Aaron Around The World >> Asia >> Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia (Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia, Malaysia, and Singapore) (28 September - 9 December 2011)
This is all the fun and games, trials and tribulations, shits and giggles etc. of Kristina and my two-and-a-half-month jaunt throughout Southeast Asia, and the beginning of our seven-month jaunt around the globe. Our route map and itinerary are below. We had originally planned to start in Bangkok, Thailand and follow an anti-clockwise loop through Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos, back down Thailand, and eventually flying into and finishing in Singapore (before flying out again to New Zealand - my home sweet home - in plenty of time for Christmas). Due to the severe and persistent flooding throughout the region at the time however, we were forced to immediately change those plans. Our route out of Bangkok was not possible, nor was our route through Cambodia or Vietnam - too much water in the way. We therefore had to fly out of Bangkok, do the loop in the opposite direction, and skip a few planned destinations along the way. We later decided to spend the time we would have otherwise spent in those skipped destinations by adding Malaysia into the mix.
Click here to start at the start with our 30-hour transit from Kristina's home in San Antonio, Texas via Hollywood, Beijing (and Kristina's weird foot incident), and finally into Bangkok, or click a link below to skip ahead to the good bits. Alternatively, if you can't be bothered with that, then check out the movie Kristina spent countless hours putting together about the entire trip here (it's about an hour long).
Wasn't that fun kids! All up we were on the road for 73 days, took in 22 destinations across six countries, and covered an estimated 13,000kms (derived by using this website). For any American viewers out there, that's close to 7,000 miles or approximately the distance from New York to Seattle, to Los Angeles, to Miami, and back to New York. Phew! Needless to say, we're both pretty exhausted and are looking forward to some down time in New Zealand. Furthermore, my return to Singapore after first going there in 2009 marked my first circumnavigation of the world :) Despite the constant threat of the floods further messing up our plans, we didn't even so much as see any water on the ground. Be that as it may, they claimed over 1,000 lives and destroyed over a million homes. And despite originally being a bit pissed about their forcing us to skip a number of destinations, I think it was probably a blessing in disguise since it allowed us to include Malaysia in the trip which proved to be very worthwhile.
Despite the length of this trip, never at any stage did we find ourselves getting bored of Southeast Asia. Each country, although sharing many similarities, is very unique in its own way. Thailand has some of Southeast Asia's most stunning beaches, one of the most vibrant and bustling cities in Bangkok, some awesome landscapes, and a bit of sleaze and dodgy'ness mixed in. Laos is one of the poorest countries on the planet, and also one of it's most beautiful in terms of its scenery. Although much of this region has a war-torn past, Vietnam in particular has had a rough century and that history is evident absolutely everywhere. Be that as it may, it has a very onwards-and-upwards attitude, and is extremely diverse from north to south making it a fantastic country in which to be a tourist. Cambodia proved to be a surprise to us both. Another one with a terrible recent history that includes the genocide of 1.7 million people, and another one with the most amazing natural beauty made all the more intriguing by the countless little village communities dotted everywhere you look. The part of Malaysia that we saw (on the Southeast Asia peninsula as opposed to Borneo), while still having a very Asian atmosphere to it, feels very much like a crossroad between the Asian and Western worlds. Singapore takes that a step further, and in stark contrast to the others is one of the wealthiest countries in the world. Some of the more obvious similarities between all of the countries include the diverse cuisine and their absolute love for it; the deeply-rooted religions and the little religious shrines in some most unlikely places: the roadside, noodle shops, trees, car dashboards, you name it; their generous hospitality and friendliness towards us weird and unruly tourists; the plentiful food markets and bullshit markets (as I like to call them) selling mostly, well, bullshit but there are some pretty cool finds to be, well, found also; the chaos of the big cities where scooters rule the road and the only thing louder than the congested traffic itself are the car horns; the charm of the small towns and villages which can make it hard to move on; the vast array of smells that suddenly hit you while you're walking down the street (some good, some really not); the constantly hot and humid weather in which nothing dries; and above all the ease with which a backpacker can traverse this incredible chunck of land and immerse themselves in its fusion of cultures.
