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I'll write up more on Laos, I've been all up in that bitch (twice). Also, a motorbike section is needed!
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Jan 30, 2010 23:19
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MR18inches posted:So if this has been answered I apologize - I'm still new here. Definitely Laos. They've got this weird old law on the books that you've got to register with your Lao girlfriend (or whatever) at the local police station, but it's just a formality and no big deal as long as you go down there and fill the form out. I think it has something to do with the government's paranoia about seditious Westerners or something 
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Jan 31, 2010 06:26
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Holy poo poo that video owns. Ringo R posted:Also goes to show that any white guy who learns the language will instantly become a superstar. Lol, not exactly  Laos is cool in that if you speak Thai/Lao well people accept it without blinking, whereas in Thailand every time you string together more than a couple of words it becomes a celebration of your linguistic prowess and inquiry into its origins. On languages, Indonesian and Malay are far and away the easiest ones to learn. Same alphabet as English, no tones, pretty straightforward grammar. It's hard to fault a tourist for not picking up much of a crazy tonal language with its own 77 letter alphabet (Thai), but if you're in Indonesia/Malaysia it's actually worth making a real effort to learn the language. The two are closely related (Indonesian was created from Malay as a lingua franca for all the different islands that make up the country) so it pays double dividends if you're visiting both countries. Same with Thai and Lao, for that matter.
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Jan 31, 2010 16:01
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Motorcycle post is getting kinda long, splitting it into general and longer-term touring sections. Better than posting the same stuff over and over though!freebooter posted:I wouldn't take them in Thailand, but what about Laos, and southern China? Incidence is low outside of really rural areas, and the side effects can be uncomfortable. I normally tan pretty well but was lobster red after 10 minutes of direct sunlight on a boat, so I quit taking doxicyclone or whatever in Cambodia the first time I was there. It was the cool/dry season and I only saw/heard one or two mosquitoes the whole time. In the wet season they are more prevalent, but in most of the areas where malaria is a possibility mosquito nets are usually provided. You can't get immunized against other mosquito-borne diseases such as dengue fever (which I've had, it sucks) so it pays to just take good mosquito precautions all-around. Wear long sleeves/pants when you can, use repellent, and turn the fan on high in your room and sleep under the sheets; mosquitoes are lovely fliers and hate wind. I'm not saying never take anti-malarials (eventually some goon will get it and blame me), but be aware that they do cause inconvenience, are a precaution for something that likely won't happen anyways, and still won't protect you from other illnesses, whereas taking good anti-mosquito precautions will help against all of those.
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Feb 1, 2010 03:49
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Motorbikes and You: A Primer on Riding in Southeast Asia As soon as you step on to the street in any of these countries, you'll notice everybody is riding around on little motorbikes. Generally ranging from 100-125cc and produced by a variety of manufacturers (Honda, Suzuki, Yamaha, and nowadays some Chinese ones), they're ubiquitous and widely available for rent in most places that see foreign tourists, costing anything from $5-10/day.  To boldly go, where no scooter should go at all. Why ride when you can tuk-tuk?  It's dangerous, often more expensive, and more difficult. On the other hand, it gives you a huge amount of freedom to explore, it's fun, and gets you away from the touts. Is it for everyone? Definitely not, but if you're the least bit curious, at least consider it. It is also an instant cool-point multiplier with locals. The Basics In most countries, you will need to leave your passport as collateral when renting a motorbike. Obviously, this creates some problems if you want to cross a border. More on that later. Right handlebar: throttle, right lever: front brake. Grabbing too much of the front brake will lock the front wheel and you will go down. A lot of tourists get it into their head you should never use the front brake, which is incorrect and will probably lead to you plowing into something because you couldn't brake as fast as you should be able to. There's a lever by your right foot that controls the rear brake, a safer albeit less abrupt option. Some scooters are available with an automatic transmission, generally a little more expensive than their manual counterparts. On a manual step-through scooter, the gears go N-1-2-3-4 (a real motorcycle has N as a "half-click" between 1st and 2nd, 1-N-2-3-4). On both, you shift with a lever near your left foot, tapping down shifts up, tapping up shifts down. This is the opposite of a real motorcycle, and led to a Lao girl taunting me about not being able to drive her Honda Dream one time after I got too used to the other way. Don't let this happen to you! If you're on a motorcycle with a clutch, the left lever operates that. It is *much* easier to learn than a manual car. 125cc? Really? Where are all the big bikes?  In general, high import duties/tarrifs and a general lack of demand for larger displacement engines. An unloaded 125cc tops out around 100kph (or about 60mph) on level ground, less if you're fat, riding 2 up, or have a decent chunk of luggage with you. Any faster than that and you're unlikely to be able to avoid all the wandering livestock that bumble into the road, patches of dirt/gravel, potholes, etc. You're probably not wearing proper protection anyways, so don't push your luck, you crazy sonuvabitch. I can count on one hand the times I've wanted to go faster than my bike could take me, mostly being stuck behind buses in the mountains. Just be patient. If you really need Do I have to wear a helmet? Yes, even if you don't have to. What about other protective gear? You will almost never see locals wearing anything other than a helmet, unless you count windbreakers to keep the sun off. Many ride with flipflops :facepalm: Stuff like riding jackets, pants, boots, etc are only going to be found for rent at a shop that caters to foreigners, and even then it's not very likely. Personally I prefer gearing up whenever I ride, but if you're just renting a scooter a few times for daytrips it's really kind of gratuitous to pack all that poo poo. I do recommend a pair of long pants, something long sleeved like a light jacket (also good for cold VIP buses), and a pair of gloves, if only to keep the sun off (longer rides) and provide a tiny bit of protection in the event of a low speed crash. If you are planning an extended trip, it is definitely worthwhile to bring your own stuff from home. Bangkok probably has a better selection, but in Hanoi I spent 2 days looking (with the help of a motorbike shop specializing in tours for foreigners) and the best I could come up with was a mesh jacket two sizes too small, a mediocre pair of pants, and no riding boots. Full face helmets aren't impossible to find, but you're probably better off bringing yours from home if you can fit it.  Do you really want to be wearing cargo shorts and flip-flops in situations involving this sort of thing? Do I need a motorcycle license or can I just wing it? In theory, legally you do need one, in practice you don't (shops don't give a hoot, cops may). I think most countries have an arrangement with whatever your home country is as far as recognizing your existing license, whether this means you'll need a separate endorsement for a motorbike will depend on local laws and more importantly, the whim of whomever you're dealing with. If you plan on riding and can spare the $250 or so I STRONGLY RECOMMEND TAKING A LOCAL MOTORCYCLE SAFETY FOUNDATION COURSE BEFORE YOU LEAVE. You'll learn a lot about handling a bike and it could save you some skin (or an inflated repair bill) later. Also, I think some health insurance providers refuse to pay out if you were injured riding a bike with no license. If for whatever reason you can't/choose not to take a proper introductory rider's course, at least pick up a copy of the excellent Proficient Motorcycling, a long and insanely useful analysis/how-to of two-wheeled traveling. What are road conditions like? They range from dirt tracks to highways. At best, a "highway" will generally be a two lane, paved road in reasonably good repair. It may randomly degenerate into dirt/gravel without warning, and people build their houses right along the main roads, which leads to lots more random livestock and human being wandering into your path of travel. Cambodia has the worst roads (well technically Burma does), followed by Laos, which is generally not bad between major cities. Thailand and Vietnam are generally well paved until you get off the beaten track, or there is construction.  