Asian Tour With 3 teenagers
Discussion
Hi All,
I'm going to take my 3 kids (14,15,18) on a (sort of high end but NOT LUXURY) backpacking 4 week tour of Asia. We are thinking of a circle probably using Singapore as the "jumping off point" including:
Bali / Lombok
Borneo (Malaysian)
Vietnam / Cambodia
Thailand
and then home to the UK via Singapore
Any advice on great places to stay - things to remember - etc. etc. would be very gratefully received.
Thanks PH
N2H
I'm going to take my 3 kids (14,15,18) on a (sort of high end but NOT LUXURY) backpacking 4 week tour of Asia. We are thinking of a circle probably using Singapore as the "jumping off point" including:
Bali / Lombok
Borneo (Malaysian)
Vietnam / Cambodia
Thailand
and then home to the UK via Singapore
Any advice on great places to stay - things to remember - etc. etc. would be very gratefully received.
Thanks PH
N2H
Firstly i will admit i have never been to Asia at all i am planning on spending 5 weeks out there starting in Bangkok and ending up in Singapore. I have done some research and even though we are covering alot less distance than you are we will have to be on the move roughly every 4-5 days, so you may wish to do something like North Thailand>Cambodia>Vietnam or South Thailand>Singapore>Borneo. Bali is pretty close to OZ so you might have to put that to one side for now
what appeals to you most for this trip, jungle trekking, beaches, partying, snorkeling/diving Thailand probably offers everything you are looking for but is also the most touristy so depending when you go the fact the beaches are full etc may annoy you
What time of year you planning on going? as from what i understand when Thailand is in the dry season it will be monsoon in Borneo/Bali
There is really not a great deal to do on Borneo except things like jungle trekking and climbing the mountain, though i understand if you like that sort of thing its well worth a visit
Im sure some people who have a more detailed input will be along
what appeals to you most for this trip, jungle trekking, beaches, partying, snorkeling/diving Thailand probably offers everything you are looking for but is also the most touristy so depending when you go the fact the beaches are full etc may annoy you
What time of year you planning on going? as from what i understand when Thailand is in the dry season it will be monsoon in Borneo/Bali
There is really not a great deal to do on Borneo except things like jungle trekking and climbing the mountain, though i understand if you like that sort of thing its well worth a visit
Im sure some people who have a more detailed input will be along
A mix of developed and developing Asia. See both sides of the coin.
Singapore is a bit bland.
1. Fly to Tokyo. Bonkers but charming. Stay a few days and you should experience a proper earthquake (they are fairly frequent).
2. Fly to Beijing. Visit the future capital of the world. Climb the Great Wall, one of the wonders of the world.
3. Fly to HCMC (Saigon). Dirtcheap, unregulated chaos on two wheels with some famous war history thrown in for good measure. Some call Vietnam the new China.
4. Fly to Kathmandu. Fly on to Lukla airport in the Himalayas. Cool airport and some of the best scenery in the world.
5. Fly back to London. Possible to do a stopover via New Delhi and squeeze in an extra day or so there.
Enjoy.
Singapore is a bit bland.
1. Fly to Tokyo. Bonkers but charming. Stay a few days and you should experience a proper earthquake (they are fairly frequent).
2. Fly to Beijing. Visit the future capital of the world. Climb the Great Wall, one of the wonders of the world.
3. Fly to HCMC (Saigon). Dirtcheap, unregulated chaos on two wheels with some famous war history thrown in for good measure. Some call Vietnam the new China.
4. Fly to Kathmandu. Fly on to Lukla airport in the Himalayas. Cool airport and some of the best scenery in the world.
5. Fly back to London. Possible to do a stopover via New Delhi and squeeze in an extra day or so there.
Enjoy.
20 year experience of S E Asia so here goes.
Thailand go South of Krabbie toward Trang, travel on local bus, Pak Meng Beach, Ya Ya beach etc they are great and you will not see another European.
Singapore and Kl make great introduction, but both are just western shooping cities, KL would be better base as it is easier for backpacking transport the night train from KL to Hatyai in Thailand is an great experience.
East Cost of Malaysia is a dump, to Islamic for me and I think it is dirty, also the South China Sea falls of very quickly from the beach and there are lots of drownings that never get in the international press.
Borneo, I've never climed MOunt K, it is 4000 metres and you must have a guild, so as some one who was in to Alpine climbing I just frin dthe 'must have' objectionable, but everyone tells me it is worth it, having done a few 4000 meter alpine peaks I'm not 'bothered"
Borneo is becomning very commercialised, I spend 2 or 3 days a week in Kota Kinabalu, and have done all the 'hotel' trips, the Orangatan trip was highly commercialised, I thing the Gibon Trips in thailand that are organised by Thais are much better than the hotel trips in Borneo.