As with most any trip of this type, it can be as cheap or as expensive as you want it to be. Southeast Asia has a reputation for being a cheap destination and on the whole it is, but it is easy to fork out just as much here as you would back home or anywhere else if you don't pay attention to how you're spending your money. A good example is accommodation. Hotels, guesthouses and hostels are plentiful and if you're willing to stay somewhere 'adequate' then there are some dirt-cheap options. On the other hand, if you can't do without all the luxuries of home then you're going to pay for it. Transportation is another good example. Try an overnight bus rather than a plane - they're an adventure to remember if nothing else and they save you a night's accommodation. Take a tuk-tuk or scooter or cycle taxi or even the public bus from A to B - they're all absolutely everywhere and they're cheap, or better still just walk. Get off the beaten track and explore by hiring a bicycle or a scooter or even a tuk-tuk driver for the day rather than relying on public transportation to take you everywhere. I think we hired about a dozen scooters all up, each of them around US$6 per day - cheap as! Furthermore, learn to haggle! If the price isn't shown then it's up for haggling. Don't feel rude, and don't be taken in by the usual pleas of "Oh but it is little money to you" and "This is special price for you" and "This is good quality" (it's not) and "Little more money, little more". These people expect to be haggled - if you look hard enough you'll see the locals haggling with each other (but they're far better at it hehe). Haggling is part of the culture, so don't be shy or ashamed to do it - you'll look like more of an idiot if you don't. Whatever price they start with, you can usually get 'em down to half or even below if you're persistent and if you start to walk away. Anything you find in one market stall you'll often find in another, so if you can't get something for a price you deem to be fair and reasonable then simply try elsewhere; it's amazing how much the asking price can vary between vendors for exactly the same thing. A good trick I've learnt is to ask several vendors for their best price and make sure they know you're asking around - they'll try to undercut each other you can usually cut 'em down even further. Again, this is all in aid of making the most of just how cheap a destination such as Southeast Asia can be, and furthermore the haggle can be bloody fun - I for one love it ;)
Despite the countless positives of touring this part of the world there are also a lot of gotchas, some of which we learnt (or almost learnt) the hard way. There are countless scams about, from taxis with dodgy meters or who don't use their meters at all (and overcharge tourists), to some dude claiming your chosen accommodation is full or even closed and you should instead stay in this one (for which they earn a commission), to some other dude befriending you and ultimately requesting money to help his cousin who just happens to be studying in your home country and has run out of funds hehe. The scams are as diverse as the countries themselves, and knowing some of the more prevalent ones in advance as well as learning how to spot others is your best defence. It can be hard to stop yourself from trusting this friendly local who, for all intents and purposes, appears to be trying to help you in some way, but unfortunately you need to constantly have your guard up. If something doesn't seem right, then 95% of the time it's not. I like to think I'm pretty good at spotting a potential scam, and I always trust my instincts as I think all travellers must. As such, while we've had a few things tried on us, we've fallen for none of them. Some folk will try anything to get as much of your money from you as possible, and their methods are not always by way of a scam. For example, one thing we did fall into was paying too much for what was essentially a customised package tour. On our very first day of the trip we learnt of the extent of the floods and learnt our plans as they stood at that stage were no longer possible. Our tuk-tuk driver for the day suggested we visit a tourist information office which obviously seemed like a logical suggestion. We walked in wanting information and guidance, but walked out several hundred dollars lighter after the agent we spoke with basically planned out our entire first week and a half to get us around the floods and we agreed to have her book everything on our behalf. That in highsight was a bad move - we were essentially sold a packaged tour which are always more expensive than organising everything yourself, but in the chaos of the moment (first day of multi-month trip, plans already in ruins etc.) we just simply went with what she was feeding us rather than listen to her advice and then go organise everything ourselves. If this had been even two or three weeks into the trip I think that's exactly what we would have done, but at the time we knew little about the inner workings of where we were and hence had little confidence to deal with this crap on our own given the situation. I worked out that we were charged about 25% more than what we could have paid had we organised that week or so on our own. We also later learnt that our tuk-tuk driver earns a commission for taking tourists to this particular tourist information office. You live and you learn, but at least this wasn't some sort of scam we stupidly fell for - everything this chick fed us proved to be legit and everything was booked and paid for as expected. Our only mistake was agreeing to pay the exorbitant price in order to have her take care of it all. These tourist information offices are everywhere, and in the big cities there are entire streets with little else on them hehe. They are incredibly helpful and we used them frequently for random information and to book our onward transport to our next destination (though often our hotels and guesthouses were able to take care of this for the same price). Something to be aware of is that unless you explicitly specify otherwise, you'll be booked on the flashest, most expensive bus on the route. Again, it's all about getting as much of your money from you as possible, so another good tip is to always ask whether there are other cheaper options available and what exactly each option entails. Other folks are more blatant about taking your cash - not via scams, not by withholding pertinent information about a cheaper bus, but by pick pocketing. We only encountered this once, and unfortunately it was children taught to do this but fortunately Kristina was on to them (I was elsewhere, and she was the isolated weakest link as they didn't try their shit with me). So they went away empty handed on this occasion, but we heard a lot of stories from others who were not so lucky. For example, theft during the night on the sleeper buses I mentioned is rife. Another chick had her purse snatched by a passing scooter, which is another common story. So, be alert to who is behind you and what they're doing (or carry your bag in front but that can be a pain), use luggage locks always whenever your bags are out of your sight (or you're sleeping in a public place such as those buses), and keep your stuff out of arms-reach of passing traffic. The other thing I do is stuff my wallet and other valuables that I'm carrying deep in my (large and congested) backpack. If someone does get in there without my knowing, the most valuable thing they'll likely get is my drink bottle which may also be why the aforementioned kids went away empty handed.
Other things to be aware of is that health and safety does not exist here, road rules are more like guidelines, there is a blatant attitude of environmental nonchalance (most evident by the litter everywhere and the filthy waterways), and on more than one occasion we witnessed a driver stop in the middle of the road (in the middle of traffic in one case) and take a piss on the roadside in full view of everybody hahaha! I should mention that we encountered none of the above in the western-feeling Malaysia and Singapore. The other thing I should definitely mention is that whether it be Southeast Asia, Europe, America, or even New Zealand, there is always bad shit out there looking to land on the lowly traveller. Be that as it may, nothing I've said should be any reason whatsoever to avoid a destination such as Southeast Asia - it is in fact just as safe and hospitable as anywhere else I've ever been to. This trip has been quite simply an experience of a lifetime, and as long as you keep your wits about you at all times, the only shit you're likely to encounter is good shit.
Anyway enough dribble, I'm going home now, literally :)
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