Bali & Asia-must sees, avoids & advice wanted :)

kate07

I'm currently in Australia, and was planning on doing a while backpacking Asia on my way home. I have to go to Vietnam & Cambodia, they look stunning, I also want to spend some time in Thailand. A mate here was saying to visit Bali and looking at pictures it looks stunning, flights don't work out much different. Someone told me recently that travelling these countries wouldn't be safe for a solo female....should I just book tours instead? I feel this would restrict me somewhat...anyone done this route with a good Iteniary I could work off? Any 'don't miss' places? I will be leaving Australia in September.

AgileMyth

Absolutely no reason to be worried travelling those countries alone. You're never alone for long there anyway!

They're all good places to see so just get the cheapest flight to any of them and take it from there!

kate07

Thanks, that was my original plan...but then people say it's not safe!! safety hadn't entered my mind until then, but suppose there's always people who have something negative to add!

Ahhhhh its grand

They're no less safer than travelling alone anywhere in the world to be honest. Just the usual...watch your belongings carefully.

I've traveled around Asia a couple of times. I got a bus from China to the boarder of Vietnam. I then traveled down Vietnam, and into Cambodia. From there I jumped across to Thailand. I then got a cheap flight from Thailand to Hong Kong (think it was 50 euro), and after that another cheap flight to the Philippines (about 80 euro)...didn't go to Bali.

So if you can get a cheap flight to any of Vietnam/Thailand/Cambodia its very easy to make your way in and out of the other 2. Flights between countries in South East Asia are generally cheap when you're only going one way...usually less than 100 euro, so you really can go anywhere you want and in whatever order you want. Just get onto skyscanner and see which routes works out the cheapest for you.

Dunford

My own experience....vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand are amazing and safe. The anly place I felt unsafe was Phenom Pen. Bali I found to be a dump with super aggressive street hawkers. Id never fo back to Bali. Ive been around Indonesia and it was my least favourite country. But thats just my experience.

The Thai, Cambodian and Vietnamese people are very nice and friendly in general.

Enjoy!

rockthecazba

Nothing to worry about in Bali, spent ten days solo in ubud earlier this year with no difficulty. One of the most beautiful places I've been too. I spent six months in Asia, and as one poster said your not on your own for long, especially the Thailand, Cambodia, Laos Vietnam trail. Just be smart, don't get crazy drunk or leave your stuff lying around and you'll be fine.

kate07

Ive been hearing very mixed reviews on Bali, im slightly tempted to reconsider but I think Id regret it! The pictures look stunning

con1982

kate07 wrote: »

Ive been hearing very mixed reviews on Bali, im slightly tempted to reconsider but I think Id regret it! The pictures look stunning

Ubud is nice. Try gili islands beside bali.

Ed_Stephens

Don't miss Bangkok, Phnom Penh, Angkor Wat and do one of the Thai islands maybe Ko Samui. Stay a few nights in Bangkok, use the short haul airport Don Meung(DMK) to fly to Phnom Penh with Air Asia for a cheap flight, get the return bus to Siem Reap to see Angkor Wat(spend at least 4 days here) it will cost about 20 dollars return. There is an airport in Siem Reap but it's restricted with the amount of airlines that fly in and out of it so you'll have more options to travel onward from Phnom Penh. If you want a cheap option for a Thai island get a bus from Bangkok to Phuket, takes ages but you'll see a lot of the country and it's dead cheap!

kate07

Would you spend much time in Phuket or just go straight to the islands? Also, any advice on Chang Mai? I was going to get the over night sleeper train from Bangkok...

Ed_Stephens

kate07 wrote: »

Would you spend much time in Phuket or just go straight to the islands? Also, any advice on Chang Mai? I was going to get the over night sleeper train from Bangkok...

Phuket is an island with lots of nice beaches but it is handy to get from there to a few others on day trips. How much time to spend there is up to you, you can do a tour of the main sites in a day after that its how much time you want to spend exploring beaches and villages. Chiang mai has a much different vibe to the rest if Thailand and can be colder too, it does attract a lot of the Asian guided tour groups. It is pretty cheap to fly there which is a good option as the train is over ten hours.

Justis4Harambe

Hi there,

I'm flying out to SE Asia at the end of next month for thee Winter and am looking to visit Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Thailand. Just wondering if you guys would think that the extra expense of travelling south to Bali would be worth it? Running off a strict enough student budget here but have heard mixed reviews as whether to fit places like Seminyak and Ubud in or not.

Thanks!

Tipperary animal lover

Justis4Harambe wrote: »

Hi there,

I'm flying out to SE Asia at the end of next month for thee Winter and am looking to visit Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Thailand. Just wondering if you guys would think that the extra expense of travelling south to Bali would be worth it? Running off a strict enough student budget here but have heard mixed reviews as whether to fit places like Seminyak and Ubud in or not.

Thanks!

Stick with the counties your heading to give Bali a miss, Bali is to the Aussies as Spain is to the Irish, I'd give extra days in Vietnam it's a fantastic country

duffman13

I would echo the sentiments in here. Asia is very safe including Bali. I was there for a couple of weeks back in May and it was one of my favourite places to visit. Simply avoid Kuta in Bali island which is Australia's version of Santa Ponsa. Stay in Seminyak initially and then get down to Uluwatu and Ubud (about 2 hours drive from Seminyak) you can also get a cheap trip over to the Gili Islands (about another 2 hours on the boat) id highly recommend it, I stayed in a hostel called New Capsule in Seminyak and it is really set up for solo travellers. You'll meet tonnes of solo female travellers too and Seminyak is a good starting point.

Vietnam, Thailand and Cambodia are very well set up for backpackers and you'll have a great time! I'd recommend not going with a tour company, its too rigid and will cost more.

As someone said to me your only ever really a solo traveller till you arrive in a hostel! Safety is honestly not going to be an issue in any of the countries unless you do something stupid (drink driving)

duffman13

Justis4Harambe wrote: »

Hi there,

I'm flying out to SE Asia at the end of next month for thee Winter and am looking to visit Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Thailand. Just wondering if you guys would think that the extra expense of travelling south to Bali would be worth it? Running off a strict enough student budget here but have heard mixed reviews as whether to fit places like Seminyak and Ubud in or not.

Thanks!

I really enjoyed Bali and most people I've meet have said the same, people make presumptions but if you avoid Kuta then Bali is a great place. Seminyak, Ubud, Uluwatu, Tanah Lot and Gili Islands are all worth a visit. Return flights from Bangkok to Bali are not to bad at about 120 return but Bali is more expensive than the likes of Vietnam so if the budget is tight then give it a miss