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I just got off a ship and have been trying to plan out a working schedule for my vacation. I made friends with the Philippino AB's and they want me to meet them in Manila in January when they get off. I also want to go to Annapurna before they are finished with the new road. Since my aunt married an Indian I talked to him first and he said that if I was going to Nepal I may as well visit his family and have them take me to see tigers. While I would like to meet my friends in Manila, January is very bad timing. If I push Manila back to March or later I can fly to the Philippines first, then to India and on to Nepal in April (I want to hike Annapurna asap and April is my birthday as well). I only had the idea for this in the last month when I saw they were building a road in Annapurna and figured I would head that way. If I am planning to hike Annapurna in April, what would be the best order to see the three places? I have all the time I need but I would prefer to be back by June so I was thinking about making it 9 weeks or longer, most likely longer since Nepal would be 3 weeks minimum. I need to find a start date and country for the trip. Is April a good time for Annapurna, how should I arrange my schedule and what else should I start thinking about?
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Nov 9, 2010 06:27
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Shampy posted:Someone give me some ideas on what to do in Hoi An. We're here one more day and so far we've gone to the Japanese tombs (lol), the beach a few kilometers down, ate some decent food, slept and then went for some karaoke. I miss Ho Chi Minh. get a suit made
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Nov 10, 2010 19:52
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Sorry if this is the wrong place to ask, but I am thinking of teaching English in Thailand and wanted to get my TEFL certificate before I leave. I found a local university (I live in San Diego) that has a TEFL program but it's loving expensive. The four week course costs $2,650. (http://www.americanlanguage.org/Pages/ALI/Engine.aspx?id=587#teachertraining) Is this even worth it? I have heard you can take this course in Thailand, but I kind of wanted to get it taken care of before I leave. Anyone have any opinions?
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Nov 10, 2010 22:57
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O poo poo BATS! posted:Sorry if this is the wrong place to ask, but I am thinking of teaching English in Thailand and wanted to get my TEFL certificate before I leave. You want this thread. But to answer your question, I'd just do it in Thailand; it's cheaper, there's better opportunities for networking/finding a job, and you'll learn more of the specifics to teaching there. The advantage to doing it in San Diego would be if you wanted to teach in the US, or go straight over there on a work visa if you already had a job lined up. In practice, you're better off showing up on a 90-day tourist visa, taking the TEFL class on that and then looking for jobs when you're done with school (less a chance of being screwed if you can check out the school, students, and co-workers before you sign the contract). When you get offered a job you'll have to fly out of the country to get your visa/work permit in order (usually to Penang in Malaysia), but it's cheap and relatively painless. I did my TEFL through this place in 2006 and they were very professional. Cost is a bit high for TEFL courses in Thailand, but on the plus side it's accredited through the State University of New York, and like I said, it's a good course.
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Nov 10, 2010 23:25
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Pompous Rhombus posted:You want this thread. Thank you, this is helpful info. I am probably just going to take it in Thailand, then, but I will do some more research. The course you took, it was five weeks? What did you do with your time while you were taking the course?
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Nov 10, 2010 23:58
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Is there a cool art/music scene in Thailand? I assume this would be in Bangkok. I am just wondering about the Thai urban/alternative/youth culture.
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Nov 11, 2010 11:09
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Soo, I'm currently in Bangkok, planning to meet some friends in Singapore next weekend, and for some reason I want to take the train to KL and then a train or bus to Singapore after a night there. will this be a painless experience ? I heard something about having to wait 8 hours in butterworth..
