2 months in Asia - advice?

globetrotter · May 11, 2009

If you haven't been much to Asia, Singapore is a great start, its like Asia light, clean neat, safe. great food. likewise, Sri Lanka is sort of like india light - a little cleaner, neater, people less invasive.

thailand is great - I would go to the east side as apposed to the west a lot more people go to the islands in the west, the islands on the east side of the gulf are very nice and mush less crowded - there are still parties and nightlife, but not the crowds that you get in places like pucket. spend time in bangkok, you can have a blast there.

I like India, but it can be heavy.

have fun

Matt · May 11, 2009

Originally Posted by kwilkinson

Maybe he should go to VN and take over for your nonexistent night life lately...

and who is going to go to Chicago to takeover for yours? (ps - ******)

Originally Posted by MetroStyles

Mat will you take me out for dinner??

sure. Absolutely. Standing offer for any inbound forumites.

Originally Posted by JustinW

Laos and some of the smaller Indonesian islands

this man has it the smarts.

Agree with this suggestion, cost you jackshit, and you will see a bunch of stuff seen by only a select few (to which I do not belong after 7 years in the region).

I'd add in Borneo to that list.

Originally Posted by Fuuma

There's one good spot and yes he can dive in a couple of place in the region. Just a pretext to visit VN, there's not 10000 things to do there...

which one? Most people dive Nha Trang, but it is pretty ordinary. Can also dive in Phu Quoc, which is decent. There was one dive company operating out of Con Dao, but they closed down.

Not to downsell Vietnam, you can have a great time here (hint...bike trip from Hanoi to Sapa as per me and tiger02 a few years back), but I wouldn't come for the diving.

Originally Posted by cchen

worth going for the food

Originally Posted by clee1982

Hum, didn't know Singapore is konwn for its food, at least no among Asian circle. It is certainly interesting and lots of fusion with Indonesian/Thailand food, but I am not sure if I would just go to Singapore for the food.

Food is about the only thing I miss from Singapore life. mmmlaksa.

B2C2V · May 11, 2009

You might want to check with airlines on those special fare for point to point within the region as long as you do not return to the same city. I know Cathay had it before, might be called "Asia Pass" though I can be wrong.

Personally I do not think you need a tour guide in China. It is not that bad and common sense applies everywhere. Likely you will be able to meet up with other visitors from US/Europe and team together, which would help.

You can find plenty of info on Jiu Zhai Gou by google it. Since you are into scenary spots, I would also suggest Guilin of China (where the movie of The Painted Veil by Edward Norton and Naomi Watts was taken)

kwilkinson · May 11, 2009

Originally Posted by m@T

and who is going to go to Chicago to takeover for yours? (ps - ******)

You know my night life. A freakin kindergartener could take over for me.

West24 · May 11, 2009

Originally Posted by kwilkinson

You know my night life. A freakin kindergartener could take over for me.

conne could take over for you!
OH NA HE DI-NT!

P. Bateman · May 11, 2009

Originally Posted by amerikajinda

Don't go to Pattaya!
Fixed. Pattaya is the garbage dump of Asia. Don't waste your time there. Worst mistake I made during my Thailand visit.

cchen · May 11, 2009

Originally Posted by clee1982

Hum, didn't know Singapore is konwn for its food, at least no among Asian circle. It is certainly interesting and lots of fusion with Indonesian/Thailand food, but I am not sure if I would just go to Singapore for the food.

are you freakin kidding me? food is amazing, cheap, diverse, and plentiful in singapore. bourdain's favorite place IN THE WORLD to eat

aleeboy · May 11, 2009

I would spend the two months based in Phuket... live it up with the fantastic food and atmosphere. The people there are really great. Air Asia is a low cost carrier which you can take to fly all over S.E Asia. If you become tired of S.E.A (i.e. Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand....) cos they are quite similar, try Korea.

Matt · May 11, 2009

Originally Posted by aleeboy

(Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand....) ...are quite similar
what a strange thing to say. In those four countries, which are basically all connected (OK, you need to take a 40 minute boat from Bintan to Singapore to join Indonesia) you have four different predominant religions, six different languages and countless dialects, five different cultures, countless skintones, hugely varied landscapes, two distinct climates, four completely different capital cities, a totally different culinary scape with each border that you cross and......... Not to say that Korea isn't completely different again - it is - but I really wouldn't go saying that Chiang Mai is in any way similar to Lombok other than the ability to purchase fake DVDs.

dizzhizz · May 11, 2009

Originally Posted by aleeboy

I would spend the two months based in Phuket... live it up with the fantastic food and atmosphere. The people there are really great. Air Asia is a low cost carrier which you can take to fly all over S.E Asia. If you become tired of S.E.A (i.e. Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand....) cos they are quite similar, try Korea.

I spent one month in Koh Samui, which is a bit less touristy then Phuket, but it's a fun place with modern conveniences and you can always try a full moon party over in Phang Nan which is an hour away by boat.

I would also recommend Kuala Lumpur and perhaps Penang in Malaysia as well.

Matt · May 11, 2009

Phuket is kind of two places in one though. Patong and Other.

Patong is a godawful hellhole. Basically Pattaya with a nicer beach. Outside of Patong, Phuket is fabulous. I normally stay on either Kata or Karon beach there - although admittedly it has been a while since I went.

I went to Koh Chang over the Lunar New Year. Peaceful, but the beaches aren't as nice as the other islands.

KL is OK.

Penang I found kinda boring.

Of the Malaysian islands, I like Redang and Perhentian the best, but those are seasonal (east coast of Malaysia) as the wet season basically sees everywhere there shut up shop.

wiru · May 11, 2009

Originally Posted by MetroStyles

Also I don't know what the cheapest way to get from Japan to mainland Asia would be...and I am thinking of avoiding planes.

There are ferries to Korea and China. iirc, they go to Kyushu (southern island).

+1 to the Laos suggestions. I enjoyed the few weeks I spent there. Not a lot of amazing tourist attractions or anything, but a beautiful country and a nice, low-key experience.

johnapril · May 11, 2009

Rangoon.

lefty · May 11, 2009

I would go to Singapore for the food.

To some extent, a beach is a beach whether it's Thailand or Vietnam, so if I had two months in SE Asia I would spend three to four weeks in India, a week on the east coast of Bali and maybe five days on each end of the trip in a major city, especially at the end to recover from India.

India will change your life.

lefty

MetroStyles · May 11, 2009

Originally Posted by lefty

I would go to Singapore for the food.

To some extent, a beach is a beach whether it's Thailand or Vietnam, so if I had two months in SE Asia I would spend three to four weeks in India, a week on the east coast of Bali and maybe five days on each end of the trip in a major city, especially at the end to recover from India.

India will change your life.

lefty

Why do you say that? Won't I just get explosive diarrhea for a month?

I kid, I kid. Seriously though, why India in particular? I wasn't planning on it.

2 months in Asia - advice?

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