Travel Tips: Getting around Southeast Asia

Whilst planning for my trip I read up a lot on the best ways to get around Southeast Asia within, and from country to country. It was pretty much split between taking flights or buses/trains. I ended up planning for buses and trains as I wanted to make the most of the scenes we would have otherwise missed. If you’re like me then it is 100% worth it, the images I got were like no other!

Meeting locals who share their Thai toffee, listening to Vietnamese music being played, and even being welcomed into Cambodia by a bus guide with the biggest grin I have ever seen, was enough to make me feel like I had made the right choice.

Now, taking seven hour transportations from one city to another (and even one country to another) is not easy at all, unless you sleep for most of it (which we usually did due to nights out and no sleep). The first sleeper train I boarded was from Ho Chi Minh city to Nha Trang. I was excited to experience a sleeper train, but once I stepped through the threshold of our four bunk cabin I felt like I was in a small prison cell! All of a sudden my comfort zone seemed to be very very far away. Luckily I slept through most of it, waking up occasionally to an announcement or a Vietnamese song they played through the corridors, and the following sleeper train I boarded was much nicer than that one (although it was a six bunk cabin and the top two were too close to the ceiling of the bunk).The longer journeys were always on sleeper buses or sleeper trains, but honestly it’s like getting 2 for 1. No accommodation fees and you are moving on to your next destination. Win!

There are a few of my best ways to deal with getting around southeast asia:

1- Have your headphones and your device's charger at hand. You will need something to occupy your time or even block out the noise of those around you (especially on the sleeper trains, they are more like socialising platforms for locals I kid you not).

2- Water and snacks. You may not always have these available to you for long periods of time so stay prepared!

3- A camera to snap away at all the gorgeous landscapes you would never see if you didn’t go by bus/train.

4- Toilet paper. If you need to beg for an emergency stop to pee in the bushes (yep I did this quite a few times), or need to use the toilets of a sleeper train (don’t unless you are ultra desperate- trust me here) you are going to thank me for sharing this piece of advice with you.

Other than these tips I would say to get mingling with other people around you. I did this and it provided me with some of the best stories and friendships! Nothing beats sharing some history with a local on a sleeper train, or huddling with a group of backpackers at the Vietnam-Laos border!

Follow your wanderlust, T x

#southeastasia #vietnam #thailand #cambodia #laos