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Nov 11, 2010 11:51
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Klogdor posted:Soo, I'm currently in Bangkok, planning to meet some friends in Singapore next weekend, and for some reason I want to take the train to KL and then a train or bus to Singapore after a night there. will this be a painless experience ? I heard something about having to wait 8 hours in butterworth.. Have a look here: http://www.seat61.com/Thailand.htm#Singapore Check out the various railway websites linked to, as they'll have more up to date timetables. Essentially, yes, there is a long wait in Butterworth. However, if you haven't been to Penang then turn the stop over in to a few days. I lived in Georgetown for six months when I was sixteen and I haven't been back, despite many visits to Malaysia since. It's an awesome place, and I have some great memories... With regards to KL to Singapore, I'd get a train. I've taken a super luxurious awesome bus, and it still sucked. The train has to be better, if only because one can take a piss when necessary and can walk around... and the view out the windows of highways is very boring. Another option would be to skip another visit to KL and fly from Penang to Singapore for cheap. Edit: I've been reading your blog through Google Translate  I'm heading to Big Blue in late December and I'll be there for one month. Ali, the pancake dude outside the 711, is awesome. You picked more or less the worst possible time to visit Koh Tao, but back in 2008 I did the same thing and had a great time - low visibility underwater, incredibly rough ocean, flooding on the land, and some amazing storms. You've some some sweet photos, too
Finch! fucked around with this message at 13:36 on Nov 11, 2010 |
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Nov 11, 2010 13:23
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Steve. posted:Have a look here: http://www.seat61.com/Thailand.htm#Singapore Well, I'm travelling with two guys that need to catch a plane from Singapore to India november 23. , so stopping in penang wont work this time. maybe after singapore Steve. posted:Edit: I've been reading your blog through Google Translate drat, I was sure his name was ollie for some reason. water was pretty murky indeed, and swimming back to the dive boat after snorkling was pretty hard. had a great time on Koh Tao anyways, almost as much fun as Koh Phangan. thanks for the compliment
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Nov 12, 2010 06:19
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lightpole posted:I just got off a ship and have been trying to plan out a working schedule for my vacation. I made friends with the Philippino AB's and they want me to meet them in Manila in January when they get off. I also want to go to Annapurna before they are finished with the new road. Since my aunt married an Indian I talked to him first and he said that if I was going to Nepal I may as well visit his family and have them take me to see tigers. I've been to the Philippines though and March/April is definitely the best time for the Phils - There's hardly any rain, the rice terraces in the north are still nice and green, there's heaps of whalesharks in Donsol at that time. There is tonnes to see in the Phils you could easily spend 2months+ there and not get bored. It's my favourite country in SE Asia, I was gonna head back there next year but might go to Nepal now instead.
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Nov 13, 2010 02:24
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superwofl posted:I've not looked into the Annapurna/Nepal much but I think I remember reading that around September was a good time to go as it's much quieter then than April-June and the rain isn't that bad. I didn't know about that road, thought I might go to Nepal in 2012 but might try to go there next year instead. Im still trying to plan out what I want to do, especially since theres so much in Nepal and Bhutan and Tibet are next door. I could hit Annapurna and then run over to Lhasa or something pretty easily. The road is supposed to be finished next year sometime I think so I figure the spring is going to be the time to go and its too late for this year. I might hit the Philippines some other time. I just spent 6 months away from home for work, I dont want to spend another 6 months traveling (I do but it would be a little stressful for vacation atm). Ugh I have so many options I cant make a decision.