Under no curcustances hire a bike for the teenagers unless they can ride well already it is no place to learn but of course the kids will want to do it.
It is possible to just travel without booking hotels in advance, I do it all the time, just get my bike out and ride, of course you will not get a 5 star hotel every night but you can find some great locally owned places.
PM me if you want specifics on Malaysia, I'll try to help.
Thailand go South of Krabbie toward Trang, travel on local bus, Pak Meng Beach, Ya Ya beach etc they are great and you will not see another European.
Singapore and Kl make great introduction, but both are just western shooping cities, KL would be better base as it is easier for backpacking transport the night train from KL to Hatyai in Thailand is an great experience.
East Cost of Malaysia is a dump, to Islamic for me and I think it is dirty, also the South China Sea falls of very quickly from the beach and there are lots of drownings that never get in the international press.
Borneo, I've never climed MOunt K, it is 4000 metres and you must have a guild, so as some one who was in to Alpine climbing I just frin dthe 'must have' objectionable, but everyone tells me it is worth it, having done a few 4000 meter alpine peaks I'm not 'bothered"
Borneo is becomning very commercialised, I spend 2 or 3 days a week in Kota Kinabalu, and have done all the 'hotel' trips, the Orangatan trip was highly commercialised, I thing the Gibon Trips in thailand that are organised by Thais are much better than the hotel trips in Borneo.
Under no curcustances hire a bike for the teenagers unless they can ride well already it is no place to learn but of course the kids will want to do it.
It is possible to just travel without booking hotels in advance, I do it all the time, just get my bike out and ride, of course you will not get a 5 star hotel every night but you can find some great locally owned places.
PM me if you want specifics on Malaysia, I'll try to help.
As an expat living in Singapore I would suggest that your backpacking options here are limited - It's a bit pricy for that sadly.
What I have done which is a great trip and cheap(isn) is to take the train from Singapore to Bangkok (2 days on the sleeper) but
very comfortable. Fly Bangkok to Siem Riep (Ankor Wat) then fly on across to Phnom Penh and then to Hanoi or Ho Chi Minh.
Budget Airlines - very cheap.
What I have done which is a great trip and cheap(isn) is to take the train from Singapore to Bangkok (2 days on the sleeper) but
very comfortable. Fly Bangkok to Siem Riep (Ankor Wat) then fly on across to Phnom Penh and then to Hanoi or Ho Chi Minh.
Budget Airlines - very cheap.
Train journey amazing and great with teenagers as it's 'kinda kool' without going on holiday with your Mum and Dud if you know what I mean !
One tip - is to buy nearly all your tickets in Malaysia which is easy enough done. It's the same price SG$ or MYR Ringgits sp obviously much cheaper to
pop over to Johor and get the tickets.
Went SG to KL - Day in KL - then sleeper to Butterworth (Penang)
Had a guy meet us there who drove us around Penang for the day and back to catch the 2nd overnight train from Butterworth to Bangkok.
Have all the details if you are interested.
One tip - is to buy nearly all your tickets in Malaysia which is easy enough done. It's the same price SG$ or MYR Ringgits sp obviously much cheaper to
pop over to Johor and get the tickets.
Went SG to KL - Day in KL - then sleeper to Butterworth (Penang)
Had a guy meet us there who drove us around Penang for the day and back to catch the 2nd overnight train from Butterworth to Bangkok.
Have all the details if you are interested.
There are backpacking options in Singapore, stayed at a decent one for not much more than 5/6 pounds a night recently, brilliant staff very helpful.
The trains that run from Malaysia up through Thailand are very good and cheap. Don't buy tickets in Singapore they are twice as much as reserving them on Malaysian Railways website.
I travelled from near Langkawi up to Bangkok on the overnight sleeper, cost all of about 15 quid or something, also KL to Penang for about a tenner. Worth doing as can be fun and get to meet the locals, they bring bags of stuff on board and half of it is food, they then proceed to eat for most of the journey.
I have to agree about Malaysia, don't think there is too much there to keep children happy, nowhere to go in the evenings (no pubs/bars,etc), you sit on plastic chairs and tables by the gutter getting served cold food. Malacca, Georgetown in Penang, KL, Cameron Highlands, nice places to go but don't think the kids will appreciate it.
Phuket is touristed out, full of Russians, Russian resorts, Russian bars, Russian menus, Russian signs, rude Russians.
Better to go Krabbie/Trang way as has been suggested.
If you are still considering Indonesia then i personally wouldn't bother with Bali, only saw the northern coast and thought it was a bit of a dump and then went on a tour that took me down to Ubud, mass of tourists, felt like hell on earth.
