Perfect Asia holiday - any ideas?

Doshwaster

random132 wrote: »

However the 'expensive' comment is very much putting me off as was hoping to book cheap accommodation beforehand and pay minimal for food and carhire etc. we lived like kings for not a lot when we went to thailand but that was three years ago and i guess prices have probably dramatically increased even since then!
I think this is going to boil down to cost!
Thanks again for comments and clarification really appreciate it

By "expensive" I meant relative to the rest of Thailand. By international standards it isn't that bad, but compared to, say, Chiang Mai, it's quite noticeable. The thing is that in BKK there are always places you can find which are cheap away from the tourist trap but Phuket, especially, Patong, is just one big tourist trap which exists purely to extract cash from tourists' pockets.

Prices have gone up in the last few years - plus there's the double whammy of the exchange rate is worse than it was 3-5 years ago. On the other hand, the Aussie dollar is doing quite well against the Bhat so you can expect the country to be full of Australians saying how cheap it is!

markandkate

The Eastern side of Malaysia and Borneo gets very wet from November onwards and is not really much fun. If visiting the Malay peninsula would recommend Langkawi but you should look at the Air Asia website to see where you can fly and pack as much in as you can

DebtSniper

I can understand your indecision. So many places, so little time.

On Bali, you can go out partying in Kuta, and then head somewhere for else on the island for a complete change of scene. Or even head to nearby islands. Here's a link to info on the Gilis that I mentioned earlier. http://www.gili-paradise.com/ . They're a lot moire accessible that when I was last there, with speedboat connections direct from Bali.

Phuket would give you similar options to head off to various nearby islands and the aforementioned Khao Lak.

PS. I agree about Hanoi. Great place. Good standard accommodation for reasonable prices as well. Crazy traffic though!

random132

Thanks all for your info! We picked out the hat in the end!! (wasnt actually going to go with it but when we picked Borneo and my bf's face lit up I knew we had to!) However the deal is Bali this time next year so I will be saving and coming back to this! Thanks for all your help and info, ill let you know how we get on

tuftyclub

I'd recommend cambodia and laos actually - especially cambodia.