Solo South East Asian route
Hi all,
I'm looking for some advice as a first time visitor to SE Asia. I'm an experienced traveller I've just not made it to that part of the world yet. To give some context on my trip, I recently lost somebody very close to me, it was very sudden and painful and I'm just coming around to sitting with it after the surreality of being in it. Planning funerals, scattering ashes etc.
I don't suspect I'll find any answers travelling but I do have a strong desire to be as far away from where I am currently as possible and to just press pause for a while. I will be working while I'm away (unfortunately I cannot afford the time off) so I guess that is a factor too.
I am not interested in partying or the noise of major cities so where possible I guess I would like to avoid that.
My trip is planned for April and May. All I have so far is starting in Hanoi and ending in Singapore.
Any advice on routes/places to visit on the way are appreciated. As ever thanks to this wonderful community.
Well I guess the best way to ho from there is west. Hitting all the major stops along the way. Personally when I traveled that part of the world I did my best to avoid any tourist hit spots but that can be difficult.
A big question will be how do you wanna travel while there? Bus,train, bike? These are all great ways to see the in between parts of the countries.
My 2 highlights of that trip was koh rhong sanloem in cambodia and penang in Malaysia.
Thanks for that, I appreciate you taking the time. No issue spending some time in cities, seems unavoidable as you say, but the less time I'm there the better.
In terms of travel. Train is preferable. Best case, multi day sleeper.
I think given the time you have to spend, you can't do all the major destinations in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia. Do you have any particular preferences for the type of places you'd like to visit?
In general, the easiest way to get around in most of these countries is bus/train for long distance travel, and motorbike/scooter for shorter journeys. In cities, you can get a bike taxi, but in rural areas you will find it much harder and more expensive. Definitely consider getting a bike license or at least some practice (e.g., CBT in the UK) before you go. No licence is usually no problem, but you don't want to get hurt or hurt others.
In Vietnam I really enjoyed Ha Giang (go on your own if you have a motorbike license, otherwise be prepared to go with a tour -- roads are very dangerous and they are strict about licences). Ninh Binh was also stunning. Cat Ba / Ha Long Bay was nice but overtouristy. Vietnam has decent trains and sleeper buses.
In your situation I'd probably cross into Laos in the north, and visit Luang Prabang (on the high-speed train line). Consider heading to Huay Xai and do the Gibbon Experience -- it's great fun and you get amazing views of the rainforest, but it will take a day to get there (train + long minibus journey).
Definitely head south through Laos if you can. It's a bit off the beaten tourist track, but the people, food and scenery are amazing. The Thakhek loop is well worth doing, and make sure to visit Don Det.
From there you could cross into Thailand (short detour but once there, the transport is much faster and smoother) or go through Cambodia. I'd mostly be looking at visiting Koh Rong Sanloem, Phnom Penh (for the Khmer Rouge history) and Siem Reap for Angkor Wat.
Thailand is lovely and well covered by other resources online. Chiang Mai is home to quite a lot of digital nomads and has places you could get some work done for a while. Lots of diving in the south if that's your thing. Don't do an elephant tour -- they aren't as ethical as they claim to be.
Malaysia -- definitely visit Penang Island, I'd allow for a week there. Kuala Lumpur is ok but a bit of an unpleasant urban sprawl.
Singapore is only much fun if you're willing to spend >$200 a day. I'd allow for only a few days there.
Thank you for taking the time to reply with such detail. Sadly I doubt I'll make it through south Laos, but who knows. Otherwise thanks for all the other recommendations. I imagine Singapore will be in and out, as you say, it's expensive, I'll likely only stay one or two days and then fly out.
My route as it stands, although not too adventurous is at least not too circuitous:
From what I can tell, there is an express sleeper train that runs between Bangkok and Padang. Do you have much experience with train travel in SE Asia, anything to look out for? Good routes, booking platforms etc?
Trains in Thailand are easy. Go to any station, book ticket. If you can afford it, get the personal sleeper cabins, they have been upgraded and are nice (they seat two, if you want complete privacy you would need to buy two seats).
Apparently not true anymore...
The Lao high-speed train is an absolute nightmare. Pay the fee for the hotel to handle it all for you (maybe about 4-5 bucks for the ticket service). More detail: You can only book max 3 days in advance, you must go to the station to do so, to have a chance at a ticket you must go early morning and wait possibly until noon, stations are 30-45 minutes away from tourist areas.If your stay in one place is less than 3 days, you can potentially book an onward ticket once you arrive at the station. If greater you need to come back to fit in that 3 day window.So, yeah, just pay the fee, significantly less stressful.Unrelated: Phnom Penh killing fields are very sad. Might not be the best choice given your circumstances. However, at the same time, if this is potentially your only trip to SE Asia, I would say it is a must, just prepare yourself emotionally. Angkor Wat is definitely a must (and happier).
You're out of date wrt the Lao high speed train. As of ~April 2023, the app is working and you can book and pay for tickets remotely and easily. The stations being so far from the cities is still a pain though. Prices are much lower if you book yourself rather than through an agency.
Edit: the three day release window does still apply though.
Have you used the app? Supposedly you can't actually pay unless you have a Chinese Unionpay card, or a local BCEL bank Unionpay card/account. At least that is what I vaguely remember a friend saying was their experience last month.
I have used it successfully. I just downloaded the app again to check, and the options are Visa, UnionPay, Wechat, Alipay, or BCEL One. I used Visa.
Ahhhh maybe that was it, I think they only had a Mastercard 😅. Not making it up, it was an actual discussion.
In general, train travel is cheap and reasonably comfortable if you book a more expensive cabin/seat in advance. Advance is the key word -- they do often sell out of the nicer options, so book well ahead. In Thailand and Vietnam, third class sleepers are usually just battered old rail cars with seats in them, no air con and all the shadiest characters travelling with you (wear your bag at all times and lock the zips -- things do get stolen, same applies on sleeper buses). Second class sleepers are fine, they have AC and horizontal 'beds' but aren't that comfortable if you're tall like me (6ft/182cm). First class are good (I have heard), but sell out fast.
In Laos the trains are a different story. They are high-speed Chinese trains and very comfortable. Not sleepers but the longest journeys are easily doable in the day because they're so fast. Book with the official LCR Ticket app, and be aware that they don't release tickets until 3 days before the day of travel. I had no problems finding tickets once they were released. The Lao train travel experience is quite a strange one, it's such a poor country in most areas but train travel is like stepping into another dimension.
There are many different websites that sell train tickets. Usually there is one official website with the best selection and lowest prices, and lots of unofficial tourist sites that have much better SEO and will be the first few options on Google. The official Thai site is this one. Select English in the top right menu if you don't read Thai! (Or use Google Translate.)
The unofficial sites are fine, but they usually have a certain allocation/stock of seats that sells out faster than the official site. They are always more expensive.
I didn't try trains in Malaysia/Singapore (except the MRT) but the buses were very good. The least psychopathic drivers I encountered in SE Asia...
Amended, thanks.