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Was just informed that my job contract won't be renewed. I've got a week left to work. I got some cash in the back, and I've long had it in the back of my mind that if I ever had a break in employment I'd do a classic backpacking trip across SE Asia. So I guess I might do that now. I've already read a lot about the region and things I want to do, but one of the most prominent questions still in my mind is in regards to the seasonality of Nepal, and specifically the Annapurna trail. Now, I already know that the best time to hike this trail is in October (i.e, right now). Summer is too wet. Winter is too cold. Spring is...ok, but a grab bag in terms of weather, and haze is prominent from farm fires in the lowlands, so the mountains are obscured. I can't leave on my trip immediately...I've got to figure some things out, make my plans, buy my tickets, get my affairs at home in order, say my goodbyes. So, I might get to Nepal by...late November? But it'd be more convenient if I could go in Feb or March. See a little of Thailand first, chill a bit maybe, before I jump into the thing that's tops on my travel bucket list. So - tl;dr: who's hiked the Annapurna in the late November/December? How about February? How was the weather?
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Oct 19, 2017 22:12
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I haven't done Annapurna. I did Everest Base Camp and the 3 Passes / Gokyo back in late November 3 years back. The weather was pretty much perfect - never rained or snowed with clear skies. But quite cold at the higher altitudes of course. It was the same year as the earthquake so there was only about 20% of the normal traffic on the trails as well. Annapurna is suppose to be best in Oct-Nov and Mar-Apr. The October-November period is the busiest so there will be less traffic the later you go in November but it will also be getting colder every day.
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Oct 19, 2017 22:59
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Boola posted:I haven't done Annapurna. I did Everest Base Camp and the 3 Passes / Gokyo back in late November 3 years back. The weather was pretty much perfect - never rained or snowed with clear skies. But quite cold at the higher altitudes of course. It was the same year as the earthquake so there was only about 20% of the normal traffic on the trails as well. How did you cope with the cold temps? Just a good sleeping bag and wool clothes?
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Oct 19, 2017 23:08
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Just proper clothing and gear, ya. During the day it isn't too bad - you're moving and if the sun is out it's actually not cold at all. It's at night at high elevation where it gets extremely cold. Not sure how high you sleep on Annapurna. Regardless, don't do like some other people I met who bought knockoff stuff for cheap in Kathmandu. Sleeping at Everest Base Camp is a bad time to find out your "zero degree" rated bag is about worthless. Get a good down mummy sleeping bag. I reckon this isn't actually SE Asia talk. To make it somewhat - I did some time in Thailand and Laos before going to Nepal myself. Stayed in Luang Prabang for a week right before heading there and ran up and down the temple that's on top of the hill in the middle of the city every morning half a dozen times. Good chill place to train some. Also would run the stairs in the 50 story building I stayed in bangkok before that. Boola fucked around with this message at 03:36 on Oct 20, 2017 |
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Oct 20, 2017 01:53
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Here, let me fix that for you: WHERE ARE THE BEST BEACHES ON ANNAPURNA? HOW ARE THE GIRLS ON ANNAPURNA M8? DO THEY SELL BAGGY ELEPHANT PRINT CLIMBING GEAR IN NEPAL? CAN I RIDE A TUK TUK UP THE MOUNTAIN? DID YOU SEE THAT MAINLANDER making GBS threads ON THE SIDE OF THE MOUNTAIN? WHERE IS THE BEST PHAD THAI IN NEPAL? There, now it's a Southeast Asia thread again.
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Oct 20, 2017 06:21
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Don't take the tuk tuk up the mountain. They'll tell you it's a good price, but you'll end up being forced into visiting a bunch of yak fur clothing and prayer wheel souvenir shops. Just get a sherpa to piggyback you up. Which teahouses along the trek have the best infinity pools? My misses won't stay in any without one.
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Oct 20, 2017 14:16
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We're in Hanoi now and this was the perfect choice for a weekend away from Hong Kong. Great food, buzzing streets, fun and friendly locals, interesting sights. Really glad we came here. Sooo much busier than 20 years ago. Can't even compare.
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Oct 21, 2017 11:25
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You live in Hong Kong?
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Oct 21, 2017 12:11
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Boola posted:Don't take the tuk tuk up the mountain. They'll tell you it's a good price, but you'll end up being forced into visiting a bunch of yak fur clothing and prayer wheel souvenir shops. Just get a sherpa to piggyback you up.  I forgot about the infinity pool.
