Southeast Asia: Organised tour (Intrepid) or Wing it?

Mr.Prodston

Hi, myself and one/two friends are planning on going to Southeast Asia for around 2 months/10 weeks in February. Flying to Bangkok and doing a loop from Bangkok, Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos, Thai islands, Malaysia and Singapore.

My main query comes in whether or not to do a somewhat organised tour or to just wing it ourselves? We will all be 22 year old males just graduated from college so not afraid to rough it a bit. We have been looking at Intrepid travel for maybe part of the trip, especially for Cambodia, Vietnam and Laos.

Of course a DIY would be cheaper. However for the peace of mind of having accommodation and transport organised would it be worth the probable additional €500 cost (Ball park figure). I guess it's the opportunity cost and a personal preference but any advice would be most welcome.

Any other advice/tips for such a trip would be most welcome

Tipperary animal lover

Go solo lad, if you like some place and want to stay a night or two longer you can, with intrepid your have to move on as the rooms are booked else where.
If I was you I'd start with Singapore first and work your up through mayalsia-Thailand-Laos-Cambodia into Vietnam. Fly from Hanoi back to Singapore and home, that way your not back tracking.
Laos Cambodia and Vietnam are really cheap, you'll get accommodation easy enough in all the countries, just look for rooms outside the city/town centres.

Mr.Prodston

Cheers, yeah that does seem to make sense alright. I'd imagine we won't really know how we feel about a place til we get there anyway. I reckon we'll certainly do most of it solo. Might be nice half way through to have a guide just as a change of pace and some extra companions.

I'd say it'll depend on what kind of deal on flights for where we arrive, Bangkok would be first choice as I think it would be better to have the Islands/more relaxing part of the trip in the second half. When I said loop I meant do an Indochina type loop and then head south of Bangkok which makes sense I think.

Everywhere I look people just say they found accommodation when they arrived at a place. Maybe I'm a little cynical but can it be as easy as showing up in somewhere like Laos/Cambodia?

Yes, it's that easy.. These countries aren't the wildwest you have imagined in your head. And in such a short timeframe, you're not going to get anywhere outside of the tourist trail so it's very easy.

Met one Intrepid tour and they were so thankful we went out with them cause they were so sick of each other. You're 22, not 65.. My advice would be to drop the mates and do it properly.

Mr.Prodston

Ok thanks, that sounds more encouraging so. Yeah unfortunately it'll only be a whistle stop tour due to budget and what not. That in itself makes a strong case for doing it solo alright. Kind of toying with perhaps doing a short Intrepid tour perhaps from Ho Chi Minh through Cambodia to Bangkok. Certainly won't be doing a full loop with them. If there's 3 of us anyway it will become immediately less daunting. 9 days with them wouldn't be so bad surely.

I have come across something of a Vientianese knot though i.e how to get from Vientiane to Hanoi. The flights seem like being roughly 130/150 and have heard plenty horror stories about 24/30 hour bus.

That bus has improved a lot and the horror stories come from a few years ago I think. I've done it 3 times. First time was a legendary trip on a local bus which was such a laugh that we got off in Hanoi and were like "do it again?". The other two were tourist buses and were as good as a 24 hour bus could be.. It was a visa run so I did the trips like 4 days apart.

Be aware that as of right now, Vang Vieng's party is over.. The government came in very very hard and closed the whole thing. I spent a mental week there tubing and loved it but I think it's a good thing it's closed.. I very nearly drowned on my last day and people die there constantly. Way way more than reported.. Still an awesome place to visit for scenic beauty. Stop off, do some caves and rent motorbikes.

Since Vang Vieng isn't a place to get stuck in anymore, you're talking 2/3/4 days in Luang Prabang, a couple in Vang Vieng and most people skip straight through Vientiane, Laos can be a very short trip now if you don't go around the north a bit or go south to 4000 Islands and Cambodia. I did 11 days in Vientiane but I'm one of the few who really likes the city..

For Vietnam, I've no idea where to start so I'm not going to right now.. Gonna watch Mad Men instead. I'll fill in some info here again.

Mr.Prodston

Thanks, really appreciate the advice. Yeah ok by the sounds of it that bus seems more of an option now. Plus if there are tourist buses running now then it should pretty straightforward, as you say as much as a 24 hour bus journey can be. I reckon being 6ft2 will certainly not be to my advantage while over there.

