2 girls travelling S/E Asia & Oz

shivadiva

Hi All,

I'm hoping for some advice please!

I'm going travelling on a budget in June 12 to SE Asia for 3/4 months and then on to Australia for approx 6 months with my friend who's also female!

Could you please recommend some of the safer places in SE Asia to visit? We're both in our mid-twenties.

Also, could you advise where we could hook up with other groups, etc?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!! Thanks a mill

Spear

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solerina

I am thinking of going on holidays to SE Asia this summer (if I can save enough money)and have been doing some research, try the travel forums on lonelyplanet.com and www.travelfish.org which deals specially with SE Asia.

Awesomeness

Do you have a list o fwhich countires you would like to visit in SE Asia. I did Vietnam and Cambodia recently. As you are going yo will meet up with lots of people doing similar routes.

Best thing to do is plan out which places you really want to go to then work on planning the best route

solerina

Awesomeness wrote: »

Do you have a list o fwhich countires you would like to visit in SE Asia. I did Vietnam and Cambodia recently. As you are going yo will meet up with lots of people doing similar routes.

Best thing to do is plan out which places you really want to go to then work on planning the best route

Thats where I am considering going this summer, where did you go exactly ? I have just over 3 weeks, and am trying to decide on Vietnam alone or adding in Cambodia at the end, 4/5 days possibly. My possible route is- Hanoi, Sapa, Halong Bay, Hue, Hoi An, Saigon. Was also considering Nha Trang....want some beach time 4/5 days was thinking of Hoi An as the centre is supposed to be good for the beach in July/August. Thanks

martomcg

solerina wrote: »

Thats where I am considering going this summer, where did you go exactly ? I have just over 3 weeks, and am trying to decide on Vietnam alone or adding in Cambodia at the end, 4/5 days possibly. My possible route is- Hanoi, Sapa, Halong Bay, Hue, Hoi An, Saigon. Was also considering Nha Trang....want some beach time 4/5 days was thinking of Hoi An as the centre is supposed to be good for the beach in July/August. Thanks

I was there last summer! Only did Siam Reap though, spent way too long there, you can do angkor wat in 2 days max! Its worth seeing but i'd really weigh up the amount of time its gonna take to travel there! Phnom Phen is meant to be cool but more for partying than sight seeing! theres plenty to keep you busy in Vietnam for 3 weeks!

Awesomeness

solerina wrote: »

Thats where I am considering going this summer, where did you go exactly ? I have just over 3 weeks, and am trying to decide on Vietnam alone or adding in Cambodia at the end, 4/5 days possibly. My possible route is- Hanoi, Sapa, Halong Bay, Hue, Hoi An, Saigon. Was also considering Nha Trang....want some beach time 4/5 days was thinking of Hoi An as the centre is supposed to be good for the beach in July/August. Thanks

I did a similar route.

Hanoi, Sapa, Halong Bay, Hue, Hoi An,Nha trang, Mui ne, Saigon, Phnom Penh, Sinhoukville, Siem Riep.

I spent a total of 6 weeks. It is possible to do it in less (I spent too long in Nha trang and Sinoukville) but trying to fit it all into 3 weeks would be a bit tight. You want to be able to enjoy it and not have to rush from place to place. Also if you are flying from Cambodia flights are a lot more expensive. I got the bus to bangkok to fly home just to save an extra 400 euro.

The beach in Hoi An is nice. Its quieter than in Nha Trang and not as big though. Nightlife is better in Nha Trang. It is more dangerous in Nha Trang with pick pockets and muggings but as long as you are sensible and dont go walking alone at night you will be fine.

Any questions just let me know. Best 6 weeks of my life

dory

In terms of safest - I found all of them safe really. I would be careful of Thailand only because people tend to get extremely drunk there. And just about every horror story I heard on the road happened to a person when they were drunk!

corkgirl88

I know it is the rainy season in south east Asia in the Irish summer months. Has anyone been there in and around June, July and August. Is this a bad time to go? What I am really wondering is whether the sun will be out at all and if it is still possible to enjoy the beachs and get a really good tan?

martomcg

corkgirl88 wrote: »

I know it is the rainy season in south east Asia in the Irish summer months. Has anyone been there in and around June, July and August. Is this a bad time to go? What I am really wondering is whether the sun will be out at all and if it is still possible to enjoy the beachs and get a really good tan?

It only starts getting really bad towards the end of august/sept. Barely any rain in june/july!

corkgirl88

martomcg wrote: »

It only starts getting really bad towards the end of august/sept. Barely any rain in june/july!

