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Cheesemaster200 posted:Also, I booked my flight (first class on Cathay Pacific in, coach and two layovers on AA going out). Will be there from the end of July til the 22nd of August. Anyone going to be around then? Yeah, I'll be back on Koh Tao and Koh Phangan from July 14 to about the 29th, then 3 days in Penang, 1 in Singapore, then home 
Finch! fucked around with this message at 01:01 on May 6, 2011 |
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May 6, 2011 00:48
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Cheesemaster200 posted:Go go gadget Baht! Hopefully the dollar gains some strength against it before I go in July, though I am not holding my breath Please tell me you're not flying in first and then staying in some 500B shithole? For the interest of anyone here who prefers hotels and travels to BKK often, I stayed in the Millenium Grand Sukhumvit on Soi Asok last week (http://www.millenniumhotels.com/th/grandmillenniumsukhumvitbangkok/) - highly recommended, will be staying there again. Very good quality and great location about 5 minutes walk from BTS Asok. Plus if you need to get around during busier times of day it's quick to get your taxi to go via Petchaburi Road rather than Sukhumvit Road = much faster. I should be in BKK the last couple days of your trip. brendanwor fucked around with this message at 01:07 on May 6, 2011 |
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May 6, 2011 00:55
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NM got it covered.
Oracle fucked around with this message at 17:16 on May 16, 2011 |
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May 6, 2011 04:22
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If anyone is flying from London to SE Asia, later this year or early next year then Malaysia Airlines are doing returns for £300 return flights inc tax. Seems about half the normal price. http://www.malaysiaairlines.com/uk/en/deals/deals-of-the-day.html
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May 6, 2011 10:17
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the_cow_fan posted:There are also ATMs in Vang Vieng and Luang Prubang, if for any reason they don't work just wait a few hours and try again. I used one a couple times in Pakse as well.
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May 6, 2011 19:07
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I'm considering moving to Yangon to teach English. Does anyone have any knowledge of Myanmar expat life? I'm familiar with SE Asia at large, and I'm well aware of the power outages and oppression and things of that nature, but there's a dearth of expat info on Myanmar, and I've only been to border areas, so any info would be handy.
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May 7, 2011 02:57
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chockomonkey posted:I used one a couple times in Pakse as well. Ah, cool, they were all places I was planning to stop at so I should be ok then. I'm currently in Nong Khai waiting for the shuttle buses to start. According to Mr Shady Tuk Tuk driver I can't get a visa if I go by bus, but I can get a visa if he takes me. You know what, I'm not all that sure I believe him.
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May 7, 2011 03:29
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So... who's taking bets as to more unrest following the upcoming elections? http://www.smh.com.au/world/thai-pms-gamble-on-poll-20110506-1ec4x.html
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May 7, 2011 06:38
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Steve. posted:So... who's taking bets as to more unrest following the upcoming elections? There are a lot of rumours floating around in Bangkok at the moment as to another coup taking place in the near future.
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May 7, 2011 11:21
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brendanwor posted:There are a lot of rumours floating around in Bangkok at the moment as to another coup taking place in the near future. Well, they are about due for another  Hopefully my June/August trip isn't going to land me in the middle of trouble. So long as Bangkok is OK on July 12th and 13th I'm all good.
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May 7, 2011 15:27
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Steve. posted:Hopefully my June/August trip isn't going to land me in the middle of trouble. So long as Bangkok is OK on July 12th and 13th I'm all good. People always say this but being somewhere where something political is going on is always interesting for me -- plus now is a fantastic time to see a bit of the living politics of Thailand because the king is going to croak fairly soon and when that happens there are going to be major tides unleashed, whether or not anything actually changes in the end.
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May 7, 2011 20:40
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Guys - 2 days in Bangkok and 9 days on koh samui from Vancouver. 1100$ total. Covers flight and hotel. Hotels seem nice but not 5 star. In september. Good deal? I can't seem to find airfare for less but I'm not a practiced traveller.
