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caberham posted:Flying out of Air Asia in BKK means going to Don Muang which to me is inconvenient and sucks swollen duckmaster balls. If you really want to fly in to Siem Reap, take the Suvarnabhumi but that means paying god knows what with Thai Airways. It's only inconvenient if you insist on using public transport to save every baht. Sure, a taxi will cost $5-$10 and take forty minutes, but to save a hundred bucks? No contest. Then you're in Siem Reap within the hour; travel by land and you'll be lucky to even get across the border in an hour.
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Sep 25, 2013 12:30
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It took me six hours to go from siem reap guest house to khao san and the ride was only 15 usd. It was really weird riding the school an older school bus for only 2 people and then switching to a hyper speed minivan at the border. The whole transport switch was weird too, a scratch hand written note as a voucher. It's kind of fun, cheap and a novelty but not really something super awesome. I was surprised at it's relatively fast speed too. Dmg to siem reap door to door with online check in, no bag would probably take 2 hr to 2.5hrs because of DON MUANG. But I can't tell you much about the border now
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Sep 25, 2013 13:14
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freehotel posted:Hi SEA megathread. I took a trip to Vietnam last year and got some good advice in here so I figured I would ask again for a trip I am taking to Thailand and Cambodia in October here. I was in Cambodia 7 years ago, so anything I can contribute will be a bit dated. I absolutely loved Angkor and sort of regretted not having spent more than three days there. Not everybody is as temple crazy as I am, and of course time is a factor as well. I thoroughly enjoyed having a push bike, allowing me to take everything at my own pace. Had a great time through the rest of Cambodia as well, especially loved Kampot and Sihanoukville (not pedo). I'm off to Vietnam myself next month and would love any advice: Highlights of your trip? North vs. South? Anything you'd do differently? Anything I wouldn't be able to read in a guide book?
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Sep 25, 2013 23:56
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SlowHand posted:I'm off to Vietnam myself next month and would love any advice: Highlights of your trip? North vs. South? Anything you'd do differently? Anything I wouldn't be able to read in a guide book? North and South ends are the best, the middle is kind of mediocre. But it can still be fun if you've got plenty of time.
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Sep 26, 2013 00:11
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Good news! Some Australian scientists have developed a preventative (maybe even a vaccine?) and a cure for dengue! http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/queensland/fever/story-fnihsrf2-1226727233893 quote:
 
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Sep 26, 2013 03:37
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Obviously won't see it out in a public for a while, but too bad it didn't come out about three months ago 
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Sep 26, 2013 03:43
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SlowHand posted:I'm off to Vietnam myself next month and would love any advice: Highlights of your trip? North vs. South? Anything you'd do differently? Anything I wouldn't be able to read in a guide book? Going from north to south is the standard tourist trail but if you start in the south and go north, people are a lot nicer and you won't hate Vietnam so much by the time you hit Hue. Take the train as much you can, more comfortable than buses and better sights. Or just try to take the train Hue-Hoi An/Da Nang. Probably some of the prettiest sights and I missed out on it by taking the bus which goes into a tunnel under the mountains If you're flying in, get a VoA. There are 500000 sites online that will give you a letter of invitation, I just picked the cheapest site and didn't have a problem. It was like $8 plus a stamping fee at the airport. Do not deal with the embassies unless you really have to because there's no set visa fee, use an agent to get the visas if you're crossing by land so you know how much you need to pay (and the embassies won't quote you a price if you call either). The only things in the center worth seeing are Hue and Hoi An, really. Vietnam are the masters of jacking up prices for foreigners, so after a while you get paranoid and constantly ask yourself "did they just charge me the foreigner price" for everything without a properly labeled price. It's still cheap but be sure to look at what the locals are paying and throw a fit if they try to make you pay a foreigner price but sometimes they're shameless about it and won't care.
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Sep 26, 2013 04:04
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Make sure you have US$45 per person when you arrive in Saigon. You will need it to get your visa at the VOA window. There are no atms or money changers until after passport control.
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Sep 26, 2013 07:03
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Can someone please explain how the mobile 3G system works in Vietnam as if you are explaining it to a complete idiot? I bought a Vinaphone SIM at the airport for 130,000 and burned through the credit in less than a day after about 35 mb of data. I asked our guest house front desk and they suggested I get a Mobiphone SIM so I bought one of those for 100,000 and it looks like I only have 30,000 credit towards data. In Malaysia and Indo it was easy to buy a SIM with 2+ gb of data good for a month but no one seems to be able to understand that that's what I want. I assume this is possible and really somewhere online that it could be had for 250,000 dong. TIA
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Sep 26, 2013 10:43
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With Mobifone, buy a 100k dong recharge. Then send a text to 999 that reads "DK MIU". That will take 50k dong from your credits but you'll have "unlimited" 3G for a month. By unlimited, I think it's like 500MB and when you go over it, the speed gets capped but it still works. Repeat that every month and you've got a $2.50/month data plan that works everywhere in the country. Oh wait, read this actually. Has some more info. Senso fucked around with this message at 11:46 on Sep 26, 2013 |
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Sep 26, 2013 11:43
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Fantastic, thanks. Your explanation completes what our guest house lady was trying to explain which I was too hungover to comprehend.
