When we first started to travel outside of the Philippines, we had a very difficult time putting together an itinerary because there was so many information that you can find out there in the internet through different blogs, travel sites, or other websites. But being a budget traveler, we didn't want to spend extra money to pay for travel agencies to arrange tours for us. Hence, we started our own blog to help people like us who were having difficulty putting together the best travel itinerary.
Putting together our South East Asia Backpacking trip itinerary was by far the most difficult task because we had to research on itinerary for 5 different cities and put everything together in 10 days (taking into account travel time, waiting time in airports, etc.) while achieving the things we want to do in each cities in a budget friendly manner haha. There were so many things to take into consideration which is why it took me a very long time to come up with this itinerary! Lucky for you, I will be sharing our SEA Backpacking itinerary which can serve as your guide for either a backpacking trip to these countries or if you just want to visit one of the countries that we’ve went to.
OUR SOUTH EAST ASIA ITINERARY (click the enlarge the photo)
ITINERARY SUMMARY:
Siem Reap, Cambodia [Day 1-2]
We arrived from a late flight on Day 1 so we spent only 1 full day in Cambodia. We went on a whole day Tuktuk tour in Angkor Wat, Ta Prohm Temple, and Bayon.We finished early so we spent time at the night market to have dinner and get a foot massage before heading off to the Bus station going to Vietnam.
Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam [Day 3-4]
We met our college friend during the first day where we ate dinner and went around the famous Ben Thanh Market to shop!We went on a half day Cu Chi Tunnel (there is also a whole day option) but unfortunately had to go through heavy rains going back! We literally took a picture in their famous cathedral and post office before going to BBQ dinner with our college friend.
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia [Day 5-6] We went to Petronas Tower and Suria KLCC mall which is right next to each other. We explored also different malls in the area at night.We headed off to Batu Caves early morning for a morning exercise going up the caves then went back to our hotel to check-out before heading to the airport.
Kuta & Seminyak, Bali Indonesia [Day7] We arrived in Bali airport very late so we stayed in Kuta for the first night which is around 10-15 minutes away from the airport. We checked-out in the morning and visited Kuta Square.We spent our second night in Seminyak where we went around Seminyak Square, visit the famous beach resort – most notably the W Hotel and Potato Head which are next to each other.
Ubud, Bali Indonesia [Day 8-9] Our third day in Bali, we travelled up the mountain to go to Ubud where we spent another night there.We had a fully packed agenda by enrolling in a yoga class, visiting the Monkey Temple, and shopping in Hanonam Road and Monkey Forest Road, while ending the day with a blissful Balinese massage.Our hotel offered a tour service going to Tegalalang Rice Terraces for the morning sunrise and our tour extended up to the Luwak Plantation where we saw a live Civet cat and drank its poop (Coffee luwak).
Jakarta, Indonesia [Day 10-11]
Our flight got delayed from Bali and we arrived early morning in Jakarta. We spend the first night in a budget hotel but Wooj’ office friend picked us up and tour us around the National Monument, Mosque and Cathedral which are next to each other, and had dinner in a mall with his family.Our last day we had a good seafood lunch in Ancol (which is similar to our Manila bay) and went around another shopping mall before we ended our 11 day trip!
ITINERARY TIPS:
Before putting together your itinerary, check flight schedules first for each of the places. The reason why we started with Cambodia and ended in Jakarta is driven by which flight is available and which was the cheapest route. If you’re going on a backpacking trip, most of the cost will be on airfare and transportation so make sure to check flight prices first and select which ones are the most logical ones.
You can add Thailand as another destination which is near Cambodia and Vietnam but we decided to not include it since we’ve been to Bangkok already before. We also did not include Hanoi to visit the famous Ha Long Bay but we decided to spend more days in Bali but you can extend your Vietnam trip to include both Ho Chi Minh and Hanoi.
There is not much to do in Siem Reap, Kuala Lumpur, and Jakarta. Although it’s worth visiting each place, I would recommend at least 1 or 2 days maximum in each of these cities as you can see all the major tourist spots in 1 day! Spend more time in Bali to rest and recuperate while go on a food trip in Ho Chi Minh’s.
It’s easy to go around each of the cities as the famous tourist spots are nearby each other and a lot of people speak English in each of the places. But make sure to research on public transportation as each country has different systems and select what’s most efficient. In Bali, you need to rely on Taxi but Uber or Grab is much cheaper (but have heard it’s discouraged), similarly, Jakarta and Vietnam does not have good transportation system so we relied on taxi as well. Tuktuk is much cheaper and convenient in Cambodia, while the train system is very good in Malaysia. Make sure to put together itinerary to consider proximity and how to travel to each destination to save on cost and time.
Finally, it is possible to go backpacking South East Asia and visit to 4 countries and 5 cities in 10 nights 11 days for only under Php 41,000 inclusive of airfare and hotels. This could be much cheaper but we decided not to wait for promo fares and just paid the cheapest regular fares available. We learned that the backpacking will end up much cheaper rather than going to each country individually where you'll spend at least Php 20,000 for a trip to each city.
Disclaimer: This is an old post from my Blogspot account dated April 29, 2017.
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