Backpacking through South East Asia
I have just finished my 3 month long trip to the other side of the globe and came back to Atlanta,USA on March 12th, 2024. This was the BEST 3 months of my life as I could dedicate some of my time with my aunt and uncle that I have been very grateful to right from my childhood (These have been my role models in life when it comes to living by values), met lots of my friends and relatives I love, and lastly, I have done a 4 week long backpacking trip covering four cities in Thailand and a few cities in Bali Province in Indonesia.
Now, I strongly believe that “Backpacking” is the way to go for world travel as it’s very simple, cheap and gives us a more authentic experience of the country while providing opportunities to meet lots of co-travelers from all over the world.
Though I had a very leisurely life with zero pressure and thoroughly enjoyed my trip ( and would certainly be doing more of them in future), as expected with any first time backpacker, I made my share of mistakes.
For my own benefit with the future trips, I have listed out all the lessons I learnt with this trip. I am sharing it here for the benefit of others planning to do the backpacking trips. Here we go.
1. First and foremost lesson I learnt is that if we have money, we can go to a different country but if we don't have physical fitness, then we would be highly limited when it comes to visiting the attractions and doing the activities. This is especially true when it comes to Bali, Indonesia (paradise on earth .. for tourists.. especially nature lovers) as visiting a majority of attractions such as beaches (Kelingking Beach, Diamond beach etc), temples (Lempuyang Temple, Elephant Caves, Tanah lot), waterfalls (Banyumala Twin Waterfalls, Tukad Cepung, Tibumana, Kanto Lampo, Goa Rang Reng) and of course live volcanoes such as Mt.Batur or Mt.Agung require huge physical effort but totally.. totally worth the effort.
2. I was under the impression that vacations were costly and hence a luxury I couldn't afford unless I had a good amount of reserve money. I was pleasantly surprised when a person I met during my trip spent only 2000 USD in 3 months visiting 9+ countries (of course, Southeast Asian countries as the cost of living is too cheap here).
3. Our focus during vacation should be, not on the comforts to our body, but on the new experiences we can gain. We need to get out of our comfort zone, if required, push our limits little at a time, in order to discover new places, new experiences and in that process.. probably a new "us" that we never met in life so far. 😀
Let's remember.. life is rich .. not by the possessions, but ONLY by the experiences we have had. (Thanks to my son for his persistent efforts.. It took me a long time to get it). Unlike our possessions, our experiences always stay with us. Nobody can steal them from us, including time. (Let's forget Alzheimer's for a second here 😀. I heard that we could also delay the onset/progress of Alzheimer's by living an active/conscious life).
4. Getting exposed to different countries/places and cultures certainly broadens our perspectives.
5. The "reel" life and "real" life are too far apart. It’s true for the majority of people on social media. It’s the same with organized tours too. Not only are they costly but the country we see is also "staged" for creating a specific impression (and of course ..also to sell things at heavily inflated rates).
In order to get the authentic experience i.e., to see the real country, people and places, we need to act like a local guy, not a tourist. I used public transport .. mostly Metros, walked short distances (within 2-3 kms), ate local fruits (I tried new fruits "Durian", "Mangosteen" and "Snake fruit") and food, and stayed in hostels instead of hotels.
6. Avoid staying in Hotels unless you are a newly married couple. They are costly and keep you away from people. Try staying in hostels where you could meet travelers from all over the world (with a lot of opportunities to interact). In a far off country, our goal is never to spend a full day in a hotel and enjoy it. It’s only for restrooms/showers/sleep at night with the majority of time spent outside the hotel exploring.
I have a “Lifetime Platinum” status with Marriott hotels (Was a platinum for 10+ years and spent more than 600 nights in Marriott hotels) but I enjoyed the stay in the hostels much better due to the interacting opportunity with co-travelers. It cost me $4 to $11 per night with AC, separate lockers to store valuables, free breakfast, pools in some hostels, and some common areas for the guests to interact with each other.
Let’s now move on to some practical tips.
7. Currency exchange:
Get USD notes in high denomination only ($100 or $20) as they get better conversion rate. They don’t take even slightly torn notes.
Change the USDs only one or two hundred notes at a time. We shouldn't reconvert the local money back to USD. That would be a double dip. You have other ways to use such as bank cards or Western Union or credit cards (of course, with no foreign transaction fees). Remember a lot of places require cash only including some hostels.
Never do currency exchange inside airports. When needed, do it for the minimum amount needed and then convert later at the outside that shows a better rate. In Thailand, I have seen rates ranging from 32 to 35 Thai Baht for one USD while the airport offered much less.
If you plan to use credit/debt cards, make sure that we inform the banks/financial institutions about our trip and dates so the activity here is not viewed as “Fraudulent” and also make sure that these cards have “Zero” foreign transaction fee.
8. Few handy things in your backpack
A rain jacket .. both pant and shirt..that is very lightweight but sturdy so we can use it on the bike in the rain in the countryside when needed.
A nice small but powerful torch light that can be added to the key chain. If you are going to do trekking to see the sunrise, a torch light to the headband would keep your both hands free while climbing in the dark. (A must for Mt.Batur if you want to do the trekking starting at 4-5 am).
9. If you plan to visit multiple countries in Southeast Asia (We have already paid for traveling to the other side of the Globe and why not take advantage of it? 🙂) There are lots of cheap fare flights in Asia that allow only 7 kg weight including laptop. Limit weight to below that for not paying extra for checking in the bag.
