Hey guys,
I am planning to go on a trip from 24.5 - 24.6 and I have not been anywhere in Asia yet.
I need to leave from SYD and my first plan was to go to SEA for 2.5 weeks, then Japan for 1.5 and then return to SYD.
Would you guys skip Japan and rather go for longer another time? What would you guys go and see in SEA?
Open for any ideas.
Cheers!
This. I spent three weeks in Vietnam (amazing country btw) and barely saw anything.
Thanks, it will be SEA then. SEA + Japan would be stressful, I agree.
Happy endings.
SEA alone is massive and 4 weeks you could easily spend in vietnam ALONE as SirFibbled said. it is a huge country and absolutely amazing. Cambodia is small but I recvently spend 3 weeks there hehe and want to go longer next time !!
but point of your trip is to tick off alot of SEA in the 4 week period im assuming so I would recommend definitely skip Japan and spread your 4 weeks over as much of SEA as you want, dont rush too much you might regret it.
In saying that, spending only a week in vietnam is fine dont feel bad for not spending enough time but make sure you fly between Saigon > Hoi An because you dont want to lose a full day travelling if you can fit into the budget.
One point I would like to make is that all of the capital cities kind of can feel similar and they more often then not will end up being how you arrive in the country, so dont allocate too much time in each try and allocate more time to the other places (Hoi An in Vietnam for example, is a MUST, where as Saigon is great but similar the Phnom Penh Bangkok Etc etc)
make sure you include Cambodia, the place is absolutely amazing !!
me and my girlfriend have done most of SEA and are now planning a 4 week revisit to our faviourite places and we will be going:
Vietnam (Hoi An, Hue, Nah Trang)
Cambodia (Pnhom Penh, Siem Reap)
Thailand for the best islands to relax after much travels (Koh Lanta, Koh Samed, Koh Chang)
Bali for the shopping to fill suitcase on way home
Thanks Slippy,
I looked up the places and will take them into consideration for my itinerary.
I've also heard great things about Laos from a friend who traveled through SEA.
My current plan is to start in Bangkok - head north To Laos - head south via Laos / Vietnam - Saigon via Cambodia back to Bangkok
Appreciate your input!
I'd give Nha Trang a misss personally. Worst part of my trip to Vietnam. It's great if you want to just sit on a beach but beyond that there was nothing to do and you had to learn Russian quickly.
That would work if I fly from Hoi An to Saigon
I would just stick to one country as others have suggested, most have enough variety to fill 4 weeks, especially if you include one week of that as beach/relax.
I had six weeks spare in April once, as I had a gap between jobs. I looked at all the festivals in SEA, and decided Songkran (Thai New Year) sounded fun, and then worked from there planning an itinerary, spent the whole six weeks in Thailand. Apart from the norm, beaches and Bangkok, I really enjoyed Kanchanburi, and Elephant Nature Park near Chang Mai.
Is there anything cool anywhere in SEA the dates you are going?
There are some smaller festivals on (http://www.southeastasiabackpacker.com/festivals-events-sout…), but none of the bigger ones.
I enjoyed the Lantern Festival in Korea, but I was living there at the time so it was no effort to go.
The lanterns are along the stream for a while, so you can walk along at nights at see them
https://www.google.com.au/search?q=Lotus+Lantern+Festival&es…
All the temples are decorated also for a few weeks in the lead up to Buddha's birthday. There is a lantern parade in Seoul, although it is very popular, hugely crowded. On Buddha's Birthday itself I went to a temple that is only open once a year on that day. They give food to everyone that comes and it is a great day
http://www.rjkoehler.com/2009/05/05/spirit-of-zen-bongamsa-t… (not my blog, but I used this guys advice to get there - turns out it is not hard, get of the train, and the line of people at the shuttle bus is a giveaway)
It is still a bit chilly there in April. They have cherry blossoms like Japan, roughly that time of year depending on how the weather has been. e.g last year http://discoveringkorea.com/140302/koreas-cherry-blossoms-an…
If you are looking for a holiday that balances the chaos of SEA with a more orderly country, Korea is another option to Japan, and its much cheaper than Japan. It would go well with the Philippines - Cebu Pacific flies between Australia and Philippines and Philippines and Korea for a cheap price.
