Southeast Asian Countries…beauty and budget travel?

Hi Mira I am going to South East Asia in 3 weeks until January.

SEA is a fantastic place to travel if you are on a budget. There are some easy ways to save alot of money and living costs for the most part are very cheap. Thailand is more expertise so I will focus on places there to recommend.

First some travel and money saving tips:

1) Get your visa’s organized in advance if possible. If you try and get a visa at the border at Cambodia they will try and extort more cash out of you.

2) Make sure you travel light. If you plan to visit so many countries you will be moving around alot and the worse thing is having a backpack full of things you don’t need.

3) Look after your money and your belongings. Get a money belt or an ankle strapped one to protect your cash. Certainly don’t want to lose money if you are on a budget and pickpocketing and thieves are everywhere.

4) Look around for good deals on accommodation. I would only book ahead for your first night so you can get rest after the long flight. After that I find it easier to book as you walk in. You can barter the rates in many places and more often than not you will find better deals on the ground rather than the internet as many do not advertise.

5) Eat local. Western food is sold at a premium price in SEA.

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Places in Thailand I suggest visiting,

Bangkok -

Amazing city with tons of things to see and do. Get your accommodation around Khao San Road which is the backpacking hub of the world.

Chang Mai -

North West Thailand. Offers alot of outdoor activities and is a good hub for traveling around the NW to places like Chang Rai and Pai. Beautiful scenery up here and some lots of cheap backpacking accommodation.

Issan -

Issan is the North East of Thailand and is predominantly farmers and very poor. Here is where the “real” Thailand is away from the tourist areas. Very very cheap up here. Udon Thani is a good place to start with and you can travel around from there. It is also very close to the Mekong River where you can cross over to Laos for a day or two.

Islands -

Most are very touristy but they are worth visiting. Samui/Phangan are two of the more popular ones and very close together. Phangan has the full moon party every month on the beach which is amazing fun to be at. If you want a less touristy island I would consider Koh Chang which also has a cool national park with some nice waterfalls.

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For Cambodia you MUST go to Siem Reap and see Ankhor Wat. It is the largest religious monument in the world and simply amazing.

I would also look into Sihanoukville and Phnom Penh.

I suggest you checkout the Lonely Planet forums as they a large resource of information.

thorntree.lonelyplanet.com/

I would also look into buying one of their guide books. They have one called “South East Asia On A Shoestring” which might be worth a look at.

For 1month I would consider maybe skipping one or two places so you can spend more time in the countries you visit. 1month is not alot of time to visit 6 countries and there is so much to see and do.

Hope I have been helpful

busing from singapore up through to bangkok and stopping on the way in malaysia is a good way. its cheap too. when i went it cost me about $5-10 NZD (roughly $15 USD) to go from singapore to KL. and its good busing because you can take time to see the country side.

With malaysia have a look around melaka. its really cool and has alot of history. the chinatown there is good also.

also in malaysia about four hours bus north of KL is a town called Ipoh. catch the ferry from there to Pulau Pankor and stay at nipah beach. its an awesome island and seafood is really cheap.

in singapore just hit the local hawker centres for food.. there usually found at the bottom of apartment blocks. there are also popular ones like newton circus. I particularly like this indoor one on orchard road called takshimaya.. not sure which mall but just ask a local on the street and they should be able to point you in the right direction