I'm graduating from school in May and am putting some serious thought into traveling to Asia for a month or two before I start my job.

I'd like to visit 3, or maybe 4 countries throughout my stay so that I won't be rushed and can have a decent amount of time to explorer each country.

I've heard great things about Thailand and Japan, so those are musts for me atm. I was also thinking about Hong Kong, maybe only for a few days though b/c I hear it is extremely expensive. I don't plan on applying for a visa so China (except HK) is pretty much out of the question.

Does anyone have suggestions for places to visit or sights to see? Any suggestions or advice would be much appreciated...

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just stick to Japan .. the best place to visit on planet earth very expensive though

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VietNam is mindblowingly amazing - a must!

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How much time and money do you have? Japan is MEGA expensive. It's like going to London. However, you can find plenty of cheap eats... lunch and dinners can be had for $8-20 assuming you won't be eating at McDonalds everyday. Japan is an amazing place filled with a perfect blend of rich history, culture, customs, and at the same time super modern. Oh and amazing food.

HK = expensive! Thailand = cheap! Vietnam = cheap! Cambodia = cheap!

One Asian country that's always overlooked (sadly) is Korea. It's relatively cheap, much cheaper than Japan... I was born in Japan but am of Korean decent so I always go to both countries if I go to Asia. If I stayed a week in each country, I'd probably spend 3x much money in Japan compared to Korea, yet in Korea I could eat/play like a king.

If you only have a few days in each country, just stick to one city. You'll need at least 4-5 days to see Tokyo (and that's Tokyo alone, not going outside), a week is better since you'll have time to take a side trip to one of the onsen (hot springs) resorts like Nikko or Hakone.... Popular Tokyo districts are Shibuya and Roppongi for partying, Shinjuku (my fav) for everything, Ueno for shopping, museums, and parks, Akihabara for the latest electronics, Asakusa for traditional, historical stuff like temples, Harajuku where you see teeny boppers and radically dressed ppl and there's also a nice temple called Meiji Jingu, Ginza for restaurants, dept stores, and shopping, and finally Odaiba, a man-made island w/ a mall... cool to take the Yuri Kamome monorail.

This is a must buy: Tokyo City Atlas: A Bilingual Guide [URL]http://www.amazon.com/Japan-Atlas-Bilingual-Kodansha-International/dp/4770030266/ref=pd_sim_b_5[/URL] This is a MUST buy... TRUST ME ON THIS. You'll probably pick up Lonely Planet or Fodors books but this atlas, you have to have it. It will absolutely save your butt. I've loaned it to 5 or 6 friends that went to Japan and every one of them found it to be invaluable.

The tough reality of clubbing in Japan is that b/c the trains/subways shuts down at around midnight, if you club, you have to stay out all night long and wait for 5am when the trains operate again b/c a cab ride back to your hotel can be prohibitively expensive (unless you're loaded). This is detrimental for tourists b/c it absolutely kills your next day and instead of sightseeing, you're sleeping. So be strategic where you get your hotel. Shibuya is a very popular, hip district for young ppl and there's the lengendary Womb club there so if you stay in Shibuya, you can just walk back. Club Yellow is bet Shibuya and Roppongi in Nishi-Azabu... and not too far from Shibuya... a short cab ride back.

If you do go to Korea, you can eat and party like a king in Seoul. Food is amazing too. It's totally diff style from Japanese food but really good. Korean BBQs are delicious. Popular district for partying is Kangnam (also spelled Gangnam) and Hongdae (Hongik University). Hongdae is my fav place and the last Friday of every month, they have this event called "Club Day" where for only about $12, you can enter like 10 diff clubs. If you do go there, check out M2 club or Museum (that's the name of the club)... Great clubs, great music. Cabs are cheap so you don't have to worry about staying out all night.

Won't go into to too much more detail about Seoul since I'm not sure you'll go but if you are, let us know. Also, as a general practice for travelling abroad, go to a book store and pick up guide books like Lonely Planet, Fromners, Foders, etc. They really do come in handy. And if you do, don't just buy them a few days before your departure. But them way in advance and actually read through them and plan ahead what you'll do.