Thanks Toni,
I will see how the prices are!
The Lantern festival looks cool.
As many have mentioned, SEA alone has got vast amount of interesting places to see. And more importantly, the experience of living like a local.
It all depends what would interest you the most. Food? Nature? Shopping? Local cultures? Nightlife? Relaxation? And then how much budget you have… you can live very cheap in most SEA countries, but it cost a lot more in Japan.
I reckon at least 1 week in each countries as minimum. And so to fill 4 weeks I reckon you should limit yourself to 3-4 countries at most.. and pick the countries that fits your interest the best.
Just as a word of caution (since you have not been to SEA).. Make sure you have travel insurance - include motorcycle ride if you think you will be riding around in it. Be careful of pickpockets - keep your belongings safe even in the accommodation room. Be ready to face people who tries to manipulate you (eg. unmetered taxi, overcharging food/taxi, selling drugs etc). And be prepared for belly problem, you will most likely get some bacteria from drinks/food you consume.
Thanks for the tips John!
I am not into shopping or nightlife. Food, nature, local cultures and relaxation would be what I am interested in.
Budget shouldn't be an issue, however I like to live on the cheap side ( use as least of my savings as possible ).
Travel insurance is already organised, next thing will be vaccination.
From what I have heard SEA should be safer ( reg. scams ) than the places I backpacked before ( Europe, Northern Africa ), but of course I will keep an eye out.
I would suggest Thailand, Vietnam or Cambodia to consider into your itinerary then. These places should tick your interest boxes. And they should come well within your budget.
I agree, Europe would be more prone in general. Probably because I lived in an SEA country since I was little so I had more exposure to these sort of things happening.. so I'm always a bit cautious!
Looks like it's going to be those three. Thanks!
Does anyone have ideas on what woul dbe the cheapest way to get into SEA and back to SYD?
I'm thinking scoot. They seem to be the cheapest from what I have seen so far.
Scoot or Air Asia.
AA usually does a big sale in April or May.
Since it is so cheap to get over to SEA these days, I would avoid trying to see 'as much of' SEA as possible in this trip and instead, see just one country really well. Lots of SEA countries are cheap and easy to get around in, however they take time out of your trip. In many ways, the travel can be an experience in itself, but trying to fit in multiple countries takes the fun out of it.
Thailand is a great country to visit for what you're looking for, if you choose the one-country approach. Lots of culture, great food, oriented at relaxation and great traveller infrastructure. Also the north and south are very different from each other, and then you have the islands which are quite different again. So you get a lot of variety in that sense and don't feel like you're just on the same beach for three weeks. If you visit Thailand, please consider including Chiang Mai in your itinerary. It is a beautiful city and such an easy place to spend a week in.
Cambodia is Thailand's little sister in the tourism industry. Doing pretty well for itself, still very 'backpacker' oriented in terms of its tourism industry. Very dirty (LOTS of trash) but the people are incredible and Phnom Penh in particular is lovely, not dirty in the city centre. There are lots of child beggers in all parts of Cambodia. If you go to Cambodia please do some light reading about the child begger/sex work industry in that country.
Vietnam is a definite favourite of mine. I actually loved Nha Trang so much, in contract to some others commenting here, but I was looking for that lazy beach vibe when I was there and I had a nice hotel (when I say nice, I mean I shelled out a whole $30 a night for the room, so it was quite schmick). There isn't a lot else to do in Nha Trang besides beach, drink, go on boat tours (highly recommended), wander about. The Louisiane Brewhouse is a lovely (pretty Western) spot to drink and laze the day away on a deckchair on the beach. The water isn't the prettiest but it's not awful. Hoi An is a must-see although I didn't enjoy just how many touts there were there in comparison to other parts of SEA and even other parts of Vietnam. It is very pretty though and the food is incredible.
I have never been to the Phillipines but have heard really good things about it. Stick to the touristy areas of the Phillipines I would say. Tourists going into more remote are still kidnapped by gangs, so I hear. Some friends of mine say the Phillipines is the best snorkling and deep sea diving they have ever done.