Yeah I saw that about Vang Vieng alright, I wouldn't be too concerned about those regulations. They have to be a good thing, I mean it's all well and good having fun but with people dying there's no choice plus the photos that I saw of the area looked great. Yeah I reckon we'll give Vientiane a day or two alright. Laos just looks really cool.

Well I guess the general plan for Vietnam would be to go from North to South using the trains and stopping off along the way. Probably something like Hanoi/Halong bay/Hue/Hoi An (My Son)/Nha Trang/Mui Ne/Ho Chi Minh and then onto Phnom Penh. I get the feeling that we're being very ambitious with what we want to do and the time we're allowing, essentially 40 days give or take for the loop. I don't want to cut anything out though at the same time

rtw

South East Asia is by far the easiest place I have ever been for solo travel! I would definitely do it solo and I am saying this having both solo travelled and taken a group tour. Hostels will arrange your buses, in a lot of places a mini bus will pick you up outside, drop you to your main bus and when you get off the bus (in Vietnam anyway) a complimentary taxi will take you to accommodation. So much easier than say getting trains around Europe.

I did nine weeks and in that time saw Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia and KL...I felt that I wasn't too rushed but wouldn't have wanted to speed things up anymore in order to see more...depends on yourself though! I would say 3 weeks in Vietnam minimum, I did 3.5 and wished I had more!! Enjoy!

p.s. sad I skipped Laos now if tubing is finished!!!!! SEA is changing fast so enjoy!

Mr.Prodston

rtw wrote: »

South East Asia is by far the easiest place I have ever been for solo travel! I would definitely do it solo and I am saying this having both solo travelled and taken a group tour. Hostels will arrange your buses, in a lot of places a mini bus will pick you up outside, drop you to your main bus and when you get off the bus (in Vietnam anyway) a complimentary taxi will take you to accommodation. So much easier than say getting trains around Europe.

I did nine weeks and in that time saw Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia and KL...I felt that I wasn't too rushed but wouldn't have wanted to speed things up anymore in order to see more...depends on yourself though! I would say 3 weeks in Vietnam minimum, I did 3.5 and wished I had more!! Enjoy!

p.s. sad I skipped Laos now if tubing is finished!!!!! SEA is changing fast so enjoy!

Would you have to book the hostel/guesthouse a day or so in advance or show up and hope for the best? Just out of curiosity who did you do the tour with and where did you go? It's reassuring to see everyone say that it's very doable solo.

I think it'll be just over 2 weeks in Vietnam they way the planning is going at the moment and 8/9 weeks overall.

Yeah I see that China are in the process of building a huge train network through Laos which will be finished in 2015 apparently also.

fuddy1

Its so easy to do SE Asia booking everything yourself.....way cheaper too.
We usually booked a guesthouse on the internet the day we were getting on the bus/train/plane to a new place. You can easily get somewhere to stay when you arrive but as I was travelling with my lil sis I just wanted extra peace of mind that we had a bed for at least the first night in each new place.
We used hostelworld.com when booking places to stay. Dunno if its still the same but when we used them they didnt apply any extra credit card charges to our card as it was Irish card and they are Irish company.....been a few years tho!

I'd never book an advance except for the Full Moon Party... Ya get a way better feel for the place once you're there.

Mr.Prodston

I think we'll probably book somewhere in Bangkok for a night or two before we arrive. Most likely a decent-ish hotel just to ease into things. After that I guess we'll just see how things go from then on. One of the lads can only do half of the trip so we'll most likely be meeting him in Hanoi.

Then progressing down through Vietnam, over through Cambodia and onto Bangkok to get to the Thai islands. Getting from the islands to Malaysia seems like another little hurdle. Flights be the best option I wonder?

In terms of flights getting to Bangkok would booking through Emirates be better or worse than Travel agents or any other sites? Emirates seem like the best option, we'll probably stop in Dubai for a day or two on the way as well.

Four of a kind

Wing it bigtime dude. Book your first nights accommodation in advance where ever your flying into and then just find places as you travel around. S.E Asia is just superb in general. Am seriously considering moving there next year.

Mr.Prodston

Right time to update/bump this thread a bit.

Flights are booked for 13th of Feb to Dubai/Bangkok and return via Singapore 2nd week of April. We have decided to do it solo without any travel company as it really would be too expensive plus just more interesting to do what we want, when we want withing reason.

