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Ringo R posted:Thanks! Did you take a bus from Rangoon to Mandalay? I like reading about Burmese bus horror stories Lets see. It was 12 hours in a bus meant for someone with a height of at least 12" shorter than me. The bus broke down halfway and they left the door open while fixing it. Then it started to rain. The ridiculous humidity crept into the bus and condensed onto the air vent spewing out 25 degree air. I spent the next 6 hours freezing to death, wet and could not even attempt to sleep due to the Chinese water torture onto my face. The entertainment is a nice selection of Burmese soap operas and a 30 minute montage of horrid car crash scenes from Chinese movies. I honestly didn't think bus entertainment could be any worse than Vietnam, but no...
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Sep 15, 2011 03:57
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Steve. posted:Re: malaria... my understanding is that rather than taking anti malarials, people are better off reducing their exposure to mosquitoes in general. Lots of DEET, wise clothing choice, mosquito nets over beds, etc. It's probably impossible to not get attacked a few times, but the more measures one takes to avoid them, the better. There are plenty of mosquito borne diseases other than malaria: dengue fever, yellow fever, Japanese encephalitis, and so on. It's possible to vaccinate or medicate against some but not others. It just makes sense to keep the mosquitoes away as much as possible, keep vaccinations up to date, and then worry about malaria. That's my standard advice. I got dengue when I was doing an internship over the summer in Khon Kaen 5 years ago (wasn't as mosquito-wise as I am now). At night, you're best off blasting the fan to max (mosquitos are bad fliers) and getting under the sheet.
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Sep 15, 2011 12:24
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I'm going to Chiang Mai in a few weeks. Can anyone recommend a good place to stay? I have a budget of 1000-1500 baht a night, but that is flexible.
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Sep 15, 2011 16:19
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Pockyless posted:I'm going to Chiang Mai in a few weeks. Can anyone recommend a good place to stay? I have a budget of 1000-1500 baht a night, but that is flexible. What kind of place are you looking for? I stayed a small hotel called Lanna House right by the Tha Phae Gate for 600 baht/night. It wasn't anything special. Just a place to sleep when I wasn't out in the town.
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Sep 15, 2011 17:04
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I'm going to be traveling with some Chinese girls and they need something a bit more hotel-ish than a normal guest house. AC room for sure and good bathrooms. Breakfast would be nice too, but that's not really important.
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Sep 15, 2011 17:08
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Chiang Mai is cheap, I bet that Lanna House place has AC. Also you don't need or even want hotel breakfast in Chiang Mai. Food is everywhere and there are a bunch if dishes (northern style sausage, khao soi, etc) that you can only really get up there. Letting a couple of Chinese tourist girls waste one of your meals there on eggs and toast for 120b is an error.
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Sep 15, 2011 18:08
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Pockyless posted:I'm going to Chiang Mai in a few weeks. Can anyone recommend a good place to stay? I have a budget of 1000-1500 baht a night, but that is flexible. Sri Pat Guesthouse. Its off of Muang Moon on Soi 7 in the north part of the walled city. 1000 baht a night and they have a pool.
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Sep 15, 2011 18:33
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Tuff Ghost posted:What kind of place are you looking for? I stayed a small hotel called Lanna House right by the Tha Phae Gate for 600 baht/night. It wasn't anything special. Just a place to sleep when I wasn't out in the town. I stayed at a place called Lanna House also, but it was on Ratchadamnoen Road and owned by a ladyboy. Good value there (for accommodations, not the ladyboy).
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Sep 15, 2011 18:41
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Pockyless posted:I'm going to be traveling with some Chinese girls and they need something a bit more hotel-ish than a normal guest house. AC room for sure and good bathrooms. Breakfast would be nice too, but that's not really important. 
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Sep 15, 2011 20:53
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Funny that you say that, I had a real bad case of `oh oh I really need to poo poo RIGHT loving NOW´ about 2 hours after having (a pretty tasty) tom something soup from a stall at the night market. I poo poo-crashed a local restaurant 
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Sep 15, 2011 21:26
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Yeah I believe the Chiang Mai night market is the source of one of the very few emergency shits I've had to take in Thailand.
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Sep 16, 2011 01:29
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http://www.flutrackers.com/forum/showthread.php?t=161080&page=3
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Sep 16, 2011 03:51
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ReindeerF posted:http://www.flutrackers.com/forum/showthread.php?t=161080&page=3 Soooo... best avoid the Downtown Inn?
