First, my asia flight pass was through Bangkok Air (which also allows for Laos Airline and Siem Reap Airline travel). Someone in Chinatown might be able to get access to it? I got it in Luang Prabang, Laos at some little travel agent.
As for packing, first time I went my pack was huge. Second time I went it was tiny. You need so little stuff it is crazy. When I got home after the second 4 month span on the road I had overload at how much crap one has around their home that they don't need.
- Finding easy laundry service was never a problem, especially in SE Asia, where you get it done super cheap/fast. So you can pack less clothes than you think (For me: 1 pants, 1-2 t-shirt (and bought more), 2 good boardshorts, 1 collared travel shirt, and 5 pair of underwear, and then one bonded fleece and one semi-water proof nylon shell -- but that was pretty lean) . My big luxury was extra underwear. I had 5 pairs (exoffico rocks!) and that way I could wear the same pair of pants or shorts extra days between washings if I had to without feeling too bad about it.
- Two good travel towels save you a lot of space yet still allow you to rotate if it is really humid/wet and the recently used one wont dry.
- No lugging around stupid toys, games, sports equipment, etc. If you need it you will find it where you need it to be (zen eh!? lol).
- In SE Asia, for beach life, a sarong (that you buy there cheaply) made a great multi-use item that took up little space. Used as a light blanket, a beach towel, an emergency shower towel, etc.
- I also got a double sized silk bedsheet (that i could crawl into sleeping bag style) at MEC to use. I am a big guy (6'4/210) to begin with but the extra space in the double sized one made the hot humid nights easier to handle yet usedu up very little space.
- Flash lights are the only other thing I can think of? I got a couple of those tiny LED lights you can get at MEC for like $4.50 each for ambiant light, like found here:
http://search.mec.ca/?N=10&Ntt=led+l...=1235831900186
Then I had a tiny LED headlamp that I could put on my head/wrist/ankle when I was out places at night and needed light to get home. And then I had one tiny LED flashlight. (Recap for my lights: 4 tiny LED turtle lights, 1 tiny LED headlamp, 1 tiny LED flashlight). No bulky lanterns or anything that runs on giant and heavy batteriess.
I had two backpacks, one half-full bigger bag and one light small backpack. I would put the small one inside the big one when touring around but could then check the half-full bigger one easily on planes and carry-on the smaller one with me when flying (<which also had all my documents and such in it). Never had a problem with weight.
As a final tip, get a nylon rain cover for your bigger bag and you can use it in two additional ways (beyond rain protection). (1) You can put it on your bag anytime you are on a 'travel day' and it is a basic theft deterint system and (2) whenever you are boarding a plane you can put the rain cover over your backpack
backwards, so that it keeps all your straps from catching in the conveyer belts at the airport.
The big challenge I see in packing for your trip is the diverse weather/cultural zones where you go from more conservative metropolitain dress in Hong Kong to beach life in Thailand to hill life in Laos. Guess that means an extra pair of pants and maybe a golf shirt or something?
Claeren.
