Trip to SE Asia, 2006-2007
by Gerald Oskoboiny
I did a 5-month trip around Japan and Southeast Asia from Nov 2006 to
Apr 2007, first attending some meetings in
Tokyo, then spending about a month
in each of Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, Cambodia, and Laos. I worked my usual job while I was on the road which went OK but
turned out to be much more difficult and time-consuming than I
expected.
My original plans were to cover much more ground,
including New Zealand, India, Nepal, and many more countries in between.
But these plans were very unrealistic even if I hadn't been working along
the way.
My itinerary ended up as:
- Nov 15 (Wed)
- Boston to
Tokyo via Detroit
- Nov 16-25
- Worked from Tokyo, went sightseeing on eves/weekends
- Nov 25-27 (Sat-Mon)
- Weekend in Kyoto with Roger and Marj
- Nov 27 (Mon)-Dec 6 (Wed)
- Meetings in Tokyo; stayed at the Nikko hotel. Itin:
- Nov 28-30
- AC meeting etc
- Dec 1
- Team meeting
- Dec 3
- Day trip to see Mount Fuji
- Dec 4-5
- Sysweb meeting
- Dec 6
- Flew to Bangkok, met up with Roger, Marj, Bert et al. on Ko Samet
- Dec 7-23
- Lazed around
Ko Samet, stayed at Jep's most of the time
- Dec 17-19
- Trip to Bangkok to apply for a Vietnamese visa
- Dec 23
- Flew to Hanoi, Vietnam
- Dec 24
- Flew to Hoi An, met up with Roger and Marjorie
- Dec 24-28
- Hoi An, Vietnam
- Dec 29-Jan 14
- Ho Chi Minh City, stayed at Luan
Vu guesthouse most of the time
- Jan 11
- Cu Chi tunnel tour
- Jan 12-13
- Mekong Delta tour
- Jan 14
- Flew to Phuket, Thailand
- Jan 15
- Met up with Jeremy in Patong
- Jan 15-21
- Went Scuba diving the Similan Islands,
Thailand
(left from Patong Jan 15 21:00, returned Jan 21 15:00)
- Jan 22
- Flew to Kuala Lumpur,
Malaysia
- Jan 22-Feb 3
- worked from Kuala Lumpur,
stayed at Travellers Palm for the last week
- Feb 1
- Thaipusam festival, Batu
Caves
- Feb 3
- Flew from KL to Tawau (Sabah, Malaysian Borneo)
- Feb 4
- Took a bus to Semporna, got a room at Scuba Junkie
- Feb 5
- Went diving at Mabul island with
Uncle Chang
- Feb 5-7
- Worked from Semporna
- Feb 8
- Went diving at Sibuan island
with Scuba Junkie
- Feb 10-13
- Went
diving at Sipadan island with
Uncle Chang, stayed at their guesthouse on
Mabul
- Feb 13-14
- Worked from Semporna, stayed at Scuba Junkie
- Feb 15
- Flew to Kuala Lumpur,
stayed at Equator Hostel
- Feb 16
- Flew to Phnom Penh,
Cambodia
- Feb 16-28
- Stayed at Okay Guesthouse, Phnom Penh
- Feb 28
- Bus to Siem Reap, Cambodia
- Mar 1, 5-8
- Dirtbiking
with Hidden Cambodia
- Mar 2-4, 9-17
- Worked and visited the temples of Angkor, stayed at
Two Dragons.
- Mar 17
- Flew to Vientiane, Laos,
stayed at Soukchaleun guesthouse.
- Mar 18
- Flew to Luang Prabang,
Laos.
- Mar 18-Apr 2
- Worked from Luang
Prabang, stayed at Rattana guesthouse.
- Mar 25-26
- 2-day trekking/kayaking trip with
White Elephant tours
- Apr 2
- Slow boat to Nong Khiaw
- Apr 2-5
- Visited Nong Khiaw and Muang Ngoi
- Apr 6
- Buses to Luang Nam Tha
- Apr 7
- Went biking with Hanita and Veronika
- Apr 8
- Bus to Huay Xai
- Apr 9-11
- Gibbon Experience,
Bokeo, Laos
- Apr 12-15
- Songkran (Thai New Year)
in Chiang Mai, stayed at MD House.
- Apr 16
- Returned home! Flew to Bangkok, then Tokyo, San Francisco, Vancouver.
My travel weblog has notes and stories on places
I went, and my list of
photos has links to various photo galleries.
Useful stuff for trip planning:
Inline maps above courtesy of MyWorld66 and Great Circle Mapper.
Original plans
My initial unrealistic plans for this trip were as follows: countries I
had hoped to visit:
- Japan
- Thailand
- Vietnam
- Cambodia
- Laos
- Nepal
- India
- Maldives
- Philippines
- Malaysia
- Indonesia
- Fiji
- New Zealand
- (South America?)
- (Central America?)
Factors influencing my route selection:
- need reliable high-speed low-latency internet access throughout so I
can work on the road
- want to visit places when the weather is best
- want to scuba dive, maybe mountain bike and surf
- want to minimize expenses as much as possible
Last modified: $Date: 2018/02/27 04:39:22 $
Gerald Oskoboiny, <gerald@impressive.net>