Lombok is becoming more popular, especially Lubuan Bajo, loads of dive outfits starting up there as near to the Komodo national park, go to see the Komodo dragons and snorkel/dive. You have to understand that it is still obviously 3rd world so roads/pavements/drains/smells are all s
t.
The trains that run from Malaysia up through Thailand are very good and cheap. Don't buy tickets in Singapore they are twice as much as reserving them on Malaysian Railways website.
I travelled from near Langkawi up to Bangkok on the overnight sleeper, cost all of about 15 quid or something, also KL to Penang for about a tenner. Worth doing as can be fun and get to meet the locals, they bring bags of stuff on board and half of it is food, they then proceed to eat for most of the journey.
I have to agree about Malaysia, don't think there is too much there to keep children happy, nowhere to go in the evenings (no pubs/bars,etc), you sit on plastic chairs and tables by the gutter getting served cold food. Malacca, Georgetown in Penang, KL, Cameron Highlands, nice places to go but don't think the kids will appreciate it.
Phuket is touristed out, full of Russians, Russian resorts, Russian bars, Russian menus, Russian signs, rude Russians.
Better to go Krabbie/Trang way as has been suggested.
If you are still considering Indonesia then i personally wouldn't bother with Bali, only saw the northern coast and thought it was a bit of a dump and then went on a tour that took me down to Ubud, mass of tourists, felt like hell on earth.
Lombok is becoming more popular, especially Lubuan Bajo, loads of dive outfits starting up there as near to the Komodo national park, go to see the Komodo dragons and snorkel/dive. You have to understand that it is still obviously 3rd world so roads/pavements/drains/smells are all s
t.Unfortunately what has been said above re tourists is now pretty much the same for most of asia now, they're everywhere.
You still have to go to all those spots though, its just unfortunate now that prices have dramatically risen, and, coupled with tourists that really don't know how to bargain, they've become expected prices.
Just random stuff off the top of my head:
What are the kids like, happy sitting on the beach or needing constant activity?
Singapore, 2-3 days max. Go to the night safari at the zoo, find a good place to eat "chicken rice". Somewhere cheap to stay conisder the YMCA on Orchard Road (yes really! -they have a nice clean hotel not hostel) somewhere nicer to stay, I was just in the Mandarin Oriental hotel, nice, and pretty reasonable. Singapore is very expensive in general though, except for taxis, which are oddly cheap.
Thailand as said above in phuket and koh samui has become very russian. Haven't had any problems with it though, they seem perfectly happy crashing motorbikes and wiping themselves out as fast as possible.
If you rent jet skis inspect them carefully for damage first, since they try scamming for damage costs.
Do a few days in Bangkok, its still one of my favourite asian cities, and its a great baptism by fire to asia for the uninitiated. Rent a bannana boat and a driver, and do a river tour, do the tiger temple day trip (pay for vip access), hit MBK mall, do the night markets, eat food on the streets. Then head north to Chiang Mai, before doing the islands.
Kuala Lumpur I really just don't particularly like, its pretty boring, and you can see the difference that singapore has invested in tourism and activities, whereas KL is happy to just be a business powerhouse. Beaches in Penang really aren't great, and I wouldn't bother. Overall I'd probably skip Malaysia as a whole and concentrate on other areas.
For indonesia, you need to head off the beaten track more, Kuta beach etc are filth pits (in the literal sense just garbage everywhere). The good places will take a good day or two to get to...
You still have to go to all those spots though, its just unfortunate now that prices have dramatically risen, and, coupled with tourists that really don't know how to bargain, they've become expected prices.
Just random stuff off the top of my head:
What are the kids like, happy sitting on the beach or needing constant activity?
Singapore, 2-3 days max. Go to the night safari at the zoo, find a good place to eat "chicken rice". Somewhere cheap to stay conisder the YMCA on Orchard Road (yes really! -they have a nice clean hotel not hostel) somewhere nicer to stay, I was just in the Mandarin Oriental hotel, nice, and pretty reasonable. Singapore is very expensive in general though, except for taxis, which are oddly cheap.
Thailand as said above in phuket and koh samui has become very russian. Haven't had any problems with it though, they seem perfectly happy crashing motorbikes and wiping themselves out as fast as possible.
If you rent jet skis inspect them carefully for damage first, since they try scamming for damage costs.
Do a few days in Bangkok, its still one of my favourite asian cities, and its a great baptism by fire to asia for the uninitiated. Rent a bannana boat and a driver, and do a river tour, do the tiger temple day trip (pay for vip access), hit MBK mall, do the night markets, eat food on the streets. Then head north to Chiang Mai, before doing the islands.
