When people tends to plan a trip, most of them will likely to face problems in planning the best yet memorable trip. Few weeks ago, when I was searching for a forum about Thailand, I came across a guy asking any tips on planning a trip to Southeast Asia? Since I think it will be a good topic to share in my blog and I do know people (even Asians) do face problem in planning an ideal Southeast Asia trip. Hence, this blog is for those who are planning to travel Southeast Asia sooner or later or even in future.
Listing Out Places You Wanna Go!
Southeast Asia is home to various of UNESCO World Heritage. Halong Bay, Ancient city of Sukhothai, Angkor Wat, Borobudur temple, Malacca Historical Town and many more. In order for you to visit all of these places, it takes lots of time and hardly possible. You have to consider your visa validity and your budget too. Entrance price is also another thing to consider. For example, a visit to Borobudur temple might cost Rp. 150,000 per person excluding transportation.
So, my advise: don’t be ambitious and remember to go the “Must See” Place before others. For example, Angkor Wat before any other places in Phnom Penh.
Always add 1 or 2 hour(s) in Travel Duration
When it comes to punctuality, Southeast Asia transport system have less than 50% punctuality. If you arrived to your next destination earlier or on time, you must be lucky. This is due to the unreliable transportation system and most of the company will wait all the bus to be loaded with passengers before they begin their journey. This is not happening only in IndoChina but most of the Southeast Asia countries except Singapore, where punctuality is 95%. So it’s common to arrive at a place an hour or two hours late than expected.
You either bored or tired to death! (You Will Survive Anyway)
While planning your trip, it might look great on a sheet of paper (smooth and steady), but don’t forget that traveling in Southeast Asia can be uncomfortable, tiring, bored and even annoying too. This is because most of the places are not well connected or road are not nicely paved. For example, to get from Vientiane to Luang Prabang, the only way to do it is by bus. Not sure if boat is possible, but it will take 1 or 2 day slow boat. Even if you’re on a train, it can be annoying too listening locals talking their languages and you don’t even know a single shit!
Do not trust Google Map! Trust the Local Map
Not to say we don’t put our trust to Google. It’s just that it is better to look for a local map or ask for direction from your hotel staffs instead of going thru Google Map. Since most of the countries in Southeast Asia is in the progress of developing, the landscape changes every year. There’s always new routes or ways going to point B from point A in the fastest way. Even in Malaysia, I used Google Map and it leads me to off track path. So, the best thing to do is find or buy a local map or worst, trust your instinct.
Grab An Asean Pass
Like I said, traveling in Southeast Asia – it’s either you’re bored or tired to death. However, there’s one way to go from point A to point B in the shortest time, fastest way. The solution is grab an Asean Pass – a pass which launched by AirAsia, the 7th time best low cost carrier in the world. This pass allows travelers to book flights based on credit systems and allows passengers to travel around Southeast Asia easily. However, the price only includes base fare and does not include taxes. I recommend all to buy this pass if you would like to save time on traveling. It’s not expensive too in a way =)
There are lots of ways or tips in planning an ideal trip to Southeast Asia. However, here are some of the few tips that I commonly used while planning for my trip around Indo China. I am not sure if this is applicable to all readers but at least few tips might do to help.
Happy Holidays!~
Asian Backpacker 