|
Cheesemaster200 posted:What has been everyone's experience with booking intra-region flights as a game time decision? You can wing it like that in most cases (late July isn't the high season by any stretch), you just might not have your pick of flights, or might pay $100 instead of the $16 early-bird special on Air Asia.
|
#
?
Feb 28, 2011 03:48
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 9, 2024 03:55 |
|
|
Exactly but low cost carriers at full fare is still relatively affordable. Jet Star, and Tiger is the way to go to Singapore/Malaysia. I went from HCMC to Kuala lumpur through Jet star and bused to Malacca and Singapore. Met a good and had tonnes of fun!
|
|
#
?
Feb 28, 2011 04:35
|
|
|
tzz posted:I wish I knew how to ride a motorbike to do that sort of stuff Don't miss out on the adventures and freedom to be found exploring SEA on bike/motorbike! After doing some research on how to operate them, you would probably just be fine renting one and figuring it out as you go. Or, you could just make Ringo teach you. Worked for me ^_^
|
|
#
?
Feb 28, 2011 21:16
|
|
|
I'm headed to the Philippines in a few days with little to no itinerary. We fly into Manila and will probably stay there a day or two to adjust, then we plan to head north to Luna, stopping in either Dagupan, Baguio, or both along the way. I know the basics about the country (get the gently caress out of Manila ASAP, Jeepneys, etc.). I'm in a bit of a unique situation because I'll be traveling with my wife's family, and my FIL was born and raised in the Philippines, then moved to America in his teens and has lived there since. We'll be staying with various family members along the way, and they have a small beach hut they recently built in Luna where we plan to spend most of our time. Is anyone familiar with that area? I figure the wife and I may pop down to San Fernando city for a night or two at a "resort" if we get bored in Luna, but other than that I have no idea what to do in the area. Neither one of us are big bar/nightclub type people (not like Luna would have any anyway). Are there any must sees while we are there? I have no problem spending a week doing nothing next to the ocean, but I feel like I should make the most of flying to the other side of the world.
|
|
#
?
Feb 28, 2011 21:43
|
|
|
chockomonkey posted:Don't miss out on the adventures and freedom to be found exploring SEA on bike/motorbike! After doing some research on how to operate them, you would probably just be fine renting one and figuring it out as you go. Or, you could just make Ringo teach you. Well, not this time because I'm going with some friends, but I'd love to go back for two or three months sometime next year and try the motorbike adventure. My big problem is that I'm 27, I have never ever ridden a motorbike, I don't even have a driver's license and I don't think I'll be able to get one in the near future, so the idea of making my debut in the land of lovely roads and crazy drivers is a bit worrying :P Thanks Pompous for the book links and everything, I'll make sure to read that one if I ever get the balls do it.
|
|
#
?
Feb 28, 2011 21:51
|
|
|
tzz posted:My big problem is that I'm 27, I have never ever ridden a motorbike, I don't even have a driver's license and I don't think I'll be able to get one in the near future So basically you'll have the driving skill of everyone else in SE asia, mai bpen rai!
|
|
#
?
Mar 1, 2011 06:00
|
|
|
Back in the city again for a few days. Mostly recovering today from yesterdays bender. SCUBA was kind of a wash for me. I had a lot of trouble equalizing and it turned out that what had happened is that I'd gotten an infection in my nose on the first day which had hosed up my sinuses (didn't register as a nose infection, just vauge trouble in my right ear, which tends to give me fits anyway). An extra day in Hat Yai and some antibiotics and it's sorted now. Doctor bill: 500B, plus meds = 824B. Suck it, Amerikkka. I went through a loving awesome cave tour near Hat Yai. It's a bit hard to get to and it was only Thais around there. According to the tour guy the villagers only "found" it a few years ago or something which seems unlikely to me as it's loving massive. The cave itself is really cool with tons of great formations inside, plus the cutesy colored lighting the Thai folks installed inside. The great part is the end where you go through a good ten minute stretch where you have to lay flat on your back in shallow little boat while the boatswain pushes against the ceiling with his hands to propel you through the cave and the guy in the back shines his flashlight around haphazardly and hollers at everyone in Thai to watch out, to lay flatter, to keep their head down, etc., as the cave roof skims variously between an inch and a foot above your face. And, like I said, this goes on for ten straight minutes. Really cool experience and props to my Hat Yai buddies for taking me there. Here's a page with a bit about it in Thai: http://www.7wondersthailand.com/wizContent.asp?wizConID=188&txtmMenu_ID=7
|
|
#
?
