Asia & Oceania group posting on GLOBOsapiens

Two weeks in Asia - Where to go?!

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andreas Joined: May 02 Points: 8309 Posts: 808 Posted: 2007-01-16 20:09:00    Helle fellow travelers, I am planing a 2 weeks travel holiday in Asia for early March 07. There are so many amazing places one could go for, so I am asking you guys as travel experts what you would recommend. I have already been to Thailand, so I am thinking about India since I have not been there and it is about 200 Euro cheaper than Thailand (flying from Germany). Please don't call me ignorant, but I am not to much into anciant villages like Ajuthaja in Thailand with a lot of ruins, but 100% for a beautiful trip to the sea side. Sandy beaches and relaxing. I would like to go by backpack and make my way to the sea, then stay a while and move on along the coast line or island hopping. What do you guys recommend? Where would you go in Asia, and particular in India? Thanks for any info you can provide. Best regards, Andy Reply    Reply with quote    Contact andreas   rangutan Premium account Joined: Aug 04 Points: 34752 Posts: 1044 Posted: 2007-01-17 01:54:00    Hi Andy, 14 days is a bit short to tour around so consider 2-3 days at an interesting airline hub and then 10 days beach/island adventure. India and China are interesting for experiencing history, religious and social ways and I would like to see that too but if your main purpose is to spend time at the ocean and on beaches then look at combining Sri Lanka or Maldives with India or aim very much further south or east. For SE-Asia best use the hubs of Dubai, Qatar or Brunei. Their airlines fly out of Munich and they have great stopover deals, best service and yet cheaapest fares! They fly to a wide range of destinations like Male (Maldives), Kuala Lumpur, Singapore or Manila for under € 800 (return and allinclusive). Then use ferries, buses or propeller flights (~€70) to locations near there. There are some ultimate island ideas and package deals at www.orca.de which is not only for scuba divers. I use www.reise-preise to search for good deals. They also have a list of recommended beach destinations at: www.reise-preise.de/traumstraende/index2.html There you will see that www.klm.com has winter specials to Asien destinations from €420,00 + taxes! If you need a guide, translator and bodyguard, let me know! :-) RR [ This Message was edited by: rangutan on 2007-01-17 16:46 ] --- Rudolf "Rangutan" Graspointner Reply    Reply with quote    Contact rangutan   andreas Joined: May 02 Points: 8309 Posts: 808 Posted: 2007-01-17 16:50:00    Hi Rudi, thank you for your reply. Sri Lanka is a great idea. I have not thought of it so far. Looks like a nice small country for a 2 weeks trip! It's just a bit tough to find a cheap flight for it as it does not look like one of the top spots. I tried Colombo at traveloverland.de but the main airlines fligh for extreme high prices and I am not much into flying with quatar airlines or similar. I just saw LTU flying there for about 540 Euro which is a great price! That's definately an option. How about Bombay. It's next to the sea as well and is home to one of the world wonders if I am right. Have you been there? Looking at all the great places makes me all excited :-) Best regards, Andy Reply    Reply with quote    Contact andreas   hieronyma Premium account Joined: Aug 02 Points: 6484 Posts: 139 Posted: 2007-01-17 21:47:00    Hi Andreas, Bombay is a fascinating town and would be a comfortable startingpoint for a trip to Goa at the sea. Take care Hieronyma --- "To Live In One Country Is Captivity", John Donne, "Change", 1635 Reply    Reply with quote    Contact hieronyma   downundergal Premium account Joined: Jun 02 Points: 12936 Posts: 221 Posted: 2007-01-18 06:15:00    Hi Andreas, I am a bit like you I like some downtime on a beautiful beach but I also have a thing for ancient ruins. India would be great but as I almost went there this year Goa is the closest to a beach resort but it would seem to pale against Thailands beaches. I think Sri Lanka is a great suggestion, not too much area to cover neither. What about Vietnam you could fly in to Hanoi work your way down to Ho Chi Minh and fit in your beach time at Nha Trang (China Beach) or just do the south of Vietnam. Otherwise you could try Cambodia, still fit in Angkor Wat (awesome)and then head down to Sihanoukville for the R&R. I still think that the Gili's in Indonesia offers the ultimate beach holiday especially if you like snorkelling & diving. Even though you have been to Thailand I still have a soft