6 weeks in SE Asia where to go what to do?

Z

zorro

Guest
Hi

Im a newbie but please help :) ive got about 6 weeks to spend in SE asia with about 2k euro budget for this part. looks like ill be flying into to Kuala Lumpur then getting a cheap flight to bangkok. where do you think i should go and what are the must see's do's?
I really like hiking and exploring and also i want to get in a thai cooking course if someone could recommend one...
Any suggestions for accomodation in Kuala Lumpur for about 2 days
also for bangkok for about 2 days untill i find my way around.
do i need a visa for malaysia and thailand and also maybe cambodia and laos. i want to go in about 3 weeks so i may not have time for all these visa applications.

Thanks in advance
z
 
The Laos visa you could (a good few years ago) get quite quickly in Bangkok in their embassy there. If you like hiking then up around Chiang Mai would be the place to go from Bangkok.
 
you can get your visa's for cambodia/kl and thailand all at ports of entry. Loas you can also get it at the border i think, it was a few years ago that i was there. i didnt like KL, not one little bit, stayed in a 3 star hotel at the time called the citron or something like that. was nice hotel, like a jurys and cheap enough. if you want hiking i know of a few people who have done treks around northern thailand and found them beautiful. you can get a bus from bangkok or indeed a train from there to the capital of Laos, Vientienne. i think they stop at a bridge where the border is and then you go through the border get the passport stamped and then get a tuk tuk to your hotel. paid about $7 a night for a hotel, air con tele ensuite etc. etc. really cheap. nice place too, very chilled out. some nice restaurants along the river. its very hard to get round laos, not alot of major roads, most are dirt roads. if you want something extraordinary to do then look up the gibbon experience (google it) and if you can get a space and have the time then i highly recommend it. highwires run through the forests and you fly literally over the trees with the jungle spread out below you. one of the nest things i have ever, ever done on my travels. also it benefits the local communites and the local gibbon population, its a type of conservation programme.
 
Hi Zorro, I would recommend spending about 2.5 - 3 weeks in Vietnam. You could start in Ho Chi Minh and work your way north - Mui Ne, Hoi An, Hanoi. You can get a cheap flight back to Bangkok/KL from there.
 
I did a great cookery course in Chiang Mai and then I went up to Pai for some trekking. There is an outfit there - unfortunately I can't remember the name - but you trek and stay a couple of nights in the jungle with various family members of the guy who owns it. It just seemed to me like a way for the locals and his extended family to earn some cash by having some people stay overnight. We were just overnighting in a shack with the family's pigs running around outside (massive yokes). But grand and comfortable. It wasn't one where you visit 'tribes' which are artifically living there just so tourists can go visit them.
It had a western type name like trail something and it was on the same street as the bus station.
 
Ok thanks for your help so far - ive got the bones of a route mapped out.

bangkok -> chiang mai
chiang mai -> pai (trekking)
pai -> tha ton (start of rafting on mekong river)
tha ton -> chiang rai (raft)
cross into laus at huay xai (for gibbon experience)
follow river down to vientiane

then either
a)
take flight from vientiane to hanoi (vietnam)
travel south to Ho Chi Minh
take a flight back to bangkok and leave

or
b)
take a flight to bangkok and Go to some islands for a week or 2
travel back to bangkok and leave

Do you think this is possible in 6 weeks??
My only concern about option a is that i wont have time to get a visa for thailand and vietnam (leaving in 3 weeks)
ill be entering thailand twice so it looks like ill need to apply for a multiple entry visa?? Or am i ok because im flying into thailand twice so i can get another 30 days visa at the airport (so all i need to get is a vietnam visa).

Thanks

:) thinking now i should call embassy tomorrow to confirm if these options are ok.
 
I second Vietnam; I was there a few months ago, fabulous country. Was also in Thailand but I (stupidly) only stayed in a resort and a few days in Bangkok so I didn't see the country properly.

It is over 6 years since I was in Thailand and you didn't need a visa then if staying less than 30 days but maybe different now.

You get your Vietnamese visa through the embassy in London; will take no longer than two weeks between posting in the application, processing and getting it back. I sent application in by Swiftpost and had it back in a week and a half.

