Planning a trip to Southeast Asia can feel like a monumental undertaking, whether it be a two-week vacation in Thailand or a six-month backpacking trip throughout Asia. We have been there; searching for the best trip planner, route guide, or travel itinerary to help give us some ideas. To help you, we’ve put together a route guide for all the places we visited, in our nearly six months spent, traveling across Asia.
A bit of our story…
After almost twelve years together and about two years into our marriage, we were feeling restless. We had done everything right and fit perfectly into that expected American mold of high school, to college, to getting those goal jobs, to getting married and then…
Well… the predictable next step is to buy a house and start popping out babies. It’s what our friends were all doing, so naturally, that was just next up for us.
But… it wasn’t. We felt incomplete and were facing crippling indecision and struggling to commit to the next step. Our perfect life felt stale and lacked adventure. We were hungry to see and do far more than we had up to that point.
It was, here, in this restless and deep soul searching moment of our lives (call it a quarter-life crisis) that we conceived our journey through Asia.
We realized that the worst thing that we could do is nothing at all. So, we had nothing to lose. Our initial thoughts and discussions centered around a three-month trip that would have us moving from place to place rather quickly. We felt this would more than adequate time for us to depart from the world we had grown so accustomed to and return with rich with new life experiences.
This was the first trip of its kind for us. Neither of has had ever been away from home for longer than two weeks. Nor did we have any idea what life on the road would be like. This idea was far out of our character and well outside our comfort zone.
Our previous travels together consisted of Europe trips with our families and a few getaways to Mexico. Asia was a different dragon we knew of only in legend. For that reason, it was incredibly enticing and offered many chances for us to be challenged together and, ultimately, grow together. We worked out a rough idea of the places we wanted to visit and some of the significant activities we wanted to do while we were there. Our list of destinations included the countries within southeast Asia but also extended to parts of South Asia and East Asia. It was the most exciting undertaking of our lives!
One of the first challenges we ran into was determining a route of travel and trying to lay out the optimum path. I found myself trying to track down other travelers’ routes through Asia to give us some ideas. No two journeys are the same, nor did we want to replicate someone else’s, but it was incredibly helpful to see how other travelers moved through the region. I found many routes and countless itineraries that were beyond helpful to us. Because of that, I wanted to pay it forward and put ours out there for others who may be finding themselves in the same clueless boat we were in.
In planning our route, I tried to work out a path that would have a coherent beginning and endpoint. I wanted our journey to be like a flowing river where the means of getting there were just as rewarding as the destination at the end. With that said, things do happen that interrupt that river; like weather or the dates of festivals/events that we were hoping to experience. So, we did have to exercise some patience and understanding when things didn’t go exactly according to plan.
Our modes of transportation from place to place were based on several factors;
– what made the best sense?
– what was available?
– and what was the best value?
We flew only when we had to, took trains when we could, ferries and boats when necessary, and buses/mini-buses when there were no other options, or it was worth the cost savings.
Our journey through Asia began on the 13th of October and ended on the 27th of March; for a total of 168 days on the road. In that time, we visited eleven different countries and Malaysian Borneo. I specify that last destination because it technically isn’t it’s own country, but we still got a passport stamp for it!
When planning a trip like this, it is so helpful to have a map for a visual reference. Many of the routes and itineraries I found were always lacking this.
Below, I’ve compiled all the destinations where we at least spent one night. They are labeled with numerical markers in the order we travelled. Some places you’ll notice are labeled more than once. This is to demonstrate how we had to return to somewhere before moving on to your next destination. You will also find points marked with star pip. These points are day trip destinations we felt were worth mentioning. Below the map, we broke our trips down into stages. Each stage summarizes of our travel route as well as the means we used to travel from place to place.
Stage 1: USA to Nepal
Los Angeles, USA >>> Ghuangzhao, China >>> Bangkok, Thailand (1)
- Mode of Transport: Flight
Our flight was delayed leaving Los Angeles which led to us missing our flight from Guanhzhao to Bangkok. Re-booked on a flight leaving four hours later. Fortunately had planned to spend a night in Bangkok before flying on to Kathmandu.
