Tips and advice for travelling to India/Thailand/China/Japan?

[Repta]

Im heading out to thailand in 10 days, spending 3 months travelling Thailand, Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia.

This is the rough route im going to take: Bangkok -> Kanchanaburi -> Bangkok -> Koh Toa -> Koh Pha ngan -> Bangkok -> Chaing Mai -> Luanphrabang -> Vang Vien -> Vientiane -> Pakse -> Si Phan Don -> Vietiane -> Hanoi -> Hue or Hoi An -> Nha Trang -> Saigon -> Phnom Penh -> Siam Reap -> Battmabang -> Bangkok

www.seat61.com is a great website and check out www.gapyear.com full of good info just can be a bit hard to find some of it.

Im budgeting £1500 from that, including doing doing open water padi and a good few dives

 

[Skull]

Freeman, what's the realistic sort of budget that you're going to have to do all this?

 

[JBuk]

Im heading out to thailand in 10 days, spending 3 months travelling Thailand, Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia.

This is the rough route im going to take: Bangkok -> Kanchanaburi -> Bangkok -> Koh Toa -> Koh Pha ngan -> Bangkok -> Chaing Mai -> Luanphrabang -> Vang Vien -> Vientiane -> Pakse -> Si Phan Don -> Vietiane -> Hanoi -> Hue or Hoi An -> Nha Trang -> Saigon -> Phnom Penh -> Siam Reap -> Battmabang -> Bangkok

www.seat61.com is a great website and check out www.gapyear.com full of good info just can be a bit hard to find some of it.

Im budgeting £1500 from that, including doing doing open water padi and a good few dives

£1500 for 3 months seems quite low

 

[MikeTimbers]

JBuk I work for an oil and gas engineering company.

I used to work at SPRC in Maptaphut! Small world...

 

[Paul11]

i would say if you are going to thailand also go to the islands..

koh samui, koh phangan and koh tao for me was the best part of thailand.

 

[Repta]

£1500 for 3 months seems quite low

Yeah its very low but ill be staying in dorm rooms and eating from street stalls so its possible. Ive got a fair bit more money saved so if i get bored/run out of money i have a back up

 

[Skull]

Yeah its very low but ill be staying in dorm rooms and eating from street stalls so its possible. Ive got a fair bit more money saved so if i get bored/run out of money i have a back up

Assuming that the 1500 isn't to pay for your flights as well, you should be alright. £16 a day isn't bad, especially when a lot of the time you will be wandering around looking at stuff, which doesn't cost money. Unless your legs and eyes are coin-operated. £1500 will get used up and you might enjoy yourself more if you don't have to worry about saving 5 baht all the time, but you'll have a great time either way.

 

[Repta]

Assuming that the 1500 isn't to pay for your flights as well, you should be alright. £16 a day isn't bad, especially when a lot of the time you will be wandering around looking at stuff, which doesn't cost money. Unless your legs and eyes are coin-operated. £1500 will get used up and you might enjoy yourself more if you don't have to worry about saving 5 baht all the time, but you'll have a great time either way.

Thats doesnt include flights and if i think im missing out on things with that budget ill just be moving some money from an isa to help out. Though it would be nice not to have to.

 

[Inquisitor]

Feel free to ask if you need clarifications on anything. Hope it helped: )

What's the monsoon season like exactly? I'm going to northern India in a couple of weeks, which isn't ideal timing for it, but being a student it's the only opportunity I really have until after uni. We're going to be staying in the Himalayan foothills for a couple of weeks, and will then be going to the Himalayas themselves for some trekking I think, and then going southward for a couple more weeks. Just want to know what I'm in for

 

[JBuk]

Yeah its very low but ill be staying in dorm rooms and eating from street stalls so its possible. Ive got a fair bit more money saved so if i get bored/run out of money i have a back up

Thats doesnt include flights and if i think im missing out on things with that budget ill just be moving some money from an isa to help out. Though it would be nice not to have to.

With the PADI and a few dives its gonna take a big chunk out of that £1500

I didn't find the food there all that cheap due to the baht been quite low against the £ and prices rising in general

 

[Repta]

With the PADI and a few dives its gonna take a big chunk out of that £1500

I didn't find the food there all that cheap due to the baht been quite low against the £ and prices rising in general

Yea its going to take about £300 out but get all accommodation and food included in that so it isnt that bad. Ive set myself such a low budget so i have to try and be sensible with my money. Im aware its cutting things very tight

 

[Skull]

Even on the islands you can still get a dish for about £1

 

[Thomas. PLease.]

With the PADI and a few dives its gonna take a big chunk out of that £1500

I didn't find the food there all that cheap due to the baht been quite low against the £ and prices rising in general

Go to indonesia, i paid £180 for my PADI, and that was one on one tuition. One dive we were sat on top of an old shipwreck doing mask clearing etc!

I went travelling briefly last year, I had a university field trip in malaysian borneo researching in the primary rainforest. Me and some friends flew out 4 weeks early, and did bangkok, koh phagnan, kuala lumpur, puluah weh, bali, and some of borneo. Was immense, but was such a quick trip. I'm definetly going to go again next year and stay for a while longer.

In total i think i spent about £2000 including flights.

a chance to show some pics!

 

[panthro]

Hi there,



When you say cost of living is very low... how much did you spend per day-ish?

Sorry, missed this one. Depending how you eat, you can survive easily on THB 200 a day, which is around £4. However you need to factor in getting your laundry done, how much you eat, alcohol, etc. Its still relatively cheap.

