2 month travel itinerary ideas?

Hi!

I'm a young (21 y.o) female and I'm hoping to spend a good two months next year travelling, between leaving my job and starting university. I will be travelling solo, and was just hoping to get some ideas as to where I should go etc.! And any tips!

Top of my list to see is Angkor Wat, and I'd love to explore Vietnam and Japan too. I'm very into art and history. Also I'd really like to visit India, but is this advisable for a young female solo traveller?

Many thanks for any wisdom you can share!

Here's my opinion, for what it's worth!

For a couple of months, a good round trip could start and end in Bangkok, Thailand. From there go north and explore the area around Chiang Mai. Take the slow boat down the Mekong from Chiang Khong to Luang Prabang in Laos. In Laos there's the Plain of Jars, Vientiane and Phonsavan before you can head to northern Vietnam and Sapa, Hanoi and Ha Long Bay. Down the coast to Hue, Da Nang, Hoi An and Nha Trang into Ho Chi Minh City. Then across into Cambodia and Phnom Penh and then Siem Reap for Angkor Wat. After that either try Sihanoukville in Cambodia or go across the Thai border and head to Koh Chang for some beach before heading back to Bangkok.

This is a well-trodden route and you'll see fellow travellers pretty much all the way. As a young female, be cautious but it should be reasonably safe and you ought to manage to find people to travel with almost every step of the way.

Transport and food are both cheap in SE Asia so you're unlikely to blow your budget.

You could probably rush through it in five weeks or take your time and take six months or more but two months should be just about right. I'd leave India and Japan for other trips.

Japan is more expensive and to do the main islands and cities would probably take two months in itself. Similarly, India is so big and diverse that you'd need two months there at least although it is the cheapest option. Japan is certainly safe for a single female traveller but you would perhaps find India a little more intrusive - probably easier done in a group of two or three or four. Touring around India is probably a little more tiring too.

Do some research, narrow down where you want to go more specifically and then come back and ask more directed questions if you need to know more.

Enjoy your planning!

I just had a read of my blog for my time in & around Siem Reap & it seems I had a great time. I spent 10 days in a hotel there & bought the Angkor Wat pass so I could go into the site every other day or so. For me, that was a good plan .. the area is too vast & too hot to do every day & there was enough to do besides Angkor Wat to keep me amused & my hotel had a beautiful pool to relax around too. 10 days might be a bit too much for you but don't try & do it in a day or two.

Where are you starting from?

How much you can see and do in a timely manner depends on your budget. Long bus and train rides will eat up some of your available time. Flying will save time.

I agree with the previous post, Bangkok is a good place to start with. In Thailand you have historic sites, restored temples and good transportation. Some things you can look up are Ayutthaya, Phimai and the disputed Phra Viharn/Preah Vihear Temple area at the Thailand Cambodia border. (Sometimes open and sometimes closed. I got in one time when they were open.) I did a couple digs with Earthwatch a long time ago in the Phimai area. Ban Prasat (Nakhon Ratchasima) Archaeological Site is open to visitors.

Some "art stuff" Bangkok.
https://www.travelfish.org/sight_profile/thailand/bangkok_and_surrounds/bangkok/bangkok/1784

Siem Reap, Angkor Wat is a pretty good place to visit. I did a boat ride from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap. (Killing Fields and Genocide Museum this Phnom Penh area.) Less well known is the Bagan temple area and Mt. Popa in Myanmar. From Bangkok there are flights to Myanmar. Yangon has some interesting sites you can research if interested.

From Thailand it is easy to get to nearby countries. There are discount airlines available and for within Thailand transportation there is decent train and bus service.

For each country research the visa requirements. Different countries different currency. Do some research on how to handle your spending money. Don't rely on a single debit or credit card. Bring more than one debit card. (A single card could become lost or damaged.) Have credit cards available for emergencies that may come up. Some medical insurance good overseas might be a good idea. Check with your doctor for various shots he or she may recommend.

Maybe save Japan, China and Korea for another time. Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia and Myanmar will be a little cheaper than Japan.

Good luck.