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Sep 16, 2011 08:35
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And the night market 
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Sep 16, 2011 09:01
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OK I think I have something outlined now. I'm going to Bangkok on the 26th, will travel onward to Hanoi after couple of days and get my 15 day tourist visa (which only applies to Scandos like myself), stay there for a week and then go south to Saigon by airplane and stay there for yet another week. After that I will go to Phnom Penh by air and get a Visa on arrival and go to Laos after I have gotten tired of Cambodia. Some questions: - Is it at all advisable to travel around the rural areas of north Vietnam in October? On one hand, I wouldn't want to stay in Hanoi the whole time and on the other I don't want to get trapped in some village and overstay my visa just because the roads have been cut off by mudslides. - How long will it take to get a Laotian visa at the Laotian embassy in Phnom Penh? - What's the best way to go from Laos to Thailand? I already have three trips by plane and wouldn't want to do any more travel by air (unless I really have to). - I will approximately have somewhere between a half and a whole month left of my time when I leave Laos and would like to visit a friend in Ko Tao, how are the trips by train to Surat Thani? And speaking of which: Ko Phangan and Ko Samui: worth a detour or worth skipping?
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Sep 16, 2011 10:52
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MonkeeKong posted:and then go south to Saigon by airplane and stay there for yet another week. Hit me when you plan to get in Saigon, you could be the second goon I get drunk with and smoke weed in a shady HCMC bar!
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Sep 16, 2011 11:04
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Senso posted:Hit me when you plan to get in Saigon, you could be the second goon I get drunk with and smoke weed in a shady HCMC bar! Will do! It will probably be some time between the fifth and the fifteenth of October.
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Sep 16, 2011 11:09
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MonkeeKong posted:- What's the best way to go from Laos to Thailand? I already have three trips by plane and wouldn't want to do any more travel by air (unless I really have to). If you travel over land to Thailand you only get a 15 day visa (as far as i know), if you fly in you get a thirty day one. So you might want to fly in to BKK and then book a lomprayah bus+ferry to Koh Tao. Koh Tao might be a bit to small for a whole month, so Ko Phangan can be worth a detour. Go for a full moon party if you're in to that or select one of the more quiet beaches for some relaxing time without all the noise and bussiness of the main beaches on Phangan and Tao
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Sep 16, 2011 11:16
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Rojkir posted:If you travel over land to Thailand you only get a 15 day visa (as far as i know), if you fly in you get a thirty day one. So you might want to fly in to BKK and then book a lomprayah bus+ferry to Koh Tao. Oh yeah thanks for reminding me, I forgot all about that rule. Vientiane - Bangkok is 124€ and that isn't all that much for getting a visa which doesn't require me skipping the border to Burma or Malaysia or wherever just to extend it. I guess a full moon party might be worth it just so I can say that I've been to one. Here's to hoping that I won't get stabbed or AIDS in the process.
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Sep 16, 2011 11:31
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Steve. posted:And the night market In this case I think it's specifically that hotel: http://www.promedmail.org/pls/apex/f?p=2400:1001:587840707659939::NO::F2400_P1001_BACK_PAGE,F2400_P1001_PUB_MAIL_ID:1000,88412
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Sep 16, 2011 12:05
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I too stayed at Lanna House. No complaints here, I've stayed in much worse though. Then again, I love pinching me some pennies. Maybe that's why I found it so drat nice. Say hi to Nui/Noi for me if she's still running the front desk. drat, she was loud as hell for a thai chick hahaha
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Sep 16, 2011 17:48
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Sheep-Goats posted:In this case I think it's specifically that hotel: That's some interesting reading.... ouch  Even the most careful traveler in the world couldn't have escaped that.MonkeeKong posted:- I will approximately have somewhere between a half and a whole month left of my time when I leave Laos and would like to visit a friend in Ko Tao, how are the trips by train to Surat Thani? And speaking of which: Ko Phangan and Ko Samui: worth a detour or worth skipping? I find it eeeeeeasy to spend a month on Koh Tao, but I really do think it's worth visiting Phangan (Samui... not so much). Don't stay at Haad Rin; check out Thong Nai Pan (Yai/Noi) instead... or Haad Khuat, or any number of other cool beaches. Thong Nai Pan Yai seems to be the most happening but maybe that's just when I was there. It's a really chileld out, relaxed place, and it's only about 90 minutes from Koh Tao by Lomprayah. I ahted the full moon party. I got cried on once and vomited on twice, and I hate the music and the people and the whole thing isn't my scene at all. Speaking of Lomprayah (or Seatran for that matter)... if you're planning to use these ferries, take bags with wheels. Their check in/queue to board system is so chaotic that any kind of bag you have to carry (even a back pack) is a complete pain in the arse and makes for a miserable experience. You could always get a train to Chumphon, and Lomprayah from there to Koh Tao, rather than going all the way to Surat Thani.