Have fun!

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Thanks a ton for the advice djkix! I've also heard great things about Seoul, one of my friends is teaching English there right now and absolutely loves it. So that would definitely be a possibility, especially since it's so close to Japan. I'm really intrigued by Thailand though, I've heard its beaches are surreal and I've been wanting to go there for years.

I'd really like to spend a decent amount of time in Japan though, get a good taste of both Tokyo and maybe a more rural area or two (maybe Mt. Fuji area or Nikko). I'd imagine that it'd be at least somewhat cheaper outside of the big cities...?

Great advice about clubbing and the trains shutting down at midnight! What about hostels? Are there a lot of them in Tokyo, and/or across Asia in general? Or would you recommend hotels instead? When traveling overseas (Europe) in the past I always preferred hostels cuz I don't really care where I sleep as long as I have a bed in a safe and centrally located place.

Good book advice as well, Lonely Planet was already on my list but I will for sure buy the 'Tokyo Atlas' if I end up going.

Again, I appreciate the advice and will probably ask for more of it if my plans solidify.

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Korea would be very good, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam are great, but May-Sept tends to be Monsoon Season so it can get rainy, still would be very cheap to travel those above places during the summer, but flooding is very common. Japan is pricey and HK, China is not that bad, but so large. If you had to pick one place I would go with S Korea, having a month or two you could really see get around at leisure, if you are interested in SEA Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, PM me will send you link to photos from my trip there this past Dec/Jan. Have fun.

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[quote=Huggie Smiles;721322]VietNam is mindblowingly amazing - a must![/quote]

It's another planet isn't it? Blew me away. I enjoyed Nha Trang the most... went absolutely mental there. So many crazy fuckin' stories.

I have been to Thailand too, but Vietnam is much more raw.

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True, true, Hanoi is still one of my favorite cities

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defo on Thailand and Japan.

Malaysias not bad. unfortunately i didnt get to see the best bit above Borneo. I recommend that!!!!

Friend of mines been to vietnam, laos and cambodia, she didnt think much of them.

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^^ I heard the opposite... I guess it depends what you are into...I want to go to Cambodia and smoke some opium and fire a rocket launcher :) If your into normal touristy things and more civilized shit go to Japan, Thailand etc...personally when I travel I don't want to see a mc donalds or drink coke ... I went to Thailand twice its good but its become too touristy for me...

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Cambodia :RockOn:

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depending the time of year, Goa

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Yeah Goa is def the shit! But if you can't digest psy-trance you will really miss out.

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[quote=Shpira;721409]I went to Thailand twice its good but its become too touristy for me...[/quote]

thats why i wont go!

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be careful with the hookers. you might be getting more than you bargained for if you're not careful. Might just be your thing though, so don't knock it till you try it.

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I have never stayed at hostels in Japan so I can't really give you much advice for that... but yes, there are hostels. If you google around, I'm sure you'll find some sites. Also you should try to find forums for ex-pats staying in each country and ask those kinds of questions.

Since you have a couple of months to travel around, I hope you have enough funds... staying in Japan will be extremely expensive no matter what you do. If you hit a club, that's $40 just to enter. Add drinks to that and you're up there...

Regarding what you wrote about going outside of Tokyo being cheaper... well not really. Travel expenses are quite high, and you'll still need lodging. And if you treat yourself to a hot spring resort (onsen - def recommended) to nikko or hakone, then that will get costly too. I generally recommend Hakone to first time visitors. It's really a cool resort city.

if you end up staying more than a week there (i.e., 2 weeks), go ahead and go to Kansai region of Japan where you'll find Osaka, Kyoto, and Kobe. Kyoto is a must. In such a case, pick up the Japan Rail Pass. For about $280, you'll get one week of unlimited ride on JR trains and buses, and this includes riding the bullet trains. A roundtrip tix bet Tokyo-Osaka normally costs $300 so you can see how great this deal is. Just do a search for them. You have to buy it BEFORE you get to Japan. You'll buy a voucher here, and then once you get to Japan, you exchange the voucher for the actual tix.