The plan is to stop off in Dubai for just under 48 hours on the way to Bangkok and work our way up through Chiang Mai and on to Luang Prabang. With a very heavy heart decided to skip VV and Vientiane and fly straight to Hanoi where myself and my friend will meet our 3rd friend who will be with us for rest of trip. Work our way down Vietnam and on through Phnom Penh and Siem Reap/Angkor before getting back to Bangkok.

Will fly down to the western Thai islands/Krabi area. Will probably give ko phagnan and the eastern side a miss as we'd be arriving right at full moon time and after shenanigans at new year don't really want any of that hassle. Fly to KL and get a train to Singapore before going home.

If anyone has any tips/advice or anything else to add on anything I would be delighted to hear?

kevo0489

hi prodston, im doing a similar trip to yourself except im doing the islands first. was just wondering how much u think u will need per day on your trip. have never been to thailand or asia and was just wondering how much to budget myself?

Mr.Prodston

kevo0489 wrote: »

hi prodston, im doing a similar trip to yourself except im doing the islands first. was just wondering how much u think u will need per day on your trip. have never been to thailand or asia and was just wondering how much to budget myself?

I'm not too sure really, aside from any transport costs I reckon in most of Vietnam/Cambodia/Laos and mainland Thailand will be €30 a day and that could be a lot. I'd expect accommodation to come to roughly €15 maybe. Although the Islands/resort area and Kuala Lumpur and Singapore will have Irish prices for most part.

It'll depend on what level of comfort and what you do during the day really, I guess we'll find out when we get there :pac:

Hidalgo

Go solo. You really shouldn't even need to do do much prepping and organising. I just did Cambodia, Vietnam and Thailand a few years ago, didn't even book any tour or accommodation in advance of anywhere beforehand.

You'll see most of the popular tours/touristy spots advertised in almost every hostel

Hidalgo

Vietnam was my personal favourite. Did Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh in 7 days as time was tight. An open bus ticket from Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh should be somewhere from $40-60. Some of the beaches around Hoi An and Na Trang are class.
Beautiful country.

Mr.Prodston

Hidalgo wrote: »

Vietnam was my personal favourite. Did Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh in 7 days as time was tight. An open bus ticket from Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh should be somewhere from $40-60. Some of the beaches around Hoi An and Na Trang are class.
Beautiful country.

I think we'll have just over 2 weeks in Vietnam. Really looking forward to it, everyone says it's a lovely country. I think we'll probably be using a few night trains to do a lot of the long distance travelling. That's not bad for bussing the length of a country Vietnam's size though!

Planning to do Hanoi, Halong Bay, Hue, Hoi An, Nha Trang and Ho Chi Minh before moving onto Phnom Penh.

Hidalgo

Mr.Prodston wrote: »

I think we'll have just over 2 weeks in Vietnam. Really looking forward to it, everyone says it's a lovely country. I think we'll probably be using a few night trains to do a lot of the long distance travelling. That's not bad for bussing the length of a country Vietnam's size though!

Planning to do Hanoi, Halong Bay, Hue, Hoi An, Nha Trang and Ho Chi Minh before moving onto Phnom Penh.

Your getting all the main spots in so.
Halong Bay and the Cat Ba islands are class, great trip.

If you,ve time and the money, think about getting suits tailored in Hoi An, supposedly the best place to get them, there's loads of tailors in the town. Supposed to be better quality and cheaper than Bankok.

Night trains are probably a better option than buses, that said i got a few hours on the overnight buses. Its close to being in a bed once your not overly tall. Anything over 6ft and it's fairly tight for legroom. I'd imagine its easier sleep on the trains. I only got a hostel the morning I arrived in a new town, never had any hassle.

Do a tour of the Cu Chi tunnels before you leave Ho Chi Minh.

I just got my visa for cambodia at the border along the Mekong Delta.

You can't (or not while I was there) exchange Vietnamese Dong outside of Vietnam so best exchange it before leaving Ho Chi Minh, having US dollars is a handy option, they're accepted for most hotels/hostels, tours, travel etc. Easier than having a few million dong

La_Gordy

Aye and dollar is needed for Cambodia anyway. My advice for Cambodia is unless you REALLY LOVE temples, don't stay in Siem Riep for more than 3 days. The actual city is very touristy and doesn't really have much going on. Your time would be better spent somewhere like Kampot.

