SOUTH EAST ASIA

quirkster

Group of six 3rd year students, looking to travel Thailand, Vietnam, Laos over a 6-8 week period from July to August.
From personal or as close as possible experience, what is needed in terms of organising?
Do we book anything in advance?
Who do we fly with?
Do we need injections (from where and how soon)?
How much spending money would one need?


Thanks a lot, much appreciated.

whatsyourquota

You really dont know anything about this trip do you.
Dont bother booking anything in advance except the full moon party.
Fly with whoever is cheapest but at this stage you will struggle to get good deals.
Yes of course you need injections go visit your nurse in college.
Spending money will of course depend on what type of accomodation ye plan to stay in, how much ye drink and how many trips ye plan on doing. Roughly 200 euro a week

beagle001

you can still get flights for 680 on ebookers.ie right now,don`t bother booking the fuul moon plenty of time.
Ask your doc about shots and everything else will fall into place.
Finance about 2000 will cover your trip,internal flights,adventures for the 6 weeks and thats living comfortably.
Enjoy

fakearms123

quirkster wrote: »

Group of six 3rd year students, looking to travel Thailand, Vietnam, Laos over a 6-8 week period from July to August. I am doing a similar trip over 9 weeks with my girlfriend but we are starting in Singapore. We are leaving in June and coming back in August.

From personal or as close as possible experience, what is needed in terms of organising? There is a lot to organise but not as much planning as it might be if you were travelling to South America. Sort out your flights, you vaccinations and grab a travel book of some sort, open a map and plan your route, decide on your time management in your different countries, decide as a group where you would be interested in going.

Do we book anything in advance? Well you have to book the flights in advance of course. I would recommend you book your flights as soon as you can cause prices have probably gone up a lot. Give trailfinders.ie a ring or try travelsupermarket.com and compare prices. You will also need to get your vaccinations as soon as possible because if you intend to get Hep B shots you will need 3 seperate shots spread out over about a month. Also need to get your malaria tablets for Vietnam and Laos.

Who do we fly with? This will all depend on what flights are the most convient and cheapest for you. You could end up flying with Quantas, Qatar or British Airways, so you should probably starting looking on the interwebs.

Do we need injections (from where and how soon)? You don't seem to know anything about this trip or the countries your going to, you get injections at your local clinic usually by a nurse and you get them as soon as possible.

How much spending money would one need? How many marbles can you fit into a swimming pool? As much as you want, you bring as much as you need, this will become clear when you plan your route. I'd say if you smart about thing you could only spend about 20e-30e a day or maybe even less, im not so sure on this one cause I havent been there yet, I can only really help with the organising because I'm in the middle of it.


Thanks a lot, much appreciated. Most important thing is that you have fun and if you have the money to spend then you can afford to splurge a bit but if your on a budget you will need to plan a bit more.

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beagle001

One you do not need malaria tablets for Lao or Vietnam that I am certain of from personal experience living in both countries and have discussed this in other threads.
Unfortunately the way the baht has gone in recent years 20 euros budget per day is not enough if you intend on traveling to all the above countries.
Right now I would suggest 40 will cover you well with maybe some left over,its not as cheap as it used to be and certainly your money can and does fly out there,very important to plan a budget and stick to it.

whatsyourquota

Both Laos and Vietnam are malarial countries and it is ridiculous to say that you dont need malaria tablets for them as you absolutely will. I have no doubt any nurse in the country you visit will say the exact same thing.
Again I disagree about not booking for the full moon party as you will need to considering you will be going in July/August especially if you want to stay in haad rin and not pay a huge amount

beagle001

we both lived out there I have yet to meet a traveler or local who contracted malaria and we spent much of our time living rural the same appplies to Vietnam.I have been all over the country and this is the case from many experienced travelers of south east asia
The biggest chance of contracting dengue exists in south east asia and this you cannot fully prevent.
As for the fullmoon I would not advise any new traveler to stay on the island during the festival,take a speedboat over as this worksout better and visit to stay on koh phangnan when the fullmoon is not on.
The place is a mess during the fullmoon and the whole thing is way too commercial from back in the day,often the half moon in samui is just as good.
whatsyourquota out of interest how many times have you visited this part of the world as you are full of advice.