Multiply this by about 60 miles to get an idea of the road between the Vietnamese border at Dien Bien Phu and the nearest Lao town of Muang Khua in the wet season. On days like these, start early.  Whoops, bridge's out! No warning or detour signs, just a nice 12 foot drop into a pit at the end of the road. Anything can happen, always expect the worst. Speaking of the police, as a vanillaface I'm going to get pulled over and shaken down for everything I'm worth on a daily basis, aren't I? No. Contrary to movies, stories from your uncle, and yarns spun by hippies busted for drug possession/trafficking, the cops are generally not out to "get you". Most speak little to no English (if they could, they'd get a higher-paying job) and do not want to make trouble for tourists, who are a huge part of Thailand's economy (and of growing importance in other countries) and likely have more means to make trouble for the cop than an average local would. I'm not saying there are no bad apples, but you're much more likely to make trouble for yourself than have the police make it for you. Speaking personally, I've logged thousands of km's and not once have been stopped or hassled by a cop. (Heck, the entire time in Laos I was riding a bike with half of a Vietnamese license plate and never got a second glance.) My luck so far could be related to always riding with "the white" covered up and not like a hellion, could not. If you are stopped, be extremely polite and deferential. Acting pleasant, contrite, and confused will probably get you off the hook in most minor situations.  Don't pull me over I'm just a tall gangly Vietnamese person. What if I hit something/someone? Don't! If you must hit something, however, be aware you're probably going to have to pay compensation to the owner of the property that was damaged/whoever was injured. If you wipe out on your own, you may want to take the scooter to a repair shop first before turning it in, as a number of rental shops will charge outrageously inflated fees for repairs to their bikes. I have firsthand experience with this ($25 for a mirror, which happened in front of the owner because of the bike's faulty kickstand) and have heard enough stories from others to think it's fairly common. Replacing a whole scooter will probably run you $500-1000+, depending on whether you have to buy it new or used. ------------------------------------------ What about traveling longer term? ------------------------------------------  Motorcycle touring gives you a ton of freedom. There's no  like passing a bus full of sunburned hippies on your own two wheels, stopping wherever you fancy, and generally having the kind of freedom to explore you might have in your own country. It also creates a whole new set of complications: how much time do you need to go from A to B, border crossings, fueling, maintenance, theft prevention, getting rid of the bike at the end of the trip, etc. What bike to take? Do you want to spend 1-2 months on a Honda Dream? If the answer to that question is yes, go ahead and stop reading because I can't help you, moron. They're perfectly serviceable for urban commuting and day trips on decent roads, but terrible offroad: thin tires, rock hard suspension, etc. For a longer trip, I recommend getting a bike better-suited to touring in local conditions. Cambodia is kind of an anything goes Wild West sort of place and has a decent selection of imported bikes. Because it's so dodgy, a bike with Cambodian plates may get hassled or turned away at border crossing, the Customs people thinking you're trying to smuggle it in to their country and sell it there. With a bike, Vietnam is the biggest rear end in a top hat as far as border crossings (unless you count China, who requires a pricey government guide with you, and Burma, who doesn't let anything through). More on Vietnam and border crossings later. Short of it (assuming you are on a budget): Vietnam - Minsk (baller option: XR250 or above) Cambodia - XR250 or Honda Degree Laos - XR250, Minsk (if bringing in from Vietnam) Thailand - XR250 or whatever you can find. Other countries: ? If you're doing Thailand/Laos/Cambodia, an XR250 with Thai plates is probably the best option (Thailand having the strictest borders). Vietnam/Laos a Vietnamese Minsk is a good idea, as it's cheap, parts are plentiful in Vietnam and somewhat available in Laos (sometimes you might have to wait). Cambodia/Laos best bet is an XR250. Buy or rent? This depends on how long you have. Generally, under 3 weeks you're almost always better off renting, beyond that buying becomes more attractive although there's really no hard and fast answer. Buying takes all the headache out of leaving a deposit (in place of your passport), which often exceeds the actual value of the bike and getting it back to the shop of origin. It adds the headache of having to sell the bike at the end of your trip, something you should probably leave at least a week for, probably more if it's a bigger/more expensive bike. You will generally need to sell it in its country of origin, as getting it plated in another country typically involves import duties and a probably lot of additional bother for the new owner. In Cambodia, a rather grizzled but still running XR250 goes for in the neighborhood of US$1000 last I heard. They're probably more expensive in Thailand, Laos, and Vietnam (definitely so in Vietnam). As far as renting, Vientiane has at least 1 shop with XR250's, and there's a hotel in Pakse (Southern Laos) that rents them out as well, around $15-20 a day in each case. There's also a shop in Luang Phrabang with a garage full of Minsks that runs under the radar, as UNESCO demands no motorbike rentals be allowed there. Check with Andy at Tiger Trails if you're interested. In Cambodia; Phnom Penh, Kampot, and I think Sihanoukville all have XR250's for rent as well. Siam Reap is a big town but has nothing, or if they do it's well-hidden, as motorbike hire by foreigners there is banned. Phnom Penh has the bigger selection but the prices in Kampot were a little cheaper. At any rate, if you're going to be taking the bike for a week or more, see if you can press for a discount from the shop.  The mighty XR250, photo courtesy of The Internet. Also, a good set of saddlebags is worth buying/renting, rather than just tying your backpack to your bike. For one, you can balance them out better and they have a lower center of gravity. They also make it easier to pick up a passenger without shuffling everything around, and you generally don't need to worry about them coming off*. I lost both a tripod and later my dufflebag full of laundry, toiletries, and spares because of lovely Vietnamese tie-down straps. Saddlebags should be supported by a set of pannier racks, a common enough modification, and preferably tied down with bungee cords of old inner tubes to keep them from sliding around as you accelerate/decelerate. For extra protection against rain, buy a couple empty rice sacks at a market and line the bags with those (these also make a nice inexpensive laundry bag, and cool souvenirs once you get home) Saddlebags own, get some.  *this happened to Cheesemaster2000 with the Minsks' standard ratty saddlebags. I had the bigger ones for a Honda, which loaded up weighed about 40 pounds, something I'd definitely miss if it started to fall off. I don't think the Minsk's saddlebags are waterproof either. Safety As far as your person, if you're planning a long trip you really ought to be wearing a proper jacket, trousers, gloves, and probably boots. You are better off bringing these from home, as they are not widespread in the region and you are likely bigger than the average local anyways. When riding, watch your speed, as there are all kinds of sudden and unseen hazards (farm animals in particular, as well as road conditions and crazy drivers) around many corners. On that, if you're in the mountains stay the hell on your side of the line at all times (unless you're passing someone on a straight), as local drivers love to help themselves to a good chunk of your lane on the corners. I could write a ton more here, but "Proficient Motorcycling" says it far better than I can.  