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Sep 26, 2013 15:04
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Wife and I are finalizing our itinerary for November. We have Vietnam down but are trying to figure out how to divide time between Siem Reap and Thailand. The date range is Nov 14 (fly into Siem Reap from Bangkok) to Nov 27 (fly out of Chiang Mai back to the States). I'm not sure if we want to spend 3 or 4 nights in Siem Reap. After that we would have 8-10 days in Chiang Mai. I know there's an elephant sanctuary and cooking classes, but I'm not sure what else there is to do that's accessible from the city. Are we giving ourselves too much time up there? Should we go overland from Bangkok to Chiang Mai and see Sukhothai or something else on the way? What do you guys recommend? blk fucked around with this message at 23:35 on Sep 26, 2013 |
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Sep 26, 2013 23:27
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Yeah, at least fit Sukothai in there on the way up. You can actually fly into Sukothai on Bangkok Airways to their private little airport. Technically you're flying into Pithsanulok and it's about a 45m drive, but this is how several weird Thai airports are. Overland's not too bad and the stop in Sukothai breaks things up a bit. I forget where the current train outage is on the Chiang Mai line, or when it'll be fixed, but I recall that the train runs to Pithsanulok as well (see a pattern?) and that you can catch a sawngtaew or tuk tuk or something to Sukothai. Buses will get you directly to Sukothai. If you check out a map, you'll see that you can break the trip into 3 legs over 2 days if you stop in Nakhon Sawan for a night, then stop in Sukothai for a night. Nakhon Sawan is one of those places that no foreign tourists ever go, but it has some interesting stuff and Thai people tell me it was great food. Here and here are some things to do there. Kind of thin for English language info on the web, but it strikes me as a good place to grab a guest house, check out one or two sites and then spend the night wandering around the night market (they apparently have a large one riverside) pointing at food, sitting down, drinking a beer and eating - and then repeating. It's at the confluence of the three big rivers and has some natural beauty around as well. Also, reportedly tons of Chinese heritage, so that probably means some excellent Chinese-influenced dishes at the night market. Anyway, if you break the trip up a bit, you'll shave off a couple of unnecessary days in Chiang Mai, see a bit more non-tourist trail Thailand and shave some hours off of those ridiculous 14 hour night train trips. If you don't add in a second stop, I'd still recommend a night in Sukothai for sure. Sri Satchanalai isn't Angkor, but it's a legitimately beautiful historical park and the area is quite pretty too. Stay at the Lotus Village, have dinner at Dream Cafe and so on. I always love Sukothai, it's sleepy and pretty and quaint. EDIT: A more tourist-friendly option would be to stop in Lopburi on the first night and get your sunglasses stolen by a monkey! ReindeerF fucked around with this message at 07:19 on Sep 27, 2013 |
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Sep 27, 2013 07:13
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Hello there, does anyone have a recommendation for a nice little guesthouse in Kota Kinabalu? We'll be there in a week and a half. I booked Dillenia in Miri on recommendation of this thread, and it looks pretty nice. Thanks.
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Sep 27, 2013 08:56
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blk posted:After that we would have 8-10 days in Chiang Mai. I know there's an elephant sanctuary and cooking classes, but I'm not sure what else there is to do that's accessible from the city. Are we giving ourselves too much time up there? Should we go overland from Bangkok to Chiang Mai and see Sukhothai or something else on the way? What do you guys recommend? Three days in Chiang Mai should be enough. Spend the extra week traveling around Pai, Mae Hong Son, and Mae Sariang. Rent motorbikes in Mae Hong Son and Mae Sariang and ride to the Burmese border (north of Mae Hong Son through some great mountain scenery, and southwest of Mae Sariang to the Salween River). Another option is to head northeast from Chiang Mai to Chiang Rai province. Mae Salong is a nice little town on a mountain, full of ex-KMT Chinese soldiers and their families. Great Yunnan food and tea.
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Sep 27, 2013 09:06
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^^ Good recommendation imo
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Sep 27, 2013 12:54
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Bunch of Red Shirt Lanna Kingdom types ITT!
