Where to go?
Hi everyone. We are thinking of going to SE Asia for a holiday in January 2013. We have never been to Asia so thought we would like to go for a holiday. We are in our 40's. At first we were thinking of Burma, but recently it looks like they are having a massive influx of tourists and it looks really expensive, there also seems to be a struggle to get accommodation so we are having second thoughts. Because we have never been to this part of the world its hard to gage where would suit us best. Any advice on first timers to SE Asia?? We cant decide between countries like Laos and Cambodia, and Thailand and and even India. What appealed about Burma was for 3 weeks we could go sightseeing in week one, trekking week two and beach week three. Ideally we would like to stay at 3 different locations and have lots of day tours from each location to keep us busy. Any suggestions from travellers to this part of the world.1
Burma is lovely but is getting busy with tourists and Jan. will be peak season, sightseeing in 1 week will be very rushed. For 3 weeks Cambodia may well suit you although for beaches Thailand is better. Laos is also fine but has less big atttraction and takes a while to get around and no beaches. For first timers I would pick Cambodia or Vietnam. Or 2 weeks Cambodia and 1 week Thailand.3
For a first time to Asia, I definitely recommend Thailand. The itinerary above is nice, but if you go to Thailand and skip the beaches you're missing a lot. Here's the itinerary my wife and I did and loved it:- BKK
- Chiang Mai - did a 3 day tour with Scorpion Adventures out of the Red Brick Guesthouse - definitely recommend it
- back to BKK
- train to somewhere, to ferry to Ko Tao
- Ko Pha-Ngon (might not be your scene)
- through Semarang to Khao Sok
- down to Krabi
- over to Ko Phi Phi
- to Ko Lanta
From there we went through Hat Yai, took the ferry to Langkawi, Malaysia, ferry to Penang, train to Kuala Lumpur, flight back to BKK.
You could turn that on it's head, hit the islands first, then go up north. Depending on your comfort level and time, then decide if Laos is worth going to.
Bangkok makes a nice, central location to get in and out of.
Since then we went to Indonesia and this year we're going to Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia. I'm glad we've chosen the trips we have and we definitely wouldn't have be comfortable landing in Thailand and then ending up in Laos a couple days later.
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It is not so much the numbers of tourists but lack of Hotels and Guesthouses that is the main problem, I imagine that January is going to be packed out. Yes Laos has more tourists but is possible to get away from quite easily and apart from Vientiane had no problem getting a room anywhere, even in LP in December was easy. Went to some areas where I did not see a tourist for 5 days. I was hoping to go back to Burma this year but Im not sure it is worth now, I certainly wont be going in Dec/Jan.6
I was there again this January...more tourists than I had seen before in Inle but nowhere near as many as at other destinations mentioned in Laos Cambodis and Malaysia Trekking from Inle , not to Kalaw, we met no other tourists in 3 days...a vilage headman told us that 10 visitors had passed through in a year....Mrauk u was quiet,...go cycling into the countryside...you wont meet anyone and locals will be very surprised to see you...miles and miles of deserted beaches in Ngwe saung...visit the vilage at evening time an you would see most of the tourists at the restaurants...most would be at the same one, never more than a dozen or so ..Didnt have a problem finding rooms anywhere...It isnt as cheap as it was thats for sure but "really expensive "?It also helps to travel " outside of the box"7
I agree that is possible to get away from the hordes but there are still problems in Yangon and MAndalay esp. at the cheaper end of the market. if I go back I will be going to some more off beat places as I have been to Burma twice already. I hear Mrauk U is quite busy now as the boat goes nearly everyday. When I went I could not even find one other person to share a boat.