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Nov 13, 2010 07:13
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O poo poo BATS! posted:Is there a cool art/music scene in Thailand? I assume this would be in Bangkok. I am just wondering about the Thai urban/alternative/youth culture. You need to define art/music scene better. Do you mean Williamsburg except in Asian? Or what? Alternative culture is a very different thing in Thailand. While the country doesn't bat an eye at transvestites, at elephants walking around the city, at eating bugs, or at drunken beet red Germans perspiring in tuk-tuks, groups of kids giving off a less than wholesome image aren't really tolerated. Women who smoke are frowned upon and while they do exist some Thais will assume they're prostitutes. People don't hold hands or kiss very much in public. A lot of (too much) deference is shown to parents and teachers. So if the sort of "alternative" culture you're after matters a lot, too. The short answer, however, is that Bangkok is swimming with culture. Thais are particularly adept architects and designers. Sure there's Hollywood and Bollywood, but Bangkok produces a ton of film, and it produces both good art films and good popcorn fare (especially comdies and goofy horror movies). Literature has traditionally been the most neglected of Thai arts but I went to poetry readings and the like in Bangkok (which were an awesome mix of foreigners and locals -- I attended the events at the Goethe Institute). Ratchada Soi 4 is a bustling mess of tiny live music bars catering mostly to the under 25 set. The visual arts have a strong encampment in Thailand's second city, Chiang Mai and while Bangkok out-bulks Chiang Mai considerably in overall artistic/cultural production the percapita concentration of artists (painters and photographers especially -- both foreign and Thai) is extremely high in the old Lanna capital. The really cool thing is that it's not very hard to access these kinds of things in Thailand even with limited Thai. If you put out the effort to learn the language you'd have more opportunities even than I've listed here. Edit: One other thing I should mention is that the soundtrack of the counterculture in Thailand isn't rock music like it is in the US, it's country music. This is because people who get shat on politically in Thailand, especially back in the 60s and 70s, will take to basically living in the jungle and coming into small towns now and then to get a little meat and to socialize. Of course, Thai country music is just as commercial as our rock music is today, but countercultural thought is still based on rural issues in Thailand and the sound palate used is too. raton fucked around with this message at 16:39 on Nov 14, 2010 |
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Nov 14, 2010 01:59
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Hi goons, really awesome thread and read this thread twice. I'm flying from Hong Kong and appreciate any input about my upcoming travel plans. I'm thinking of spending 15 days in SEA starting from Bangkok ---> Siem Reap, Phnom Penh, ----> HCMC and then to Malaysia and Singapore. I really want to go to Ankor Wat and try some really good pho in Vietnam. Singapore will probably eat up my budget but I want to visit a goon there. I'm not tight on cash and am willing to blow 2.5k total but transportation will add up. So here are my plans and I really appreciate if you guys can just review or have any suggestions/side excursions.
google calendar here: https://www.google.com/calendar/b/0/embed?src=cl0l05qpdc3ngskkc59vpal1pc@group.calendar.google.com&ctz=Asia/Hong_Kong&gsessionid=OK Welp, Air Asia just delisted the Singapore --> KL flight special, nearing to $100 USD one way. That's almost as much to Vietnam or Hong Kong  TL,DR Goon needs recommendations for nice scenic spots to take pictures.
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Nov 14, 2010 15:37
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caberham posted:Hi goons, really awesome thread and read this thread twice. I'm flying from Hong Kong and appreciate any input about my upcoming travel plans. I'm thinking of spending 15 days in SEA starting from Bangkok ---> Siem Reap, Phnom Penh, ----> HCMC and then to Malaysia and Singapore. I really want to go to Ankor Wat and try some really good pho in Vietnam. Singapore will probably eat up my budget but I want to visit a goon there. I'm not tight on cash and am willing to blow 2.5k total but transportation will add up. So here are my plans and I really appreciate if you guys can just review or have any suggestions/side excursions. Definitely fly from BKK to Siam Reap. It's not a cheap Air Asia flight, but you will skip basically a full day of bullshit. Two days is fine for Angkor Wat, one if you don't mind missing out on some stuff. I'd say splurge on a moto/tuk-tuk guy to drive you around rather than bicycling it if that's the case. You can always take the overnight train from KL to Singapore, but a bus is only like 5 hours or so, it's not bad at all. Personally I always go out of my way to plug Kampot/Bokor Hill Station to people visiting Cambodia, but it doesn't look like you'd have time unless you skipped Vietnam.
