SE Asia

prod_igy

Hey, am flying home for xmas from oz and am using my stopover in Singapore to see a bit of se asia for 3 or 4 weeks with a few mates in october/november. We will get the train to Bangkok and stopover in the places along the way.

How much do you reckon we could fit in in that time period? (we don't want to cram absolutly everything in in 3 weeks as we are treating it more as a holiday as we plan to come back and travel the area for at least 5 months in the future). Or more importantly, WHAT should we fit in in the 3 weeks? And, should we stopover for 3 or 4 weeks, as we would like to see a bit of Laos and maybe Vietnam aswell?
And finally, how much money would i need for that amount of time?

Neamhshuntasach

A lot of people don't like Singapore. I like it and spent 5 days there. But could easily do it in 2 nights or just the night. Little India is worth staying in.

I spent a while in Malaysia as well but you could skip through it because Thailand offers the same in beaches but Malaysia is cheaper and the people much nicer.

I'm personally not mad about Thailand. I prefer Laos and Vietnam. The party resort type islands get old quite quick. If you were just going to do the tubing and chill for a bit you could do Laos in a few days with an overnight bus from Bangkok. Getting into Laos from Vietnam isn't the easiest of routes. The easiest and quickest is probably the Lao-Bao crossing that gets you into Vietnam half way up the country. From there you can head down to Ho Chi Minh. There's a few places worth stopping off in on the way. You can do tours about the American invasion in Hue and HCM. From there you'd have to go up through Cambodia and back into Thailand if flying home from Bangkok.

3 weeks would be a really tight squeeze. Even with 4 it could be pushing it. Especially since you are starting in Singapore. Would be more practical if you flew a bit. In terms of money i find Thailand expensive. I'd easily spend 40 odd euros out in just a night there. In 4 weeks you'd easily spend around a grand or over. Well i would anyways.

picturethis

hey
if you are going to be going back to SEA for 5 months in the future then I wouldn't try cram in a load of places this time around, much better if you can do it at ease next time!!
In Thailand, the north part is more like the real Thailand, Chiang Mai is cool and you can trek up the mountains there, I did that and loved it, you get to stop at hilltribe villages and the tour guides are natives who'll show you loads of cool stuff. Also I heard fab things about Pai, I didn't go there because my visa had run out but its meant to be a great place to chill and hang out!
Alternatively if you like the beach Ko Phi Phi is a brill island, it's really laid back, the locals are so nice and friendly and it's good for drinking. The other islands are meant to be great aswell, with the exception of Phuket.

As for Vietnam, you could easily spend over a month there and tbh it was my favourite place so you could leave that til your next trip when you have plenty of time to spend there!!

Have fun