Backpacking Southeast Asia: The Itinerary

For those of you that don't know, I'm a very organized person and I LOVE to plan things. By plan things, I mean I love to write everything down, I want to know exactly where I am staying, for how long, I want to know how much everything costs, where we are going to eat, exactly what I am going to eat and exactly how  we are getting from place to place.....

As you can see, in addition to being very organized, I am also slightly compulsive AND maybe a bit obsessive.

Because of my OCD tenancies, planning a trip, for 3 months, to Southeast Asia has been very challenging.  Most of the awesome budget-friendly places don't have websites and just try looking up information on a roadside stand....  Needless to say, I have had to let go of the reins for this trip and I'm actually starting to enjoy it.

Our itinerary is as follows:

December 2 - 17: LAOS
(Luang Prabang, Vientiane, Tad Leuk, Kong Lor, Thakhek, Xe Champhone, Pakse and Don Det)

December 17 - January 3: CAMBODIA
(Kratie, Phnom Penh, Sihanoukville and Siem Reap)

January 3 - 20: VIETNAM
(Ho Chi Minh, Hue, Hoi An and Hanoi.)

 January 20 - February 10: THAILAND
(Chiang Rai, Chiang Mai, Sukhothai and Bangkok)

February 10 - 28: BALI
(Lovina, Ubud, Bukit Peninsula and Seminyak)

I should mention that we only have 67 days until we leave and both Allan and I are so excited.  In fact, I find it hard to think of anything else, to be honest. 

What do you guys think of the planned itinerary.  Any places we're missing?  Anything you think we should be seeing or not seeing?

 

Hotel Life in Bali

Allan and I chose to stay in hotels since it was our first time in Bali AND our honeymoon. Plus, since it's rather inexpensive there, you definitely get a lot of bang for your buck.

Pool area at the Inata Hotel, Ubud, Bal

  In Ubud, we stayed at a place called the Inata Hotel, Monkey Forest. The Inata is a subsidiary hotel of the Artini Bali Group and is actually very new.  In fact, the hotel was built in 2010/11 and everything still looks and smells brand new.  When I booked the hotel, the Inata didn't have a website (it does now though!  www.inatahotelubud.com) so I weighed heavily on the voice of other travelers who said it was "fantastic value for the price paid."  I booked our entire stay in Ubud at this hotel with no hesitation.

Our bedroom at the Inata Hotel

 I am SO glad I did.

Our gorgeous balcony view at the Inata Hotel

The hotel was amazing.  Not only did they include breakfast everyday, but they remembered our names the entire time.  The housekeeping staff were prompt and so courteous and the food was absolutely delicious.  The staff assisted us with airport transfers, directions, maps and even cutlery when we ordered in a meal.  I have honestly never been so pleased with a hotel OR staff in all my life.  Not only will we stay there again but we have been referring this hotel to everyone we know.  It was such a fantastic place.  PLUS, for $60 a night (including breakfast) it was a great deal.  We will definitely stay there again IF we aren't on a backpackers' budget.

The Amadea Resort pool area (pool #1)

While in Seminyak, we stayed at the Amadea Resort and Villas.  Allan and I were so used to the Inata hotel and staff at this point, that moving somewhere new was already traumatizing enough.  The Amadea is a completely different hotel than the Inata.  Not only is the Amadea HUGE (I mean the Inata only had 14 rooms) but the staff were nowhere near as friendly or hospitable.  I have a feeling this was because it was so much bigger than the Inata, there were way more people to acommodate and way too many staff members to give us that personal experience. 

Bed art at the Amadea Resort

My last gripe about the hotel was the distance to the beach.  It was advertised as being very close, when in fact, it wasn't.  Not saying that the hike to the beach wasn't enjoyable.  It was.  But when you are walking in the pitch black, and there isn't a light around, it's quite a long distance that's for sure.

Now, I should also explain that Allan and I are going back to Bali for the last two and a half weeks of our backpacking trip (February 10, 2014) and will be staying in much less extravagant places as we will be on a tight budget.  It was really nice, though, to be able to stay in gorgeous hotels that didn't cost too much.  On that note, to book both of our hotels, we used Agoda.  If you are traveling anywhere, I highly recommend you using their site.

Happy Travels!