India / Thailand travel planning

wishuponastar

I've always wanted to go to India and Thailand, preferably to a good homestay (any recommendations based on personal experience?) Thinking January next year for 2-4weeks (depending on price). I'd be travelling with a good friend. We are not into big cities if possible and would prefer to experience the real India/Thailand (minus the 'Delhi Belly' if we are lucky) but I'm looking for advice from those who have been or have done a similar thing specifically regarding the follows:-


Is it possible to incorporate a trip to visit both places? As I've been reading that there is a place between the two that doesn't allow tourists so it would have to be a long bus ride around. Is this correct? How is the trip if any have taken it? And cost?


Any tips with regards good and not too expensive accommodation places, flights, when to book etc. Can be relatively flexible with airport departure to help cost (London is preferred though).


I've been reading other threads on here about Monsoon season and e-visas etc and that Mumbai is busy so know those things.


Is it better from a cost point of view to do a package deal or book things individually?
When I searched what kept coming up was info on 'round the world' tickets which I don't think is the most ideal thing for this type of trip so any advice would be really appreciated.

Voyager2002

The simplest way to travel between India and Thailand is to fly.


If your budget is limited, consider Air Asia. Their hub is in KL (Malaysia) so you could fly there from India: the trip takes about four hours and may cost as little as fifty pounds each way. From KL, another flight to Thailand could cost only ten pounds, or the journey takes about a day by bus or train. (And Malaysia offers many of the same delights as Thailand so might be a satisfactory alternative, depending on your tastes.)

Voyager2002

wishuponastar wrote: »

Is it possible to incorporate a trip to visit both places? As I've been reading that there is a place between the two that doesn't allow tourists so it would have to be a long bus ride around. Is this correct? How is the trip if any have taken it? And cost?

There are two countries between India and Thailand: Bangladesh and Burma. Both allow tourists but Bangladesh is not really set up for visitors, while Burma does not allow foreigners to to cross its borders: you must fly in and out.

Voyager2002

wishuponastar wrote: »

Is it better from a cost point of view to do a package deal or book things individually?

DIY every time.


You could look for flights to Thailand with a stopover in India, but that is not something I have ever found.

Ballard

A month between the countries wouldn’t give you enough time in either, in my opinion. There’s plenty to do in both countries but especially India.

With India you could spend time in the Punjab & Rajasthan in the north , Goa for some beach, Darjeeling for the hills.

You would need to fly (particularly to Goa) but if you really want a proper taste of India and have a month I would strongly suggest spending it all there. There are a lot of different places in the country and if you’re adventurous you’ll have plenty to keep you occupied.


As has already been said, flying is your only option between the countries. I did look to see if it would be possible to fly via Port Blair in the (Indian) Andoman islands but despite supposedly being an international airport it seems to be domestic.

PompeyPete

Wherever you intend going make sure that the weather is likely to be in your favour.

I think if I fancied India, then I'd want to spend the whole month there, and do something like Ballard suggests

I'd have a look at Vietnam too, after quite a few visits to Thailand, I decided to give Vietnam a whirl, and was surprised what a good choice it is. Weather is definitely a consideration there, it's a long country north to south, with different weather patterns.

I think the country that isn't keen on your average tourist is Bhutan, and has strict conditions. You can do it, but it will cost.

wishuponastar

Voyager2002 wrote: »

The simplest way to travel between India and Thailand is to fly.


If your budget is limited, consider Air Asia. Their hub is in KL (Malaysia) so you could fly there from India: the trip takes about four hours and may cost as little as fifty pounds each way. From KL, another flight to Thailand could cost only ten pounds, or the journey takes about a day by bus or train. (And Malaysia offers many of the same delights as Thailand so might be a satisfactory alternative, depending on your tastes.)

Thank you for your 3 replies Voyager2002, definitely good ideas to consider. Malaysia is a good option and i'll look into it. My friend has already mentioned he liked the idea but that might have to be a separate trip as we've wanted the other two countries for a long time. I'll definitely check it out though.

wishuponastar

Ballard wrote: »

A month between the countries wouldn’t give you enough time in either, in my opinion. There’s plenty to do in both countries but especially India.

With India you could spend time in the Punjab & Rajasthan in the north , Goa for some beach, Darjeeling for the hills.

You would need to fly (particularly to Goa) but if you really want a proper taste of India and have a month I would strongly suggest spending it all there. There are a lot of different places in the country and if you’re adventurous you’ll have plenty to keep you occupied.


As has already been said, flying is your only option between the countries. I did look to see if it would be possible to fly via Port Blair in the (Indian) Andoman islands but despite supposedly being an international airport it seems to be domestic.

Thanks for the suggestions and for checking the flights. If you have been, how did you travel between the places in India? Did you train or fly or were short journeys 'tuk tuks'? How did you find costs for travelling whilst there?

wishuponastar

PompeyPete wrote: »

Wherever you intend going make sure that the weather is likely to be in your favour.

I think if I fancied India, then I'd want to spend the whole month there, and do something like Ballard suggests

I'd have a look at Vietnam too, after quite a few visits to Thailand, I decided to give Vietnam a whirl, and was surprised what a good choice it is. Weather is definitely a consideration there, it's a long country north to south, with different weather patterns.

I think the country that isn't keen on your average tourist is Bhutan, and has strict conditions. You can do it, but it will cost.

Thank you. I think Vietnam for us will have to wait or possibly be one for us to consider in the future perhaps as we've wanted India and Thailand for such a long time now. But it is a good bit of advice, so thank you for suggesting it.


When you stay in Thailand, which hotels or homestays have you used that you could recommend?

PompeyPete

wishuponastar wrote: »

Thank you. I think Vietnam for us will have to wait or possibly be one for us to consider in the future perhaps as we've wanted India and Thailand for such a long time now. But it is a good bit of advice, so thank you for suggesting it.


When you stay in Thailand, which hotels or homestays have you used that you could recommend?

You really need to decide on what parts of the country you want to visit first.

My favourite area is Kanchanaburi Province, which only a couple of hours from Bangkok by train, and is an easy place to visit without having to think about joining a tour. Here's a good link about that area, and what places there are to see...

https://www.seat61.com/Bridge-on-the-River-Kwai.htm

That link has just about everything you need to know. But if it tickles your fancy I can pull up a couple of my trip reports.

My other favourite are Nong Khai, which is a provincial border town in Isaan in the North East......easy to reach by overnight train. Nong Khai is sat right on the Mekong River on the Border into Laos. It's often overlooked by people rushing around on their quest of box ticking. Alovely inexpensive place to stay and chill is The Mutmee Guest House...

http://www.mutmee.com/

You're spoilt for choice really, it all depends where you fancy going. There's plenty of all threads you can search through.

Voyager2002

wishuponastar wrote: »

If you have been, how did you travel between the places in India? Did you train or fly or were short journeys 'tuk tuks'? How did you find costs for travelling whilst there?

India is vast, so a journey between nearby attractions could easily take eight hours or more -- too long to sit in an auto (what Indians call a tuk-tuk). Train is the obvious: most long journeys will be overnight in a sleeping car, saving the cost of a hotel and also meaning that travel time does not come out of your holiday. The downside is that the process of getting hold of a ticket (more precisely, a reservation for a bed) is complicated and time-consuming. Air tickets for domestic flights are easy to buy, and cost about as much as a first-class train ticket, in other words not enough money to be worth worrying about. There are also long-distance buses, some of which are air-conditioned and arranged for sleeping. Again, getting a ticket is easy, but I have never tried them.