Bangkok, Thailand >>> Kathmandu, Nepal (2)
- Mode of Transport: Flight
Stage 2: Nepal
Kathmandu >>> Pokhara (3)
- Mode of Transport: Bus (8 hours)
Pokhara >>> Lumbini (4)
- Mode of Transport: Private Car (6 hours)
Lumbini >>> Chitwan (5)
- Mode of Transport: Private Car (4 hours)
Chitwan >>> Kathmandu (6)
- Mode of Transport: Bus (9 hours)
Blog posts from our travels in Nepal!
Pokhara – Gateway to Adventure
Stage 3: Nepal to Bhutan
Kathmandu, Nepal >>> Paro, Bhutan (7)
- Mode of Transport: Flight
Note, there are only a few places where you can fly into Bhutan from. Kathmandu is one of those places. If you are planning to visit Bhutan make sure to plan accordingly.
Stage 4: Bhutan
Paro >>> Punakha (8)
- Mode of Transport: Private Car
Punakha >>> Thimphu (9)
- Mode of Transport: Private Car
Thimphu >>> Paro
- Mode of Transport: Private Car
Blog Posts from our travels in Bhutan!
Bhutan – Land of the Dragon King
Stage 5: Bhutan to Thailand
Paro, Bhutan >>> Bangkok, Thailand (10)
- Mode of Transport: Flight
Stage 6: Northern Thailand
Bangkok >>> Chiang Mai (11)
- Mode of Transport: Train (14 hours)
The overnight train is a really great experience; I can’t recommend it enough! To learn more you can read about our experience HERE!
Chiang May >>> Doi Sakket (12)
- Mode of Transport: Private Car (1 hour)
Day Trips From Doi Sakket
* San Khamphaeng Hot Springs *
* Muang On Cave *
Doi Sakket >>> Chiang Mai (13)
- Mode of Transport: Private Car (1 hour)
Day Trip Ideas From Chiang Mai
* White Temple *
* Blue Temple / Wat Rong Seur Ten *
* Black House / Baandam Museum *
* Doi Intanon *
* Chiang May Jungle Flight Zip-lining *
Chiang Mai >>> Pai (14)
- Mode of Transport: Mini Bus (5 hours)
Pai >>> Chiang Mai (15)
- Mode of Transport: Mini Bus (5 hours)
Stage 7: Northern Thailand to Laos
Chiang Mai >>> Chiang Kong (16)
- Mode of Transport: Mini Bus (5 hours)
Chiang Kong, Thailand >>> Pak Beng, Laos (17)
- Mode of Transport: Slow Boat on Mekong River
Pak Beng, Laos >>> Luang Prabang, Laos (18)
- Mode of Transport: Slow Boat on Mekong River
Stage 8: Laos
Luang Prabang >>> Vang Vieng (19)
- Mode of Transport: Bus (7 hours)
Vang Vieng >>> Vientiane (20)
- Mode of Transport: Bus (5 hours)
Stage 9: Laos to Cambodia
Vientiane, Laos >>> Pakse, Laos
- Mode of Transport: Sleeper Bus (10 hours)
Pakse, Laos >>> Border
- Mode of Transport: Mini Bus
Border >>> Siem Reap, Cambodia (21)
- Mode of Transport: Mini Bus (5 hours)
- Mode of Transport: Bus (5 hours)
Stage 10: Cambodia
Siem Reap >>> Sihanoukville
- Mode of Transport: Sleeper Bus (12 hours)
Sihanoukville >>> Koh Rong Samloem (22)
- Mode of Transport: Ferry (1 hour)
Koh Rong Samloem >>> Sihanoukville (23)
- Mode of Transport: Ferry (1 hour)
Sihanoukville >>> Phnom Penh (24)
- Mode of Transport: Mini Bus (5 hours)
Stage 11: Cambodia to Thailand
Phnom Penh, Cambodia >>> Bangkok, Thailand (25)
- Mode of Transport: Flight
There are buses available for this leg of the journey, but, at the time, the price to fly was comparable. So, we opted to fly.