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Oct 21, 2017 12:24
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ReindeerF posted:Yeah, Bangkok is no longer considered "cheap" in Southeast Asian terms and stuff Fair point. Sure seems that way when you first get there from Northern Europe though. On another note. For some reason I totally underestimated how many tourists there would be in Hoi An. It's an ocean of selfie sticks and locals trying to sell me suits.
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Oct 21, 2017 13:46
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Where are they from? Can you tell?
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Oct 21, 2017 15:05
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Mulozon Empuri posted:Fair point. Sure seems that way when you first get there from Northern Europe though. It depends on how you want to experience (SE)Asia. You can easily spend more in a day than a trip to Stockholm or Oslo, without much effort.
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Oct 22, 2017 02:25
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Ramrod Hotshot posted:Was just informed that my job contract won't be renewed. I've got a week left to work. I got some cash in the back, and I've long had it in the back of my mind that if I ever had a break in employment I'd do a classic backpacking trip across SE Asia. So I guess I might do that now. I did the Annapurna circuit in the first half of April. It was about 8.5 years ago now so I don't remember all the details, but am happy to offer thoughts. The weather was great at that time. It rained maybe twice? But that doesn't really slow you down. I don't know what the issue with haze is supposed to be but we didn't suffer from hazy conditions that I remember. It was stunningly beautiful at every turn, and there was so much variety as you climbed. We did the first few days in shorts and tshirts, gradually swapping in pants, then sweatshirts as it got colder, and then the jackets we rented in the Thamel district of Kathmandu for the few days we were around Thorong La pass. We had snow on the ground for probably around 3 days of the 15 day trek (we actually completed the hiking in 12.5 but the guide had us hang out in one of the nicer villages on our way back to ensure we got our money's worth on the full 15 days we'd booked. When we went, the road extended about halfway up to Manang on the east side, and already a bit past Muktinah on the west. My understanding is that it has gone up higher on both sides in the last eight years, which is a shame. That said, we took the bus down from Muktinah to Pokhara rather than hike the last few days on the side of the dusty road and none of us felt like we lost out by cutting the last two or three days off by doing so. The better part of the trek is the slow rise on the east side, looking up at the mountains as you approach; going downhill nearly the whole time on the west side, and looking down instead of up (most of the time) is less exciting. At that point you're ready to complete the trip so it's fine. As far as gear, renting most stuff is fine. You absolutely do not want to rent someone else's boots (one of our party did this and his blood blisters were the stuff of legend); even with relatively broken-in boots my feet were pretty beat up by the end. But renting a coat and sleeping bag and gloves and hat worked out just fine. If you use a good guide company your guide will let you know if you got something crappy. Any other questions? I'm happy to keep talking. Part of it may have been choosing the right group of friends, but I think the Annapurna Circuit might be one of the best experiences I've had in my entire life, and I've done a fair amount of traveling.
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Oct 22, 2017 04:06
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XyrlocShammypants posted:It depends on how you want to experience (SE)Asia. You can easily spend more in a day than a trip to Stockholm or Oslo, without much effort. Fair enough, I'm not saying you guys aren't right. ReindeerF posted:Where are they from? Can you tell? Not really. I'm pretty racist so they all look the same to me. Tons of both Asian and western tourists is all I can tell.
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Oct 22, 2017 05:32
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Mulozon Empuri posted:Not really. I'm pretty racist so they all look the same to me. Tons of both Asian and western tourists is all I can tell. Haha, that's not being racist, that's just how it is when you're inexperienced with seeing people of a certain ethnicity. 10 years ago I couldn't tell any Asians apart, but now I can easily distinguish Chinese, Japanese, Thai, Filipino, Vietnamese, and some of the other countries I've been to. It's just an acquired thing.
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Oct 22, 2017 13:17
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CronoGamer posted:I did the Annapurna circuit in the first half of April.... Sweet, thanks for the info. I'm leaning toward going this Nov/Dec despite the cold. Also I'm travelling solo. My hope is that I can meet up with fellow hikers to go with for company and safety. I really don't want to go with a tour group. Did the trail have the kind of social atmosphere conducive to hikers meeting up? How dangerous would it be to hike this trail alone?