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May 8, 2011 00:40
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Sheep-Goats posted:People always say this but being somewhere where something political is going on is always interesting for me -- plus now is a fantastic time to see a bit of the living politics of Thailand because the king is going to croak fairly soon and when that happens there are going to be major tides unleashed, whether or not anything actually changes in the end. You've got a good point. Seeing everything go down would be fascinating, and ordinarily I wouldn't shy away from being there when it happens but unlike previous Thailand trips, this time I'm heavily time restricted and I'm taking a group of friends over and I don't want our diving-and-beach bachelor party to turn in to a "let's try not to get shot at" party in Bangkok. If I were by myself, it would be a very different story... Finch! fucked around with this message at 02:48 on May 8, 2011 |
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May 8, 2011 02:32
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Then again, when the red shirt riots were going on the were reasonably restricted in Bangkok, I think you could have had a blast at Khao San, while they were burning a whole block down at Siam. Tourism is so extremely important in Thailand that (until now) you would really have to make an effort to get caught up in the rumble.
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May 8, 2011 03:31
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Rojkir posted:Then again, when the red shirt riots were going on the were reasonably restricted in Bangkok, I think you could have had a blast at Khao San, while they were burning a whole block down at Siam. Tourism is so extremely important in Thailand that (until now) you would really have to make an effort to get caught up in the rumble. Of most concern to me is the potential for trouble at airports and train stations again. I don't want to get stuck in Thailand, or Bangkok, at least not this time around...! Speaking of airports, Lomprayah has paired with Dolar Air to fly from Don Muang to Chumporn, then on to the islands by boat: http://www.lomprayah.com/E/route_solar.htm
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May 8, 2011 03:42
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Probably going to be in Pattaya, Thailand (at least beginning there) starting this weekend and may be there for up to a month. Anyone else going to be in the area?
Rrail fucked around with this message at 15:49 on May 8, 2011 |
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May 8, 2011 15:47
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Good god I would jump out a window too if I had to stay in Pattaya for a month. What on earth for?
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May 8, 2011 22:04
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Astian posted:Good god I would jump out a window too if I had to stay in Pattaya for a month. What on earth for? I used to think that (still have never been), but if I had the spare time/money I would totally spend several weeks in Pattaya working on a street/cityscape photography book. If you like people-watching or doing things ironically, it's probably a veritable goldmine. edit: avoid the jetskis.
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May 8, 2011 22:21
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Astian posted:Good god I would jump out a window too if I had to stay in Pattaya for a month. What on earth for? It was just suggested as a good place to stay for really cheap to have a poo poo ton of "fun". I have to stay out of the U.S. for a while (not criminal). I may bounce down to the Philippines or something but I'm not sure where else I could go. I don't want to make more than one flight because I'm trying not to burn money. Edit: I probably phrased that terribly. I'm going to stay in Pattaya for a while but once I find someone to travel around with I'm sure I'll end up doing that.
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May 9, 2011 04:01
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Rrail posted:It was just suggested as a good place to stay for really cheap to have a poo poo ton of "fun". I have to stay out of the U.S. for a while (not criminal). I may bounce down to the Philippines or something but I'm not sure where else I could go. I don't want to make more than one flight because I'm trying not to burn money. It's pretty much the sex tourist capital of Southeast Asia (probably not the best place to meet a travel buddy). Check out Air Asia for cheap regional flights. Make sure you get to the last step where they add on the taxes/fees, but even then there are some great deals, especially if you can book early.
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May 9, 2011 12:42
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Pompous Rhombus posted:It's pretty much the sex tourist capital of Southeast Asia (probably not the best place to meet a travel buddy). "Goddamn, the kateoy hookers are getting really expensive!" "I know, right?" *High five, swap Chang singlets.
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May 9, 2011 17:06
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Steve. posted:So... who's taking bets as to more unrest following the upcoming elections? If we're lucky, it will bring down ticket prices to thailand again for a short while...