Stage 12: Southern Thailand / Islands
Bangkok >>> Surat Thani
- Mode of Transport: Sleeper Bus (9 hours)
Surat Thani >>> Koh Phangan (26)
- Mode of Transport: Ferry (4 hours)
Koh Phangan >>> Koh Samui (27)
- Mode of Transport: Ferry (1 hour)
Koh Samui >>> Surat Thani
- Mode of Transport: Ferry (2 hours)
Surat Thani >>> Krabi (28)
- Mode of Transport: Bus (4 hours)
Krabi >>> Koh Phi Phi (29)
- Mode of Transport: Ferry (1 hour)
Koh Phi Phi >>> Krabi (30)
- Mode of Transport: Ferry (1 hour)
It is greatly beneficial to stay in Krabi and take day trips out to the neighboring beaches and islands. You’ll find it is a HUGE cost saver!
Stage 13: Thailand to Malaysia
Krabi, Thailand >>> Penang, Malaysia (31)
- Mode of Transport: Mini Bus (7 Hours)
Stage 14: Malaysia
Penang >>> Cameron Highlands/Brinchang (32)
- Mode of Transport: Bus
Cameron Highlands >>> Kuala Tembling
- Mode of Transport: Mini Bus(3 hours)
Kuala Tembling >>> Kuala Tahan (33)
- Mode of Transport: Jungle Boat (3 Hours)
Kuala Tahan >>> Kuala Tembling
- Mode of Transport: Jungle Boat (2 hours)
Kuala Tembling >>> Kuala Lumpur (34)
- Mode of Transport: Mini Bus (4 hours)
Kuala Lumpur >>> Kota Kinabalu/Sabah, Borneo (35)
- Mode of Transport: Flight (3 hours)
Kota Kinabalu >>> Sepilok (36)
- Mode of Transport: Bus (6 hours)
Sepilok >>> Kota Kinabalu (37)
- Mode of Transport: Bus (6 hours)
Stage 15: Malaysia to Indonesia
Kota Kinabalu, Borneo >>> Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia >>> Bali, Indonesia (38)
- Mode of Transport: Flight
Stage 16: Indonesia (Bali)
Kuta >>> Padang Bai
- Mode of Transport: Mini Bus (5 hours)
Padang Bai >>> Gili Trawangan
- Mode of Transport: Ferry (2 hours)
Gili Trawangan >>> Gili Meno (39)
- Mode of Transport: Small Charter Boat
Getting to Gili Meno is a bit confusing the first time. We discovered you can not just buy a ticket to Gili Meno and be delivered by one of the large ferries. The waters around the small island are too shallow for the big boats. You have to get to Gili T first and then find a small charter boat to take you over to Gili Meno. It is a bit of a hassle, but completely worth it!
Gili Meno >>> Gili Trawangan
- Mode of Transport: Small Charter Boat
Gili Trawangan >>> Padang Bai
- Mode of Transport: Ferry (2 hours)
Padang Bai >>> Ubud (40)
- Mode of Transport: Mini Bus (1 hours)
Ubud >>> Seminyak (41)
- Mode of Transport: Private Car (1 hour)
Stage 17: Indonesia to Singapore
Ngurah Rai, Bali, Indonesia >>> Singapore (42)
- Mode of Transport: Flight
Stage 18: Singapore
Once in Singapore we stayed in China Town and explored the city from there. For the most part, we traveled on foot, or by Uber when we wanted to go longer distances. Singapore is one of my all-time favorite cities!
Stage 19: Singapore to Vietnam
Singapore >>> Hanoi, Vietnam (43)
- Mode of Transport: Flight
Make sure you have your visa before flying into Vietnam!
