Travel Backpacking Asia

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DrVanNostrand

DrVanNostrand

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Dec 14, 2011
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Hi guys, I'm heading off to Asia in three weeks for about three months. Have just finished six months going through New Zealand and the USA, so this will be a real change-up and I've never visited a third-world country. At the moment, the itinerary reads Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Guangzhou (China), Taiwan, South Korean, Japan and the Philippines.

Looked for a similar thread (a lot of the threads seem to be about Bali/Thailand/Vietnam), but nothing specific on a lot of these places. For anyone who's been, what did you like/would recommend/would avoid? With hostels and beer being pretty cheap in a lot of these places, I can afford to go nuts after paying a ridiculous amount for accommodation in America.

Anyone who's been to Asia, what did you do about vaccinations? My doc today said a flu shot, with Hep A and Typhoid would be enough. Although the only dodgy places in my plans would be Malaysia and Philippines so I should be fine provided I don't eat anything dodgy. Only going to the Philippines because I know a guy in Manila who wants to come along for a while and said I could use his apartment in the city centre for as long as I like while he's in the US :thumbsu:

Only concrete plan is to fly into Singapore, spend a week there, then head north into Malaysia on the ground and swing by a few places before spending another week in Kuala Lumpur. Will probably fly to Hong Kong from there and make it up as a go. Would love to head into China from HK, but not keen on getting stuffed around trying to get a visa.
 
Get Hep A and Hep B shots and you should be right
You can get Cina visa's at the Luohu and Huanggang borders ( 180 rmb for aussie passport) which are valid for Shenzhen only. Good option if you only want to do a day trip.
Also watch out, cos accomodation can be reasonably expensive, even for hostels (Especially in HKG and Singapore)
 

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Thanks for the replies, guys. Snagged a $199 flight to Singapore the other day, didn't know you could go anywhere other than NZ for that price :eek:

deathevocation said:
None of those countries are considered third world as far as I'm aware.
A couple of them are developing (in some areas, some areas not).
A couple of them are more advanced than us in some ways.
Enjoy.
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You're right there. I guess I should have rephrased and said "been nowhere were you can't drink the water".

szhengd said:
Get Hep A and Hep B shots and you should be right
You can get Cina visa's at the Luohu and Huanggang borders ( 180 rmb for aussie passport) which are valid for Shenzhen only. Good option if you only want to do a day trip.
Also watch out, cos accomodation can be reasonably expensive, even for hostels (Especially in HKG and Singapore)
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Considered Hep B, but don't want to spend a fortune on vaccines for things I can avoid provided I wrap myself up. Will look into getting the Chinese Visa in Hong Kong, if not, no biggie, a larger China trip can wait a few years. HK and Singapore hostels do look more expensive that the rest, but after paying upwards of $35 most nights in the US, it's not a huge deal. Most places I'm looking at (even in Singapore and HK) aren't any more than $AU18-20.

yaco55 said:
Hong Kong and Singapore are not backpacker destinations. They are pricy ! Have no idea why you are missing Indonesia ?
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I just want to see them, haha. I'm not huge on "touristy" things, I just like exploring new cities, even if they are just massive transit hubs. Indonesia doesn't really interest me, especially as it's somewhere I'd just run into bogan Aussies on boys' trips. Got a mate who's working over there at the moment though, might have to stop in on the way back.
 
I'm interested in finding out what you are going to do in Singapore for a week? I'm heading over for the Grand Prix (4 days), I have had a hard time planning stuff to do. Most of the touristy things seem underwelming. Doesn't seem to be too much must see scenic or monument type things either. I don't want to shop much either.
 
Dee Won said:
I'm interested in finding out what you are going to do in Singapore for a week? I'm heading over for the Grand Prix (4 days), I have had a hard time planning stuff to do. Most of the touristy things seem underwelming. Doesn't seem to be too much must see scenic or monument type things either. I don't want to shop much either.
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Not really sure yet, although I better hurry up and decide. Apart from Marina Bay and Clarke Quay, nothing is really jumping out as a must see. But anywhere that is global and home to as many expats as Singapore is bound to be fun after dark. Meet other backpackers in hostels --> pub --> ??? ---> profit. Will be great to be somewhere the majority of other travellers aren't European.

Checked out TripAdviser today, BreakOut Games and the Cloud Forest Dome look like goers.
 
