Anyone been to South East Asia?

[D. Gauss]

i'm going to Bangkok, Hanoi, Tai Pei, Cambodia (ankor wat,)and Bali soon. looking for suggestions/tips of places to visit/shop. anybody been to any of these places? let me know. wouldn't mind picking up some chinese mics.... and yeah, i've heard all the "they blew up bali" stories, and cheap thai girl whore stories already.... thanks -d. gauss

[myles_rose]

[quote]Originally posted by d gauss: [b]i'm going to Bangkok, Hanoi, Tai Pei, Cambodia (ankor wat,)and Bali soon. looking for suggestions/tips of places to visit/shop. anybody been to any of these places? let me know. wouldn't mind picking up some chinese mics.... and yeah, i've heard all the "they blew up bali" stories, and cheap thai girl whore stories already.... thanks -d. gauss[/b][/quote]Spent Jan 68 to Fen 69 there ..... Hot spots .... The Majectic Hotel in Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City these days). Wait until after 2am when there is an Officer's and Senator's party going on. By that time, they are all drunk and you can sneek in. The Cholon district ... off limits, but worth the risk. Bangkok .... The Shangri La Hotel dinner buffet ... don't let the hotels get you a riverboat ride ... too expensive ... ask a taxi driver to take you to a relative. This even worked a few years ago.

[Tedster]

[quote]Originally posted by d gauss: [b]i'm going to Bangkok, Hanoi, Tai Pei, Cambodia (ankor wat,)and Bali soon. looking for suggestions/tips of places to visit/shop. anybody been to any of these places? let me know. wouldn't mind picking up some chinese mics.... and yeah, i've heard all the "they blew up bali" stories, and cheap thai girl whore stories already.... thanks -d. gauss[/b][/quote]Man, I'm jealous. The Temples of Angkor Wat and Angkor Thom are on high on my "Want to see before I die" list...and now that Cambodia doesn't seem as risky to go to, I'd like to go.

[Kendrix]

I lived in japan for 5 years and traveled extensively through asia while there. Bali, Thailand, parts of China, Singapore, Malasia. Bali and Thailand are my favorites- Great, warm happy people everwhere. In Thailand dont just visit Bangkok. Go up north. Visit the various hill tribes. There is a working elephant camp north of Chaing Mai thats a must see. Chang mai is the city to say in. Rent a car/driver for a day trip up north from there. Awesome. Dont bother with Phuket island IMHO. It lacks the flavor of the rest of Thailand - nice beaches but not allot else there. Bali was great. Go to a funeral there if you get the chance. Hindu cremations are amazing events. The people are so friendly they dont mind your presence. This was one of the all-time highlights of my traveling experiences. In bali I stayed on the opposite side of the island from Kuta beach where the bombs went off. Its more serene. Tadung Sari was the name of the place we stayed. Really peaceful.. Order some black rice pudding. My sons still asks for this treat. Rumor had it that, near Kuta beach, is a cafe called Mignight Oil that serves a "special mushroom" omlet that will literally blow your mind. I was with family and did not sample it. The town of Ubud is an artist colony that is a great place to spend some time. Wild monkees live in an abandoned temple nearby. Go to Kuta beach and rent a surfboard. Man I could go on for hours. Have a great trip.

[KenElevenShadows]

If going to Thailand, I'd also say avoid Phuket. However, if you want to be around the beaches, consider going to the smaller islands, like Ko Phangan. They are lots of fun and are quite isolated. Railey Beach, near Krabi, is really good for learning to climb cliffs. I've also been to Burma. Ugly government, great people, great food. We met Aung San Suu Kyi and then got followed around by the military police for two heart-pounding days. http://www.elevenshadows.com/travels/burma.htm if you want to see lots of pictures of the Burma (and India) trip from a couple of years ago.

[Dan South]

[quote]Originally posted by myles111: [b] The Cholon district ... off limits, but worth the risk. [/b][/quote]Off limits?? What's up with that?

[Hanshananigan]

Definitely agree with yall about Phuket. I was in Ko Samui about 5 years ago and loved it. If you go to an island, rent a motorbike or something and go to a village off the beaten path for a lunch break. You don't have to go far to avoid the throngs of foreigners. Bankok lives up to the song. I'd recommend it, but be aware of the scams, etc. You can have some really amazing experiences among the wierdness. I went through Chang Mai and turned left to Mae Hong Son (spelling might be off...). Chang Mai is supposed to be a cool city, but I guess we were done with cities for a while at that point. Took a trek like they have in Chang Mai, but isn't as popular, so the hill tribes you stay with arent used to groups of foreigners coming through every other day. Visited a Burmese refugee camp on the border, which often saw border skirmishes. Check out books by Let's Go!, Lonely Planet, and the ilk, depending on how deep your wallet is. Definitely talk to the locals (repectively, of course), and have fun! :wave:

[D. Gauss]

keep it coming folks. lots of good tips. -d. gauss

[zenfreud]

Hey d., How long are you going for? I did some traveling over there and the Lonely Planet books do a first rate job of laying out the major points of interest, highly recommended. Personally, if I were going to Thailand I would definitley make time to see parts of Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos. Visiting the northern regions of those countries is amazing, people still living off the land like they did 500 years ago. And, if you like the bustle of cities, Saigon is great, far more interesting than Bangkok in my opinion.

