How to Plan a 4 Month Trip to Asia

I am planning on travelling to Asia for 4 months starting in April. I was
planning on flying to India and spending a month or so there. Afterwards, I
would like to fly to Thailand, then Vietnam, and then fly back to India for the
flight home. I wanted to pay in advance only for my flight to India, and then
handle all the other arrangements from there, so that I would not have to
commit to anything ahead of time. The other option, of course, is to arrange
some type of itinerary through a US travel agent. However, I thought that US
travel agents would force me into rigid, expensive plans. Is that right? Is
it easy (and inexpensive) to arrange airline flights within Asia once you're
already there?

Please let me know what you think the cheapest and most flexible plans
are to tour Asia. I know that I am asking a rather vague question, but
my plans are still rather vague. Thanks in advance for all of your
help.

"Miguel Cruz" <mnc@admin.u.nu> wrote in message
news:e5uGb.3798$UB3.2699@nwrddc03.gnilink.net...
> Tal <8lume@mailinator.com> wrote:
> > I am planning on travelling to Asia for 4 months starting in April. I
was
> > planning on flying to India and spending a month or so there.
Afterwards,
> > I would like to fly to Thailand, then Vietnam, and then fly back to
India
> > for the flight home. I wanted to pay in advance only for my flight to
> > India, and then handle all the other arrangements from there, so that I
> > would not have to commit to anything ahead of time. The other option,
of
> > course, is to arrange some type of itinerary through a US travel agent.
> > However, I thought that US travel agents would force me into rigid,
> > expensive plans. Is that right? Is it easy (and inexpensive) to
arrange
> > airline flights within Asia once you're already there?
>
> India isn't such a great place to buy cheap tickets. Thailand is much
> better. If you can get something USA-India-Bangkok-USA, you could try to
buy
> a cheap Vietnam ticket from Thailand, but honestly, I doubt it's worth the
> trouble.

I'd recommend traveling overland from Thailand to Vietnam. You need a
Vietnam visa, which can be gotten in Bangkok or Phnom Penh (cheaper in
Bangkok). The Cambodia visa can be obtained at the Cambodian border.

--
Peacenik

Kris <reply@the.group.com> wrote in
news:01cluv0eqq3i1nikkho7bbbvtootu60ks3@:

>>
>>India isn't such a great place to buy cheap tickets. Thailand is much
>>better.
>>
>
> Another consideration would be that India would not be such a great
> first destination if this will be the original poster's first trip.
> Better to start in easy mellow Thailand and go to India later.
>
> Kris

He could always start in easy mellow Goa, then go down to easy mellow
Kerala...

Multistop tickets are good, though. With just a few stops and then travel
by train (mostly) in each country it's less hassle and a lot of time saved.

/Tommy P.

hi,
how much does the vietnam visa cost in bath ? how long to get it in bkk ?
thanks.
> I'd recommend traveling overland from Thailand to Vietnam. You need a
> Vietnam visa, which can be gotten in Bangkok or Phnom Penh (cheaper in
> Bangkok). The Cambodia visa can be obtained at the Cambodian border.