Where to go in SEA

Thailand is very good and very good for your first time. If you're worried about tourists go to an area with less tourists.

>>1170034
which areas are less frequented generally? I'm assuming Bangkok is very popular and maybe Pattaya as well?

>>1170033
>I would have to do a layover somewhere and then another one if I want to get to Palawan.
FYI domestic flights in Philippines are like 50 usd max. Where else did you want to go there besides Palawan?

>>1170036
I've heard good things about Chiang Mai, though that may also be swamped with tourists nowadays

>>1170036
bangkok, pattaya, phuket, most nice islands and beaches are full of tourists. the less touristy areas are in the north but they also have no beaches and whores. but don't worry you'll have a great time in a place like phuket too, the beaches and food is great, the people are nice only there'll be a lot of tourists and it will be more expensive.

Touristy places aren't always bad to visit. There's a reason they're popular travel destinations. I understand the 'muh authentic local culture' feeling everyone desires, but I always try to spend part of my time in the tourist city and part of my time somewhere else. It can be just as fun meeting other travelers as it is meeting Ping Pong the rice farmer who's never left his village.

Cambodia is really poor
Laos is boring and also pretty poor
Thailand is "easy mode" in that there is a lot more infrastructure.
I've heard good things about Vietnam too but it's probably more dangerous than Thailand on the whole.

Phuket has "less touristy" areas. In order of most to least it's like:
Patong
Kata
Karon
Nai Harn

I lived in Phuket Town on the east of Phuket for ages and loved it, but there's no beach, but imo the beaches in Thailand are way overrated.

Pattaya is all whores. Unless you want to get drunk and fuck hookers it's not worth going.

Chiang Mai is full of tourists too. It's a nice place and there's stuff to do. There's a canyon lake if you want something sort of like a beach.

There are whores everywhere, nightlife corresponds with population and tourist levels.

CM has absolutely awful air quality.

>>1170044
this. touristy places are actually quite nice in SEA. you can't get a place that's great, non-touristy and easily accessible. you need to compromise. If you aren't willing to trek alone through the jungle to a pristine beach you can go to patong beach and pay 20% more and deal with a german family next door.

>>1170038
didn't really have anything else in mind. Would 2 weeks be too much for Palawan?
>>1170039
>>1170042
I'll look into those thanks
>>1170044
yeah I'm not usually trying to avoid places with tourists (my favorite city in Europe is Venice for example), but I feel like Thailand and SEA attracts some crowds that I don't want to hang out with particularly (drunk Brits/Americans, Russian sex tourists and hippy-types)
>>1170059
Is poor a good or a bad thing?

>>1170099
Poor just means it's going to take longer to get there (and probably involve multiple long bus trips)

You're more likely to experience power cuts, have unusable Internet, bad road quality, less options for moving around and more difficult to do so (as you'll meet less people with basic English)

>I don't want to hang out with particularly (drunk Brits/Americans, Russian sex tourists and hippy-types)

Who do you want to hang out with? SEA seems like the worst choice because these are the only people you meet in Asia, the location just dictates what the ratio of sex tourist to hippy backpacker is.

>>1170099
poor is cheaper and less convenient. who do you want to hang out with? the natives?

>>1170106
>>1170124
you're making it sounds as if there was nobody but those groups in SEA. Aren't there normal people as well?

>>1170256
No

T. Lived in Thailand for 2 years

File: japan to australia.png (3MB, 1487x1716px) Image search: [Google]

3MB, 1487x1716px

Sup y'all.

Could I do this trip by ferries from Japan to Australia? The dotted lines would be me hitchhiking/hiking.

>>1170256
There are other groups but as a traveler it will be harder for you to infiltrate them. Though you bro or hook up with someone and have them be your personal travel guide of sort, that's not poor. That would take some sort of charisma and social skills, though. Maybe not in the Phillipines, a lot of them are surprisingly autistic when it comes to foreigners
That'd be easy mode.

>>1170266
I think the only one of your ferries that actually exists is the one from Okinawa to Kyushu. There used to be a ferry between Taiwan and Okinawa, but as far as I can tell, it stopped running about 2008.

It is a common complaint that there are no ferries between Australia and Indonesia, thus preventing ground travel between Australia and Europe, which would otherwise be possible.

