Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Mashimaro]

[Sejong]

I'd definitely second the vote for Vietnam... I was there last summer and it's cheaper than Thailand for sure (which is really saying something). I enjoyed Thailand, but I totally fell in love with Vietnam -- the food, the people, the architecture, everything. You won't regret it!

[duderdude]

there's a not-very-well-known- town outside of Chaing Mai, expect with savvy traverls called PAI (pronounced 'bye'). It'a one of the coolest, chillest places I've ever been and highly recommend it to anyone who has the time and is heading up to Chiang Mai anyway, you WON"T regret it. :wink:

[camel96]

If you want to travel cheaply, a month in Myanmar will cost you $300 including the return flight from Bangkok. You're looking at an average of $5 a night for a hotel room with air con, a hot shower and usually breakfast. $1-2 per meal. Admission fees to most of the temples are around $5 each or when I was in Bagan last it was $10 for a week long pass. You can get by in Thailand for anything between about $12 a day to $20 a day depending on how cheaply you want to do things. So let's say $500 a month. Cambodia is a little more expensive, especially if you factor in entrance fees to Angkor Wat (about $40 for a 3 day pass). Say $20 a day. $600 for a month. Likewise for Vietnam. If you're moving around a lot that'll eat into your budget. Generally in SE Asia transport is the most expensive part. It tends to average out about $1 for each hour you are on a bus. You can save money in Vietnam by joining a Sinh Cafe (or one of the other companies) tour. It's basically an open bus ticket between Saigon and Hanoi that lets you stop off in about 10 different places along the way and book the next leg a day before. If you go Thailand-Cambodia-Vietnam and up to Hanoi you'll be trapped in Hanoi unless you're prepared to put in some serious miles backtracking. Flight prices out of Hanoi are controlled by the government and a one way flight between Hanoi and Bangkok will be about 3 times the price of doing it in reverse. Maybe better to fly from Thailand to North Vietnam and do the trip backwards. It'll be cold in Hanoi now. The north of Vietnam kicks the south's butt in my opinion. Better scenery, better architecture, more interesting. The train's (relatively) expensive in Vietnam - government controlled prices, but the stretch between Hoi An and Hue is one of the most impressive train journeys in the world. That leg is short so it's cheap also. 10 bucks or something. If you do temples in both Myanmar and Cambodia the Thai temples, while impressive on their own will be a let down. I like Kanchanaburi to the west of Bangkok, the far south of Thailand, Narithawat is very interesting. It's a muslim area that is skipped by most tourists racing down to Malaysia to get another visa so they can head back to Ko Pha Ngan and get stoned. Nevertheless it has some of the most beautiful beaches in the world. The north around Mae Hong Song is pretty also, very different scenery to the rest of Thailand, hilltribes, check the long necked women. If you follow the Burmese border up from Mae Sot you'll spend good portions of every day driving through Burmese refugee camps which is somewhat disturbing but interesting. Personally I don't like Thai beaches so much anymore. Yeah they're pretty but it sucks being on one of the nicest beaches in Asia and having a person every two square meters. Oh and while North Vietnam will be freezing Thailand by April will be unbearably hot. Try and avoid Songkran (the water festival). It tends to start around the 8th or 9th of April and finishes about the 13th. The water fights are cool for a day or so but after a week it gets a bit too much. A lot of people love Sihanoukville in Cambodia. Sorry this is all over the place. PM if you want more info, otherwise I'll reply to whatever you ask here. I'll probably be in Thailand the first week of April myself.
Have fun.
Oh and I just read some more of your message. Laos is one of the cheapest countries in the world. Figure on about $10 a day there. But I'll try and write some more about that later.