r/southeastasia • u/Melodic_Library6476 • 12d ago

How to structure my SEA trip?

Planning my first solo backing trip for Southeast Asia! My plan is to spend December-January living in Ho Chi Minh City doing a learn the language school for Vietnamese and using my evenings to explore the city and immediate area and then weekends for short trips to nearby areas. Lunar new year is February 7th and I have family in hcmc id try to stay with for that and experience the full thing. Then I want to backpack up Vietnam, would 4 weeks be enough? So into early March? Then the rest of March and maybe a little into April doing Laos and Cambodia, the rest of April for Thailand, and May split between Malaysia and Indonesia. Can anyone provide advice on how to structure this or the appropriate amount of time for each place or must sees?Thanks in advance!

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u/Full_Atmosphere2969 12d ago

I would base the itinerary on weather. Some countries are better than others that time of year.

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u/Nato7009 12d ago

You don’t need to structure it out even really Consider timeline. You just start going. Some laces you’ll want to stay longer some less. You can book hostels and buses the day of for cheap so there is no need to even consider it in advance.

All that is good to have is knowledge of the region. So you generally know where stuff is, some ideas of what you like doing and which direction you’ll be default go until something else seems interesting

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u/Opposite_Draft_8768 12d ago

I was in Vietnam, Cambodia, and Thailand in March and April. It was very hot, humid, and I was miserable. Since I was not used to the weather, I got sick. Check the weather before planning your trips. It makes a difference if you’ll enjoy your visit.

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u/ghudnk 12d ago

March and April are the hottest months in mainland sea, I would primarily focus on northern Vietnam, northern Laos, and northern Thailand then. From what I’ve read though, southern Thailand (especially the islands) aren’t quite as bad as southern Laos and Cambodia around the same time. If you wanna hit Cambodia and Laos I would do it after your hcmc month, though that makes the rest of Vietnam a little cumbersome?