Safety first! Brought to you by your pals at the Vietnamese Department of Highways and Motor Vehicles. As far as the bike itself, locals have always cautioned me about bike theft, although it's never happened to me or anyone I've met. Most guesthouses will have a safe area where you can keep your bike overnight, as the staff themselves probably ride. A number of places will actually let you park your bike in the lobby overnight, there's often a little cement ramp on the stairs for getting it up there. I've only had to leave the bike on the street a handful of times, and bought a chain and padlock for those occasions. With the Minsk (which had no key, just kick it and go), I'd also pop the seat, unplug the electrical box, and take it up to my room. Maintenance Do you need to be a grease-monkey to tour? Not really, although it certainly helps. I knew basically nothing about working on bikes when I started, and I still wouldn't consider myself an even half-way decent wrench-turner now. Local mechanics are very cheap and resourceful, not to mention easy to find, there are tons of little shops on the side of the road that can handle most minor things. When you can get a flat changed for $0.50 to $1, it's kind of easy to sit back and let the other guy do it (although being able to change your own tires is a very good idea for when you get stuck in the middle of nowhere). Worst case scenario, you wait by the side of the road, flag someone down, and come back with a flatbed (or mechanic). I blew a tire in the middle of the jungle in Laos (had lost my spare the week before, and after 5 weeks of no flats, got cocky and didn't replace it) and had to spend the night in a very rudimentary hut before I could make it to the next village in the morning. Things happen sometimes, keep your head and don't freak out. If you're buying a bike, I recommend paying a bit extra for a good one, or at least having a good mechanic look over whatever you're buying and let him fix *everything* he thinks needs done. I'd much rather spend a little extra in advance and have things go smoothly than deal with a bike making GBS threads the bed on a daily basis. On the same note, don't dog the hell out of your bike, make sure you're running proper levels of fluids, and try not to buy gas from the little oil drum stations in the middle of nowhere if you can help it, as they sometimes dilute it with kerosine and poo poo.  Kaboom! Here's what happens when you use a lovely Chinese chain in your Minsk transmission.  Border Crossings?  No matter what the Lonely Planet or internet says, border crossings are up to the whim of whoever is there that day; always have a Plan B (and C, and probably D) just in case and don't piss anyone off. You will need ownership papers of the bike, which a shop will hand over to you if you leave a hefty deposit. In Laos the temporary import forms were bilingual... Lao and French  Luckily the officials fill them out. I paid something like $2.40 and they gave me 7 days on the bike. I asked for the full 30 days of my visa, explaining my travel plan, but they said I needed to get it extended at the provincial finance office. I had to do this three times, each office being totally baffled by my case and making up the rules (and fees) on the spot, although nothing outrageous. Nobody spoke English (also, the Finance Offices weren't always labeled in English either), so you may want to recruit a local from a restaurant or your guesthouse to go with you. I'm not certain what other countries rules are, I can only speak for Laos. Check with GT-Rider for the latest info. Oh, you have to get off your bike and walk it between borders. Or at least, walk it until you're out of range of the guards, fire it up, and then dismount before you reach the other side. It's like a kilometer or so in most cases, so gently caress pushing your motorcycle that far in the heat. I have not been shot at yet. Vietam: None Shall Pass (more or less) The bad news: bringing another motorbike into Vietnam (even 125cc and smaller) can be a huge hassle or even impossible. If you want to include Vietnam on your motorcycle trip itinerary, you will remove a ton of guesswork and potential disappointment if you just start off there with a Vietnamese bike, or switch to a Vietnamese bike instead of trying to cross with a foreign one. The good: Vietnam is home to Minsks: a bona fide offroad motorcycle brought in by the Soviets back in the day. They are considered hella uncool by Vietnamese people these days and go for only a couple hundred bucks. I paid $450 for a Sport model, which had been owned by a Belgian lawyer, been meticulously maintained at a big shop, and had several nice mods for touring (upgraded Suzuki rear suspension, custom super comfy seat, luggage rack) and came with plenty of spares and a toolkit. You really can't pay any more than that for a Minsk. Regular ones can be had for $250-$350 or so, less if you catch a desperate backpacker at the end of their trip looking to unload it (hint: don't wind up in that situation, also those bikes have probably been flogged to death, buy at your own risk). Minsks are more like proper motorbikes in that they have a clutch, standard gearbox, and a decent suspension/tires. Minsks are not like proper motorbikes in that the kickstart is on the left, the speedometer and ignition have probably been removed, and are held together with spiderwebs and magic. They are also two-stroke, which means that the oil has to be mixed with the gas/petrol, at a ratio of 20:1. Forgetting to put the oil in will cause the engine to seize within about 10 minutes and will totally ruin it. Much is bemoaned about the reliability of Minsks, personally mine didn't give any major problems on a 7 week trip, but that's probably because I bought a good one. It is about as easy a bike to work on as there possibly can be; I can't even change my own oil back home but learned to disassemble a Minsk engine and change the main gasket, among other things. For more info on Minsks (including an English repair manual!), check out The Minsk Club, Vietnam. They talk up Cuong but I went by his shop and he did nothing but poo poo-talk the bikes, so I went elsewhere for my Minsking needs. I can heartily recommend talking to Mr Hung at Flamingo Travel in Hanoi. Very honest guy, nice, passionate about riding, and really knows the region. They've got bigger, more expensive bikes if Minsks don't tickle your fancy. As far as taking a Minsk to other countries, you can find some parts in Laos (more so in the north) as there are a few on the road, and Tiger Trails in Luang Prabang has a garage with spares and Lao mechanic who specializes in Minsks. Parts and repair rates are extremely reasonable, although their Minsks rent for $15/day, more than double what they cost in Vietnam (worth it though). Other places in Laos you might need to wait for the mechanic's "guy" in another city to put the part on a bus and send it there, but you can probably get it repaired if you're patient. In other countries you may be out of luck if something specific and irreplaceable breaks. Local mechanics are ingenious when it comes to rigging stuff up, but bring spares, at least one electrical box, a generator coil, and plenty of sparkplugs.  Dead Minsk at a podunk down in northern Laos What if I get tired of riding? Blasphemy, my child. But sometimes road conditions, changing travel plans, or a desire for quick and easy transport between two places will have you looking for a quicker way to move your bike.  I only had a couple days left on my Lao visa, and was looking at 650kms of flooding + flat, boring roads to get down to Pakse from Vientiane. For $20, I got my Minsk manhandled atop a local bus by 3 dudes and sent down there with me. It saved me at least a day or two (not to mention gas), but they damaged the bike a little when unloading it (flat tire and I suspect they worsened a problem with the bearings). Not a terrible option, but be aware. If you want to take a VIP bus you'll have to ride separately, as they're smooth up top with no room to tie your bike down. Vietnam also owns because of the train system: it's pretty straightforward and economical to ship a bike, and it's well protected in a custom wooden crate. Great if you want to do a one-way trip on a rental: go north to south (or vice versa) and then put it on the train back to where you rented it from. I paid $18 to go from Danang to Hanoi, which is about half the country. They drain all the fuel out of the bike, so don't roll up there with a full tank.  Vietnamese train station dudes gift-wrapping my Minsk for the trip back to Hanoi Thailand also has an extensive rail system but I don't know how difficult/expensive it is to ship a bike. Other options: probably the slow boats in Laos, although a bus would likely be faster. Sometimes a swollen river requires a short canoe trip.  More? I'm definitely leaving some stuff out, but this is long enough for now. Links http://advrider.com/ - General motorcycle adventure touring site, very good. http://www.gt-rider.com/ - Southeast Asia specific riding forum, lots of great info and advice. Probably the best place to check for current information (border crossings and the like). Tiger Trails - Tour company in Luang Prabang, Laos that also has the hookup on Minsks. Run by a very chill German named Andy. Flamingo Travel - Excellent tour and bike rental shop in Hanoi. Minsks and other bikes available. Ask for Mr Hung.
