My girlfriend and I are planning an 11 week trip around South East Asia

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Thu Sep 01, 2022 4:57 pm

Hi everyone, my Girlfriend and I are planning an 11 week trip around South East Asia starting mid November. Since it will be our first time backpacking, we were hoping to share our itinerary with experienced travelers and hear your thoughts and advice.

(Estimating a 1 day journey between each destination)

Kuala Lumpur - 4 days

Bukit Lawang (Conservation Volunteering) - 7 days

Cameron Highlands - 4 days

Penang - 4 days

Pulau Langkawi - 4 days

Ko Lipe - 4 days

Krabi - 4 days

Bangkok - 4 days

Siem Reap - 7 days (Christmas Eve until New Years Eve)

Phnom Penh - 2 days (starting New Year's Day)

Ho Chi Minh City - 2 days

Hoi An - 4 days

Phong Nha Ke Bang National Park - 3 days

Hanoi - 4 days

Ha Long Bay - 4 Days

We're likely to be in either Hanoi or Ha Long Bay during Tet (Vietnamese New Year), and our budget is around £4,500-£5000 each (not including flights) Is this a realistic itinerary and budget if we stick to hostels and street food as much as possible?

How far in advance should we book activities and accommodation around Christmas, New Year's and Tet?

How difficult is it to travel and book things during peak season?

Will we burn ourselves out by travelling around so often?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated, cheers!

Sohaib · Post by **Sohaib** » Thu Sep 01, 2022 4:58 pm

Siem Reap 7 days seems to be a bit overkill. Very small place and nothing much to see other than temples

Peter · Post by **Peter** » Thu Sep 01, 2022 4:59 pm

Krabi (town) is a bit meh. Go to Ao Nang or Railay Beach.

Mandy · Post by **Mandy** » Thu Sep 01, 2022 4:59 pm

Also maybe 4 nights abit long for Bangkok. (I only needed one day) in saying that if your into the bar and club scene then maybe?

Nikki · Post by **Nikki** » Thu Sep 01, 2022 5:00 pm

Welcome to the forum.. It's good to have a rough idea of where you plan to travel and then once you're on the road, keep things open to change. For example, you may plan 4 days in KL but get there and absolutely hate it and want to leave immediately. Vice versa you might get to Krabi and decide you want just a few extra days on the beach... such is the beauty of backpacking! You get to decide what to do and when and be spontaneous! For this reason, I'd recommend only booking the first few nights of your trip (a hostel in KL) and then leaving the rest open. However, for Christmas, New Year and Tet, I would have somewhere in mind that you want to go and book at least a month in advance as places get busy around holidays and festivals.

Your budget sounds good and should allow you to do some not-to-be-missed activities like diving, for example.
I'll tag you in the pinned post at the top of this group with some more resources for first-time SEA travellers which you may find useful! All the best to you both!

Batman · Post by **Batman** » Sun Jan 01, 2023 3:06 pm