Southeast Asia forum

Some help with where to start!

djkeith

newbie
Posts: 3

Hey,

I've decided to quit work and travel round the region for three months and have booked a flight to KL. Ideally I would like to start in Laos, and take in Cambodia, Vietnam and finish in Bangkok and have looked at the region itinerary on this site, which looks extensive and was wondering if anyone else had tried this one out and if so, how worth while they found it? I love old architecture and seeing the sites as well as spending time drinking a beverage on a beach!

In terms of budgeting, I was thinking of £3,000 excluding flights there and back, which I presume will be a bit excessive? I've only ever travelled Europe which can be quite expensive so I was wondering what a good 'yard stick' would be when preparing my budget. I'm thinking of mixing it up between hostels and the odd nice hotel if needed

Any help would be gratefully appreciated.

Thanks

#1 Posted: 15/12/2011 - 17:34
chinarocks

tuk tuk driver
Posts: 190

djkeith - US$35 a day for SE Asia on average will be loads, more like $25-$30 if you eat locally from street stalls and do not party excessively.

If you land in KL then your options (with Air Asia) as to where to start your trip from are endless. I think in your timeframe, a good plan may be to fly to Hanoi and do the following (roughly):

Vietnam - 3 weeks
Cambodia - 2.5 weeks
Laos - 2.5 weeks
Thailand - 3 weeks
Kick back on an island - 10 days

Only a rough idea. Also, check out if you'd like to go to Myanmar, somewhere a little off the beaten track but well worth the trip. If you were to go there you would need to scratch one of the above, i.e. excluding the island at the end, do not try and do any more than 4 countries in 3 months.

Best of luck.

#2 Posted: 16/12/2011 - 02:57
inspiredbyk-
rissi

tout
Posts: 68
inspiredbykriss

For me its hard to say an average budget but i think its important to remove any expectation of prices where you live or have travelled before. Start these again and you will see Asia having the potential to be extremely cheap.

Change your mindset and the country becomes cheaper. For example, in Thailand a beer for 120B is cheap when compared to European standards. However, in Thailand and Asia, this is incredibly expensive as a beer in many bars in Chiang Mai can be bought for around half that rpice. This is the same for food, souvenirs etc. Remember, different country, different value.

Have fun, and i guess the good old LP with give you good daily budgets.

Happy (and cheap) travels

#3 Posted: 23/12/2011 - 03:20

------------------------------
A mindful traveller, perpetual wander, part time meditator and newbie blogger
rhiannon1988

newbie
Posts: 2

Hi all,

I've just seen this and am also planning a second trip to southern Thailand this time next year and am trying to plan a route. I’ll hopefully be there for about 6-8 weeks. I have been before but I started in Bangkok and headed straight to Koh Chang the last time.

I want to visit the south this time and would like to do some island hopping and visit as many different places as possible.

Has anyone does this or something similar? If so, which is the best travel plan/route to go for?

I’ll most likely be flying to Phuket and starting there and should have a budget of around £1000-1200.

My main interests once there would be elephant trekking (I have found some in Krabi , Phang Nga, Phuket and Khao Sok), snorkelling (I’ve heard Ko Tao is ideal for this), jungle trekking etc. If possible I’d like to visit Phang Nga Bay, Krabi and surrounding islands. I'd like to experience the local culture too.

Also I want to avoid tourist-heavy areas as much as possible, although I know this is probably pretty difficult.

Thanks for any help/advice you can give

#4 Posted: 5/1/2012 - 08:28