Have you been there at this time of year? I have been reading lots of mixed reviews about weather. I just don't want to end up leaving dreary Ireland and heading into more rain.

martomcg

Yea i was in SE Asia for June/July/August last summer. No real rain at all untill mid august And it was only as i was leaving that the place started getting floods.

The worst part of it was going during our only good weather and coming back to horrible winter weather.

If i was to do it again i'd probably leave it untill nov/dec to head over!

GabbyJay

I was in Hoi An over the weekend and it was quite dreary; no sunshine at all for 3 days. Not characteristic for this time of year, I was just unlucky. In June / July / August you can also get unlucky with very heavy rains. During those months in Vietnam when it rains it really pours. Still it's not like Irish rain though, even if you get wet, the weather is warm and it's not miserable like in Ireland. Usually the rain will stop after a short while and you dry off very quickly. June / July / Aug are still decent times to go there - a lot of sun and you can go Scuba diving and stuff.

Regarding safety, I wouldn't worry at all in the touristy places as long as you are careful that your handbag doesn't get snatched by a guy on a motorbike.

solerina

Awesomeness wrote: »

I did a similar route.

Hanoi, Sapa, Halong Bay, Hue, Hoi An,Nha trang, Mui ne, Saigon, Phnom Penh, Sinhoukville, Siem Riep.

I spent a total of 6 weeks. It is possible to do it in less (I spent too long in Nha trang and Sinoukville) but trying to fit it all into 3 weeks would be a bit tight. You want to be able to enjoy it and not have to rush from place to place. Also if you are flying from Cambodia flights are a lot more expensive. I got the bus to bangkok to fly home just to save an extra 400 euro.

The beach in Hoi An is nice. Its quieter than in Nha Trang and not as big though. Nightlife is better in Nha Trang. It is more dangerous in Nha Trang with pick pockets and muggings but as long as you are sensible and dont go walking alone at night you will be fine.

Any questions just let me know. Best 6 weeks of my life

Thanks, have you any recommendations for Sapa or Halong Bay, we are considering two nights in both...oh and how bad is the sleeper train to Sapa ???

Awesomeness

solerina wrote: »

Thanks, have you any recommendations for Sapa or Halong Bay, we are considering two nights in both...oh and how bad is the sleeper train to Sapa ???

I stayed in the Hanoi backpackers and did both from there. They were both 3 days 2 nights. A liitle more expensive than doing it through some of the local operators but definitely worth it. The people I met who did it differently all wish they had gone with the backpackers.

The halong bay trip is a bit of a party but you get to jump from the boat into the bay. Kayak to some of the caves nearby and then explore them and go to the fishing village. Then party on the boat for the night and spent the next day on castawy island where you can do rock climbing tubing etc.

Travelling to Sapa is not so bad. Journey in cambodia was much worse. And the homestay is a great experience. Its absolutely beautiful there.

You can book all the trips when you get there but if you would like to look it up in advance you can here.

http://www.hanoibackpackershostel.com/

Everyone there was amazing and over the course of the trip I travelled with 3/4 different groups but most of them I met there and then hooked up with later on the trip for a bit. They will also arrange airport pick-ups if you would like

rorymagory

If you go to Halong Bay, do a cruise around the islands for a few days, as Awesomeness said (I think). I wish I'd done that.

By the time I reached Halong Bay I was weary of getting ripped off so decided not to do a tour, just went to Cat ba island and thought I'd do everything my own way. Turns out it's not easy to do and CatBa isn't a very nice place.

I'd recommend the Hanoi Backpackers aswell.. The new one on Ma May street. I called in there yesterday to get somethin printed and it was packed as always.

Sapa is a must do imo.. Halong is good but Sapa really is like nothin ya've ever seen..

jadie

have to disagree with you on Hanoi Backpackers, it was the noisiest most headwrecking place I stayed in. Maybe if your 19/20 it may suit you. Also the Halong Bay tour I booked with them wasn't great-the guide was rude and his english was poor. There are much better hostels in Hanoi imo

Awesomeness

jadie wrote: »

have to disagree with you on Hanoi Backpackers, it was the noisiest most headwrecking place I stayed in. Maybe if your 19/20 it may suit you. Also the Halong Bay tour I booked with them wasn't great-the guide was rude and his english was poor. There are much better hostels in Hanoi imo

Again this will be depending on what your looking for. I did not find it overly noisy but then again I did hang out with a lot of people there so a bit of noise didnt bother me.

There are a lot of good hostels but the one thing you will find with them all that you cant know in advance who is gonna be staying there. For meeting people I found backpackers great