I will soon be taking the overnight train from Chaing Mai to Bangkok. From Bangkok I would like to catch a minibus to Klong Koi in Ko Chang, avoiding the bus at Ekemai and the subsequent transfers. I'm aware of that service from the airport, however, it is a long way from the train station. Does anyone know of a starting point closer to the train station? Thanks
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2
lucapal
2.5 weeks is not a lot,but you can fit in a 3 stop trip......Bangkok,Siem Reap and a Thai island...flying between them.If you really want to squeeze down your time in each,you could even fit in Chiang Mai (personally I wouldn't,but its possible).There are plenty of cheap flights.
Its a good idea not to try and fit in Laos and Vietnam too..you really haven't got the time ;-)
6
nutraxfornerves
San Francisco CA to Reno, NV (220 Miles/3.75Hours/stop inSacramento)
>Why Sacramento? What about someplace like Calaveras Big Trees, or somewhere around Tahoe?
@flagstuff, they are taking I-80. Calaveras & Tahoe are not on the route. Sacramento makes sense for a lunch break or just a rest stop.
To cornmuffin--stay away from Old Sacramento. Parking that truck will be a nightmare. The main highway 80 will detour around Sacramento. If all you want is lunch, pick some likely looking joint you can see from the freeway. If you'd really like to explore Old Sac, find a place where you can park and take transit, get an Uber/Lyft or a Jump Bike.
7
lifesupport
Delhi > Fly to Udaipur > Fly to Jaipur (or do the drive and split over 2 days) > Train or Drive to Agra > Train to Delhi > Fly to Varanasi and then fly back to Delhi.
The only problem with this plan is the UDR-JAI leg. There is no direct flight to my knowledge, and if that remains the case then you need to tranist through Delhi - I can see one connection with Air India that has a total flight time of around 5 hours - which is pretty reasonable - but you will need to take shortest travel time possible.
unfortunate as the Agra night train to Varanasi would make more sense but have to think about what I can do now.
I wouldn't rule out taking a car from Agra to DEL and catching a flight to VNS. That may be a better alternative for you.
The only negative is leaving Varanasi and Taj until the end.
Not really a negative, simply good logistics. The positive reason not to do Varanasi early in a trip is one's potental for culture shock - much better to paddle in the shallows before diving into the deep end.
Knowing our luck
As Gautama Buddha said "With our thoughts we create the world". I'll send you a PM.
39
endtimesreport230734
Well in that case I strongly doubt your claims of "tens of thousands" of Taiwanese, Japanese, Malaysian and Singaporean visitors. Highly, highly doubt it as these are not risk-taking nationalities who like to get themselves into trouble. Perhaps the occasional visitor from these countries has visited, but hardly lots of them.
Besides, why of all places would they choose to visit a militia run town like Mongla? A place which is barely mentioned in any guidebook, and when it is, it's got a negative spin to it?
For those who like casinos, much better to visit Singapore or Macau. Or Sihanoukville (although that's becoming a pretty dodgy town now) or even the Kings Roman casino in the golden triangle [on the Lao bank]. Reportedly you can even find prostitutes and dine on endangered wildlife there too, and it's much easier to access (plus Laos is considered a much safer country overall than Myanmar).
I would place my money on the fact that 99% of all foreign visitors to Mongla are mainland Chinese and have always been mainland Chinese. I know in the past (about 10-15 years ago) there were occasional Thai tour groups and as recently as 3-5 years ago you had the occasional motorcycle caravans with Thai, Malaysian, Singaporean and western expats who live in Thailand as participants but there were probably only a couple of such caravans in the history of Mongla. Seeing it's a "dead end" with no access to China from here, there is little point in coming. Far more caravan tours would travel from Tachilek to Kengtung and then across highway 4 to Taunggyi (and vice versa) than bothering with Mongla. You can see this by going on Burmasenses.com where many types of self-drive tours are offered, none of which take in Mongla.
mikolaj_konior734685
Hello,
I am starting soon my trip across Asia. The first stage is to cycle from Ho Chi Minh in Vietnam to Mandlalay in Myanmar.
