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Old 04-28-2007, 03:00 PM   #1
epicballa
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Default Asia and maybe OZ/NZ

Well, I'm starting to do my initial research for a trip with my buddy in Spring '08. Probably going to be around 3 months(or longer if it fits our budgets), from mid-March until June.

Getting to the point... if the budget for 3 months is around $5-6,000 USD with airfare, is OZ and NZ worth making the trip to or should we stick to Thailand, India, Nepal, Malaysia, Indonesia, and all of the other SEA countries?
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Old 04-28-2007, 05:04 PM   #2
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depends on how cheap you intend to stay in places and how you move between places. if you have any questions about se asia ask me, i go there every summer.

the best way to do your iternary is to go to india from where your from, then from india fly to SE Asia, when in SE Asia everything is dirrrrt cheap and getting around costs pennies. staying in places is cheap too, in KL you can stay somewhere for £1.50 a night!!

so say for 3 months it would cost you $12 thats 1000 on places to stay (i think) flights and transport are the real problem, if you can get cheap deal then it will be easy.

check out malaysia airlines - the often do sales around xmas time and last xmas they were offering flight from KL to India for RM200 (around £35) also look on nok air (thailand) air asia (all around SE Asia) they are the cheapest ones. also consider trains in some places, like KL-Singapore. cheap as fuck

eerrrr so if you get flights right, you can probably do all your flying for 2-3o00 (my maths is really shit i have dyscalculia i cant add properly!!) which leaves around 2 k for food and general bits.

can you let me know a few things an i can help you out more -

where are you gonna be flying from
where do you want to go in se asia (the route you take can seriously reduce or increase your budget as budget airlines are still quite limited most flights on AA are via KL and bangkok for example)
you want to go to india also? and OZ/NZ

the only thing i really think is holding you back without thinking about it is time - thats A LOT of places to see in 3 months. SE Asia is easy enough cos its close together and well served with transport links but india is 4-5 hours away from SE Asia and OZ 6 or more hours. all three places cover huge areas.

anyways let us know a bit more and i can help you out - i think oz and nz is a bit ambitious in terms of time contstaints and possibly financially if you dont get the flight prices right.

also as a tip when you go to india youll want to go there at the start of your trip as in june monsoon starts in some places and it might not be what you expected
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Old 04-28-2007, 07:41 PM   #3
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yeah... i wanna stay the hell away from typhoon season... lol

anyways, to answer your questions...

i'm flying from new york city. i did some initial looks at flights, and i should be able to get there and back for around $1200-1500, that sound about right? but then all the country hopping is going to add up.

as far as what countries me and my friend want to go to, we havn't actually sat down and decided yet. when we went to europe we got a big map and put thumbtacks down where we wanted to go, but here's a rough list of where we're probably going to head: india (delhi, mumbai), maybe sri lanka, nepal, thailand (bangkok, phuket, kho phi phi, kho phangan), angkor wat in cambodia, malaysia, singapore, maybe french polynesia.

that's definitely not a definite list as i've just started doing research. so there's likely to be more places i'll want to add. the most we'll stay in one place is 5 or 6 days, and that's only in really big cities.

we don't get to do this that often, so our whole thing is that we want to see as much as possible, that's why we're definitely doing india and SEA at the least, but were considering adding oz and nz if time allowed. figure flights to oz from nyc are $1500+ roundtrip so might as well try and see it while we're over there.

this is what i'm roughly figuring: 2 1/2 weeks in india, 3-4 days in nepal, 3 weeks in thailand (with a daytrip or overnight trip to angkor wat), 2 weeks hopping around malaysia, 5 days in singapore. that's around 9 weeks total right there, leaving around 4 weeks left. maybe this is unrealistic, but with the way we backpacked around europe i think that's what it would be. we don't really waste time, walk around as much as possible, squeeze as many sights into each day as possible, travel overnight.

this is all initial thought though. likely to change a lot once i really start looking into it over the next 2 months.

are there any areas or sights around there that aren't on my list that i shouldn't miss?
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Old 04-28-2007, 10:07 PM   #4
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Lol well i luv NZ so i say cum here anyway! My family just returned from singapore and were there for maybe four days (in transit) but said two would have done it (im stopping for three in august) so five maybe alot?
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Old 04-29-2007, 06:20 AM   #5
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well its a good list of places you want to go! i can help you out with all of SE Asia

the first thing i would suggest is to look at your flight iternary if your going to go to oz or nz - book a one way flight to india, do se asia, fly from malaysia/singapore to oz/nz then fly back to the us from there. it might save you money as oz is nearer to the us than flying the other way if you get me?

i just looked on malaysia airlines (they are expensive but as an example) a flight from KL (malaysia) to Sydney (Aus) is around £350. quite a lot but consider that in theory your iternary is going to carry you around the world. you can get cheaper flights - ill leave that to you, but thats an example. also dont take my word for it but i heard a rumor that airasia, budget airline, was considering starting flying to aus, from malaysia. keep an ear out for that !!

as for weither the price from NY is right i wouldnt know as im from the uk and my flights to asia come free so ive never had to shop around as such. with your time schedule you would definatley have to go NY-india-se asia-(aus nz)-NY to avioid indian monsoon.

mumbai and dehli are both major international airports. to trasvel between them a cheap flight will cost little, a train will cost around £30 (sorry i keep doing things in english money!!) between the two cities and takes a night. 2 and a half weeks to cover those two cities is a good time - one could say it is too long but allow yourself a few days to rest after the flight. india is well served by wicked transport system so you could also make more of your time there if you wished by hopping around a bit more.

sri lanka is south, and will have to be reached by plane. this will take you away from a convenient route so maybe consider missing that out unless you have more cash and time.