whatsyourquota

A quick google will show that there are several hundred cases of malaria in Laos and Vietnam every year. I think it is highly irresponsible to tell people not to take malaria tablets in countries well known for having malaria.
Koh phangnan is a lovely island and I would highly recommend staying on it and last year when I was at the full moon party two speedboats crashed on the way from samui.
And last time I checked the half moon party is in koh phangnan and not in koh samui

beagle001

Actually the half moon is indeed in samui and started there first if koh phangnan has one now great.
I know koh phangnan is a lovely island but only when the pis-ed up droves of tourists are not crowding the place during the fool moon.
I recommend staying on the island outside the fullmoon if you want a real sense of the island.
Wow 2 speed boats actually crashed when you were there,there is a risk to everything did that stop you taking the ferry to koh phangnan as if you google a statistic for ferry crashes in Asia there have been many.
I suspect you are one of these travelers who actually knows fcukall about the goings on in south east asia and has to resorte to googled information rather than actual first hand information.
It is to the discretion of all travelers whether they wish to take malarial tablets or not but do your research and travel a bit my dear you do not need these for Lao or Vietnam and they will incur you extra expense as well as give you a nasty side effect.
Don`t forget to pack your cotton wool now

dory

Can we please drop it? There's no need for the insults. OP ask your doctor about malaria, not some internet people.

Squirm

Hi,

Well my personal advise, based on my own travels in the region would be:

Consult a doctor about the necessary jabs and malaria tablets BUT then do your own research and decide what to get yourself. They will recommend a host of vaccinations. I chose to not receive a handful of them for my own reasons. I took Doxycylcine as my anti-malarial and DID take it in Laos but tbh I was travelling in and out of malarial zones and with that particular drug you must take it 6wks after leaving the malaria zone and 3wks before if I remember correctly, so found I was taking it for the bulk of my trip.

I would only book in advane my lang haul flights and a night or two in which ever city you fly into. I would book accomodation in Koh Phangnan for the Full Moon and I would try to be there for the half moon also, which was great too (it's in the jungle rather than on the beach). You need not book now though, you still have lots of time to arrange your itinerary.

I would go for as long as possible, as each country you plan to visit has so much on offer and you will be sad to be leaving so much untouched. I spent four months doing the same route and could have used another week or two, especially in Vietnam. I would recommend taking the slow boat into Laos, setting aside a day or two more than you expect for your tubing in Laos (that little town sucks you in and it's hard to leave after just 1/2 days!), try to rent mopeds everywhere you go and set out to see some of the hot springs/view points/villages/waterfalls etc etc. Heading out on our own on the bikes gave us some of the best experiences by a long shot. Would recommend going up to the Rantanakiri province in Cambodia (Ban Lung) and moped-ing it around the province- great stuff altogether. I wasn't a fan so much of the South of Thailand and the islands, but I thought Don Det in Laos was great. I found the Thai islands very generic, but that was just me and just in comparison to other beaches I visited on my trip. I adores Vietnam and would recommend Hoi An, Hanoi (F***ing fantastic city), Halong Bay (spend a night on Cat Ba if you can), Nah Trang (for the cheap drink and hot springs) and would very highly recommend spending some time around the Mekong Delta.

Really all there is to sort is getting a few jabs and booking flights, the rest will fall into place when you're there and with the help of a map. I bought a guide book and used it to roughly organise a route, but I wouldnt advise staying in the hotels etc in them, as they tend to be much dearer than ones that are not listed in guide books. I lived on a very tight budget, except for splurging to dive everywhere we went (great muck diving in Cambodia). I travelled India, Thailand (a month in the north and a month in the south), Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia, Malaysia, The Philippines, Borneo, Singapore and Indonesia for 14mths and spent 6.5k. That included lots of flights and about 45 dives and several dive courses. So if you shop around for the cheapest hotels going, you free up money for beers and treats etc. I was on a budget (by choice) but certainly didnt miss out on anything or enjoy less!!

Good Luck!!

Oranage2

quirkster wrote: »

Group of six 3rd year students, looking to travel Thailand, Vietnam, Laos over a 6-8 week period from July to August.
From personal or as close as possible experience, what is needed in terms of organising?
Do we book anything in advance?
Who do we fly with?
Do we need injections (from where and how soon)?
How much spending money would one need?


Thanks a lot, much appreciated.

From personal or as close as possible experience, what is needed in terms of organising?
not much really - read a lonely planet book should sort you right out -you can get visa at the laos border - apply for the Vietnam visa in loas.

Do we book anything in advance? maybe just decide what you want to do before you go and make a rough plan - islands - Bangkok - chang mai - laos - vietnam - cambodia - back to bangkok

Who do we fly with? who evers cheapest - i did london to KL with airasia - pretty cheap

Do we need injections (from where and how soon)? i didnt get injections or maleria tablets and i was alright - if you are i think its a month beofre you go but probably best ask you doctor only about 150€ anyway

How much spending money would one need? depends on how much 'fun' you want to have - around 2k should be plenty