>>1170256
no? most people are either travelers going there to get drunk/be a hippie, sex tourists or natives. what other people do you expect? all normal people can be stereotyped into one of these

>>1170263
>>1170283
alright I'll reconsider Thailand and The Philippines then
>>1170322
well idk, I'm not going there for either of those things, I just want to go to the beach/jungle, see some interesting architecture and take some cool pictures. Also really want to escape the coldness of Europe for a while

I'm puzzled why nobody mentioned Myanmmar yet. I've been to Thailand and Laos and I liked Myanmmar the most by far.

Concerning Thailand, you can find some places less touristed, mainly the Isaan region but not only. I would lurk https://www.travelfish.org/

>>1170325
sounds like you're a hippy faggot then

>>1170326
Agree I am in Burma now and it is great.

File: P_20130520_130349.jpg (3MB, 2560x1920px) Image search: [Google]

3MB, 2560x1920px

Dumping stuff from Philippines when I traveled south.
2 hours of backbreaking terrain

File: P_20130520_132548.jpg (3MB, 2560x1920px) Image search: [Google]

3MB, 2560x1920px

>>1170347
Oh and that doesn't include the 20 or so minute descent from slipper rocks and mud.
Don't forget the even harder return trip.

File: P_20130520_134350.jpg (596KB, 1536x2048px) Image search: [Google]

596KB, 1536x2048px

>>1170348
But fuck I would go through that shit again any day any year because it's so worth it.
In case you're wondering, there's no river above, just some field with nothing.

The water seeps out from cracks halfway down the cliff.

>>1170326
>>1170344
Myanmar looks interesting, what are places you guys would recommend there?

Also thanks for the website, great to get an overview of what each country has to offer!
>>1170327
I'll keep that in mind
>>1170347
>>1170348
>>1170349
nice! Where was this exactly?

How to travel SEA

>Philipines
>Vietnam
>Thailand
>Malaysia
>Singapore
>Indonesia

and you're done.

>>1170403
well I'm trying to choose one of them. Or do you mean in that order?

>>1170406
If I am forced to choose 1 out of any of the countries I've listed then it's Indonesia

But if I have big budgets so that I can get the best out of SEA then you do this in order

>Arrive in Malaysia
2 Nights in Kuala Lumpur
1-2 Nights in Penang
2 Nights in Langkawi
>Travel North to Thailand
1 Night in Hatyai
1-2 Nights in Phuket
1-2 Nights in Bangkok
>Travel East to Cambodia
1-2 Nights in Phnom Penh
>Travel East to Vietnam
1-2 Nights in Ho Chi Minh city
1-2 Nights in Hanoi
>Travel East to Philippines
1-2 Nights in Manila
1-2 Nights in Cebu
>Travel West to Borneo
1-2 Nights in Kota Kinabalu
1 Night in Brunei Bandar Seri Begawan
>Travel South to Bali
1-2 Nights in Bali
1 Night in Bandung
1-2 Nights in Jakarta
1-2 Nights in Padang
1-2 Nights in Medan
>Travel East to Singapore
1-2 Nights in Singapore

>>1170410
>Travel North to Thailand
>1 Night in Hatyai
>1-2 Nights in Phuket
>1-2 Nights in Bangkok


>has Hat Yai
>does not have Chiang Mai
>Does not have anywhere in Isan

Kek

Muslim, or fucking one aren't you?

>>1170418
Should subtract Phuket as well, unless looking for standard, expensive (relative to alternatives), tourist experience

>>1170099
>Would 2 weeks be too much for Palawan?
Two weeks sounds like plenty of time there.

Not to highjack your thread but I'm going to the Philippines in a couple weeks on somewhat of a whim. I have 40 days there. I've never been to SEA so I thought I'd spend roughly half my time in Palawan doing beach/island hopping/nature stuff.

Not sure what to do with the rest of my time though. Probably fly to Cebu and check out some of the surrounding areas, but I'm not sure.

>>1170418
Hatyai cause of my friends said it's a decent place to shop random things especailly cheap clothes & jerseys. Only reason why I didnt listed out Chiang Mai is because I can get decent nightlife on most places I'm venturing. Despite the fact that the location have other good looking angkor wat temples.

>>1170410
Why the hell does everyone always put Singapore last?

>>1170420
Manilla is a great place for Vanilla. The Phillipines is easily the best county in SEA

>>1170432
Vanilla=women?

The main regions I was thinking
Southeast Luzon
Cebu/ Eastern Visayas
Mindanao

I'll probably have between 15-22 days after Palawan so I could go to 2 of these regions. I tend to be more interested in scenery and outdoor stuff but I'm not picky. What about partying? Boracay sounds popular but it doesn't seem to have anything you can't find in a place that is less crowded and a better value.

