<?xml version="1.0" encoding="iso-8859-1"?>
<rss version="2.0">
<channel>
<title>Travelfish Tripreports forum</title>
<link>http://www.travelfish.org/</link>
<description>Digest of the Tripreports travel forum</description>
<pubDate>Sun, 21 Aug 2011 00:05:44 +0000</pubDate>
<language>en</language>
<item>
<title>Bangsaray</title>
<link>http://www.travelfish.org/board/post/tripreports/15397_bangsaray/0</link>
<pubDate>Fri, 29 Jul 2011 08:57:38 +0000</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[ we found an excellent place in bangsaray 20 minutes or so soth of pattaya.we finished our holiday here as we had just finished a trip around koh samet and wanted to have a few days relaxing before the trip home .this village is a fishing village only one and a half hours to the airport so no stress in getting there.we found an excellent hotel/guesthouse siamcourt really nice clean and great breakfasts the owners were great and it was vaue for money.it just finished off the holiday .we recommend bangsaray for a visit great beaches and plenty to see and do ]]></description>
</item>
<item>
<title>Help Please</title>
<link>http://www.travelfish.org/board/post/tripreports/14940_Help-please/0</link>
<pubDate>Sun, 19 Jun 2011 09:52:05 +0000</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[ We have used Travel Fish for the past three years which has been absolutely brilliant, and have visited and re-visited Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam, using all the advice and tips from you guys which has enabled us to travel for 4/5 weeks independently each time.

However, next year we would like to revisit India.  Previously when we were still working, our visits there were for 2 or 3 weeks through a travel agent but now we want to explore on our own, taking 4/5 weeks.  Any advice on travelling around Kerala (in particular) or elsewhere in South India would be welcome.  Is there a comparable website to Travel Fish for the Indian sub-continent?  If not - how about someone starting one???

All and any ideas gratefully received. ]]></description>
</item>
<item>
<title>Staying Fit And In Shape After Thailand/southeast Asia?</title>
<link>http://www.travelfish.org/board/post/tripreports/14748_Staying-fit-and-in-shape-after-thailand-southeast-asia-/0</link>
<pubDate>Tue, 31 May 2011 19:05:27 +0000</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[ Been in southeast asia for last 3 months and came back 10 pounds lighter, been trying to eat the same 'healthy' food back here, but after 2 weeks i have already put on a couple of pounds... what gives? How can i maintain my original 'arrival' weight? similar experiences? ]]></description>
</item>
<item>
<title>Ko Phayam</title>
<link>http://www.travelfish.org/board/post/tripreports/14642_Ko-Phayam/0</link>
<pubDate>Thu, 19 May 2011 12:17:58 +0000</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[ Last visited March 2011.

Ko Phayam is a small attractive island situated near  Ranong  and the Burmese border, with several nice beaches and a good supply of old style budget bungalow resorts.
But it is an island in development. When I first visited in 2006 aircon and pools were largely absent. In 2008 some had appeared. In March 2011 they were more wide-spread.
However it is still a pretty relaxed place. Often on my latest March 2011 visit I was the only person on 400m or so of beach. I've never seen a 4 wheeled vehicle on the island (but I've heard there is one working vehicle for heavy stuff). The two main beaches don't have fishing villages and so longtail noise is very limited. There are no 7/11s or fast food places in the compact ... ]]></description>
</item>
<item>
<title>Ko Phra Thong</title>
<link>http://www.travelfish.org/board/post/tripreports/14375_Ko-Phra-Thong/0</link>
<pubDate>Wed, 27 Apr 2011 11:48:18 +0000</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[ Ko Phra Thong is one of the least developed islands in Thailand from both the domestic and tourist points of view. When I visited in March 2011 there was one high end beach villa place, two budget bungalow joints with another soon to open, and a village home stay operation. Domestic activity seemed mainly confined to a couple of fishing villages. I only saw one small agricultural operation. This is the place to go for those wanting to get right away from it all.