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Feb 1, 2010 05:56
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freebooter posted:Urggh nothing pisses me off more than smug backpackers telling other people about the ONLY way to travel. Just ask them about how sad it is hill tribe villages are getting electricity and running water.
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Feb 11, 2010 02:15
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SonicDefiance posted:I have a few quick questions about Thailand, Kanchanaburi in particular. There's a few day tours I've been checking out online that look interesting, but all of the tours that involve bamboo rafting also seem to be tied with elephant riding, which I'm not keen on. Is bamboo rafting something that can be organised independently outside of a set tour? Or is it just a matter of going on one of these tours and then saying no to the elephant ride part? I stayed at Blue Star, not on the river though. The cats had a major nocturnal throwdown outside my bungalow between 3am and 5am, I gave up on sleeping and walked around town before sunup, which was fun. Actually, I recommend waking up crazy-early at least once in Thailand, as you get to see Real Thai People(tm) going about their business, monks going out for alms, etc. I visited the WWII cemetery, chatted with some garbagemen, and then got breakfast in the town square as the first shop was opening. There is an *awesome* Indian restaurant down the road from Blue Star called Ali Bongo. It's the best Indian food I've ever had. Aside from that, I stumbled across the Monkey School at Kanchanaburi, which was an interesting enough little diversion. There are also a number of worthy sites/stops on the road to Sangkhlaburi, which is itself fairly picturesque. [Cue motorcycle recommendation.] On the Tiger Temple, I haven't gone but I know some people accuse the monks of drugging the tigers. I doubt that's the case: aside from that being pretty antithetical to Buddhist teachings, tigers are generally nocturnal so it's really no wonder they're sleepy and sluggish during the day. I used to work at a zoo in high school, the tigers there were the same way. I guess if you want to see them all frisky, try and get there as early in the day as possible. Pompous Rhombus fucked around with this message at 19:45 on Feb 11, 2010 |
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Feb 11, 2010 19:42
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Photo-wise (or if you just want to sight-see), I like to start at Hualamphong station in Chinatown after dinner, walk down Yaowarat and then follow the river all the way to Banglamphu/Khao San. You can pass the Thieves Market with a slight detour, otherwise sticking to the river takes you to a metal bridge (a popular hangout for local teenagers) with a medium-sized night market, as well as Bangkok's 24/7 flower market. It's extra fun if you stop at convenience stores along the way and buy booze as you go.
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Feb 12, 2010 04:00
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Sapa's about all I can really hold against Vietnam, even the Old Quarter in Hanoi wasn't bad at all considering what/where it is, and I never really got hassled by any touts outside of Sapa. Everyone else was really friendly, but I didn't do much traveling on the coast (just Halong and Hoi An, really) and had my own wheels so I avoided the taxi/xe om/bus station/train station song and dance
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Feb 17, 2010 22:54
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moflika posted:Man this thread rules. I'll be going through Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos, Thailand, and Indonesia for 2 months during March-April. I've got most things covered (assuming I can get it all done in time There's regular electricity in all but the most remote places (Si Phan Don, in the south of Laos near the Cambodian border, is one of them, although Ringo R says a lot of places have generators now), that generally won't be a problem. Most cyber cafes will also burn your memory card to a CD or DVD for you as well. Doesn't hurt to have an extra battery or two with you for those times you forget to charge it, or your room doesn't have an electrical outlet (most will). It's 15 days if you arrive at a land border, 30 at an airport; the overstay fine is 500 baht a day to a maximum of 20 days. You sometimes get the first day as a grace period, but you are pretty much going to have to pay it if you overstay more than that. If it's only 1-2 days it'd be cheaper and a lot less hassle than an 1800 baht visa extension though.
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Feb 22, 2010 19:28
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), but how does it work with cameras in places like Cambodia or Laos. Can I find places to charge poo poo every so often or should I bring a bunch of extra batteries?
