Hi, my first post here! Have just signed up as I am thinking of doing a trip this summer. Hopefully I will also be able to help others out with advice on the places I have travelled so far. It will be my first trip to Asia and will probably last between 2-3 months (advice?!), whereby I would fly in to Delhi, travel over land around the Golden Triangle cities for 2 weeks. Following this I would like to travel to Nepal by train and bus and spend a week there before flying back to Delhi to take another flight to Bangkok where I would like to spend one month in Thailand. From there I plan to either travel directly south towards Ko Samui / Ko Phan Yang / Phuket, potentially via Krabi or Ao Nang OR (I'm not sure if this is feasible) travel up to Viangchan, across to vietnam and go down the coast, then back to Bangkok through southern cambodia before travelling south. I will create another post for the subsequent part of my plan, but I was also thinking of then travelling down through Malaysia, Singapore and if it would be possible going all the way to Bali before flying back to Kuala Lumpur, and on to England (Home). If you have any knowledge of the plausibility of any of the parts of my plan I would greatly appreciate any advice you could offer. How easy is over-land transport in the countries mentioned? Anything that MUST be done?! MUST be avoided?! Anyone done any similar trips? Thanks!

Feasible? Yes. But it seems a lot in too little time to me. I've said this many times here: do allocate enough time for India. Most people who try to have a packed schedule for India, end up feeling stressed out and dislike the place. India can be an onslaught in its own right, combining it with trying to keep on schedule can ruin your trip. The two weeks you have allocated for the Punjab-Rajahstan part of your trip is technically enough. But I'd give that a month itself.

I'd also limit your destinations in SEA. Stay in Thailand/Malaysia for the whole time. Explore the countries. And save Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam for another trip.

Thanks! As I've not been that way before I was not really sure how possible any of that was, but that seems to be good advice. Do you know if it would be fairly simple to travel down from Bangkok to say Singapore overland (over a prolonged period of time)?

I am thinking of cutting out Nepal for sure as it had seemed from the start like it would be a slightly rushed, passing visit.

In terms of where to go in Thailand, do you think Ko Samui / Ko Phan Yang / Phuket, potentially via Krabi or Ao Nang is a suitable route to reach Malaysia?

In terms of Malaysia, I have absolutley no idea where to go at the moment as I am just starting the planning. Are there any key places that I should go to on the way down to Singapore? I had thought about possibly visiting Langkawi, Kuala Lumpur, Melaka and then down to Singapore but am sure there are plenty of places that I am just not aware of that would be fantastic to visit!

There are people with more expertise on Thailand and Malaysia than I have around these pages. Theoretically, you could travel from Bangkok to Singapore in a couple of days, if you would desire to do so. From that point of view, you'll have no problem traveling down there in a month or two with enough time to see whatever you want to see. I'd say, tell the experts around here what you'd like to do (culture, food, diving, party, etc.) and they'll tell you where to go.

Have fun.
a.

Hi, thanks again for your help. I am weighing up a few options of what to do this summer, but I am now swaying back towards this idea as I figure it will be cheaper than visiting Japan.

To all you experts out there, how much per day do you think I should budget for my time in India where I will mainly be looking to just visit the main tourist sights in the three cities (Delhi, Jaipur, Agra) - How much can I expect to spend on food / transport / accomodation each day? How expensive is transport in between these cities? FYI I am a 23 year old male, probably travelling alone, potentially with one other person.

Also, Thailand and Malaysia - here I will be looking to visit the same kind of touristy sights but would be very keen to also investigate any rare or little known places. Again, I would be interested to hear any ideas you have on daily budgets in Thailand and Malaysia - in Thailand I would quite like to investigate a bit of the partying scene - as I hear it is a lot of fun, and cheap! Then in Malaysia I would be keen to take a similar approach to India where I would focus my budget on sight seeing and travel. How much is a night's accomodation / day's food budget likely to set me back in Thailand and Malaysia? How easy is it to use the public transport in these countries / how expensive is it?

Thanks very much!

You can definitely spend a lot of time in Malaysia. I personally don't care much for KL--just a big city with a few sights. Definitely check out the Islamic Arts Museum there. Spend more time in Malacca instead--it's a very nice small city; good place to relax. I didn't go to Langkawi, so I'm not sure how much time you could spend there. Check out Penang--could certainly spend a quite a few days around there.

it seems that april -dec 2009 the govt of india is offering all sorts of packages to attract tourists. one i heard is, ure companion flies free (jet airways), indian railway is launching lots of discounted packages and u get free hotel stays. the adverts are supposed to start running in march. u may want to call up tourism india(?) or the consulate to get details.