Also, has anyone been to Southern Palawan? I can't seem to find much info aside from people saying no one really goes there. But this could be a good thing.

>>1170431
Airport location? The interesting blend of Asian cultures?

>>1170431
Because it's not impoverished

>>1170530
which is a proxy for more expensive hookers

/trv/ is very multicultural and openminded. foreign diseases are to be welcomed, as long as you're not racist

>>1170467
palawan is pretty cool. I reccomend/10

it's pretty slow out there though. if you only have 2 weeks you might prefer borocay.

>>1170538
Actually /trv/ is historically anti hooker/women, to the point that sex/women related threads often get deleted. It has been changing, though

>>1170555
I've been on /trv/ for 5 years, and in that five years, what I've seen is a persistent claim that "I totally love thailand bro, but I'd NEVER hire a hooker, scout's honor!" and "oh btw bro, if you like thailand, try out (list of countries where cheap brown asian hookers are also available.)"

anti-hooker my ass. did you actually get taken in by that? yeah, sure, everyone in the office believes you "love the culture."

>>1170555
In fact, the popularity of countries on this board more or less directly correlates to the price and attractiveness of the hookers. notice how much less popular china is than thailand alone on this board despite thefact that it's 50 times the size.

trv ranking is
1. thailand
2. ASEAN
3. japan
4. eastern europe
5. western europe

western europe did used to be quite a bit higher, you can chalk that up to the terrorism, probably

>>1170044
>muh authentic local culture
Does this even exist anymore in the internet age? I haven't found any evidence of this in my travels in SEA, maybe I just went to all the wrong places.

>>1170592
It's basically just snobbery. Everyone wants to think they had an authentic experience and got to see/do things that only locals get to do etc. But it's all crap. Everyone has roughly the same experiences and has fun, and certainly in Asia, no matter how long you've been there, if you're white you would never be considered a local or get local prices.

In Thailand if you want to drastically increase your chances of getting beaten up or stabbed by a group of young Thai guys then you could go drinking in the Thai areas.

That's not to say you have to go to the bars full of tourists, just generally speaking if you start wandering off the beaten track looking for the local hot spots you'll end up in a world of trouble.

>south east asia
Good luck molesting children; creep.

>>1170410
Indonesia sounds cool, heard a lot of good things about Bali from friends, will consider it.
>>1170420
hmm I might reconsider then, Palawan seems like a cool place. What exactly are you planning on doing there for 20 days? I mostly wanted to learn how to dive for 1 week and then explore the island for the other
>>1170540
I heard good things about Borocay, but also that it's overrun with tourists these days. Is that true?

File: IMG_1213.jpg (2MB, 1936x2592px) Image search: [Google]

2MB, 1936x2592px

>>1170391
Myanmar:
Yangon the capital is really awesome (And I hated Bangkok and thought Chiang Mai was dull).
Bagan is a bit spoit but still very impressing. I also liked the Lacquerware going on there.
Trekking from Kalaw to Inle Lake.
Trekking in Hsipaw also (I liked it more but it is quite subjective and a matter of luck).
Hpa-Ann.

Myself after Myanmer I went to Thailand and got fed up a bit, continued to Laos and got really disappointed and then ditched Cambodia and Vietnam for an amazing 2 months period in Japan (1 month was WWOOFing for cultural and budget reasons).
If I would go back to the far east I'd rather visit japan again, south korea, china or taiwan (Not necessarily in that order)

Pic related: A day trip around Hpa-Ann.

>>1170573
Any overt threads on sex tourism or picking up women would get shit on, though

File: IMG_1075.jpg (2MB, 1936x2592px) Image search: [Google]

2MB, 1936x2592px

>>1170735
Another thing about Myanmar, it felt as they really have a unique culture going on and not trying really hard to be american like in Thailand (Their music is so bizarre). It's only about five-six years that they allow tourists in and the locals are *unbelievingly* friendly. Locals say hi, smile and talk to you just out of curiousity. You even get people asking to take a picture with you, the foreigner. This will ofcourse not last forever.

File: phillippines-airports-map.jpg (212KB, 800x1132px) Image search: [Google]

212KB, 800x1132px

>>1170725
>What exactly are you planning on doing there for 20 days?

Once I get there I'm going to just relax for a couple days, rent a scooter, go to the beach, or whatever strikes my interest. After a week of that I'm going on Tao Philippines tour for 5 days, look it up if island hopping is your sort of thing, I've heard great things about it. From there I'll just wing it, maybe catch a boat back to El Nido if I want to spend more time in Palawan, and fly somewhere else out of PP Airport once I've had enough.