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Dana Mania posted:My boyfriend and I are planning a 3.5 week trip around Thailand, including a 5 - 6 day visit to Phuket. We fly in on April 16 (yeah, I know it's in a big holiday long weekend and I'll have a bit of struggle finding inexpensive accommodation for the first couple days). If you can, see if you can work some more of Songkran (Thai New Years) into your holiday. It's a ton of fun and everyone lets their hair down, kinda like Thailand's Carnival or Mardi Gras, but in the form of a country-wide water fight  mrfart posted:has anyboby here ever been to the Plain of jars, Laos? I've been, I like it because it's so uncomplicated. Going to Angkor you walk past these amazingly intricate reliefs, through all kinds of elaborate architecture, and even with a good guide/book you know you'd only be scratching the surface even after a full week. The appeal of the PoJ to me is that it's so mysterious: it's a bunch of stone jars in a less-mountainous part of northern Laos (it should really be "The Rolling Hills of Jars", but whatever), nobody really knows the whole story and it's possible we never will. It's not breathtaking or anything, but if you're already heading up that way and at all interested in that sort of thing, it's worth the stop. The area is riddled with craters and you can find unexploded bomb casings re-purposed into house stilts, planters, and BBQ grills, among other things. (The major sites of the Plain of Jars have been cleared) There's a pretty good documentary on UXO (unexploded ordinance) that plays in some of the restaurants, and MAG has a pretty good informational center in town. Getting to Laos from Vietnam isn't a cakewalk like some crossings, but by no means impossible. If you're not so interested in Vietnam and have the money, renting an XR250 in Laos is also possible (or a Minsk, if you start from Luang Prabang, but they cost double what a Vietnamese rental would be). I was just going to use the maps in my Lonely Planet and ask directions for smaller stuff, but I met an older American guy who had a really nice Rough Guide map to Vietnam/Laos/Cambodia. He was an old-school bicycle tourer and had bought it out of habit but said he didn't need it, so he gave it to me. It was made out of this plasticky material that was waterproof (and beer-proof, as I found out later) and really tough. As far as accuracy it was decent but not amazing: apparently there are no truly accurate maps available and roads are being improved/changed all the time. For main roads I think most maps are fine, for smaller stuff you're better off asking locals for directions and following road signs. The vast majority of road signs are written in Western script, but don't expect the average local to be able to read a map in English, it totally confuses them. If you can find a decent bilingual map, buy the hell out of it. For Vietnam I bought a road atlas at a bookshop in Hanoi for a couple of bucks. It was pretty detailed but annoying to have to flip through the different pages. Pompous Rhombus fucked around with this message at 21:24 on Feb 24, 2010 |
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Feb 24, 2010 21:22
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 Oh yeah, who wants to go study in Indonesia for six months or a year? Great, here's a scholarship! I should have posted this earlier, it slipped my mind: applications for the Indonesian government's Darmasiswa Scholarship Program are closing at the end of this month (4 days!). It's not for a ton of money; the living allowance is about $110/month which you'll almost definitely go over, but it does cover tuition and books, and would look cool on a resume, not to mention teach you Indonesian. Bahasa Indonesia is probably the easiest Asian language you can learn: no tones, same alphabet as English, and is basically Malaysian with the corners knocked off of it. Indonesia's a massive archipelago made up of literally thousands of islands and a dizzying number of indigenous cultures. Yes, it's a Muslim country, but it's by no means Saudi Arabia and people there are quite friendly/hospitable. I don't think the standards for this particular scholarship are super-high, I registered for the application last year but didn't fill it out and they sent me a "we're so sorry you didn't get accepted, please apply again next year" e-mail a few months later. For 2010 they've also increasing the number of places from 200 to 750 The application is pretty painless although they do ask for more personal information than they probably need or have a right to (travel history, for example). No letters of recommendation or anything, If you're a current student, talk with your school's study abroad office about getting credit for it, I think most departments are willing to work with students that want to do something educational and outside the ordinary. If you're not a student, no worries, the only qualification is having finished secondary education and being under 35. As far as programs, from what I've been able to find, University of Indonesia's BIPA Program looks to be the best. The campus is about 20kms outside of Jakarta. There's also Gadjah Mada's program in Yogyakarta, but it's only part-time and doesn't look that intensive if you're not in one of the special Australian-exchange-students-only classes. OTOH Yogya is really cool, kind of Indonesia's "second city" and cultural/artistic heart. Here's a recent feature with an interesting cross-section of photos from Indonesia: http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2010/02/recent_scenes_from_indonesia.html
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Feb 24, 2010 22:21
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Fox1 posted:By any chance does anyone know a good motorcycle mechanic in Cambodia? (Phnom Penh preferably) May be too late on this but you should try getting it fixed in Vietnam first! I'm not saying it will be impossible to fix, but I've never seen a Minsk in Cambodia. Worst case scenario, there will probably be someone who's "got a guy" in Vietnam that they'll call and will put the parts on a bus headed to PP for you. As far as shops, ask a moto-taxi driver if you find one who speaks English. Expats might know, or inadvertently steer you towards a more expensive one. freebooter posted:Vietnam: Or is it just your 30 days of being in the country for the dates you specify on your application form, enter no earlier and exit no later, absolutely inflexible? Yep :-\ Ringo R posted:Sneakin' in Ahahaha... my Japanese classmates used to do the same thing.
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Feb 25, 2010 13:02
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Strong Sauce posted:Hrm.. yeah seems like numbers will be my downfall. Do the free ones (for Thais) just let you pass through? Hang back inconspicuously and watch what locals do. My trick with moto-taxi drivers was to hand them a 100 baht note (50 for a short hop) and wait for change: there's usually an unwritten standard fare that locals (even white folks, who have done the route enough times) know, but if you actually ask they may inflate the price. Moto taxi guys in Bangkok are usually pretty honest though, much better than your average tuk-tuk driver anyways. No fees on landing, you used to have to pony up the departure tax when you were leaving but I think it's integrated into the cost of your plane ticket nowadays.
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Feb 25, 2010 20:39
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moflika posted:edit: O yeah, any hippie backpackers have any advice on foot care? Powder, Spray, and other way? I'm going to be wearing the same drat trail runners for 2 months, so I'm assuming I should do something. Buy a cheap pair of flip flops for farting around in when you get there (or alternatively, a nice pair at home that won't fall apart). I won these special lightweight socks in a raffle at a bicycle race that breathed so much better than regular socks, also washed/dried much easier. You can wash socks/underwear in the sink with a bar of soap if you can't be bothered to take them to a laundry. I guess you can technically do the same with regular clothes but it's not worth the hassle when a little Cambodian lady will happily do your laundry for $1/kg.
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Mar 2, 2010 01:57
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Frost posted:Other than that I came out of the trip with a lot of love for Cambodia. Friendly people all around, easy travel and a lot of interesting sights and activities. Just saying, I went up and down Bokor Mountain on a scooter and it was the best thing I have done in recent years. Now I know what Breakbone fever must feel like. The road up to Bokor doesn't make you unable to hold down more than a piece of fruit or two a day and cause every part of your skin to itch all night though How is the road now? They were in the process of paving it when I was there (well re-paving, there were still a couple of stubborn patches of French asphalt clinging to existence here and there) in 2008, but that looked like a hell of a job. Also, have they lifted that bogus bribe to get in because it's "closed for construction"? edit: 
Pompous Rhombus fucked around with this message at 12:25 on Mar 2, 2010 |
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Mar 2, 2010 12:21
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Lmao, Thai government extends the free 60 day tourist visas and is throwing $10k of riot insurance into the deal. Goes into effect April 1 (seriously?) and should last a full year. Frost posted:The first 2 or 3 kilometres after the checkpoint are asphalt now and I paid 5 Dollar to get in. The rest pretty much looks like in your picture, just a little steeper and wider. Most of the time it is wide enough so two cars can pass each other without problem now, and there is "gravel" on some patches. If football-sized pieces of rock count as gravel! I'd say 3 hours up and 2.5 to get back down. My hat is off to you, that is one hell of a road!
