BootsnAll Travel Community

greetings all!

I'm a young artist, photographer and vagabond. I am leaving my country of origin (South Africa, a place I would recommend to any traveler) to go live and work in the UK for a while. Before I do that, however, I will be traveling the far east.

Ever since I watched Apocalypse Now I have had a fascination for Cambodia (where a majority of the film was shot, apparently) and the Mekong, the major river hat runs between Cambodia and Vietnam.

I am planning a trip to Cambodia to visit the usual sights; Ankor Wat, the major cities and museums documenting the Pol Pot regime. I will, however, be traveling light and on a small budget (going vagabond, so to speak) and want to . I'll also be doing a photo essay (I am a semi-professional photographer) and an article on my trip. I plan spending at least two to three months there, depending on how far I can stretch my budget (2000 to 2500 dollars... is that being too hopeful?) - I plan on going very ascetic and very rural (I'm not against sleeping under bridges, though the camera equipment I will be carrying will probably prevent me from doing that), perhaps going out into the countryside to meet the locals and get away from the urban areas.

I've always had an obsessions with Nature hikes and mountains - are there any nature reserves, animal sanctuaries or trails you guys can recommend? The less land mines the better.

I also have my sights set on Bhutan (though the tour company policy seems prohibitive, cost wise) and Vietnam but have yet to do any extensive research on them.

I was thinking of flying into Thailand first (from London) and taking an overland bus into Cambodia. Would it be cheaper to go via singapore? Direct flights, I can only imagine, would be prohibitively expensive.


I'd appreciate any tips, sights, or resources you guys and gals have to share.

Thanks

Ed

2500 dollars should be fine if you stick to cheap guesthouses, local food and public transport.

I travelled for 9 months in SEA a couple of years ago and Cambodia was actually the lowlight of my whole trip. Angkor is amazing and Phnom Penh has some pretty interesting things to offer such as the S21 museum, Killing Fields etc. But apart from that there just wasn't much to do there IMHO and the place is swamped with backpackers and expats everywhere you go. Most of the country is fairly dull and flat as well so if you're looking for a nature experience I would recommend going elsewhere (Indonesia is a nature lovers dream, highly recommended). But people are different and you might enjoy Cambodia a hell of a lot more than I did.

If you do decide to go to Cambodia, I think your best bet would be the Mondulkiri/Ratanakiri provinces for some rural action. Cambodia is easily accesible from Thailand by bus. You can cross in to Koh Kong from Trat and one other place as well if I remember correctly.

thanks for your reply!

yeah, I was hoping to visit as much of asia as I could in the budget and time. How much is overland travel generally going to set you back? Is hitchhiking a possibility?

Northern India, Bhutan, Laos, Vietnam, Myanmar and indonesia all interest me, it is just a matter of money and time!

So far, though, it seems my biggest expense is getting there. How expensive are flights from thailand to other countries in the region?

Overland travel is generally inexpensive in Asia. And Laos and Myanmar has very cheap public transport. I never hitchhiked myself but I'm sure it can be done. I think someone on this board hitchhiked through the world and wrote a book about it but I can't remember her name. Try to do a search for it. There's a bit of general info about hitchhiking here: http://www.roadjunky.com/guide/765/hitchhiking-guide

Air Asia is a great budget airline that flies all over Asia. And also from Bangkok. Prices vary a lot but if you book in advance you can be lucky and find some really cheap flights. For Indonesia I'd recommend going to Kuala Lumpur by train from Bangkok and then catch an Air Asia flight there to you desired destination.

http://www.airasia.com/

Also if you plan to go to Myanmar, remember that you have to fly as there are no posibilities of crossing by land.

I think I paid 300 dollars for a return to Yangon from BKK which ate in to my budget quite a bit but it was definitely worth it. Myanmar is a great place and the people among the friendliest I've ever met and as you say you want to meet locals it's a good place for that as they speak pretty good English there. (I still write to a Burmese friend I made there). I know you want to go to very rural places but It might be hard for you to get off the beaten track there and go to really rural places as some places are off limits to travelers. I found Pathein very nice though and you could explore other small towns from there.

It's very cheap there as well. I think I spent about 500-600 dollars there in one month including transport, accomodation, food and a bit of local whiskey once in a while . There's the whole issue about whether to go or not to go there but I'm not getting into that here. And it might be difficult to travel there now after the cyclone and the uprising etc. So probably better to ask someone who has been there more recently.

Bhutan will be a budget killer for you I think so I'd skip it unless you really really want to go there. I remember reading somewhere that there's not really any budget accomodation to be found.

Laos has beautiful nature up north and heaps of small villages so it might be ideal for you. It's also very cheap but quite overrun with other travellers.

If you decide to go to Indonesia be aware that it's very very time consuming getting around there, and it's such a massive place. I spent 2 months there but could easily have spent my whole trip there. Every island you go to is like a different country in itself. I think you would love it though if you like nature and rural places.

You can fly into Denpasar (Bali) and Medan (Sumatra) with Air Asia from Kuala Lumpur. From Bali you can make your way to Flores which is just amazing with heaps of small villages and islands where you'll have the whole place to yourself. And of course Rinca with the Dragons. And from Medan you have the jungles and the island of Pulau Weh outside Banda Aceh with incredible diving/snorkeling (Also fantastic places with unbelievably friendly people). I think you can fly to Sulawesi as well but I haven't been there so can't give you any info. Indonesia is fairly cheap as well. But I ended up getting internal flights there as the distances are so large and my visa was running out.

It was definitely the highlight of my trip and perfect if you want to go rural and see some spectacular nature.

This guy has travelled all over Indonesia and has info on most places there.

http://www.indonesiaphoto.com/index.php

Hope you have a great trip whereever you decide to go!

Hi ya, I spent the majority of my travels in Cambodia, loved it so much I did many a border run. From my experience there, the best way to see the beauty of this place and take photos with spirit and energy is to become friends with the locals. I managed to make fantastic friends with a local Khmer teacher who showed me the real cambodia, I went 3 hours on the back of a motorbike with him to the outer limits of cambodia and stayed with his family who had not seen a white women in 20 years, I learnt how to live like them and I also found out how to eat for a dollar a day thats all meals. The best way to save your money and achieve what your are wanting is to become friends with a local khmer and be transported into their world and not that of a backpacker. Anyhow not sure if that helped but have heaps of fun, I so wish I was still there. Try and be around cambodian new year its fantastic. peace