Pistonheads. Holidaying matters!

[Carreauchompeur]

I've had enough! Enough of near-perpetual darkness, damp and cold. Enough of shuffling around the same city every day.

In short, I've had a minor existential crisis and booked 2/3 weeks off work (14th Feb-28th Feb-ish). I desperately want to go on holiday somewhere hot, decent beaches, nice bars and a few activities will do me fine.

I'm off on my own, since I have no friends, and have UP TO a grand to spend...

Any ideas? I'd ideally like to steer clear of Sandals, somewhere hot that I wouldn't feel like a complete gooseberry would be good.

Ideas? I know I'll have to travel quite far afield to find decent sun at this time of year.

[Cap'n Custud]

Gambia? I loved it there, but not to everyones taste.

[jamoor]

Carreauchompeur said:

I've had enough! Enough of near-perpetual darkness, damp and cold. Enough of shuffling around the same city every day.

In short, I've had a minor existential crisis and booked 2/3 weeks off work (14th Feb-28th Feb-ish). I desperately want to go on holiday somewhere hot, decent beaches, nice bars and a few activities will do me fine.

I'm off on my own, since I have no friends, and have UP TO a grand to spend...

Any ideas? I'd ideally like to steer clear of Sandals, somewhere hot that I wouldn't feel like a complete gooseberry would be good.

Ideas? I know I'll have to travel quite far afield to find decent sun at this time of year.

SE asia?
Thailand, Malaysia?

[Carreauchompeur]

Thanks! Struggling to find anything in budget at the moment. I'll probably pop into the local travel agents to have a look in the week if t'internet fails...

How feasible do the masses think it is to book a flight then find hotels over there? Assuming it's not the backpackery-type of place, which I could cope with.

Having said that, Flights to Thailand... £600
Backpacker hotels.... ???
"Meeting new people"... priceless! (And no EFAing about ladyboys!)

How much would I be looking at to stay in Thailand? Nice but basic, 14 nights? Excluding flights?

[Nolar Dog]

Carreauchompeur said:

How much would I be looking at to stay in Thailand? Nice but basic, 14 nights? Excluding flights?

1 GBP = (app) 45 THB

Decent room on room only basis = 600-1000 THB
About 100 THB extra for breakfast but best to source breakfast locally.

Would you eat in hotel restaraunt or from street vendors?

Restaraunt: Budget for 200-300 THB per meal, 200 THB for a beer.
Street: Budget 20-50 THB per meal. Usually very fresh (eg) chicken or seafood with noodles or sticky rice.
Out and about: 20-30 THB for bottle Coke/Fanta/Etc. 70-100 THb for Singa beer.
Supermarket: 150 THB for Thai whisky (Lethal!)

Internet cafe: 20 THB per hour
Bottled water (500ml): 10 THB

I've stayed in very nice hotels (in and around BKK/Eastern Seaboard area) many times in the past.
I usually budget £1000 for a month for everything I need.

If you decide to go ahead give me a shout and I'll advise you with flights if you need any info re: connections (Doha, Dubai or Abu Dhabi).

Edited by Nolar Dog on Saturday 24th January 20:33

[jamoor]

Forget travel agents, the internet has negated the need for most of them.

Flights are coming up at £471 on Qatar on your exact dates, if you can be flexible you can save around £50 on those.

For accomodation use
www.hostels.com
www.hostelbookers.co.uk
www.hostelworld.com

I am assuming you want to stay in hostels, budget around £10 a day in accomodation.

If you want to be a little more adventurous, you could consider flying into BKK and making your way to Kuala Lumpur & flying out from there.

You could also go to China, thats quite fun too (in fact I preferred it)

[Carreauchompeur]

Thanks a lot ladies/gentlemen... That was very helpful. Can't find flights below about £550 but will keep searching. I think I'm going to bite the bullet and book the main return flight this evening before I talk myself out of it

Is Thailand stable at the moment? Would rather not encounter a coup during my stay, civil unrest would be a bit of a busman's holiday!

ETA... Any unusual jabs needed?

Edited by Carreauchompeur on Saturday 24th January 20:49

[moleamol]

How about very Southern Spain? Some nice places and won't be touristy this time of the year.

[jamoor]

Carreauchompeur said:

Thanks a lot ladies/gentlemen... That was very helpful. Can't find flights below about £550 but will keep searching. I think I'm going to bite the bullet and book the main return flight this evening before I talk myself out of it

Is Thailand stable at the moment? Would rather not encounter a coup during my stay, civil unrest would be a bit of a busman's holiday!

ETA... Any unusual jabs needed?

