Southeast Asia Trip - Who's Been?

davinci

davinci

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Planning a trip to Southeast Asia in June for the first time and plan on backpacking to various cities/islands.

Can anyone give me any tips and recommendations such as:

- Best travel deals

- Cities to visit

- Places to stay

- Food to eat

Some places we're thinking about travelling to are:

- Vietnam

- Singapore

- Philippines

- Thailand

- Taiwan

- Hong Kong

- Maybe Japan / Korea
 
+1 for Taiwan since I'm Taiwanese :lol:



Also been to Pattaya once over the summer for a couple days. Really fun.
 
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- Singapore: Cleanest and nicest city I've ever been to. I wouldn't mind living here if it wasn't so damn hot and humid all the time, but I guess you would get used to it. Not a whole lot of tourist things to do; it's a small city and it's a place where you treat yourself to a luxurious life for a day or two and then go back to your regular life :lol: Everything is very expensive for Asia standards. When I visit my family here, I book a room at the Marina Bay Sands to splurge on myself for a day before I end up joining them later :lol:

- Thailand: Only been to Phuket recently (Bangkok MANY years ago). Party town that can get old quick. Lots of annoying bar girls/prostitutes everywhere, but it's a crazy time out. I'd suggest staying at hostel, meeting similar travelers, and doing things as group (not because it's unsafe, but there just isn't much to do by yourself). Check out the Big Buddha statue and take a boat trip to Koh Phi Phi if you're there for a while. Surprisingly, the best Indian food I've ever had is in Phuket (restaurant name is ICC). The Thai food here actually is not that great, since this is more of a touristy area and they try to cater to white people's tastes.

- Taiwan: Just went to Taipei a few months back. Food is amazing (and cheap!!). You can get amazing, clean street food for $1.50-$2.00. Every morning I went out, I would grab a dumpling and soy milk for $1.50 for a quick breakfast, and then get one of those amazing pancakes for $2 later in the day (not sure what it's called; I just pointed to what I wanted on the menu). Even eating at a nice restaurant only comes out to $10-15 at most. One of the most efficient metro systems I've experienced. It's a very walkable city (but then again, most cities in Asia are) so eat as much as you want and burn it off throughout the day.

- Hong Kong: Love Hong Kong as well. Extremely easy to get around, good food, but expensive like Singapore. One of the best looking skylines in the world, so definitely check out Victoria Peak. Nightlife is cool too. Lan Kwai Fong area is :pimp: bars are very expensive in HK, so most people just buy beers from 7/11 and drink in the streets :lol: Check out the horse racing on Wednesday nights. It's like a giant outdoor club with tons of people coming to the track after work for drinks

-Japan: Only been to Tokyo. Expensive, but definitely the most interesting city I've been to. Lots of cool things to check out. Food is really good as expected. It's a huge city so be prepared to spend 3-4 days if you want to go everywhere without getting too exhausted

-Korea: Seoul is my favorite city in the world. Not much there for tourist sites besides N Seoul Tower and Gyeongbokgung Palace, but the food, nightlife, women, overall atmosphere of the city is unmatched to me. It's similar to Taipei when it comes to affordability of food and drinks ($1 Soju bottles from the convenience stores :pimp:) . Kyonchon chicken is my go-to fried chicken spot here; I think they give damn near an entire chicken for less than $10 USD, and that @#$@ is :pimp: :pimp: :pimp: I always plan a layover here whenever I fly out to somewhere in Asia.

As for travel dates...

DO NOT go during the summer to any of these countries unless you want to know what hell must feel like. The heat,humidity,and rain is unbearable, and tickets are expensive during that time anyway.

Edit: Just saw that you've already planned this for June. Hopefully you're more resilient to heat and humidity than I am :lol: I mean I've never had a bad time regardless of when I've traveled, but it was definitely irritating to take 3 showers a day after only doing nothing but walking.
 
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Backpacked to SEA and NEA twice.

June is a terrible month to go SEA. Go January/Feb. The weather is perfect.

If you are going to go in June, go north east asia (Japan, Korea, Beijing, Shanghai).

I'm biased for the Philippines - Best beaches, scuba diving, and snorkling.
 
What type of trip are you looking to do? Backpack style or higher budget?

What are you looking to do? Adventures? Party? Hanging out with the locals?


Cities to visit :

Vietnam :
- Da lat (mountain side)
- Nha Trang (coast side with beaches)
- Mui Ne (resorts)
- Cat ba (Halong Bay)
- Hoi Anh (old quarters, romantic feel, quality bespoke suits for the low low)
- Ho-chi minh (museums and big city)
- Hanoi (old quarters)
Vietnam all around is a great place budget wise

Singapore :
- Alot of nice places to go and eat. Will hit your budget though.

Philippines :
- Not much to do in Manila IMO
- but palawan is amazing (El Nido to relax and chill in a small town - No ATMs though so be ready for that)
- Coron (amazing sights and great place all around)
- Boracay (pricier but some of the nicest beach in the world, also great for party)
- Cebu (historic city)
- Siargo (if you're into surfing).
- If you stay on Luzon and explore the north i'd recommend the rice fields.
- Baguio (not much to do, big student city up the mountains, gets cold at night)
- Deep north you can hit Pagudpud for resorts.
Philippines is the best where i met the nicest people. The locals are just amazing.

Thailand :
- Bangkok (royal temples, food market, night life. City is crazy, a few days and i need to get out, it's just too much)
Islands :
- Ko Samui for party (full moon is there, but you also have black moon, quarter moon, jungle party, pretty much party all the time)
- Phu cket (one of the biggest islands, party, sight seeing, temples, a bit of surf in the good season, diving) (had to put a space in there... *****et :lol:)
- Ko Phi Phi (smaller, great diving spots, close to the famous spot in the movie "The Beach")
- Ko Tao (my personal favorite, small feel, you can find a chill spot to relax, still have great beach parties and also amazing snorkeling and dive spots)
- Krabi / Ao Nang / Railey Beach (great beach, nice temples to visit, best hiking spot in Thailand IMO and also deep water soloing available)
North :
- Chang Mai (big city in the north, great ambiance, temples to visit, hang out with the elephants, great food, crazy night market)
- Pai (small village up north of Chang Mai, literally 3 streets, really relax place and cheap. visit the canyon, waterfalls, hot springs)
love thailand because there is something for everybody and the food is amazing.

Japan :
- Tokyo (literally everything, beaches at 1 hour in train, shopping, party, FOOD, museums. You could spend a month in Tokyo, literally the NYC of Asia, but WAYYY cleaner)
- Kyoto (traditional feel, lots of temples and shrines, you might spot a geisha or two).
- Osaka (kitchen of japan, food is amazing. It's like a mix of Tokyo and Kyoto, really enjoyed that place)
- The great outdoors of Japan (a million spot to surf, lots of places to do hiking, ski / snowboard in the winter is also amazing)

Never been to Taiwan, Hong Kong and South Korea

I could help you with a few places to stay depending on where you go and your budget (I usually travel on a low backpacker budget. 40$ a day in SEA and i did 2 weeks in Japan at about 100$ per day)


FOOD :

Vietnam : Pho all DAY, just amazing and dirt cheap (1-2$ depending where you are). Also home to the cheapest beer in the world (found a happy hour in Cat Ba that had 0.11$ beer, but very low quality beer as expected :lol:), banh mi, bun bo hue (to be ate in Hue)

Philippines : Balut, tapsilog, pork sisig, kare-kare, halo-halo for desert

Thailand : Pad thai, curry soup, jungle curry if you about that spicy life, Tom Yum Goong (soup with amazing sea food), grilled scorpion in bangkok, also crickets with salt (taste like chips i swear)

Japan : Everything ! Srs sushi (otoro is just amazing), ramen, okonomiyaki, tempura, all you can eat shabu-shabu.


