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Cheesemaster200 posted:Anyone have any experience coming up from Malaysia to a Thai beach of some sort? Since you're already down there you may want to consider Koh Lipe, which is just north of Malaysia on the Andaman coast. The island itself is dogbone shaped and tiny, really pretty waters and beaches, but a few too many bungalows are there. This is because Lipe is also the only place you're allowed to stay in Tarutao National park -- thanks to a land rights loophole with the sea gypsy people who traditionally make the island home and the Thai-Chinese who figured out they could exploit that. Anyway, from there you can organize day/overnight/whatever trips to the basically nondeveloped islands of the park -- things where you're supplied a tent and some canned food and some other people go with you and you live for a bit on a beautiful unpopulated island in the sea. There's also a ruined jungle island prison you can visit on Koh Tarutao itself. The S/P/T islands in the Bay are a lot easier to get to and you'll probably have other chances to visit then in your life, so consider Koh Lipe this time around.
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Apr 23, 2012 11:17
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I will be there between the half moon and full moon parties, so I should avoid (most of) the frat boy annoyances if I go to Ko Pha Ngan. Whats a good beach with coconut palms, laid back bars and decent bungalows on the beach? How easy is it to get to Koh Lipe? Do you have to go through Hat Yai? How is it in September. I know the upper Andaman coast is in deluge at that time of year, which is why I was planning on the gulf islands. Cheesemaster200 fucked around with this message at 14:28 on Apr 23, 2012 |
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Apr 23, 2012 14:21
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I think Lighthouse Bungalows is the best beachside place to stay in Thailand, it's on Koh Phangan. Reserve in advance. Also take that Munchies day boat tour it's cool. Koh Phangan is a great island to have a scooter on. There's a temple in the jungle, some rock Tan Chula write his name on, lots of other inland stuff. Phangan is my favorite Thai island overall, pm me if you want more options on stuff to do. Amazing variety of things there. The rain can be a problem on Lipe. I forgot about that. I also forgot how I got there, but it's a bit remote. Big ferry from somewhere, transfer to a longtail mid trip.
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Apr 23, 2012 15:13
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Cheesemaster200 posted:Whats a good beach with coconut palms, laid back bars and decent bungalows on the beach? This describes about 70% of the beaches on Phangan. My favorite is Bottle Beach. The beach itself is beautiful enough that it gets daytrippers from other parts of the island. It's isolated from the rest of the island - accessible only by a 45-60 minute hike mostly through the jungle, or by longtail boat - and there are only three or four bungalow resorts there, so it really feels like you're on a tiny island with 40-60 other people. Bungalows are reasonably priced (around 300 baht), although food and drink are not (100-200 baht for a meal). I stayed at a deluxe bungalow at Smile Bungalows (500 baht during shoulder season) and was very, very pleased with it. Nicest bungalow I've stayed in, although there was no hot water.
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Apr 23, 2012 15:22
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Sold. This will be my 3rd trip to SE Asia/Thailand and the first time I will be going to the beach there, which now that I think of it is completely ridiculous. I have two weeks for Singapore to Bangkok. My plan is to spend 2-3 days in Singapore (already been there), 3 days in KL, two days in Penang and then head to the KPN for the rest. Sleeper trains between cities. Bangkok for one night, just for use as a fly out point. I heard that KL and Penang have awesome food, but the cities themselves are "meh". Is there any truth to this? MY travel style is more geared towards moving a lot rather than the traditional "lingering" style of most SE Asian vagabonds. That's why I like KPN, because there is a lot to do even if you stay there a long time. Also, what is the best way to do motorbike rental on the island? Right off the pier for multiple days or just do day trips through the guesthouse? Any respectable operators come to mind? Cheesemaster200 fucked around with this message at 16:39 on Apr 23, 2012 |
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Apr 23, 2012 16:29
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I'd just rent one near the pier so that when you leave you can drive back up there. The ring road is a lot better than it used to be but you still need to be very careful once you get toward the south of the island -- the road there has wicked blind corners, is hilly, and people dive down it like retards. Stay way over in your loving lane. Consider paying for a songtaew if you're going to go get wasted at a distal party. See if they'll go for a deposit plus a copy of your passport rather than the actual passport.
