So I'm going to South East Asia...

[Boochawan]

...well, more specifically Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam.

I'm pretty stoaked, and I'll be heading there for about 3 months. I leave in about a week and a half.

Any travel tips? Any good stories about the region/any of the above mentioned countries?

Peace, love, and pad thai,

Booch

[Blane]

Got plenty of suggestions. I've been to Thailand, Cambodia and 'Nam. My girlfriend just returned home from Cambodia and Thailand 3 days ago.

rule 1: bring an empty suitcase.

Can provide more info if you want.

[Velvet]

Use your empty suitcase to hold your dong.

[phorbesie]

vietnam: don't miss sapa. halong bay is beautiful, you can take a nice overnight boat ride out there. try to hike up a mountain to overlook the bay, it's stunning. some like hanoi, but i loved saigon way better. lots of things to do and great energy. definitely go to the mekong delta and go out early to a floating market, it's really fun! (pay extra for a good one). dmz tour is interesting. skip the beaches in vietnam.

laos: lots of lounging to be done. i really enjoyed luang prabang. also north and east of there, you can get out to some great little villages on the rivers and chill out, and hike to more little villages (ie. muang noi neua). just a few hours from vientiane is ban pako...a nice place to chill out with other peeps on the river. i heard don det area of laos (south, with thousands of islands) is awesome, but i didn't go...i think it's better at certain times of year...check into it though!

cambodia: def. at least 3 days at angkor. beaches aren't great but sihanoukville has a great little expat community (serendipity beach) which is a lot of fun, beach is decent too. recommend taking the boat from siem reap down tonle sap to battambang...it blew my mind to see the river people!

thailand: too many places! i don't know what kind of thailand you want to see, but it'll be fun to explore save your beach time for here.

have a great time! it's gonna be awesome.

ps. looks like you are gonna be there for songkran (water festival!/new year) so make sure you are not in vietnam at the beginning of april. be in one of the other countries for this!

Edited March 9, 2006 by Guest

[Blane]

agreed on the boatride to siem reap. Only caution is not to hang out on the roof the whole way. Quite possibly the worst sunburn of my life!

[bradm]

Maybe hook up with Pootie Tang while you're in Thailand? I think bouche had the URL to PT's ongoing adventures there.

Aloha,

Brad

[Whitey]

Wow! Have a great trip. I have been wanting to do that trip for a while. I would love to see some of your pictures posted here if you get the chance. The closest I have gotten to Asia was Turkey.

[livingstoned]

awesome! have a great trip.

[mattm]

My favorite spot in the world. Make sure that you hit Koh Samet in Thailand. It's an island (Koh) but it's a park. Head to the beach from the ferry. When you hit the beach, turn left and walk along the beach until the end. Here is a little tiny bamboo hut resort thingy but, and here's the kicker, you can get weed and shit from the guys that run it. Also, there are no cops on this island. There should be a guy there by the name of Thai (a Thai named Thai, it's probably not how you spell it but it's funnier that way). He has a canadian flag tatooed to his chest. Talk to him (he twirls fire at night).

Also try out the full moon party on ko phangan, it's really fun. There's a little bar when you get to the beach where the rave is, turn right. You'll pass three or four bars that are quite open but there's a little tiny one that isn't. Head inside and ask for a mushroom shake. it tastes great and kicks in in about 5 minutes flat (and holy shit they're potent over there).

I'll stop now to avoid too much typing but have fun and bring bribe money. Sorry about the shitty directions but my memory doesn't allow me to remember things like names very easily, just pictures.

[Tooly]

i grow cambodian mushrooms that were taken from elephant dung in koh samui, they are potent as fucking hell.

have fun

[phorbesie]

lol!

i'm impressed there are still elephants on ko samui. but they're probably for elephant rides.

[mattm]

I didn't see any elephants on koh samui but a horse was taking a stroll down the road one day and stopped at the place I was staying. It was pretty neat because the horse had no handlers and wasn't bolting around terrified, just strolling down the street looking around at things.

A guy did bring up an elephant we could feed while waiting for the bus in ban phe and it had a blinking red light on it's ass so cars wouldn't hit it. You'd have to be pretty blind to run into the thing but I guess it must have happened.

I do know they grow lots of them over there using buffalo shit which is pretty good.

[Boochawan]

There should be a guy there by the name of Thai (a Thai named Thai, it's probably not how you spell it but it's funnier that way). He has a canadian flag tatooed to his chest. Talk to him (he twirls fire at night).

