I'm going away to Vietnam and Thailand in a couple of days!

I have not really been posting on the forums much. I am mostly a lurker, but Drew talking about Vietnam and his trip made me wanna come here :D

I'm going to be in Vietnam and Thailand for about two months, Any duders out there been there an have any suggestions for what I have to do or try? Any tips for traveling alone?

I have some ideas but I am kinda in the mood of doing stuff on the fly. But what I know is that I wanna take a cooking class, see tonnes of cool nature and geological features and meet a lot of people!. I am also planing on taking a tour with Hanoi Free Tour Guides. I am as I said traveling by myself and am doing the trip mostly to increase my life experiences and make me more comfortable with uncomfortable stuff.

I also hope that by some chance I will see Drew!

Also, I will totally get a beer with Dan if he comes to Sweden (regarding the Bombcast mail which was read like a couple of months ago. Yes I am "Michael from Sweden")

Get off the beaten path. Especially in Thailand. The beaten path is especially well-beaten and largely full of shills trying to rip you off and overcrowded beaches.

Th Khao San - the main hang out for tourists in Bangkok - is certainly entertaining, but not worth your time unless all you want to do is party and drink overpriced cocktails. It is a good place to start as there are buses leaving from there for just about anywhere in the country. Finding a cheap place to stay there is literally a matter of walking in any direction for three minutes and you'll end up in a cheap motel or hostel.

Pattaya is a large, steaming pile of nasty. The sex-industry capital of the world. The beaches aren't even very good. Avoid like the plague.

Phuket down south is overpriced, though there are some nice-ass beaches and cool places to stay in the surrounding islands.

Koh Samui (Alex Garland's book "The Beach"'s movie shooting locale) is gorgeous as anything, and terrifically overloaded with tourists.

There's a 700 year old gigantic Buddhist temple in Sukothai that's worth a day of your time for sure. Rent a scooter. Try not to die in Thai traffic.

Chiang Mai is one of my favorite places in Thailand. No beaches since you're land-locked up north, but the weather is nicer, the hotels cheap and classy and the city has a great scene going on.

Koh Chang is a bit out of the way, but is awesome if you want to get away from it all. I'm spending a week there in January for the second time. It's really an awesomely relaxed and beautiful place to waste away some days.

Generally, if there's a sign saying "Tipping is Optional", tipping is anything but optional. Thailand relies on its currency value remaining artificially low. What this means is, it's cheap for people like us to go there, so lots of us do; however, your average Thai person making a salary makes absolutely shit money and relies on tips to get by. Tipping for just about anything and everything is the rule.

Speaking of shills. They really are everywhere. Watch your money in Thailand. One of my least favorite scams are the little kids selling flowers with hand-written notes saying the money is to help them through school. There are herds of them wandering around anywhere with lots of tourists and they're all doing the same thing to get themselves through school. They are also incredibly pushy like only a child can be. Somehow I doubt the validity of their 'story'.

Vietnam is a big place. Whereabouts are you going?

I just came from Thailand, I'll talk about the places I've been to:

- Bangkok: One big tourist trap, also hot and very dirty. Would not recommend for anything longer than a day or two.
Things to do here:

• Siam Paragon shopping center, if only for the experience. If you like cool it things, check out the interactive shopping map in nearby Siam Center.
• Moon bar at Vertigo, drop your entire weeks budget on a cocktail. But the view is amazing.

Where to eat? Boot Noodle Alley. Near Victory Monument. If you take the sky train there it is exactly on the other side of the monument to the right in the corner. If you see staff in purple and someone sitting in a glass box (probably the mananger) at the back of the restaurant you have come to the right place. It has great noodle soup for cheap prices (order more than one bowl!).

- Koh Tao / Koh Panang: The first is divers paradise and very relaxed, the second is party island in the south (if you enjoy parties and you are around for the full moon, the full moon party is a lot of fun. I went there in off-season so it wasn't that crowded) Koh Panang is supposed to be very calm and nice in the north too.
Things to do here:

• Diving! If you want to get your PADI Koh Tao is where to do it. For divers I would recommend Sunshine Divers. They give diving lessons in small groups and are a great bunch of people. The (free!) accommodation that comes with it is less stellar but hey it beats any hostel and it's free.