If I were you I'd spend the absolute minimum amount of time in Singapore. It's a culture vacuum and generally just awful. KL is supposed to be nice but a bit pricey. Other parts of Malaysia are really great though, especially Malacca.

Hidalgo

La_Gordy wrote: »

Aye and dollar is needed for Cambodia anyway. My advice for Cambodia is unless you REALLY LOVE temples, don't stay in Siem Riep for more than 3 days. The actual city is very touristy and doesn't really have much going on. Your time would be better spent somewhere like Kampot.

If I were you I'd spend the absolute minimum amount of time in Singapore. It's a culture vacuum and generally just awful. KL is supposed to be nice but a bit pricey. Other parts of Malaysia are really great though, especially Malacca.

I did the temples in 1 day, thought it was enough esp if your on a tight timeframe.

Whats Kampot like, much to do/see etc.?

Mr.Prodston

Hidalgo wrote: »

Your getting all the main spots in so.
Halong Bay and the Cat Ba islands are class, great trip.

If you,ve time and the money, think about getting suits tailored in Hoi An, supposedly the best place to get them, there's loads of tailors in the town. Supposed to be better quality and cheaper than Bankok.

Night trains are probably a better option than buses, that said i got a few hours on the overnight buses. Its close to being in a bed once your not overly tall. Anything over 6ft and it's fairly tight for legroom. I'd imagine its easier sleep on the trains. I only got a hostel the morning I arrived in a new town, never had any hassle.

Do a tour of the Cu Chi tunnels before you leave Ho Chi Minh.

I just got my visa for cambodia at the border along the Mekong Delta.

You can't (or not while I was there) exchange Vietnamese Dong outside of Vietnam so best exchange it before leaving Ho Chi Minh, having US dollars is a handy option, they're accepted for most hotels/hostels, tours, travel etc. Easier than having a few million dong

La_Gordy wrote: »

Aye and dollar is needed for Cambodia anyway. My advice for Cambodia is unless you REALLY LOVE temples, don't stay in Siem Riep for more than 3 days. The actual city is very touristy and doesn't really have much going on. Your time would be better spent somewhere like Kampot.

If I were you I'd spend the absolute minimum amount of time in Singapore. It's a culture vacuum and generally just awful. KL is supposed to be nice but a bit pricey. Other parts of Malaysia are really great though, especially Malacca.

Cheers for all the tips. I just googled the Cu Chi Tunnels and they look well worth a visit alright. I would love to get a suit in Hoi An too, certainly worth the investment I'd say. Probably wouldn't quite go for the snazzy numbers the Top Gear lads got :pac:

Well due to time/financial restrictions we can't really fit in anything more. I'd say We'll have 2 days in Phnom Penh and 3 in Siem Reap before moving on. Would love more time in Cambodia/Laos/Thailand but I think Vietnam is worth doing properly. Would happily spend another week in Laos, the place looks beautiful.

Yeah we'll probably only have 2 and a half days in Singapore. We'll probably splurge on Universal Studios and the Zoo/Night Safari at the end of the trip. Finding somewhere to watch the United vs City on April 6th is a priority too :pac:

If your friends are on for it, ye should buy bikes and drive Vietnam.

Hidalgo

Deleted User wrote: »

If your friends are on for it, ye should buy bikes and drive Vietnam.

You'd want your head clued on driving over there, the rules of the road are fairly liberal. Moped gives right of way to cars and cars give right of way to buses.

Tipperary animal lover

you can only drive in vietnam if you have a vietnamese driving licence.... loads of people have seen the top gear show and would love to do the same, you never here of the many daily deaths on the roads and the amount of bribes westeners have to pay to the police .... just stick to the taxi's planes and trains, transport is dirt cheap also your insurance wont cover you if you have a crash while your driving......

Theresalwaysone

Tipperary animal lover wrote: »

you can only drive in vietnam if you have a vietnamese driving licence.... loads of people have seen the top gear show and would love to do the same, you never here of the many daily deaths on the roads and the amount of bribes westeners have to pay to the police .... just stick to the taxi's planes and trains, transport is dirt cheap also your insurance wont cover you if you have a crash while your driving......

You can definitely drive with no Vietnamese driving license, and most likely will never be stopped. I drove for 9 months and wasnt stopped once in Hanoi. The police, by and large, arent bothered stopping people.