[ Edit: Edited on 17-Jun-2017, at 19:04 by karazyal ]

Didn't spend long enough in Vietnam to comment. It is on my list to go back and I thank you Steve for your detailed response. Have written down some of the places that I didn't know.
India.... hubby and I visited Kerala and the amazing backwaters. I highly recomnend it. Look out for cheap flights. There are plenty with Air Asia. I have a blog here too if you are interested.
Cheers
Ann

Quoting MaeT

..... I'm very into art and history. .....!

I am not into art overly much but there is some great stuff in the areas you are looking at.

Something that did strike me though is embroidered art .. I have seen it in China & Vietnam where the tour guide makes the mandatory shopping stop .. usually I wait outside but I am glad I did not. We were able to watch the ladies sewing these most intricate of stitches to produce what I think are stunning pieces. One piece, in China I think, was the same picture front & back but in different colours .. we were asked to go back to see how that was done but ran out of time. No photo unfortunately & the price was out of my salary scale

Here is an example = http://photos.travellerspoint.com/645621/large_P1090950.jpg all done with needle & thread .. http://photos.travellerspoint.com/645621/large_P1090948.jpg

Very meticulous work & extremely hard on the eyes of the artists.

Steve

[ Edit: Edited on 20-Jun-2017, at 02:17 by hasbeen ]

Heyy,
You can plan for India, Vast and diverse, comprising all the beauty of nature ranging from snow laden himlayan peaks to Thar desert, from sandy beaches to Sunderban deltas hosting variety of Flaura and Fauna.
You can also experience the royal treatment while visitng multiple forts and palaces in rajasthan or get lost in the period dating thousand years back while exploring Ajanta and Elora Caves.
Feel spirituality while visiting banaras, rishikesh or get enthralled while studying the details of ranakpur and delwada temples.
It's all there in India.
Regarding Safety :
India is as safe for travel as any other tourist destination.
The thing is to be extra cautious when one is travelling alone.
Guidelines for solo travellers are same as in other countries such as to Stay in registered/star hotels, avoid late night excursions, have some local contacts, always prefer registered tourist agents/agencies.
Thanks,

Hi I'd much recommended.the Lonely planet guidebook for South East Asia...have a read through there and get a feel for places highlighted and how circuits recommended for in with your feel.
I'd suggest you think about, if the weather is right for the Sapa area of Vietnam, or Laos or Thailand border crossings for these countries are all fairly close together e.g. get a visa for China and cross the border near Xishiangbanna or Jinghong or Hekou etc. and go explore the amazing yuanyang rice terraces in the east direction or go west to Dali and Lijiang. Trains are very cheap in China but you can get cheap flights in China these days www.elong.net or ctrip.com, and consider going up to chengdu to see the pandas, then fly or bus to Jiuzhaigou national park for 2 days then take a bus and train or fly to Xian (Or bus North to lanzhou...fantastic around Qinghai and xinjiang) then fly out to xiamen and take a boat to taiwan/kinmen island (Or fly Xian to guilin and yangshuo or zhangjiajie then to fenghuang and xiamen) as then it's very cheap to fly from kinmen to Taipei and cheap flying air Asia from Taipei to a number of countries around Asia grom there including Japan.
I stayed in a hostel in Tokyo for about 25 pounds a night and loved it. Hostel at Nikko and Kawaguchiko also excellent and 20 to 25 pounds a night. So not ultra expensive. Flight from Taipei to Tokyo with air Asia was only 75 pounds and 75 pounds from Tokyo to KL. I could have flown to Vietnam or Cambodia from there for 25 to 30 pounds but I flew to sri Lanka instead for about the same price and then St I Lanka to London for only 180 pounds with a 16 hour stop in Oman so had time for 4 hour guided tour.
Guide books truly have opened up my travel life from when I discovered them for my first trip around China in 1997! And just progressed so much in my wanderlust because they've been such a wonderful resource since moving to the UK in 2000. Now I'm up to 75 countries and that's just a number...many of those countries I've had numerous trips back to. Asia is wonderful but of course you've got to be careful and read around first..reviews, esp recent reviews such as on trip advisor and lonely planet then tree forums and booking.com reviews as well.

[ Edit: Edited on 23-Jun-2017, at 12:08 by AngiebabeVT ]

Just been back a year since writing a reply and don't see that Mae T has been back to look at our replies?