Where to eat? There are a lot of places to eat on Koh Tao; depending on where you are ask some of the diving instructors there.

- Ayutthaya; Old city, the ruins are surrounded by big roads so getting around by foot is less recommended. Also a lot of stray dogs, so again walking less recommended. I found it an ok city and the ruins where interesting though I enjoyed the museums more.
Things to do here:

• You can go to as many temple ruins as you want but Wat Phra Si Sanphet is the main one to go
• Chao Sam Phraya National Museum
• Chantharakasem National Museum

- Sukothai; For me it was a prettier Ayutthaya. Historically perhaps less important but here the main ruins are in a beautiful park. Take a bike and have a nice calm day here surrounded by a lot of Buddha's.
Things to do here:

• Get on a bike and drive through the national park. Be happy.

- Chaing Mai; is great. Everything in the center is in walking distance and you can see some beautiful temples here that are, as opposed to the ruins, actually in use.
Things to do here:

• Go to an elephant reservation center that takes care of abused elephants. It is pricier but the way to go if you have any moral, please do not: Ride elephants, hug drugged tigers or go to the "authentic" long neck villages.
• Zip lines, though I couldn't go myself because of time restrictions. The people that did said it was an absolute blast.
• Massage! I got a Thai massage here, there are about a gazillion places. I went to Miracle Spa, class act. Very relaxing; they know what they are doing.
• Cooking school, I went with Baan Thai and can recommend.
• Sunday Market - Very busy even in off season, a lot of things to see and eat.
• Night Bazaar - More touristic than the Sunday Market but still fun to see.
• Chaing Mai Art in Paradise, a 3D museum where you can have a lot of fun taking pictures.

Where to eat? Miguel's. This is an American Mexican restaurant in Thailand. Still with me? Though this is probably totally culturally irresponsible in every way; it was the only place in Thailand I found where they actually serve good coffee. The food is very good for the price, I recommend the American breakfast. If you want to do something more Thai; not that hard lots of places with lots of Thai's.

As a general tip the Lonely Planet for Thailand was really helpful.

My least favourite is where a man/woman comes up to you in the most friendly manner, makes pleasant conversation, asks where you are going and then comes with some story of how there is a holiday and you need to book travel and lodging asap. Of course she/he knows a "tourist information" where you can get info. Overpriced train ticket and sleeping accommodation later and you come to your destination finding it practically deserted. Thai people don't address foreigners, ever. If they do it is to scam you. Be very weary of friendly people coming up to you out of the blue. ESPECIALLY when they start talking about you needing to go to X because of Y.

The Thai are really friendly, unfortunately some abuse that fact for themselves.

I lived in Thailand for 14 years. Most recommendations above rings true. Stay in Bangkok for like 1 or 2 days and go to Chaing Mai.

Thai people go to Chaing Mai when they want to vacation. Lots of great hotel and amazing food there. I mean check this out baanhmon-oon. That is a family run hotel with only 6 room, they speak english and operate on a very high, very friendly standard. Chaing Mai have hotel like that all over the city. (as a side note if you want to stay at that place, reserve ahead. Last time I tried they were booked for 2 months). Ask any hotel you stay at in Chaing Mai what to do there, there are lots.

Do not go to the south of Thailand. Even Thai people do no go there unless they 1. are from there or 2. have business there. Heard of tourist getting rob/murder? A lot of those happen in southern Thailand. Your cut off point is Phetchaburi city (use to be known as "gun man city" for you know having a lot of fatal shooting, now known for producing really great traditional Thai sweets) do not go more south than that. Unless of cause you want to experience the sex trade in Thailand, then go to Hat Yai.

Hat Yai is the southern most city of Thailand. It is a place where foreigner walk around asking every one they like the look off "How much?". Yes it has happen to me the last time I was there, when I was 14.