raton fucked around with this message at 16:49 on Apr 23, 2012 |
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Apr 23, 2012 16:46
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Cheesemaster200 posted:
I had planned on blowing through Malaysia too, on the way up to Thailand from Singapore. I liked it much more than I'd anticipated. Melaka is an interesting historic town on the west coast of the peninsula. KL has some striking architecture, but lacks the frenetic energy of Bangkok. If you're into natural scenery, Cameron Highlands (on the way to Penang) have some good walks. Penang is very cool indeed - lots of old Chinese warehouses and a couple of Hindu temples in Georgetown, a few beaches, and some of the best food in the world. You can rent a motorbike cheap in Georgetown to see the rest of the island. I had a blast circling around outside of the city.
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Apr 23, 2012 21:46
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Sheep-Goats posted:Did you book it already? IMO that trip is better done via government bus and ferry than Lomprayah. The Lomprayah bus doesn't leave at its scheduled time (this is so ticket office doesn't have to deal with Naw, I haven't booked it. My main reason for the Lomprayah route is that I know it. I like the boats - they're big and comfortable and the 100 baht or whatever it is for the VIP room is the best money spent ever - it's cool, no people throwing up, and it's inside and it's comfortable. I won't do SongSerm again and I'm not a huge Seatran fan. All I'll really be doing on the bus is sleeping (it's not a very scenic journey, I've done it twice before) and once I arrive at the Lomprayah pier I won't want to do anything more than hang around with my enormous bags full of diving crap. They're too awkward to move around much with. Re: Malaysia. I don't know why a lot of people seem to kinda ignore it, or at least plan minimal time there. It's an awesome country, full of history and culture and delicious. Great people and scenery, too. I like it very much. Re: Koh Phangan. I like Thong Nai Pan Noi, particularly the northern end near the I-See bar and the huge swing platform. I haven't really spent much time anywhere else. Thong Nai Pan Yai is supposed to be alright, too. Anywhere is better than the full moon nasty at Haad Rin 
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Apr 24, 2012 09:05
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from tardy tourists) and arrives at the pier hours before the ferryits does (I guess to leave a coverage window in case of a breakdown). So the trip is actually four or five hours longer than it needs to be. Also the government bus goes to the normal pier which has a few ferries departing each day -- the Lomprayah one goes to its own pier where you have to wait for a single boat in an area with no variety in restaurants or anything else that you'd find at the other location.
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I really dislike KL and I thought Penang was kinda meh. 
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Apr 24, 2012 09:46
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eviljelly posted:I really dislike KL and I thought Penang was kinda meh. To be fair, I only spend time in KL because I have friends there. I lived in Penang for six months when I was a kid and I went back for the first time in ten or twelve years last July. I'm not in any hurry to go back. That said, they've each got enough to keep a tourist who is interested in history and culture occupied for a few days, and a food tourist occupied for months. I think KL is a bit like Bangkok. Difficult to figure out at first but after a while it becomes pretty cool. Nowhere near Bangkok cool, though. But other Malaysia is very cool. All of Sabah and Sarawak are amazing, Langkawi is boring as hell but still alright for a short time, places like Malacca, the Cameron Highlands, Taman Negara, even Kota Bahru, are all worth some time. Kuching is my favourite Malaysian city, without a doubt. I travel to look at places, buildings, scenery, and people. I eat, love history and culturally significant places and events. I've never been bored in Malaysia - there's always something to see, eat, do, watch, look at, or laugh about. I'm even amused by the newspapers and television. I'm just as happy to sit at a kopi tiam nursing a beer and looking at people walking by as I am eating there. Malaysia never disappoints.
