Travel Ideas

[ruberella]

Hi,

I have a week off work coming up, I've not long been in Singapore but while I'm here I want to travel as much as possible...

so...does anyone have any great ideas for holiday destinations, reasonably cheap and easy to arrange.

In terms of the type of holiday - I really don't mind. Beach, Trekking, Hiking.

Whatever...Just wanna go somewhere really worthwhile!

Thanks,
R

[PNGMK]

Hi,

I have a week off work coming up, I've not long been in Singapore but while I'm here I want to travel as much as possible...

so...does anyone have any great ideas for holiday destinations, reasonably cheap and easy to arrange.

In terms of the type of holiday - I really don't mind. Beach, Trekking, Hiking.

Whatever...Just wanna go somewhere really worthwhile!

Thanks,
R

Vietnam. Hanoi and Hua Long bay. Also the highlands.

[Strong Eagle]

Up into Malaysia in the Cameron Highlands/Ipoh area. Great caving and decent white water rafting.

[Strong Eagle]

Hua Hin, Thailand, home of the King's summer home. Quaint, good eats, decent beach (although brown water here). Buddhist temple with thousands of rather tame monkey walking about. For extra fun, take the single engine Cessna Caravan from BKK.

[the lynx]

A week is good in exploring several towns. If budget is your concern, hop on a 3-hour coach to Malacca, Malaysia or farther up to Cameron Highlands. Or Kuala Lumpur if you like metropolitan city.

Otherwise book flight tickets and fly to Yogyakarta or Bali or anywhere in Thailand. I personally like Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia. Myanmar is an ok option too. If you want to do something crazy, go to exotic island locations in the Philippines like Porta de Princessa, Boracay etc, or Sabah in Borneo for Mount Kinabalu, Sipadan island and green green green.

[Dert42]

I can't recommend it yet, because we don't go til April, but we have a fun looking vacation booked in Krabi.
Airfare was cheap. We got an over the top villa, but there were resonably priced smaller ones. Looks like some nice nature hikes, kiyaking, diving/snorkeling, beaches, markets etc.

We did Bali last fall and it was nice. Tons of choices for places to stay. Lots to do.

[Girl_Next_Door]

My favorite places which I keep going back is Bali and Samui. Bali is quite big, so you have both the touristy area and non touristy area as well, if you are willing to go further. There are ample of flights to Bali and they can be quite cheap. In Bali, there is also a ferry that brings you to Lombok. If you have time, I have heard great things about Flores, so you can head east if you have time.

Samui is a bit more pricey in terms of flight cost. Its less touristy and you can also go to Koh Tao if you enjoy diving.

[Fortan]

Take a flight up to Siem Reap in Cambodia and see Angkor Wat. I have been there twice and still want to go back again. It is just magical. Take a trip up to Tonle Sap (lake) and go for a boat ride to the floating villages. Eat yourself silly in good food on pub street in Siem Reap. Don't forget to try the BBQ Cobra it is delish and yes, they will kill it and prepare it at your table. Eat deep fried tarantulas and just enjoy the incredible hospitality and service of the Cambdian people. For me Cambodia (well, not Pnom Penh) but everywhere else, is what Thailand was 20 years ago. If you have extra time go to Sihanoukville and enjoy the 1 USD pints on the beach while feasting on a 2 dollar seafood meal. Best way you can spend your week for sure!

[Travailes]

Take the train from Woodlands to Bangkok - 2 nights - 1 change - cheap as chips.

[ruberella]

Some great ideas here guys...

Can you recommend any agents for me to travel with or tours?

Thanks

[Fortan]

Some great ideas here guys...

Can you recommend any agents for me to travel with or tours?

Thanks

Do it yourself. By far better than any of the lousy agents here in Singapore.

[singapore eagle]

I second both of Fortan's posts on this thread.

Siem Reap is definitely the best place I've been to in SE Asia.

[the lynx]

Some great ideas here guys...

Can you recommend any agents for me to travel with or tours?

Thanks

Do it yourself. By far better than any of the lousy agents here in Singapore.

I agree. As far as backpacking or free-and-easy tourism goes, Southeast Asia is very tourist-friendly and safe. The agents will only mill you through the commercial types of attractions, where they will get commission for the traffic.

Tripadvisor and Lonely Planet (Frommer's for Americans?) are very handy.

[uscate]

Not sure if I'm late to this party, but we've had outstanding luck with 2 tour companies - one in BKK and one in Siem Reap. Both are small (BKK is a husband and wife operation - they also have a small staff of guides. Siem Reap is a one person photography operation).

BKK is BKK Tours, operated by Michiel and Air. We had a party of 3 and Air took us touring around both BKK and Ayuthaya. Air managed to time our tours so we missed a lot of the bad crowd situations - we visited the major temples as well as some back streets in Chinatown. We were very well cared for, and the tour was tailored to our style.

Siem Reap (and other areas of Cambodia) is Eric DeVries (or Eric D. Vries - he goes by both). Eric is Dutch, and has lived in Cambodia for 6 or so years. He is an outstanding photographer and teacher, and was great at getting us to the various temples in Siem Reap (again, missing a lot of the crowds - we reached Angkor Wat at about 5AM - Eric took us to a great vantage point away from the crowds - and there were a LOT Of crowds! Our only company was a horse and a rooster). We also spent a day in the countryside and floating village - he has his own tuk tuk driver and the places we visited had absolutely NO tourists at all. That was a truly remarkable experience!

BKK will provide an expert photographer as your guide if you want to do a photography tour (we didn't). Eric DeVries is the photo expert and is great at adapting his style to your ability (I'm a beginner, my sig other is an expert, and we both got great tips).

Both tours were very reasonably priced, both included really good local lunches and both operators were just the nicest people!

If you're interested in learning more, they both have Facebook pages and have terrific TripAdvisor reviews.

Have fun traveling!!

[Strong Eagle]

Some great ideas here guys...

Can you recommend any agents for me to travel with or tours?

Thanks

Let me tell you what you will get if you approach a travel agent wanting an inexpensive travel package. Before planning my own trip to Beijing and the region, I contacted two or three travel agencies.

a) You will fly out on a 1 or 2 AM red eye flight to arrive at your destination early in the morning so you can jam pack in events and things to see.

b) After clearing customs, your luggage goes to a hotel but you get on a bus to go sight seeing. One agent proposed that, on day one, I would see no fewer than 8 sites in Beijing... on the bus... to a site... 15 minutes of milling about... on the bus... next stop.

c) Your "tour" ends at 5 or 6 PM... if you're not entirely exhausted from the flight, you are dead ass tired from running without stopping all day. And Lynx is exactly right... the choice of restaurants, souvenir shops, and even the "sights" that you will see are based solely upon the kickbacks that the agency can arrange. Going to see Tienanmen Square? You can bet the restaurant you eat at wasn't chosen for its gourmet fare.

d) When you get to your hotel, you discover that it is at best, a two star joint, away from any interesting shopping or eating places. Clean up and go eat in a second rate hotel restaurant.

e) Do this for three or more days, then catch a flight that brings you back to Singapore at 2 in the morning.

For most travel agencies, the key is quantity, not quality... see 50 things in 3 days... but never really see anything else at all.