Outside of that, try eating at the street stand, those are where thai people eat. Like Thai food from wherever you live now? By Thai standard those street stand would be 4 times tastier than those restaurant. Just make sure you ask local/your hotel staff for local favorite that are clean. Try various noodle soups in Thailand, there are way too many types and they are all good. If you like chinese food make sure to stop by Yaowarat Road in Bangkok, you wont find better chinese food outside of Hong Kong itself.

Good luck and keep an eye on your wallet. I know a pick pocket, they think foreigner are easy target.

@majkiboy:

I'm from Thailand and grew up there. I'm currently working in Laos as an airline pilot if you want some tips or translating if you get into a sticky situation I'll give you my number. If you want unbeaten path come to Laos, it's like Bangkok 30 years ago according to my mother.

My trip actually starts of in Japan for a Week, in Tokyo. I will be staying with a friend there so all my questions are aimed towards him :D.

Then 3 weeks in Vietnam, from the southern parts to the northern parts.

Then 5 weeks in Thailand, from the northern parts to the southern.

So this is how it looks for me now

1. Japan, Tokyo for a week
2. Vietnam, Ho Chin Minh city for 4 days.
3. Then my plan is to find something nice at Mekong delta, like a family house or similar.
4. After that I'll take the train up the country to see some of the national parks. I don't really have the destinations planed out yet.
5. Lastly in Vietnam, Hanoi, I only have some ideas of what to do. Here I have a booked flight to Chiang Mai,Thailand
6. Chiang Mai, I am just about to book my first accommodation here. The plan here is to find some nice off beaten tracks (like you mention) and I have gotten some good hints from my guidebook.
7. Bangkok ~4 weeks later with a booked flight to Sweden. Nothing really planned :D

@sinusodial: Thank you for the suggestions, My goal is to see the off beaten path. I don't really plan to go to the southern parts that much, maybe in the southeast, some places there seems chill. I don't like partying like crazy but I'll take a beer or two thus Pattaya has not even been on my mind. Phuket I might try just for the heck of it. I will check Koh Chang out! And it is nice to hear that my choice of Chiang Mai as a starting point seems to be a good one :)

@fallen189: I wrote more about my plans now ;)

@thaijedi: This is very much appreciated! Do you live in Laos now? Do you travel between Thailand and Laos for work? I don't know if I will be able to go to Laos this time around but it has certainly been on my mind.

@shinjin977: Thank you very much as well for the suggestions! That family run hotel seems very nice. It looks like there is one room left, I might go for it :D. Yeah I will avoid the southern parts. The Swedish department of foreign security don't recommend going to the faaar south either. I will try many kinds of food and street stands.

@nictel: Thank you for your suggestions! They will be of use, I'll try to find Boot Noodle Bay in Bangkok and I'll see if i take a cooking class in Chaing Mai! I'm not really a coffee drinker, I love me some tea though and am a hobbyist fine taster of some sorts, but hey Miguel's might be cool to try anyway. I have never been diving though, I guess there are beginner courses to take? I have the latest edition of the Lonley Planet guide, good to hear that it is recommended :D.

@tyrrael: I am very interested in the world. I will be traveling a lot more in my life. I love different cultures and different settings. The best thing you could spend money on are experiences and travel. Since it is my first trip alone, I chose places that are well regarded amongst backpackers. I also firmly believe that an open mind towards different cultures are the way to go. Have you been to Thailand yourself? Do you have any other travel suggestions for me? What do you like to see in the world?

Whoooa the formatting dissappeared when I edited the post on my phone D:

I would laugh if by some off chance you ran into Drew on your vacation. Now that would be a coincidence!

Sounds like a awesome place to visit, have fun dude.

@majkiboy: I am very interested in the world. I will be traveling a lot more in my life. I love different cultures and different settings. The best thing you could spend money on are experiences and travel. Since it is my first trip alone, I chose places that are well regarded amongst backpackers. I also firmly believe that an open mind towards different cultures are the way to go. Have you been to Thailand yourself? Do you have any other travel suggestions for me? What do you like to see in the world?

