TL;DR of my SE Asia trip

"gin-san - shitpost specialist" (gin-san-)
04/27/2019 at 07:40 • Filed to: TRAVELOPNIK

Vietnam - I’d say my favourite. I’m still waiting to receive a custom suit I had tailored, the cost was exceptionally low and the experience great. The food is incredible and also cheap.

Thailand - surprisingly expensive (relative to Vietnam). I want to a bunch of islands and they are extremely touristy and the prices are raised to match that. Bangkok can be cheap or expensive depending on where you look, but if you ever want to visit here you have to go during Songkran. It’s an incredible city-wide water fight, something I’d only dreamed of as a kid.

Angkor Wat - it’s beautiful but a lot of the ruins start to look pretty similar, and it’s deathly hot (we were typically in 40+ degree weather). If I had to do it again, I’d have spent less time here. Despite using the US dollar, it’s still a cheap place overall.

Singapore - it’s a modern marvel of a city. I love how well put together the place is; many will say it’s expensive, but coming from Canada I still think it’s cheaper for things like food whereas I find their price on beer to be far too high (some cans of beer going for $7+ at corner stores). With our respective currencies at parity I don’t think it’s nearly as expensive as most people say it is, with the exception of finding somewhere to stay which was easily the most expensive part.

I’d easily go back to Vietnam and Bangkok. Singapore is a place I’d like to visit if I had a lot more money to spend.

P.S. I did not get any food-related shits, any gastro issues were completely self-inflicted with my extremely high beer consumption rate during this trip.

DISCUSSION (6)

vondon302 > gin-san - shitpost specialist
04/27/2019 at 08:09

V ietnam is on my bucket list.

Sounds like a helluva trip!

Your boy, BJR > gin-san - shitpost specialist
04/27/2019 at 10:23

my Dad hit SE Asia during his last world tour and loved it so much he moved to Kuala Lumpur. He went to Phucket for a couple of days last week and tortured me with pics of how beautiful it is. I’m planning on visiting him this winter.

BaconSandwich is tasty. > gin-san - shitpost specialist
04/27/2019 at 11:38

I really liked Cambodia. I spent a week in Battambang helping out at an orphanage. The people in Cambodia were way more humble than the Thai people.

Snuze: Needs another Swede > gin-san - shitpost specialist
04/27/2019 at 12:20

I went to Thailand back in November for vacation. My wife and I flew into Bangkok and spent 1 night there, so we only got to see a bit of the city but it was pretty cool.

The next day we met my Sister and Brother-in-law at the airport and flew to Phuket for 5 days. We stayed in a resort and it was exactly like all my other resort experiences - the room price is cheap but EVERYTHING is an extra expense, and it’s expensive compared to going out on the town. So we just avoided resort stuff and planned our own adventures out in town. My BIL and I went scuba diving a couple days, and then we all went to an elephant sanctuary.

We then flew up to Chaing Mai for 4 days where we stayed in an Air BnB. It was awesome, the food was amazing and cheap - one day all 4 of us ate lunch at a kow soi joint for $6 including tip and it was incredible. I also got to eat at the Cow Girl’s pork leg stand. Amazing! T he shopping was fun and cheap, the temples were beautiful, and we were there during Loi Krathong/ Yi Peng for the lantern festival. It was the sketchiest holiday celebration I have ever seen and I loved it! Flaming lantern everywhere, getting caught in trees and almost falling on people and cars. It was madness, but I’m glad I got to experience it.

So yeah, I’d kind of leave the islands - been there, done that. Next time I’d like to spend a little more time in Bangkok, Ankor Wat is on my list, and I’d like to visit Vietnam as well. If you ever go back that way check out Chiang Mai.

Thank you for the write up and sharing your thoughts. Glad you had fun.

Snuze: Needs another Swede > Your boy, BJR
04/27/2019 at 12:22

Phuket is fun, the diving is really incredible, though it’s kind of resorty/touristy. I wasn’t clear from what you said, are you going to Kuala Lumpur, or Phuket? I f you’re going to Phuket I can point you to a travel blog that my friend/coworker writes (wrote? it’s a crazy story ) that has some good info.

Your boy, BJR > Snuze: Needs another Swede
04/27/2019 at 18:59

KL, but I’m sure a phucket trip while there won’t be out of the equation