 

[Sudden]

What's the monsoon season like exactly? I'm going to northern India in a couple of weeks, which isn't ideal timing for it, but being a student it's the only opportunity I really have until after uni. We're going to be staying in the Himalayan foothills for a couple of weeks, and will then be going to the Himalayas themselves for some trekking I think, and then going southward for a couple more weeks. Just want to know what I'm in for

Hmm. Not hte ideal time at all, lol. Coming upto peak summer really. But foothills of himalayas so might be a lot cooler up there if it is, then you should be fine.

The monsoon is, well, very variable. Heavy rains means sates get flooded etc. You won't be able to move out of where ever you are and be lucky if that place isnn't water clogged. Most cities aren't really great with infrastructure for that so gets completely get clogged up. Also very constant rain. But given by your timeline, you I think might just about miss the monsoon (depending on when it is this year) and be there towards the end of summer. Which might not be too bad.

All in all, pack an umbrella If not for the rain, then against the heat. Though you will look very touristy with it since it's only women who usually use that for the heat, hehe.


On a side note, your plan sounds like lots of fun Let me know how it goes.

 

[Inquisitor]

Hmm. Not hte ideal time at all, lol. Coming upto peak summer really. But foothills of himalayas so might be a lot cooler up there if it is, then you should be fine.

The monsoon is, well, very variable. Heavy rains means sates get flooded etc. You won't be able to move out of where ever you are and be lucky if that place isnn't water clogged. Most cities aren't really great with infrastructure for that so gets completely get clogged up. Also very constant rain. But given by your timeline, you I think might just about miss the monsoon (depending on when it is this year) and be there towards the end of summer. Which might not be too bad.

All in all, pack an umbrella If not for the rain, then against the heat. Though you will look very touristy with it since it's only women who usually use that for the heat, hehe.


On a side note, your plan sounds like lots of fun Let me know how it goes.

Oops. I actually meant I'm going there in a couple of months, not a couple of weeks Planning on getting there around the 7th of July, probably leaving 17th August! I guess this means it'll be cooler but wetter?

 

[panthro]

I used to work at SPRC in Maptaphut! Small world...

We got a few projects out here, as we've been established in Thailand for about 50 years now. Im working on an LNG project destined for Australia; we build all the modules here in bits, then ship it to Aus for assembly!

 

[Feef]

a chance to show some pics!

Loving that last photo. Also agree with the diving in Indonesia part

I've been travelling in Thailand and India, and currently live in China, so feel free to hit me with any specific questions on backpacking about the places. I've done a fair bit of travel within China, so can help out with the major destinations at least.

Piece of advice number 1: Don't come to the city I live in (Dalian), Chinese people rave about how awesome it is, but it's really kindof dull. Piece of advice number 2: Prepare to be lost, dazed, and confused when trying to do anything. More people are learning English, but it's generally still pretty limited. I came here 3 years back without any Chinese, and was completely lost. If you want to do any serious travelling outside of big east coast cities, you might want some basic Chinese. That said, it's not quite as straightforward as picking up some phrases in French.

Don't want to scare you off coming at all, it's a great place to be, just a bit of a challenge sometimes. But hey, that can be part of the fun

 

[tom_nieto]

I recently went to Japan and it was above and beyond my expectations. I've been to the far east before but this was completely different and brilliant. Everything about the place from the people to the cities to the food was fantastic. We started in Tokyo, took the bullet train to Kyoto, unfortunately didn't have enough time to really look around properly before heading up Mount Koya to stay in a monastery.

The only thing is that it's really expensive, especially at the moment as the exchange rate is rubbish. I was hoping to find some camera bargains, but things were actually a bit more expensive than in the UK. Food wasn't too bad, and if you're self catered I doubt the prices would concern you at all. Eating out gets a bit steep, even out of Tokyo. The Bullet train is unbelieveably expensive if you're not prepared for it. I'm glad we went on the fastest train, but apparently the thing to buy is a JR pass which gives you enormous freedom to travel about the place on anything except the really flash trains.

Otherwise, I loved the fact that the Japanese people were so welcoming, I didn't get ripped off once, despite not being able to read anything and pointing at things on menus. They love to party well into the night, drinking and karaoke. People are more than happy to drink with you and try out their English, they seemed genuinely interested about who we were and where we were visiting. Perhaps that's because I was with girls though.

I also found that Japan was still very much for Japanese people. Even such a large city as Tokyo wasn't as cosmopolitan as I was expecting. Be prepared to stick out like a sore thumb and look very touristy. This isn't a problem mind you, as I have said before people are really nice. Not much crime against the person either, I didn't feel worried at all about carrying my camera around at all hours.

I spent 7 nights there, which was nowhere near enough. I could quite easily have spent 3 weeks, and would definitely return given the chance.

I've only been to Phuket in Thailand, so don't really feel qualified to talk at length about it suffice to say it's beautiful but a lot seedier than Japan. I was a bit young to experience the night life there, but the diving was brilliant.

I hope you enjoy your tour! Buy a good camera, you won't regret it. I bought one for my elective and have some amazing photos which I'll have for the rest of my life to remember it by. Seriously should be part of your initial budget.

 

[Sudden]

Oops. I actually meant I'm going there in a couple of months, not a couple of weeks Planning on getting there around the 7th of July, probably leaving 17th August! I guess this means it'll be cooler but wetter?

Ah, right. Yea, pretty much But cooler is relative. Still be pretty hot if you're not used to it. As an example, when I went in July last year, pretty much needed to have an A/C on in my room almost constantly.

Cooler just means you won't melt if you step outside hehe