Advice for Traveling to Asia

[djkix]

Re: Advice for Traveling to Asia

I have never stayed at hostels in Japan so I can't really give you much advice for that... but yes, there are hostels. If you google around, I'm sure you'll find some sites. Also you should try to find forums for ex-pats staying in each country and ask those kinds of questions.

Since you have a couple of months to travel around, I hope you have enough funds... staying in Japan will be extremely expensive no matter what you do. If you hit a club, that's $40 just to enter. Add drinks to that and you're up there...

Regarding what you wrote about going outside of Tokyo being cheaper... well not really. Travel expenses are quite high, and you'll still need lodging. And if you treat yourself to a hot spring resort (onsen - def recommended) to nikko or hakone, then that will get costly too. I generally recommend Hakone to first time visitors. It's really a cool resort city.

if you end up staying more than a week there (i.e., 2 weeks), go ahead and go to Kansai region of Japan where you'll find Osaka, Kyoto, and Kobe. Kyoto is a must. In such a case, pick up the Japan Rail Pass. For about $280, you'll get one week of unlimited ride on JR trains and buses, and this includes riding the bullet trains. A roundtrip tix bet Tokyo-Osaka normally costs $300 so you can see how great this deal is. Just do a search for them. You have to buy it BEFORE you get to Japan. You'll buy a voucher here, and then once you get to Japan, you exchange the voucher for the actual tix.

I guess you won't be going to China but I went to Beijing last summer and it was amazing. I didn't have too much time to spend so it's definitely a place I'd return.

Have not gone to Thailand or other SE Asian countries but a friend of mine went to Cambodia before and had a great time (they filmed the first tomb raider movie there in Ankor wat... I think). I mean a month or two is a long time to travel. I think you should go to as many countries as your time, money, and energy allows. You also have to be strategic about stretching your money... for example, staying in Japan too long, as great as it is, will deplete your bank roll real fast but staying in Cambodia will be a fraction of that.

Seoul will def be a great choice especially if your friend will give you a place to stay. If you go there, make sure you hit the Korean War Museum. You'll have to hit the restaurants and bars in alleys in districts like Shinchon and Kangnam.

Thanks a ton for the advice djkix! I've also heard great things about Seoul, one of my friends is teaching English there right now and absolutely loves it. So that would definitely be a possibility, especially since it's so close to Japan. I'm really intrigued by Thailand though, I've heard its beaches are surreal and I've been wanting to go there for years.

I'd really like to spend a decent amount of time in Japan though, get a good taste of both Tokyo and maybe a more rural area or two (maybe Mt. Fuji area or Nikko). I'd imagine that it'd be at least somewhat cheaper outside of the big cities...?

Great advice about clubbing and the trains shutting down at midnight! What about hostels? Are there a lot of them in Tokyo, and/or across Asia in general? Or would you recommend hotels instead? When traveling overseas (Europe) in the past I always preferred hostels cuz I don't really care where I sleep as long as I have a bed in a safe and centrally located place.

Good book advice as well, Lonely Planet was already on my list but I will for sure buy the 'Tokyo Atlas' if I end up going.

Again, I appreciate the advice and will probably ask for more of it if my plans solidify.

[bobjuice]

Re: Advice for Traveling to Asia

My girlfriend Laura spent a year living in thailand before travelling down through the islands to australia so i'll tap her up for some info for you michael and get back - although thailand is becoming infested by tourism there are still many parts of it worth seeing and pretty much as they've always been. A friend of mine spends nov-april there every year so if that is the time of year when you're thinking of going i'll point you towards him and he'll sort you out with some free scuba diving if you want as that's what he does. He's also a good source of knowledge all round after going to the place for years - every time he goes he spends a couple of weeks touring the places he's not yet seen and he's still not seen it all. Bangkok is something to experience of course but too much of it can become a bit ...well... too much.
As other people here have said you need to be careful of pretty looking young girls who also have knacker bags - also many tourists get turned over after a heavy night and waking to find no wallet, passport etc

Laura says cambodia and indonesia definitely worth checking and she wishes she'd gone to borneo but ran out of chances.
more detail on way

[simonr]

Re: Advice for Traveling to Asia

Would love to pop over to Asia this year if I have the money.