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Apr 24, 2012 12:49
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My original plan was to go from Singapore to Kota Kinibalu and climb the associated mountain, then fly into Kuala Lumpur and onto Penang. However, after looking at it more I kind of want to save Borneo for another trip. I have like 3 days planned each for KL and Penang. I might also try to get to Taman Negara.
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Apr 24, 2012 14:35
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re: Malaysia - should I bother with Johor? Its trivial to get to from Singapore, but a few people I've asked have told me not to bother.
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Apr 24, 2012 14:44
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kru posted:re: Malaysia - should I bother with Johor? Its trivial to get to from Singapore, but a few people I've asked have told me not to bother. Nah. JB is dumpy. Melaka is worthwhile, and not far from Singapore.
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Apr 24, 2012 15:18
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Cheesemaster200 posted:I heard that KL and Penang have awesome food, but the cities themselves are "meh". Is there any truth to this?
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Apr 24, 2012 16:24
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How is Malaysia towards women, regarding the Sharia and all that? To be frank, it does not strike me as my number one vacation spot because of that, but I have no idea if it's really applied everywhere, etc. My main points are, are women considered human and is alcohol available?
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Apr 24, 2012 16:59
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How women are treated as tourists or whether it's possible to meet local women in social circumstances (non-prostitution, just socially)? I've not heard any complaints from female tourists I know, though as with most of SE Asia it surely pays to be modest outside of beach resorts and clubs and such. As for meeting women socially like you would in the West, I've heard mixed reports. Reportedly Jakarta is much more liberal in that regard, and Singapore is downright open - though they suffer from a different issue >--< (The joke about Singapore is that most of the subcultures are heavily interrelated, so people often ask each others' family names and lineage to make sure they're not hitting on a cousin - surely hyperbole, but probably some truth there). As for alcohol, it varies by where you are. Readily available in most places, but I've heard in certain areas it's exorbitantly expensive compared to KL and Penang. In other words, the prices are seriously jacked ostensibly to reduce consumption (like most hypocritically religious countries the policy doesn't match the reality - there's a massive, massive alcoholism there), but more likely as part of a corrupt brewing cartel. We've got a lot of people here who would know more about availability than me in places other than KL and Penang. In KL and Penang it wasn't any pricier than Bangkok, really. ReindeerF fucked around with this message at 17:11 on Apr 24, 2012 |
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Apr 24, 2012 17:07
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Senso posted:How is Malaysia towards women, regarding the Sharia and all that? To be frank, it does not strike me as my number one vacation spot because of that, but I have no idea if it's really applied everywhere, etc. My main points are, are women considered human and is alcohol available? Malaysia has three main cultures: the Malay majority (Muslim), who dominate the country politically; the Chinese minority, who dominate economically; and the smaller Indian (I think it's heavily Tamil, but not sure about that) minority. The Chinese and Indian minorities are rarely Muslim. The east coast is much more heavily Malay and Islamic than other parts of the country. Politically, it's a weird confederation of sultanates. I was under the impression they had a lot of autonomy, so politically it's diverse. My girlfriend didn't have any trouble in Malaysia, even on the east coast. KL and Penang are heavily Chinese. Throughout the country, you'll see Chinese and Hindu temples. Tensions in the country are Malay-Chinese, and very occasionally erupt into anti-Chinese pogroms. Western visitors won't really feel oppressed by Islamic law. The country, especially KL and the west coast, is quite cosmopolitan. I don't think there's anywhere in Malaysia with an outright ban on alcohol. When I was there, alcohol was unavailable for purchase on the Perhentian Islands (off Kota Bharu), although visitors were free to bring their own. In KL, you'll find decent nightlife in Brickfields and Bangsar. Penang is a lot more sedate - don't expect to rage there. I might have liked KL so much because I have a couple of Chinese-Malaysian hipster friends who grew up and live there to show me around. I definitely wouldn't have enjoyed it as much without them as guides.