Thanks everyone for the suggestions. I'll defenitly keep them in mind, that's great stuff.

mattm - believe it or not, i've actually heard of this Thai Tai guy (rhyme intended).

[Velvet]

I caught dengue fever on Koh Phangan, and man, you don't wanna catch dengue fever.

Bring bug juice, and use it.

[Tooly]

My bad, the strain came from the temples of Angkor Wat, not koh samui, although there is a strain that comes from there as well. anyways, heres a pic of the cambodian, which is a stronger strain than most.

just got spores from India as well, these Orissa India, as theyre called, are fucking HUGE, the largest specimens that have been cultivated have had a cap the size of a dinner plate

yowza!

cambo>

[DevO]

I'm heading to SE Asia pretty soon, so I thought I'd give this thread a bump! I'll be in the area for about 3 months, maybe longer. September 26th til Christmas perhaps. Man I'm so pumped for this trip! I'll definitely be visiting Thailand, Laos and Cambodia.. Malaysia is a possibility and so is Vietnam. Myanmar? (I'm not sure what the political climate is like in there these days, or what the tourist situation is).

If anyone else knows of any more hidden gems, please do add them here!

I'd love to hear about some music related things to do. The tour books have very little information. I have read all about the Thai Elephant Orchestra which looks really cool, but unfortunately it seems that they don't regularly perform.

[scottieking]

Ko Phan Gan - Hat Trin - Sunrise Side - Look toward the water and head left. Climb the hill and at the top is a place with hammocks and the best pot shakes ever. Circa 98 anyway.

[afro poppa]

thanks for all these awsome suggestions, I am moving to Hong Kong in January for school and then probably travelling all over the place for a year or so...so I am gonna need all the tips I can get!

[afro poppa]

anyone ever heard of Mama Han's boat cruise? My friend was telling me about it but I wanna get more details...

[Blane]

KevO, my friend just did 3 weeks in Myanmar and loved it. Keep in mind that it's a LOONG way from Ho Chi Min to Rangoon, so unless you've got a lot of time or plan on flying in the region, you'll be spending a lot of time in transit.

However, I travelled through the north of thailand (Chang Mai, Chang Rai, up to the golden triangle and the Myanmar border) and found it to be really amazing. No beaches, but beautiful jungle and interesting people. If you're into history (temples, ruins, architecture, etc.) then you'd definately like Myanmar. It's got far better preserved classical architecture than in Thailand.

edit: Afro Poppa, I did mama hahn's cruise! 7 bucks for a wasted day on the water, eating delicious food, drinking beer and smoking doobs in a life preserver!

Edited August 25, 2006 by Guest

[Sarahbelle]

KevO~

I will e mail you soon, but here's my favourites...In Thailand I Liked Chaing Mai and Koh Tao the best!! Chaing Mai is just a cool little town and it's so easy to meet people there. I did a trek too..it was really hard work but worth it and I loved it. I also rode an elephant which was amazing!

Koh Tao is just gorgeous. It's so rugged and it's a little hard to get from place to place but it makes it that much more enjoyable. I stayed at the Tao Tong Villa...again, a little hard to get to but I totally fell in love with it. U can ask anyone who works there for ganga and they'll hook U up. They also did a snorking trip around the island for around 10 bucks!! (350 baht)

And.. of corse U must check out Sein Riep/Ankor... Amazing!!! don't forget to go to Happy Herb Pizza in Sein Riep!!! *wink*

See U soon!

Sarah

[phorbesie]

my thoughts:

absolutely go to myanmar if you can. it's amazing. you can get a visa in one day at the consulate in bangkok which is near patpong area(about 80 baht i think?) then get a flight for about $100.

also if you go to malaysia, grab a cheap airasia flight over to KK or kuching on borneo. borneo is unreal!!

have fun!

ps. also in malaysia but near thailand if you're just hopping over, the perhentian islands are really nice, small and chill (east coast), or georgetown (west coast) is an interesting city for the mix of chinese, malay and indian culture (and food!)

Edited August 25, 2006 by Guest

[DevO]

THanks for the replies! Yes I've had a few people mention the Perhentian Islands to me, and the ____ Highlands somewhere near them.. Rainforest.

I'm definitely going to go to Angkor Wat for 3 or 4 days. Taking up scuba diving at Koh Tao is high up on my list too. Besides that, we'll have to see! Did any of you go to Pai? Also I heard theres a town somewhere in the north which used to be the opium production capital of the world and they have a museum there. Man, I'm pumped!

[Velvet]

I hear the Elephant Orchestra works for peanuts.

Bada-bing!