Need to hit Womb in Japan now Yellow is closed plus Thailand and Vietnam sound cool .... if Diggers tours there post Bedrock 11th it may be the deal clincher as I love to combine travel with music ... must be a motion v movement v energy thing.

[Miguel]

Re: Advice for Traveling to Asia

Re: Advice for Traveling to Asia

just dont go

[tiddles]

Re: Advice for Traveling to Asia

i can't wait to move to korea, fuck i'm ready to leave france now. 2 more months in europe, 3 months in hawaii and then korea. cannot wait!

[Bululu]

Re: Advice for Traveling to Asia

Was in Asia last NOV, and I must say Singapore is the most impressive country I have visited in my entire life, food is great and diverse, shopping is dirt cheap, and the mixture of races between chinesse, malays and indians is interesting to see.

I suggest a tour where you start in Thailand and go South to Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia, you can fly cheap given the many low cost airlines they have in that region.

[pipey]

Re: Advice for Traveling to Asia

if you go to thailand, whatever you do, have NOTHING To do with drugs of ANY sort. Just even using some of them can result in the death penalty.

I knew a guy who was smoking a joint on the beach on koh samui island, in the middle of the night, and the cops just suddenly were behind him, grabbing him and yelling at him in thai. He was thrown in jail for like 3 years, and only was able to basically "buy" his way out eventually with money from his parents.

They secured him to the prison wall with a chain on his ankles that was like 20 cm long, and he couldnt stand up or lie down properly. When he finally would get to sleep, sometimes the guards would watch him and when he was asleep, he would awake to find himself getting beaten with clubs or sticks or the rattan or whatever.

Nasty. All that for a fucking joint.

dumass.

[pr0ficient]

Re: Advice for Traveling to Asia

^ Shit dude, that is scary stuff! That sounds as bad as it is in Dubai. I'd even be worried about people planting shit on you in the airport.

Thanks again for the advice everyone! There are some excellent suggestions and tips in this thread! I'm going to try and get a loan this week and start out by purchasing a round trip ticket to Tokyo, airfare is cheap as hell: $902 RT from Chicago to Tokyo!!

I'd love to stay for two months, but 5 weeks is probably more realistic to what I can afford. I'm thinking 2-3 weeks in Japan with a rail pass and 2-3 weeks in another country or 2. After reading this thread I'm thinking Thailand, Vietnam, and/or S Korea. After all of my airfare and a 7-day rail pass I should be left with about $125-$150 per day. I'm hoping this will be enough funds...I'm planning on staying in hostels for 3/4 days in Japan and I figure that my daily expenses for everything will be significantly less in the South East Asian countries which should help to offset any excessive spending in Japan.

So please, feel free to continue with any and all advice. I'll keep this thread up dated with my plans as they continue to solidify!

[AntonyM]

Re: Advice for Traveling to Asia

if you go to thailand, whatever you do, have NOTHING To do with drugs of ANY sort. Just even using some of them can result in the death penalty.

I knew a guy who was smoking a joint on the beach on koh samui island, in the middle of the night, and the cops just suddenly were behind him, grabbing him and yelling at him in thai. He was thrown in jail for like 3 years, and only was able to basically "buy" his way out eventually with money from his parents.

They secured him to the prison wall with a chain on his ankles that was like 20 cm long, and he couldnt stand up or lie down properly. When he finally would get to sleep, sometimes the guards would watch him and when he was asleep, he would awake to find himself getting beaten with clubs or sticks or the rattan or whatever.

Nasty. All that for a fucking joint.