I guess you won't be going to China but I went to Beijing last summer and it was amazing. I didn't have too much time to spend so it's definitely a place I'd return.

Have not gone to Thailand or other SE Asian countries but a friend of mine went to Cambodia before and had a great time (they filmed the first tomb raider movie there in Ankor wat... I think). I mean a month or two is a long time to travel. I think you should go to as many countries as your time, money, and energy allows. You also have to be strategic about stretching your money... for example, staying in Japan too long, as great as it is, will deplete your bank roll real fast but staying in Cambodia will be a fraction of that.

Seoul will def be a great choice especially if your friend will give you a place to stay. If you go there, make sure you hit the Korean War Museum. You'll have to hit the restaurants and bars in alleys in districts like Shinchon and Kangnam.

[quote=pr0ficient;721338]Thanks a ton for the advice djkix! I've also heard great things about Seoul, one of my friends is teaching English there right now and absolutely loves it. So that would definitely be a possibility, especially since it's so close to Japan. I'm really intrigued by Thailand though, I've heard its beaches are surreal and I've been wanting to go there for years.

I'd really like to spend a decent amount of time in Japan though, get a good taste of both Tokyo and maybe a more rural area or two (maybe Mt. Fuji area or Nikko). I'd imagine that it'd be at least somewhat cheaper outside of the big cities...?

Great advice about clubbing and the trains shutting down at midnight! What about hostels? Are there a lot of them in Tokyo, and/or across Asia in general? Or would you recommend hotels instead? When traveling overseas (Europe) in the past I always preferred hostels cuz I don't really care where I sleep as long as I have a bed in a safe and centrally located place.

Good book advice as well, Lonely Planet was already on my list but I will for sure buy the 'Tokyo Atlas' if I end up going.

Again, I appreciate the advice and will probably ask for more of it if my plans solidify.[/quote]

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My girlfriend Laura spent a year living in thailand before travelling down through the islands to australia so i'll tap her up for some info for you michael and get back - although thailand is becoming infested by tourism there are still many parts of it worth seeing and pretty much as they've always been. A friend of mine spends nov-april there every year so if that is the time of year when you're thinking of going i'll point you towards him and he'll sort you out with some free scuba diving if you want as that's what he does. He's also a good source of knowledge all round after going to the place for years - every time he goes he spends a couple of weeks touring the places he's not yet seen and he's still not seen it all. Bangkok is something to experience of course but too much of it can become a bit ...well... too much. As other people here have said you need to be careful of pretty looking young girls who also have knacker bags - also many tourists get turned over after a heavy night and waking to find no wallet, passport etc

Laura says cambodia and indonesia definitely worth checking and she wishes she'd gone to borneo but ran out of chances. more detail on way :roll:

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Would love to pop over to Asia this year if I have the money.

Need to hit Womb in Japan now Yellow is closed plus Thailand and Vietnam sound cool .... if Diggers tours there post Bedrock 11th it may be the deal clincher :lol: as I love to combine travel with music ... must be a motion v movement v energy thing.

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[B]Re: Advice for Traveling to Asia[/B]

just dont go

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i can't wait to move to korea, fuck i'm ready to leave france now. 2 more months in europe, 3 months in hawaii and then korea. cannot wait!

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Was in Asia last NOV, and I must say Singapore is the most impressive country I have visited in my entire life, food is great and diverse, shopping is dirt cheap, and the mixture of races between chinesse, malays and indians is interesting to see.

I suggest a tour where you start in Thailand and go South to Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia, you can fly cheap given the many low cost airlines they have in that region.

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if you go to thailand, whatever you do, have NOTHING To do with drugs of ANY sort. Just even using some of them can result in the death penalty.

I knew a guy who was smoking a joint on the beach on koh samui island, in the middle of the night, and the cops just suddenly were behind him, grabbing him and yelling at him in thai. He was thrown in jail for like 3 years, and only was able to basically "buy" his way out eventually with money from his parents.