Malaysia is the Sydney of SEA - more expensive, better infrastructure but still great to visit. Melaka/Malacca in the south was really fun and I could have easily have spent longer there. There is a famous bodybuilding gym in Melaka that you can train at which is owned by the former Mr Universe and Mr Malaysia bodybuilder. Lots of fun photos on the wall (yep one with Arnie) and a pretty good gym to boot.
Scoot or AA is a perfectly fine way to travel to SEA, would use them any time unless a crazy deal with a 'full-service' (so to speak) airline was on offer. If you want to go to Phnom Penh for example, flying to KL in Malaysia first then connecting is usually cheaper than going right from Sydney to PP.
I decided to take my time in SEA, not rush to Japan as well.
Just reading more and more about Vietnam which is on my to do list.
I will keep Phil / Malay for my next trip.
Continuously checking for good deals on AA and Scoot. If they don't have any special, I will just buy a scoot return flight to SIN and take it from there ( $438 )
We go from perth with air asia, usually starting from Bali. Always a month.
Last trip was bali, lombok, siem reap, Battembang, Phnom Penh, (those 3 are cambodia), Kuala Lumpur then home.
We've done bali, KL, Saigon, HoiAn (both Vietnam) KL and home.
We've done bali, Surabaya, Penang, home.
We've done Hong Kong and Kota Kinabalu.
We've done Singapore. But you could do Singapore, malacca, KL, Penang and Langkawi.
Been to Thailand, Bangkok, kanchanaburi, Pattaya, Bangkok and home.
I could go on. But the key point for us is 5 nights in one place.
5 nights isn't too much if you don't like a place much but it's long enough to see the place well.
It allows you to visit a few places in the month too.
Good luck.
Japan is on my list.
Thanks for that! I will add some of the places to my list.
If you really want to include Japan, you might want to consider adding South Korea to that trip as the cost of the flight is only around $60-80 from Japan. But it will be an expensive trip compared to SEA
Or you could do:
Vietnam - 2 weeks
Cambodia - 1 week
Laos - 1 week
Decided to save Japan for another time, but thanks for the idea with SK, will note it down form my Japan trip!
Just returned from a three-week trip around SE Asia. I've been to SEA plenty of times and visited the majority of countries, so my recent trip was just to sort of hop around to the countries I hadn't yet visited.
I was in and out of Kuala Lumpur no less than a dozen times with AirAsia, so the majority of cities in SEA are easily accessible via budget airlines (AirAsia, Tiger, Jetstar). If you're looking to save money, I'd highly recommend Malaysia. General expenses are quite low and there's plenty to do in terms of shopping, sightseeing and food (!!!!!) I've visited Kuala Lumpur, Penang, Malacca and Johor Bahru and there's certainly enough to do in the country if you're looking at just spending the entire time there. Siem Reap is also lovely to check out Angkor Wat, but the city is infested with tourists. The Philippines is amazing if you're looking for a different cultural experience, and is easy on the wallet too.
I've been to Japan twice as well, and as previous posts mentioned, you'd need a lot of time to fully explore Japan. 1.5 weeks in the country would only get you around either Tokyo or Osaka and surrounds, as you'd need no less than a week in each. Perhaps save it for another trip. It'll be another 6-7 hour flight from SEA anyway (traveling from KL/SG) so stick to the surrounding countries to maximise your time (and money!)
:-)
Good thing I'll save Japan for my next trip!
Malaysia sounds great, my girlfriend and her family recommended it too ( her uncle moved there ).
I spent 3 months in SEA and my biggest piece of advice is to book a ticket to your start point and create your itinerary as you go. It's incredibly easy to travel around without booking in advance and this gives you so much more freedom than having your trip booked. Everyone happens to go to all the same places anyway, so you're sure to see heaps of things.
Thanks for that! That's a hard thing for me to do, especially since I have a German background and you know how we are…..not being organised is horrible for me, haha.
Won't it be too expensive if I wait until the last minute to book flights on the spot?
Personally I loved Ha Long Bay and Sapa trekking. Floating down Mekong in Laos was good too.
You need about 2-3 weeks just see central Japan properly.
Japan is expensive, SE Asia very cheap.
I'll say chose one country and spend 4 weeks there, you need time to truly appreciate and get to know a country.