If you have no helmet then your chances of being stopped are much higher and a bribe might be needed. I have never heard of anyone being stopped and needing to bribe though, and again, I was in Vietnam for a while. Wear a helmet anyway, dont be an idiot.


The rest is correct about Insurance, the cost of travel and the amount of deaths.

Theresalwaysone

Hidalgo wrote: »

You'd want your head clued on driving over there, the rules of the road are fairly liberal. Moped gives right of way to cars and cars give right of way to buses.

Biggest Vehicle has right of way. Indicators arent used. Horns are used as a warning and to make people aware of road placement.

Its crazy.

solerina

I know its winter in Vietnam but if the weather wasnt looking too bad when you get to Hanoi I would consider including Sapa...we went up on the night train spent 2 days in Sapa and came back on the night train...it was fantastic and had some great pubs where were met some amazing people !! Hue isnt really worth a visit unless your really into historical buildings (i thought I was but found Hue dull...only good bit was going over the Hai Van pass to go to Hoi An -look up the Top Gear Vietnam special)...Hoi An was lovely..we used night trains to get about..they save you a nights hotel cost and you dont waste a day travelling either so win, win !! When we got to HCMC we booked a trip to the Cu Chi tunnels with the Sinh Tourist, we went in the afternoon when it wasnt very busy (better idea so you can see everything properly)..cost about 3 euro for the trip. We spent about 28 euro per night for 2 of us to stay in 4 star hotels with breakfast included....so its really cheap (everything is but we did think Hoi An was a little dearer than other places)...you should include a few days in the Mekong (we did 2 days again with the Sinh tourist, it didnt include any off the beaten track places but we were short of time, cost 20 euro and included 1 lunch, 1 dinner, 1 breakfast and overnight in a fab hotel with a pool..plus all the bus/boat/tuk tuk etc rides)..you can add and extra day and it will take you onto PP IN Cambodia !!!
We spent 3.5 weeks travelling from Hanoi to HCMC and it was amazing and not nearly long enough !!

Hidalgo

solerina wrote: »

I know its winter in Vietnam but if the weather wasnt looking too bad when you get to Hanoi I would consider including Sapa...we went up on the night train spent 2 days in Sapa and came back on the night train...it was fantastic and had some great pubs where were met some amazing people !! Hue isnt really worth a visit unless your really into historical buildings (i thought I was but found Hue dull...only good bit was going over the Hai Van pass to go to Hoi An -look up the Top Gear Vietnam special)...Hoi An was lovely..we used night trains to get about..they save you a nights hotel cost and you dont waste a day travelling either so win, win !! When we got to HCMC we booked a trip to the Cu Chi tunnels with the Sinh Tourist, we went in the afternoon when it wasnt very busy (better idea so you can see everything properly)..cost about 3 euro for the trip. We spent about 28 euro per night for 2 of us to stay in 4 star hotels with breakfast included....so its really cheap (everything is but we did think Hoi An was a little dearer than other places)...you should include a few days in the Mekong (we did 2 days again with the Sinh tourist, it didnt include any off the beaten track places but we were short of time, cost 20 euro and included 1 lunch, 1 dinner, 1 breakfast and overnight in a fab hotel with a pool..plus all the bus/boat/tuk tuk etc rides)..you can add and extra day and it will take you onto PP IN Cambodia !!!
We spent 3.5 weeks travelling from Hanoi to HCMC and it was amazing and not nearly long enough !!

The one thing to be wary of in Sapa is if you want to go hiking in rainy season, any flash flood could mean hikes are postponed for a few days.

Not sure how often that happens though, but worth keeping in mind.

Mr.Prodston

As exciting and unreal an experience it would be we won't be biking it. Not a fan of driving my Feshty around the place here at the best of times so the only stains I want to be worrying about are from sweat :pac: We wouldn't have time either.

Sapa looks like it would be worth a visit as does the Mekong delta but we can't fit in everything. I'm still disappointed at actively deciding before hand that Luang Prabang is the only part of Laos I'm seeing but by skipping some places we'll at least get to spend a respectable amount of time in a few others.

As it stands I'm really looking forward to seeing all these temples and historical buildings but I know the novelty will probably wear off, but Angkor Wat should cap them off. The amount of love that Vietnam is getting is making me excited now though