Southeast Asia forum

Looking to Fly from Sydney to Ho Chi Minh City on the Thur 27th January 2011 to start my trip. Looking for advice on itinerary, budget and activities not to miss.

Will be starting in
Vietnam for ~ 40 days - Late Jan - Early March
South to North along the usual Farang Trail, Ha Long bay tour ect

Laos for ~ 30 days - Early March - Early April
Temples, Hill Tribe tours ect

Cambodia for ~ 30 days Early April - Early May
Angkor, Siem Reap, PP ect

Thailand for ~ 80 days Early May - late July
Elephant Tours, Snorkeling, beaches/islands, Full moon party ect

Malaysia for ~ 20 days - Early July - Late July
Food, temples ect

Indonesia for ~ 30 days - Early August late August
Bali, Komodo, Gillies ect

Philippines for ~ 30 days - Early September - Early October
Whale Shark diving at Donsol, weeks rest up at Boracay island before finishing trip

Fly home October sometime from Manila.

In total that works out roughly around 260- 280 days. My total budget for this trip is $12000 AUD. working on those numbers it gives me around $42/day to spend total.

I have budgeted

$30/day - Vietnam
$30/day - Laos
$25/day - Cambodia
$35/day - Thailand
$40/day - Malaysia/ Singapore
$30/day - Indonesia
$30/day - Philippines

Adding up to around $10000 roughly leaving me with around $2000 as a splurge/ emergency fund, all flights, insurance, gear ect has already been paid for.

Any advice appreciated, I will be traveling as a basic backpacker, hostels, cheap eats ect ect. doing the main sights and stuff. I'm not a party-goer but like the odd drink.for the most part i would like to do the majority fo the tour overland, only flights im looking at outside of the flight to HCMC and home are Krabie to Kota Bahru, Singapore to Denpasar and Denpasar to Manila.

Chuck us some feedback on anything guys, open to any criticism and changes / additions