Phra Thong  is a reasonable size at around 100 sq miles and is mainly sand deposits in the west and extensive mangroves in the east. Similar  Ko Kho Khao  is directly south and the mountainous and rainforested national park island of Ko Ra is just north. The   Surin  s are ... ]]></description>
</item>
<item>
<title>Our 9 Week Itinerary, Are We Trying To Do Too Much? All Opinions Welcome!</title>
<link>http://www.travelfish.org/board/post/tripreports/14304_Our-9-week-itinerary--Are-we-trying-to-do-too-much--all-opinions-welcome-/0</link>
<pubDate>Tue, 19 Apr 2011 19:50:26 +0000</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[ Hi

Me and my girlfriend are arriving in bangkok on the 15th of June and flying out again on the 18th of august. (around 9 weeks of travel)

(side note: where i say the number of days we are going to stay somewhere, this is only a rough estimate, this itinerary isn’t set in stone and i understand that sometimes ‘less is more’ in terms of planning)

The basic plan is a SEA loop, including:
Thailand (obviously)
Cambodia
Vietnam
Laos
in that Order.... so....

arrive in Bangkok, 2-3 days

Cambodia....
bus to Siem reap for 3 days
on to  Phnom Penh  for 1 day
kep- 3 days
sihanoukville- 3 days (possibly including an island)

Vietnam....
then on to HCMC 2-3 days, (+1 days travel)
up the coast to  Mui Ne  2 days
then..
Dalat 1-2 days
Nha Trang ... ]]></description>
</item>
<item>
<title>Luang Prabang To Sapa In July</title>
<link>http://www.travelfish.org/board/post/tripreports/14138_luang-prabang-to-sapa-in-july/0</link>
<pubDate>Fri, 01 Apr 2011 20:12:58 +0000</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[ Hello, I will be in  Luang Prabang  in July this year and hope to travel to  Sapa  inVietnam overland and incorperating a river trip on the Nam Ou between Nong Khiaw and  Muang Khua . Has anybody done this at this time of year before? Does anyone know how frequently the boats run? Also, if anyone could tell us the condition of the roads after Muang Khua it would be greatly appreciated. We are in our fifties and travelling outside of Australia for the first time and any information would be a great help. Thankyou. ]]></description>
</item>
<item>
<title>Is My Itinerary Too Ambitious</title>
<link>http://www.travelfish.org/board/post/tripreports/14122_Is-my-itinerary-too-ambitious/0</link>
<pubDate>Thu, 31 Mar 2011 13:29:37 +0000</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[ Hey, so I was unsure of which forum to post this in, seeing as to it was a little broad for any one of the country specific forums, so I put it in this one. Anyways I have two itineraries below, one is taking my time, not rushing, having an extra week or so in the Thai islands. The other one is more rushed, and a lot of movign around, but it has Laos (Luang Prabang and the gibbon experience) which is supposed to be incredible. Either way I think this trip is going to change drastically once I get over there...I am really not one for set schedules, and enjoy being spontaneous, I just had a few 12 hour shifts at work, with nothing to do, so I kind of obsessed with making the itineraries. Most of the travel between these places has been ... ]]></description>
</item>
<item>
<title>Havent A Clue!maybe Thailand-vietnam-indonesia??</title>
<link>http://www.travelfish.org/board/post/tripreports/13984_havent-a-clue-maybe-thailand-vietnam-indonesia--/0</link>
<pubDate>Fri, 18 Mar 2011 18:34:51 +0000</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[ hey guys!! hedin to oz in sept for a year bu realli wanna squeeze in a few wks travel before settlin in oz! im thinking thailand vietnam then indonesia! is this possible?? never travelled before? love to c all the main attractions an get as much in as i cud! whats the cheapest way of goin about this!! any route suggestions?? me an mi boyfrien goin!! tanx xxxx ]]></description>
</item>
<item>
<title>My SEA Trip So Far...</title>
<link>http://www.travelfish.org/board/post/tripreports/13919_My-SEA-Trip-So-Far---/0</link>
<pubDate>Sat, 12 Mar 2011 07:28:42 +0000</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[ It's 60 days in my SEA so far and I've been to:
THAILAND

-Bangkok
-Chiang Mai
-Chiang Rai
-Burmese Border (1 day)
-LAOS
-Luang Prabang
-Vang Vieng
-Vientiane
-4,000 Islands
CAMBODIA

-Phnom Phen
-Snooky-Ville
-Siem Reap

Back in Bangkok for the moment, and catching a flight to  Hanoi  on Tues. morning to travel south to Ho Chi Minh City.