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Mar 2, 2010 13:16
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Fox1 posted:I got it fixed temporarily, but I'm in Phnom Penh now and it's just died again and I'm getting tired of dealing with it. A mechanic here has offered me a part exchange on a nice dirt bike that I'm considering, but I have some worries.. Any idea on the papers/documents I need to take it in to Laos and then eventually Thailand? As I think he may only write me up a bill of sale, he mentioned he had no papers for it but that it was no problem because it has Cambodian plates, although I doubt that's the case. I've also read that if you do get it into Thailand you have to leave with it also or face a massive fine, I want to sell it on in Thailand though. For Laos all I had was a little laminated card with a bunch of poo poo written in Vietnamese, I'm not sure how essential it was. As far as cops hassling me while there I had no problems, even riding around with half of a Vietnamese license plate for more than a month. Because you're a tourist you might be able to get by without papers but I'd be wary of buying that bike. For all you know, it was stolen in Thailand and smuggled across the border, and it gets impounded as soon as you cross (I kinda doubt they've got a computer system for that sorta thing but you never know). I wouldn't count on selling it in Thailand, as it is whoever buys it is going to have to factor in import duties on the bike into what they're going to give you, unless they know someone in Customs or something. According to their website, total taxes and duties for permanent import of a motorbike would be 77% of assessed value. Perhaps Malaysia would be easier, I dunno. I would either sell the Minsk and get a bike with legit papers, or get that yours looked over and put in tip-top shape by a good mechanic. My next plan for a trip is to buy a Minsk in Vietnam and just ride it as far as possible until it totally shits the bed and dies or I'm out of time/money. I'd just give it away, get a certificate of destruction, or leave it in a theft-friendly environment and file a police report if necessary at the end. Obviously not the best idea if you're riding a bike that's actually worth something though.
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Mar 4, 2010 15:32
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Uncle Ivan posted:How did you guys go about getting Vietnamese visas? I called the NY embassy and they say the price is $80. Online I see a bunch of shady websites that seem cheaper. Considering that I'm only going to be in Vietnam for 4 days, I'd like to save some money on the visa if possible. Can anyone recommend a visa service that they used? They're legit, I went with one that was advertising through Google. Just find a company, google their name and see if other people have used them, and if it looks good, go for it. They basically take your paperwork and apply for the visa for you in Vietnam, you can pick it up at the airport when you arrive. No good if you're arriving from a land border though. I don't think I even paid $80 for my 3 month multi-entry "business" visa.
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Mar 4, 2010 17:55
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ziebarf posted:As far as I can remember, it was across the street from the "spicy" bar that all the tuk-tuk drivers advertise on Khaoson Road. The spicy place was kind of lame, had a 300 baht cover but you get a free drink. I made the mistake of ordering a "spicy" drink which I am pretty sure had some kind of amphetamines in it. But that was more my fault than anyone elses. Just walk to the restaurant across the street and poke around the bathroom a bit. If you wind up there, get the Long Island Iced Tea, it's strong as hell. Spicy is a terrible club but it's pretty awesome for people watching for that same reason (a delightful intersection of clueless tourists and freelance hookers). Gazebo on Sukumvit Soi 1 is/was one of the better after-hours places (I'm not sure what the rules are like now); very chill and not full of prostitutes. There's a big seating area and a separate room with a dance floor.
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Mar 7, 2010 14:11
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On Burma, I'd like to see it, but the government is too lovely and too much of the country is off-limits. It's not as straight-up sociopathic a place to visit as North Korea since you actually can interact with the local people and spend money not going 100% into the government's pocket, but I think it's better not to go. I think the democracy movement there discourages it as well. Inspector Hound posted:I'm having a bit of a hard time finding non-shady looking teaching jobs in Cambodia. I liked Siem Reap, and I'd like to teach there, but Phnom Penh would be fine. It's Cambodia, kinda comes with the territory PM Astian, he is in Phnom Penh teaching now. Pompous Rhombus fucked around with this message at 21:12 on Mar 9, 2010 |
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Mar 9, 2010 21:10
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Ribsauce posted:Is that 800 a month plus a place to live? How do you survive on that salary? What are your expenses like? It's pretty easy to get by on that, especially in provincial Thailand. I was going to a friend's wedding in Iisaan and they put me up in a two-story townhouse they rented. It was a couple kms out in the suburbs from the city, they paid the the equivalent of about $150/month for it. In Bangkok the studio condo I rented was a bit under $300 + $50 or so utilities a month (including broadband) to rent a brand new 30 square meter studio condo in a nice complex, it was within a ten minute walk of a subway station, shopping centers, and had a gym, pool, etc. Some of the English teachers I knew lived in more modest places that rented for $150-200, but personally I felt like mine was a pretty good deal. When you factor in $1-3 per meal (non-fancy) and maaaybe $10 of credit for your mobile phone a month, yeah it's really not that expensive at all. You won't really save up a lot of money teaching in most of the Southeast Asian countries like you would in Korea or Japan though. As far as English teaching it depends on the school and the students, but probably mostly on your personality.