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Nov 14, 2010 16:14
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caberham posted:TL,DR Goon needs recommendations for nice scenic spots to take pictures. I demand to use your 85 f1.2 when you arrive in Bangkok 
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Nov 14, 2010 17:31
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Pompous Rhombus posted:Definitely fly from BKK to Siam Reap. It's not a cheap Air Asia flight, but you will skip basically a full day of bullshit. Two days is fine for Angkor Wat, one if you don't mind missing out on some stuff. I'd say splurge on a moto/tuk-tuk guy to drive you around rather than bicycling it if that's the case. You can always take the overnight train from KL to Singapore, but a bus is only like 5 hours or so, it's not bad at all. Air asia doesn't fly on siem reap. It's still just bangkok airways I think. At least I can't find anything else. And the prices are mad. I've always wanted to go to angor wat, but the getting there and more importantly the amount of tourists already there at any given time made me steer clear of it so far. Still thinking about it though, but only if I can get reasonable priced planetickets or something
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Nov 14, 2010 20:23
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mrfart posted:Air asia doesn't fly on siem reap. It's still just bangkok airways I think. Yeah, that's what Pompous was saying, you can only fly via Bangkok Airways, and no, it's not cheap. But anyone who's done the overland trip from Siem Reap to Bangkok (even since they opened the new-ish highway from Poipet to Siem Reap) will recommend flying instead, including myself. When you're short on time, you'll really value those extra 10 hours that aren't spent sitting in the back of a van sweating your rear end off. Also Poipet is truly a shithole.
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Nov 14, 2010 20:56
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mrfart posted:I've always wanted to go to angor wat, but the getting there and more importantly the amount of tourists already there at any given time made me steer clear of it so far. It's really not that bad to do overland, it just eats up a whole day. If you've got a couple of months and not so big of a budget, by all means take the bus. Alternatively, fly from BKK to Phnom Penh on Air Asia and bus it from there (if you're already planning on visiting Phnom Penh to begin with), it's only about 5 hours each way and is probably the most painless bus journey you can take in Cambodia. Another route is to go overland from Trat in Thailand to Ko Khong on the Cambodian side and on to Kampot/Sihanoukville, then work your way north to Phnom Penh and the rest of the country. You have to get up early as poo poo in Trat to make the border crossing in time to catch the boat from Ko Khong to Sihanoukville though, and the boat loving sucks if the seas are rough. I grew up around boats and it's the only time in my life I've gotten close to being seasick. There's an okay-ish road that makes a decent alternative (at least in the dry season), although you might have to share-taxi it. Ran into a couple of different scams at the border; don't exchange money for riel unless you know the exchange rate (you can use baht in Ko Konh/Sihanoukville anyways, despite what your driver/the moneychanger may tell you), and try not to overpay for transportation. The English-speaking dudes tried to stonewall me on the fare from the border to Ko Khong, I don't think it should be more than $2/person, although you have to pay the bridge tolls. Share-taxi mafia were equally shady, you just have to bargain. You would actually be surprised at how much Angkor Wat clears out during the day; the vast majority of tourists are there on package tours, which bus them in for sunrise and then back out to town for breakfast at their hotels, then back later in the day for sunset after dinner (or something like that). Most of the time you can wander around for hours and not be confronted with a throng of Koreans carrying on and snapping away with their DSLRs. Plenty of Cambodian people hawking crap though. Pompous Rhombus fucked around with this message at 21:34 on Nov 14, 2010 |
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Nov 14, 2010 21:30
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Ow sorry, I misread your post. Yeah, flying to the edge of thailand first looks like a good option. Or maybe if I can get the discovery pass you told me about, it would be affordable to go with bangkok airways. I'm gonna pass on your boat idea though. I'll be vomiting before I even get on it probably. I thought the idea was to go reaaaly early to angor wat, but I guess everybody is already doing that.