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May 9, 2011 18:26
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Sheep-Goats posted:"Goddamn, the kateoy hookers are getting really expensive!" Spoken by people like this: 
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May 9, 2011 21:28
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chockomonkey posted:If we're lucky, it will bring down ticket prices to thailand again for a short while... Mine were already cheap enough...! The election is July 3rd: http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2011/05/10/3212114.htm
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May 10, 2011 00:23
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Steve. posted:Mine were already cheap enough...! cheapest i can see is like 1300-1400 usd... i saw them as cheap as 600 when i was in thailand during the protests. What'd you get yours for??
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May 10, 2011 18:10
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chockomonkey posted:cheapest i can see is like 1300-1400 usd... i saw them as cheap as 600 when i was in thailand during the protests. All in AUD ($1.084 USD ) to and from Melbourne, Australia... $330 to Bangkok, $480 from Singapore in premium economy. Not as cheap as last year ($249 Melbourne to Bangkok, $106 Singapore to Melbourne) but cheap enough.We're spoiled for choice - there are a stack of carriers flying between Australia and about a dozen places in South East Asia. Full service airlines like Strategic, MAS, Singapore Air, Royal Brunei, Vietnam Airlines, Qantas, OK airlines like Virgin Australia, and the low cost carriers like Air Asia/Air Asia X and Jetstar. All have regular and substantial sales - a few years ago I did Adelaide/Singapore/Adelaide for about $800 on Singapore Airlines, for example. I don't think I'll ever be able to replicate the $208.54 Melbourne/Kuala Lumpur/Melbourne fare from last year. That was ridiculous. Finch! fucked around with this message at 01:04 on May 11, 2011 |
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May 11, 2011 00:55
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Steve. posted:All in AUD ($1.084 USD Yeah, last year I did Sydney(Jetstar)Melbourne(AirAsia)Kuala Lumpur(AirAsia)Ho Chi Minh City(by land)Phnom Penh(by land)Bangkok(Nok Air)Phuket(by ferry)Krabi(AirAsia)Kuala Lumpur(AirAsia)Melbourne(Jetstar)Sydney - for about A$550 all up including taxes. Of course, that was basically just for fun. Travelling like that, although cheap, is a huge loving pain in the rear end, so I almost always just fly direct. Singapore, Thai and Emirates are by far the best on the Australia-SE Asia route (vouching for both economy and business classes on all of these). brendanwor fucked around with this message at 01:34 on May 11, 2011 |
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May 11, 2011 01:32
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Yeah, it is fun... but a giant pain in the arse. I'm weird - can happily afford not to find cheap flights, but have an unhealthy obsession with doing just that... I actually like trawling through websites to find cheap flights and connections and whatever. The best of the cheap carriers is probably Jetstar - their A330 services between Melbourne and Bangkok/Singapore are pretty drat good, premium economy rewards Qantas frequent flier points at business class level, and the departure/arrival times are convenient. The biggest pain in the arse is international arrivals in Melbourne. That place is a clusterfuck. I'll do Adelaide to Singapore or KL non stop on Singapore Airlines or Malaysia Airlines if I can, but it's often twice the price of a Jetstar flight from Melbourne. No, thanks!
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May 11, 2011 01:44
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What's that? The Thai parliament was dissolved today after months and months of violent protests put all kinds of nasty headlines up? gently caress YES LET THE ELECTION POLITICS GET STARTED:  Bangkok Post posted:Shooting of ex-MP may signal start of poll violence Election start officially in July, so maybe we'll have tanks again by August. :thailand:
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May 11, 2011 05:24
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I'm landing in Bangkok on June 30th, and the original plan was to head straight for Cambodia, but I think I might have to hang around a bit, if things are gonna get all exciting on me. I'll be flying back out through Bangkok on August 9th, so they better not shut down the airport again.
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May 11, 2011 12:12
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I'm arriving in Vietnam in June, with the Thai elections and Thai-Cambodia border disputes the area sure is getting interesting.