I'm not really much of a traveler, but if I had to go somewhere, Thailand would be way at the bottom of the list, or even left off entirely. That goes double, no triple, no "to the power of infinity" for Vietnam. I mean, seriously, Vietnam? I've never even heard anybody ever, and I mean EVER, talk about going to Vietnam for any reason outside of necessity, like maybe for business or something like that.

If I had to choose, Japan would be interesting, as well as, maybe London. I don't speak any other languages except for a bit of Spanish, and I'm not going to go somewhere and expect the locals to accommodate me. I hate it when people do that here (USA), and I refuse to be a hypocrite. I simply can't imagine myself having a good time with that kind of language barrier. I'm not trying to deter you from going, but I think you should know what you're getting yourself into. Think about it like this. I've worked retail rather extensively in my life, and if you haven't, you'd be surprised at how many people come in that don't speak but maybe five words of English and expect you to magically find what they are looking for. Needless to say, it's incredibly frustrating. Now, imagine that level of non-communication but with, literally, everything all the time. Just think about something that you could easily ask someone, and you won't be able to do it, at least not without a massive amount of frustration.

Oh well, I'm not going to talk about this anymore, because it is actually making me mad thinking about it. I'm not mad at you or anything, but still. I'm not going to try and dissuade you from going, but these seem like two very random, and nonsensical choices. Thailand and Vietnam? Why not Saudi Arabia and Iraq? Or maybe Somalia and Ethiopia? Those are good vacation spots, right? It just seems so random. Anyway, I hope you have a good time regardless.

Holy shit dude, you know those 'typical american' memes you see? You're literally one of those. Thailand is the most beautiful country I have ever witnessed, there's a million reasons for someone to go there, unless you hate other cultures or something. Like I don't want to be a jerk, but leaving the comfort of your own country is pretty damn fun, you should try it, regardless of whether or not the 'language barrier' bothers you. Mostly 'cause it won't bother you, every country I have ever visited people more often than not speak English. Sure, if you go to properly out of the way remote villages and what not, sure, maybe no English there, but that really, really shouldn't stop you from wanting to see places.

E: Thailand is the 10th most visited country in the world... Plenty of people want to visit there.

That's right they offer beginner courses, I myself took the beginner one :). Sounds like you have an awesome trip ahead of you!

I have no real tips but boy do I envy you. I'm Vietnamese and I've only been to Vietnam once when I was like four and all I remember was getting mosquito bites all over my body (which in retrospect seems dangerous) and not getting to really take it in. My family doesn't exactly have travel money so we've never been back. Kind of depressing since I have the thought I ruined it.

Anyways hope you can share some of the experience I'm fascinated by how it is now and how non Vietnamese people see Vietnam.

@alexw00d: I didn't insult anybody. I was trying to be more inquisitive than anything, albeit, there was a bit of exaggeration in the tone, but still, it was hardly meant to be insulting. Also, not wanting to go somewhere, see something, or do something that you want to do doesn't make me a bad person or wrong. Also, saying, "...I don't want be a jerk", after insulting me in the first couple sentences, and essentially calling me a bigot with implied line of, "...unless you hate other cultures or something...", makes me despise you on a level that I'll never be able to adequately describe here.

I don't just passively hate other cultures or countries, but not wanting to visit them all the damn time doesn't make me wrong or a bigot, and fuck you for implying as much.

The last sentence was actually rather informative, and I'll actually look up some information on it. I've literally, yes, LITERALLY, never heard anyone say they wanted to visit Thailand, so this is interesting. Why didn't you just start with that and build from there instead of prefacing it with all this passive aggressive nonsense.

Because you spoke to OP as if he was a fucking weirdo for wanting to visit a country you don't want to go to. You spoke in such a tone that you came across as a parody. You referred to this guy's choice of destination as random and nonsensical. That's not what I call inquisitive, that's what I call arrogant and ignorant. You can pretend like you're offended if you wish, but seriously dude, you came into OP's thread to tell him he's wrong for wanting to go somewhere, you shouldn't be surprised when people take you up on that. After he gave you reasons for it, which he didn't need to do, you still acted as if he was wrong.

If you're really interested in why people visit places around the world, then great, that's a really fun topic and I hope we can discuss it, but you should probably change the way you speak to people first.