Kuala Lumpur I really just don't particularly like, its pretty boring, and you can see the difference that singapore has invested in tourism and activities, whereas KL is happy to just be a business powerhouse. Beaches in Penang really aren't great, and I wouldn't bother. Overall I'd probably skip Malaysia as a whole and concentrate on other areas.
For indonesia, you need to head off the beaten track more, Kuta beach etc are filth pits (in the literal sense just garbage everywhere). The good places will take a good day or two to get to...
A few suggestions of places I think all the family would like
Koh Samui and Koh Panyang, both Thai islands
Angkor Wot temples In Siem Reap, Cambodia
Koh Rong Island, off the south coat of Cambodia
Saigon / Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam
Hoi An on the east coast of Vietnam. 40 mins drive from Danang airport
Seminyak and Ebud in Bali. Indonesia
The Gilli islands, off Lombok. Indonesia
Koh Samui and Koh Panyang, both Thai islands
Angkor Wot temples In Siem Reap, Cambodia
Koh Rong Island, off the south coat of Cambodia
Saigon / Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam
Hoi An on the east coast of Vietnam. 40 mins drive from Danang airport
Seminyak and Ebud in Bali. Indonesia
The Gilli islands, off Lombok. Indonesia
Lozw86 said:
A few suggestions of places I think all the family would like
Koh Samui and Koh Panyang, both Thai islands
Angkor Wot temples In Siem Reap, Cambodia
Koh Rong Island, off the south coat of Cambodia
Saigon / Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam
Hoi An on the east coast of Vietnam. 40 mins drive from Danang airport
Seminyak and Ebud in Bali. Indonesia
The Gilli islands, off Lombok. Indonesia
Gili Trawangan is great fun and not too bad when it comes to the tourists as its more of a dive area and relaxed.Koh Samui and Koh Panyang, both Thai islands
Angkor Wot temples In Siem Reap, Cambodia
Koh Rong Island, off the south coat of Cambodia
Saigon / Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam
Hoi An on the east coast of Vietnam. 40 mins drive from Danang airport
Seminyak and Ebud in Bali. Indonesia
The Gilli islands, off Lombok. Indonesia
Didnt want to leave after our 4 day trip there.
Du1point8 said:
Lozw86 said:
A few suggestions of places I think all the family would like
Koh Samui and Koh Panyang, both Thai islands
Angkor Wot temples In Siem Reap, Cambodia
Koh Rong Island, off the south coat of Cambodia
Saigon / Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam
Hoi An on the east coast of Vietnam. 40 mins drive from Danang airport
Seminyak and Ebud in Bali. Indonesia
The Gilli islands, off Lombok. Indonesia
Gili Trawangan is great fun and not too bad when it comes to the tourists as its more of a dive area and relaxed.Koh Samui and Koh Panyang, both Thai islands
Angkor Wot temples In Siem Reap, Cambodia
Koh Rong Island, off the south coat of Cambodia
Saigon / Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam
Hoi An on the east coast of Vietnam. 40 mins drive from Danang airport
Seminyak and Ebud in Bali. Indonesia
The Gilli islands, off Lombok. Indonesia
Didnt want to leave after our 4 day trip there.
Absolutely stunning place though, spent many happy days snorkelling up the beach (no need to swim as the gentle current will take you), walking back down via a couple of 'choice' bars, looking more amazing women than you could shake a stick at, and then repeating! Remind me why I ever came home again!
Gili Trawangan is mega touristy now, it was pretty busy while I was there in February 2013.
Gili Meno is mega quiet. Only a couple of places to eat.
Gili Air has the balance just right, IMO. Really laid back and still a few choices of beach bars and places to eat.
I would recommend traveling to the Gili's from Padang Bai in Bali. It saves you the hassle and scams that are attempted when traveling from Bangsal in Lombok, and it's a cool little village with a nice beach too. Again, really laid back.
My favourite places in Asia were Singapore, Bangkok, Koh Phangan (stay away from Haad Rin and it's great), Ho Chi Minh City, Hoi An, Melaka, Hua Hin, Padang Bai and Gili Air.
Edit: I've just realised this might be a little late. Haha.
Gili Meno is mega quiet. Only a couple of places to eat.
Gili Air has the balance just right, IMO. Really laid back and still a few choices of beach bars and places to eat.
I would recommend traveling to the Gili's from Padang Bai in Bali. It saves you the hassle and scams that are attempted when traveling from Bangsal in Lombok, and it's a cool little village with a nice beach too. Again, really laid back.
My favourite places in Asia were Singapore, Bangkok, Koh Phangan (stay away from Haad Rin and it's great), Ho Chi Minh City, Hoi An, Melaka, Hua Hin, Padang Bai and Gili Air.
Edit: I've just realised this might be a little late. Haha.
Edited by Philplop on Friday 9th May 19:55
Gassing Station | Holidays & Travel | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff