Has anyone ever been to SE Asia? (Vietnam,Thailand,Cambodia,Tibet)

[Hakan]

I visited Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Myanmar in 3 months.

You should go. It's awesome there. Go between now and May, it's the hot season meaning everything's cheaper and there are far less tourists, plus is motherfataing hot. You have to take like 2 cold showers a night just to sleep. But that's only for a while until you get used to it.

[flamingchina]

When I used to live in Asia I could always tell the tourists...
They're the ones that look like they're going to die of the heat...

my advice, just drink water... you're going to be hot and sticky and sweaty, get used to it, and shower at night, and then when you wake up.

[TheCommodoreAfro]

Here's a one or two line take on the countries I've been to in SE Asia. (I haven't been to Tibet or Myanmar)

Thailand - Nice country, good beaches, lots of other travellers and if you're not an idiot pretty safe.
Laos - Drug capital of the world. I swear. Was only there for a couple of days and every traveller I met was out of their head. I was 25 at the time so I also sampled but, man, were there a lot of stoned people. And burnt out war relics. Vientiene was a nice place, though.
Cambodia - only did a couple of days to see Ankor Wat. Glad I did.
Vietnam - Highly recommended - good people, good weather, good food and a lot of history to boot.
Malaysia - a bit of a misnomer, as I've only been to one place in Malaysia - Tioman Island - but I swear it's the most beautiful place I've spent 5 days in my life.
Singapore - a good blast of hygiene and westernized things if you've been travelling on a bus overland for a couple of weeks in SE Asia. I saw a couple of movies there. Not the most interesting place, though.
Indonesia - my experience is limited to a three week trip 12 years ago, but it was a fascinating country. Avoid Jakarta (worst city in the world, IMHO) but Jojakarta and the south of Java, along with Bali and the island chain that curls all the way 'round to Australia was a brilliant way to spend a couple of weeks.
Phillipines - I actually went to the Phillipines to learn how to scuba dive, so I didn't do much travelling, which is a good thing, as getting around the Phillipines is a pain in the ass. Brilliant scuba diving and high sea fishing there though. Avoid Manila, but if you have to go, spend your time in the casino.
Hong Kong - fun, fun city. I like it a lot, but not as much as Tokyo.

Weather - Hot everywhere, less so at this time of year in Vietnam and Laos, etc, but if you go any time that isn't January or February, you will sweat. Hong Kong is the only place you may need a light sweater, though.

If you're choosing budget, SE never disappoints - you can easily travel light (a couple of t-shirts and shorts) and inexpensively for a long period of time.

[TheCommodoreAfro]

Double Post

[4X4]

Originally Posted by Phanuthier

Thanks 4X4, I know a guy named Rick Steve did one for Europe and we followed his guide book religiously... where to stay, eat, go, get away with, ect.

Did you use that book for SE Asia? I'll be sure to get a copy of that if SE Asia is the way we go.

Oh, never been there myself. I just know that those books are supa dupa handy wherever you travel. Especially if you're on a backpacker or B&B type budget. Plenty of time to read (whilst riding busses or trains), and soo much info.

TTYTT, the real reason I know that these books are so handy is because I found one here in Rome. Found, as in, it was just lying there. I've been perusing the Rome section of it and it's dead on. It's a Frommers from 2002, but still 95% relevant, and has all the right info on all the right places.

That may sound somewhat obvious, but the michelin greenbook that I also found (yea, I'm lucky like that) was not so accurate. More of a compilation of Italy.

The frommers tells you alot about the place and lets you decide if it's worth checking out. But it also gives you walking tours of cities based on how much time YOU budget per place, gives you background info on each site, tells you what to notice, tells you what is kinda overrated...

The list goes on.

Frommers. Check it out.

[FurnaceFace]

Guidebook tip:

If you've got a library card, go check out the guide books there. You can sample a bunch of them and photocopy what you need/want. As you travel from place to place you can leave behind the pages you no longer need thus freeing up some space for stuff you'll being back and lightening your load.

[TheCommodoreAfro]

If you do go SE Asia, Phan, make sure you pick up the Lonely Planet SE Asia guide. Not sure how their coverage is of Europe, but they cut their franchise on the SE Asia book. Just a recommendation.