[DanMitch]

I've just booked up my travelling trip with my two best mates, ready to leave August 2010. The itinery is as follows:

London to Bangkok
We'll travel down through Malaysia, visit Laos etc to Singapore
Singapore to Cairns, hire a camper van and travel down to Sydney
Sydney to Auckland
Auckland to L.A.
L.A. to New York
New York to London

I'm 21 years old, have 4 AS grades, a HNC in Construction and have worked for 3 years as a Quantity Surveyor. I am currently applying for deferred entry to Universities for 2011 to study Law. Just wondering what you guys thought about that and how you rate my chances of getting into a good University.

As a mature student with good working experience and a good HNC full of Units on Legislation, I was hoping they would be good.

[Ewan]

Do you mean Malaysia > Thailand > Laos > Cambodia > Thailand > Malaysia > Singapore?

[DanMitch]

Apologies your right, we fly into Thailand, travel to Laos but as it stands we are not visiting Cambodia, although I have to thank you for pointing that out as we're looking into it now. Then through Thailand and fly from Malaysia.

The Logistics haven't been organised other than our flights at the moment. Have you ever been/done anything like this? Any advice or hidden gems you can point out if you have?

[lordbonney]

I did pretty much the same trip as that. I'd definitely go to Cambodia and Laos. Ankor Wat is stunning, and Phnom Penh is depressing as hell, but one of the best history lessons you'll ever have. Probably give LA a miss, spend a day or two there, then get the bus or a flight to San Francisco, in my opinion that was much nicer.

How long have you got to do the entire trip?

[DanMitch]

Originally Posted by lordbonney

I did pretty much the same trip as that. I'd definitely go to Cambodia and Laos. Ankor Wat is stunning, and Phnom Penh is depressing as hell, but one of the best history lessons you'll ever have. Probably give LA a miss, spend a day or two there, then get the bus or a flight to San Francisco, in my opinion that was much nicer.

How long have you got to do the entire trip?

Great, i've checked out the places you've mention in Cambodia and they look amazing. We're 100% going there now. I've also found a place called Sihanoukville, which is meant to have lovely beaches, have you been there?

I have a year to travel and haven't decided how long we're spending in different places, although we aim to spend only a month in South-East Asia. Lots do in such a small time.

Any other gems you found whilst away?

[lordbonney]

Originally Posted by DanMitch

Great, i've checked out the places you've mention in Cambodia and they look amazing. We're 100% going there now. I've also found a place called Sihanoukville, which is meant to have lovely beaches, have you been there?

I have a year to travel and haven't decided how long we're spending in different places, although we aim to spend only a month in South-East Asia. Lots do in such a small time.

Any other gems you found whilst away?

Yeah I love Sihanoukville. The best beaches are found by getting a boat for the day out to the islands nearby. Most guesthouses will sort that out for you (Monkey Republic is a good guesthouse there) Also theres a cool cinema there with sofas, air con, and you can bring your own drink in!

Depending on your viewpoint Vang Vieng in Laos is either heaven or hell. The rest of Laos is awesome for trekking and relaxing. At the minute its still not that touristy compared to Thailand or Cambodia, but thats changing rapidly, so if you're up for seeing 'real' Asia then north Laos is meant to be the best. Sadly I never got further north than VV.

I also really like Kuala Lumpur for some reason? I cant really explain it, but it just had something that I really liked. Montreal also had that, hard to explain why, but I just really enjoyed my time there.

If you've only got a month in SE Asia narrow yourself down to 3 countries max, 1 or 2 if you can, as once you're out there you'll realise that a month really isnt that much time. Check out http://www.travelfish.org/ for SE Asia stuff - its awesome.

[DanMitch]

Thats some great advice, thank you. We would love to spend longer in SE Asia but one of my friends is only travelling for two months and would like to spend some time in Australia. Understandable but frustrating.

I'm going to spend some time today scrolling through that website, hopefully find some very useful information.

Did you make it the the Full Moon Party? That's something i'm very excited about

[Ewan]

I'd advise you to have a read about Singapore too. Awesome place, and probably the best place in SEA for food (at least for me). Don't miss the central plains of Thailand: Ayutthaya, Phitsanulok, Sukhothai, Lopburi.

[DanMitch]

Originally Posted by Ewan

I'd advise you to have a read about Singapore too. Awesome place, and probably the best place in SEA for food (at least for me). Don't miss the central plains of Thailand: Ayutthaya, Phitsanulok, Sukhothai, Lopburi.

We've decided to increase the time we spend in SE Asia to 2 months now which means we can visit a few more places. I haven't really looked at Singapore so thanks for the suggestions.

I hear it's far cheaper in SE Asia than any where else. What did you spend on average? I hear around $20/25 per day