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Nov 14, 2010 22:45
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brendanwor posted:Words of wisdom: Don't Take the overland route Pompous Rhombus posted:Awesome advice and don't take the overland route Pompous you are making me want to learn how to ride a motorcycle and go around SEA, or at the very least take the "off beaten path"  But what is there to do along the way? Funny that I ask that question when I want to go overland and use alot more time in the bus.Thanks for the input, I think I would probably go to Angkor wat more than once in my life since flying to Angkor Wat is not as expensive as from the Americas. Call me crazy but I actually think traveling by overland is a lot more interesting than flying  Traveling by train across Europe was really fun and I hope the experience in SEA will be similiar. Maybe a lot grimier but still fun! I have not really done much overland travel in SEA besides taking the night train from Shenzhen to Guilin. Or a day train to Ayutthaya and bussing back to Bangkok. So I would really like to  experience something else . Not a hardcore hippie backpacker who can sleep on the floor and be frrrreeeeeeeeeeee  Just a sightseeing tourist who wants a comfortable bed at night, not too fancy about the room but kind of picky about the bed.Hong Kong can be pretty isolated, it's surrounded by seas and the 2 neighbouring cities, Macau (Casino dump, but revitalized by the Americans), and Shenzhen (a blob). Air travel is the main form of travel so it's always about going to the airport. I'm kind of curious about Poipet, if it looks like China 20 years ago. The only lovely places I have been to are Milan and the outer districts of Dongguan. And East Hastings Vancouver. I did check out a few of the higher rated places in hostel world and at the prices they are offering, I'm a happy man! Ringo R posted:I demand to use your 85 f1.2 when you arrive in Bangkok Sure, but you have to see me in person to get a hold of it 
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Nov 15, 2010 03:55
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caberham posted:Pompous you are making me want to learn how to ride a motorcycle and go around SEA, or at the very least take the "off beaten path" Nah man, not at all. Bike it the hell up  I'm just saying, if you've only got 2 weeks and change, you're probably better off taking the plane to Siam Reap rather than overlanding it. Poipet looks like China 20 years ago if China 20 years ago was full of casinos, Cambodian mafia, Thai gamblers, squalor, hookers, orphans begging in the streets, and despair. Really, Poipet loving sucks and you are missing out on nothing at all. If you want to wallow in some filth, just check out Patpong or Soi Cowboy when you're in BKK. mrfart posted:Ow sorry, I misread your post. Oh no, you don't have to fly to Trat, you can take a bus from Bangkok (from the Ekkamai terminal, IIRC), takes about 5 hours or so. I've only passed through but I kind of like Trat; the town itself is a pretty unremarkable Thai provincial capitol but it's pretty close to some nice, deserted stretches of beach if you've got a rental motorbike. It's also the jumping off point for Ko Chang, but I found that pretty mediocre (also, don't rent a bike on Ko Chang; that's some of the most dangerous riding I've ever done and I brought the bike back to the shop the next day). Catching the sunrise is pretty nice (especially if you're a photo dork like me), but you do have to share it. OTOH the other tourist all peace out afterwards, so it's not bad at all. I remember the first time I went to Angkor Wat, we woke up at like 5:30 on Christmas morning and rode bicycles in pitch darkness (no streetlights, woo!) to go see the sunrise. Totally worth it.
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Nov 15, 2010 06:36
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Klogdor posted:Well, I'm travelling with two guys that need to catch a plane from Singapore to India november 23. , so stopping in penang wont work this time. maybe after singapore well, seems like I cant waste 3 days on trains if I want to do a few days in singapore before the 23. checking flights now, air asia is a little less than 4000thb, while singapore air is 6500 and bangkok airways is 15000thb , anyone know anyone else that flies bkk-> singapore ?
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Nov 15, 2010 14:18
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I flew into Siem Reap from HCMC, it took about half a day and we got to spend some time at Angkor for sunset. For the ride over to Bangkok, we hired a car for like $20 to Poipet (2-3h or so), crossed the border, took a tuk tuk to the bus station, sat at the bus station for like an hour. Then we took the bus to bangkok, broke down in the middle of a downpour, had to transfer bus, left some poo poo in the old bus, arrive in bangkok at like 11PM and the city was flooded. Looked for a hotel, ended up staying in some $5/night shithole which smelled so bad that I could not sleep because it was the only one we could access in Khao San without wading through 2 feet of sewage. Moral of this story? If we flew we would have gotten to Khao San at like 2PM, chosen a nice hotel/guesthouse, and had a much more enjoyable time overall. We were only there for a little under three weeks, and time was a major factor in our travel plans. We essentially wasted a day with that adventure and although it was experience, it was a pain in the rear end. Don't go overland to/from Cambodia unless you have time to spare.
