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Trip recommendations!! 3 weeks in august
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| 3 weeks SE Asia Trip in August 2013: Advice, Help! ... By libbyeab on 6 Feb 2013 | 1 | 921 | 8 Feb 2013 |
farkkraf
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Hello..!! I hope somebody can help me plan a trip around SEA!! I want to take my partner on a 3 week trip around Asia in August time, dates are fixed so can only go between the 5th and back no later than the 24th. I have 2 friends living in Hong Kong so I definitely want to visit there for at least 4 days at some point in the trip! Budget isn't a problem but want to keep things reasonably cheap.
I was thinking of flying out to Asia and making our way to Hong Kong and then flying back from there, either that or fly out to HK and doing the reverse. I also wanted to visit Bangkok as well, cant go to Asia and not visit the iconic Bangkok!! Other than that I have no idea where to visit and what is feasible in the time scale. I don't want to be arriving at one place and start packing my bags to set off for the next. I would be happy to only visit a handful of places and really enjoy them but it would be equally enjoyable to turn the trip into a bit of a road trip and travel about a bit as long as we did not spend the majority of the trip on a plane / bus.
Nothing is fixed so I am open to any ideas, recommendations or advice!
#1 Posted: 17/1/2013 - 05:40
somtam2000
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OK, lets start with what are you interested in? And you're not allowed to say a bit of everything
Beaches/mountains/trekking/clubbing/cities/villages/food/culture etc?
If you can give a bit more information can give some useful suggestions. For example in three weeks ex-HK you could spend say a week in one part of Vietnam, one in Cambodia and one in Thailand (with flights between of course)...
Cheers
#2 Posted: 17/1/2013 - 07:37
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farkkraf
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Haha ok.. well I am tempted to thrown the e********g word (exept trekking) in there! The holiday is mostly to relax and unwind so food / cultural / beaches would be the most important. The beach isn't a must as long as there is some water nearby as I have heard there are some beautiful villages on lakes and such! A bit of clubbing would be nice as well, I am thinking we would get that in Bangkok but I have heard the full moon party in Laos is good I believe? We are more in the chill out couple stage so not into the hardcore partying scene anymore although it would be nice to have the option at a couple of destinations! Its probably really hard to advise with what I have given so if you could throw some suggestions and a couple of options out there it would be appreciated, to give us a bit more of an idea on what is available and fun to do!
#3 Posted: 17/1/2013 - 12:09
caseyprich
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Well, as the direction of your trip is a bit tough to say - I'd recommend ending in BKK as you can get cheap flights there. You can also start and end with HK, I usually find buying a return ticket for long-long distance to be best; but for argument sake we'll say into HK out of BKK. If you start with 4 days in HK I'd recommend flying down to HCMC after that and maybe checking out the Mekong Delta for a homestay or something as it sounds like you want to see villages and such. Take a few days to go up the Delta and enter Cambodia along the Mekong heading up to Phnom Penh for more city life. After that you can head up to Siem Reap to see the World Heritage Site - Angkor Wat. I'm thinking you'd be at the end of 2 weeks there.
HK 4 nights
HCMC 3 nights
Mekong Delta 3nights
PP 3nights
Angkor Wat 3nights
At this slightly slower pace you'll have only 5 days left . . . which would probalby press you for time if you want to both stop at say Ko Chang to enjoy some time on an island and hit up BKK. But if you play it by ear, you may find you leave HCMC or PP early or make it through the delta a night quicker and then you do have time for that. I think after the traveling you'd enjoy at 2 or 3 nights in a beach bungalow before heading into BKK.
#4 Posted: 17/1/2013 - 19:20
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千里之行，始于足下
farkkraf
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Thanks..!! That was just the kind of info I was looking for!! I will have a research of those places and see what they are like.
How safe is it to travel around? I am ok but my partner is a little worried at going to less touristy places. Also can you just turn up at a destination and get accommodation fairly easy or would I need to make reservations before hand?
Thanks
#5 Posted: 18/1/2013 - 08:19
caseyprich
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All of these places are touristy enough to be safe - just watch for pickpockets and accept being overcharged by the occasional tuk-tuk or taxi. As for the Mekong Delta, maybe research homestay first, as the best ones thrive on positive reviews and the worst ones will stand out - just be prepared that way.
Other accommodations, I don't think you'll need to worry about. There are two schools of thought on this: 1) if you want a strict schedule because of your short travel, you may as well book ahead if you find some place you'd really like to stay on Agoda or the such 2) if you want to play it loose you don't really want to book anything ahead and there are large 'accommodation ghettos' that any driver will take you directly too and you can just wander around there looking for a room.
I'm going on a trip to Cambodia soon and for example I've booked Siem Reap accommodation ahead as I wanted to be a little out of the center and February is peak season. However, for the rest of the trip I"m just going to play it by ear, arrive with a few names of places that I'd like to stay in the same neighborhood and just wander around looking for a spot (for such a plan I recommend backpack and not rolly-bag).
#6 Posted: 18/1/2013 - 20:55
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千里之行，始于足下