The hardest part of this whole backpacking trip was planning an itinerary. With an itinerary roughy planned out, we could go ahead to start planning the rest of our trip such as travel insurance, vaccinations, accommodation, mode of transport etc
With so many countries in Southeast Asia, 7 months to travel all of this is definitely not enough time.
Our itinerary was created with the following in mind:
- We wanted to visit all the countries we wanted to visit
- Use a combination of (mainly) planes, trains and a few coaches here and there to get us around to save time
- Book flights in advance so we could get a better price. As we were going during the high season we are betting that flight prices will increase during the Summer
Our current itinerary:
1st April – Flew from UK (Manchester) to Malaysia (Kuala Lumpur)
Kuala Lumpur 6 days (1st Apr to 6th Apr)
Perhentian Islands 5 days (6th Apr to 11th Apr)
Taman Negara 2 days (11th Apr to 13th Apr)
Cameron Highlands 3 days (13th Apr to 16th Apr)
Ipoh, Penang, Langkawi
6th May – Flying from Malaysia (Penang) to Thailand (Phuket)
Thailand’s amazing places – Phuket, Ko Tao , Krabi, Chiang Mai, Bangkok, Phi Phi Islands
23rd May – Flying from Thailand (Bangkok) to Cambodia (Siam Reap)
Cambodia’s amazing places – Siem Reap, Battambang
1st June – Mekong bus from Cambodia (Phnom Penh) to Vietnam (Ho Chi Minh)
Vietnam’s amazing places – Ho Chi Minh, Hai Phong, Hanoi
12th June – Flying fromVietnam (Ho Chi Minh) to Philippines (Manila)
Philippines’ amazing places – Manila, Cebu, Davao, Palawan, Puerto Galera, Taal Volcano Island, El Nido
8th July – Flying from Philippines (Manila) to South Korea (Seoul) and Japan
South Korea’s amazing places – Busan, Seoul, Jeju Island
Japan’s amazing places – Tokyo, Kyoto, Fukuoka, Hakodate
8th August – Flying from Japan to China (Shanghai)
China’s amazing places – Shanghai, Guangdong, Hangzhou, Suzhou
29th August – Flying from China (Shanghai) to Singapore
2nd September – Flying from Singapore to Indonesia (Jakarta)
Indonesia’s amazing places – Bali, Jakarta, Raja Amput, Gili Island, Java, Yogakarta
Haven’t decided how we are going from Indonesia to Kuala Lumpur
1st October – Flying from Kuala Lumpur to Sarawak, Sabah, Kinabalu
28th October – Flying from Kuala Lumpur back HOMEEE (Manchester Airport)
Diving – There are lots of places to go diving. I’ve already highlighted my 10 top diving destinations and most of them are in Thailand, Malaysia, Philippines and Indonesia. When I started looking at where to go diving there was a good article on Southeast Asia Backpacker’s website → General scuba diving guide
If you have any suggestions and recommendations, please comment and let us know.
Hey,
that’s an awesome trip you have planned there! Just some thoughts from my side:
Thailand – swap Phuket with Ko Tao, Ko Tao is the diving place in Thailand, especially the Padi courses are the cheapest worldwide there while Phuket is the most touristic area.
Philippines – don’t spend too much time in Manila, go south to Puerto Galera (takes half day) and make a stop at the Taal Volcano Island. “Vulcan Point in the Philippines is the world’s largest island within a lake (Main Crater Lake) that is situated on an island (Volcano Island, aka Taal Island) located in a lake (Lake Taal) within an island (Luzon).”; Palawan, El Nido = awesome! 😀
Indonesia – don’t spend too much time in Jakarta and take the bus to Yogyakarta. It is the cultural capital with some nice day trips around (volcano, temples etc.)
Thank you so much. I’m amending my list to include those places now 🙂 Wish you were coming with us…you could be our guide haha 🙂
You cannot miss Sihanoukville when you are in Cambodia. Koh Rong is the most stunning island I’ve ever been on!
Fab. I will look into it. There are so many places I haven’t been to.