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Mar 10, 2010 00:31
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Sheep-Goats posted:Yeah, voluntary English classes in Thailand are almost all female. Guys think it's gay to study liberal arts type stuff. What uni were you at? I found my place through Craigslist, it was about the lowest rent place on there (most of it was expensive poo poo for expats/holiday rentals). A motorcycle taxi driver is great though, that's what I'd probably recommend. I personally don't think aircon's really that necessary as long as you've got a good fan or two, but to each their own. Mine was a year lease (contract with the owner of the condo, just some Thai dude), but most of the people I knew paid month to month for the lower end stuff. Ribsauce posted:If I buy a Minsk in Vietnam what countries can I plan on seeing exclusively on it (Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam it?) Lets say time isn't an issue, only money. From the guide it looks like maybe just Laos and Vietnam but someone mentioned having a Minsk in Cambodia. What should a time and budget requirement look like for doing as much as I can on the Minsk (or whatever motorcycle). Whoops, sorry I missed that one. I spent roughly US$10-12 on gas/oil per day when I was riding. I calculated out my fuel consumption on a napkin and I think I was getting about 60mpg, but that was after a couple of conversions so I could be off. Gas is generally about $1/liter, or $4.50/gal. (That's right, loving Laotians and Cambodians pay more for gas than whiney Americans.) I would say call it $45-50/day to be safe, not counting the initial cost of the bike. There's always repairs/wear and tear on the bike, but as long as nothing too bad happens/you don't get a mechanic trying to screw you, it'll balance out with the days you don't ride. Cambodia, Thailand, and beyond are tricky because getting spares would be difficult. As far as time it'll depend on you: I spent over a month in Laos and still missed a lot (I did spend like 10 days in Luang Prabang though, combination bike repairs and hanging out with friends). The little notebook I kept on my trip finally turned up, I can post some sample daily expenditure lists from Thailand, Vietnam, and Laos if you guys are interested. I pretty much stopped using it once I started the Minsk trip though; it was too much a PITA to keep it on my body and take a glove off every time I wanted to write in it. It's cool to look back and see old to-do lists, names/addresses, and what I was spending money on though, I recommend picking up a little notebook and collapsible pen or something to keep in your pocket during your trip. Pompous Rhombus fucked around with this message at 02:35 on Mar 10, 2010 |
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Mar 10, 2010 02:30
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Also going to throw out Ratchada Soi 6 for the lower middle class crowd. My Chula friends refused to be seen there.  Oddly enough there are some places on Khao San Road almost exclusively patronized by Thais. Brick Bar was always packed to gills and has live music, Hippie Bar is kinda of a chill sit-down place. I've never gone to the latter and never not been adopted by a random table of Thai people. therobit posted:Thanks all for the advice. We'll see how many places we actually get to. We were thinking of booking the first night or two and then sort of seeing how things go. Right now we live in Japan where that is a recipe for not having a place to stay at night or else paying a lot, but I get the sense that Thailand is set up for backpackers a little more and it's OK to be a little more spontaneous? Yeah, nobody books ahead when they're backpacking (most places wouldn't honor a reservation anyways). But have you tried the hostels in Japan? Obviously a little basic versus a hotel but my experiences were pretty good with them. 8 days is plenty of time for a tailor. Pompous Rhombus fucked around with this message at 12:34 on Mar 10, 2010 |
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Mar 10, 2010 12:32
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ziebarf posted:I know some guys teaching in Khon Kaen and they have a great lifestyle. Like PR said, they don't make tons of money, but more than enough to live very comfortably there. In fact you might want to check out Khon Kaen for teaching jobs, it seems like an alright place to be. Not many foreigners, but a good young Thai crowd. Where do they teach in KK? I actually semi-taught there for a couple weeks on a university internship several summers ago. I didn't really go out much, didn't want to run into my students :p It's a decent city for Iisaan though, kinda the regional hub. But yeah, not a lot of (young) foreigners.
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Mar 10, 2010 14:43
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Sheep-Goats posted:I was going to mention Ratchadapisek Soi 4 but we're probably talking about the same place as it's big enough to span two sois. It's a big collection of small almost impromptu (but still generally nice) looking bars but the great thing about Ratchada Soi 4 is that it often has live music by Thai bands inside, the vast majority of your other going-out options in Bangkok are either DJ based or there's some cover band in there that plays exactly the same set every drat night. The only farang you're going to see on Soi 4 (Ratchada Soi 4, not the other better known Soi 4...) are ones that are studying in Bangkok and whose Thai friends took them out there (and me). It's pretty cool, you'll stick out there a bit if you're over 30, but no one really will pay you any mind anyway and if you can speak a little Thai there'll be plenty to do. Oops, poo poo, you're right, it's Soi 4. I used to live on Soi 10, closer to the massage/soapland places. Thai people thought it was the most random place to live, but I had some good friends that lived across the street from me and the area was pretty convenient to a lot of stuff. ~*Bangkok Chat*~
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Mar 10, 2010 18:19
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Ringo R posted:I'm debating whether I should go see the red shirts on Friday and try to take some photos or not. It'd be cool to see a big event like this but I don't want to lose a limb in the process. What do you Bangkok chatters think? Do it, maybe fake a foreign press credential too and see where it gets you. FWIW, I was listening to the radio this morning and the red shirts are pledging not to gently caress with the airport or other important infrastructure like the Yellow Shirts did. (Both sides are pretty concerned what another big screw-up like last time would do for tourist numbers.) Dunno if it'll actually pan out like that, but that's what they're saying at least.
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Mar 10, 2010 19:45
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kenner116 posted:Is it possible to ride the Bolaven loop during the rainy season (September)? I don't mind getting soaked, but I'd like to move faster than 5 km/h and avoid getting buried alive in fine Laotian soil. A decent chunk of it is unsealed or pothole-speckled roads, but I rode it in late August and it was okay. You might want to grab a Honda XR250/Baja (250cc enduro) in Pakse if you're not already riding, I think they go for $20/day or so. Scooters kinda suck because you're often weaving in and out of holes and such and grimacing every time you take a 2-3" drop, with a proper suspension you can just  right over everything. For rain I recommend splurging on a really nice rain suit ($7-10), I kept shredding the cheap ones just from moving around on an almost daily basis, but after I bought a decent one I was fine from then on out.
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Mar 11, 2010 17:25
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freebooter posted:But when you're withdrawing local currency you'll get hit by both the exchange rate and your bank's fee for withdrawing overseas (even here in Australia I have to pay $2 just for the privilege of using another bank's ATM). So you want to withdraw in bulk. Not $600 bulk, but definitely $200 or $300 at a time. Yeah, the max for me (not sure if it was my bank account or the Thai bank account) was 10,000 baht, which is roughly $300. That's a pretty decent amount. I also usually keep $100 and $50 hidden separately throughout my stuff, as "just in case" money.
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Mar 12, 2010 14:37
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Sheep-Goats posted:Don't bring an umbrella. In most of the region this is how the rain works: Every day during the rainy season at exactly 2:45 it suddenly starts absolutely flooding down for exactly an hour (you'll know it's coming because Thai people start rushing out of shops with umbrellas to protect whatever it is they're selling on the side of the street), then it suddenly stops. This is the kind of rain that an umbrella is helpless against, and the other 23 hours in the day it doesn't rain at all. The time of day it rains shifts a little depending on how far north/south you are, but the pattern is the same in almost all of SE Asia (if you're talking Singapore south sometimes you get rain that goes all day, but again this is often the kind of rain that would just trash an umbrella anyway). Yep, this is solid advice. On a motorcycle, I'd either put on my rain slickers and ride if I felt up to it, or pull over at the first building/bus stop and wait it out for 30-60 minutes. (There are lots of little open-sided thatched huts on the sides of main roads where people wait for buses/songthaews/whatevers). I used empty rice sacks I bought at a market to add an extra layer of waterproofing to my saddlebags, they're a bit more robust than plastic garbage bags and make cool souvenirs/laundry bags.
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Mar 12, 2010 20:09
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moflika posted:Fuuuuuck, trip starts tomorrow and I just realized that I may not have enough pages left on my passport for the entire trip Yeah, or any US Embassy/consulate, they do it while you wait. Bring a book or something in case it's crowded.
