So, in the spirit of offering travel tips and information, I thought I'd post my pre-traveled thoughts on what the tentative itinerary for SE Asia is. My travel partner-in-crime and I made this a pretty quick trip (20 days) through Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam because
1) we've been out of our homeland for over a year and want to go home sooner than later,
and 2) have commitments at home that made for a time restraint.
If you wanted, you could spend several months traveling through this region of Asia, simply because it's seriously beautiful, cheap, AND transportation can take up quite a chunk of time!
However, if you are looking to visit Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam in 3 weeks or less, feel free to keep checking this blog for more travel tips on what to do and not to do.
A couple notes:
We are leaving from South Korea, which gives us a little extra time and also will not account for jet lag that those from the Western world might feel upon arrival. If you will be on a serious international flight (which I consider to be 9 or more hours), give yourself 1 day to rest when you arrive to your final destination, especially if you are a first-time traveler. This does not mean to sleep that entire day. You should try to adjust to your new time zone as best as possible. However, take it easy. Don't sign up for a rock-climbing excursion on Day 1 or anything.
Some of our stops along the way are simply to save money in terms of flying. SE Asia can be incredibly cheap to get around if you have the time to do so. Especially in SE Asia, there is no high-speed train (unlike South Korea, China, and Japan), so if you want to avoid flying, just be aware that this will take a lot more time, but is by far the more cost-effective option. You can check travel forums to ask about specific bus rides and fares to see approximate times and prices, but just know you will have to have an overall more flexible schedule.
If you do want to fly, make sure to price check, and often! Kayak.com is a great source for cheap airline tickets, as is Airasia.com. In our case, we booked a few flights to save time, and although we had to get a little creative (by arriving in nearby cities and then bussing to our final destination) we came out with some really good deals while still saving time. It's all a balancing act.
The rough itinerary of our 20 days is as follows:
DAY 1-10 IN THAILAND
Day 1: Fly Seoul to Phuket
Day 2: Bus Phuket to Sura Thani, boat Sura Thani to Koh Samui
Day 3/4: Koh Samui, overnight boat back to Sura Thani
Day 5: Sura Thani to Chiang Mai
Day 5-10: Chiang Mai (including a tour to the Elephant Nature Park for a little volunteering and elephant-playing)
DAY 11-20 IN CAMBODIA AND VIETNAM
Day 11: Fly Chiang Mai to Siem Reap
Day 12/13: Siem Reap and Ankor Wat
After this, we kind of left things unplanned. The overall idea is to bus down to the west coast of Cambodia (Sihanoukville), eventually get visas into Vietnam and then bus and boat into Vietnam (in that order). We will fly out of Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City) and back to Seattle as an end to this crazy journey.
I'll be posting as often as possible during this trip to keep friends and family updated, but if you're reading just for fun don't worry-- lots of anecdotes and travel advice surely await.
Showing posts with label Vietnam. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Vietnam. Show all posts
Thursday, August 11, 2011
Friday, August 5, 2011
Intermission.
I couldn't think of a better word for my life right now. I'm going out there, but really everything's got kind of a "we'll be right back to your regularly scheduled programming" kind of feeling about it.
It's probably because I have 8 days til I leave Ulsan, the city I now know better than Seattle, and less than 10 days til I take-off for my trip through SE Asia. So aside from teaching for 3 hours daily and cleaning every conceivable corner of my apartment, there's not much to focus on besides getting-the-heck-out-of-here.
AND.... packing. Which, as any of my blog followers already know, I completely adore.
Packing for SE Asia in August is relatively easy because it's so hot... no winter coats or snowshoes in this bag. However, with this being my 2nd trip to that region, here are a couple of items I thoroughly recommend:
1. Plastic ponchos or a light (and I mean, light) jacket with a hood. Just because it's the rainy season doesn't mean it's cold. Truthfully, the only function of this albeit very important piece is to waterproof yourself or the important things you might be carrying.
