| Comments needed - a month in Asia - any recommendations ? | |
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| Feb 11, 2008 14:45 |   |
 | Hey Me and a friend will be spending little over a month touring Asia during the summer. The plan was to mix a bit of city life with plenty of time on the beach. We'll leave in the end of July and return home in the end of august. So far, our travelplan is something like this. We'll arrive in Hong Kong, spend 3 days there, then we will travel by train to Shanghai where we will spend 3 or 4 days.Our next destination is Japan, the plan was to travel by boat to Osaka and take a train to Tokyo, spend a few days there and travel from Kobe to Tianjin and Beijing. Hopefully, we'll spend a fair amount of time there, the plan was to visit the great wall of china as well. Our next and final destination before returning to Hong Kong so we can get on a plane back home, is Hainan. I'm a bit unsure on where we should stay, north or south, i understand that there is a big difference in terms of rain ? Do you have any suggestions in terms of places we really should visit ? |
| Feb 11, 2008 22:53 | #1 |
| Are you going to Hainan to try to satisfy your "beach" part of the trip? I don't know what you are expecting, but if it is empty white sand beaches, then you will be disappointed. If you want crowded and polluted beaches, then you will be right at home. Some Chinese people would disagree with that statement, but that is because they have nothing to compare it with. They think that having rubbish all over the place is normal. Out of Shanghai and Beijing, I would say that Beijing has far more to offer as a tourist destination. So maybe try to spend more time there, and less in Shanghai. However, you will be there at the time when the Olympics is on, making it very difficult to find accomodation, expensive, and crowded. Personally, I wouldn't bother with Shanghai at all, but if you need to get the boat from there, then I guess it's unavoidable. Nanjing would be a better option. You seem to be missing out on the more naturally beautiful and quieter parts of China, such as Yunnan, Zhangjiajie, Yangshuo, etc. Also, 3 days in HK is enough. It's a great city, but don't plan to spend more time there before you leave again. If you want my advice, I would suggest you minimise time in Shanghai, and look into going to one of the places I have suggested. Finally, you are aware that will need a double entry Chinese visa? |
| Feb 12, 2008 07:51 | #2 |
| Cheers for the reply. I thought Hainan was supposed to be paradise, so that surprised me. I guess we'll drop Hainan then and go to Thailand instead then. What's the easiest way to get from China to Thailand ? plane via Hong Kong ? Regarding Beijing and Shanghai, due to the olympics it's likely that we'll change our plans so that we travel from Hong Kong on the 23rd of July to Beijing, the olympics starts on the 8th of august (??), so hopefully we'll get a decent room for a decent price. We were planning to stay for 3 days, spending a couple of days in the city and also visiting the great wall of china. As it stands now, the plan is: Hong Kong => Beijing => tianjin => Kobe => Tokyo => Osaka => Shanghai => Thailand or Hainan Both Zhangjiajie and Yunnan looks great, so we'll definitely try to visit both places. Yes, we are aware that we'll need a double entry chinese visa. In terms of places to spend the night, hotels and so on, should we book them before we arrive in china or should we just find a hotel when we arrive in the spesific city and so on ? Cheers |
| Feb 12, 2008 10:01 | #3 |
| There are some ok beaches in Hainan but either they are daytripper sites where Chinese paddle and buy painted seashells and some that are not easy to access. China has many great things to see and do, but it is not really a place to come for beaches. For beaches - go to Australia :) :) |
| Feb 12, 2008 10:23 | #4 |
| Hehe, at first the plan was to visit Thailand to relax at the beach, but we read some positive stuff about Hainan and then decided that we might as well go there because it's much closer to the other places we'll be visiting than Thailand. Though if Hainan isn't as lovely as we first thought, then we'll most likely visit Thailand. I'd love to visit Australia, but i'll have to save that one for a later time, my friend has already been 6 months there, so we'll focus on China, Japan and Thailand this time |
| Feb 13, 2008 15:03 | #5 |
| How easy is it to get from Hong Kong to Thailand ? |
| Feb 13, 2008 19:45 | #6 |
| http://www.cxholidays.com/ r/package/IT7HKT01KAHBJS?nav=homepage Dragon Air and Cathay Pacific Holidays offers also check out http://english.ctrip.com/ |
| Feb 15, 2008 09:08 | #7 |