I've lurked these forums since day 1 of GiantBomb and I've never really felt like posting anything for all these years since I came across your post

I've been all over the world - from Switzerland to Kuwait to China, but Vietnam stands above all else for me. Its a wonderfully colorful country with awesome sites and experiences

Now when I've gone I've had the advantage of being able to stay there with family of my good friend (he was born there) or with friends I know that live over there. As such, I really have never stayed in a hotel and I've been able to aviod the cheap touristy crap that others might get stuck in. As interesting as it is to be hassled by shirt peddlers in Ben Thanh market with all the other tourists - the true charm of VN comes across by wandering the streets of Da Nang, enjoying the beautiful flower groves in Da Lat, or just spending a lazy evening in the village of Dong Thap in the Mekong Delta.

Of course this isnt to blow off cities such as Sai Gon with its countless things to do any given day or going to Hue to see the old imperial city (even though the government has left it in a sorry state.) I would say also go to Nha Trang - even though its beaches tend to be more cigarette butts than sand sometimes, go to Vinpearl Land if you want to see a vietnamese take on a amusement park/resort, just to say you have...

I would say avoid places like Hoi An, which may be a beautiful city, is almost nothing but resorts and shops created to sell trinkets to westerners.

Unfortunately in the times I've been over there I have yet to see the top half of the country, so I cannot speak for places like Ha Noi or Ha Long Bay - even though they look wonderful

Of course I've gone to most of these places with the safety net of having someone that at least speaks the language fluently, so choosing where to go should be determined by how adventurous you are, but for the most part use common sense about which streets you go down and at what time of the day and you should be fine. VN is a fairly safe country, but pick pocketing is of course a big thing over there, and I'm going to assume you are not ethnically Vietnamese so you are going to stand out over there and be an obvious mark for people looking for a new phone, camera or wallet.

I hope this rambling post helps you get a little inspiration for your own trip to the far side of the world

make sure to put a sock on the pickle

I went to Thailand as a kid, so I don't remember much. Here's what I do remember:

Beautiful temples.

Beautiful beaches - where my cousin got stung by a jelly fish.

The crazy zip lines.

Elephants. Lots of elephants.

The massages; they're the loudest things I've ever heard.

The water. I drank it. It ruined the rest of my trip.

A lot of kids would run up to our group trying to sell us things.

We went with a tour group, so we were pretty much going to tourist trap places. The hotel was awesome though. Pretty sure it was the A-One hotel which was shaped like a boat.

@mcplated You definitely are inspiring me and thank you for the suggestions, really appreciated! I am happy to have lured you out of the lurking shadows. And regarding me standing out as a tourist, yeah I know that it will be the case for sure. I am the whitest dude ever with blonde hair and blue eyes. When I was in Namibia some people called me a shining angel! That is how much I was standing out, even with a bunch of other white buddies :D. I will be cautious :)

I am prepared with mosquito nets and repellant! My family didn't have travel money as well, but I always wanted to. In Sweden it is so common for people to go abroad every summer. We couldn't do that. So now when I am a grown up man, I save money to be able to travel. I will definitely try to update here, I don't know how much I will be able to during my trip. But at least something afterwards. And let us hope that Drew has some stories to tell us after he is back. I loved his North Korea coverage!

Also @tyrrael, If you follow the site you might have noticed Drew talking about going to Japan and Vietnam as well. That is pretty much why I even thought about posting my story here. I also understand that you didn't insult me and I can actually understand your point of not seeing the point of traveling there. Even though I think that you can be more open minded to the rest of the world (no insult intended, just my honest opinion) and be a bit easier in the tone regarding such matters. Come to Sweden and I'll show you around a bit. We have different opinions about travel you and me, that is ok. I have friends that don't like the idea of going to Thailand, but in those cases it is clearly just a locked state of mind of something they have heard before and they usually say "Everyone is going there". There are as you might know many people not liking America, and they might even say that they dislike all Americans. But for me that statement is flawed in its core. You can't really judge a country that way. Especially not a huge country with so much diversity. But some people don't really see a bigger picture. I've been to the US and it was fantastic. I see it the same way with Thailand. People might have stories about weird stuff happening there, about crime rates, about all sort of things negative. But many also have good stories, and I focus on the good. Because even here in Sweden there are many things that suck. I try to see a bigger picture.

