Dan's Adventure

South of Thailand lies Malaysia which has two distinct parts, peninsular Malaysia (West) and East Malaysia. The peninsular shares a border with Thailand to the north and Singapore to the south and is the only part of Malaysia that I will have time to visit on this trip. I will be in Malaysia towards the end of January which means that the east coast of the peninsular will still be in monsoon season, I therefore intend to stick mainly to the west.

If I cross the Thailand/Malaysia border by boat I …

At the beginning of January I will arrive in Thailand at Chiang Khong after crossing the Mekong river from Laos. The visa situation for Thailand is a bit frustrating. Until the start of this year, it was possible to get a 30 day visa exemption when entering Thailand over land from a neighbouring country. This has now been reduced to 15 days which would necessitate a visa run to one of the neighbouring countries if I want to stay longer. My current plan is to spend three weeks in Thailand …

After 2 weeks in Cambodia, relaxing at Si Phan Don (meaning four thousand islands) sounds like the ideal introduction to Laos. On Don Dhet lazing in a hammock seems to be a popular choice, but if that proves to be too strenuous theres always the option to go cycling, kayaking or to seek out the Irrawaddy Dolphins. From here I will be heading north, first to the captial, Vientiane, then on to Vang Vieng.

Vang Vieng is a bit of a backpackers hub where the main theme is to have fun. …

Travelling by train is incredibly popular in India and as a result trains are often fully booked weeks before their departure. For long distance journeys, tickets go on sale 90 days in advance and can be booked online through the IRCTC. Most trains in India have a tourist quota which only foreigners can book, but these tickets can only be booked at stations and are very limited. Not every train has a tourist quota and even if they do it may only be a couple of tickets. Its therefore not …

As mentioned in my previous post, Itinerary for Vietnam, I plan to leave Vietnam by boat from Chau Doc and travel up the river to Phnom Penh, Cambodia. When the boat reaches the border everyone needs to get off to go through immigration. Cambodia issues visas on arrival at its border crossings so I won’t need to worry about getting one in advance. The tourist visa currently costs $20USD but its apparently normal for the border officials to demand more.

When thinking of Cambodia, I can’t help but think of Holiday …

It seemed like a great idea to get as many vaccinations as possible at the same time as its a hassle getting to and from the hospital, its a 5 hour round trip if I get public transport. On Wednesday I made the journey on the bus to Monklands Hospital and got vaccinations for Rabies, Jap B, Hepatitis B, Menangitis and Cholera in the form of 4 injections and 1 oral vaccination. Yesterday I got another 2 injections for Tetanus, Diptheria and Polio combined and Hepatitis A and Typhoid combined. …

Since I am going to be spending almost 3 months in a predominantly Spanish speaking continent I think it may be a good idea to learn a bit of Spanish before I go. My time in South America is the longest I will be spending anywhere that the same language is spoken throughout. I will be in Asia for longer, but each country that I will visiting there speaks a different language so I will need to hope I can get by with a few phrases and the Vegan Passport. …

Following China I will be travelling south to Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, Malayasia and Singapore. All over land using buses, trains, boats, and whatever other forms of transport are available. In Vietnam I will mainly be travelling by bus and train but to get to Cambodia I’ll be taking a boat along the river from Chau Doc to Phnom Penh.

From China I am planning to enter Vietnam in the north at the Hekou/Lao Cai border which I will get to with a bus from Kunming. My first port of call …