My planned route: Ho Chi Minh - Phnom Penh by Bavet - Siem Reap - Battambang - border crossing in Pailin - Pattaya - Bangkok - Mae Sot - Mandalay.
Could you advise me on safe routes to pick on this route?
Are the following roads safe:
Ho Chi Minh - Phnom Penh main road
Phnom Penh - Siem Reap (maybe better to choose southern route via Battambang and go to Thailand by Paoypet)
Route from Bangkok to Mae Sot - big question?
Mae Sot - Mandalay - I plan to use road no. 5.
Any help greaty appreciated ;)
Mikolaj
8
Underthehill
Hi guys
Sorry for the vague question however it appears this hasn’t been asked recently so could I please have your help:
We are visiting Thailand in 2018 December, visiting Chiang Mai, Ao Nang, Phi Phi, Patong and Bangkok and could I please have a rough guide for prices? I understand Chiang Mai is a lot cheaper than Patong/ Phi Phi however prices for:
Local beer (bars) - estimate
Local spirit and mixer (bars) - estimate
Local street food - estimate
A more “western” meal - estimate
We have visited Bali recently, would you say prices are similar?
Beer - large Heineken 72 baht 7/11. Bars 100 baht.
Street food 40 to 60 baht average size meal
Western food I never eat it. It's usually 200 to 500 baht.
The biggest costs are hotels and tours. Hotels are rip off in December. Tours are expensive in Chiang Mai not cheap.
CM has songthaews for 30 baht though. There is a good food court on level 4 of Maya Mall with Northern and Southern food.
The night bazaar area is choc full of foreigners with loads of crap for sale
Patong/Phi Phi are tourist ghettos. Lanta and Trang islands are nicer.
davidk
My friends and I are heading overland to northern Vietnam from Laos. When we left Chiang Mai the smoke was bad but tolerable. In Vientiane it was worse and Luang Prabang was worse still. Now we're in Nong Kiauw and the air is nearly unbreathable, with ashes falling all around us, and terrible visibility. In 38 years of Asia travel, I've never seen anything like this.
How is northern VIetnam right now? We were planning to head to Dien Bien Phu., Sapa, and maybe Ha Giang. Can anyone there chime in? Is there any relief ahead? If not, we might totally change our plans. It's really bad here.
fns_k
Hi guys, I need your help.
I wanna go one Sunday to Damnoen Saduak Floating Market. I've read that buses/vans depart from Bangkok South bus terminal (Sai Tai Mai), right? Then I would like to visit Mae Klong railway market:
1. How long does the bus from South Terminal to Damneon take, how much does it cost, and someone knows what time is the earliest departure?
2. Once in Damnoen how much is the boat tour?
3. How can we get from Damnoen to there?
Thanks in advance for your help!
cabs985
In September-October 2019 we will be coming to Vietnam for four weeks for our third time. Friends who have never been there will join us for at least the first part of the trip. After a couple days in Hanoi we'll spend the next 14 days with our driver/guide (from previous trips) up North in HaGiang province (seeing the rice fields and ethnic villages) and slowly go all the way to the Ban Gioc waterfall before heading down to the Ninh Binh area for around 4-5 days. We also will go on an overnight Halong Bay boat trip with our friends (we've done it, but will do it again). We would have liked to take our friends to see the Hai Van Pass, Hoi An and An Bang Beach (we've been there) but have read here on the TT that the weather is horrible there in October. We have already been to HCMC and the Mekong Delta and we’re not plannning on returning to those spots although it might be an idea for our friends. We've also been to Mai Chau and Pu Luong and don't think we'll head back there. We're looking for ideas of where to go for our remaining week(s). We haven't been to the highlands, nor the southeast coast or any of the islands. We are not too fond of beaches; a couple days would be more than enough. We're "flashpackers" and travel mid-range (no overnight bus rides or train rides! Domestic flights are fine). Any ideas or recommendations?
Thanks, in advance.