Singapore is OK for a few days. It's a good place to walk around and explore, especially little India, Little Arabia and Chinatown. The hawker centres are great for cheap and tasty food, and Clarke Quay, Robertson quay are good for drinking. For sights, there is the Changi museum, and the night safari, but probably not too much else. But it is a great place to explore for a few days. And it's also easy to get onto Malaysia from there.
There's also Sentosa, if you like that sort of thing....
 
Singapore is great for a first time in Asia, simply because its any easy way to start and barely Asian at all in some ways. Its not full of sights, but its a good place to start off with a few days just chilling and seeing what there is to see. Make sure you book accommodation ahead for Singapore, finding a hostel on arrival can be hard (and expensive) if you happe to hit a bad time.

For those of us who aren't shoppers, shopping centres are simply some very welcome air conditioning never more than a few steps away.

Oh, and the majority (or very close to it) of travellers are European. A lot on their way to Australia.

On vaccinations, a lot are probably unnecessary the vast bulk of the time, but I would never suggest you do less than the doctor suggests. Its better to over-do it than the opposite. In Malaysia you really don't need much depending exactly where you go. Certainly if Malaysian Borneo is in the plans, that will be different to peninsular Malaysia. Tap water is normally fine but outside KL you can't be sure so its safest to avoid it.

I haven't been to the other places mentioned. As for boga Aussies, by skipping Kuta and Thai beaches you'll probably avoid the worst of it. You will still run into Australians, including bogans. Australians; like Canadians, Germans and the Dutch; seem to infest every corner of the globe, and globes don't even have corners.
 
Singapore is soulless and expensive. Santosa I think someone mentioned above... Joke of a place, especially for an Australian given we are surrounded by natural beaches.

In fact your list is pretty odd given you're back packing for three months. Most of those countries are developed and expensive nations. The sorts of places you stay in 5 star hotels and drink 20 buck cocktails from rooftop bars or helipads ;)

If you're interested in chasing girls, you will love Manila. Singapore is a bit hard because they're so up themselves. And Malaysia is a bit on the ugly side for the most part, you need to target foreigners...
 
Singapore is soulless and expensive. Santosa I think someone mentioned above... Joke of a place, especially for an Australian given we are surrounded by natural beaches.

In fact your list is pretty odd given you're back packing for three months. Most of those countries are developed and expensive nations. The sorts of places you stay in 5 star hotels and drink 20 buck cocktails from rooftop bars or helipads ;)

If you're interested in chasing girls, you will love Manila. Singapore is a bit hard because they're so up themselves. And Malaysia is a bit on the ugly side for the most part, you need to target foreigners...
 
3 days is standard for Singapore but you could stretch it to 7 if you're really into nature and shopping. Couldn't recommend the nightlife there at all, save your money for another time.

If you're in HK then a day trip to Macau is worthwhile. KL did nothing for me, haven't been anywhere else on your route.
 
KrakFiend said:
If you're interested in chasing girls, you will love Manila. Singapore is a bit hard because they're so up themselves. And Malaysia is a bit on the ugly side for the most part, you need to target foreigners...
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My mate that lives in Manila mentioned this to me, he's convinced hanging out with an Aussies in pubs over there will increase his own chances of picking up. Happy to help out a mate considering he's letting me crash at his place, haha. Definitely no 5-star hotels for $20 cocktails for me, will have to control myself a little bit, but everywhere is cheaper than Australia.

weagles said:
3 days is standard for Singapore but you could stretch it to 7 if you're really into nature and shopping. Couldn't recommend the nightlife there at all, save your money for another time.
If you're in HK then a day trip to Macau is worthwhile. KL did nothing for me, haven't been anywhere else on your route.
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I'll be in Singapore for 7 days, so it might be a bit of a stretch. Hadn't heard anything about the nature side of Singapore (didn't know there was one); anything you'd recommend in particular? Yeah, from what I've read, the nightlife is mostly old, fat expat Aussie and Pom businessmen. Will have to do some research to find out where to go. Macau is definitely pencilled in, the ferry from HK is only AU$20 or so.
 

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You might want to chop shport your Singapore stay and head into Malaysia for a bit. Good beaches, good food and not too expensive.
Definately don't need a week in KL. Better to use the time and get out to see the rest of the country.

