FAQ Part II - Itinerary

Hello all


Here we ho with the second FAQ, related to the intinerary.

So this is how it looks...

Obviously this map is by no means exact as it only gives the impression to flight from capital to capital! In any case I'll do this as follows:

• 2 October: Flight Paris-Hanoi via Singapore
• Till end October: Vietnam
• Early November: Cambodia with my girlfriend Céline
• Mid November- end November: Laos
• Then 3 days max in Thailand early December to go to Bangkok and catch a plane to Myanmar
• Myanmar till 20 December
• Then meet with my mum and brother to do Southern Thailand
• Lastly between 5 and 28 January I'll do Malaysia (partly with Céline) - then flight back to Paris from Kuala Lumpur via Singapore

As I see it now I will have to take internal flights three times: from Cambodia to Laos and from Thailand to Myanmar (return). For the latter you are in fact obliged to flight there as no long term visa can be delivered at border crossings. Possibly I'll take another local flight in Thailand to go down South.

Countries requiring Visa:

• Vietnam: to be done before the trip;
• Cambodia: may be done at border crossings;
• Laos: may be done at border crossings;
• Thailand: Nop;
• Myanmar: Country only accessible by plane, visa may be done in Bangkok;
• Malaysia: Nop.

Whenever crossing borders/changing countries I'll do an update on highlights!

Routard ou Lonely Planet?

Loin de moi l'idée de trancher définitivement ce débat, c'est de toutes façons impossible. Mais disons qu'en général, ma préférence va largement au lonely planet (LP), et voici pourquoi - je précise que j'ai établi ces comparaisons sur le routard/LP 'Thaïlande' et 'Inde'. Il semble que la qualité des guides varie fort d'un pays à l'autre.

• Au fil des années le Routard devient de moins en moins routard. C'est de plus en plus un guide pour couple avec enfants, qui cherchent à trouver des hôtels tenus par des Français. Parfois on croit rêver: tous les gérants d'hôtels parlant le français se retrouvent d'office avec des super critiques!
• Le LP donne de vrais infos, qui ne se trouvent pas dans le Routard, en particulier pour tout ce qui est franchissement de frontières par la route ou transports publics. On a souvent l'impression que les mecs du routard se baladent en voiture, ce qui est rarement le cas du routard moyen.
• Le Routard sombre (parfois) aussi dans un moralisme incompréhensible. Par exemple, aucun conseil n'est donné pour aller aux fameuses 'Full Moon Parties' qui se déroulent en Thailande, au motif que "alcool et drogues en tout genre y forment un mélange détonnant". C'est vraiment bizarre car ces fêtes sont très sympas, et pas besoin d'être drogué pour s'y amuser. A l'inverse le LP donne des conseils sur les cocktails, drogues et arnaques à éviter, c'est bien plus utile!
• En revanche, le routard offre de nombreux avantages: les récits sont plus détaillés et donc 'on sait à quoi s'attendre', certains 'bon plans' sont vraiment excellents. le LP fournit de l'info plus brute, plus neutre, et en général un peu plus fiable. C'est un véritable guide pour routard, précisément à l'opposé du Routard!!

Au final donc, gros avantage au LP, même si le Routard en est au final un bon complément. L'idéal est sans doutes de prendre les deux, mais ça pèse lourd. Pour ma part j'ai acheté la dernière version du LP 'SouthEast Asia on a shoestring', mais j'achèterai peut être des guides d'occasion dans les pays successifs.

A plus,

Manu

FAQ Part I - Why doing it?

I thought starting up the blog with an FAQ would be a good idea. Here we go with the first edition - other will follow: at this stage I aim for itinerary, costs, preparation, and other FAQs are likely to come.

Why are you doing it?
Because I love traveling and Southeast Asia in particular, and I feel I need a break. After two years and a half of hard work, it's time to make my dreams come true. I guess I also want to discover some new things, and I am also afraid to have the opportunity to do it ever again if not now. Also I have the money now, of course.

What was your previous job?
I worked as a consultant in an EU lobbying firm based in Brussels. The firm was really great in terms of atmosphere and work but I felt I wanted to do something else. Then came the idea of a trip, i.e. taking a four month break in between my previous job and the future one. I also want to use that period to reflect about my own future professionally speaking.

Why four months?
Many of my friends have indeed done a longer tour lasting a year. As far as I am concerned I feel this is a bit long and then you tend to disconnect from reality. Hence four months sounds to me a good compromise.

Did you plan long ahead?
Yes. It was somewhere in my mind in the past four years, and started to take shape around August 2006. From then on I REALLY started to save money. My final choice was however made around March/April 2007. I gave my resignation in June 2007, i.e. four months before I actually leave the firm at the end of September. My boss was really great and did not make any problem!

Why Southeast Asia?
Having been to Thailand and India, I already know a bit of Asia. Africa is a difficult continent to travel to as backpacker, the other 'usual' alternative to Asia is Latin-America, but I do not speak Spanish which is a handicap to meet people/other travelers. I'm not attracted by middle-East except Iran nor by China and other countries of the region. I loved both trips to Thailand and India. At some point I thought about doing four months in India but finally figured out that doing the many different countries in Southeast Asia would be more fun. The countries (Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Thailand, Myanmar, and Malaysia) are clearly part of a group but offer very different kinds of opportunities and sights.

Are you going alone?
Yes. I will meet my girlfriend twice (thanks god!), and my mum and brother once. Many people are worried about traveling alone but my own experience in Thailand and India tells me that you're never alone!

Will you do anything like volunteering or other projects?
I don't think so - I feel four months is somewhat too short and want to take time to relax! I do not have any specific project apart from keeping this blog up to date...which means taking picture, which is a significant change for me!

Next FAQ to be posted: itinerary