Which region of asia for 3 months travel?

[derf]

If you go to the north or south pole you should definitely manage to avoid the tourists.

Same goes for north korea, saudi arabia.

Fucking hell man, what is wrong with tourists? If you don't like them don't talk to them. Plenty of space for everyone. If you want peace and quite then go looking for it.

It's not the tourists that are the problem but the industry that builds up around them. To stick to the guide books means that you always end up doing the same as a million people before you and never see the real country but just a reflection of it build for foreigners. That's fine if you just want to end up in bars and eating in places aimed at tourists but if you want to see the real country you have to toss lonely planet in the bin, buy a map and get a little wild.
Those that go up to the skybridge on the twin towers, wander into the beach club on staurday night and claim to have seem malaysia have missed out on so much. The OP said 3 months travel. Starting there seems like a good move but getting away after a few days is a better one.

Learn how to say a few words in whatever local language and get out of the tourist traps.
The best words are hello, thank you and goodbye. Handy to know how to say eat and drink as well but never forget to learn how to say toilet. The latter may save you messy trousers.

 

[Belushi]

Then i have it on good recommendation you should be getting to oman.

I also know that in nor-war times lebanon is a treat, but i'm not sure what state it is in now.

Seriously man, you can't be worried about what ignorant fuckers think about your holiday choices? Like i said earlier, i really enjoy telling people in england every time i get back there that i live in thailand. I like the inward whooosh you know is their first reaction, then i set about dispelling all the stupid myths.

Yeah, Oman looks fascinating,

I aint worried about what people think! it was a (poor) joke!

 

[derf]

Oh dear, he we go. If you're fat and/or ugly you're not allowed a shag?? Why are you denying them their pleasures?

And why can't they 'get a shag' there? That would appear to be very commonplace in britain judging by its sex industry.

I'm denying fat ugly blokes anything at all but women tend do do so without prompting from me.
They can usually get laid in asia for a few quid but it's not my cup of tea thanks. It's a sad fact that there is an element of men that go to asia for that reason but I'm sure most don't.

 

[jbob]

If you go to the north or south pole you should definitely manage to avoid the tourists.

Same goes for north korea, saudi arabia.

Fucking hell man, what is wrong with tourists? If you don't like them don't talk to them. Plenty of space for everyone. If you want peace and quite then go looking for it.

Apparentely some tourists are not 'tourists'. They exist in a parallel universe exempt from the influence of other people who are non-resident in the countries they are visiting for short periods of time.

My tip for avoiding 'tourists' in Bangkok: walk 5 minutes in any direction away from Khao San Road/Grand Palace area. Or get on a river taxi and go three stops in either direction. If you go to Sukumvit, go beyond soi 8/9. It's that easy.

 

[Idaho]

I would go to India/Nepal definately. Laos is fairly dull other than for drug tourism. Thailand has been banana pancake land for 15 years at least. Even before that it never really interested me. Indonesia is massive and diverse and very interesting. Japan and Korea are much more expensive and despite the bizzare comment that they are 'not backpacker places' are much more interesting that Laos.

 

[fela fan]

It's not the tourists that are the problem but the industry that builds up around them. To stick to the guide books means that you always end up doing the same as a million people before you and never see the real country but just a reflection of it build for foreigners. That's fine if you just want to end up in bars and eating in places aimed at tourists but if you want to see the real country you have to toss lonely planet in the bin, buy a map and get a little wild.
Those that go up to the skybridge on the twin towers, wander into the beach club on staurday night and claim to have seem malaysia have missed out on so much. The OP said 3 months travel. Starting there seems like a good move but getting away after a few days is a better one.

Learn how to say a few words in whatever local language and get out of the tourist traps.
The best words are hello, thank you and goodbye. Handy to know how to say eat and drink as well but never forget to learn how to say toilet. The latter may save you messy trousers.

I don't really have any arguments with all your advice here mate, but i find a dismissal of tourists a bit much to stomach. Tourists naturally enough lead to a tourist industry. But all the while you are out there finding new places are you not pioneering the next build up of tourist industry?

In my wee opinion it is good to do stuff where tourists do it, and to get off the beaten track too. I love doing the latter by renting a motobike or mountain bike and just following any old road...

I live in a town where i meet local thais, non-local thais (it's a popular place to live), tourists (suitcases, hotels), travelllers (backpacks, guest houses), and westerners who live here like myself. It's a great place in large part because of this diverse make up of people.