That is why you go to Cambodia, get a freakin duffle bag of the stuff for next to nothing, smoke right in the bars, does help if the owner of the place is the one smoking you out, there is Laos also if you need to do the narcotic thing, sounds like that guy on Koh Samui was set up, they try to do that stuff on Phan gan (Sp) during the Full Moon Parties, but just too many people to patrol. like I said before considering you are going during the northern hemisphere summer, head to S Korea, or do something different head to Lhasa or Kathamandu hike in the mountains all summer.

[djkix]

Re: Advice for Traveling to Asia

Club Yellow is closed???? WAAAAHHHH------

Would love to pop over to Asia this year if I have the money.

Need to hit Womb in Japan now Yellow is closed plus Thailand and Vietnam sound cool .... if Diggers tours there post Bedrock 11th it may be the deal clincher as I love to combine travel with music ... must be a motion v movement v energy thing.

[pr0ficient]

Re: Advice for Traveling to Asia

Well I just bought my roundtrip ticket to Tokyo. I'll be in Asia for 5 weeks, leaving on May 13th and returning on June 17th. So if any [ms]ers live in Tokyo or are going to be in Japan around those dates let me know and we'll have to grab some sushi or hit up the Womb!!

I have also purchased a 7 day rail pass for Japan, so as of now my tentative plans are to spend at 5-7 days in Tokyo and another 7-10 days traveling by train to locations around & south of Tokyo (Mt. Fuji, Kyoto, Honshu, Nikko). Then I will most likely spend the rest of my time in South East Asia. I'm still thinking Thailand but this State Dept. warning about an increased threat of terrorism and violence is a little bit worrisome. I was originally thinking of spending a few days in Bangkok and the rest of my time in Southern Thailand on or near Phuket island. I love the ocean and clean beaches!I still have plenty of time to make my decision, but any opinions on that would be greatly appreciated.

[Corven]

Re: Advice for Traveling to Asia

diggers will be doing a couple of dates in japan in May so you'll be able to catch him .. i've heard news that he might do dates in the region around asia during that time as well but that is yet to be confirmed

in regard to Thailand .. try to avoid southern Thailand especially around the Thailand-Malaysia border area as thats where the violence are reported to be happening but Phuket is pretty safe as its one of the countries' main source of tourism revenue so the government tries to keep it safe that way

[pr0ficient]

Re: Advice for Traveling to Asia

diggers will be doing a couple of dates in japan in May so you'll be able to catch him .. i've heard news that he might do dates in the region around asia during that time as well but that is yet to be confirmed

in regard to Thailand .. try to avoid southern Thailand especially around the Thailand-Malaysia border area as thats where the violence are reported to be happening but Phuket is pretty safe as its one of the countries' main source of tourism revenue so the government tries to keep it safe that way

As for diggers, unfortunately as of now it looks like I will be missing all of his Japan dates by a few days Although there is about 2 weeks between his last date in Japan and his next dates in England (3 days of S&D) so hopefully he will add a few more dates around Asia in that gap.

And in regards to Thailand, I hear that the south is to be avoided, but Phuket is pretty far south! Maybe 2-3 weeks in Thailand is too long and I should find someplace else to spend at least half of that time!

[pr0ficient]

Re: Advice for Traveling to Asia

Leaving in 2 weeks from today...starting to get excited!
All of my plans are finalized as much as they can be.

Itinerary

Tokyo, Japan - May 13

• Sightsee & go to the Womb on May 15th to see Damian Lazarus!!

Okinawa, Japan - May 19

• Kick it on the beach and travel to surrounding islands

Kyoto, Japan - May 19

• Possible daytrips to Osaka, Himeji, Nara, Hakone

Phuket, Thailand - June 2

• Chill on the beach and travel to surrounding islands
• 3 Day Safari in Khoa Sok National Park

Sinapore - June 12

• Sightsee & hit up Zouk

Back to Tokyo - June 16

• Fly home on the 17th

[simonr]

Re: Advice for Traveling to Asia

As for diggers, unfortunately as of now it looks like I will be missing all of his Japan dates by a few days

Re-arrange your flight ... simple