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Sep 17, 2011 03:48
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Took 'em a while: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u8sqeO0-duA
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Sep 18, 2011 19:05
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They'll fake anything.
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Sep 18, 2011 21:27
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Steve. posted:I find it eeeeeeasy to spend a month on Koh Tao, but I really do think it's worth visiting Phangan (Samui... not so much). Don't stay at Haad Rin; check out Thong Nai Pan (Yai/Noi) instead... or Haad Khuat, or any number of other cool beaches. Thong Nai Pan Yai seems to be the most happening but maybe that's just when I was there. It's a really chileld out, relaxed place, and it's only about 90 minutes from Koh Tao by Lomprayah. I ahted the full moon party. I got cried on once and vomited on twice, and I hate the music and the people and the whole thing isn't my scene at all. OK thanks for the advice. I have like two months before I have to make up my mind about going to a full moon party or not. One week left til my big trip! I'm starting to get really excited here. Is any goon hanging around in Bangkok from the 27th to the 29th and up for some beer and bullshitting before I leave for Hanoi?
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Sep 19, 2011 20:04
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Has anyone ever applied for an Indonesian tourist visa directly through the consulate? Their visa on arrival scheme only allows for 30 days of travel, but you can get up to 60 days if you apply in advance through their consulate. My local consulate requires a letter from your employer--that would be fine, but I plan on leaving my job before I start traveling. Does anyone know if this letter is an absolute requirement?
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Sep 21, 2011 19:07
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I'm going to southeast asia on December 1st and I'm just kind of over my head. Mind taking a look at this and see if I'm on the right track? Just a little reassurance. I'm flying from Vancouver, landing in Bangkok. I'll have about $8000, total, which I'm planning on stretching out over 4 months. So about $50-$60 a day, for everything - sleep, food, travel. Planning on going through Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia. Then Malaysia and Indonesia, then a working stay in Australia. I think I've figured out the Visa situation - everything is On Arrival for $20 or so, except for Vietnam, which I have to apply for ahead of time. But I can apparently apply for a Vietnam Visa at the embassy in Bangkok, or Phnom Penh in Cambodia. Is all that correct? So I can just buy a plane ticket, take off in Vancouver, and get my passport stamped with a tourist Visa when I land in Bangkok? I'm only pre-booking hostels for my first couple of weeks in Bangkok. I don't have a set itinerary so I can just stay flexible - if I hate a place, I'll just keep moving. Or if I meet people who are doing something I wasn't planning, I can go with them. So far so good? I'll just book a hostel online shortly, as I imagine they'll be filling up soon. The thing that's throwing me off is the entrances into countries. Like, if I'm in Bangkok, and I want to go north, what do I do? Bus north, experiencing as much stuff there is in northern Thailand, and make my way to the Friendship Bridge? If everything I heard about Laos is correct (that it's boring), I imagine I'll want to make my way to northern Vietnam fairly shortly. So... bus again? And I'll have had to pick up my Vietnam Visa in Bangkok before I leave. Can I even enter Vietnam from Laos with a visa that I picked up in Thailand? From there I was planning on going south down Vietnam, cutting in to Cambodia (and again, I can't just cross anywhere, right? There are only certain border crossings where I can get a Visa on arrival?), back into Thailand for southern Thailand and Malaysia, cross into Indonesia, go island hopping, then start working in Australia. So as you can see, that's kind of a hosed up plan, and there are lots of questions I just can't find the answers to. I don't know, am I making it way harder than this needs to be? Edit: Also, has anybody flown China Eastern from North American to Thailand? They're by far the cheapest I can find, but I'll pay a bit more if it means I'm not in a plane with exposed wiring and single paned windows. stratdax fucked around with this message at 04:18 on Sep 23, 2011 |
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Sep 23, 2011 04:15
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China Eastern is fine, but no sweet personal TVs. I flew them from BKK->PVG->YVR and they were acceptable, especially given their price. The Lao visa for Canadians is I think $36 USD. I personally made my way to Laos from Bangkok with an overnight bus from the Mochit (Northeastern) Bus (NOT BTS/SKYTRAIN) terminal in Bangkok with a few hours notice, and then made my way to the border and got setup with one of those sketchy visa services that tack on a fee for filling out basic paperwork and arranging transport for you. But I had been in Thailand for a while so I spoke rudimentary Thai and had some close friends on speed dial who could translate if I ran into problems. That was a locals bus, I think for peace of mind you would be best to find a foreigner-oriented visa-run bus by inquiring around in the Khao San area. You can definitely get a visa anywhere and enter from anywhere, as long as the visa is still valid (I think usually they are valid for entry 2 months after issue, and last whatever specified time from the date of entry.) 4 months seems an awful long time for straight up travelling, especially alone. Although you'll probably find some place and stay there for a week or two every once in a while to recharge, because planning itineraries and having no clue where you are on a daily basis disoriented the crap out of me. You might want a Thai tourist visa, only takes two days to get. There's a consulate in Vancouver, in case you end up loving one or two of the islands and just chill and drink for a few weeks.