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Nov 15, 2010 19:52
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A thing happened in Burma: http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6AD0S420101114 tldr: The symbol for democracy in Burma was recently released from years of house arrest. This isn't the first time that sentence has been written, however, and the Burmese government just did it so people would stop talking about the horrible Tropico-esq election that just went down there.
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Nov 16, 2010 02:49
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I heard she wanted to meet with journalists and could "move around freely" I wonder how long until they lock her up again.
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Nov 17, 2010 00:47
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caberham posted:Call me crazy but I actually think traveling by overland is a lot more interesting than flying Travelling overland in Asia is a lot different than in Europe. Namely, it sucks.
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Nov 17, 2010 13:35
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I'm planning to spend about 2 months in SEA next year. The earliest I can leave is the middle/end of May. That's also the best time for me to leave. I was thinking May 18 - July 18 or so. The trouble is, it's supposed to be crazy hot during that time, right? The most I can delay is maybe July through September, but even that might be tough (or impossible). any advice?
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Nov 17, 2010 23:56
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DNova posted:any advice?  In all seriousness though, July - September will be the rainy season, so you don't gain a lot by waiting. I'd say just go ahead; I've done plenty of traveling in the hot season and it's not as if it's completely uninhabitable or anything (disclaimer: native Floridian ). Try to plan activities around the mid-day heat and make sure to drink plenty of fluids (bottled water is both very cheap and ubiquitous), you should be fine.
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Nov 18, 2010 00:09
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Yeah, basically wear shorts and a tshirt and drink some water you pussy.freebooter posted:Travelling overland in Asia is a lot different than in Europe. Namely, it sucks. Well, it's not that bad, you just need to have the time and  to do so. There's some cool poo poo to look at out the window during overland trips from northern Thailand/Bangkok down to the south, or from HCMC to Phnom Penh or what have you, and it's better than the haze that you'll see out of an airplane window.
brendanwor fucked around with this message at 00:31 on Nov 18, 2010 |
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Nov 18, 2010 00:28
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Are shorts commonly worn by adult men in most of southeast Asia? I prefer to wear long pants, even in hot weather, because I'm not a child. But if the locals are down then I'm down.
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Nov 18, 2010 04:04
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DNova posted:Are shorts commonly worn by adult men in most of southeast Asia? I prefer to wear long pants, even in hot weather, because I'm not a child. But if the locals are down then I'm down. Pretty much no local people will take exception to you wearing shorts (unless you're visiting a temple or somewhere otherwise unusually classy), but you'll notice local men overwhelmingly wear trousers themselves. Despite not being as wealthy as developed countries, people in SEA still place a lot of value on appearance; as a (presumably) Western tourist your generally aren't expected to fit in that much, but it's easier to come off as a "real person" if you dress a little sharper than your average be-dreadlocked hippie. At the very minimum, I think guys should bring 1-2 nice shirts and a pair of slacks/decent jeans for stuff like embassy visits, immigration/border crossings, or having to visit a police station (hopefully not!). If you show up in cargo shorts and a Beer Chang singlet you're showing disrespect to the official right off the bat, which isn't going to make things any more smooth/pleasant for you.
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Nov 18, 2010 04:27
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freebooter posted:Travelling overland in Asia is a lot different than in Europe. Namely, it sucks. heh, I'll have to agree with this, screwed up and overstayed 2 days in thailand, took the train to butterworth and didnt have cash to pay the overstay fine... so I got thrown off the train, had to find an atm and catch a taxi to Kangar ... where I'm now enjoying some fine kfc dining while waiting for the bus to butterworth. but that was all my fault.