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Apr 24, 2012 18:23
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Northern Peninsular Malaysia is the most religiously conservative part of the country, Sarawak and Sabah are barely Muslim at all. You can still manage to get woken up by the call to prayer in the morning or have an old man make a rude remark if he thinks a lady isn't dressed properly (to which my Malay friend told him to gently caress off), but I think most people kind of loosely do the animist thing there, or are Chinese.
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Apr 25, 2012 05:01
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Ok, thanks for the comments everyone. So from what I hear, Malaysia sounds a bit like Indonesia - muezzin calls (I love that, seriously), conservative older generation, more open younger generation, etc. VVV Thanks, I love massive cities too, that's why I live in HCMC. For our last visa run, we ended up going to Cambodia (because of reserves about Malaysia) but next time we might go to KL! Senso fucked around with this message at 09:35 on Apr 25, 2012 |
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Apr 25, 2012 06:02
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Senso posted:Ok, thanks for the comments everyone. So from what I hear, Malaysia sounds a bit like Indonesia - muezzin calls (I love that, seriously), conservative older generation, more open younger generation, etc. Just for another opinion, I really loved Kuala Lumpur and Langkawi. I thought KL was a great city, but I'm into massive metropolises. Langkawi was a nice place to wind down as well. They aren't perfect backpacker spots, but I found them to be really cool places. I've done Sarawak and most peninsula Malaysia too, and KL and Langkawi certainly weren't low points.
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Apr 25, 2012 09:13
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Leaving for El Nido in a day and a half! Any last minute advice for Saturday night in Manila, or for the better part of a week on El Nido?
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Apr 26, 2012 08:03
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Had a great 4 nights at Koh Lanta but it's time to leave. I'm heading to Koh Tao for diving since everyone's been saying that it's the cheapest place to go for it. 8500 baht? Yes please! Can anyone recommend a good dive company and a nice place to stay for when I'm not diving?
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Apr 26, 2012 08:47
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Thanks to the heavy competition, prices are about the same all around the island and standards are high. I think it's 9000 baht for the PADI Open Water course these days, by the way, not 8500. Among the bigger operations, Big Blue is probably one of the better ones. They're located right on Sairee Beach and have a pretty nice resort. They board little longtails from their beach to get to their big boats, which is pretty nice - most of the dive shops on the island drive their divers on songthaews down to Mae Haad Pier. They're a bit more party-y from what I can tell. I did a bunch of research and went around a few shops before choosing to do my DMT with New Way, a much smaller shop. They're the first shop out on the water in the mornings - 6am departure from the shop - so the first dive of the day is typically just the New Way divers, not crowded with a bunch of divers from all the shops around town. It's also nice going out with 5-20 divers instead of the megaboats with 40-80 people on board. New Way also hosts Koh Exist, a marine conservation outfit. Other great shops are Davy Jones' Locker, Buddha View, Scuba Junction, Coral Grand, and New Heaven. I personally would avoid Simple Life, Asia Divers, and Ban's. As for where to stay when you're not diving, there are lots of good options. I'd say it's probably easiest if you just keep staying where you stay for your Open Water training. 400-500 baht/night is the going rate for basic bungalows on Sairee. I know New Way's students stay at O Chai (on the beach) and Prick Thai (across the street from the beach), and both are decent. If you call ahead to book with any dive shop, they will pick you up from the pier at no charge. You can also let the touts on the boat sell you their dive shop - they will provide a free ride, and there's no obligation to sign up with their dive shop (although the decent thing would be to at least visit that shop and hear them out). Get to Sairee and you'll have a ton of choices. If you come by New Way, give me a holler and I'd be happy to buy you a beer - ask for John the DMT.
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Apr 26, 2012 09:49
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Pureone posted:Had a great 4 nights at Koh Lanta but it's time to leave. I'm thinking of Ko Lanta when I head out that way in January. Anywhere you'd recommend staying?