Well, I hope that you some day get to travel around more and I hope you will be able to appreciate it, when or if that happens. It does everyone good to see new places.

If I would partake in the pickling business, I would. You don't need to worry ;)

Just a couple of things. You don't have to pity me for not being able to travel more. I honestly don't like traveling. It's so much that I outright hate other cultures or other countries, in general. I do have an appreciation for the diversity of this world. It's just that I don't really like everything in between. If I could teleport somewhere, spend an hour, and then teleport back home, I would go places all the time, assuming that teleporting doesn't cost too much, which brings me to my first point. I don't have the money to travel, like, at all. I could go for free with my parents here and there, but I would not be working, and I get virtually no vacation time from my job. Second, is the time, kind of like I mentioned earlier. I just don't want to take the time to pack, fly somewhere, or drive, just to see some stuff and then come all the way back home. To me, that is a massive waste of time and money that could be spent elsewhere. To someone who doesn't mind the stuff I mentioned, it's probably great fun.

All that having been said, whoever out there likes traveling, I wish you the best and hope you have a good time wherever you go. However, I simply can't stand it, and have no interest in traveling at all. Even if I had unlimited money, I still wouldn't travel unless I had to for some reason.

First, you're a hypocrite. You tell me that I'm a "typical American" like in a meme, which implies that you think that I'm an uncultured xenophobic bigot, along with every other American. Then, you try and explain how I should want to travel, and if I don't, then I don't like other cultures, even though you just implied that myself, along with all Americans, are what I just said before. You can't have it both ways. You can't say one group, Americans in this case, are all bigots, and then say that all cultures and countries should be respected. This is such blatant hypocrisy that I don't even understand how you got it typed out.

Second, it WAS parody. That was the point. I wasn't making fun of him. I was joking around, and inquiring about why he would want to go to these places, in a playful way. I was just questioning the seemingly random, and yes, weird selections of places to visit. Arrogance had nothing to do with it. It's not arrogant to wonder why someone's going somewhere. I will, however, admit that, if what you said is true, I didn't know that Thailand was visited so frequently. It's just that I had literally never heard anybody anywhere ever wanting to go there, much like I said about Vietnam.

Third, I NEVER said he was wrong. I was merely stating one specific issue that I would have with going to other countries, and with people from other countries coming here. I absolutely stand by my thoughts that people who are going to travel should have a fundamental understanding of the native language(s) of the countries they are going to visit, and that it is incredibly rude not to. Please don't misunderstand this. I'm simply saying that the person traveling should be able to form basic sentences needed for basic communication. You don't have to be perfectly fluent, especially if you're traveling, which is a temporary situation, but like I said, if you go somewhere with zero knowledge of the country's native language, it makes you incredibly rude and arrogant to think that everyone should just know your language. This goes for anyone traveling anywhere, including Americans traveling abroad.

Fourth, the final sentence is incredibly patronizing. I understand plenty about why people like to travel. One of my closest friends likes to travel, as well as my parents. That having been said, they're neither right or wrong for wanting to travel, nor am I right or wrong for not wanting to travel. It's purely subjective, and I don't think any lesser of them for liking something that I don't.

Finally, I know that it was posted after you posted this, but you should look and see that Majkiboy responded to me. He clearly wasn't offended, and I responded to him in a more serious tone. It seems like he wanted to discuss it more seriously, which is fine, but he wasn't insulted or offended. The only person who seems offended by what I said is you. I was just innocently joking around. He understands that and doesn't need you to defend him, because he doesn't need defending from anything I said.

Finally (part 2), I sincerely hope our paths never cross again which, pretty much, shoots down any further discussion, because I can't pretend to care about anything that someone says who spouts off insults with their self righteous hypocrisy pretending to defend someone who doesn't need defending.

@jothel: I'm compelled to agree with you, at least about it being hard to replicate tone in text, but the poster didn't seem to take offense at all. Anyway, maybe I should just delete it all so as to avoid any further misconceptions.