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Sep 23, 2011 05:31
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Fiskenbob posted:They'll fake anything. There is a certain irony here. http://www.nationmultimedia.com/home/FTSE-upgrades-SET-to-Advanced-Emerging-Market-stat-30165834.html FTSE upgrades SET to Advanced Emerging Market status By Siriporn Chanjindamanee The Nation Published on September 22, 2011 The Stock Exchange of Thailand yesterday said the Thai capital market was being upgraded from Secondary Emerging Market to Advanced Emerging Market status in the FTSE Global Equity Index Series, according to an announcement by FTSE Group, the global index provider. Next step I believe is developed country which would put it on par with most major stock markets.
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Sep 23, 2011 06:17
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stratdax posted:But I can apparently apply for a Vietnam Visa at the embassy in Bangkok, or Phnom Penh in Cambodia. stratdax posted:I don't have a set itinerary so I can just stay flexible - if I hate a place, I'll just keep moving. Or if I meet people who are doing something I wasn't planning, I can go with them. So far so good? stratdax posted:From there I was planning on going south down Vietnam, cutting in to Cambodia (and again, I can't just cross anywhere, right? There are only certain border crossings where I can get a Visa on arrival?) Oh and personally I love Laos and didn't find it boring at all, but it is much quieter than the other countries. It's a great place to relax through, especially if you've just come from Thailand. Looking at your schedule it seems you'll probably be in the north, but if you do get a chance then head down to Si Phan Don in the south, near Pakse - it's the most chilled out place I've been to.
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Sep 23, 2011 08:09
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Just got a job in Singapore, and will be relocating to South East Asia at the end of October. It's hard finding ex-pat relocation resources that aren't aimed that stay-at-home moms with rich husbands - I'm 26 and would like to live in an area where there's a few more young professionals or other young expats. Anyone got any tips/websites/recommendations? My budget is probably low-mid
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Sep 23, 2011 08:54
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stratdax posted:I'm going to southeast asia on December 1st and I'm just kind of over my head. I don't have specific advice about your routing, but let me give you a beginner's point of view - this is my first trip to SE Asia and I've been here 19 days so far. I think you're a lot like me - like to plan things ahead and get nervous if you don't know everything before you head out. Like you, I had a little nervous flutter before I set off. Within about a day, I had things figured out, at least enough to find food, lodging, destination and transport information. SE Asia is so set up for tourists by now. Any city you go to, you can find information on how to get to the "next" place, where to stay, what to do. Your best source of information will be your hostel/guesthouse/hotel - they're all very used to helping out clueless tourists. Your second best source of information will be other people staying at your hostel/guesthouse/hotel. There's a huge subpopulation of wandering long-term tourists in SE Asia, so they're a great resource to use as well. For doing more concrete research, Wikitravel is my go-to guide for everything. It's worked out well, and other people I've met along the way have also agreed. I like to cross-reference with Tripadvisor for lodging sometimes, but often Tripadvisor doesn't have the 150 baht guesthouses, in which case I just go with Wikitravel. Getting a good place for your first few nights while you get your bearings is definitely a good idea. Beyond that, I've mostly been doing research ahead but not booking ahead - I don't get a good sense of the geography of towns until I get there, and I like to see the rooms before I agree to stay there. Also, make sure you know the common scams and tout-strategies in any given area. Bangkok has a lot of 'em (the suit/dress scam, tuktuk pricing, no-meter taxis, etc.). Again, these are things that your hostel/guesthouse/hotel can tell you about, or your fellow travelers. One last thing - have a pocket notebook to record advice, prices, names and to draw yourself maps and diagrams. I never used such a thing back home, but it's been invaluable in my travels. Good luck. It's all very, very easy to travel in SE Asia - much easier than in Europe or North America, and I say that as a North American.