Some of the very best places i've been to off the tourist trail are because i was having a drink or a smoke with a tourist who told me about it...

Mix it up mate, you know cocktails are more interesting than just the whisky.

 

[fela fan]

Yeah, Oman looks fascinating,

I aint worried about what people think! it was a (poor) joke!

Now you say that i can see it, but i'm not very good at detecting jokes.

 

[jbob]

I would go to India/Nepal definately. Laos is fairly dull other than for drug tourism. Thailand has been banana pancake land for 15 years at least. Even before that it never really interested me. Indonesia is massive and diverse and very interesting. Japan and Korea are much more expensive and despite the bizzare comment that they are 'not backpacker places' are much more interesting that Laos.

I said that because they're incomparable in terms of cost with SE Asia/India.

 

[Idaho]

Yes they are more expensive. But there is a very good possibility of earning good money while you are there. Good enough to keep you on the road for much longer. And if you like cities, then Osaka or Tokyo are amazing places to live.

 

[tastebud]

where abouts in thailand do you live btw fela?

 

[JTG]

I like most of south east asia but the best bits are not in lonely planet/rough guide.
Don't go to the areas where all the tourists go and you will have a far better time and learn a lot more as well.

yeah, kid yourself that you're not a tourist and you'll be fine

 

[Lea]

I'd say that East Asia (China etc) is the most difficult place to travel as people don't often speak English so thus the most challenging area of travel. Having said that the two other regions are great places to travel in as well.

 

[Idaho]

I really reccommend Didcot. Never get any tourists there.

 

[jbob]

I think if I was visiting England for the first time, I'd make sure I didn't go to places like London, The Lake District, Stratford-Upon-Avon, Brighton, Cornwall, and all those other places full of gormless, guidebook clutching 'mainstream' parasites.

 

[derf]

yeah, kid yourself that you're not a tourist and you'll be fine

Ex tourist please. I'm going out there to live long term/forever in a few weeks.
When I've done the upstairs rooms you can pop in and stay a couple of days if you like.
No tourists about and no bars for miles. Come to think about it no bugger speaks english so get your adventurer head on if you pop over.

 

[Idaho]

I think if I was visiting England for the first time, I'd make sure I didn't go to places like London, The Lake District, Stratford-Upon-Avon, Brighton, Cornwall, and all those other places full of gormless, guidebook clutching 'mainstream' parasites.

Yeah I would go for the Rhondda valley, Newcastle-under-lyme, Darlington and Suffolk. Perhaps a side journey north of the border to take in Dundee and Falkirk.

 

[jbob]

Yeah I would go for the Rhondda valley, Newcastle-under-lyme, Darlington and Suffolk. Perhaps a side journey north of the border to take in Dundee and Falkirk.

What about Northampton?

 

[jastared]

thanks for the responses.

Hmm I'm definatley leaning more towards away SE Asia now.

I'd love to see India but am happy enough to leave that for another trip.

The next problem i'll have with SEA is narrowing it down to countrys for my 12 weeks.. I guess Thailand / Mayla / Singapore/ Indoniesia would be streaching it a bit, and ive now heard so many good things about Laos...

Yes backpackers are tourists too, but nothing wrong with getting away from the beaten track and away from other tourists. The comment that you are just beating a track for someone else is rather silly, sure you are sometimes but not very often.

Yes Japan / S.Korea are more expensive but are small enough to only need a few weeks.

Though my original instinct was to see China, I guess it's one of those places thats changing so quickly I'd rather not leave it to long to see. I like the idea of seeing the east coast cities then ferrying over to Japan for a couple of weeks then coming back via Qingdao, see Bejing then head out to the wilderness (eg: Gansu, Qinghai, Far West Sichuain, Guizhou)

If only Bhutan was cheaper.

 

[derf]

The next problem i'll have with SEA is narrowing it down to countrys for my 12 weeks.. I guess Thailand / Mayla / Singapore/ Indoniesia would be streaching it a bit, and ive now heard so many good things about Laos..