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Sep 27, 2013 14:01
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The rice fields around Mae Sariang are some of the most beautiful I've seen and there isn't much traffic. There's also a nice waterfall and a fish cave north of Mae Hong Son, and you can even cross into Burma if you're feeling adventurous. I think the border guard is only there to stop Burmese from entering Thailand. No need for a passport or ID, just walk right in. small village in Burma just across the border from Ban Rak Thai / Mae Aw Sheep Goats. I went to Penang Malaysia in Elmhurst a couple of times this summer for char kway teow and roti canai and it was amazing. I went to the neighborhood just for the Thai place you mentioned before but I never ended up eating there. Good Malaysian food is just too rare to pass up.  Edit:  Pai  Mae Hong Son  Mae Sariang kenner116 fucked around with this message at 18:18 on Sep 27, 2013 |
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Sep 27, 2013 18:06
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I've booked my flights! I'll be arriving in Bangkok on Jan 18th, doing an 8 day guided tour thing to help with the culture shock and then have up to 6 months to explore Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam before heading to Singapore to fly back. I am excited, but also freaking out! I have to wait until the end of November to hand my notice in at work and I'm not sure I can keep a poker face until then...
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Sep 27, 2013 20:35
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Nice pictures. I've been wanting to get up to Mae Sariang for a while now. Heard good things from a coworker who lived there for a few years. It supposedly has one of the best barbecue pork joints in northern Thailand, in addition to great trekking. In Burma news, still haven't seen many, if any, farangs taking the new overland route from Mae Sot to Yangon. A friend did it a couple weeks ago, though, and it went fine. Come on people, get adventurous! Ride a terror bus through rebel-held territory! Be like the the tenth person to do this!
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Sep 28, 2013 06:03
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I tried to tell someone that you could cross the border by land now and they called me a liar. I showed them the article and they were all "oh, that's not a real border crossing bla bla"  So yeah, people just don't know yet. I'm currently doing the Mae Hong Son loop and it is amazing. Everything is so beautiful but I'm going in low/rainy season so a lot of things are closed but it's still nice. I'm in Soppong now, leaving for Pai tomorrow.
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Sep 28, 2013 12:47
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Bring hippie repellant.
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Sep 28, 2013 13:40
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I got stuck in pai for about a week and a half, until I met a 50something hippie english lady who was a masseuse and yogi and whatever else, and she told me that she planned on staying in pai for a few months doing 'full body' (but nonsexual) massages for money. I realized I had to gtfo before that kind of thing would start sounding reasonable.
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Sep 28, 2013 16:30
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Bangkok goon meet currently wrapping up at Bang Sue station.
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Sep 28, 2013 17:24
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I'm there in spirit ok
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Sep 29, 2013 01:16
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ReindeerF posted:Bangkok goon meet currently wrapping up at Bang Sue station. Good times! Thanks for showing me around!
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Sep 29, 2013 02:59
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Siem Reap is pretty rad. I dig the night market. Probably got lovely deals, but I did practice haggling. Then I got a half hour foot massage for $3. Going home and realizing that I can't get a full manicure for the change in my pocket is going to be sad. e: Unfortunately, my four day collapse in Saigon cost me my four days in Bangkok, and I'm only there for a night before flying to Luang Prabang on the 2nd. If I want to go to a big fuckoff airconditioned mall in the evening to shop for clothes and drink iced coffee, where should I go?
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Sep 29, 2013 03:59
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What kind of clothes do you want? Also MBK is connected to like four other giant malls and it's adjacent to Siam Square, which is a gaggle of smaller often clothing oriented shops that functions as kind of a low flying Soho for Bangkok's clothing entrepreneurs. You should probably go around in there.
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Sep 29, 2013 04:07
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Sheep-Goats posted:What kind of clothes do you want? Also MBK is connected to like four other giant malls and it's adjacent to Siam Square, which is a gaggle of smaller often clothing oriented shops that functions as kind of a low flying Soho for Bangkok's clothing entrepreneurs. You should probably go around in there. Sounds perfect. I don't care about brand names, but I don't mind paying for well-crafted and designed things. I've already got my tourist-allotment of blousey cotton trousers that will disintegrate in two months.
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Sep 29, 2013 04:16
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MBK is my favorite place in Bangkok to shop, despite being full of fat Indians looking for cheap "designer" items.
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Sep 29, 2013 04:16
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Pixelante posted:Siem Reap is pretty rad. I dig the night market. Probably got lovely deals, but I did practice haggling. Then I got a half hour foot massage for $3. Going home and realizing that I can't get a full manicure for the change in my pocket is going to be sad. Wander round the old market until you find the gaggle of hairdressers and beauty parlours. They do manicures, pedicures, nail painting etc, all for peanuts. Even I have a manicure sometimes! (not gay) If you were here yesterday I should have told you about the Run of Shame. A charity here holds a 1km fun run around town and people went in drag and costumes etc. I turned up at 2pm and got home at 2am so it is, like most things around here, an excuse for excessive drinking. I made a suit of armour out of cardboard and tinfoil and won the "best costume" prize, $30 gift voucher at an Indian restaurant. I know where I'm eating for the next three nights!  I am horrifically hungover but if you want a beer let me know sharpish. Brimmy can vouch for me not being a rapist.
