Travelling South East Asia?????

[WeAreTheRomans]

Hi All,

Just lookin for some tips and advise on travelling this part of Asia??
Its my first time going travelling and i plan to go there at the start of August for 8 weeks, i've heard so many great things about the place from other people who travelled there... how cheap it is to travel around, eat, go out, accomodation, do outdoors activities etc..

wouldit be best to get a return to Bangkok and travel from there???

Cheers!

 

[Langer Dan]

Hey ya Roman-y.

Bangkok is as good starting point as any.
You'l be able to arrange transport to Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia from Bangkok with relative ease.

It's fairly cheap alright.
You can spend as little or as much as you want.
You can get a decent 4 star hotel in thailand for about 20 quid a night.

Where are you planning on going or are you just planning on playing by ear?

 

[Eoin]

Yeah, start in bangkok, and you can do the whole place from there, getting around is piss easy and there's loads of places offering trips in every town. Get yourself a rough guide/lonely planet and get a rough idea of the places you'd like to visit.

8 weeks is loads of time. I did it in 5, but missed out on a few places I'd like to have seen and didn't do the islands in Thailand.

Also, don't bother with Singapore, its shite.

 

[WeAreTheRomans]

Hey ya Roman-y.

Bangkok is as good starting point as any.
You'l be able to arrange transport to Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia from Bangkok with relative ease.

It's fairly cheap alright.
You can spend as little or as much as you want.
You can get a decent 4 star hotel in thailand for about 20 quid a night.

Where are you planning on going or are you just planning on playing by ear?

Thats great, thanks Dan!
amazing price for a 4 star hotel!!

I'd like to all the above you mentioned, playing it by ear for now anyways! I'm plannin while saving kinda of a thing.
Would love to see some of India as well

 

[WeAreTheRomans]

Yeah, start in bangkok, and you can do the whole place from there, getting around is piss easy and there's loads of places offering trips in every town. Get yourself a rough guide/lonely planet and get a rough idea of the places you'd like to visit.

8 weeks is loads of time. I did it in 5, but missed out on a few places I'd like to have seen and didn't do the islands in Thailand.

Also, don't bother with Singapore, its shite.

Cheers Eoin,

heard the Islands of Thailand are great! glad i have 8 weeks now wasnt sure how long i'd need and 8 is all work'd give.

singapore wasnt on my list anyways

 

[Eoin]

Yeah, the islands are brilliant, I was back there again in november and did a couple

 

[WeAreTheRomans]

Yeah, the islands are brilliant, I was back there again in november and did a couple

Excellent stuff!

Any idea how much i would be needing to live comfortably for 8weeks travelling around?? flights excluded that is

 

[Langer Dan]

Thats great, thanks Dan!
amazing price for a 4 star hotel!!

I'd like to all the above you mentioned, playing it by ear for now anyways! I'm plannin while saving kinda of a thing.
Would love to see some of India as well

Dunno would you fit in India as well in 8 weeks
but worth giving it a bash.

First thing first is to sort out your visas, you can apply here http://www.thaiconsulateireland.com/visaapplication.htm for a 60 day visa to thailand, they only give you a 30 day one on arrival.

Also your jabs will have to get done, get onto your gp, the place in Cork that does travel vaccinations is down by Mahon point in an industrial park.

Internal travel is quite cheap if you're busing/boating it 10-15 quid a pop. Otherwise you can get internal flights for around the same price as here.
I'd definitely recommend Vietnam and Cambodia, complete laugh. Laos is nice and chilled too. I'd have taken or left Malaysia tbh.

As regards Thailand, a week in the islands in the south are definitely worth doing (Ko Tao, Ko Pha-ngan , Ko Samui) and Chiang Mai up north is class as is Pai. You can bus/boat these journeys for small money but you'l be losing a day travelling, up to yourself really as regards what you want to spend.

Food and drink is generally very cheap in Asia. You can get dinner for as little as 1 or two euro depending where you are. Booze is also failry cheap , on average about 2 euro for a bottle of beer in Thailand and cheaper again in other places. I remember getting absolutely hammered for less than a fiver in Siem Riep, happy days

If you've any other questions, fire away.

 

[Langer Dan]

Excellent stuff!

Any idea how much i would be needing to live comfortably for 8weeks travelling around?? flights excluded that is

You should get by quite comfortably on about a grand a month.
It can be done for a lot cheaper but I'd be taking that just to have every eventuality covered.

 

[WeAreTheRomans]

Thanks a million Dan for all the info, has been really helpful.
I think i can work it from here with i have now!!

thanks again!