| It's very easy to get from HK to Thailand, but only by plane. As you are looking for "Paradise beaches" then you need to do your research well. Forget popular places such as Kohpipi (Not sure of the spelling there!), and Koh Samui, as they are unlikely to impress you. I have never been, but you might want to check out the area of Krabbi? How are you now planning on getting from HK to Beijing? Also, which country are you leaving from (flying initially to HK from)? I may be able to offer a suggestion! Regarding hotels in China. I would book HK, and Beijing in advance. All other places you should be fine with just turning up, or at least booking a couple of days ahead. Doing this, at least you can be a little flexible and spontaneous if need be. What is your nightly budget in HK and BJ? I may be able to offer some recommendations. |
| Feb 15, 2008 09:29 | #8 |
| Hehe, we've basicly ended up with Koh Samui, though i don't mind alternatives :). In terms of paradise beaches, we are really just looking for great surroundings, long beaches and plenty of activities. I see that Krabbi isn't far away from Phuket, that might be good. Our plan was to take the train from HK to Beijing, looking at www.seat61.com for prices and alternatives. we are still trying to figure out if we are going before the olympics or during the olympics, the idea was that it might be plenty of fun to be there during the olympics, though it will obviously be a bit more expensive as well. We are traveling from Norway to London, then we are planning to buy our plane tickets from www.oasishongkong.com so we can get to Hong Kong. For our return, we are planning to travel from Bangkok directly to Oslo in Norway I think we'll atleast book HK, Beijing and a hotel in Thailand in advance. Budget wise, we haven't really set a limit, the ones we have looked at so far has been around £17 per person each night. I'm not sure about where we should stay in HK though, most of the hotels i have been looking for has been in Kowloon, do you recommend staying in central hong kong ? |
| Feb 15, 2008 23:11 | #9 |
| Finding a decent hotel which is cheap in HK is not easy. There are cheap hotels, but they are hardly what you would call "decent". If your budget can stretch to about $90US per night (per room - not per person) for the couple of nights you will be in HK, then I can recommend the Charterhouse Inn which is just a couple of minutes walk from Times Square and Causeway Bay. The rooms are small, but very clean and comfortable. By being able to walk to most places, you will save a little on transport. The best place to book this is on expedia.com. If you want to go cheaper, then try somewhere called the Lynn Tyde Guest house. Also situated very close to Times Square, this place is much cheaper (about $40 for a double room), but they also rent the rooms on an hourly basis - which should give you an idea of what to expect! I have stayed there (for longer than an hour!) and it seemed fine. The phone number is +852 28902112, but I am not sure if the couple who own it speak English. They don't have a website. Staying in Kowloon can be a little cheaper, but you will find that you end up travelling much more, and spending the money you have saved on accommodation. Regarding taking the train from HK to Beijing... If you really want to, then make sure you go Hard Bed class. The beds are not actually hard at all, and the atmosphere in hard sleeper class will help pass the 24 hours much faster than soft bed class, which will see you locked in a room with a couple of snoring business men. However, you do realise you can usually fly to BJ for about the same money, although probably not in the run up to the Olympics! For a good place to stay in Beijing, try the Haina Hotel - tel 84071641. Also nearby is the Lama Hostel which is also good. If you are flying from the UK, have you considered looking at a Round The World ticket with Star Alliance? This would enable you to fly from London to Bangkok - Koh Samui - Bangkok - HK - Beijing - Tokyo (probably via Seoul) - Hawaii - San Fran - Oslo (or vice versa). You get up to 15 stops for about £1300 (incl taxes). If you're already paying half that to get you to Asia and back, then you'll probably rack up the other half on other flights and trains. Just something to consider. Of course, it would mean missing out on places such as Zhangjiajie, Yunnan, or Yangshuo. If you would rather see these places, then do it between HK and BJ, rather than going direct. Hope this is of some help? |
| Feb 16, 2008 17:39 | #10 |
| GUESTTRAVELMATE | Hallois! I just want to pop in here an say: Thanks everyone for all the great advice helping me and MRSCANDI get an unforgetable (of the enjoyable kind..) summer vacation trip :-) Cheers, Glenn - Norway |
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