Itinerary help: Manila-Visayas-Borneo-Sulawesi-Hanoi
Replies: 5 - Last Post: Jan 12, 2013 11:24 AM Last Post By: vinnnn
jump to
Itinerary help: Manila-Visayas-Borneo-Sulawesi-Hanoi
Well, I just booked the tickets. This will be our third trip to southeast Asia. We did the Thailand thing, we saw a decent amount of Indonesia (Java, Bali, Lombok, Sumba, Flores), and last year we went to Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos. Here's what we know so far: we're flying into Manila and out of Hanoi with 40 days in between.Here's the rough route:
1. Manila to the Visayas / Cebu.
2. Travel south to Mindanao with the intention of getting to Sulawesi...
3. Heard there's a ferry from Zamboanga to Borneo
4. Then another ferry from Borneo to Sulawesi
5. Bounce through the Tongean Islands for a bit and eventually end up in Makassar
6. AirAsia to KL from Makassar
7. AirAsia from KL to Hanoi for about 3 nights (been there, love it)
We love beaches, we usually end the night with beer on the beach. We like to travel by ferry and would like to do that as much as possible. We'd rather spend our times hanging out with locals playing charades than meeting westerners or hanging out in backpacker dives. We're really not into trekking (well, I am, but my wife isn't). We love snorkeling. We also have gone on different 2 - 3 days tours and have had a few good experiences with those. We generally only stay in the same place for a night or two, or if we like it, maybe 4 nights.
Questions:
1. Do you have advice on how to travel that route? Places to catch ferries? Bus routes and ways to break it up so we don't have a 20 hour bus ride? Places where we just need to suck it up and fly? - airline suggestions welcome.
2. This gets asked a bunch, but is there a way to fly from, say Davao to Manado and clear customs there? Ferries seem to be the recommended way. Or can we fly from Davao to Makassar? Borneo might be cool, but I think it's a Pelni ferry from there to Sulawesi (=expensive). They probably only sail that route once every two weeks or so.
3. Do you have suggestions for things along the way we have to see?
4. Any recommendations for any guides who do nice day tours?
(Here's the thinking on the Hanoi thing, since someone will likely think that's odd: by the time we gradually get further south it gets harder to get back to Manila, to the point where we're probably flying AirAsia or Silk Air or something, which will just route us through KL or Singapore. From there, the ticket back to Manila is about the same as Hanoi, so we might as well go see some friends and go back to one of our favorite cities.)
2
If you are not intending to go to Palawan in the Phils then close to Cebu I would say Dumaguete (Whale Sharks) and Malapascua (Beaches, laid back and Diving with Thresher Sharks).Not sure about the ferry to Borneo and then on to Sulawesi but if you have never used them in Phils and Indo then good luck. They are grat experiences as a one off but quite exhausting...
http://www.everydaysomewhere.com/2011/08/infamous-pelni-boats-ambon.html
We did Sulawesi from South to North and from Manado took a flight out to visit Banda and Kei islands which are highly recommended. We have loads of photos and stuff on our blog:
www.everydaysomewhere.com
3
Looks to me like you've got too much packed into your trip, especially as you want to travel by ferry. I just spent 37 days in the Phils and other than my last week on Mindoro I was on the main island of Luzon, north to south the whole time. I don't think you've factored in the traveling time.You also need to boil this down and ask more specific questions, perhaps not all at once and in the Philippine Forum for that portion of the trip as well.
We love beaches, we usually end the night with beer on the beach. We like to travel by ferry and would like to do that as much as possible. We'd rather spend our times hanging out with locals playing charades than meeting westerners or hanging out in backpacker dives. We're really not into trekking (well, I am, but my wife isn't). We love snorkeling. We also have gone on different 2 - 3 days tours and have had a few good experiences with those. We generally only stay in the same place for a night or two, or if we like it, maybe 4 nights.
You could have a very nice 40 day trip if you were to visit 3 regions in the Phils. Starting with Luzon (including Palawan) the Visayas and Northeastern Mindanao. The Philippines are all about the beaches.
4
Those are all good tips. Thanks guys! Palawan definitely sounds like we need to add to the itinerary. Northeastern Mindanao also sounds really good.. looks like we're on the right path.Thus far my wife has been focusing on the "in country" items. I've been focusing on looking for airfare and the general route. As far as 'packing too much in'. We've traveled a lot, so we know our pace well. In general, we travel about twice as fast as most people. I do realize that travel can be slow and there's some bits, such as overland Sulawesi, that are probably very unpredictable. I think what we've got planned feels about right. The Borneo / Sulawesi part is something we're going to have to think about more.
Anyone got a pirate ship we can borrow?
5
I'm going to reply to my own thread, partly to give it a bump now that the forums are back and partly to go over what I've learned since then.I'm not sure we're going to do this route, but figuring out how to do it took some time. This seems like a nice way to go from the Phillippines to Sulawesi. (For reference, the simplest / most affordable seems to be AirAsia or Cebu Pacific from Manila to Kuala Lumpur and then Lion Air from KL to Manado.) One route we're considering is:
1. Cebu Pacific from the Phillippines to Kota Kinabulu, Malayasia - on Borneo.
2. Overland to Tewau, stopping to see orangutans along the way.
3. Overland to Terawan, crossing the Indonesian border.
4. Possibly overland down the coast, possibly stopping at Derawan.
5. Get to Balikpapan and fly Lion Air to Manado.
6. Pull the ripcord at the end and fly Lion Air to KL, then KL to Hanoi.