[george costanza]

Don't fail to record the "Monkey Chant" ceremony (can't recall the right name). "Chak,chak,chak,chak,[i]chak,chak,chak,chak,CAHK,CHAK,CHAK,CHAK,[b]CHAK,CHAK,CHAK,CHAK---AA[/b]AA[/i]AA[i]aa[/i]aah!"

[Dak Lander]

Yep, but the joints I went to probably aren't there any more. They weren't necessarily the most wholesome venues, if you get my drift. I loved Bangkok, Kaoshung, Tai Pei & other nefarious places in the Far East but can't make any recommendations.

[KenElevenShadows]

Random responses. I usually travel with Lonely Planet and have good luck with that. I also really like Footprints. Rough Guide ain't too bad -- it's possible to get around with that. It's also important to talk to locals and other travelers and get their perspective on cool things to see and do that may not be included in travel guides. I know that Lonely Planet purposely does not put some stuff in there because they don't want tourists trampling all over the place. I've gotten to a LOT of places that were outside of the guidebooks that were at least as interesting -- sometimes more - by hanging out with the locals and keeping my ear to the ground. I'm an avid traveler, and have a lot of my travel photos on my web site, if you are interested - including Thailand: http://www.elevenshadows.com/travels/index.htm Thailand: http://www.elevenshadows.com/travels/thailand.htm There's some photos of Bangkok on the last part of this trip as well: http://www.elevenshadows.com/travels/burma.htm ----- Regarding Ko Samui, if you do go there, you can get away from the crowds by going into the interior, although a lot of the travelers have discovered the waterfalls already. Bo Phut is much quieter. Of course, there's a reason: the water is muddier. However, it's quiet and charming, nevertheless. Ko Samui is a bit built up. If you want quieter places, perhaps you could consider Ko Phangan and some other islands. I really liked The Sanctuary at Ko Phangan. MISTAKE: Railey Beach near Krabi has the rock climbing, and NOT Hat Rin. I don't know why I wrote that last time. Brain fart. Hat Rin is known for the Full Moon Raves on the beach, which is fun, too. Check out the pictures on my web site if you are so inclined. It's my Virtual Photo Album, and you are welcome to flip through its pages!!

[Saih Pitu]

[quote]Originally posted by george costanza: [b]Don't fail to record the "Monkey Chant" ceremony (can't recall the right name). [/b][/quote]Its called Kecak, the village of Bona does tourist shows 2 or 3 times a week plus they were one of the first villages to perform it so that might be a good place to see it. If you are going there for the culture then Ubud is a good place to start. Lots of cheap and decent "homestays" plus lots of great music groups doing regular tourist shows in and around Ubud, very high quality. While you are there make friends with some of the locals, then find out when any of the local temples are having ceremonies. Make sure to go check it out to see what the real Bali is all about, if you are lucky you might see some pretty amazing stuff. Take care. - Loren

[Skip_dup1]

In Taipei, check out Sea Power music shop-it`s on Chunghsiao E. Road, not too far from the main railway station. It`s upstairs but it has a big yellow sign, and they usually have a monitor at street level that plays music videos and instructional tapes. Nice selection of guitars. In Phnom Penh, if you`re so inclined, you gotta check out Happy Herb`s pizza. It`s in the Lonely Planet guide and every word is true. The pizza is great and if you don`t have plans for the day, tell `em you want it `happy`. BTW, Cambodia is much safer than it has been-that doesn`t mean safe. In order to get from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap and check out the killing fields, Angkor Wat etc. you have to take one of two types of boats. I`ve been told the fishermen don`t like them cause they scare off the fish, and sometimes take potshots at the boats. The week before I was there, some soldiers decided to do some part-time work and highjacked one of the boats-put a gun to the captain`s head, put to shore and relieved the tourists of their valuables and backpacks. I got shaken down by soem cops cause they insisted that the olive drab hat I was wearing was off-limits for civilians-even though I bought it at an open market.

[ricko]

Samui's good for a laugh...see the boy-girls etc, and it's the place to get the ferry over to Phangan, my favourite island on the planet, where you can see local kickboxing tournements (from 5yo to 30 yo's), crazy Bullock fights ( the one I saw resulted in one of them breaking free and running down the main street of Haad Rin!) and, of course, the Full Moon parties. Thailand rocks. Also, be very wary travelling north from Bangkok to Chaing Mai, etc. Always have your wits about you, because the Thai/Burma conflict is still very much active. As for Bali, it's obvious that's it's considerably more dangerous now, with Westerners a target for Mouslim extremeists. (Also, pissed Aussies can sour the place...hey, I'm Australian, but travelling Footy Teams can give us a bad rep) Cheers Rick

[patrick_dont_fret]

Hmmm, I've never personally been there, but my girlfriend is Vietnamese (a legalised citizen), but I'm not too sure what part. I'd love to go there with her sometime. Of course, I'd love to go anywhere with her, so what the hell.