These are a few of my favorite things...(do do do do do):
-Cambodia in general exceeded my expectations, theres so much to do! (Especially for a young lad such as myself). Sihanoukville's beaches were amazing! It's a great idea to take a break from the constant hassle of the vendor's by checking out the beaches down south (Otres was my favorite, but don't travel there at night). 
-If you're up for it ... ]]></description>
</item>
<item>
<title>Thailand Trip Report</title>
<link>http://www.travelfish.org/board/post/tripreports/13391_Thailand-Trip-Report/0</link>
<pubDate>Thu, 27 Jan 2011 05:31:25 +0000</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[ I am currently exploring Thailand and heading to Cambodia next week. After a hectic week in Bangkok, I am enjoying the beaches of the laid back Koh Phangan

I am keeping a blog of all my travel reports here:

http://themissadventurejournals.com/

You can also read about my year spent working in Japan, as well as my time working in Walt Disney World. ]]></description>
</item>
<item>
<title>Vietnam Part : Hcmc</title>
<link>http://www.travelfish.org/board/post/tripreports/13236_vietnam-part---hcmc/0</link>
<pubDate>Sun, 16 Jan 2011 18:29:42 +0000</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[ Well - finally got around to finishing my HCMC report - again, can also view it here. Hope you like 

Arrived on the bus to  Ho Chi Minh City  from  Can Tho  at night. Wow. There are a few motorbikes in this city, and they all seem quite intent on getting to wherever they are going as quickly as possible, regardless of who is in their way. I ended up splitting a taxi with a few people from the bus to head to the backpacker area around Pham Ngu Lao – quite sure we overpaid for the ride – make sure you look into how much taxi’s should cost and don’t let the driver try to tell you it is going to be three times that.

After paying for the taxi, I hit the streets and ended up finding a decent place to stay down one of the “quiet” side ... ]]></description>
</item>
<item>
<title>Vietnam Part 2:mekong Delta</title>
<link>http://www.travelfish.org/board/post/tripreports/13156_vietnam-part-2-mekong-delta/0</link>
<pubDate>Tue, 11 Jan 2011 00:16:40 +0000</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[ So, finished up with part 2 - hope you like. The whole thing with some pictures, again, is here 

Chau Doc

Arrived on the boat from  Phnom Penh  in Chau Doc in the early evening, accompanied by some light rain. As I did not want to go wandering around at the moment, I just grabbed the first cyclo that came up to me, who, while on the way to the hotel, decided that it would be best to continue looking back at me instead of forwards. This ended with us going head first into a pedestrian walking through the street. No one was hurt, and while the driver didn’t seem to worried about it, the pedestrian was not thrilled about the whole incident.

Arrived at the hotel after the 5 minute ride, dropped the bag off, and headed out for some ... ]]></description>
</item>
<item>
<title>Cambodia/vietnam Part 1</title>
<link>http://www.travelfish.org/board/post/tripreports/13077_cambodia-vietnam-part-1/0</link>
<pubDate>Tue, 04 Jan 2011 18:42:20 +0000</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[ Hey everyone - I recently returned from my first trip to SEA (thanks to all who helped me out planning it!), and I have decided to do a little (big) writeup of the whole thing. I'll start with part one here. I will also be posting them here: http://defaultquestions.com/ along with a few pictures, so feel free to check that out  Hope you enjoy! ...

A 4am departure from the U.S, 20-something hours of flying, and a midnight arrival at   Siem Reap  's airport. Met my soon to be tuk-tuk driver for the next couple days of temple exploration - Kat, who drove me to my hotel near the night market. Could not have been happier with the decision to pre-book this first hotel (the Mandalay Inn). A quick look around, and off to sleep.

Despite my ... ]]></description>
</item>
<item>
<title>Nong Khai To Sukhothai</title>
<link>http://www.travelfish.org/board/post/tripreports/12984_Nong-Khai-to-Sukhothai/0</link>
<pubDate>Tue, 28 Dec 2010 07:41:30 +0000</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[ When trying to find out how to get a bus from  Nong Khai  to  Sukhothai  via internet, the bus station and various other means, it was not exactly forthcoming. OK, so we did it anyway and this was how...
From the scant information we could gather in Nong Khai we managed to ascertain we needed to go to  Udon Thani  first and sort out how to get to Sukhothai from there.