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Sep 23, 2011 10:30
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stratdax posted:Also, has anybody flown China Eastern from North American to Thailand? They're by far the cheapest I can find, but I'll pay a bit more if it means I'm not in a plane with exposed wiring and single paned windows. I was going to suggest flying Cathay Pacific if possible, because I just flew them long haul and they were AWESOME, but the ticket is about $300 more for your trip. For what it's worth, Seat Guru says that Air China's economy seats are a little wider than China Eastern, and every little bit helps when you're flying long haul. Air China has the seatback TVs too, and looks to be just a tad more expensive than China Eastern. I just got back from Thailand, and while I'm not going as long as you, I got nervous and booked into a resort for our second week before we left. I ended up regretting it because we didn't need to spend an entire week in the area we were in, and I got sick and wanted to get out as soon as possible (but because we had already paid for the days in the resort, I felt guilty about leaving early). Next time we definitely won't book as much of our trip in advance.
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Sep 23, 2011 13:26
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trigger posted:I was going to suggest flying Cathay Pacific if possible, because I just flew them long haul and they were AWESOME, but the ticket is about $300 more for your trip. For what it's worth, Seat Guru says that Air China's economy seats are a little wider than China Eastern, and every little bit helps when you're flying long haul. Air China has the seatback TVs too, and looks to be just a tad more expensive than China Eastern. Air China does not have seatback TV's on their flights from San Francisco. However, the seats aren't bad.
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Sep 23, 2011 16:09
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In case anyone was wondering, apparently the best place to get an Indonesian 60-day visa is in Singapore. The Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur embassies also provide them, but the success rate is a lot lower. Getting them in your home country can be a pain, allegedly. http://www.kbrisingapura.com/immigration_for_visit.php?lang=eng
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Sep 23, 2011 17:34
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Phew, thanks a lot everybody - I feel a lot better that all the responses weren't "Holy poo poo what are you doing". Trigger, I'll take a look at Air China - I think I'll be booking pretty soon because I imagine rates are going to start climbing. Thanks all, I'll take it to heart!
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Sep 23, 2011 19:51
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trigger posted:I know it's been discussed before in this very thread, but the traveling companion is worried and wants me to post. Can we stop taking these malaria pills? We're in varying stages of intestinal discomfort and I'm pretty sure it's related to the malaria pills. We're taking Malarone and I've read that it causes certain... issues for a lot of people. I've been taking Malarone and I've just been getting vivid dreams, but it's been pretty bizarre to experience. One of my friends is on doxy and she keeps on waking up in the middle of the night not knowing where she is and sleepwalking.
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Sep 24, 2011 03:41
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It's like it doesn't matter how many times we say don't take malaria pills, goons take them anyway.
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Sep 24, 2011 06:04
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evilwaldo posted:There is a certain irony here. On a side note, a friend of mine started and runs funds here, including one that's made up of companies from Laos, Cambodia and so on and he's registered on the Laos Stock Exchange which has (IIRC) two stocks on it, making it the smallest public stock exchange in the world. Another friend heard about this and went down and registered as a broker just so he could say he was one, heh. ReindeerF fucked around with this message at 15:47 on Sep 24, 2011 |
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Sep 24, 2011 15:41
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Sheep-Goats posted:It's like it doesn't matter how many times we say don't take malaria pills, goons take them anyway. miss_chaos posted:Just got a job in Singapore, and will be relocating to South East Asia at the end of October.
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Sep 24, 2011 15:44
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