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Nov 18, 2010 05:59
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Pompous Rhombus posted:Pretty much no local people will take exception to you wearing shorts (unless you're visiting a temple or somewhere otherwise unusually classy), but you'll notice local men overwhelmingly wear trousers themselves. Despite not being as wealthy as developed countries, people in SEA still place a lot of value on appearance; as a (presumably) Western tourist your generally aren't expected to fit in that much, but it's easier to come off as a "real person" if you dress a little sharper than your average be-dreadlocked hippie. Yeah, I would definitely bring a passable pair of pants, or just buy them there I guess if you only have a very small bag. I remember there were a couple of guys in a group I was hanging with who couldn't come to some neat bars in Bangkok (the rooftop one maybe?) with us because all they had were knock-off board shorts from Khao San Road (Think the 'billabong' ones which only say 'BONG' on them.) Even just those travel-style pants are fine, I was surprised at how human wearing a pair of them made me feel in situations like waiting at the airport or arriving back home after rocking board shorts & flip-flops for like a month straight. & I think this is more of just a pet peeve of mine, but I don't get why people actually wanted to wear filthy 'beer chang' singlets, or even worse, the ones with those same handful of designs you'd see at roadside stalls. Having a shirt that says 'iPood' or 'Sex instructor: First lesson free' just makes you look like a loving idiot. I don't think I met a single person wearing one of those who you'd want to have a conversation lasting longer than a sentence with.
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Nov 18, 2010 07:14
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Klogdor posted:heh, I'll have to agree with this, screwed up and overstayed 2 days in thailand, took the train to butterworth and didnt have cash to pay the overstay fine... so I got thrown off the train, had to find an atm and catch a taxi to Kangar ... where I'm now enjoying some fine kfc dining while waiting for the bus to butterworth. Added bonus : seems like I somehow bypassed getting a Malaysian visa, and I'm now illegaly in the country.. poo poo. getting up at 5 am tomorrow and going back to the border. I'll be kind of annoyed if I end in jail because of this :p
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Nov 18, 2010 15:31
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Tomorrow I will be finally paying for my airline tickets into Vietnam. I'll be coming into Hanoi from Tokyo on Dec 25th, and flying back to Tokyo from HCMC on January 8th. Two weeks isn't a ton of time but I will find a way to make it work. Gonna work back through the thread to find the person who recommended a hotel to me in Hanoi so I will have a place lined up for my arrival, but if anyone can recommend some good hostels/hotels along the spine of the country so I have some ideas of where I can safely stay this will put my mind at great ease. This will be my first time visiting another country that isn't Japan.
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Nov 18, 2010 15:39
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I was in SE Asia for 3 months and took some of those lightweight travel trousers with me, and after a while I was absoultely fine wearing them walking around in mid-30 degree heat. I'm from the ever-mild UK and I got used to the heat after a while.
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Nov 18, 2010 16:34
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Xanin posted:I was in SE Asia for 3 months and took some of those lightweight travel trousers with me, and after a while I was absoultely fine wearing them walking around in mid-30 degree heat. I'm from the ever-mild UK and I got used to the heat after a while. Good to know. Which trousers are you talking about specifically? The ones from REI?
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Nov 18, 2010 16:59
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Klogdor posted:Added bonus : seems like I somehow bypassed getting a Malaysian visa, and I'm now illegaly in the country.. poo poo. getting up at 5 am tomorrow and going back to the border. I'll be kind of annoyed if I end in jail because of this :p Ive always had more luck with playing really dumb and ignorant when I run into problems and usually it works out. Its not like you are in Dubai or other Mid Eastern countries.
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Nov 18, 2010 17:14
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lightpole posted:Ive always had more luck with playing really dumb and ignorant when I run into problems and usually it works out. Its not like you are in Dubai or other Mid Eastern countries. yeah, that was kind of my plan. if I end up not posting here for a few weeks, you all know what happened. but really, I'm assuming it'll all be ok. it always works out.
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Nov 18, 2010 17:31
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DNova posted:Good to know. Which trousers are you talking about specifically? The ones from REI? What's REI? I just bought them from a travel shop on the high street, can't remember a brand but those things are fairly generic. They're quick-drying and also can be converted to shorts (never did that too as it wasn't the best look).
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Nov 18, 2010 19:00
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