Thanks guys!

China Matt, I had considered spending 5 days or so in Malacca and around the same in Langkawi, can you recommend anything to do / anywhere to stay (on a budget) in Malacca? Do you have any idea what is a realistic budget for a day in Malaysia?

Vaahan, that sounds VERY interesting! Where did you hear about that? How would the free hotels work? You buy a train ticket and get a free hotel? I'll definitely look in to that! Is this in a specific region of India or the whole country?

it was in the news. google it. i dont have the details, am trying to find out. i want the free ticket. for rail travel, i think indian railways has a website. though i think the info should be up on the incredible india website as soon as teh adverts pick up in march.

i found this googling, in a govt of india press release:

The value additions that would be offered include :

1. Complimentary international air passage for traveling companion

2. One night complimentary stay in the hotel booked by the tourist

3. One complimentary local sightseeing tour in any one city of visit and

4. One complimentary Rural Eco Holiday in the country

URL:http://pib.nic.in/release/release.asp?relid=46928

Globetrotter wrote:Do you know if it would be fairly simple to travel down from Bangkok to say Singapore overland (over a prolonged period of time)?

Yes, I think so. I'm planning to do this in reverse (Singapore upwards), starting in the next few weeks. Check out http://www.seat61.com/ it has details on routes, prices, and what to expect on trains for every country. It even gives you routes across the whole of SE Asia (and globally).

I've seen a few buses advertised online, and you may need to use them to go between non-major cities without stations. The buses seem more expensive than the trains, as obviously take longer to arrive.

Dan

That's brilliant.

I'll keep an eye out for the info on India!

Regarding Thai trains, that website seems great. Do you know if the price quoted for the train from Bangkok to Singapore (or Singapore to Bangkok in your case) is accurate? And can you really hop on and off it whenever you want without a time constraint!? It seems to good to be true! Luckily that train route seems to fit in perfectly with the route that I want to do!

Sudoxe, where are you planning on stopping off on your way up to Bangkok (just be interested to see if there is anywhere else I should look at going to!)? Cheers!

Malaysia is a wonderful destination. I went to, and liked-
Taman Negara National Park
Malacca

I was in KL for a while, and though the food is good, and the Petronas towers are impressive, its not a place I would spend more than a few days next time. THe most impressive part of KL is not the city, proper, but a miraculous limestone mountain called the Batu Caves, where there is a great carved Buddhist (hindu?) temple, and a closed cave eco-system you can imagine, but not see unless you have a government pass as part of a scientific team.

I was fascinated by it. PS. Don't even think about feeding the monkeys there. They are about the most ungrateful, greedy animals I have encountered when it comes to presenting food to them. Once they get a hint of food from you, they beg and threaten you mercilessly. In general, stay away from the domestic monkeys out of cages in Thailand or anywhere. Imagine a spoiled four year old that bites and has no fear of you or love FOR you, then multiply it by four. They want what they want when they want it...

Globetrotter wrote:Do you know if the price quoted for the train from Bangkok to Singapore (or Singapore to Bangkok in your case) is accurate?

Sudoxe, where are you planning on stopping off on your way up to Bangkok (just be interested to see if there is anywhere else I should look at going to!)? Cheers!

You can check the prices, timetables and book online for the trains at http://www.ktmb.com.my/ one thing to watch out for, (as I understand it) if you are picking the tickets up in Singapore you pay the price specified in RM but in Singapore Dollars, i.e. if the fare is 40RM you would have to pay S$40 in singapore for the same ticket. So, essentially they are cheaper to buy in Malaysia.

As for my trip, I've not really planned anything other than the first two stops yet, it'll be unplanned for me, as im looking at finding random dive sites up the coast and on some of the Thai islands.

I'm heading from Singapore to Kuala Lumpur first. I may stop off at Malacca, i'm just trying to work out if its easier to get the Bus from KL to Malacca or just get the train from Singapore to Tampin and then get into Malacca from there.

I may also stop off at Butterworth and go to Penang Island. But again, nothing booked or planned.

In fact, I have nothing booked at all and I'm leaving next week. Plenty of time though

Dan

Actually, I think 5 days in Malacca would be a long time. You can see most of it in a day and just relax and wander the streets. There's a nice art gallery near the center of town--not far from the museum.

Don't know about budget hotels (my parents were with me and treated us to a night in the Ramada). Across the street from there is a great restaurant--Bulldog Cafe (I think). Really good food and pretty cheap.