How to Plan a 4 Month Trip to Asia

I am planning on travelling to Asia for 4 months starting in April. I was
planning on flying to India and spending a month or so there. Afterwards, I
would like to fly to Thailand, then Vietnam, and then fly back to India for the
flight home. I wanted to pay in advance only for my flight to India, and then
handle all the other arrangements from there, so that I would not have to
commit to anything ahead of time. The other option, of course, is to arrange
some type of itinerary through a US travel agent. However, I thought that US
travel agents would force me into rigid, expensive plans. Is that right? Is
it easy (and inexpensive) to arrange airline flights within Asia once you're
already there?

Please let me know what you think the cheapest and most flexible plans
are to tour Asia. I know that I am asking a rather vague question, but
my plans are still rather vague. Thanks in advance for all of your
help.

Tal wrote:
I am planning on travelling to Asia for 4 months starting in April. I was
planning on flying to India and spending a month or so there. Afterwards,
I would like to fly to Thailand, then Vietnam, and then fly back to India
for the flight home. I wanted to pay in advance only for my flight to
India, and then handle all the other arrangements from there, so that I
would not have to commit to anything ahead of time. The other option, of
course, is to arrange some type of itinerary through a US travel agent.
However, I thought that US travel agents would force me into rigid,
expensive plans. Is that right? Is it easy (and inexpensive) to arrange
airline flights within Asia once you're already there?

India isn't such a great place to buy cheap tickets. Thailand is much
better. If you can get something USA-India-Bangkok-USA, you could try to buy
a cheap Vietnam ticket from Thailand, but honestly, I doubt it's worth the
trouble.

Instead, you should probably contact some multistop specialists, like
Airtreks or Airbrokers, and see what they can do. Normally they can get you
tickets with zero or very small fees for date changes. For an itinerary like
this they will do much better than conventional travel agencies (or web
sites). Some of the lame main-street travel agencies with Bahamas posters in
the window will try to persuade you to buy a round-the-world ticket, which
could cost as much as two times more than necessary.

www.airtreks.com
www.airbrokers.com

miguel
--
Hundreds of travel photos from around the world: http://travel.u.nu/

Tal wrote:

I am planning on travelling to Asia for 4 months starting in April. I was
planning on flying to India and spending a month or so there. Afterwards, I
would like to fly to Thailand, then Vietnam, and then fly back to India for the
flight home.

If this is your first trip to SE Asia, I'd recommend NOT beginning it in
India. That is not an 'easy' country for newcomers to this part of the
world. Entry via Thailand might be best for you as an introduction to SE
Asia, then progressing through Vietnam, Cambodia, Lao, and finish up
traveling around India. After the first month or two in Thailand and
Vietnam, you will be much more prepared to deal with the difficulties
that you 'may' encounter in India. Certainly you will have a better
understanding of how things are handled in this part of the world, and
perhaps resulting in a nicer trip for it all.

Steve Kramer
Chiang Mai, Thailand
http://www.photoenvisions.com

--
"The voyage of discovery lies not in seeking new horizons,
but in seeing with new eyes." - Marcel Proust

"Miguel Cruz" wrote in message
...
Tal wrote:
I am planning on travelling to Asia for 4 months starting in April. I
was
planning on flying to India and spending a month or so there.
Afterwards,
I would like to fly to Thailand, then Vietnam, and then fly back to
India
for the flight home. I wanted to pay in advance only for my flight to
India, and then handle all the other arrangements from there, so that I
would not have to commit to anything ahead of time. The other option,
of
course, is to arrange some type of itinerary through a US travel agent.
However, I thought that US travel agents would force me into rigid,
expensive plans. Is that right? Is it easy (and inexpensive) to
arrange
airline flights within Asia once you're already there?

India isn't such a great place to buy cheap tickets. Thailand is much
better. If you can get something USA-India-Bangkok-USA, you could try to
buy
a cheap Vietnam ticket from Thailand, but honestly, I doubt it's worth the
trouble.

I'd recommend traveling overland from Thailand to Vietnam. You need a
Vietnam visa, which can be gotten in Bangkok or Phnom Penh (cheaper in
Bangkok). The Cambodia visa can be obtained at the Cambodian border.

--
Peacenik

India isn't such a great place to buy cheap tickets. Thailand is much
better.


Another consideration would be that India would not be such a great
first destination if this will be the original poster's first trip.
Better to start in easy mellow Thailand and go to India later.

Kris

On Thu, 25 Dec 2003 10:38:41 +0100, Kris wrote:


India isn't such a great place to buy cheap tickets. Thailand is much
better.


