Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Southeast Asia On a Rope: Cambodia and Myanmar
    Southeast Asia On a Rope: Cambodia and Myanmar
    Southeast Asia On a Rope: Cambodia and Myanmar
    Ebook303 pages1 hour

    Southeast Asia On a Rope: Cambodia and Myanmar

    By Larry Stein

    ()

    Read preview

    About this ebook

    Using over two hundred color pictures, this guidebook illustrates the charm and adventure of traveling to Cambodia and Myanmar. The guide is aimed at the cost conscious, but not the cost adverse.

    "A Traveler on a Rope" is neither traveling on a shoestring, nor toting, or having another tote, Hermes luggage. Cost is an object but so is comfort. She recognizes the danger of a luxury cocoon as well as the tedium of a shared bathroom.

    The guide offers unvarnished recommendations on food, lodging and sights. Equally important, tips are shared to assist each traveler to plan, and memorialize, his perfect Southeast Asian trip.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublishereBookIt.com
    Release dateApr 26, 2016
    ISBN9781456623937
    Southeast Asia On a Rope: Cambodia and Myanmar

    Read more from Larry Stein

    Related to Southeast Asia On a Rope

    Related ebooks

    Asia Travel For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      Air Miles

      Nov 1, 2019

      How many flights do you typically take per year? Usually about 50. As a reporter it really does depend on where news is happening and what’s making international headlines. As a Southeast Asia correspondent, I never spent more than two weeks in a ro

      2 min read

    • Article

      The Last Frontier

      Jan 10, 2018

      The Last Frontier
      7 min read

    • Article

      Bitten By The Travel Bug

      Feb 7, 2020

      Bitten By The Travel Bug
      2 min read

    • Article

      Breaking Into Travel Writing

      Jun 15, 2020

      Travel writers are adventurers. Swashbuckling storytellers who immerse themselves in exotic settings, recording their experiences with aggressive sensory detail—the smell of a Moroccan spice market, the feel of an Antarctic wind gust—to transport rea

      4 min read

    • Article

      The End Of The World

      Mar 13, 2019

      The End Of The World
      9 min read

    • Article

      Her Universe

      Apr 13, 2020

      Her Universe
      3 min read

    • Article

      Footloose Freedom

      Dec 5, 2017

      Footloose Freedom
      3 min read

    • Article

      Expert Q&A

      Jul 13, 2023

      Expert Q&A
      2 min read

    • Article

      Big Ambitions Part 1

      Apr 30, 2021

      Big Ambitions Part 1
      4 min read

    • Article

      SOUTHERN MAN (and Woman)

      Feb 20, 2020

      SOUTHERN MAN (and Woman)
      6 min read

    • Article

      Backpacker Diaries

      Aug 14, 2020

      With travelling as her occupation, Kasa visited India, starting in New Delhi. She made her way to Agra, then Rajasthan and Varanasi. How was the experience? As a female solo traveller, my main concern was safety. But, I never felt unsafe, which was

      2 min read

    • Article

      Thailand

      Sep 10, 2020

      Thailand
      2 min read

    • Article

      Journeys

      Nov 14, 2018

      Journeys
      15 min read

    • Article

      ADVENTURE BETTER: Part 2

      Apr 16, 2020

      ADVENTURE BETTER: Part 2
      7 min read

    • Article

      Give Me A Break

      Jun 3, 2018

      Give Me A Break
      5 min read

    • Article

      OUT & ABOUT

      Dec 15, 2020

      OUT & ABOUT
      8 min read

    • Article

      The Big City Surfer

      Oct 28, 2019

      For just over a decade I’ve been living between Shanghai, Hong Kong and Tokyo. These are some of the biggest cities in the world, places so big, so populated that you never know anyone, and no one knows you. Shanghai goes on forever, Tokyo pushes to

      4 min read

    • Article

      Travel Photo Techniques

      Sep 17, 2019

      Travel Photo Techniques
      1 min read

    • Article

      All Roads Lead To Paris

      Mar 9, 2020

      All Roads Lead To Paris
      2 min read

    • Article

      In Search Of Rapture For Our Rupee...

