May 20, 2013, 03:50:05 PM

News

Welcome to the Waygook community forums.  Feel free to browse the site, and sign up for a free account to have access to lesson plans.  Waygook is geared towards EFL/ESL teachers in South Korea, however we do like to cater and help out fellow waygookins all over.  We are also on facebook for convenience.

Author Topic: I'm new to all this  (Read 379 times)

Offline daejeondarryn

  • Adventurer
  • *
  • Posts: 63
  • Gender: Male
I'm new to all this
« on: April 26, 2011, 02:49:57 PM »
Hey guys,

So I'm trying to plan my summer vacation. After talking to my coteacher, we determined I could have August 6-18th off, as stipulated by my contract. I would like to travel through some of Asia as I have yet to see anything outside of Korea. As for my personality, I'm more the type who enjoys exploring ancient fortresses than relaxing on a beach. I was thinking of taking a trip to Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam and hitting all the hot spots there. I will have the entire week to recover when I come back if it's too much which is, in fact, my first question. How much should I do? Can you cross the borders between these countries with a visa? If I decide to go to more than one country, where should I fly into/out of? Any help is greatly appreciated.

Online bjinglee

  • Veteran
  • **
  • Posts: 244
Re: I'm new to all this
« Reply #1 on: April 26, 2011, 02:55:37 PM »
All four of those countries in 12 days is too much in my opinion.  I would stick to just 1 or 2 countries in that amount of time. If I had to pick, I'd choose Vietnam and Cambodia of the 4 you mentioned. Visa will depend on your nationality. If you're American, you will need a visa for both countries. 

Offline tfuller

  • Super Waygook
  • ***
  • Posts: 382
  • Gender: Male
Re: I'm new to all this
« Reply #2 on: April 26, 2011, 02:59:36 PM »
http://waygook.org/index.php?topic=7787.0

Please refer to this thread, especially warnings about the wet season during this time of year...

Offline injuredeagle

  • Veteran
  • **
  • Posts: 172
  • Gender: Male
Re: I'm new to all this
« Reply #3 on: April 26, 2011, 03:18:39 PM »
I think your idea is mostly doable, but you may be wiped out and not leaving yourself enough time for travel. My gf and I had about 14 days over the winter and we did 3 countries -- thailand, cambodia and vietnam. We barely had enough time and only spent a day or two in each of the cities we visited (bangkok, siem reap, ho chi minh, hanoi and a beach town).

When you consider travel times in Cambodia and Laos, you are really pushing it. Esp. if you have some monsoons, you will be delayed for sure.

I'd figure out what you really want to see in each country and then see if you can't do the same things in one of the countries you def. want to see. Example: Say you want visit the floating villages in Vietnam. Well, Cambodia has some cool floating villages so maybe you could spend longer there and skip Vietnam. Etc. etc.

As far as border crossings, this you need to research too. If you arrive too late to a border crossing, it may be closed. Or, you may deal with huge lines that interrupt where you will end up for the night. Plan on hitting crossings as early as you can and plan that into your travel.

Oh, and travel into Vietnam overland requires a visa that you CANNOT get on the Internet. You have to apply and receive before you get there. See http://alexpickett.com/2011/03/04/alex-and-chickpea-do-southeast-asia-the-quest-for-the-elusive-vietnam-visa/

If you want some good advice about overland travel, check out this guy's site: http://www.talesofasia.com/

And you can check out mine too and look for the posts about SE Asia: http://alexpickett.com/category/alex-and-chickpea-do-korea/

Good luck! sounds like an awesome trip!


 

Employment

Recently updated lesson plans