Edited by Carreauchompeur on Saturday 24th January 20:49

Jab wise, go to your GP.



www.kayak.com

type in your dates there, it was coming up below £500 for me from London (type in "LON" in the from box)

[VxDuncan]

As I suggested on a similar thread, how about a trip round eygpt, possibly combined with a PADI diving course. Should be possible for your budget.

[Nolar Dog]

Carreauchompeur said:

Thanks a lot ladies/gentlemen... That was very helpful. Can't find flights below about £550 but will keep searching. I think I'm going to bite the bullet and book the main return flight this evening before I talk myself out of it

Etihad will almost certainly be the cheapest available, via Abu Dhabi.
I've used them a few times and would rate them on a par with the other carriers (Emirates, Eva, Thai, etc.)
£550 is a pretty good price.

Carreauchompeur said:

Is Thailand stable at the moment? Would rather not encounter a coup during my stay, civil unrest would be a bit of a busman's holiday!

It's stable now the Suvarnabhumi protest is over.
I was there in the middle of the September 2006 coup and apart from a few delayed flights you wouldn't know anything different was happening.

Carreauchompeur said:

ETA... Any unusual jabs needed?

Supposedly get them done for Hep B, Typhoid, etc. but unless you're going into the wilds I wouldn't bother.

Just remember to always use bottled water for drinking and for after brushing teeth.
I wouldn't take a bath either, just shower.


Have you decided where you're going to head out to?
North, South, Islands or mainland?

Edited by Nolar Dog on Saturday 24th January 21:32

[Bec]

What do you want from the holiday - lazing around on a beach, or getting out and seeing somewhere (or even a combination of the two)???

There are companies like Exodus or Intrepid travel that organise trips for small groups around a particular country - usually around 10-20 people, so you'd get to meet some new people, including or excluding flights as you choose. Even if you don't book a trip with them, you can see what is worth seeing in a country by browsing their websites and routes, and then using www.lonelyplanet.comwww.tripadvisor.com and www.roughguides.com to find reviews on accommodation etc

[Broccers]

Cap'n Custud said:

Gambia?

Why ?

I was not impressed.

[thehawk]

Broccers said:

Cap'n Custud said:

Gambia?

Why ?

I was not impressed.

I think it's because it's the sex tourist destination of choice for those that like a bit of black.

[Carreauchompeur]

Thanks all for the suggestions, especially ND!

After the most frustrating hour and a half of my life, firstly having the credit card refused by the suddenly over-sensitive Lloyds security, then missing out on the first fare, I managed to get a return to Bangkok with Etihad Airways for £550 all in. There was one for £475 but having worked it out it effectively meant staying awake for about 3 days

Will be back to pick brains on suitable beach locations that won't be ENTIRELY filled with people going "Maaan" all the time. Leave on Feb 14th, 2 weeks to fill.

Woohoo!

[N Dentressangle]

Carreauchompeur said:

I've had enough! Enough of near-perpetual darkness, damp and cold. Enough of shuffling around the same city every day.

In short, I've had a minor existential crisis and booked 2/3 weeks off work (14th Feb-28th Feb-ish). I desperately want to go on holiday somewhere hot, decent beaches, nice bars and a few activities will do me fine.

I'm off on my own, since I have no friends, and have UP TO a grand to spend...

Any ideas? I'd ideally like to steer clear of Sandals, somewhere hot that I wouldn't feel like a complete gooseberry would be good.

Ideas? I know I'll have to travel quite far afield to find decent sun at this time of year.

Goa and Kerala would be nice. Hotels are cheap, and you can get around on buses and trains for pennies. Worth a look, and a bit less "gap year" than SE Asia, perhaps? Plus, everyone speaks English.

[Eddie the Ead]

If you're off to Thailand I can recommend Koh Chang. I haven't been for a while but it was one of the only places left that hadn't been to ruined by over commercialism. Beautiful beaches

[AJS-]

Thailand is great. Wouldn't bother with jabs unless you fancy a bit of bush walking or going around the jungle.

I was there in October and no trouble with civil unrest, just a few road blocks as I was driving back to Bangkok - one policeman looked at my passport upside down then waved me on as he couldn't be bothered to translate it and I didn't look like a freedom fighter.

The budgets mentioned earlier would be right for Bangkok and more than enough for the rest of the country.

I enjoyed the south best, Hat Yai to Koh Samui, and the east coast north of the islands is all lovely country, friendly people and great, cheap food.

If money permits I'd hire a car. Once you get used to the traffic it's good fun and you can see a lot of the country. If not then the trains are, get this, fun to ride on. They're slow and infrequent but people walk up and down selling food, you can stand in the open door or hang out of the window watching the paddy fields and rural villages as you trundle by.

I actually enjoyed using public transport, which is a first for me!