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May 11, 2011 13:12
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A while ago I sent Big Suave's dad an email talking about the few times I met up with Alden and trying to contextualize Thailand for him. I've sent PMs or emails to a couple of other members of this forum asking them to do the same. Some of them have, in turn, been contacted by Big Suave's friends asking for the internet's side of things, or whatever. To fufill that request I made a .pdf containing all of Big Suave's posts in this thread plus most of the reactionary posts to his death. I've already sent it to his dad and have forwarded it to the person in contact with his friends. If anyone else here is in contact with non-forum users who wish to read Alden's posts, here is the .pdf of all of them that I mentioned above: http://www.mediafire.com/?sj6e4lxms9ds5j1 It's 51 pages long, in case you were curious as to what posting on SA regularly adds up to. And because someone is going to ask, no, none of the people I've talked to have volunteered any more info about the manner of his death. raton fucked around with this message at 05:23 on May 12, 2011 |
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May 12, 2011 05:17
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So whats the best beach to head to for like 5-7 days? I was thinking Ko Pha Ngan since it has Haad Rin for the party atmosphere and infrastructure if I want it, but also a lot of out of the way places on the north side of the island.
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May 12, 2011 17:27
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Cheesemaster200 posted:So whats the best beach to head to for like 5-7 days? I was thinking Ko Pha Ngan since it has Haad Rin for the party atmosphere and infrastructure if I want it, but also a lot of out of the way places on the north side of the island. I always recommend Bottle Beach, on the north side of the island, to people going to Koh Phangan. But, like you said, it really depends on what you want. Haad Rin definitely has the party atmosphere, but if you just want to chill out for a few days, Bottle Beach is a nice alternative. And if I recall correctly, you can always take a boat directly from Bottle Beach to Haad Rin, if you go there first and get bored after a few days sober. Should take about an hour in a longtail, IIRC.
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May 12, 2011 17:43
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Fiskenbob posted:I always recommend Bottle Beach, on the north side of the island, to people going to Koh Phangan. But, like you said, it really depends on what you want. Haad Rin definitely has the party atmosphere, but if you just want to chill out for a few days, Bottle Beach is a nice alternative. And if I recall correctly, you can always take a boat directly from Bottle Beach to Haad Rin, if you go there first and get bored after a few days sober. Should take about an hour in a longtail, IIRC. Chalok Lam also looks kind of nice. Is it worth it to rent a motorbike for the time that I am there? How does that work if I am staying at a bungalow or something? Do you just ride them up to the beach during the day? I would like to do that, I am just worried about where to put it and keep it from getting stolen, etc.
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May 12, 2011 18:22
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Lighthouse bungalows is by far the best place to stay on koh phangan. You can walk to had rin but it's almost silent at night and far enough away that burglary isn't an issue, there is a good laid back beach nearby, the cliffside setting is unmatched in how pretty it is, and the view from your bungalow is a beautiful expanse of water leading to koh samui, which is lit up at night. You don't have to put up with clusters of fat nude Euro fucks like on Bottle Beach, either (though bottle is a fine place to seek out too). Bungalows start at about 400 a night. The walk to get there is a bit long from had rin (15 minutes?) but you can always rent a scooter and for your first trip there you can just call them once you get to had rin for a ride in so you don't have to hump your gear over the hill. The ride itself will be pretty fun, the lady I went there with was so enamored with it that she tipped the motosai guy 100 baht, and she'd yelled at me previously for over tipping. You'll see what I mean when you get there, let's just say they save the best bit for last. Reserve in advance, the bungalows fill quickly even when the full moon party isn't upon ye. Just google for "lighthouse bungalows koh phangan" to get contact info. I also reccomend Munchies boat tour for one of your early days on the island. Phangan is a very large and diverse island and the tour does a good job of letting you see a lot of it, plus theres a little snorkeling thrown in - bring your own fins and liquor though as they only provide snorkels and non alcoholic drinks (but if you're not a loudmouthed cretinous gently caress you may be invited by the Burmese tour operator to the back of the boat to indulge in other mild intoxicants). raton fucked around with this message at 18:46 on May 12, 2011 |
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May 12, 2011 18:29
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I can see why you wouldn't want to go to Bottle Beach, if it's full of fat nude Europeans. I didn't see any on my two trips there in '09 but I might have been lucky, or things have changed. When I went it was largely deserted, and you got the feeling of having almost the entire beach to yourself. That's what I liked, but the picture you paint isn't really flattering, I agree. I think you've recommended that place, Lighthouse Bungalows before. I'll be sure to check it out, if I ever get back. Question: I'm going to Cambodia in June, and I was looking for some recommendations on what to do. Sure, I'm gonna check out Angkor Wat, but other than that I'm kinda lost. I'm traveling on to Vietnam, but going straight for the border after the temples would be retarded. Are there any charming towns or beaches in the south, that I should check out? Somewhere I should stop on the way from Bangkok to Siem Reap? Other than Preah Vihear Temple and Poipet. 