2. Motion-sickness tablets. I know there are probably a lot of other important medical concerns people have when they think of Southeast Asia (like malaria or typhoid fever), but honestly unless you are going to be in extremely rural areas, not wearing any bug repellant and rolling around in the dirt while drinking unfiltered water, you will probably be fine. However, this doesn't mean to skip a visit to the travel doctor before you go abroad! It's better to be safe, just not paranoid.
Although I'm not prone to motion sickness, transportation in SE Asia can be kind of rough on a person: long bus rides on continuously winding, undeveloped roads... boat rides for hours... it's just the kind of thing you would rather be prepared for than not.
3. Passport-size photos. Apparently they are a requirement for entering Cambodia and Vietnam, along with copies of the front page of your passport. And some money. They wouldn't want me if I didn't have some of that.
Well, that's it. That's all you need.
No, just kidding. But those are definitely an overlooked top 3. If you'd like to know more about packing for an adventure, check out my Travel Kit 101 page and with that and some common sense you should be all set.
It's probably because I have 8 days til I leave Ulsan, the city I now know better than Seattle, and less than 10 days til I take-off for my trip through SE Asia. So aside from teaching for 3 hours daily and cleaning every conceivable corner of my apartment, there's not much to focus on besides getting-the-heck-out-of-here.
AND.... packing. Which, as any of my blog followers already know, I completely adore.
Packing for SE Asia in August is relatively easy because it's so hot... no winter coats or snowshoes in this bag. However, with this being my 2nd trip to that region, here are a couple of items I thoroughly recommend:
1. Plastic ponchos or a light (and I mean, light) jacket with a hood. Just because it's the rainy season doesn't mean it's cold. Truthfully, the only function of this albeit very important piece is to waterproof yourself or the important things you might be carrying.
2. Motion-sickness tablets. I know there are probably a lot of other important medical concerns people have when they think of Southeast Asia (like malaria or typhoid fever), but honestly unless you are going to be in extremely rural areas, not wearing any bug repellant and rolling around in the dirt while drinking unfiltered water, you will probably be fine. However, this doesn't mean to skip a visit to the travel doctor before you go abroad! It's better to be safe, just not paranoid.
Although I'm not prone to motion sickness, transportation in SE Asia can be kind of rough on a person: long bus rides on continuously winding, undeveloped roads... boat rides for hours... it's just the kind of thing you would rather be prepared for than not.
3. Passport-size photos. Apparently they are a requirement for entering Cambodia and Vietnam, along with copies of the front page of your passport. And some money. They wouldn't want me if I didn't have some of that.
Well, that's it. That's all you need.
No, just kidding. But those are definitely an overlooked top 3. If you'd like to know more about packing for an adventure, check out my Travel Kit 101 page and with that and some common sense you should be all set.
Sunday, May 29, 2011
Sticking to the 'rolling stone' thing, because rolling kimchi just gets chili juice everywhere.
It's time to look forward, and time for another travel announcement, which always start the next chapter of the Playing with Elephants blogging.
In just 2 and a half months, I will be flying from South Korea-- leaving my now-second-home-- to travel Southeast Asia (Cambodia, Vietnam, and a re-visiting experience to Thailand, my first love in Asia) for a few weeks. Then I will be coming back to the Seattle area. To stay put for a bit.
In the coming weeks, I'll post more information about the trip, including travel information I glean along the way. Don't worry; Korea posts will still commence in tandem with the other posting.
If you want to know when I'll be returning to the States, you can click on this handy-dandy countdown timer. You can check it every day if you want. Or every hour. I know you really miss me.
In just 2 and a half months, I will be flying from South Korea-- leaving my now-second-home-- to travel Southeast Asia (Cambodia, Vietnam, and a re-visiting experience to Thailand, my first love in Asia) for a few weeks. Then I will be coming back to the Seattle area. To stay put for a bit.
In the coming weeks, I'll post more information about the trip, including travel information I glean along the way. Don't worry; Korea posts will still commence in tandem with the other posting.
If you want to know when I'll be returning to the States, you can click on this handy-dandy countdown timer. You can check it every day if you want. Or every hour. I know you really miss me.
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