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Oct 22, 2017 22:57
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Ramrod Hotshot posted:Sweet, thanks for the info. I'm leaning toward going this Nov/Dec despite the cold. Also I'm travelling solo. My hope is that I can meet up with fellow hikers to go with for company and safety. I really don't want to go with a tour group. I do not recommend hiking it alone if it's your first time. Besides the issue of it being monumentally easier with a guide (not having to handle all the permits and check-ins and tea house negotiation and all on your own, knowing the easy vs. hard patches of the trail and where you ought to stop for a night) and being safer (though it's rare, I have heard of occasional muggings on the trail, a threat that I think would only be greater if you were wandering up there on your own not speaking the language... and you could straight up make a wrong turn, or suffer from altitude sickness while crossing the pass), you would miss out on all the interesting stories of the trail your guide might have. It would be like going to a museum without any guides or description plates-- you miss out on a lot. There will be other hikers up there, certainly, but you can't guarantee that you'll get along with them. They also would likely be employing a guide, which would basically mean you were freeloading off of them. Most of the social atmosphere on the trail was in the tea houses, as you run into the same groups that are hiking at about the same pace as you. There were a few characters we ran into for sure, and even an Australian woman who informally joined our group-- but she had her own guide, and it turned out they were tagging along behind us because it was her guide's first time and he asked our guide if it would be okay to follow and make sure everything went okay. I dunno, though. You may have a different travel style than I do but I would never want to impose on another group and burden them in any way. I should also be sure to distinguish between having a guide and having a porter. We took a guide but no porter-- he carried his pack, we carried our own. Some people take both or only a porter. Personally I found the porters unnecessary (and also awkward because watching some people treat them as barely-human beasts of burden was really gross). (Also, sorry, a brief correction to my earlier post; I was mixing up Muktinath with Ghorepani. Muktinath is the first town after the pass. I didn't realize the road had apparently gone up that far already, and that's a real shame if it ruins the rest of the trek down. I liked the ascent better but the descent was still very good in most parts. If you take a jeep out at Muktinath you're cutting a good 40% off of the trek, and that doesn't make sense to me)
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Oct 22, 2017 23:52
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I'm going to be in Hong Kong for Christmas Eve and Christmas. Anyone have any suggestions for fancy dinners? Seafood-centric would be best, my fiancee doesn't eat meat. Would spend maybe $200USDpp at most. Any other HK food suggestions would be welcome as well.
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Oct 23, 2017 02:12
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Oakland Martini posted:I'm going to be in Hong Kong for Christmas Eve and Christmas. Anyone have any suggestions for fancy dinners? Seafood-centric would be best, my fiancee doesn't eat meat. Would spend maybe $200USDpp at most. The only place off the top of my head is the Aqua rooftop bar, which has an amazing view of the harbor, and both Italian and Japanese cuisine. Afterwards, you can have some cocktails. Very nice place. If you really want to spend 200 USD per head, perhaps seek out one of the many Michelin star restaurants.
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Oct 23, 2017 08:37
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Yeah it's been quite a few years but that Aqua Rooftop had a massive sashimi starter thing that seemed to impress
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Oct 23, 2017 08:46
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CronoGamer posted:I do not recommend hiking it alone if it's your first time. Noted. I think I'll find a guide and fellow hikers to share the cost. After my epic Annapurna trek I'll be headed to Thailand, Laos, and Cambodia to do a classic loop around those countries. Rough plan is to head up to Chiang Mai, do some hiking in the hills around there, and then more or less traveling the length of Laos - hopefully by river at least in part. Looks like there's some pretty amazing caves to check out there too. In Cambodia, gotta do an obligatory trip to Angkor Wat of course, and then I may head straight to southern Thailand (possibly even flying from Phnom Penh) where I plan to learn to dive, and once I'm comfortable with that, dive with a liveaboard cruise to the Similan islands. Don't really have a question here, but I'd welcome any recommendations for stuff along the way for this general itinerary.
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Oct 25, 2017 04:27
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I have been awhile since I visited the SA forums. I want to reconnect with the goons so I am thinking this is a good place to start. I thought about starting a thread about Vietnam but saw this one, so I decided not to. You can ask me anything related to Vietnam. May it be about people or animals, to-do's or not-to-do's, legal or illegal things, beauty or relaxing or any other services etc... I shall do my best to answer it. I know Vietnam and the Vietnamese language well. My last visit to the country was on January 2017. I am fairly up-to-date on my knowledge of the country.
