South East Asian (DIY) Tour

[hulawho]

i think Killing Fields is just 45mins from the city, better daw kung punta dun before punta airport, kasi parang on the way na ata.

[23rdofaugust]

Yeah!  Haba nga.  We won't be able to travel this Feb (which we normally do) kaya sa July nalang.  Sis, same day pa ata yung date ng wedding natin.  Dec 18 at 3 pm kami.

Travel din theme namin.  Obvious na kung bakit :-)

^ sure sis. i'll share that. ang haba na ng 16 days!

[cyprea]

dream ko ding mag SEA backpacking. nakapunta na ko phnom penh at siem reap in cambodia and hanoi in vietnam. pero never pa na sunod-sunod. i'm thinking of going singapore - KL - bangkok - sukhothai - chiangmai- luang prabang. sayang trip kung makaka-ipon! hehe

[reyann02]

my bestfriend and i are planning on a southeast asia- indochina backpacking late next year (so we have a lot of time to save for money) we've been to bkk hcmc & pnohm penh but we would love to go back to bkk.

we plan on going to singapore, malaysia, more of thailand, laos (vientiane), cambodia (siem reap), hanoi (if we get lucky we might go back to hcmc) in 3 weeks. we still dont have the itinerary yet... any suggestions... easiest route? timeline? we like to experience to travel by land (as we did before in vietnam-cambodia) but im a little worried about the time constraint... is lao airlines safe? anyone tried flying with them? and for the budget... is 80k not enough/enough/too much for a 3 weeks travel.

[neeners]

80K for three weeks is just right.. baka more pa kung matipid kayo.

Where do you plan to start and end? If you're starting in Singapore, you can make your way up through Malaysia and Thailand all the way to Laos. From Vientiane, you can probably fly to either Siem Reap or Hanoi, or backtrack to Bangkok and go from there.

I did Singapore, Cambodia (Siem Reap), Thailand (Bangkok), Laos (Luang Prabang and Vientiane) and Malaysia (Penang, Perhentian and KL) in 3 weeks. That's a mix of flying and overland travel by bus or train. I spent around Php 79,000 for the entire trip.

If you're traveling overland, your best bet is to always travel by night to save on accommodation and time. From Singapore to KL, it's about 5-6 hours by bus. KL to Butterworth (Penang) is another 5 hours, while the train from Butterworth to Bangkok takes almost 24 hours. The train is comfortable, specially if you get a sleeper seat. Btw, buses and trains are cheaper from Malaysia to Singapore than from Singapore into Malaysia (50% cheaper)

Bus from Vientiane to Bangkok take about 7 hours, while the overland travel from Siem Reap to Bangkok takes around the same time.

Are there any particular cities you want to see in Malaysia and Thailand?

[reyann02]

thats our problem... where to start... what country next. we're still researching the easiest route and there are gazillion possible routes to take and its already confusing.

my first plan was manila - (air) -  sing - (land) - malaysia - (air) - hanoi - (land) - vientiane - (land) - siem reap - (land) - bangkok - (air) - manila <-- is this possible? or are there any easier and cheaper route?

or i'll add in hochiminh

manila - (air) -  sing - (land) - malaysia - (air) - hanoi - (land) - vientiane - (land) - thailand - (land) - siem reap - (land) -  hochiminh -  (air) - manila

thats just two of my many combinations i already have in my notes. parang lotto! so many possibilities!!

for the places to visit we're not in that part yet.... need to finalize the countries first before going into the small details. im a little oc oc in this kind of thing. 

[cyprea]

medyo mahirap nga iti mo. you can try this...

mnl (air) sg (land) kl (air) bkk (land) vien  (?) SR (bus) HCM (air) mnl

sorry, di ko kabisado mga land travels. pero madami namang promo at mura lang ang bangkok air.

[reyann02]

kaso nawala ang hanoi. 

[cyprea]

kalat-kalat mga pupuntahan mo eh. hehe

try it this way. sing-kl-sr-hch-hn-vien-bkk-mnl.

[jazzlawyer]

my bestfriend and i are planning on a southeast asia- indochina backpacking late next year (so we have a lot of time to save for money) we've been to bkk hcmc & pnohm penh but we would love to go back to bkk.

we plan on going to singapore, malaysia, more of thailand, laos (vientiane), cambodia (siem reap), hanoi (if we get lucky we might go back to hcmc) in 3 weeks. we still dont have the itinerary yet... any suggestions... easiest route? timeline? we like to experience to travel by land (as we did before in vietnam-cambodia) but im a little worried about the time constraint... is lao airlines safe? anyone tried flying with them? and for the budget... is 80k not enough/enough/too much for a 3 weeks travel.