They secured him to the prison wall with a chain on his ankles that was like 20 cm long, and he couldnt stand up or lie down properly. When he finally would get to sleep, sometimes the guards would watch him and when he was asleep, he would awake to find himself getting beaten with clubs or sticks or the rattan or whatever.

Nasty. All that for a fucking joint.

dumass.

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^ Shit dude, that is scary stuff! That sounds as bad as it is in Dubai. I'd even be worried about people planting shit on you in the airport.

Thanks again for the advice everyone! There are some excellent suggestions and tips in this thread! I'm going to try and get a loan this week and start out by purchasing a round trip ticket to Tokyo, airfare is cheap as hell: $902 RT from Chicago to Tokyo!!

I'd love to stay for two months, but 5 weeks is probably more realistic to what I can afford. I'm thinking 2-3 weeks in Japan with a rail pass and 2-3 weeks in another country or 2. After reading this thread I'm thinking Thailand, Vietnam, and/or S Korea. After all of my airfare and a 7-day rail pass I should be left with about $125-$150 per day. I'm hoping this will be enough funds...I'm planning on staying in hostels for 3/4 days in Japan and I figure that my daily expenses for everything will be significantly less in the South East Asian countries which should help to offset any excessive spending in Japan.

So please, feel free to continue with any and all advice. I'll keep this thread up dated with my plans as they continue to solidify!

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[quote=pipey;721974]if you go to thailand, whatever you do, have NOTHING To do with drugs of ANY sort. Just even using some of them can result in the death penalty.

I knew a guy who was smoking a joint on the beach on koh samui island, in the middle of the night, and the cops just suddenly were behind him, grabbing him and yelling at him in thai. He was thrown in jail for like 3 years, and only was able to basically "buy" his way out eventually with money from his parents.

They secured him to the prison wall with a chain on his ankles that was like 20 cm long, and he couldnt stand up or lie down properly. When he finally would get to sleep, sometimes the guards would watch him and when he was asleep, he would awake to find himself getting beaten with clubs or sticks or the rattan or whatever.

Nasty. All that for a fucking joint. [/quote]

That is why you go to Cambodia, get a freakin duffle bag of the stuff for next to nothing, smoke right in the bars, does help if the owner of the place is the one smoking you out, there is Laos also if you need to do the narcotic thing, sounds like that guy on Koh Samui was set up, they try to do that stuff on Phan gan (Sp) during the Full Moon Parties, but just too many people to patrol. like I said before considering you are going during the northern hemisphere summer, head to S Korea, or do something different head to Lhasa or Kathamandu hike in the mountains all summer.

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Club Yellow is closed???? WAAAAHHHH------ :(

[quote=simonr;721710]Would love to pop over to Asia this year if I have the money.

Need to hit Womb in Japan now Yellow is closed plus Thailand and Vietnam sound cool .... if Diggers tours there post Bedrock 11th it may be the deal clincher :lol: as I love to combine travel with music ... must be a motion v movement v energy thing.[/quote]

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Well I just bought my roundtrip ticket to Tokyo. I'll be in Asia for 5 weeks, leaving on May 13th and returning on June 17th. So if any [ms]ers live in Tokyo or are going to be in Japan around those dates let me know and we'll have to grab some sushi or hit up the Womb!!

I have also purchased a 7 day rail pass for Japan, so as of now my tentative plans are to spend at 5-7 days in Tokyo and another 7-10 days traveling by train to locations around & south of Tokyo (Mt. Fuji, Kyoto, Honshu, Nikko). Then I will most likely spend the rest of my time in South East Asia. I'm still thinking Thailand but [URL="http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/cis/cis_1040.html#safety"]this[/URL] State Dept. warning about an increased threat of terrorism and violence is a little bit worrisome. I was originally thinking of spending a few days in Bangkok and the rest of my time in Southern Thailand on or near Phuket island. I love the ocean and clean beaches!I still have plenty of time to make my decision, but any opinions on that would be greatly appreciated.

