Travel Advice?.... South East Asia

mossy82

hey there,

Just looking for a bit of travel advice. My girlfriend and I are heading to Korea to go teaching English for a year at the end of February. We plan on heading away just after new years and are gonna go through South East Asia - Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos, we only have about 5-6 weeks and obviously can't see everything but was wondering if any of you could give a bit advice on some of the following stuff such as

- where to go
- where not to go
- what to do
- unmissable places /experiences / adventures
- places to stay
- where to relax
- etc etc


it'd be great, any advice would be really appreciated as I'm a bit clueless at the moment and need to make a bit of a plan before we head off.


Cheers

vixenbees

Hey there mossy,

I did a 6 week trip around the countries you named around 2 years ago. To be blunt about it, you will not make it to these 4 countries within that time frame. One thing I completely underestimated is how big these countries are and how long each train/bus/boat ride can take.

In 6 weeks, I spent roughly 3 weeks in thailand, 1 week in laos, 1 week in cambodia and 1 week accumulative travelling from place to place. If I could do it all again I would definately fly as preference. To get from south thailand to laos took 5 days (2 sleeper trains, 1 bus, 2 days slowboat). Thats a ridiculous amount of time when you could just get a 1-2 hour flight and enjoy more time at your destination.

I ended up going back to Vietnam on a separate trip and spent a month going from north to south and still missed out on some places! If you plan correctly and utilise your time perhaps you might make it. Get yourself a Lonely Planet or Rough Guide book for South East Asia and read up on the various sights in each country - maybe draw up a mini itinerary to see whats do-able.

A few popular highlights from each country include:

Halong Bay (Vietnam)
Sapa trekking (Vietnam)
Cu-Chi tunnels, Ho Chi Minh City (Vietnam)
Tubing (Laos)
Diving, Kho Tao (Thailand)
Full Moon Party, Kho Pha Ngan (Thailand)
Angkor Wat Temples, Siem Reap (Cambodia)
Khmer Rouge mass graves / S-21 prison, Phnom Penh (Cambodia)

Theres looooooooooads more that I just cant be bothered typing but theres a start..!

Anyways, if you do miss a few places on the way over to Korea, you might catch them on your way home in a years time Have a ball, I'm mucho jealous.

ShermanP

South Korea is full of liveliness. Even after the working hours people enjoy the nightlife. Restaurants and bar full of people. You will find many traditional landmarks and shopping arcades.

youcancallmeal

Get off the beaten track and go to the Philippines! Best place I've ever been in so many different ways. You can get cheap flights from major hubs like Bangkok, Hong Kong, KL to Manila. Highlights for me were the mountain terraces in Luzon, Boracay(Possibly the nicest beach in the world) and believe it or not Manila! Just dont go down south to Mindanao there is political troubles and its not safe for tourists.

mossy82

thanks for all the advice guys, lots to look into before i go, cheers really appreciate it