Here are some tips for it.
Get Bamboo clothing or something that’s light weight.
Make sure we have clothing suitable to the climatic conditions in the country we are visiting. For example, the average temperatures in Thailand/Indonesia are between 85-95 degrees Fahrenheit so no point in thermals or jackets anytime of the year. Same way, when we plan to go to European countries, layers of clothing would probably be helpful apart from Thermals and Jackets based on the time of the year.
In the case of Asian countries, go with least clothing and you buy them there as needed. They will be your souvenirs and obviously much cheaper than what we pay in the US.
Get a light weight, easy to dry towel. Some hostels do not provide towels or charge you. Obviously these hostels are cheap for a reason.
Be mindful of travel size toiletries as we might not be checking the bags (cabin luggage only)
Avoid the laptop if you can ..to save space and weight. One less thing to worry about. Why do we need to go to a different country to spend our time on a laptop... Right? If needed, our phones do the similar job.
10. Bring a 2nd phone (used one from the USA or buy a cheap one here) with an additional memory card to store photos. Or use Google photos backup and keep deleting the photos on the phone everyday. You might have to pay more for the Google storage.
Also have 1 or 2 battery banks with you all the time and ensure that you take them in fully charged state when going out. We never know when the phone is going to die especially if you use any video calls to show the new place to your friends and family.
11. Do not buy the local sim card at the airport of the country you are visiting. Buy it outside in a store only. It costs you less. Also check “Holafly”.
12. Get all apps loaded for the trip on this second phone. Here are the key apps.
Hostelworld com
Booking.com
Klook
Grab/Bolt/Gogek - Uber kind of Apps applicable for the place. These might be different for different cities
Getyourguide
Wanderlog
Polarsteps
Google Translate
XE converter
Weather
WhatsApp for the local nbr
13. Download the maps of the cities or states or countries you are going to so you can access them even when there is no internet.
14. Do not forget to take all your medicines and related stuff.
15. Hat, preferably a cloth one, along with 1 or 2 pairs of cooling glasses is certainly helpful.
16. Rent a scooter in countries like Thailand or Indonesia (Bali). It costs about $6 to $10 per day and gives you lots of flexibility and saves you a ton of time and money. Start with the lowest and simplest model until you become familiar with the roads, traffic and the chaos there.
Most of the countries might need an International Driving Permit (IDP). (This is not strictly enforced by bike renting agencies but I heard a few stories of cops charging the guys without IDP a fine). We can apply at our nearest AAA office with 2 passport photos, valid US Driver’s license, an application and a $20 permit fee. We can get the IDP in about two weeks.
17. Book the tours only when there is a true value with the presence of a guide. Lot of times, Google, Wikipedia and YouTube do a better job and we get to see attractions at our own pace.
18. Get used to checking the weather everyday. Be mindful of the rains and traffic timings while planning your day.
19. Never rush things. Go at your own pace. If we can cover only 10 out of 30, let's choose the ones that truly matter to us from the attractions list.
20. If you are going to any city in Thailand or Bali province in Indonesia, you must try different body massages there. It costs you about 10 USD for a one hour full body massage. I had one full body massage everyday with oil for all the days I stayed in Thailand and Bali and it was truly awesome.
21. While going to waterfalls, make sure we have swimwear, sandals/flip flops or water shoes as we need to walk in the water to see some of the waterfalls in Bali. Yes, sturdy water shoes are mandatory as there are too many stones in the walkway to waterfalls as well as in the water near the falls.
22. While renting bikes, make sure there is enough gas, the phone holder and rear view mirrors work well and the helmet clip works well. I faced all the issues above. Bike rents in Bali start from six USD for 24 hours and a liter of gas/petrol costs one USD or less.
23. While booking the flights, do not look for cheapest flights blindly. Always check the “baggage allowed” details before paying for the tickets and choose one that suits your baggage situation.
24. Booking direct flights ..if possible with the carrier instead of “MakeMyTrip” especially when there is checked in baggage. I booked from Bali to Hyderabad. It gave me two separate itineraries via Malaysia and now I have to pay for my luggage in Bali once, and get the bag in Malaysia and recheck it in after paying in Malaysian Ringgits again. Additional money and additional effort.
25. Be mindful of the possible food poisoning from food and water. Some places, I was advised to use only bottled water.
26. Be cautious about multiple airports in a city. I almost missed my flight in Mexico city as I booked Uber for the 1 am trip to the airport, but to a wrong one. Thanks to the small talk with the receptionist at night. I realized my mistake and changed the Uber trip last minute.
27. Lastly, my humble opinion on these countries. Most of these south Asian countries have many things available and every tourist will find what he/she is looking for.
In my opinion, Bangkok can be viewed as a "Spiritual" place with so many beautiful temples everywhere, or "Clean and Green" place for living pollution and dust free, "Great city" with all the state of the art amenities, "wonderful people" place as everyone is very courteous and welcoming here, and "affordable living" place with US Dollar stretching too far here. I can certainly choose Bangkok/Krabi or any city in Bali as my second home anytime.
Here are some photos of the beautiful places I visited in Thailand and Indonesia. If you want to get a glimpse of my trip, please check the below photos link.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/gPQab2Q948GVE7Nh6