Southeast Asia

For some reason the amount of traveling I've been doing the past year or so just isn't enough to occupy my mind. Over the last few weeks I've seen a lot of travel shows about Asia, plus my uncle told me some pretty great stories about his travels through Southeast Asia. There are tons of reasons I want to visit SE Asia, not the least of which includes the cheap cost of living, the culture, the weather, etc.

So, of course, I did some googling and found all kinds of exciting information. So I made an initial itinerary and a Google map:

View Southeast Asia in a larger map

The links may or may not include little details about the stops.

Basic Itinerary:

Hanoi- (1 week) get over jetlag, stay in Old Quarter, visit museums, temples, war sights, opera, water puppet theater, outdoor markets

*train to Danang $25 each (800 km)+ $15 taxi or take tourist bus (45 minutes) to Hoi An

Hoi An- (1 week+) old town, swan boats, Japanese bridge, rent motor bikes, boat tours and beaches; visit orphanage for the day to play with kids;

*train to Saigon (930 km) for $30

Saigon/Ho Chi Minh City- 3 days or so to rest; water puppet show, war sights, markets, silk shopping; French influence in city, lots of Pho, kebab, gelato etc YUM!

To Bangkok the long way via:

• Saigon to Phnom Penh, Cambodia by boat/bus for $9
• Phnom Penh, Cambodia to Siem Reap by boat $25 (see Angor Wat Temples for 1-2 days

• Taxi to Poiphet (3 hours), cross border then take bus/tuk-tuk to main rail station
• Train to Bangkok $1.50, 6 hours, runs twice daily

Bangkok- (up to 1 week); visit temples, old city, etc See Four Days in Bangkok for things to do

*overnight train to Chiang Mai (15 hours) $15 each for comfy sleeper car*

Chiang Mai- (2 weeks) temples, elephants, motorcycling in mountains, rafting and swimming, meditation courses, cooking classes :-)

*train back to Bangkok, maybe visit some Thai islands or travel down the peninsula for some fun in the sun*

Fly Bangkok to Anchorage--> HOME

We'd take this trip over about 7 or 8 weeks and would visit Vietnam, Cambodia, and Thailand. I want to visit a few major cities and some smaller towns for a slower pace. I'm particularly excited about the cultural sights and the food, plus having the opportunity to travel in the "mid range" rather than the "backpacker" level of comfort. Also, my uncle says he didn't get to see as much of this part of the world as he would have liked the first time around. Plus his wife is Thai and would enjoy visiting her family again (she's in Thailand now, but this would be sometime in the future of course), so we're going to try to coordinate this trip so we're all there at the same time! Fun!

Did I mention that Leigh and I won't be able to take any trip even remotely this long or complicated for at least 2 years? Yeah, I'm thinking ahead of myself... again. Maybe I'm just a tad bored these days and am creating projects for myself or maybe I just really enjoy planning trips.