I came to Ho Chi Minh city a month ago on holidays, but I've decided to stay here to teach English for a while. Vietnam is a pretty great place to visit!

@hankrazorbeard: Oh, that is cool. Are you a teacher or is it just because you know English well? Do you know Vietnamese?

I am that kind of person who is rarely offended. I am hardened by many years of bullshit in my life. I guess someone else might really have taken offense though. But maybe we have said enough about that stuff now.

@tyrrael: Sounds like you wouldn't get on with The Traveller one bit!

I wanted to visit Japan for about a quarter of a century before I was finally able to go, earlier this very year.

It was an incredible experience.

I am very interested in seeing Vietnam and Thailand and Korea (both halves) and China at some point in my life.

@fattony12000: Ok, I think I found that a little funnier than I should have. Well played, sir. Well played.

I'm just amazed at how becoming a member of Giant Bomb comes with all these free benefits like mini travel agents. Next time I plan on going anywhere, I'm asking the community for advice.

Anyway, have fun in Thailand and Vietnam!

And now you will know, because you'll have been there!

My flight leaves Sweden in less than 24 hours. The first stop is Tokyo and Shinjuku, maybe not the most chill first stop, but hey lest start of with major sensory overload!

Thank you everyone for your input. I will try to post something here during the trip :)

I think it's suuuuper ironic that you suggest getting off the beaten path and that he visits a location from The Beach in the same post :D

I'll second Koh Chang, that place is great. It's a bit further north than most of the beaches so check what the weather is going to be like before you get there. I went in August, it was mostly nice but it rained for a few hours every day, which you can avoid if you head further south. The benefit was that it was a lot quieter. Depends what you want. If you're heading to Vietnam by land then Koh Chang is actually on route, so you could even stop there for a few days if you wanted.

I'd personally avoid any full moon parties, or anywhere that claims to be party central, because they're a great way to travel around the world to be surrounded by white guys from Essex, Berlin and Perth, but again, it's an experience that you should probably see for yourself at least once. If you do go don't accept drinks from strangers, make sure you wear sandals (unless you enjoy picking glass out of your feet) and exercise the necessary caution if anyone offers you anything sinister.

Don't fight the locals. Ever. Shit escalates very fucking fast!

Chiang Mai is super nice too, much more relaxed, good place to go trecking, see some elephants, go see a couple of Wats and temples. You can get a night train from Bangkok for pretty cheap.

You'll get the standard guys preying on tourists that is typical of pretty much everywhere in the world. They'll try and manipulate and guilt money from you however they can, so I guess it's up to you whether you buy into it or not. I once got chatting to a guy on a beach (can't remember which one) who told me that selling overpriced shells to stupid tourists was his summer job and it was actually paying his way through Bangkok university! Mental.

If you're backpacking then make sure you only drink bottled water, and always pack toilet paper.

GLHF

Alright, let's get this back on track please. If you want to continue this amongst yourselves please take it to a PM.

@sweep: I thought the part about it being "terrifically overloaded with tourists" was a bit of a dissuasion.

@sinusoidal: You said terrific!

@sweep: Yeah, this got taken a little further than I would have liked. I was just trying to joke around at the beginning, but it got taken the wrong way, which was not my intention. Feel free to delete any of the posts from my first one on if you like. If anything, it will keep people from getting the wrong idea. I would delete them, but I can't delete the ones that were quoted under other people's names.

@sweep:

Thank you for the input mister! I definitely appreciate it. I'm not the aggro type so I hope I won't end up in fights. Also I can run really fucking fast :D

The status: My bag was lost and is now being transported to my residence. I am super duper jetlagged and tired. I've been walking around Shinjuku and areas around there quite a lot and it has all been fantastic. Today though I've mostly been chilling and catching up with the world. Walking around in the suburbs just a bit and buying cup noodles.

Here, take a picture (not from the suburbs)

And one from the suburbs (haah that orientation though, well it has to do for now):

Walking around Tokyo I see this and immediately think of @Jeff.

Domino's represent.