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Mar 14, 2010 21:49
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brendanwor posted:Yeah I recommended Demo in this thread only a week or so ago. Great club, quite hiso and probably the best dance club I've been to in BKK (for those into their top notch electro and house with spatterings of trance here and there). But it's not a tourist club and it's not like the shitholes on Sukhumvit where merely being a farang is enough to get Thai girls (read: Isaan girls) to talk to you. I don't really know where to start with this. da keebsta knicca posted:Favorite part of Cambodia so far is the rich families with Lexus, Hummers, and Land Cruisers. They have the companies name and logo written in huge letters down both sides of the car so the person can be like "Yeah bitch got mine... 'LEXUS' going to take my family to KFC and live the high American life". Did KFC push Khmer Fried Chicken out of business, or are the two coexisting?
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Mar 21, 2010 13:10
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brendanwor posted:In what sense? What I said wasn't incorrect. What I was getting at was it's not the kind of place that tourists would go to in the hopes of finding a Thai girl (ie. hooker more than likely). You don't see why someone would take using "Iisaan" as a pejorative to be offensively classist?
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Mar 21, 2010 21:53
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Sheep-Goats posted:Of all Asian countries Thailand is the probably the least jingoistic Agree with the rest of your post but: Whaaaaa? Thailand is nationalist as gently caress.
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Mar 23, 2010 13:50
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Sheep-Goats posted:Nationalism and jigonism are related, certainly, but they're not the same thing. Jigonism is much more extreme and pig-headed -- I'm thinking of the attitude that some Chinese people exhibit about being from that finest race of Han Chinese, or that stink about Japanese people excluding foreigners from their public baths and/or not renting to them without a Japanese intermediary, etc. I don't mind if someone wants to be nationalistic, what I mind is when they let their sentiments interfere with or spoil the lives of the non-nationals in their country. That almost never happens in Thailand (unless you're from a neighboring country I suppose, but that's a little bit different given regional history). I see what you're saying but I wouldn't want to be black or Indian living in Thailand either. Or a Muslim living in the southern provinces, for that matter. I don't think Laos and/or Cambodia are terribly nationalistic. In Laos it's definitely an "eh, whatever" kind of attitude. Probably big chunks of Burma too, given how a number of the states are off-limits to foreigners because the minority groups there that want to secede.
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Mar 23, 2010 21:11
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Inspector Hound posted:Honestly in some places it's hard to tell which things are scams. The best thing to do to prevent getting scammed is arming yourself with knowledge. For instance, I bought my visa to Cambodia in advance and knew roughly what the "bus scam" consisted of. This way, when my bus driver stopped at a restaurant just outside Aranya Pratet, I enjoyed some overpriced curry and not paying $50 more for a visa than I had to. A few people on my bus got taken by this scam because they spoke with us all individually (so we couldn't warn each other about what was going on) and made it seem like buying the visa there was the right thing to do. When I arrived in Siem Reap, I had a guest house picked out beforehand so the taxi driver didn't shuttle me to whatever joint he had a deal with. Aside: it was the Happy Guesthouse, the best place I've stayed anywhere in the world, ever. It was $7 dollars a night because I sprung for A/C. Yeah, people can knock Lonely Planet all they want but it does give a pretty good warning about the most common scams. Eventually you'll get a pretty good bullshit detector on your own. I did the Khao San to Siam Reap bus odyssey because hey, 250 baht (this was like 5 years ago) and like Inspector Hound, the place they dropped us was actually a great deal. ReindeerF posted:You actually caught me out in a white lie. I have been TO the palace and I have accompanied people to the gates and I have run around the palace, but I have never actually been IN the palace, heh. If you ever do a Chula class, use the little paper student ID they give you to get in to everything you've never bothered visiting because of whitey tax at the Thai price. Edit: actually, can't you usually get out of it by showing your passport with Non-Immigrant B visa?
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Mar 24, 2010 16:08
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freebooter posted:Counterpoint? Lèse majesté laws? Actually his father was only a prince, he succeeded because the old king didn't have any proper sons of his own. Then his older brother later died under mysterious circumstances. The present king was actually born in the United States, where his father was studying medicine at the time. Thailand hadn't had a reigning king for about ten years when he took over and the ones before him weren't particularly popular; he (or probably more accurately: royalist elements and a military government looking for popular legitimacy) pretty much reinvented the Thai monarchy after WW2. Dude is in his eighties and his health hasn't been helped by a fairly serious car accident he got in to in Switzerland when he was younger. I think he's blind in one eye or nearly so.
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Mar 24, 2010 17:35
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Marius posted:Fun story: This same fine loose dust feels soft on a small fall, but when I ate it coming over the crest of a hill and the bike came down on my leg I managed to create an almost instantaneous grapefruit sized lump on the outside of my hip. This is in the national forest along the border with Thailand, 4 hours away from even a Deliverance-y town, days from the fine medical care available in the international city of Vientiane. Were you wearing proper riding gear? I had a bitch of a time finding anything in Hanoi, there was some Russian store under a big building that had a bunch of poo poo more suited to winter, found a mesh jacket two sizes too small (sleeves later lengthened in Laos) and a pair of trousers that fit at another store that the guy at Flamingo Travel recommended to me.
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Mar 25, 2010 14:28
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mrfart posted:That does it, now I have to go. Sapa's the crappy place. The rest of northern Vietnam is great though. Buy/rent: depends on how long you have, and what your budget is. Same with a guide; if you have a Real Job and limited time, a guide would be great. If you're going to be there for 2 months on a backpacker budget, maybe not the most economical thing. Baja's are expensive to buy in Vietnam, due to restrictions and taxes on their import. I dealt with Flamingo Travel in Hanoi and they were great, I highly recommend them. Marius might have some other suggestions though.
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Mar 26, 2010 02:33
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Marius posted:Ha, no proper riding gear. Jeans and a few layers of jackets and shirts. I actually bought some driving pants in the Russian store, but I took out the knee pads and used them for ski pants when I was in Japan in January. I'd say helmets are the possible exception to bringing your own gear; if you're not super-picky it's not too hard to scare up a decent full-face helmet in Vietnam or Thailand, and they're kind of a PITA to pack well in a suitcase/backpack anyways. I probably wouldn't bother bringing one unless I had something really nice I wanted to use, or could get the airline to let me take it as a carry-on. Still might run into problems/surcharges with Air Asia and the like if you go the latter route though. I did Hanoi > Vientiane > Hanoi two summers ago on a Vietnamese Minsk, fairly straightforward. I got lazy/crunched for time at the end and put the bike on the train from Danang to Hanoi though. It's a decent option for one-way rentals in Vietnam; as long as you can get the bike to a semi-major city on the main rail line, you can send it back up to Hanoi for a pretty reasonable fee and have the rental shop pick it up at the station.
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Mar 26, 2010 14:13
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