>I heard good things about Borocay, but also that it's overrun with tourists these days. Is that true?
Pretty much, though it's more popular with asian tourists than western backpackers. Still, there is a lot to do and looks beautiful. There are a lot of more quiet beaches/islands nearby if you end up thinking it's too much. Just avoid the peak seasons and you should be fine. If you have 2 weeks Boracay sounds like a good option.

What are the best places to score with Filipinas?

>>1170937
Canada, just walk into any Catholic church or Tim Hortons

>>1170574
Yep. THAT'S why China isn't popular.

>>1170735
>>1170743
sounds actually really appealing, thanks!

How is the mix of travelers there? Is is easy to meet other people? Also how easy is it to get around with just English?

>If I would go back to the far east I'd rather visit japan again, south korea, china or taiwan (Not necessarily in that order)

I've been to Japan twice already too, planning on going again next summer. But I can't really take holidays other than February in the first half of next year and thought of going somewhere warm
>>1170758
the Tao Tour looks nice. Are you planning on doing the sailing one or just the normal one? I couldn't find prices on the site, how much did you/will you pay for it?

File: 1475987607024.jpg (60KB, 537x720px) Image search: [Google]

60KB, 537x720px

So then where would one go in SE Asia to find the most attractive, and relatively disease free whores?

Asking for a friend.

I'm flying into bangkok in november and flying out 5 weeks later.

Any suggestions for places to go that have a good ratio of low cost and low travel times?

I'm not poor but don't want to spend a lot going to places that aren't really worth the time or the travel cost.

Beaches would be a plus but I'd say they'd get a bit boring after too long.

>>1171112
cambodia. make sure to never use a condom

If I wanted to live reasonably comfortably (eg: air conditioning, at least a clean squat toilet, western style preferable) and planned to eat out breakfast/lunch/dinner, how much would that cost in Thailand?

Is it about similar in Cambodia / Vietnam?

Planning a backpacking trip Thailand -> Cambodia -> Vietnam and trying to figure out how long I could stretch it.

>>1171325
Also looks like I need to fly in and out of bangkok to get around visas, any reccs?

Malaysia for the food hunters

>>1171325
you can pick either convenience or price, not both. beaches never get boring in 30 degrees and 5000% humidity

>>1171338
you seem like a hapless chap so budget 50$ or so per day in thailand, 30-40$ for cambodia/vietnam

>>1170467
>>1170420
>>1170410
>>1170033

Filipino here.

I suggest visiting the following:
>Sagada, Mountain Province
>El Nido and Coron, in Palawan
>Siargao Island
>Kawasan Canyoneering in Cebu

All these places are very safe, just avoid southern Mindano provinces.

>>1170033
what are some cheap local SEA airlines to Singapore and KP?

>>1170033
Come to the Maldives.

File: 1475919673359.jpg (35KB, 601x601px) Image search: [Google]

35KB, 601x601px

>>1172070
I'm set to fly in on the 20th and it looks like the weather is going to absolutely suck. Thunderstorms everyday. Should I just take a flight to another SEA once I'm there where it wont be as terrible?

>>1172122
>Thunderstorms everyday.

Not sure about this particular instance, but often "thunderstorms every day" means there are some thunderstorms around, you might or might not get one, if you do it might last 30 minutes to an hour.

So double check on that.

I highly recommend Indonesia. My wife is from there so I have spent considerable time there.

Pros:
cheap
safe
decent food culture
everyone is super nice if youre white or not chinese

Cons:
dirty (3 star hotels have dirt on the walls)

If you're into partying, Indonesia is not for you. The only place you can find alcohol and parties (blok M) is the only dangerous place in Jakarta. Jogjakarta is nice as well. You can visit the palace, see some really old temples, and ride in a jeep on a volcano.

I'd say Cambodia is worth visiting for a couple of days just to see the temples. I personally really liked them but if you're not interested in that sort of stuff then you can give it a miss.

Vietnam was nice too. The Cu Chi tunnels were interesting and Ha Long Bay has some really nice scenery.

File: IMG_1038.jpg (2MB, 2592x1936px) Image search: [Google]

2MB, 2592x1936px

>>1171108
Your questions about Burma:
>How is the mix of travelers there?
People visiting there mostly do it as a part of a bigger SE Asia adventure, but on average I'd say they are less the LET'S PARTY type you meet in say Thailand and are maybe more interested in actually visiting and seeing the country and people.
>Is is easy to meet other people?
If you mean fellow travelers than you can socialize at the guesthouse or whereever, similar to other countries. If you mean locals than I'd say they are by far more friendly.
Getting around is OK, I bought in Bangkok's Khao San a lonely planet book it is helped me a lot (You can also get one in the streets of Yangon). I'd say the locals there know English better than Thailand or Laos and you can get by somehow.

