Southeast Asia forum

Lone female traveller - Dont know where to start!

charliescot-
t86

newbie
Posts: 1

Firstly I just wanted to say how great this site is – but I think it may have overloaded me.

I am going to be travelling across SE Asia I don’t really want to plan more than my flights and stays in each country

For example

Cambodia 4 weeks
Laos 4 weeks
Thailand 4 weeks
Vietnam 2 weeks

I would rather wander around but is there anything I should do in one country / place that I shouldn’t do in another ie: I don’t want to visit 40 buddah if there is just 2 great ones if that makes sense.

This will be my first time travelling and like I said I am female (aged 22) and planning to travel alone.

My estimated budget for the trip is £1500 approx (£15 ($30) per day) excluding flights, will this be enough / what will I get for this?

Any advice/tips would be much appreciated.

#1 Posted: 23/7/2008 - 03:44
SBE

mahout
Posts: 1734
Located in:

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Sounds like a decent plan though Vietnam is long and thin so you might need a bit more time there.

Your budget should be enough to get you a decent GH, food, the occasional excursion and transport if you don't move on every day and don't drink too much.

Things to do. Well just a few thoughts to start the ball rolling.

Cambodia... the temples in Angkor Wat are totally different from Buddhist ones elsewhere and the S21 war museum in PP is a must see IMO.

Laos. Luang Prabang of course. Then if you want to do jungle trek stuff it is (was?) a bit less heavily commercialized around there than Thailand's Chiang Mai for example.

Thailand. Best country of the four for beaches I think. Bangkok is manic and overwhelming at first but rarely boring .. a strange eclectic mix of old and new. And it's remarkably safe. Khao San Road is not *Thailand* BTW. ;-)

Vietnam...haven't been there yet! ;-)

#2 Posted: 23/7/2008 - 15:15
daawgon

som tam seller
Posts: 552

In my opinion, 4 weeks each in Cambodia and Laos is really too much time whereas 2 weeks in Vietnam is not nearly enough for this wonderful place!

#3 Posted: 24/7/2008 - 01:00
idreamofdur-
ian

som tam seller
Posts: 561
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Unless you're keen on getting very far off the beaten path or taking it very slowly, 4 weeks in Cambodia and Laos is quite a bit. I didn't enjoy Vietnam as much as Cambodia or Laos, but the other posters are correct that 2 weeks isn't enough time if you want to go the whole stretch from Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City. Bus travel in these 3 countries is very, very slow.

If you only want to hit the major temples try these:

Thailand: Ayuthaya or Sukhothai for the ruins (they're rather similar, Ayuthaya is much closer to Bangkok though), Wat Phra Kaew in Bangkok, and Doi Suthep (temple on a mountain) in Chiang Mai

Cambodia: you can see the highlights of the Angkor Wat complex in one day, none of the temples I saw in Phnomh Penh were anything spectacular

Laos: the city temple in Vientiane is nice but can be skipped. The temples are one of the highlights of Luang Prabang and you'll see them just exploring the city.

I started traveling in SE Asia when I was 21 and never had any problems as a solo female traveler.

Enjoy Asia!

#4 Posted: 5/9/2008 - 23:59

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