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Apr 26, 2012 13:04
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eviljelly posted:Thanks to the heavy competition, prices are about the same all around the island and standards are high. I think it's 9000 baht for the PADI Open Water course these days, by the way, not 8500. I liked Big Blue because there were always a lot of people there, but yeah it's definitely one of the biggest outfits on the island so ymmv. Also while I was very very happy with my own instructor (Curtis I think his name was), they also had some weaker ones around who I suspect got hired because of their looks, so check who your instructor is going to be. Anyway, they offer free or cheaper accomodation while you dive with them so that's a good way to save more. I have to say though, I kind of disliked Sairee beach as a whole. It's not the nicest part of the island, it felt very crowded, noisy, touristy and destroyed. There are probably much nicer places to stay if you're going for a longer time.
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Apr 26, 2012 16:18
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I did my open/advanced with Scuba Junction and had a great experience. New Wave seemed nice and I love the idea of being the first ones out, but also like to sleep. It can get pretty crowded especially at the beginner sites. I would just walk around and see which shop clicks with you.
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Apr 26, 2012 17:20
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TheLizard posted:I'm thinking of Ko Lanta when I head out that way in January. Anywhere you'd recommend staying? I have been staying at a place called "Chill Out House" the whole time here. It's a glorified tree house with a bar underneath. There are also bungalows in the area and many of the people that have been here for months prefer to stay there. The thing about the place is that it's ideal for backpackers because of the environment and the low costs (100-150 baht single, 200 baht double) The staff is always changing because the husband and wife that own it hire people on a weekly basis as backpackers go through. Maybe I've just had good luck with the group that is staying here currently, but everyone is incredibly inclusive and we have all gotten to know each other. We're a large group but we spend all of our days together. If the people were not this great here I think I would have left after a night or two. Also the guy who owns the place smokes a lot of weed, as do most of the patrons. If that's your thing you might like it that much more here. Eviljelly: I might just take you up on that offer. I got convinced to stay here for one more night, but I will probably head to Ko Tao tomorrow around noon, which means I should arrive around 6am the next day. Is the place difficult to find once I dock?
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Apr 27, 2012 10:22
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Pureone posted:Eviljelly: I might just take you up on that offer. I got convinced to stay here for one more night, but I will probably head to Ko Tao tomorrow around noon, which means I should arrive around 6am the next day. Is the place difficult to find once I dock? eviljelly fucked around with this message at 11:39 on Apr 27, 2012 |
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Apr 27, 2012 11:37
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PaoFerro posted:Just for another opinion, I really loved Kuala Lumpur and Langkawi. I thought KL was a great city, but I'm into massive metropolises. Langkawi was a nice place to wind down as well. They aren't perfect backpacker spots, but I found them to be really cool places. I've done Sarawak and most peninsula Malaysia too, and KL and Langkawi certainly weren't low points. Adding to this. I've been in Malaysia for around three months now (near KL) and just got back from an 8 day trip to Langkawi, which was great. Compared to Sabah (my last 1-2 week trip) Langkawi is a lot more tourist-y and you will probably see a lot of drunk brits or other europeans there. I don't know how the nightlife is, cause I stayed sober on that trip. We stayed in Pantai Cenang at a pretty cheap place not far from the main road through Cenang called Rainbow Lodge with really nice staff and cheap scooter rental. I could probably have settled for 6 days in Langkawi, the best way to see it is just to rent a scooter and go around the island. It's small enough that you wont really get lost but you can still spot fun stuff along the road. The best parts of my trip there was doing island-hopping on jetskis (550 RM per jetski) and rapelling (220 RM per person). Though we went up Gunung Raya and got stuck on the peak in the rain till we decided just go back down on our scooters since the rain could last forever. Kinda scary and maybe a bit stupid but going down those winding roads in rain and thunder was pretty cool. Food is actually more expensive in Langkawi than where I usually eat (cyberjaya, putrajaya or Puchong near KL) which was a surprise, but I got some of the best pizzas I've had in years there at a place called T Jays. My friend got absolutely hooked on fried rice which was pretty good as well, and the cheapest food available, pretty much. KL is alright, the first week I was here it was pretty cool but now Petronas Towers, the KL tower and the other stuff just seems dull and I don't usually have time to go exploring. I was disappointed by Chinatown, too same-y and I didn't come across any good food. I plan on going to Macau in june perhaps, do you guys have any tips? Barf Wight fucked around with this message at 12:44 on Apr 28, 2012 |
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Apr 28, 2012 12:39
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Pureone posted:I have been staying at a place called "Chill Out House" the whole time here. It's a glorified tree house with a bar underneath. There are also bungalows in the area and many of the people that have been here for months prefer to stay there. Gotcha. It'll be our honeymoon, so hanging out in shack getting high is probably not on the agenda. Finding a Thai beach that is the right combination of upscale and not incredibly crowded is tough.