To give you an idea if you have any questions, here are the places i've been :

Thailand (x3)
Cambodia (nice country you might want to consider)
Vietnam (did the whole country on a bike in 3 weeks)
Japan (2 weeks : Tokyo - Fuji - Kyoto - Osaka)
Philippines
Indonesia (might want to consider this also, amazing places over there. You HAVE to go if you're into surfing)
Singapore (only 1 day when i was on a long layover. Best airport in the world to be on a layover if you ever have to. I would take a detour to chill at this airport for a few hours :lol:)


Might also want to consider Burma. I know a few people who have been and only heard good things. Same thing with Lao.
 
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WorldGoneMad said:
cant trust any western man going to south east asia.
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Dude has a point though. Aussies, Brits, and Americans do way too much when they're out in Asia. I try to distance myself from them as much as I can :lol: Kiwis (New Zealanders) are usually cool though.
 
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I've seen them too, but we notice them because they make the most noise.

I met a ton of people from all over the world while in SEA and the vast majority weren't about that life.
 
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i lived in singapore for 3 years, ask away bruh, i can even give u a detailed itenerary with reataurant recommendations and bus/train routes.

have been to numerous cities/countries in sea too,

my favorite though is bangkok, just cool people, a lot of pretty girls (personally ranks thais as #1 in the face game), seriously delicious food, and just overall a lot of things to do just in the city.

i have a lot of indonesian friends so ive been to indo a lot of times too, go to yogyakarta in central java to visit borobudur and candi prambanan. im actually about to visit mt bromo and ijen crater next month. ive been to bali as well cool town, but a lot of foreign businesses already. go to nearby lombok island, much better and less touristy.

best sea beach though is still boracay and el nido in palawan, dont even need to explain why but just go.

kuala lumpur, ho chi minh city all cool places as well. best thing to do in se asia is eat though. food here is just different and just delicious.

edit: saw western men reply, [emoji]128514[/emoji][emoji]128514[/emoji][emoji]128514[/emoji]
 
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Flying back from Kuala Lampur

Beautiful city & the people are great. I second the delicious food comment, I might have gained 10 lbs if it weren't for all the walking.

It was 90 degrees in January so I don't even wanna imagine how the summer is over here but I would most definitely come back. Truly top notch cultural experience.
 
KEVLAR said:
Flying back from Kuala Lampur

Beautiful city & the people are great. I second the delicious food comment, I might have gained 10 lbs if it weren't for all the walking.

It was 90 degrees in January so I don't even wanna imagine how the summer is over here but I would most definitely come back. Truly top notch cultural experience.
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Been to Kuala Lampur...yes great food and really nice people!
 
Nawzlew said:
dunno what its like in VA

but in taiwan during the summer, it's like 100 with 95% humidity. feel like you in a sauna at midday.
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as bad as 90% humidity and 90+ degrees in July in my area of VA
it's probably not too far off from the worst days, but I don't enjoy it either way :lol:
 
davinci said:
Nawzlew said:
dunno what its like in VA

but in taiwan during the summer, it's like 100 with 95% humidity. feel like you in a sauna at midday.
Click to expand...

as bad as 90% humidity and 90+ degrees in July in my area of VA
it's probably not too far off from the worst days, but I don't enjoy it either way :lol:
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should be ok then

as a guy that lives in cali, it's rough :lol:
 
Nawzlew said:
should be ok then

as a guy that lives in cali, it's rough :lol:
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Same, too used to Cali weather. I need to walk around with a towel during the summer in Asia because of the humdity. I normally don't sweat much, but damn, during an Asian summer I look like I just played 90 minutes of soccer after a 10-15 minute walk :lol: I try avoiding going to Asia any time between May and September.

It's still hot as @#$@ in Southeast Asia during winter months (90 degrees + every single day in Thailand and Singapore when I went there in December 2015) but at least it's not as humid.
 
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