indochina backpack din kami sa march for 8 days kaso ang itenerary lang is bkk-siem reap-phnom pehn- ho chi mihn.. excited na nga ako eh.. sg-kl ko kasi on a separate trip ko siya

[reyann02]

kalat-kalat mga pupuntahan mo eh. hehe

try it this way. sing-kl-sr-hch-hn-vien-bkk-mnl.

if you would look at it mukhang madali but hcmc - hanoi would take more or less 2 days by train...

yep that's the challenge in it hiwahiwalay kaya sobrang adventure

[cyprea]

doing everything by land travel? isip ko combination kasi ako pag mas mahaba sa night travel, plane na lang. kasi baka di maenjoy [textspeak!] place kung sobrang pagod sa byahe. ang kulit ko nga dati eh. phnom penh to siem reap lang nagplane pa ko. last minute booking kaya it cost me P2500 sa bangkok air.

[neeners]

manila - (air) -  sing - (land) - malaysia - (air) - hanoi - (land) - vientiane - (land) - thailand - (land) - siem reap - (land) -  hochiminh -  (air) - manila

From what friends tell me, the crossing from Siem Reap to Bangkok is much easier than crossing from Thailand to Cambodia. There are more touts coming into Cambodia than it is when you're leaving the country.

Where in Malaysia do you plan to go?

[riandrew]

^ That's great to hear. SGN-PP-SR-BKK kasi ang route namin.

Question: If I have 2 days to spend in KL, where/what's the best places to see? Ang layo pala ng Langkawi sa KL..

[23rdofaugust]

Hi!

I would say Genting!  Young at heart ako eh. lol.  Seriously though, nag enjoy kami ni boyfie soon to be hubby dun  
Kaya nga I'm planning to include KL sa trip namin kasi mega enjoy ako dun.  Nakapagrelax talaga ako dun.

^ That's great to hear. SGN-PP-SR-BKK kasi ang route namin.

Question: If I have 2 days to spend in KL, where/what's the best places to see? Ang layo pala ng Langkawi sa KL..

[riandrew]

^ i like it! im a fan of theme parks too! thanks! ♥

[rocky]

^plan ko rin sanang tumawid ng kl galing sg para pumunta sa genting. kaso sabi ng friend ko yong genting daw parang enchanted lang na nilagay sa tagaytay kasi malamig.

kaya instead of kl, indonesia na lang sidetrip ko. next time na lang yong kl

[port80*]

^So true sis!  If you have 1 whole day extra, it would be good to visit it as well but if you're only going to cross to MY for that, there are better places to go to -- Malacca, Penang, Langkawi...

[coldsiren]

^ Kayang kaya mo yan kahit walang kasama I've traveled solo in those cities and never felt threatened or anything. They're all so tourist friendly pa, so it's very easy to go around. Not to mention the locals are all friendly pa.

wow, ang galing mo naman. sana kaya ko din yun.
anyway, i just arrived this week from a backpacking trip w/ my friends. we went to vietnam, cambodia and thailand for 7days. we spent around 20,000 pesos for the entire trip.

i'm thinking of traveling alone next time.
kaya lang paano yung pictures?

during our bangkok trip, i went around on my own cause i've been to the temples w/ my mom a few years ago. kaso kahit isang picture wala akong nakuha.

[coldsiren]

Your blog is indeed helpful.  Thank you so much!  I'll do the same :-)  30 USD isn't that expensive i guess.  Would getting a cab than taking the bus be easier and hassle free?  How much is the difference if I may ask should I decide to take the bus? 

I have done HK and Macau, so with Singapore ang KL.  I am hoping I can do the Saigon- SR- Bangkok too.

we paid $10.00 for the bus ride. it was suppose to be a "big bus" according to the guesthouse. but to our surprise we were fetched by a van. there were 14 people in the van including the driver. imagine, ang sikipsikp kasi caucasians yung majority ng sakay. it took us 3hrs before we reached the border.
ang nakakainis dun ay pag dating ng border hindi alam ng driver kung sino yung sasalubong sa amin. hayun naglitanya tuloy ako kahit na di sya marunong mag english. pati yung ibang kasabay namin nagalit. ok na sana mag tiis ng ganun kung malinaw kung sino yung susundo sa amin to take us to bangkok.
nung nakita ko yung sumalubong samin, sinabihan ko talaga sya na we paid for a bus ride not a van. buti na lang tinototoo nya yung 1 seat per passenger. kasi nung nasa van kami, 2 sa kasama ko nag share ng seat sa harap, ako naman kashare ko din yung isa pa. nakaka ngawit talaga.
kung alam lang namin na ganun yung $10.00 na binayaran namin. sana tinangap na lang namin yung offer ng tour guide namin na sya na maghahatid sa amin sa border, mag add na lang kami ng pang gas. next time papahatid na lang kami sa tour guide namin.