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Oct 25, 2017 05:21
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What are the illegal things
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Oct 25, 2017 10:01
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Vogler posted:What are the illegal things
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Oct 25, 2017 13:20
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Vogler posted:What are the illegal things - Gambling: Illegal for the local residents but legal for foreigners. - Prostitution: This is actually legal in the sense that many places can openly operate if they pay the local law enforcement a cut. - Democracy: Saying "not nice" things about the government or Ho Chi Minh will get you jail time, if you are a local, deported if you are a foreigner. - Common drugs: Such as heroin and marijuana are illegal. - Products of foreign origin: In recent years Vietnam has been cracking down on them. Products of foreign origin need to have proper paperwork showing where they came from. The cops target places which store large quantity of items. Opposite to drugs, various harmful chemicals (many are banned in advanced countries) from China can be purchased in either kilogram or liter. So starting a meth lab with locally sourced stuff is easy if you know what you are doing.
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Oct 25, 2017 15:47
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Pill Clinton posted:So starting a meth lab with locally sourced stuff is easy if you know what you are doing. Noted.
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Oct 26, 2017 04:14
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Pill Clinton posted:So starting a meth lab with locally sourced stuff is easy if you know what you are doing. Given your statement on local goods: are there any decent Vietnamese brands of RV / caravans / motor homes? Asking for a friend.
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Oct 26, 2017 06:14
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Ally McBeal Wiki posted:Given your statement on local goods: are there any decent Vietnamese brands of RV / caravans / motor homes? Asking for a friend. There is not any Vietnamese brand of two-wheeled, minus bicycle, or four-wheeled vehicle currently. All motorbikes, cars, trucks, etc... are all imported from other countries or locally assembled from imported parts. Last August Isuzu, a Japanese brand, showed off an RV camper. I do know when Isuzu will start selling it, even the linked video does not provide that info. At the moment you would not see any motor homes on the road in Vietnam. If you saw one, it would probably be from China or Thailand belonging to a wealthy person who drove it across the border. Vinfast, part of Vingroup corporation, is in the process of developing Vietnamese-branded sedans and SUVs. They won't be available to consumers for at least two more years. Pickup trucks are gaining popularity in recent years because of their versatility and their ability to overcome flooded streets and the millions of pothole on Vietnam roads.
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Oct 26, 2017 14:30
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Pill Clinton posted:
My God as if the traffic in HCMC couldn't get worse, I'm having mental images of fleets of pickups competing with all the motorbikes, pedestrians, sedans, and SUVs currently clogging up the streets. 
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Oct 26, 2017 14:48
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Solaris 2.0 posted:My God as if the traffic in HCMC couldn't get worse, I'm having mental images of fleets of pickups competing with all the motorbikes, pedestrians, sedans, and SUVs currently clogging up the streets. wait until they discover "rolling coal" like the hicks in southern thailand
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Oct 26, 2017 15:00
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Spent 2 weeks in Vietnam this month, haven't seen anything like an RV I've seen a poo poo ton of Toyota HiAce-es all over SE Asia, old rich ethnic chinese men seem to love them and drive them like a bat out of hell; seems like plenty of space for a sort of camper van conversion, or at the very least, rip all the seats out of it and have the locals weld in some cabinetry using sheet metal for a couple of bucks. Supposedly foreigners can drive cars now in vietnam, but you need both an international DL and Vietnamese DL plus whatever bribes are required. There's definitely a "white man tourist" checkpoint 2km north of Mui Ne at the white sand dunes though, be prepared to pay a $20 fine plus whatever bullshit they put you through. re: fleets of trucks, Malaysia: holy poo poo the car culture there. Only place outside of the US that has full size "american" pickup trucks in any quantity.
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Oct 26, 2017 15:34
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ladron posted:wait until they discover "rolling coal" like the hicks in southern thailand the Thais don't do it deliberately, they just don't give any sort of gently caress about vehicle maintenance as long as it still somewhat drives
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Oct 26, 2017 17:05
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Hadlock posted:re: fleets of trucks, Malaysia: holy poo poo the car culture there. Only place outside of the US that has full size "american" pickup trucks in any quantity. Thais also love their pickups, and they are by far the most common car on the road. They're also subsidized and are absurdly cheap relative to other cars, so you get every Somchai and his nan in these huge loving vehicles thinking they're king poo poo of the road and giving literally no fucks about anyone else
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Oct 26, 2017 17:07
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Hadlock posted:
The fat little captain that speaks some English still there? Motherfucker let me go on day 1 because I had a Vietnamese driver's license which blew his mind when he saw it - "Vietnamese?!" Second time I came through that fat little prick pulled me over again, and he acknowledged that he recognized me, and he told me to put my license back in my pocket because he knew I had one. Bastard accused me of speeding (no radar gun anywhere in sight) and said the fine was like 1M dong, but "police help you" and he wrote the number 500 on the back of his hand. I had 300 in my small money wallet. Still got ripped the gently caress off. My advice: carry your license and only 100k dong in the same little wallet while driving. Enough to get them to leave you alone. Carry other bigger cash elsewhere. And if you do pull over for their bullshit stop (multiple people told me they just blow past it and didn't stop ever, but I'm not the type to risk an international police chase), immediately pocket your keys or you risk having the cops grab it out of your ignition and hold it til you pay em. Also, they will call the people who rented you your scooter and tell them they're gonna take it or whatever if you refuse to pay. loving scumbags. Same poo poo in Bali.
