact, I opened my next-to-last bag last week.

Can't find VN coffee here in Chapel Hill, even though we have lots of coffee shops, including one gourment shop that must sell 75+ types of beans.
If we can convince moondog to go to SGN, maybe he can send some to us. Or we can put our backhander from the Saigon tourist authority towards a trip to get some more.

Can you believe I once did a day trip to Saigon from Taipei. I was there for around 4 hours during which time I bought: 6Kg of coffee and a flight ticket (back to Taipei) !
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