katongkaren

okay noted - enjoy your long trip!

PamE

Thank u
45 days to go...not that am counting...

Kooky.

So what's your rough itinerary, Pam?

I'm very envious. Not that I'd ever be able to rough it, I'm far too anal, but I wish I'd got to travel Asia more before we left. The Geek travelled so much on business that, if I wanted to go anyway, I usually went without him.

PamE

At mo we plan to spend a couple of days in Bangkok initially, catching up with a friend of OH and getting visa for Burma (assuming situation is such that we are allowed in). After that Laos and Vietnam; later Thai islands for diving. Then prob down thru Malaysia and over to Indonesia via Singapore. And somewhere in there we need to validate Aussie visa in Perth. But nothing fixed in stone. It will be so nice to be free again. I have been a corporate slave for too long

Englishmum

You might enjoy taking the train from Bangkok (or KL) to Singapore. There are sleeper berths.

Some great info (newly updated) on taking trains (and getting visas) in these SE Asian countries from the award-winning Seat61.com - a website set up by a total English train geek:

http://www.seat61.com/Thailand.htm

http://www.seat61.com/Malaysia.htm (Covers Malaysia & Singapore)

http://www.seat61.com/Burma.htm

http://www.seat61.com/Indonesia.htm

PS: Malaysian Airlines long-haul is excellent and on a par with Singapore Airlines.

katongkaren

Great links Englishmum, though you do wonder if some of these run to the timetables mentioned - I'm a little dubious.

PamE

Hi there, yeah done some train rides before (KL to N. Malaysia and then to Bangkok and vice versa, and to Singapore from KL) - great way to save cost on a night's accomodation and sleepers fun! Usually book last minute but thanks very much for those links which will save and store in hotmail, appreciated. Also good to hear nice things about Malaysia Airlines
43 days to go

PamE

Can't remember if any I took ran on time, don't suppose I would have been that bothered if they didn't cos not in a rush. Wouldn't be cutting it fine to make a flight or anything tho, I too would be dubious about timetables in that case

Kooky.

Be sure to do a night in Halong Bay, Pam. We did it one February and it was far from warm, very misty and eery but wonderful nevertheless. Yes it's touristy, but worth it.

PamE

Thanks Seasider, had a quick read & sounds fab - duly marked in shiny new copy of 'southeast asia on a shoestring' OH has been to Vietnam before but not me, I am so looking forward.

Kooky.

BTW there really is no need to book one of the glitzy sounding boats - this is one place I went budget.

I went up there (on Tiger, pah) to meet a friend who was backpacking around and we stayed in a USD22 a night hotel in Hanoi (the Trung Nam Hai) that was cleaner than some 4/5* ones I've stayed in. OK the motorbikes parked in reception overnight and the guard sleeping next to them on a z-bed were a shock but apart from that it was fine. Very handy location, too.

I've heard of people getting eaten by bedbugs on the expensive Halong boats but we stayed on a cheap wee wooden boat that was spotless. I was gobsmacked we had an ensuite toilet and shower! The seafood was, of course, fab but you had to make your own entertainment so it helped that our fellow-passengers (only about 8 of us in total) were good fun. My mate played cards half the night but I just sat on deck and soaked up the atmosphere. We booked through http://www.kangaroocafe.com/

Food in Vietnam is THE BEST and you can eat pho very cheaply, or get a toastie, or a french pastry (bien sur!) but if you fancy splashing out one night in Hanoi go to Bobby Chin's. There is also a restaurant along the lines of Jamie Oliver's Fifteen, I think it's called Hoa Sua but I'll try to confirm with my friend who goes to Hanoi a lot on business. Food is really good, service is, well they try hard! Def worth a visit.

And don't forget to go for a Fanny's Ice-cream.

Minh's Jazz Club is also an absolute Hanoi institution. Just be aware of the curfew Hanoi has - bars close early. Tea at the Sofitel if you feel like putting on a frock.

edit: OK friend says that is the school's name, they also have cafes dotted around. If you google the name you will find their website.

He also says go to West Lake for food at night - foodshop 45 for Indian food. Highway 4 is a good, cheap restaurant in a shophouse. He also reminded me Little Hanoi is a good cafe.

The Museum of Ethnology (or something like) is very good too.

Kooky.

PS I liked Hanoi very very much, in case it's not obvious.

Inselaffen

we will be flying from singapore to London. If we go by KL or Bangkok we havethe short flight there followed by one very long flight in cattle class. Whereas if we fly with Qatar Air or Emirates we will have 2 flights ech of 6-7 hours. which in my opinion is the better choice.

Englishmum

If you're on a nice plane it doesn't really matter too much....I was on that new SQ380 the other day and got a fab seat (emergency exit on the upper deck, although no window there). I'm not sure how that happened, I missed my connecting flight from Newark and Virgin put me and other pax up in a Premier Inn overnight, and I know that Virgin and SQ charge extra for the exit seats. However - both flights were approx 85% empty and I know that both airlines are going to make redundancies and cut back on flights.

The IFE was excellent and I would have been quite happy to stay on the plane even though it was a 13 hour flight LOL! I arrived in Singapore the day before my luggage did.....

The most boring flight I've done from Singapore to LHR was with Royal Brunei some years ago; it was a Boeing 767 going via Dubai (2 hour layover) and no IFE at all. It was *dirt cheap* though....

PS: Skytrax reviews for Malaysia Airlines are here:

http://www.airlinequality.com/Forum/mas.htm

Enjoy your flight!

Kooky.

We're just looking for flights from Syd to the UK in September, with a stopover in Sg on the way back (of course!). We can do all 3 legs on the A380 for about A$5800 for 2 of us (about the same in SGD these days).

After my first flight on it I didn't see what all the fuss was about...until I went back on a crappy old plane. Sorely tempted.