1.
Posted by
MikeTredway
(Budding Member 63 posts)
9y
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Hey, Im Mike, from england have previously travelled Australia last year for 3 months spent an arm and a leg. (£8000) but i did live life to the extreme.
Am looking at travelling Asia (Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam/Laos) was wondering how long roughly is a good time to spend in each as I have a 6 week break from work in April (Songkran). Was wondering how much it would cost and realistically if its possible to do all of the above in the time frame i have.
Happy Travelling
Mike
2.
Posted by
Unboundly
(Budding Member 57 posts)
9y
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6 weeks should be fine IMO, it depends a lot on how much you want to cover. You can check NUMBEO to get a better idea of how much you'd have to spend, according to what you think you'll need while you're there.
3.
Posted by
lmfarrugia
(Budding Member 3 posts)
9y
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Hi Mike,
Six weeks is definitely enough time, you will just have to be pretty precises with your time if you want to see most of these countries. You lose a fare amount of time in these countries just in 12 + hour bus trips.
It depends on how lavish you want your trip to be? Any where between 1400 - 3000 pounds. With 3000 pounds you would be able to stay a some pretty nice hotels.
I was in Cambodia for 7 weeks and spent a little over 1000 pounds , but I was living on the bare minimum.
But remember you also have to looks at the conversion rate for the pound to the US dollar, as that's the accepted currency in Cambodia.
Hope this helped!
4.
Posted by
karazyal
(Travel Guru 5834 posts)
9y
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The part of Asia you want to visit will be much cheaper than Australia. Research the visa requirements for each country. Many tourists fly round trip to Bangkok and visit nearby countries from that country. Usually round trip is cheaper than 2 one way flights. Flying between nearby countries and Bangkok is not that expensive.
With a UK passport you can enter Thailand and get a free Visa Exemption stamp in your passport good for 30 days. But with this type of entry you are supposed to have a flight out of Thailand before the 30 days is up. (This may be enforced at your home airport before you get on the plane.) No flight out of Thailand within 30 days buy a Tourist Visa. (Proof of onward travel.)
http://www.thaiembassyuk.org.uk/?q=node/188
P.S. Different countries means different currencies. Don't leave Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia or Vietnam with their currency! NO ONE really wants to change their currency after you get to another country!
http://bankexchangerates.daytodaydata.net/default.aspx
[ Edit: Edited on 19-Aug-2015, at 19:24 by karazyal ]
5.
Posted by
MikeTredway
(Budding Member 63 posts)
9y
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Hi guys,
Some great reply's thanks for all the advice was wondering about the round trip is there a specific website or company you would book through e.g. STA travel, Skyscanner?.
Also what is the prices like in most places for standard beer, fags, meals?
Many Thanks
Mike
6.
Posted by
karazyal
(Travel Guru 5834 posts)
9y
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"...was wondering about the round trip is there a specific website..."
I fly a lot and stick with the same airline all the time. If they are $50-$80 more I still use them. I book through my airline website. I collect the frequent flyer miles for free upgrades and other perks like "elite status with platinum, gold or silver cards" which give me free lounge use, first on, choice of seats, etc. Did you sign on to the frequent flyer program for when you flew to and from Australia? If not you wasted a lot of miles that could be useful. If you still have the tickets you might be able to still count the miles. Check with the airline for this. (Never throw your tickets out right away until you verify the mileage is accounted for!)
You can visit a travel agency in your city. See what they recommend. They may have some deals you can use. Those travel agencies will have airline recommendations too. My preference is buying from the airline first and not a third party ticket purchase. But that is me! I am not sure what airline to use from your country. You can see Flyer Talk for some help on airline choices. But the local travel agency can give you some help too. Round trip to Bangkok for me from my country can be close to $900 cheaper than 2 one way flights.
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/index.php
When you find some airlines that work out okay use their websites and see what the prices are if you vary the departure dates to see if the price changes. Sometimes day of the week, on a holiday or not, time of the year affects cost too.
"Also what is the prices like in most places for standard beer, fags, meals?"
When you do a Google search for "how much money for (insert country") you do get some prices.
Many things will be cheaper than the UK and Australia. But some imported things can cost more than back home. Food and transportation can be cheap in Asia providing you avoid fancy restaurants and keep to smaller restaurants and maybe food courts, etc.
Sample:
http://www.travelfish.org/board/post/financemoney/24657_thailand-in-2014-baht-per-day-to-spend
http://www.into-asia.com/thailand/costs.php
http://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/country_result.jsp?country=Vietnam
For Thailand Bangkok is cheaper than many beach areas. Meter taxis are not that expensive providing you use the METER and not pay a flat rate. Also for Bangkok there is cheap city rail service too.
[ Edit: Edited on 20-Aug-2015, at 09:22 by karazyal ]