spot for Koh Tao if you didn't make it there last time. Can't wait to see what you pick! Cheers, Kerrie PS For Colombo try Singapore Airlines or Malaysian. [ This Message was edited by: downundergal on 2007-01-18 06:17 ] --- Where to next? Reply    Reply with quote    Contact downundergal   andreas Joined: May 02 Points: 8309 Posts: 808 Posted: 2007-01-20 22:26:00    Hi everybody, thank you for all your suggestions. @Rangutan: Looks like Sri Lanka is off the list. I did not know that there is a civil war going on there! Wow. In June 2006 60 people inside a bus have been killed by a bomb. Since then the problem seams to have escalated. Wikipedia writes in German: "Schon am 31. Juli 2006 hatte ein Anführer der Tamilen-Rebellen den Waffenstillstand für nichtig erklärt. Deshalb und aufgrund der LTTE-Aufforderung im Mai erklärten einige EU-Vertreter den Abzug ihrer Beobachter. Im August eskalierte der Konflikt weiter. Alleine am 12. August starben über 200 Menschen, darunter ein ranghoher Vermittler im Friedensprozess." Hundreds of people dead since then and EU representetives leaving the country. Not a very nice spot to go for a holiday :-( @hieronyma: I will definatelly look into Bombay! India sounds very interesting. Makes more the impression of a adventure holiday though. But that's fine. India is for sure a spot anybody should go once in his live. That's on the top of my list so far. @ Kerrie: There is a misunderstanding. I do NOT like ancient ruins :-) Sorry Kerrie. I have been to Ancor Wat and to Ajuthaja and that was really nothing for me. I was heading back for the beach as fast as possible. For me especially the amount of air toxication did not make it. Maybe I am more off a nature person. Ko Thao was great. I have not stayed for too long so as time was short. Difficult to decide :-) Maybe I should just put my finger on the map and go :-) Best regards, andy Reply    Reply with quote    Contact andreas   downundergal Premium account Joined: Jun 02 Points: 12936 Posts: 221 Posted: 2007-01-21 10:12:00    No confusion - it's just that there are some great beaches down in the south of Cambodia even skipping the ruins. India would be great but I would be interested to see what Marianne and other Globies think of the beaches of India, they just don't seem that great. What did you think of Vietnam? The other place you could look at is the Phillipines, they have some quality beaches. Hially has a report on Globo that shows some awesome beaches. Cheers, Kerrie --- Where to next? Reply    Reply with quote    Contact downundergal   mrscanada Joined: Aug 06 Points: 3423 Posts: 22 Posted: 2007-01-21 20:54:00    I would go to JuJu Island in South Korea. The island has a lot of beaches. You can read about it in my Travel Log. There is all type of accommidation. You will need a car though. Lyla --- Mrs. Canada Reply    Reply with quote    Contact mrscanada   rangutan Premium account Joined: Aug 04 Points: 34752 Posts: 1044 Posted: 2007-01-22 10:19:00    Andy, you can always trust my travel information and tips. There is NOT a civil war in Sri Lanka but Tamil terrorists have been active since the 1972 independence in restricted areas. There is NO current warning for there now but there was a warning issued mid-2006 for 3 of the 25 districts in Sri Lanka. It was lifted. See www.auswaertiges-amt.de/diplo/de/Laenderinformationen/01-Reisewarnungen-Liste.html and http://img.geo.de/GEO/reisen/nachrichten/50565.html Sri Lanka has the same problem not worse than Indonesia, Philippines and now Thailand too. There are bombs going off in most countries, in Europe too (Turkey, Spain, UK recently) but that should not stop us from travelling. There is more chance of being killed on the Autobahn, by smoking or viruses than by travelling. One can never be 100% safe anywhere but being informed properly and knowing the risks helps to keep out of trouble. The Maldives (Male) makes a better "beach" holiday anyway and, close by, can easily be combined with Bombay. I have not recommed Far East Asian destinations to cut fares and flying time as you wished and some travellers need upto 5 days to get over jet-lag. :-) RR P.S: Emerates and Qatar are currently the safest airlines to fly with! [ This Message was edited by: rangutan on 2007-01-22 10:23 ] --- Rudolf "Rangutan" Graspointner Reply    Reply with quote    Contact rangutan   mrscanada Joined: Aug 06 Points: 3423 Posts: 22 Posted: 2007-01-22 19:05:00    If you didn't like my suggestion of JuJu Island in South Korea try Puerto Galera in the Philippines --- Mrs. Canada Reply    Reply with quote    Contact mrscanada   Page: 1 2 3