nepal is realistic - i havent been there and not sure what conditions of entry are but its the right half of india that youll be in so wont be too long or expensive to get too. ask around a bit more on here for nepal info some people on here can help you more.

from nepal/or india, your best bet is to travel to cambodia. from there, use train/coach to get into thailand via bangkok, work south from there to the islands than down the western penisular. from there you will reach malaysia, consider takin a boat from thai islands in the south to langkawi in malaysia. from there you can boat again to penang, then travel by boat and land or flight (its about 30 mins in a plane) to KL. from kl you can travel to eastern malaysia, again by land or air, then down to singapore.

check this map to see the line im taking http://worldatlas.com/webimage/countrys/as.htm

then from singapore either youll haver to go back to kl (cheap and quick) or can fly from there onwards to oz / nz. sadly thats where my knowledge ends as i havent been to aus yet. i think the one thing that will cost you is transport - getting around.

timewise, youll be stretched to cover all that space in 3 months - if you get motivated now and save some money keep an eye out for sudden sales on all the asian flight carriers - as i said before malaysia airlines sometimes slashes its prices, kl to aus was at one point RM200/£30/$60-70? silly prices. then you can save lots and lots of money on the big flights and spend more time as youll save flight money. try and book the big flights before - NY-INDIA, SE ASIA-OZ, OZ-NY. all the smaller ones dont really fluctuate as much as the big ones.

hope this helps! and if you have any more questions fire away.
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Old 04-29-2007, 07:02 AM   #6
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thanks. the boat from thailand to malaysia sounds like a great idea to see more of the land.

well, i just noticed there's a u.s. state department warning about traveling to nepal. supposedly armed gangs have been robbing travelers pretty frequently. guess i'll have to pack my machete if i go there... lol. anyone know how risky it is to go there? i'd really like to see it.
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Old 04-29-2007, 02:51 PM   #7
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With three months I'd leave OZ and NZ for another time. I could very happily spend 3 months in SEA alone and not see enough. I personally enjoy spending more time in one place without having to rush, so my advice would be to stick around in Asia.

My plane tix from the US back to Malaysia have been around 1200-1400, so that should be about right.

Oh and buzzingtalk, Cambodia doesn't border India/Nepal - were you talking about Myanmar instead?

5 days is a long time to spend in Singapore. If you have time and like the outdoors, head to Borneo. I spent about US 20/day in Vietnam/Cambodia but could've done it for less, US 25/day in Borneo.

My brain's a little frazzled now, but if you have any specific questions do ask...I'm kind of offline in Jamaica but I'll try to get back to you.

Happy trails!
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Old 04-29-2007, 04:10 PM   #8
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Well my friend and I aren't really the type to chill out in one place for a long time, we like to be on the move and see a lot. That's why I figured it might be possible. But we've talked about it, and we might go in February instead and have a total of 4 months, plus increase our budget in order to fit OZ/NZ. Again, I really don't know when I'll be getting back over to that part of the world, so I really want to fit in OZ/NZ while I can.

Would you recommend renting a car in OZ and then NZ? I've heard that's the best way to see the two.
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Old 04-29-2007, 06:31 PM   #9
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Quote:
Originally Posted by epicballa View Post
Would you recommend renting a car in OZ and then NZ? I've heard that's the best way to see the two.
Yeh for sure! atleast for parts of it!i think at lot of beautiful spots and neat experiences could be missed in NZ on tour bus, closer to the time check out nakedbus.com and the air nz grabaseat website if ur looking to save money/time and perhaps look at combining methods
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Old 04-29-2007, 07:14 PM   #10
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If you keep your eye out for deals, you should be able to get a NY/Bangkok Roundtrip for around or just under $1,000 (I live on the East Coast as well) and if you are really diligent it can sometimes be done for $800. If you are going in 2008, it's too far ahead at this point for there to be deals, but you should be able to get something in that ball park if you wait a bit. I think Bangkok would be the cheapest city for you to fly to from NY. It's a great hub city and there are cheap flights and other transportation to virtually everywhere in SEA. I would wager you could also get cheaper flights to India from BKK, then by heading there first from the U.S., but I haven't been to India yet myself. I think India is much more costly to fly to from the states directly.

The best ticket I could find to Australia (this was a few years ago) from Boston was $1,500 and I would assume that would be ballpark for NY as well, though you may be able to find something slightly cheaper. I just wanted you to be able to compare tickets to AU versus Bangkok. I think you may be hard pressed to squeeze in OZ/NZ, but I can understand why you would want to do it. Australia is definately worth visiting - if you fly into and out of Cairns from SEA, it might not be too pricey - I think its about a 3.5 to 4 hr flight. Then you could drive down the east coast, or into the outback.

5 days in Singapore is definately too much as there is a very limited amount to see and it is really f'ing expensive! Spend your time in Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Malaysia, Indonesia, etc. Besides, Thailand will likely suck you in...a lot of people think they are just passing through and have a long itinerary of where they are going and the next thing they know, they chuck the rest of the trip out the window and just stay in Thailand. Good luck!!
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Old 04-29-2007, 08:25 PM   #11
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I second Kiwichick, come to NZ! and while you here do oz as well, and if the budget allows it i would say rent a car as well cas then you really can see what you want to.
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Old 04-30-2007, 02:55 AM   #12
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awe yeah i knew that its just a bit easier to fly from india or nepal to cambodia rather than go to sri lanka then back to cambodia. that makes the journey waaay long.

as for the time constraints oz and nz is way too big to cover as well as india and se asia. if you manage to save hard and get a good deal on flights will you be able to stay for another month?
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Old 04-30-2007, 02:56 AM   #13
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al this budgeting talk has just made me realise how cheap i am...i am travelling in se asia for 2 months soon and my budget is £400!! easliy done in se asia though
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