I live and work pretty hard on this fair Island of Taiwan. I was wanting to take some time off. Iāve been browsing and Iāve seen it called a āstaycationāā¦ Just want to chill on a beach, really. OTOH, I am not inclined towards the bar or backpacking thing, I am not like, totally loaded, either. Iām willing to spend about 30kNTD for a few weeks, if thatās what it takes. I guess 60k is the absolute maximum I want to get through on a holiday.. Iām talking flights and hotels, I guess. Itās just me though. I kinda hate cheap hotels - I resent spending money on them. Iām prepared to spend enough to get it right. Iād like to avoid families and common people, if possible. I guess more remote is better. I considered Japan but apparently the beaches arenāt up to much and from what I understand the internal flights are expensive. Living in a Taiwanese city, it would be great to get out of the city. Philippines has been suggested as a good destination. But, I also heard Hong Kong has nice beaches. Japan would be wicked if it were not so expensive. Wouldnāt mind some culture - but if I canāt get any decent culture, Iāll take none - hence the beach! Does this make any sense to you guys?
Boracay or Palawan?
Is going alone on a beach holiday a bit weird? Seems like the thing is geared towards couples, etc..
If price is an issue, Iād skip the Philippines all together. Flight to and from Manila are dirt cheap now with Cebu Pacific on the scene, but if you like nice accommodations, you will likely pay a lot more and get less in the Philippines than you would in Thailand. Also, domestic airfare in the Philippines can get cheeky with inflated pricing, and extra fares tagged on to the laughable minimum baggage allowances.
Donāt get me wrong, I love the Philippines and their great people, but I think in regards to bang for your buck on the value tip Thailand is 1,000,000 times better. The hotels are so much better, and so is the service. Last trip I made was to Malaysia, and while it was great, all I could think about was how much I was overpaying for inferior lodging.
I use this site, it works very well as far as finding great deals on nicer hotels:
I"ve been to Malaysia and the Phillipines a few times over the last few years. Malaysia has a lot of charms culturally and some very well looked after spots and if you are into wildlife it is very hard to beat. Loved the old city feel of Penang. Walking around Penang I could finally discover the Asia that I had dreamed about when I was kid, you know the one that doesnāt include 6 lane highways and 50 story glass edifices! The one that has tailors and shoe keepers and temples and timber houses and weird fruits on every corner. We stayed in a B&B townhouse that we had all to ourselves. The whole house was ours and it was built in the 1930s. How cool was that.
Loved Sabah and the Kinabatangan river, elephants, oranguatans, long nosed monkey, toucansā¦amazing. Sabah has some great diving and beaches too. Enjoyed Langkawi but will not stay in a big resort again as it tends to attract the Arabs. Otherwise Langkawi has lots of smaller hotels and nice beaches dotted around. Not many of the rough types like you would find in Thailand, much more up market. Enjoyed KLās mix of old and new (I like colonial architecture) and street food.
The Phillipines is more rough and ready but Cebu pacific makes it dirt cheap to fly around, Iāve paid 1000-2000 NTD on internal flights there. Boracay is a great spot with beautiful beaches and nice restaurants. Bohol is excellent for diving and not very crowded Palawan is definitely on my list the next time I go, it looks amazing. The Phillipines is not so commercial and busy like Thailand. Of course Thailand has itās less travelled paths too. If you are up for an adventure go up the Kinabatangan river as far as possible, or else try Palawan!
+1 to DDās comment, if you were making a choice between Philippines and Thailand. For a given $ amount, the hotel you get in Phil. will be grottier. I remember paying about $25/night for 2ppl in Thailand a few years back and getting a very nice place, right on the beach. Service and general atmosphere much better too. Never been to Malaysia so canāt comment ā¦ itās on my list to get there before all the wildlife and rainforests are gone ā¦
Depends what you are into, but if youāre into jungles, then: Kaeng Krachan National Park (2 hours south of Bangkok, Phetchaburi, the town that serves as the gateway to the park, is a little-visited gem unto itself), Khao Sok in Sura Thani, Sri Phang Nga in Phang Nga Province, Khao Phnom Bencha in Krabi. For islands: Phi-Phi was good before the tsunami; donāt know about now; Bottle Beach on Koh Phang-Ngan is nice, and if you want to party, go to Haad Rin Beach on the same island. Forget about Ko Samui.
I would go there if i were you, before the big hotels, koreans and the sex tourists show up in massive numbers. that place is AMAZING!!! rent a motor bike and go around, it is incredible. I am not exaggerating when i say palawan is one of my favourite places in Asia, and Asia is my favourite place on earthā¦
If you have time and some extra $ do El nido boat trip up and dwn the coast. my godā¦your mind will be blown without having to take drugs.
I like Thailand a lot too, but it is more expensive than where i was in Palawan. NT $80 for a picher of beer at the fanciest spot in town. that makes a long day of being tourist feel that much more relaxing.
we stayed in a āresortā. very nice, simple but clean, pretty and by the water. i think we paid around 1200 per night for 2, it was the nicest in town at the time. but if you stay out of town, its hard getting people to take you back, as the roads are shit, or trails really, and tuk tuks cant do them well. rent a motorbike, i think we paid 500/day for 1 and it was so much nicer.
edit to say that if you end up in Thailand i have to strongly recomend considering Kaoh sok national park. it is without a doubt one of the most beautiful sights i have ever seen.
OK, but I think that DD and the others make a good pointāaccommodation in the Philippines is relatively expensive and at the US$20-30 range may not offer the value that Thailand does. I havenāt been to Thailand for a while so I canāt really comment.
cambodia is nice, but at least for me the risk of getting blown up stepping on some unexploded US bomb makes other places more attractive in the nature sense. you can hike through jungles in thailand and phili. but not so much in laos/cambodia, unless you just stick to well used trails. i also found cambodia slightly less interesting form a nature perspective as its much flatter in many places and dry looking compared to so many of the dense jungle mountains of the other 2 countries mentioned.
In reality, we should really go to all of them and find out firsthand. Our trip overall we found Palawan cheaper than Thailand (southern Thailand), but aside from the hotel, we cheap out on almost everything. i also like palwan because its WAY less busy than other places.
You can find simple cheap clean places near the beach in Phuket, Pattaya, Koh Sammui, etc. for NT$800-1200 a day. Iāve seen rooms for $500 within walking distance of the beach. Eat the cheap food at the markets with fairly cheap access to just about any activity you might be interested in, from hiking to kayaking to watching movies or hitting shopping malls, to just laying on a beach doing nothing except let people bring everything to you, from fresh seafood to a massage. You can socialize or be around people as much or as little as you prefer. Quite a few of the restaurants/pubs have free wi-fi, so even if not interested in drinking or socailizing, its convenient to grab a seat, watch the sea, and catch up on email.
Flights direct to Phuket, or fly into Bangkok and catch a cheap shuttle direct to hotel in Pattaya.