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diggers will be doing a couple of dates in japan in May so you'll be able to catch him .. i've heard news that he might do dates in the region around asia during that time as well but that is yet to be confirmed

in regard to Thailand .. try to avoid southern Thailand especially around the Thailand-Malaysia border area as thats where the violence are reported to be happening but Phuket is pretty safe as its one of the countries' main source of tourism revenue so the government tries to keep it safe that way

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[QUOTE=Corven;728992]diggers will be doing a couple of dates in japan in May so you'll be able to catch him .. i've heard news that he might do dates in the region around asia during that time as well but that is yet to be confirmed

in regard to Thailand .. try to avoid southern Thailand especially around the Thailand-Malaysia border area as thats where the violence are reported to be happening but Phuket is pretty safe as its one of the countries' main source of tourism revenue so the government tries to keep it safe that way[/QUOTE]

As for diggers, unfortunately as of now it looks like I will be missing all of his Japan dates by a few days :( Although there is about 2 weeks between his last date in Japan and his next dates in England (3 days of S&D) so hopefully he will add a few more dates around Asia in that gap.

And in regards to Thailand, I hear that the south is to be avoided, but Phuket is pretty far south! Maybe 2-3 weeks in Thailand is too long and I should find someplace else to spend at least half of that time!

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Leaving in 2 weeks from today...starting to get excited! All of my plans are finalized as much as they can be.

[b][U]Itinerary[/U][/b]

Tokyo, Japan - May 13 [LIST] []Sightsee & go to the Womb on May 15th to see Damian Lazarus!![/LIST] Okinawa, Japan - May 19 [LIST] Kick it on the beach and travel to surrounding islands [/LIST] Kyoto, Japan - May 19 [List]Possible daytrips to Osaka, Himeji, Nara, Hakone[/list] Phuket, Thailand - June 2 [list]Chill on the beach and travel to surrounding islands []3 Day Safari in Khoa Sok National Park[/list] Sinapore - June 12 [List]Sightsee & hit up Zouk[/list] Back to Tokyo - June 16 [List]Fly home on the 17th[/list]

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[quote=pr0ficient;729001]As for diggers, unfortunately as of now it looks like I will be missing all of his Japan dates by a few days :( [/quote]

Re-arrange your flight ... simple ;)

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[QUOTE=simonr;742286]Re-arrange your flight ... simple ;)[/QUOTE]

trust me, I've thought about it

Unfortunately I've got my final exams that week and there's no way around it

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For that time you are in Thailand give Bankok a once over, cheap flights on Air Asia and they go to Sinapore as well. Not sure how the beach are there during that time of the year but should not be as crowded, drink plenty of beers for me.

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and stay away from the lady boys!

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[quote=Dhar_2;742421]and stay away from the lady boys![/quote]

Im sooo fucking sick of people saying this its untrue!

No offense personally dude of course :)

Edit - its AndyH btw I just realised im on my mates laptop lol

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^ hey each to his own!

if u like da ladyboys! your secrets safe with us! ;)

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I purchased a RT ticket from the US to Japan and I am aware that as a US citizen I can stay in Japan for 90 days without a visa.

But am I going to need a 're-entry' pass since I'll be leaving Japan for SEA for a few weeks and then flying back to Japan to catch the return portion of my original round trip ticket?

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[quote=edjames;742466]Im sooo fucking sick of people saying this its untrue!

No offense personally dude of course :)

Edit - its AndyH btw I just realised im on my mates laptop lol[/quote]

So is Ed your mate in the middle of the pic who was at Bedrock 10 and 10.5 ?

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[quote=pr0ficient;743184]I purchased a RT ticket from the US to Japan and I am aware that as a US citizen I can stay in Japan for 90 days without a visa.

But am I going to need a 're-entry' pass since I'll be leaving Japan for SEA for a few weeks and then flying back to Japan to catch the return portion of my original round trip ticket?[/quote]

might wanna ask an embassy about that and not a board full of people who get high all the time:lol:;)