Southeast Asia Backpacking.....? (2 Viewers)

[FrankieTeardrop]

Anybody got any tips on backpacking through Southeast Asia? Sounds incredible and would fuckin love to do it. Me and a couple of mates thinking of heading off in September.

How long should we go for? We were thinkin 4-6 weeks?
How much would it realistically cost in total?
etc etc.............

Cheers

 

[Raudi Raus Schinkel]

6 weeks - 2 months minimum. otherwise you'll run out of time. Now and thats bare minimum. and oh yeah. Don't set foot in Cambodia without cash or cheques, They got no atms and you will have to sell your body. me i was lucky i had fags to sell.

highlights Bac ha in Vietnam, no tourists like in Sapa.
http://www.terragalleria.com/vietnam/vietnam.bac-ha.html

Angkor wat in cambodia-puttin paddy builders to shame

Luang Prabang in Laos - culture and dancin monks a unesco world heritage site.
http://www.visit-laos.com/where/luangprabang/

Pat Pong in Bangkok - Lads have flaps on the back of their trousers for easy access and lady boys chattin up foreign lads.

North of ko pha ngan- get mushroom shakes or buggy board or get a massage- stoners dream!:
http://www.baanpanburi.bigstep.com/

 

[FrankieTeardrop]

Fair play to ye nice one for that.
Those links ye posted have givin me itchy feet bigtime!
So how much money are we talkin here in total?
And whats the story with gettin yer hands on opium? Is it dodgy business or wha?
And best time of year to go.......?

 

[Beanstalk]

Fair play to ye nice one for that.
Those links ye posted have givin me itchy feet bigtime!
So how much money are we talkin here in total?
And whats the story with gettin yer hands on opium? Is it dodgy business or wha?
And best time of year to go.......?

I remember we picked up some opium from some random local on the streets of Luang Prabang in Laos...never got to try it cos we headed back over the Thai border a couple days later, and were afraid to carry it in case they chopped our hands off. They're pretty strict on drugs in Mainland Thailand...they turn a blind eye to the islands.

Hard to cost it, but the flight is gonna be your biggest expense...once you're there...pittens.

 

[The Schnapper]

Haad Yao in Koh Phangan or Van Vieng in Laos offers some lovely opium.

 

[Beanstalk]

Haad Yao in Koh Phangan or Van Vieng in Laos offers some lovely opium.

Van Vieng!! What a bizzarre spot...try the "Happy" pizzas! Nothing in the place but "restaurants" that play pirate DVDs all day...and you're guaranteed they are showing "Friends" in at least on of them at all times...its like a scummy stoner heaven.

I had a really bad experience with a "Happy" Shake there...was in a horrible state for about 10 hours...ugggh...very strong stuff.

 

[The Schnapper]

Van Vieng!! What a bizzarre spot...try the "Happy" pizzas! Nothing in the place but "restaurants" that play pirate DVDs all day...and you're guaranteed they are showing "Friends" in at least on of them at all times...its like a scummy stoner heaven.

I had a really bad experience with a "Happy" Shake there...was in a horrible state for about 10 hours...ugggh...very strong stuff.

A scummy stoner heaven? I would have called Amsterdam that. This is more like paradise stoner heaven located on the the Mekong river. Tubing during the day is good but getting too fucked is dangerous on those rivers and I had a bad experience with that.

Tis a time and a place for mushrooms and Van Vieng wasnt that for me!

 

[ddmurph]

I remember we picked up some opium from some random local on the streets of Luang Prabang in Laos...never got to try it cos we headed back over the Thai border a couple days later, and were afraid to carry it in case they chopped our hands off.

i got some in vientiane but passed out on lao lao before my mates smoked it instead

we lived easily enough on about $10-$15 a day while over there. that was about 4 and a half years ago though and the expenses varied from country to country (and the vast majority of that $10-$15 was spent on alcohol). also, spent about 3-4 months throughout thailand, laos, vietnam and cambodia and that still wasn't enough. i wouldn't try to cram it all into 4-6 weeks ... maybe narrow it down or go for longer. anyway, it's an amazing part of the world. enjoy

 

[FrankieTeardrop]

Sounds fuckin great, nice one!

 

[The Schnapper]

Sounds fuckin great, nice one!

I'll post up more info over the weekend. Meant to do it the other day but forgot and im too hungover now !ninjaaaa

 

[P. Littbarski]

i would recommend the gili islands northwest of Lombok in indonesia...was there in 1998 and it was cool...very chilled out. not sure how safe that neck of the woods is these days but it's well worth checking out.

 

[Space]

i would recommend the gili islands northwest of Lombok in indonesia...was there in 1998 and it was cool...very chilled out. not sure how safe that neck of the woods is these days but it's well worth checking out.

AFAIK Gili's are still safe, Lombok might be a tiny bit dodge though. I could find out pretty fast if anyone wanted to know.

I was supposed to go there in 2002 but the nightclub bombings in Bali happened and there was quite a bit of anti-Western sentiment in Lombok so I decided against traveling through it on my own to get to the Gili's. Ended up just staying in Bali instead which was very different place without all the Australian party crowd.

 

[Denny Oubidoux]

from mid may i'll probably have a few months to kill with no money coming in, im not sure how long, maybe 4 or 5 months? anyway, i figured asia might be a good place to pass the time pleasantly and inexpensively but i think this is getting into rainy stormy season in a lot of these countries. has anyone been there during these months of the year? is it all just a mucky pain in the hole or is it alright? has anyone been to the phillipines? thats where i'd like to go....

 

[RSJ]

Philipines should be ok i think, but thailand/laos/cambodia/vietnam it'll be pissing down. Indonesia should be grand though. There's a tonne of different rainy seasons down this way, it's roasting here in laos but pissing it in indonesia. Try http://www.lonelyplanet.com/thorntree or http://www.travelfish.org for more (travelfish has weather charts too i believe). Also check out the cambodia thread for general info on thailand/laos/cambodia.

 

[pissypants]

I was in Thailand / Malaysia / Loas in the "rainy" season a number of years ago from June - September. By rainy season it means "relatively cloudy and pisses rain for 30 minutes at 4 o'clock". Not a bother. Great weather. Came back with the mother of all tans.

That said, at the very end I was in Northern Laos and it started to rain a lot, so I pissed back down south to the Gulf of Thailand where it was relatively sunny and hot again.

 

[RSJ]

That's odd. I was in thailand for the end of the rainy season last year and it rained about ten to fifteen hours a day, every day. Floods everywhere and mozzies by the thousands. I suppose it depends where you are. According to this, samui gets feck all rain either ways.

 

[Denny Oubidoux]

wet and dry seasons seem to be all over the shop in asia.

 

[La La]

Philipines should be ok i think.

everything that would batter HK during typhoon season would have hammered the phillippines just days before. that place gets it bad.

you can't beat warm rain though.

 

[damien]

i'm thinking of doing this. thailand-laos-vietnam-cambodia loop in 2 1/2 - 3 months, starting in december. tips & route suggestions welcome.