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Apr 28, 2012 14:22
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Austin -> Bangkok for $1050 is the cheapest I can find in the next two months. Should I jump on that?
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Apr 28, 2012 16:44
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I'm leaving for Saigon, Vietnam on May 9th to visit a friend who's been living there for the past 4 years. This will be my first time out of the US so I'm pretty psyched about it. I was wondering what you people have been purchasing for travel insurance. I'm interested in getting it and what i need however there's no SA thread for it and I've found that finding a decent, objective guide on purchasing travel insurance is a bit difficult. Perhaps a thread on it would be valuable?
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Apr 28, 2012 18:23
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Aliquid posted:Austin -> Bangkok for $1050 is the cheapest I can find in the next two months. Should I jump on that? Yep.
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Apr 28, 2012 21:03
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Aliquid posted:Austin -> Bangkok for $1050 is the cheapest I can find in the next two months. Should I jump on that?
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Apr 29, 2012 16:53
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Nah, it's one-way so I can jog up to Chiang Mai to attend a language school and get TEFL certified, but that's for otherthread I guess. Two-way tickets run about $1700 between today and June 15, which is ludicrous. I'm not interested in them, anyway; this is total escapism for running away forever, etc. vv Thanks, dude. edit again: Holy poo poo, $593 LAX to BKK with Air China, I bet I can find an Austin -> LAX for dirt cheap. i say swears online fucked around with this message at 15:34 on Apr 30, 2012 |
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Apr 30, 2012 06:49
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$1,700 R/T is pretty good these days from a second-tier market like that. I think I paid $1,400 from Houston - and that's Continental(-United)'s major hub. One piece of advice, if you're flying codeshare with Continental or United, see if you can book the same ticket with ANA out of Chicago so you get the ANA service all the from the states to Asia. It's not the finest in the industry, but it's like night and day compared to every single American carrier and they're always so nice.Aliquid posted:vv Thanks, dude. ReindeerF fucked around with this message at 11:56 on May 2, 2012 |
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Apr 30, 2012 10:12
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View from our new apartment in HCMC. I love it.
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May 1, 2012 08:01
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Nice! I zoomed way in and I could see a cyclo driver motioning at you from the street still. EDIT: Here we go. My balcony:  Thailand: international hub of poor-quality, ornate concrete mini-pillars on patios. ReindeerF fucked around with this message at 11:53 on May 2, 2012 |
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May 1, 2012 13:06
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got my myanmar visa, collected it today and it didn't have a visa sticker in it, with my picture etcetera. It just has a stamp with dates written on it. It's probably okay but it's disconcerting, does everyone else have a sticker?
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May 2, 2012 10:10
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Helmacron posted:got my myanmar visa, collected it today and it didn't have a visa sticker in it, with my picture etcetera. It just has a stamp with dates written on it.
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May 2, 2012 13:36
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