Another consideration would be that India would not be such a great
first destination if this will be the original poster's first trip.
Better to start in easy mellow Thailand and go to India later.


Eh, of course the original poster did not say it is his first trip, so
my remark only applies in that case.

Kris

(Tal) wrote in message . com...
I am planning on travelling to Asia for 4 months starting in April. I was
planning on flying to India and spending a month or so there. Afterwards, I
would like to fly to Thailand, then Vietnam, and then fly back to India for the
flight home. I wanted to pay in advance only for my flight to India, and then
handle all the other arrangements from there, so that I would not have to
commit to anything ahead of time.

No one else mentioned weather, which should be your main
consideration. April-July encompasses hot and rainy seasons in much
of India and Southeast Asia. Even if you're not normally sensitive to
weather, keep in mind that it can be above 40C/100F for days at a
time, or pouring rain for days at a time, and either of those will
greatly diminish your experience. If you're set on India, Thailand,
and Vietnam, I would recommend going at a different time of year,
preferably late fall or winter. If this is the only time you can
travel, I would recommend a different part of the world.

The flights: Thailand and Vietnam are easily travelled overland, which
would allow you to include Laos and Cambodia, also rewarding
destinations in that region. If you'd rather fly, you can get a cheap
"open-jaw" ticket from Bangkok (US$200?) that flies into Hanoi and out
of Ho Chi Minh City, or vice versa. A round-trip from Bangkok to
Delhi or Mumbai would be about US$300. If you can get a cheap
round-trip to Bangkok, it might make sense to buy your flights there
as above, but otherwise you might get a better deal from an agent that
specializes in multistop travel, like airtreks.com or
trailfinders.co.uk

Kris wrote in
:


India isn't such a great place to buy cheap tickets. Thailand is much
better.


Another consideration would be that India would not be such a great
first destination if this will be the original poster's first trip.
Better to start in easy mellow Thailand and go to India later.

Kris

He could always start in easy mellow Goa, then go down to easy mellow
Kerala...

Multistop tickets are good, though. With just a few stops and then travel
by train (mostly) in each country it's less hassle and a lot of time saved.

/Tommy P.

Originally posted by Tal

I am planning on travelling to Asia for 4 months starting in
April. I was

planning on flying to India and spending a month or so there.
Afterwards, I

would like to fly to Thailand, then Vietnam, and then fly back to
India for the

flight home. I wanted to pay in advance only for my flight to India,
and then

handle all the other arrangements from there, so that I would
not have to

commit to anything ahead of time. The other option, of course, is
to arrange

some type of itinerary through a US travel agent. However, I
thought that US

travel agents would force me into rigid, expensive plans. Is that
right? Is

it easy (and inexpensive) to arrange airline flights within Asia
once you're

already there?



Please let me know what you think the cheapest and most flexible plans

are to tour Asia. I know that I am asking a rather vague
question, but

my plans are still rather vague. Thanks in advance for all of your

help.





Congrats on your decision to travel Asia. Asia is so wonderfully
diverse and you will have a trip of a lifetime.



If you plan to see South East Asia, I recommend you start your journey
in Singapore - a major hub and all airlines fly there. From Singapore,
make your way to see Peninsular Malaysia, stopping to see Johor,
Malacca, Ipoh before reaching Kuala Lumpur, the capital city. You can
do all these easily by bus. As a rough guide, a bus trip from Singapore
to Kuala Lumpur will take about 4-5 hours. From Kuala Lumpur, take the
train to the experience the rainforest, one of the oldest in the world.
The "jungle train" will take you to Taman Negara. A few days stay is
worthwhile.



Next stop is a tropical island getaway - Pulau Perhentian is a must go.
If you like diving or want to learn to dive, this is the perfect place
to start. Not only diving cost is the cheapest in the region, marine
diversity is tremendous.



Visit www.alualudivers.com for more info and drop them an
email if you have questions.



From here, you can take the bus/train to start your journey to Thailand.
In fact, traveling South East Asia is very doable overland and you'll
get the chance to see so much more for very little cash.



Check www.lonelyplanet.com thorn tree posts. There are a
wealth of info there to start you off.



Have a fun trip.


--
Posted via http://britishexpats.com

Also when in Singapore, don't miss the weekly public whippings of gays
at Chani Prison. However you must get tickets early as this is a
hughly popular event among the locals.


On Tue, 30 Dec 2003 10:44:05 +0000, alualu
wrote:

Congrats on your decision to travel Asia. Asia is so wonderfully
diverse and you will have a trip of a lifetime.



If you plan to see South East Asia, I recommend you start your journey
in Singapore -