I think you will be able to apply for visas when you are over there too; e.g. you get a visa for Cambodia from their embassy in Bangkok. Each country have their own rules so you will have to research.
 
zorro said:
My only concern about option a is that i wont have time to get a visa for thailand and vietnam (leaving in 3 weeks) ill be entering thailand twice so it looks like ill need to apply for a multiple entry visa?? Or am i ok because im flying into thailand twice so i can get another 30 days visa at the airport (so all i need to get is a vietnam visa).
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You are correct in this assumption re: the Thai entry regulations ... as you'll be staying in Thailand less than 30 days .. leaving for a period and then returning for one more stay of less than 30 days then I believe there's no problem and no visa required for that so you only need a Vietnamese Visa

It's a good few years since I've been there but Cambodia didn't require a visa in advance .. you just paid money for a "visa" at the airport when you arrived ... Vietnam did need to apply in advance and it used to be easier to sort out in Thailand as otherwise you had to do it via their Embassy in London ... though this may well have changed now.
 
i would go for option one, be careful on the boats on the mekong river. i travelled to huay xai from a town further south on the river and they had us in a little canoe (8 of us) with the edges of the boat not coming much out of the water. they had a large car engine strapped to a tiny propellor and started to go. we got there in the end ok but the day after we met people who were on the same boats, crashed, boat sunk all bags gone to bottom of the river and they waited over night on some rocks till the next boat came along. also got the bus from hanoi to vientienne, never again. was a local bus, 24 hours in the damn thing along with bags of onions and garlic. at the time you think this is hell but looking back it was actually funny/an adventure
 
EvilDoctorK said:
Cambodia didn't require a visa in advance .. you just paid money for a "visa" at the airport when you arrived ... Vietnam did need to apply in advance and it used to be easier to sort out in Thailand as otherwise you had to do it via their Embassy in London ... though this may well have changed now.
Click to expand...

Cambodia - you can get visa at border
Vietnam - get visa in advance online using www.myvietnamvisa.com if entering via one of the 3 main airports - I used them and they are very good


Highly recommend visiting Vietnam
 
zorro said:
Hi

Im a newbie but please help :) ive got about 6 weeks to spend in SE asia with about 2k euro budget for this part. looks like ill be flying into to Kuala Lumpur then getting a cheap flight to bangkok. where do you think i should go and what are the must see's do's?
I really like hiking and exploring and also i want to get in a thai cooking course if someone could recommend one...
Any suggestions for accomodation in Kuala Lumpur for about 2 days
also for bangkok for about 2 days untill i find my way around.
do i need a visa for malaysia and thailand and also maybe cambodia and laos. i want to go in about 3 weeks so i may not have time for all these visa applications.

Thanks in advance
z
Click to expand...

I loved the hustle and bustle of Bangkok but I did not like KL (or Singapore) at all.
You could try one of the Thai islands (Samui, Phuket etc) - I loved Samui but that was 2000. Chang Mai is good and I'd also recommend Vietnam.
 
I live in China.

Beijing is worth a visit.

Langkawi in Malasia is beautifull.

Vietnam, especially the north is fantastic, though Ho Chi Minh City is a bit too americanised for me.
 
Teatime said:
I did not like KL (or Singapore) at all.


I was actually came home this week from there on holidays... and imho..

KL a day would do you there...not much in it other than the Petronas Towers.

Singapore, nice but no real life in the place.

Phuket... busy but dirty but I suppose that what you accept/expect in Thailand

Langkawi.... full of natural beauty but really quiet and again quite dirty. Lovely beach.

We also flew to Hong Kong (and Macau) which was full of life and for me the highlight of our trip.
Click to expand...
 
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You mentioned that you were looking for suggestions for about 2 days in KL. I recommend Traders Hotel, it's across a park from the Petronas Towers. The SkyBar on the top floor is well worth a visit for evening drinks. Lovely cocktails and fabulous views of the towers.

But as someone mentioned before there's not a lot else to do in KL. If you want to go to the Petronas Towers you gotta queue from about 07:30am to get one of the limited number of tickets they issue each day. Plus you can only go as far as the sky bridge half way up. If this interests you, you couldn't be better placed in Traders with it being so close.

However the KL (Menara) tower is the second tallest in the city and has great views of the city including the P' Towers. To be honest if you're there for only a day I'd go to the KL tower.
 
When you want to visit Vietnam, the first you have to apply a visa letter via one website as Vietnam visa Pro , when you go Vietnam, you will receive stamp visa at one of the 3 main airports Noi Bai (Hanoi), Tan Son Nhat ( Ho Chi Minh ), Danang ( Danang).
 
I would also recommend both vietnam and cambodia ( particularly in cambodia a visit to the temples of Siam Reap). also in vietnam I would visit both North and South to see the contrast between the 2 parts of the country.
 
check current guidelines for travelling to Bangkok also in view of current affairs going on there.
 
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