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May 12, 2011 20:09
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Sheep-Goats posted:Lighthouse bungalows is by far the best place to stay on koh phangan. You can walk to had rin but it's almost silent at night and far enough away that burglary isn't an issue, there is a good laid back beach nearby, the cliffside setting is unmatched in how pretty it is, and the view from your bungalow is a beautiful expanse of water leading to koh samui, which is lit up at night. You don't have to put up with clusters of fat nude Euro fucks like on Bottle Beach, either (though bottle is a fine place to seek out too). Bungalows start at about 400 a night. The walk to get there is a bit long from had rin (15 minutes?) but you can always rent a scooter and for your first trip there you can just call them once you get to had rin for a ride in so you don't have to hump your gear over the hill. The ride itself will be pretty fun, the lady I went there with was so enamored with it that she tipped the motosai guy 100 baht, and she'd yelled at me previously for over tipping. You'll see what I mean when you get there, let's just say they save the best bit for last. I kind of hoping the inevitable political unrest scares some of the broskis away from Thailand for the time that I am there (August), but I also hope that it isn't bad enough to scare me away.
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May 12, 2011 20:17
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Fiskenbob posted:Question: I'm going to Cambodia in June, and I was looking for some recommendations on what to do. Sure, I'm gonna check out Angkor Wat, but other than that I'm kinda lost. I'm traveling on to Vietnam, but going straight for the border after the temples would be retarded. Are there any charming towns or beaches in the south, that I should check out? Somewhere I should stop on the way from Bangkok to Siem Reap? Other than Preah Vihear Temple and Poipet. Sihanouville is okay; there are nicer beaches in Thailand tbh. Kampot is a sleepy riverside town that I'm pretty fond of, and it's a jumping off point for Bokor Hill Station, which is IMO one of the coolest places to visit in SEA, if not the world (abandoned French hill station on a plateau, frequently shrouded in fog). I think there's a fair amount of development going on in that area though, so it may be not be as off the beaten track as I remember. You can also do a day trip to Kep and explore around on a motorbike from Kampot; Kep has some crumbling French villas, a pretty small beach, and fresh, cheap seafood.
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May 12, 2011 20:40
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Pompous Rhombus posted:Sihanouville is okay; there are nicer beaches in Thailand tbh. Kampot is a sleepy riverside town that I'm pretty fond of, and it's a jumping off point for Bokor Hill Station, which is IMO one of the coolest places to visit in SEA, if not the world (abandoned French hill station on a plateau, frequently shrouded in fog). I think there's a fair amount of development going on in that area though, so it may be not be as off the beaten track as I remember. You can also do a day trip to Kep and explore around on a motorbike from Kampot; Kep has some crumbling French villas, a pretty small beach, and fresh, cheap seafood. I regret not taking the time to check out the northeast of Cambodia. I went to battambang instead, and there wasn't really anything unique or exciting about it, although of course I found some exploring to do and had fun anyway. (cambodia is such a great place to just take off and explore... which is what i loved doing in Sihanoukville too--lots of abandoned buildings and remote beaches to find). Next time I'm in Cambodia, in addition to staying at the Bohdi Villa in Kampot again, i plan on seeing the Bokor Hill station and the NE region. (something like this! http://adventurevacationtrip.com/phnom-penh-kampong-cham-kratie-ratanakiri-mondulkiri-northeast-cambodia-loop-2-route) chockomonkey fucked around with this message at 21:35 on May 12, 2011 |
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May 12, 2011 21:16
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