KL is still a good place to start as it's so easy to get around and there is easy transport on air asia to almost any country in the region.
Very cheap to pre book flights on the net using a credit card.
I'll PM some ideas to you to start you off if you wish. Thailand is an interesting place where the tourists aren't. The places they go are just all bars and prossers. Indonesia is great fun but you will find that far fewer people speak english but they are very friendly.
In three months you can see a fair bit and should have no problem getting to all of your list of countries.
I don't know if you're into drugs or not but don't over there. They take it very seriously.

 

[JTG]

Yes backpackers are tourists too, but nothing wrong with getting away from the beaten track and away from other tourists. The comment that you are just beating a track for someone else is rather silly, sure you are sometimes but not very often.

no really, you are.

 

[jbob]

thanks for the responses.

Hmm I'm definatley leaning more towards away SE Asia now.

I'd love to see India but am happy enough to leave that for another trip.

The next problem i'll have with SEA is narrowing it down to countrys for my 12 weeks.. I guess Thailand / Mayla / Singapore/ Indoniesia would be streaching it a bit, and ive now heard so many good things about Laos...

(

Seriously, I'd start in Thailand and and take it from there. It's fairly straightforward to go to Malaysia from there, if that's what you want, but Singapore and Indonesia is stretching it. IMO, Singapore is fairly lame (and expensive), and Indonesia is so vast that you'd be better off doing the whole 3 months there. Starting in Thailand, you can fairly easily incorporate Laos and Cambodia, with Vietnam if you have the time. My main tip would be: don't rush. Don't try and tick off boxes; you'll have an utterly rushed and unfulfilling experience if you do.

 

[fela fan]

where abouts in thailand do you live btw fela?

Chiang Mai now, before that i had a most wonderful time in bangkok in the 90s. But Chiang Mai is one great town to find yourself living in. It's in a valley surrounded by mountains. In a word i'd say the town is bohemian.

Highly recommended to everybody except derf coz he'll bump into some pesky tourists!

And then three hours or so away is pai, and then you're entering dreamland. But again, if you're derf, you could go the other direction to nan, only about one westerner in that town.

 

[Yossarian]

Seriously, I'd start in Thailand and and take it from there. It's fairly straightforward to go to Malaysia from there, if that's what you want, but Singapore and Indonesia is stretching it. IMO, Singapore is fairly lame (and expensive), and Indonesia is so vast that you'd be better off doing the whole 3 months there.

Yeah, it’d be easy to spend three months traveling in Indonesia and still only see a small fraction of the place – but I reckon anyone passing through Malaysia could do worse than taking a side trip to Sumatra for a couple of weeks, it’s dead easy to get to from Penang, and Lake Toba’s definitely worth a look…

 

[DrRingDing]

Go to Nepal.

Kathmandu is kicking off at the moment.

Interesting times indeed.

 

[Yossarian]

What's someone who's never been there before, doesn't know anyone there, and doesn't speak the language going to be able to contribute to the situation?

If going on holiday to see rioting is what people are after, they might as well save the airfare and head up to the Leeds festival for the Sunday night...

 

[fela fan]

Looking at your picture of the lake mate, and recalling my experiences, mostly in thailand, i reckon south east asia is so good that if money allowed it, i'd become a professional vagabond and spend the time roaming thailand, cambodia, indonesia, malaysia, vietnam, and possibly the phillippines.

Alternatively i'd just spend years in either north-west phangan, or in pai, both here in thailand.

 

[Minnie_the_Minx]

Fela - how's the Dengue Fever situation in Thailand now, is it getting worse by the week?

 

[zoltan]

Do the DPRK.

How much longer will it be there ?


last place without a KFC in the world - if you exclude Transnistria I suppose

 

[jastared]

Do the DPRK.

How much longer will it be there ?

Yeah last bastion of communism and all that..what china was like 20 years ago maybe. Would be good to see, but from what I hear - the goverment organised tours (the only way to get in) are somewhat limited so I'm not sure it would be worthwile.

last place without a KFC in the world - if you exclude Transnistria I suppose

I don't think Bhutan has anything in the way of fast food chains yet.

Intresting.. I didn't even know that a place called Transnistria exisited.

 

[fela fan]

Fela - how's the Dengue Fever situation in Thailand now, is it getting worse by the week?

I've no idea to be honest minnie. I had heard that it was around in chiang mai, but maybe they told me thailand in general, not sure. I only heard coz i got a fever last month and somebody mentioned dengue was around.

I think it's normal for the rainy season, but i guess being bitten by a dengue mosquito is akin to winning the lottery!