Mar 1, 2011 15:59
|
|
|
Hillridge posted:I'm headed to the Philippines in a few days with little to no itinerary. Are you by any chance referring to Luna in the northern La Union region? If so, my clan's ancestral home is in Bangar, which is the next town over from Luna. I suggest taking a daytrip from Luna to Vigan, Ilocos Sur, about a 100-kilometer drive. The Calle Crisologo area there is a total throwback to the Spanish colonial days, which has made UNESCO declare the city a World Heritage Site. You can also spend a couple of hours wandering about and relaxing in the Hidden Garden.
|
|
#
?
Mar 1, 2011 16:57
|
|
|
Yep, that's the one! I'll definitely look into checking out those sites, as we should have a car at our disposal the whole time we're there. As of now, my only plans are to hang out and drink with the chickens.
|
|
#
?
Mar 1, 2011 17:51
|
|
|
Thanks Big Suave for the thai travel clinic directions. I found it allright and got my shots. Now I'm going to get the hell out of BKK, I'm afraid that if I don't leave now I'll never will. I've found the atmosphere on Soi Rambutri (near Khoa San) very nice and had a great time, but the hangovers are killing me here  So, surfing online to find out how to take the bus to Chiang Mai, because the trains seem to be booked full.
|
|
#
?
Mar 4, 2011 09:06
|
|
|
Rojkir posted:Thanks Big Suave for the thai travel clinic directions. I found it allright and got my shots. Now I'm going to get the hell out of BKK, I'm afraid that if I don't leave now I'll never will. I've found the atmosphere on Soi Rambutri (near Khoa San) very nice and had a great time, but the hangovers are killing me here Glad to help out! It's an interesting place but do you see what I mean about their map being a bit off? After spending the last week having a upper respiratory infection and finding out how ridiculously much some cold medicine is here I was actually thinking of going back for a couple more when I'm back up in Bangkok for flu and maybe typhoid. Yeah, Thanon Rambutri and Soi Rambutri are pretty sweet. I know what you mean about BKK; I spent more nights there than intended becuase I'd be out 'till 6 listening to live music or getting wasted and dancing and then sleep until the next afternoon and do it again for like five days straight. I'm on my 4th day on Phi Phi at the moment but I think I'm going to head up north pretty quick here, maybe after a day or two in Krabi or Koh Lanta. On the Andaman side I've only been exposed to Phi Phi so far but I have to say I definitely liked the feel of the gulf islands a lot better than this place. I probably would have left already if I wasn't bumming around here with some new friends. We did one of the half-day tours around the island and surrounding islands where they give you lunch and you snorkel all over and end with sunset at Maya Bay. That was pretty fun. We were talking about doing the overnight camping trip to Maya Bay but it was like 1900 baht and gently caress paying over sixty dollars to pretend to be homeless. After this it's up to Chaing Mai and Laos for me with possibly a day stopover in Bangkok. Maybe I'll see you up there -- do you have a Thai cell number, Rojkir? I posted mine a page or two ago. That said, at some point along the way I need to renew my visa, as it expires next week. I can't believe I've nearly been here a month already. I can't decide whether to do the visa run from BKK to Cambodia or do gun it up north and do an overnight in Burma or Laos. I'm not sure how consistent my internet access will be until I get back up to BKK and Chaing Mai next week but I'll check back in when I can.
|
|
#
?
Mar 4, 2011 13:17
|
|
|
The whole reason I took the MSF and bought a motorcycle here is so one day I can motorbike across SE Asia
|
|
#
?