Stage 20: Vietnam
Hanoi >>> Halong Bay (44)
- Mode of Transport: Tour Charter Mini Bus (2 Hours)
From here we hopped on the Orchid Cruise Line and sailed through Halong Bay for three days!
Halong Bay Harbor >>> Hanoi (45)
- Mode of Transport: Tour Charter Mini Bus (2 Hours)
Hanoi >>> Hue (46)
- Mode of Transport: Train (12 Hours)
This train is very different from the overnight train in Thailand. Definitely not as new and comfortable, but still an experience none the less. We shared a cabin with a young Vietnamese family that were so kind and friendly.
Day Trips From Hue
* Vinh Moc Tunnels *
* Tour the DMZ *
Hue >>> Hoi An (47)
- Mode of Transport: Ride with EZ Riders by motorbike (10 hours)
This is very much the scenic way to go. Depending on the drivers you get and how well you connect with them you can end up going on a journey that far exceeds your expectations. We considered renting/buying a motorbike and driving ourself, however being passengers allowed us to really enjoy the ride and see far more.
Day Trips From Hoi An
* Ba Na Sun Hill Amusement Park *
Hoi An >>> Nha Trang
- Mode of Transport: Sleeper Bus (12 hours)
Nha Trang >>> Da Lat (48)
- Mode of Transport: Bus (4 hours)
Da Lat >>> Ho Chi Minh City (49)
- Mode of Transport: Sleeper Bus (6 hours)
Day Trips From Ho Chi Minh City
* Mekong River Delta *
* Chu Chi Tunnels *
Stage 21: Vietnam to Taiwan
Saigon, Vietnam >>> Taipei, Taiwan (50)
- Mode of Transport: Flight
Stage 22: Taiwan
We stayed only 2 two nights in Taipei and our room was in the city center. We walked, rode the subway and used Uber once or twice to get around. Taipei 101 is a must-see!
Stage 23: Taiwan to Japan
Taipei, Taiwan >>> Osaka, Japan (51)
- Mode of Transport: Flight
Stage 24: Japan
Osaka >>> Nara
- Mode of Transport: Train
We spent the day in Nara. Stored our luggage at the train station lockers. Visited the famous people-friendly deer park and the surrounding Shinto and Buddhist temples.
Nara >>> Kyoto (52)
- Mode of Transport: Train
Day Trips From Kyoto
* Arashiyama Bamboo Grove *
* Fushimi Inari Taisha Shinto Temple *
Kyoto >>> Himeji
- Mode of Transport: Train
Here, we Spent the day in Himeji while our luggage was stored at the Kyoto train station.
Himeji >>> Kyoto
- Mode of Transport: Train
Kyoto >>> Tokyo(53)
- Mode of Transport: Train (Shinkansen)
Day Trips From Tokyo
* Mt. Fuji *
* Tokyo Disney *
Stage 25: Japan to Thailand
Tokyo, Japan >>> Bangkok, Thailand (54)
- Mode of Transport: Flight
One final night in Bangkok!
Stage 26: Thailand to USA
Bangkok, Thailand >>> Hong Kong >>> Los Angeles, USA
- Mode of Transport: Flight
A quick note about arranging transportation…
For the most part, all our transfers from place to place were purchased days, sometimes hours, before actually embarking on them. The countries we visited in Asia adept at handling back-packer style travel. We rarely walked down a mile stretch of street without finding a dozen or more tour/transportation offices. In some cases, a kiosk on the road served as the ‘office.’ At first, you may feel skeptical of these operators, and we did too. However, we never had any issues being stranded anywhere or scammed by anyone.
When purchasing train tickets or airline flights strongly recommend getting them as early as you can. Trains generally tend to fill up quickly, and we all know that airline flights tend to get more expensive as you approach the intended departure date.
Hopefully, this all helps to give you a better idea of places to visit, a clearer picture of how to travel between them and above all the inspiration to get out there! I envy anyone who hasn’t taken a trip like this. “Why,” you say? Because we can never re-live those experiences of doing it all for the FIRST TIME… ever again!
Have a Happy Journey 