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Oct 26, 2017 20:23
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When you see a checkpoint, keep an eye out to see whether there is a cop motorcycle nearby. If there is one and the cops are not busy extorting other victims, then chances are one of them will give chase. In this case, you should comply and pull over. If the cops seem busy and/or there is no nearby cop motorcycle (They cannot give chase if they don't have a vehicle), just speed pass the cop who tries to block your way, provided there is enough room for you to maneuver around. In Saigon, 99% of traffic cops do not give chase because there are plenty of fish for the catching. In the case one gives you chase, you need to drive into one of the alleys and stay hidden in someone's front yard or to lose the cop completely by making your way toward many available exits. Just do not get yourself into a dead-end.
Pill Clinton fucked around with this message at 21:36 on Oct 26, 2017 |
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Oct 26, 2017 21:31
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Pill Clinton posted:If the cops seem busy and/or there is no nearby cop motorcycle (They cannot give chase if they don't have a vehicle), just speed pass the cop who tries to block your way, provided there is enough room for you to maneuver around. In Saigon, 99% of traffic cops do not give chase because there are plenty of fish for the catching.
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Oct 26, 2017 22:31
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Pill Clinton posted:When you see a checkpoint, keep an eye out to see whether there is a cop motorcycle nearby. If there is one and the cops are not busy extorting other victims, then chances are one of them will give chase. In this case, you should comply and pull over. If the cops seem busy and/or there is no nearby cop motorcycle (They cannot give chase if they don't have a vehicle), just speed pass the cop who tries to block your way, provided there is enough room for you to maneuver around. In Saigon, 99% of traffic cops do not give chase because there are plenty of fish for the catching. In the case one gives you chase, you need to drive into one of the alleys and stay hidden in someone's front yard or to lose the cop completely by making your way toward many available exits. Just do not get yourself into a dead-end. I did that once and the cop hit me in the back with his baton. 
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Oct 27, 2017 02:25
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Bardeh posted:...so you get every Somchai and his nan in these huge loving vehicles thinking they're king poo poo of the road and giving literally no fucks about anyone else The second most dangerous vehicle in rural Thailand is the motorbike version of the same thing. Third most dangerous is the delivery truck with the giant camper on the back. Then comes the family in the heavily financed Hilux! Pilsner posted:Holy poo poo, I can't imagine anything requiring more balls that ignoring a cop waving you over in a corrupt country over there. I don't think I'd be able to rest until I sat on the airplane towards my home country from nervousness.
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Oct 27, 2017 02:32
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Interesting facts about VN traffic cops: - Traffic cops are solely responsible for traffic violation, safety, accidents, etc... - Most do not carry firearms. High ranking ones some times carry rubber-bullet handguns and/or electric batons when they feel like it. The main purpose of those guns are to instill fear with noise. Tasers do not exist. - Worst thing they can do is hold you by the arms or put you in handcuff and wait for the real cop to come to arrest you. They are not well-trained to beat up people. Many local people take the option of getting new licenses and new motorbikes when their license and bikes get taken by the traffic cops, because the fine some times exceeds the value of the bike. They use the excuse "I have lost my license" when applying for a new one. How they can get away with this that i do not know. The license bureaus do check the system to see if your license is being confiscated or not. Some go through the process of getting a brand new license with the excuse "I never had a driver license before". Currently the department of transportation officials are trying to find a way to empty out many overflowed impound lots. Putting aside the corrupted cop issue, I would recommend you guys to do these things while you are in Vietnam because they are super cheap without compromise quality: - Get a complete health check for around $100. More or less depends on where you visit. List of services (in English). - If time permits, consider some of the orthodontic services. A tooth implant would set you back $500-1400. My dentist wants $3300 for a single tooth implant here in the U.S.. - Get on TripAdvisor, look for a highly rated massage parlor, and get yourself a nice massage. Try not to get addicted.
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Oct 27, 2017 04:35
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those who were asking: http://www.kingrama9.th/live
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Oct 27, 2017 06:01
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