Mar 6, 2011 20:36
|
|
|
Does anybody have any good 'strategies' for getting good flight prices to SE Asia? The best that I've able to come up with so far, for example, is driving to New York (I live in Philly) and going to either HK or Shanghai from there, and then taking a flight from either of those two airports. Those seem to be the cheapest deals I can find. I've tried most of the tips suggested in the OP and a few others from throughout the thread, but a lot of the stuff still seems prohibitively expensive. In particular, I'm trying to go round trip from Philadelphia-Phnom Penh (volunteering => depart in June and return in December), but am willing to use nearby airports and make land trips in between to save any significant amount of money. Thanks guys.
|
|
#
?
Mar 7, 2011 05:59
|
|
|
That's probably a good idea about heading out from New York. Other than that I can't really offer much help that hasn't already been gone over. Might be cheaper to fly to hong kong and then take a local carrier. Or alternately fly to BKK and take the train or something to PP. At least you are several months out, unlike me. You have the luxury of waiting a month or so to see if there are any sales. I think your best bet is to fly to a hub like bkk and take the train or a low cost local carrier. Just my 2 cents. Be sure to post in this thread when the time comes. I should still be around if you want to grab a beer. E: Have you takes to F^2? he is a travel agent and might be able to help u out. He has threads in this for and SAMart, I believe. BigSuave fucked around with this message at 12:32 on Mar 7, 2011 |
|
#
?
Mar 7, 2011 12:30
|
|
|
Haven't talked to F^2/wasn't aware that he was available, thanks a bunch, I'll definitely try talking to him. And where are you located? I don't think I'll be able to leave Phnom Penh until sometime in August, but school is out then so the volunteers are allowed to leave for weekends if they want to, and it'd definitely be great to see Thailand(?). I'll stop back when I figure that out.
|
|
#
?
Mar 7, 2011 18:23
|
|
|
Hub to hub, in the US and Asia. Check flights from somewhere like LAX or SFO to Singapore, KL, BKK, HK or Shanghai, and then do the low cost carriers to get to PP.
|
|
#
?
Mar 7, 2011 20:52
|
|
|
Soap Scum posted:Does anybody have any good 'strategies' for getting good flight prices to SE Asia? The best that I've able to come up with so far, for example, is driving to New York (I live in Philly) and going to either HK or Shanghai from there, and then taking a flight from either of those two airports. Those seem to be the cheapest deals I can find. I've tried most of the tips suggested in the OP and a few others from throughout the thread, but a lot of the stuff still seems prohibitively expensive. Where are you going to leave your car in NY? If you consider the costs of parking (or the risks of it getting jacked in some unprotected spot in Jersey or towed from any normal spot in NY) and the tolls in involved in driving I think you'll book a ticket anyway. Just book a Philly to Bangkok ticket and take any of the numerous ground transport options from Bangkok to Phnom Phen (takes about half a day of travel to get there). There are also low cost carriers flying out of BKK to take you to PP -- ground route will be about 70% of the cost of a flight, maybe a 30 or so dollar difference, so you may end up flying anyway as that bus trip isn't a treat (used to be horrendous now it's merely unpleasant). You will not save more than a hundred bucks doing any of the roundabout routes you're talking about once you consider food and ground transport and hotels (if needed) etc. You could quite likely spend more, miss a connection and end up somewhere you don't want to be for a day or two, blah blah blah. There used to be bargain airfares and such but that was in the pre-internet days (and they were only really bargains because of how much the normal fares raped you in comparison). Kayak.com will tell you what the cheapest way to get there is about 95% of the time. Book your ticket about three months in advance for the best rates (more lead = more expensive, less lead = more expensive).
|
|
#
?
Mar 8, 2011 11:08
|
|
|
You could fly to Kuala Lumpur, it's the AirAsia hub and they fly to Phnom Penh for about $100 I think.
|
|
#
?
