| Comments needed - a month in Asia - any recommendations ? | |
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| Feb 18, 2008 11:16 | #11   |
 | Cheers for the long reply, plenty of good suggestions $90 per night isn't much of a problem, it would be great to live as close to the city as possible. We'll try to find a hotel in central hong kong. The Charterhouse looks quite good, i have also looked at the Cosmopolitan Hotel Hong Kong. Regarding the train, it sounds like it's something you wouldn't recommend ? I haven't really checked what it costs to fly from hong kong to Beijing, do you know any sites that you can recommend where i can check travel fees ? I'm using a Norwegian site and i would like to make sure that i'm not missing out on any good deals. I tried looking at the Star Allienca RTW (round the world), though i couldn't find Koh Samui on the list, didn't find that price either. I just found the 3 alternatives, starting at 29 000 miles. It would be great if you could point me in the direction of the offer you were talking about, because it sounds like a very good alternative for us. Cheers |
| Feb 18, 2008 16:27 | #12 |
| UPDATE: i used the RTW ticket and opted for: Oslo - San Francisco - Honolulu - Tokyo - Beijing - Shanghai - Hong Kong - Koh Samui - Oslo Though the fare ended up at almost £1850, total milage at 23500 Any suggestions ? |
| Feb 19, 2008 09:44 | #13 |
| Regarding flight prices from HK to Beijing, email a nice girl called Jasper (yeah I know it's a boy's name!) at happystar.com.hk|jasper Tell her Marcus told you to contact her (you never know - she might give me a discount next time!) If you want to pop over the border into Mainland China, you might be able to fly more cheaply from Shenzhen or Guangzhou. To check out these prices, go to www.elong.net Regarding RTW with Star Alliance. There are 2 places I know to book this in the UK, but I have never booked anything from Norway. Check out www.trailfinders.co.uk, and another company called STA travel. Both will give you the lowest prices. I wouldn't call them from Norway however, as it generally takes about 45 minutes to book a RTW ticket. Best to work out your route on the star alliance website first, and then email them with your intended itinerary. If you can't get to Koh Samui by Star Alliance, then just get to Bangkok, and get a seperate cheap flight from there. However, I think you will find better beaches in Hawaii! Regarding trains in China. They are fantastic - cheap, clean (Sleeping class), efficient, and generally reliable. I was only raising a slight question for your intention of going all the way from HK to BJ without stopping anywhere in the middle. You won't see much from the train - just a few rice fields, and as you are on a fairly tight schedule, I would recommend not wasting the 24 hours it takes for the journey. If you end up going anywhere internally in China, and can take the over night train, then I would highly recommend it. Hard Bed class is by far the best. They are open cabins, and you will have lots of people to chat to. Soft bed class is like prison. The only problem with the trains, is booking tickets in advance. Unless you turn up in person at the station, or other ticket office, I don't know how you would get them. You can't book online as far as I know. Any more questions? Always happy to help. |
| Feb 21, 2008 06:06 | #14 |
| Thank you so much for all your tips, you've been a great help to us. We might very well contact Jasper about tickets from HK to Beijing. Right now we are a bit uncertain about travel routes, i checked Star Alliance from london with this route: London - San Francisco - Honolulu Hawaii - Tokyo - Beijing - Shanghai - HK - Cambodia - London The total was £1480, which is about the same as we have ended up on our first route which only included Asia. Both alternatives are very tempting, i wouldn't mind visiting both San Francisco and Honolulu, though it could mean that we'll miss out on some more interesting places in China, like Yunnan and Zhangjiajie, so we'll have to sit down and look closer at the alternatives and just reach a decision. If we go to Hawaii, we might as well drop Thailand, as we only intented to visit Koh Samui to relax on the beach. Good to know that the trains are excellent. The 24 hour trip from HK to Beijing isn't ideal, though it's atleast good to have it as an alternative. Good to know about the hard beds class vs soft beds class. How hard is it to get tickets for any parts of the olympics ? since we might end up visiting Beijing during that period. Again, thank you so much for all your help |
| Feb 21, 2008 06:53 | #15 |
| I don't know too much about Olympic tickets. I know that they have all been sold already, so your only chance would be to buy one from a ticket tout. I would imagine they will be expensive. Good to see you have Cambodia on your list. What an amazing country that is. Laos is supposed to be very similar, but I have not been myself. It's high on my list. One thing to consider about the RTW option verses the Asia only option, is that Asia is a much cheaper place (with exception of Japan and HK) than San Fran, and Hawaii. So even if the flights work out the same for both journeys, Asia will still save you money on hotels, food, and local transport. You will obviously see more places on the RTW option, but be careful not to try to cram too much in, otherwise you will end up seeing nothing. Remember you will be tired from jetlag and lots of travelling, so you will need to have rest days. You are wise to fly RTW in a westerly direction, as the jetlag won't be so noticeable. Using your planned itinerary, I predict your favourite place will Cambodia, and your least favourite will be Shanghai. That doesn't mean you will not like it, I just don't think there is much for tourists to see there. Good luck, and let me know if you need any more advice. |
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