BootsnAll Travel Community

Hi guys.. I'm new here

I've been planning to go to Asia.. The plan for now is to land in Hong Kong and go south as far as I can.. Hopefully make it to Thailand or even Malaysia. It would be a 4 months trip this summer.

So far all I did is look at the plane ticket prices.. Look at the weather in the countries I would go across and read some general information about them. Now what I'm wondering is... Is it possible to somewhat "easily" travel thru these countries with no kind of itinerary whatsoever? I'm talking about:

South of China, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Thailand and Malaysia.

Are there enough hostels / hotels / friendly people / ways to travel between cities to simply walk around on a day-to-day basis and pretty much take things as they come? For some reason i'm not too keen on checking everything about this trip.. I feel like making it a totally unplanned travel where I go wherever I want and stay as long as I feel like staying. But of course it's the first time I would do that.. in a place I have never been before.. so I'm a bit worried about this being a bad plan.

Anyone ever did anything like this.. Does it work well?

This is probably a better way to travel as you are not stuck to a time scale. If you find you line a place you can stay instead of moving on because you need to get somewhere else.

Being flexible is okay, when you hear about something that interests you, you are always free to check it out. I would pick up a Lonely Planet Southeast Asia travel guide or similar travel book for specific info.

Thailand, Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia are pretty easy to get to by bus or train cheaply. Even air travel in Thailand is pretty cheap compared to Europe.

From my country flying into Bangkok is usually cheaper than direct to the other three countries. Bus service and train service is real cheap in Thailand and efficient too! There are buses that go to the Lao and Cambodian border areas every day.

You do have to consider visas. Most EU countries, UK, Canada, USA and Australia can get a free 30 day entry stamp in their passports at the airport in Bangkok. Communist countries like Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia require visas that you pay for.

Plus you have to plan your budget too! After the initial air fare to get to Asia you have to figure out how much per day is left that you can use for hotels, food, entertainment and local travel. Your budget will probably decide where and what accommodations you will use.

Lots of decisions.

Forgot to include this info.

When it is cold in Europe and the U.S. it "high season" in Thailand! December through January will be crowded with tourists and there may be times you have to pre-book a hotel. Hotel prices will be a little higher at this time of year, especially close to Christmas and New Years! But this does not mean you can't find a hotel without reservations just by walking around. Usually real late at night is the problem when other tourists have already laid their claim to lodging and the pickings are slim.

Low season with fewer tourists mean more vacancies and cheaper places to stay at. In Bangkok basic air conditioned rooms with hot water and private toilet/shower start around 600 - 700 baht per night. Smaller cities may have air conditioned hotels starting around 400 baht (Pattaya for instance.) Hostels with cold water showers and fan rooms or dorm rooms are the cheapest.

You may want to consider the rainy season, I don't though! When it rains usually it stops in a short time (an hour or two) and the sun comes out nice and bright! Some minor flooding in certain areas, so take a room that is not on the first floor. Some areas may be affected by rain more than others, but when it rains in Thailand or Asia the rain does not fall everywhere at the same time! There is always enough bright sun to get a tan or sunburn, even in big cities like Bangkok!

Your plan sounds awesome! Doing the same things right now. Was in Thailand and just arrived in Cambodia. Next is Vietnam, Laos, more Thailand, Malaysia and possibly China - maybe even Indonesia - who knows?!. So far, things just happen and work out. There are things you simply cannot plan for, so do it and Enjoy!

I'm in the middle of doing that right now. Seems to be working for me.

just remember your visas where applicable: thailand for more than 30 days, vietnam, laos, cambodia

otherwise sounds great...there are backpacker roads that are beaten early and often...you should have no problem finding places to stay and for the most part things are cheap...

I've never planned one thing during my travels in Asia and never had a problem. Especially SEA is the easiest place to travel in the world. Don't worry about it. Just have a look at the visa situations (Do I need a visa? Can I get it on the border? If not, where can I get one?). That's all you have to worry about - apart from that, transport, money, accommodation is a piece of cake in SEA.

Thanks for the info guys, I feel better It's always a bit worrying going somewhere new but I think i'll be alright now. Since im going during the low season, it shouldnt be too hard to find places to stay! I'll look for info about Canadians embassies in each country and where to get my Visas.. I don't think i'll be much longer than a month in each country so it shouldn't be too complicated...

Well.. thanks a lot! I'll post more if I have new questions.. You guys are great!

Ahm, you don't need to go to the Canadian embassy - you need to go to the embassy of the country you wish a visa for.

More visa info:
For you a 30 day Thailand visa is free after that you need to leave the country and hop right back in if you want another 30 days. Youcan only have 3 30 day visa in a 6month period.
Vietnam visas are not available at borders. You can get easily in Bangkok, or Phnom Penh. Phnom Penh it's same day service. I think it takes longer in Bangkok.(?)
Cambodian visas are no problem at Aranya Prathet/Poipet border. Don't know about others, but pretty sure it's not too hard.
Those are the only ones I know right now. We're figuring it out as we go, so again as long as you don't show up at a border without knowing about visas then you'll be fine!

I played it all by ear for 5 months and it was the best trip of my life. The only thing you need to mind are Visa's for different countries, but besides that go wherever your heart takes you. Its fairly easy to obtain Visa's, just make sure you're not being overcharged.

Make sure you got room in your passport. You don't even need to worry about bringing tons of photos for your visas as border crossings now have photo id shops that will make them for you cheaper than at home.

Even if you have a plan going in... you will immediately throw that out the window upon arrival. At least once you get out of Hong Kong and into Thailand/Cambodia/Laos.

If you plan on flying from HK to SE Asia I would suggest starting from Malaysia. Malaysia was really nice and I enjoyed it but I think it is because I started there and worked my way up. Malaysia might seem a bit bland after seeing everything else north of it. Could be a good starting point also if you are a little anxious about the other countries.

Flights into Kuala Lumpur are pretty cheap and you can just make your way up from there.