The bus trip to Udon Thani cost us 35BHT each from the Nong Khai bus station. People at the Nong Khai bus station soon directed us to where we needed to buy a ticket, it was real easy. We left on the 7.30am bus hoping we might be able to get a day bus to Sukhothai (everyone we spoke to seemed to think there were only night buses). We told our bus driver that we needed to ... ]]></description>
</item>
<item>
<title>Trip From Ranong To Nong Khai</title>
<link>http://www.travelfish.org/board/post/tripreports/12936_Trip-from-Ranong-to-Nong-Khai/0</link>
<pubDate>Thu, 23 Dec 2010 10:55:11 +0000</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[ We took the bus from  Ranong  to Bangkok and picked up the overnight train to  Nong Khai .  The bus trip was great and certainly Australia and NZ companies could take a few tips on how to treat their customers well.  2 rest stops and one lunch stop.  They serve towelettes and sugary cordials and a snack during the trip.  (They might not be to your taste, but its the thought that counts!).  The bus was really comfortable.  It cost 350BHT to get from the bus station to the train station by taxi.  Upstairs there is a good restaurant with reasonable food at the train station.  Cheaper option is downstairs.  The trains.... mmmmm don't count on getting much sleep even if you have booked a sleeper.   Go the highest price if you want your own ... ]]></description>
</item>
<item>
<title>Just Left Koh Phayam - Dec 2010</title>
<link>http://www.travelfish.org/board/post/tripreports/12824_Just-left-Koh-Phayam---Dec-2010/0</link>
<pubDate>Sun, 12 Dec 2010 08:07:25 +0000</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[ Easy to get to via the pier, we took the fast boat over 350BHT and someone we had met in  Ranong  called 'Waan' had her sister from Saithong Bungalows to meet us at the pier.  Saithong Bungalows is right next door to Mr Gao's.  We got a hut right in front, and it was about 5 steps to the sandy beach.  This was home for the next 20 days.  The huts are basic but fine.  I did think the cleanliness of the bathroom was poor tho and they could have definitely done with buying a new toilet seat.  We got given one change of towels and bedding in 20 days.  However, I realise you pay for what you get and at 300BHT per night for 20 nights we had a good deal!!  If you don't like gheckos pooping on you, big spiders and other various insects, you ... ]]></description>
</item>
<item>
<title>Some Advice For 3 Girls That Never Backpacked Before....please :-s</title>
<link>http://www.travelfish.org/board/post/tripreports/12705_Some-advice-for-3-girls-that-never-backpacked-before----please---s/0</link>
<pubDate>Mon, 29 Nov 2010 23:12:12 +0000</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[ Hi,

We are three 21yr old girls planning a mega trip to Asia in January 2011 and just want some advice about arranging travel, accomdation etc...

One of us has family in India so we plan go to NewDelhi first and then train it to Nepal and then next train to Tibet - we then plan to fly to Thailand and do the whole thailand, cambodia, laos, vietnam adventure...

None of us have really backapacked before so we just wondering if it better to arrange all in uk? or arrange once in India? also is this to much? time isnt really an issue we expecting a good couple of months (aslong as we can save enough money!)
any tips or places to visit would also be very much appreciated!

also anyone thinking of going out similar time, might be nice to ... ]]></description>
</item>
<item>
<title>Our 4 Month SEA Itinerary</title>
<link>http://www.travelfish.org/board/post/tripreports/12696_Our-4-month-SEA-Itinerary/0</link>
<pubDate>Mon, 29 Nov 2010 02:46:04 +0000</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[ Hello fellow Travelfishers,
My brother and I are gearing close to the trip of a lifetime and we would be very thankful for some expert advice from some experienced travelers. Here is our rough itinerary:

Four countries: Thailand, Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia (In the order)

Jan. 10th - April 25th

$4,500 each

Thailand:
Bangkok - 2 weeks
Pattaya - 2 weeks

Chiang Mai - 4 days

Laos:
2 weeks
Luang Prabang, Vieng Vang, Vientiene

Vietnam:
Hanoi/Halong Bay - 2 weeks
Ho Chi Minh City - 2 weeks

Cambodia:
Phnom Penh - 3 days
Ankor Wat - 4 days

Thai Islands:
(Flying from Bangkok ---&amp;gt; Ko Samui)

Ko Samui - 1 week
Ko Pha Nang - 1 week
Ko Tao - 1 week

106 days total, two days for flying and 2 days are left over. These plans aren't set in ... ]]></description>
</item>
<item>
<title>Vietnam/Cambodia/Laos - Scam Report</title>
<link>http://www.travelfish.org/board/post/tripreports/12459_Vietnam-Cambodia-Laos---scam-report/0</link>
<pubDate>Wed, 10 Nov 2010 21:04:17 +0000</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[ Been back from a 5-week trip through Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos awhile now, but felt I had to report on the various scams and travel operators my girlfriend and I used.

First off - Vietnam was scam central.  We quickly learned that the more English they spoke, the easier it was for them to scam you.  No English = no scam potential.

After 22 hours of flying, and arriving in  Hanoi  at 11pm, you will be witless and vulnerable.  You are ready for a shower and sleep.  And you will do stupid things.

We were expecting a hotel pickup which never arrived.  So we're immediately scrambling for a new driver.  Found a taxi, and negotiated the price ahead of time, patting ourselves on the back for being so smart.

There is a toll gate not far ... ]]></description>
</item>
</channel>
</rss>

