backpacking in asia

quebec

hey, so i was thinking of going to maybe vietnam or india for 3-4 weeks this summer. just wondering if anyone has done it and what are their experiences and their do's and dont's and stuff.

thanks

breadmonkey

Have you been to Asia before? I think India would be quite tough if you haven't although it would still be worth visiting. It's a huge country though so which region to visit would depend on what type of things you want to see/do.

Vietnam is a cool place but I preferred other countries in SE Asia. Lots of people rave about it though. Some nice places are: Sapa, Halong Bay and Cat Ba Island, Hoi An, Mui Ne. Can't remember any more.

quebec

I was leaning towards vietnam. Ive been to china, singapore and malaysia before, but they were with large groups of people.

In what way is vietnam set up for backpackers in comparison to going interrailing, ie do you stay in hostels etc. and is the language barrier a big problem

dory

I've been to India a good few times, what questions do you have? I've been there mostly for work so haven't explored a lot of the touristy places.
From the places I have been it's not incredibly well set up for backpackers. Only found dorm rooms in Calcutta, which are handy for getting to know people. You won't get the fun filled hostels with orange walls you'd find in South America, but it's so cheap you could get a hotel anyway. Are you going alone?

I haven't been to Goa or Mumbai which I expect would be more set up for tourists. Either way, it's my favourite country and I definitely recommend you go. Also, it's an ex-British colony so not much of a language barrier most of the time.

wowwee123

Hey, can anyone tell me if you need a visa for Vietnam if you are going for only 1 week??

dory

Projectvisa.org will tell you everything! I would check but it's very late...