      Jun 4, 2019

      It is a truth universally acknowledged that Indians are great travellers. It doesn’t matter how our lives are going otherwise, what the current state of the bank balance is; there is a place out there that we must go out to and explore. For many year

      1 min read

    • Article

      Travel Portrait Techniques

      Jun 1, 2019

      Travel Portrait Techniques
      5 min read

    • Article

      Motorcycle Tours…

      Jan 20, 2022

      Motorcycle Tours…
      6 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for Southeast Asia On a Rope

    0 ratings

    0 ratings0 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

      Book preview

      Southeast Asia On a Rope - Larry Stein

      review.

      Table of Contents     

      Foreword

      Planning

      Itineraries

      Preparation

      Vaccinations

      Health Insurance

      Insects

      Visas

      What to Pack

      Jet Lag

      Overseas Flights

      Southeast Asian Flights

      Selecting Hotels

      Cell Phones

      Caffeine Colonies

      Vacation Photography

      Equipment

      Shooting

      Cambodia

      Phnom Penh

      Siem Reap

      Kampot

      Kep

      Myanmar

      Mandalay

      Bagan

      Yangon

      Inle Lake

      A Little Bit of Seoul

      Author’s Note

      Foreword

      Road near Si Satchanalai, Thailand

      A traveler on a shoestring tightly holds Lonely Planet, while scrolling through backpacker social media. A traveler toting, or having another tote, Hermes luggage, has ample resources, including a trip planner.

      My intended reader is neither unwashed (great or otherwise) nor anointed. Cost is an object, but so is comfort. She recognizes the danger of a luxury cocoon as well as the tedium of a shared bathroom.

      With this guide, for 70 dollars per night, stay in an ocean view bungalow, a short stroll from miraculous seafood for a miniscule price. Get planning tips that will save you hundreds of dollars. Luxuriate in your own row of seats on an economy airline.

      Prices quoted in this book are generally good as of October 2014. Hotel prices are based on winter rates from Agoda.com. Agoda.com has competitive prices on the broadest listing of hotels in the region.

      This book is not a substitute for Lonely Planet and TripAdvisor. I have neither the resources nor the desire to write a comprehensive guide. Rather, I share the places I love, and the planning techniques to discover your own geographic happiness.

      This book has over two hundred pictures. Is a picture worth a thousand words? I have seen horrible pictures. Some that may be worth only a few expletives. But I'm advising you where to eat, sleep and what to see. Seeing is believing, even if you have no reason to trust the words of some retired attorney you have never met.

      I do have the big picture. Pictures are big. A picture contains more data than a thousand words. I originally intended an omnibus book covering all my travels in Southeast Asia. I had to throw that idea under the bus, or risk driving your tablet off the road. This book is devoted more heavily to Cambodia, than Myanmar. I have spent more time in Cambodia.

      In New Orleans, a gift of something extra is called a lagniappe. Because of the two complimentary tours by Asiana Airlines, I have added a few pictures of Seoul as a lagniappe.

      My other book is a guide to Thailand and Laos. Both books contain the same opening sections, including itineraries to all four countries. If you buy both volumes, you may practice speed-reading.

      To fully enjoy this book, please read it with a computer, tablet, or color e-reader. Otherwise, the pictures will be in fifty shades of grey.

      Planning

      A Tuk Tuk driver taking a break in Luang Prabang, Laos

      Trip planning is a life skill that applies as easily to Cajun Country as it does to Southeast Asia. The Internet information explosion, allows customization of trips in a way once unimaginable. Shape this information with the three Ps of travel, Priorities, Price and Pace.

      Start with total immersion. Explore multiple sources, hopefully including this e-book. Read reviews on TripAdvisor, not only of places to stay, but also of restaurants and sights. Check out online information from Frommers, Fodors, Lonely Planet and any other sources that come up in searches.

      As you surface from your immersion, factoids dripping everywhere, priorities will bubble up. For instance if historic sites excite, you might target Bangkok for Wat Pho and the Grand Palace, Sukhothai for its historical park, Siem Reap for Angkor Wat, and Bagan for its 3000 temples.