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Sep 29, 2013 05:11
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Chair Huxtable posted:MBK is my favorite place in Bangkok to shop, despite being full of fat Indians looking for cheap "designer" items. I've been meaning to bike out to Sanam Luang 2 out on Phuttamonthon Sai 3, they say it's the next most popular after Chatuchak and has a bunch of rural import goods, but I haven't made it yet. You ever hit it up when you were in Nakhon Nowhere, Chair?
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Sep 29, 2013 07:40
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I am in Ubud. It's weird, and walking around sucks. 7 days until I get back to island life. I can't wait.
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Sep 29, 2013 11:26
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Finch! posted:I am in Ubud. It's weird, and walking around sucks. You don't like Ubud? Are you just staying put in the 3-4 blocks of overdevelopment or something? Go wander around the rice paddies and find the organic farm restaurant (that sounds ritzy but it's a shack in a rice paddy), the fields all around there are really pretty. Also you can get anywhere on Bali within a few hours from there on a moped, so if you want to jet up north to see the volcano, that's a good place to start from.
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Sep 29, 2013 12:26
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Walking only sucks because it's so bloody hot there. It's very very scenic around Ubud, I really liked it. Those monkeys can go gently caress themselves though (their park is beautiful, but those goddamn animals...) e; I also enjoyed the bicycle tour I did out of Ubud.
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Sep 29, 2013 12:38
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Yeah, get a bike and wander a little ways outside Ubud and I think you'll like it a lot more. There are certainly touristy spots built up in parts of it, but you don't have to partake. And echoing all the sentiments about the monkeys. Don't let the pestilent little bastards climb on you, even if you think it'll make for a great facebook picture or whatever. When I was younger and dumber I thought, Oh, no big deal, I just won't be aggressive with them and it'll be fine... and I got bitten in the face for it. An inch higher and I'm pretty certain I'd have lost my eye.
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Sep 29, 2013 15:44
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Sorry to miss you, Duckmaster. I spent the evening wandering around the market and getting a massage. On to Battambong tomorrow morning, though I'd honestly rather chill out here. The tour was a good idea, but after a couple weeks of hopping towns I feel like I'm watching a slide-show. I don't want to pack four tourist-experiences in a day. I want to have maybe one and then sit in a cafe for awhile and watch stuff. The Aussies probably think I'm a lazy fucker. (I am.) There was a pretty bad accident with a motorbike smashed by a car on the main road. That's the second bike-loses-to-car accident I've seen in Cambodia... though in the first one, the dude just shook himself, hopped back on his bike, and rode off after the car (which didn't stop) leaving the remains of his rear view mirror behind. Pixelante fucked around with this message at 16:05 on Sep 29, 2013 |
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Sep 29, 2013 16:02
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Am I the only person that didn't like MBK? Then again, I'm not much for clothes shopping. If you're shopping in Siam Square, this place is really good (although pricier than what you'd pay on the street- maybe $5 a person): http://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g293916-d2055267-Reviews-Somtam_Nua_Siam_Square-Bangkok.html . I think I also saw a branch inside one of the malls- maybe Siam Center? Whatever one was right next to paragon. Either way, the location in Soi 5 is super easy to find.
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Sep 29, 2013 16:03
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Pixelante posted:
Do they ever? I saw my fair share of accidents out there but thinking back on it now, I don't think I ever saw any discussion after an accident-- just the guilty party peeling out. I was hanging out with some friends along Sihanouk Boulevard one night just having a late-night fruitshake, and we saw a dude on a moto get loving CREAMED by this sportscar, jet black with tinted windows... the guy was going so fast that the bike ended up underneath the car, while the guy sort of hit the hood and rolled off in front of the car. The car tried to back up, heard the bike screech underneath it on the pavement, and so instead he shifted forward and just gunned it, completely running over the poor dude who had dropped in front of the car. He ended up riding away from the accident but I am certain he was hosed up from it. There are a lot of reasons I wouldn't want to live in Phnom Penh but I think driving yourself around would have to be one of the worst parts.
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Sep 29, 2013 16:27
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xcdude24 posted:Am I the only person that didn't like MBK? Then again, I'm not much for clothes shopping. Am I the only person that didn't like the Alps? Then again, I hate hiking and skiing. Am I the only person that didn't like Southeast Asia? Then again, I hate great weather, awesome food and good times.
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Sep 29, 2013 19:02
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