the normals

This wasn’t exactly what we had planned originally, but it’s what happened, and it was pretty darn awesome.

So my final ever university hand-in was due on Friday. I went to a club on Wednesday night, packed a bag on Thursday morning and flew from Aberdeen to Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur later that day. The essay was finished and submitted online from a beanbag chair in a hostel at 4am while I was chatting to a gorgeous Israeli man. I got an A. Jammy, right?!

(FYI: as a somewhat responsible adult, this method of doing university is not something I can recommend with a clear conscience!)

Let me just insert this fairly awful feat of graphic design here to illustrate my route...

The countries: 

Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia.

The places: 

Kuala Lumpur, Langkawi, Singapore, Phuket, Koh Phi Phi, Bangkok, Hanoi, Halong Bay, Hue, Hoi An, Ho Chi Minh City, Phnom Penh, Mondulkiri, Siem Reap.

Our Route:

Aberdeen

           (plane via Amsterdam)

Kuala Lumpur

           (plane)

Langawi

           (and this is where our route got a lil bit funny… It turned out that it was cheaper to fly from Langawi to Thailand with a layover in Singapore. So we thought, why not?)

Singapore 

          (what was only meant to be a 24-hour layover, turned into a couple of days and one missed flight because we loved the city so much and made some great friends!)

        (plane)

Phuket

        (ferry)

Koh Phi Phi

        (ferry to Phuket then plane)

Bangkok

        (plane - remember to arrange your visa or have evidence of onward travel from Vietnam within 14 days)

Hanoi

        (bus)

Halong Bay

        (night train from Hanoi)

Hue

        (motorbike tour, Hue Easy Riders)

Hoi An

        (Danang airport in order to fly to)

Ho Chi Minh City

        (bus, border, back on the same bus)

Phnom Penh

        (bus)

Mondulkiri

        (had an absolute mare of a morning when the bus left early without us on it. Bribed a man to drive us to catch up with the minibus! Brief stop in Phnom Penh, change bus)

Siem Reap

        (bus, border, change bus)

Bangkok

        (plane via Amsterdam)

Aberdeen

Hmm… I just realised it’s technically six countries in five weeks if you count our origin in the UK. Seven if you count that we had to go back to Thailand to catch our flight home. It doesn’t have the same ring to it though so let’s just stick with five in five!

Also, I’d like to point out that if you’re in Europe, for example, you can hop easily between countries and rack up way more in five weeks, but SE Asia is a whole other beast and five in five is a tough feat.

Our return flights (KLM, multi-city, booked a month before flying) cost: £428 per person.

I've been to SE Asia before and did Thailand, Vietnam and Cambodia. Check out my previous Thailand tips and route!

Let me know any questions, tips or stories you might have!

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