Mar 8, 2011 14:42
|
|
|
Xanin posted:You could fly to Kuala Lumpur, it's the AirAsia hub and they fly to Phnom Penh for about $100 I think. You gotta watch getting dinged for extra bags going from a normal international flight to Air Asia. Probably cheapest to fly to BKK and take Air Asia from there. Overlanding is cheap but a PITA and extra costs like meals, getting ripped off at the border, etc often equalize things.
|
|
#
?
Mar 8, 2011 15:02
|
|
|
Sheep-Goats posted:Where are you going to leave your car in NY? If you consider the costs of parking (or the risks of it getting jacked in some unprotected spot in Jersey or towed from any normal spot in NY) and the tolls in involved in driving I think you'll book a ticket anyway. There are trains between Philly and NY (and it's very easy to get to EWR from NJ transit)
|
|
#
?
Mar 8, 2011 15:25
|
|
|
Pompous Rhombus posted:You gotta watch getting dinged for extra bags going from a normal international flight to Air Asia. Probably cheapest to fly to BKK and take Air Asia from there. Overlanding is cheap but a PITA and extra costs like meals, getting ripped off at the border, etc often equalize things. True, I hadn't thought of that. When I was travelling my bag was under 12kg so I didn't even come close to the limit for the short haul flights. If he's got a light bag too he hopefully should be OK. We ended up flying from Singapore to Bangkok as it was only about $20.
|
|
#
?
Mar 8, 2011 15:56
|
|
|
When you go overland though, you get to have the experience of crossing the Cambodia frontier! No trip to SE Asia is complete without a visit to the quaint border town of Poipet.
|
|
#
?
Mar 8, 2011 16:02
|
|
|
Cheesemaster200 posted:When you go overland though, you get to have the experience of crossing the Cambodia frontier! No trip to SE Asia is complete without a visit to the quaint border town of Poipet.  
|
|
#
?
Mar 9, 2011 10:20
|
|
|
I've been back from my trip to laos/thailand for a while and like to thank everybody for the advice I got here. It was a great trip, only problem was lack of time. I wish I could do this for a couple months, but my job and financial situation doesn't really allow me to do so. However, while I was in bangkok I met some people who live there and do independant jobs, totally unrelated with anything in thailand. And I'm wondering how they can. (for example, some dutch guy running a couple of websites in the netherlands). Anybody have any experience with this? I'm a comicbook artist/illustrator, and basically I could do that job anywhere in the world. some crappy pics:  (everything you need to be able to say in thai)  (for the first time in my life I'm the biggest in a group of construction workers)  (nobody got hurt, but when we got there the guy was still at the wheel, not moving or saying anything, while his hysteric wife next to him was screaming at him)   (udon thani)  (unfortunately still a sad reality in laos)
|
|
#
?
Mar 9, 2011 13:33
|
|
|
Cheesemaster200 posted:When you go overland though, you get to have the experience of crossing the Cambodia frontier! No trip to SE Asia is complete without a visit to the quaint border town of Poipet. Next time I go backpacking I'm going to skip all the crap like temples and beaches and all that nonsense. Poipet is everything I have ever dreamed of and one day I hope to be able retire there *dreams away*.
|
|
#
?
Mar 9, 2011 13:55
|
|
|
Anyone with experience rock climbing in Thailand, either at Raileh/Tonsai or Crazy Horse? I'm planning a climbing trip for next month and would appreciate any advice. All the climbing pictures I've seen look awesome, I can't wait.
|
|
#
?
Mar 9, 2011 14:31
|
|
|
ReindeerF posted:Agreed. Here are some pictures from my 3-4 trips through Poipet: Thank you for a hearty lol with which to start my day. mrfart posted:I've been back from my trip to laos/thailand for a while and like to thank everybody for the advice I got here. Cool pics! You can either get a tourist visa and keep renewing that/taking trips out of the country every 90 days (you're not supposed to be be able to do more than 90 days out of 180 on a tourist visa, so your poo poo could abruptly end whenever), or basically "buy" an educational visa from a Thai language school for around US$1000/year if you're in Bangkok/Pattaya/Chiang Mai/maybe Phuket. You're not allowed to work on either type of visa, but if you're doing poo poo over the internet your chances of getting caught are basically nil. In Vietnam and Cambodia you can pretty much outright buy a business visa from the government no problem. In Thailand, getting an actual work visa/permit is a huge hassle and almost impossible for anything but teaching English unless you're starting your own company ($$$).
|
|
#
?
