Kdogg and I bought out tix to southeast Asia yesterday. We did it simultaneously on the phone, so as to better plan our arrival. The idea was that we could trip out at the newness of the place together by meeting up in the Bangkok airport and then beginning our journey from there as a unit.
So we perfectly timed out ticket-getting so that I'll just have an hour-long wait before she arrives, and then on the return, our flights leave within two hours of one another. Somehow, she thinks something went awry, because now we are arriving within eight hours of one another instead of one. Details, though.
The fact is we have our TICKETS and this means this trip is becoming a reality. I can't believe it! I'm so excited! Enough so that I actually used some exclamation points! Repeatedly!
So it's settled: June 21-July 27, 2004. This will be the voyage. I'm sure you'll hear all about it.
And yes, right now is time for finals, so what better time to spend hours and hours on the internet researching travel options? We've altered our route a bit (mainly to avoid a certain area where our malaria pills won't work) and thus need to check out other options. That sounds like a perfect study distraction to me.
Already sounds like it'll be great! Which kind of malaria pills are you taking? The ones that make you have nightmares/potential mental problems or the ones that make you feel sick if you don't eat anything first?
I went to South Africa a couple of years ago, I can safely say that the malaria pills were NOT the best part of the trip!
Sorry for such a rambling comment, I'm trying to avoid working.
As god is my witness, i was just searching for flights to bangkok. it's surprisingly cheap--more so from Paris, I assume. I'm JEALOUS!
I think all the malaria pills have those kinds of side effects, but I snagged the kind that has the least amount of side effects and that you only have to take once a week (so are therefore less expensive than those you have to take every day). The only problem is that they don't work along the Thailand-Cambodia border (the only place in the world where they don't work) so we have to avoid that if we can. We're also wondering if it will really matter at all, as long as we're just shooting across the border in a train. Regardless, we got to talking and decided to throw some Malaysia in the mix, instead of going up to northern vietnam and maybe Laos. Official countries on the list are thus: Thailand, Malaysia, Cambodia and Vietnam. Do-able in five weeks because we're only going to spend two days or so in Thailand.
I loved Thailand! You will have a great time in SE Asia. Unfortunately, I didn't go to any other SE Asian countries, but I plan to next time around. I really want to go to Malaysia because I loved southern Thailand.
One thing: It *will* be very hot and sticky in June. OK, SE Asia is hot year-round, but I was there in June '03 and that's right before the monsoon. That was the hardest part for us. The heat and humidity. Everything else was no problem.
I highly recommend going WAY DOWN south in Thailand. Really good stuff.