      Shoppers will add the Russian Market in Phnom Penh, the Sunday Night Market in Chiang Mai, the weekend market, as well as the maze of malls in Bangkok. For incomparable jade, explore the shops near the Jade Market in Mandalay or Bogyoke Aung San Market in Yangon. Lacquerware abounds in Bagan.

      Foodies will be drawn to the different regional cuisines of Thailand and to the well seasoned, but not spicy, cuisine of Cambodia. When in Cambodia, crustacean fanciers will flood the Crab Market in Kep.

      People wanting to get away from other tourists will not even want me to mention their secret sites. Also in the course of your reading, you will discover one or more hotels that are worth a special stop.

      Trekkers, photographers, and animal lovers will also have places and events that pique their interest.

      After your data dip, list the must-go places, and where applicable, must- do dates, such as Sunday in Chiang Mai, for the night street market. Also include some places of interest that you might consider.

      Come up with a horseshoe shape connecting all of the places you most want to go. Use a horseshoe, because it is generally more efficient to have a different start and end point. An exception is if there is a reason to return to a location. For instance, you might go to Bangkok to choose fabrics and be fitted for clothes. You then would return as your last stop for final fittings.

      Price will alter your horseshoe. Begin to check travel connections. You will discover some anomalies. The shortest distance between two points is not always the cheapest, or even the fastest. Hotel prices too, may vary based on day of the week. So too may be the case with your international flights.

      Distance, price and time constraints will force the choice between bus and plane, and occasionally, boat.

      Next consider the final P, pace. Determine the minimum number of days necessary to enjoy each destination. Don’t take the fun out of your vacation. When possible, sight rich sites, like Siem Reap, should be followed by a less demanding locale. Allow enough days at historical sites so that you can take long midday breaks. Perhaps the morality of an aging baby boomer is creeping in, but, where possible, avoid one-night stands.

      Make your first stop, after your long flight, an easy destination with good accommodations. Similarly, spend a little extra for accommodations at your last stop. Avoid burnout.

      Make sure that your itinerary meets any timing priorities such as a once or twice weekly flight. If it does not, adjust your start date accordingly. Count the number of nights. If you have exceeded your available vacations days, start making adjustments by either dropping a destination or shaving days. Sometimes catching an early flight can allow enough time in a destination while dropping one night.

      Itineraries

      Oxcart in Bagan, Myanmar

      The planning process is illustrated by my two most recent trips. In 2011 I traveled alone, although coordinating with a friend for part of the trip.

      My highest priority was Siem Reap for the Angkor temples, including Angkor Wat. As a second Cambodian stop, the French colonial buildings and active quay of Phnom Penh held sway. Luang Prabang is a heritage city in Laos that is becoming ever more popular. I wanted to go before it's totally overrun.

      Nong Khai was on my list of places to chill. Khon Kaen is one of the largest cities in Isaan, but with virtually no tourists. I lusted after Isaan sausage at the night market, and a city with only locals and expats.

      I wanted to visit the historical park at Sukhothai and the related sites at nearby Si Satchanalai and Kamphaeng Phet.

      To take a day trip to Myanmar, I considered the Thai border city of Mae Sot. Chiang Mai was a possibility, but I had been there before so it was not a high priority. Chiang Rai was a lower priority. I enjoy big cities and looked forward to returning to Bangkok.

      Now I tried to connect the dots.

      I first checked international flights. A few airlines had flights from Los Angeles to Phnom Penh. Starting in Phnom Penh and returning from Bangkok was only $70 more than flying roundtrip to Bangkok. To save money I planned on leaving and returning midweek. Tuesdays and Wednesdays usually have the lowest fares. Although having some flexibility, I intended to travel for about four weeks.

      Phnom Penh is a good starting point after a long flight since there are few truly major sights, and excellent, reasonably priced, accommodations.

      Before making flight reservations, I began checking travel options from Phnom Penh. Well reviewed VIP buses, make the trip to Siem Reap in under six hours, including a stop for lunch, and cost about

      Enjoying the preview?
      Page 1 of 1