Macau is good for a day (no longer). Ferries from HKG are cheaper during the week, so try and avoid weekends. HK you can do a week in without much trouble.

BTW, How much are you looking at spending per day?
 
DrVanNostrand said:
I'll be in Singapore for 7 days, so it might be a bit of a stretch. Hadn't heard anything about the nature side of Singapore (didn't know there was one); anything you'd recommend in particular? Yeah, from what I've read, the nightlife is mostly old, fat expat Aussie and Pom businessmen. Will have to do some research to find out where to go. Macau is definitely pencilled in, the ferry from HK is only AU$20 or so.
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Would recommend checking out Pulau Ubin, which is some undeveloped SG island NEish of the main island. Take a bumboat, rent a bicycle, explore. Macritchie Reservoir has a 10-11km trail which I did last month, umm there's a Southern Ridges Walk you can Google it but only the first half starting from the east side is worthwhile. Gardens by the Bay and Botanic Gardens are typical tourist attractions. SG Zoo is not bad as well (all these are accessible by train and bus), heaps of other nature stuff to do if you checkout the national park website.

Nightlife you want to stay away from Boat Quay and any sidestreets off Orchard rd which is where all the old expats and Filipina hookers will be. There are plenty of clubs around in Clarke Quay but I couldn't give you too much of an idea on where to go. I wouldn't throw myself into a SG club alone. Many backpackers and young people hangout in the public spaces around the area drinking 7/11 alcohol. Zouk is famous but not in CQ, and may be shutting down soon from what I know (I was there earlier this month and it got raided).
 
weagles said:
Would recommend checking out Pulau Ubin, which is some undeveloped SG island NEish of the main island. Take a bumboat, rent a bicycle, explore. Macritchie Reservoir has a 10-11km trail which I did last month, umm there's a Southern Ridges Walk you can Google it but only the first half starting from the east side is worthwhile. Gardens by the Bay and Botanic Gardens are typical tourist attractions. SG Zoo is not bad as well (all these are accessible by train and bus), heaps of other nature stuff to do if you checkout the national park website.

Nightlife you want to stay away from Boat Quay and any sidestreets off Orchard rd which is where all the old expats and Filipina hookers will be. There are plenty of clubs around in Clarke Quay but I couldn't give you too much of an idea on where to go. I wouldn't throw myself into a SG club alone. Many backpackers and young people hangout in the public spaces around the area drinking 7/11 alcohol. Zouk is famous but not in CQ, and may be shutting down soon from what I know (I was there earlier this month and it got raided).
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Outstanding. Thank you, mate. I assume you mean "7/11 alcohol" literally, as in, alcohol bought from a 7/11? I got used to that in America. Disappointed
wandering into a servo here and there's no beer :(

szhengd said:
You might want to chop shport your Singapore stay and head into Malaysia for a bit. Good beaches, good food and not too expensive.
Definately don't need a week in KL. Better to use the time and get out to see the rest of the country.

Macau is good for a day (no longer). Ferries from HKG are cheaper during the week, so try and avoid weekends. HK you can do a week in without much trouble.

BTW, How much are you looking at spending per day?
Click to expand...

Was thinking a few days in Macau, but as you say, it's only a day thing. Looks as if there's literally nothing apart from casinos.

I've got a Malaysian mate who recommended Ipoh and Penang outside of KL? Will definitely be getting outside of KL for a few days. Fortunately the Singapore-Malaysia-Philippines leg of the trip is comp'd, so $$$/day isn't really an issue.
 
Anyone done much backpacking through Laos?

(is part of a broader trip, but other threads have pretty sufficiently covered my other destinations)
 
I'm off to Singapore/Malaysia/Laos next week. Should be fun...
 
DrVanNostrand said:
Hi guys, I'm heading off to Asia in three weeks for about three months. Have just finished six months going through New Zealand and the USA, so this will be a real change-up and I've never visited a third-world country. At the moment, the itinerary reads Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Guangzhou (China), Taiwan, South Korean, Japan and the Philippines.

Looked for a similar thread (a lot of the threads seem to be about Bali/Thailand/Vietnam), but nothing specific on a lot of these places. For anyone who's been, what did you like/would recommend/would avoid? With hostels and beer being pretty cheap in a lot of these places, I can afford to go nuts after paying a ridiculous amount for accommodation in America.

