Hi there, me and my girlfriend are taking the plunge of a first belated gap year. To start this trip of a life time we want to spend 3-4 months in South East Asia. I have been impressed with the quality of advice and suggestions on forums and wanted to ask if any one has done a similar trip or can offer advice on how best to split time between the various countries. Any advice / insights / local knowledge would be appreciated and welcomed.
Thanks
Suggested 3 month itinerary in South East Asia
Recent Activity
View all Asia activity »
- 1 Hong Kong - how long to see highlights?
- 2 Kashmir or Nepal
- 3 Which flight from BKK to Chiang Mai should I take?
- 4
Kyushu Trip May 2013
- 5
Wildlife Tour of India
- 6 Cell Phones in India
- 7 Bali Private Driver and Profesional Day Tour Guide
- 8
Amazing Malaysia Trip!
- 9
trip report to tajmahal agra india
- 10 Photography Trip to Vietnam
- 11 white sand beaches in thailand
- 12 Elephant Visit in Chiang Mai
- 13 Udaipur, India
- 14 National Diet Building and Imperial Palace tours
- 15
Beijing To Tibet, Mt. Everest And Nepal All In 10 Days
- 16 Weather in Bangkok & Phuket in September
- 17 Suggestions for Asian visit Feb. 2014, incl. Singapore
- 18 9 PM arrival in Narita
- 19 where is best place to exchange left over Chinese RMB's for US dollars
- 20 Kanchanaburi - Toi's Tours
- 21 Thailand-Japan-China (is it a bad idea?)
- 22 Trip plans to SE Asia for 2014 coming together! Int'l flights purchased!
- 23 11 days in Japan, JR pass question
- 24 Nepal, Tibet, and Bhutan tour suggestions
- 25 where to go in SE Asia
You have a rather odd collection of places you want to visit.
Bhutan is very expensive to visit - you must arrange your trip with a Bhutan company and must have a guide with you all the time. There is a minimum charge of $275 per person per day. Does that sounds like it fits within your budget?
You also have China and Hong Kong on your list. Hone Kong is a very expensive city to visit - fascinating but expensive.
If you are interested in SE Asia, I would expect Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, VN, Burma, Malaysia and Indonesia on your list.
Whatever you choose, you will make most efficient use of your time and money by choosing a cluster of countries that are close together. Choose a place to fly into that will allow easy access to the other countries, such as Bangkok, which has good connections to all of SE Asia.
Let me suggest you start by doing some research on this part of the world to help you decide where to go. Go to the library and check out guidebooks - you will probably find the Lonely Planet series to be very helpful. Decide what places interest you most - what do you want to do, see experience on this trip?
Once you have decided what interests you most, we can be helpful with logistics... but you need to know where you want to go first.
Other online resources: www.travelfish.org, www.lonelyplanet.com and their forum, Thorntree.
The best time to visit Bhutan will be in the month of March, April and May.
China is not really Southeast Asia.
I spent three months in SEA in 2002, but not in any of the countries you list. Only Myanmar is in SEA. You might find my itinerary useful, see http://wilhelmswords.com/asia2002/index.html
Comments have been removed by Fodor's moderators