Mar 9, 2011 14:50
|
|
|
i81icu812 posted:Anyone with experience rock climbing in Thailand, either at Raileh/Tonsai or Crazy Horse? I'm planning a climbing trip for next month and would appreciate any advice. All the climbing pictures I've seen look awesome, I can't wait. After laos I went to tonsai for some climing. To be honest after laos we didn't do that much climing. More relaxing. When you go to railey/tonsai and don't care too much about luxury (ie you don't need aircon and a tv with no reception), I would go straight to tonsai. The crowd is much better, and everything is much cheaper. For instance, a pad thai on tonsai beach is 50 bath, on railey at least 150. If you're going, say hi to phi (or however you write that) from me. She's a climbing instructor at viking climbing (ran by, you guessed it, a scandinavian). We hung out with her a couple of nights at the bars and was happy that somebody stayed up later than midnight. One of the problems with climbers is that they take it way too seriously and go to bed early to be fit in the morning. The fullmoon 'parties' there have to be taken with a grain of salt. It's more a fullmoon nightcap before doing some balance exercises and head straight to bed She'll remember me from that Belgian guy who broke his toe last year, came back this year with his brother who then broke two toes at pretty much the same loving place. Anyway: There's a 'blue lagoon' inside the rocks at railey, which is rather brown. Getting there is tricky and involves some climing on sharp rocks without rope.    some sharp rocks indeed.  climbing instructor.
|
|
#
?
Mar 9, 2011 17:17
|
|
|
mrfart posted:How easy is it to get there from Phuket?
|
|
#
?
Mar 9, 2011 22:33
|
|
|
Schatten posted:Thank you! Looks like that's one of my destinations in a few weeks! It'll just be a longtail boat ride away, maybe 30 minutes? I went there from Krabi and it didn't take long.
|
|
#
?
Mar 9, 2011 23:34
|
|
|
mrfart posted:There's a 'blue lagoon' inside the rocks at railey, which is rather brown. Hmm, that lagoon doesn't look as nice as I'd imagined it to be. Kinda glad I just laid on the beach last time I was at Railay. Schatten posted:Thank you! Looks like that's one of my destinations in a few weeks! Pretty easy, get a ferry from Phuket to Ao Nang, Krabi (about 2 hours) and then it's just a 15 minute longtail ride.
|
|
#
?
Mar 10, 2011 01:01
|
|
|
Just got back to NYC. NYC sucks!
|
|
#
?
Mar 10, 2011 22:35
|
|
|
Sheep-Goats posted:Just got back to NYC. NYC sucks! Did you bring a nice bargirl back with you to take good care mak mak? 
|
|
#
?
Mar 11, 2011 01:22
|
|
|
Sheep-Goats posted:Just got back to NYC. NYC sucks! Sorry to hear that. I was saving that bottle of whiskey for my night train ride up to Chaing Mai (where I am now) but I loving left it in my guesthouse room and I went back to look for it but it was gone and the owner said he hadn't seen it... suspicious no? What was the name of that place you said to check out up here? Not Miguels (where I'm headed for lunch right now and actually picked my guesthouse due to its proximity) but there was another place you were saying to go but I was drunk and my memory a bit fuzzy. The night train is awesome and makes me wish I had taken it to/from the south instead of flying but circumstances at the time dictated otherwise. 2nd class sleeper is where it's at. I was shacked up with this cool middle-aged Thai couple and in all it was a good time and as comfortable a bed as any around here. My only recommendation to others would be to pack your own snacks/water/beer/whatever because the restaurant car is ridiculously priced and I hear it's crap food but I wouldn't know about the latter because I didn't eat there. Just pick up a few pork buns or sausage croissants at one of the stands in the station and you'll be golden. Oh, and a pair of ear plugs wouldn't be a bad idea if you want to sleep past 7, as the Thais like to wake up early and speak quite loudly over breakfast.
|
|
#
?