Picture is me and fellow travelers paparazied by local school girls. (Not too uncommon)

>>1171338
you can pull it off with less than $30 IMO, depends where ofcouse (Haven't been to the south but I've heard the places tourists like are more expensive; The north is cheaper). You can get good quality dorms for less than $7 a night.

>>1172156
How easy is it for an english speaker with minimal understanding of the language?

File: 358.jpg (10KB, 225x225px) Image search: [Google]

10KB, 225x225px

>>1170059
>get drunk and fuck hookers

Slightly off-topic, but would I attract a lot of attention if I walked around wearing basketball shoes in SEA?

>>1172256
No. "Sneakers" are the only shoes I own, been to 5 SEA countries, never got stared at.

Wear golf shoes, THEN you might get stared at.

>>1172082
Scoot and Air Asia

>>1171325
Cheapest flights I saw out of Bangkok were Chiang Mai, Phuket, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and Singapore. Laos, Cambodia, Myanamar and Vietnam are all reasonable as well.

File: wizz-air-airline-logo-11.jpg (19KB, 448x500px) Image search: [Google]

19KB, 448x500px

>>1172270
I would have a hard time taking an airline named "Scoot" seriously.

>>1172270
http://www.flyscoot.com/en/

>>1170410
Are you traveling by van/bus? I assume thats why you have places like Hatyai between Penang and Phuket.

Penang is honestly pretty boring.
KL is boring too.

Hatyai is ok and has some nightlife (because the Malaysians come over the border for hookers). Cant say much about the shopping, you're going to BKK and Phuket so anything you can get in Hatyai you'll get there.

If you're looking for less city, there are some beach hut places like Trang. Very chilled out places but not much going on there.

Its like 9 hours on a bus from Hatyai to Phuket, So if you're going via land you'd be better taking some days out of Malaysia (because its like the less-fun version of Thailand) and giving yourself longer to account for days when you'll be fucked from travel.

>>oh shit

>>1172262
even if I'm already quite tall (6'3)?

>>1172214

Probably impossible. Most younger people know some English, but no one over 30 knows it. That being said, Bahasa is like 70% Dutch so knowing English makes learning the language easier if you want to learn it.

>>1172362
not the anon you replied to, but if I'm a Dutch native speaker, how quickly could I get myself up to conversational level Bahasa?

>>1172365
bump

Go to Myanmar. It just opened up for tourists so you should visit before it becomes to 'westernized'.

>>1172365

Not sure. The US military has expected learning times. This is decided from when they teach service members foreign languages. Indonesian is rated at 36 week of classroom learning or ~600 hours I believe. That's for fluency though.

The first time I ever visited Indonesia, I was there for 6 days and could ask questions and understand answers by the 5th and 6th day.

>>1172842

What if its your first time overseas? I'm worried about going too Real Travveller by myself and wind up getting in over my head.

I got a cheap flight to Bangkok, but I was thinking about going to Vietnam/Cambodia or down to Malaysia/Singapore/Indonesia.

I'm leaning towards Malaysia at this point, but I never really hear about people going there. Is it a shitty place to travel?

>>1170725
Boracay isn't "bad" now, just "always getting worse". The thing I was most disappointed by is that the infrastructure isn't keeping up. Raw sewage was flowing up from the drains and some was being pumped on to the beach. Granted, it's not enough to spoiler the trip in any way, and 99% of where you look is magnificent, it's just not somewhere I can see being a great place in 10 years. There's only so much you can do with a four mile island.

Oh, and I went to use a urinal and my large western bladder was clearly too much for the island's plumbing because I nearly overfilled the urinal.

Just be prepared for small children to ask to take your picture for a "donation", and as soon as the wallet comes out more children will decided they want your money. It's sad, and I hated saying no to them, but you can't give everything away.

>>1173295
For tourism I hear it's "not as good Thailand" but can be great for food tourism, and people have stayed long term seem to enjoy it.

>>1172847
bahasa has zero relationship with dutch. overall it's probably the easiest living language in the world to learn for a primary speaker of a nonrelated language (obviously another western language will be easier for you, despite this, and he speaks english, which is the closest living relative to dutch, so everything willbe harder in comparisn) so for the dutchbro: your chances are pretty good