Anyone who's been to Asia, what did you do about vaccinations? My doc today said a flu shot, with Hep A and Typhoid would be enough. Although the only dodgy places in my plans would be Malaysia and Philippines so I should be fine provided I don't eat anything dodgy. Only going to the Philippines because I know a guy in Manila who wants to come along for a while and said I could use his apartment in the city centre for as long as I like while he's in the US :thumbsu:

Only concrete plan is to fly into Singapore, spend a week there, then head north into Malaysia on the ground and swing by a few places before spending another week in Kuala Lumpur. Will probably fly to Hong Kong from there and make it up as a go. Would love to head into China from HK, but not keen on getting stuffed around trying to get a visa.
Click to expand...

If you go to Taiwan I would recommend maybe a week in Taipei to check out a few places like Taipei 101 and a few night markets. Food is super cheap and plenty of it so you will not go hungry. The metro system in Taipei is super easy to understand and signs are written in english so you would have no trouble getting around. Then head down the east coast of the island for some spectaculer views down to Taitung. I know I live here but I think Taiwan is such an underated destination for what it offers.
 
Sal_Paradise said:
Anyone done much backpacking through Laos?

(is part of a broader trip, but other threads have pretty sufficiently covered my other destinations)
Click to expand...

We planned to, got off the plane in Vientiene knowing we had a set flight out of Laos onto Vietnam... We umped & arghed what to do and ended up booking the next flight up to Luang Prabang (30min flight vs 8hr bus) with intentions of slowly making our way back to Vientiene through Vang Vieng etc to fly out. Ended up staying in only Luang Prabang as it was heaven, cancelled our flight from Vientiene and booked straight from LP across to Hanoi in a turbo prop. I consider myself reasonably well travelled and the place is still my favourite place that I've been. Sounds corny but instead of rating something on a scale of 1-10, I often joke with my wife and ask her on a rating system of 1-Luang Prabang how she liked something as it was the sweet. So I cannot really help you other than to say how awesome LP is, and how old school the Vientiane airport was at the time (~2yrs ago). There was major development at the LP airport with an additional runway at the time to increase flights in from China so hopefully that hasn't spoiled the place.
 
LennyStarkiller said:
If you go to Taiwan I would recommend maybe a week in Taipei to check out a few places like Taipei 101 and a few night markets. Food is super cheap and plenty of it so you will not go hungry. The metro system in Taipei is super easy to understand and signs are written in english so you would have no trouble getting around. Then head down the east coast of the island for some spectaculer views down to Taitung. I know I live here but I think Taiwan is such an underated destination for what it offers.
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Thanks mate, definitely have Taiwan on the agenda after Japan. I'm in South Korea at the moment and loving the challenge of not speaking the language, trying to get by on a few words, and trying to figure out from the outside which restaurants/cafes are likely to contain English-speaking staff from the outside. Is Taiwan similar in the sense that a lot of business signs are written in English (MNCs, etc.) but few over 30 have any English at all?

Seoul is certainly competing for the title of favourite place I've been to.
 
DrVanNostrand said:
Thanks mate, definitely have Taiwan on the agenda after Japan. I'm in South Korea at the moment and loving the challenge of not speaking the language, trying to get by on a few words, and trying to figure out from the outside which restaurants/cafes are likely to contain English-speaking staff from the outside. Is Taiwan similar in the sense that a lot of business signs are written in English (MNCs, etc.) but few over 30 have any English at all?

Seoul is certainly competing for the title of favourite place I've been to.
Click to expand...
It depends what area you are in. If you are the main shopping district (Xinyi District) then you will be safe with ordering food in english. If you go to any major food chains (McDonalds, KFC, Subway, Mos Burger, Dantes Coffee and alot of other coffee shops) you would not have any problems ordering. Alot of people in the shopping district speak atleast a little bit of english and if they don't undestand they usually call someone over that has better skills than them but if all else fails you just do the point to the item or picture and use your fingers to tell them how many you want routine. People in Taipei City know atleast a little bit of english but the older ones tend to be too afraid to use it. The further out you go from Taipei City with exception to the main tourist areas the more difficulty you will have finding people who speak english but as I said in the previous post the transportation signs on buses and the metro systems are in english and chinese so if you know the english name of the place you want to go to it won't be a problem.

I would also suggest if you head down the east coast to go to Hualien and Tarako Gorge.

If you need any help or more info whenever you arrive PM me
 
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