Mar 11, 2011 08:37
|
|
|
brendanwor posted:Did you bring a nice bargirl back with you to take good care mak mak? My LBFM / RPBW  this post brought to you by ThaiVisa.comBigSuave posted:What was the name of that place you said to check out up here? Not Miguels (where I'm headed for lunch right now and actually picked my guesthouse due to its proximity) but there was another place you were saying to go but I was drunk and my memory a bit fuzzy. Mike's. It's on the right side of the eastern moat, opposite soi 9 (on the inside of the moat) or so. It's also very obviously a burger stand and every farang in Chiang Mai who isn't wearing a singlet or fisherman's pants (so, like, about 10% of them) will be able to send you in the right direction. As for the whiskey I suspect your housemaid nabbed it in order to use the Paragon bag as a purse and tossed out the actual whusk. raton fucked around with this message at 14:10 on Mar 11, 2011 |
|
#
?
Mar 11, 2011 14:06
|
|
|
So, i'm back from Koh Tao and stayed on Sairee Beach at Sairee cottage. The atmosphere was fairly good for such a touristy island. Lots of girls, sun, and mostly friendly people. There were a lot of people who had been there for months or even a year +. I went with Scuba junction for my courses but did a couple fun dives at the smaller shops before I left. AOW was easy as hell but the Rescue diver course was surprisingly difficult. I was rusty and my buoyancy was hilariously poo poo for the first day back in the water but I managed to get through it. I even managed to lift a buff DM that was like a sack of bricks out of the water for the simulated rescue to the boat.  It's a lot more academic heavy than I thought it would be.The sites weren't as barren as some of the reports i've seen. I saw a big turtle at twins as well as a bunch of massive cool looking triggerfish. At least 1/2 of the stuff in the regional fish guide was easily viewable. No whale shark tho  .
|
|
#
?
Mar 12, 2011 03:35
|
|
|
Sheep-Goats posted:
Aah, thought that was it. I actually ate there for lunch today. My guesthouse is just outside the walls right between Mike's and Miguel's so I have it pretty good for farang food. My visa expires tomorrow so I have to do the Mae Sai visa run at 7AM but my guesthouse wants 650B for it but I found a travel place inside the walls that does it for 500, if I can only find it again. At least that gives me a mission tonight as I wander around looking for dinner before taking a tuk-tuk (or maybe a songthaew if I can figure out which ones go the right way) to the river to Th. Charoenrat, where apparently all the live music is.
|
|
#
?
Mar 12, 2011 10:43
|
|
|
Is Hell's Kitchen still in Chiang Mai? I must have eaten 15 pieces of cornbread there. I was so excited to see some dirty south cooking in Thailand. edit the dude who owns it was cool as hell too, he is a black guy from Alabama (I think) who was in the Navy for like 25 years, stationed in Thailand at one point, and moved back, married a thai lady and opened up the joint. I talked to him for probably 45 minutes about SEC football and other things only people south of the mason dixon line care about Ribsauce fucked around with this message at 06:25 on Mar 13, 2011 |
|
#
?
Mar 13, 2011 06:21
|
|
|
mrfart posted:However, while I was in bangkok I met some people who live there and do independant jobs, totally unrelated with anything in thailand. And I'm wondering how they can. Why don't you give it a try? If you earn a western salary, rent in Thailand is dirt cheap. You can stay about one year on just two double-entry tourist visas no problem.
|
|
#
?
Mar 13, 2011 18:30
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 9, 2024 03:55 |
|
|
Ringo R posted:Why don't you give it a try? If you earn a western salary, rent in Thailand is dirt cheap. You can stay about one year on just two double-entry tourist visas no problem. I think I would really do this. If it wasn't for the fact that I have a girlfriend now who is more looking into going back to japan (she was a JET for 4 years) than go to thailand. But, going to japan isn't bad either... Well, it is at the moment, but I'm hoping it will get better soon.
|
|
#
?
Mar 13, 2011 19:10
|
|