Southeast Asia: tours to Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines. The best countries in Southeast Asia for life: my experience Sights and entertainment

I have been asked to do this post for a very long time, and I promised to do it a bunch of times, but there is still no time .. Yesterday, something appeared in the mood to quit everything and do it, and in a couple of days I mastered it. I tried to be very brief, but the post still turned out to be huge.

Attention! It's all purely SUBJECTIVE! Although I lived in some countries for a year or two, everything is still built solely on my own experience, which can be very different from other people.

For more than 5 years of continuous travel, I have lived in principle in all the main countries of Southeast Asia, where everyone goes on vacation or winter.

These are: Indonesia (Bali, Java and other islands), Thailand, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Cambodia, Nepal, India (Goa). Now it's Vietnam.

She also spent several days in Singapore, Hong Kong, Seoul, and lived in the capital of Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur, for a month. Well, in general, it was in all the capitals of all the main countries of Southeast Asia.

Now, in principle, I don’t care where I live, inside everything has changed a long time ago and the whole planet is my home. But, a very desirable condition for me is the presence of the ocean nearby. Somehow I find it easier and more pleasant when he is here, behind my back. We do not like cities and we love the sea, even if we go to it once a month. Only once in five years we lived without the sea - in the north of Thailand, in Chiang Mai, and rather quickly went south and lived the next year on Koh Samui on the second line - with the sea within half a minute of availability. We then returned to Koh Samui again, because the island is very pleasant and comfortable for life.

In five years, I have never been bored enough to want to return. We flew to Russia for the first time this summer, to show the child, to see everyone. It was very pleasant, but after a couple of months I already wanted to go back, somewhere else, and we flew to the next new country for us - Vietnam.

Somewhere in the third year of travel, a small camera broke down, plus at the same time, euphoria and the desire to share everything with everyone subsided, just life began, without a camera window, I fell out of love with taking pictures myself even more, and therefore there were very few photographs from the last countries.

In Vietnam, we now have the owner of the house - a very cool friend of about 60 years old (although he looks 45), he lived in the USSR in the 80-90s for 20 years. He speaks excellent Russian, listens to Lyube, Yuri Antonov and Alla Pugacheva. Our child is called “my dear Tymofiy” and is generally very positive and easy to communicate with.

In all countries there are many delicious, fresh and natural vegetables and fruits, often it is possible to live near fishing villages, where there is a wide variety of fresh seafood. True, they became a little expensive after the jump in the dollar.

As for food, if you don’t like even a little spicy (like me), it’s better to ALWAYS say for each dish that you need to completely “know spicy” and convey to them with all your appearance that this is important for you) Even in this case in India they often brought me a very spicy dish, even if I said it was for a child.

In most Southeast Asian countries, it is bad with dairy products, except for India and Nepal. But still, almost everywhere there is cottage cheese, sour cream, produced by Russians from fresh products. But expensive.

Internet approximately the same in all Southeast Asian countries with some nuances. Almost everywhere it is mostly mobile and basically there are no unlimited plans.

It is difficult to say whether the Internet is weak or strong) Compared to another 2-3 years of difference, it may seem hoo to me in some other country. And if you compare it with Russia, of course, the Internet is weak everywhere.

Much depends on where you live, in particular, even in two different houses with a difference of 100 meters, the speed and stability may vary. We came up with a lot of things to strengthen the mobile Internet - a taller router, a modem on a cable and on a bamboo stick in a rain bag much higher under the roof. Such things sometimes simply saved when it turned out that not a single Internet catches in a house rented for several months. And sometimes everything is fine and it turns out a long stable period with the Internet. And then you move somewhere and again it is almost gone.

Now the situation with the Internet in Thailand is getting better and better. In Goa, for example, we also brought unlimited Internet to our house. There is always Wi-Fi in guest houses, but a lot also depends on the number of residents and how much they like to watch movies online in the evenings.

People in Southeast Asia mostly very open and friendly, positive and relaxed. On the one hand, this is very, very nice. When you live for years, almost never meeting with gloomy faces, aggression.
On the other hand, they are just as relaxed in business and they also have many religious and national holidays, and if you do some business with them, then “tomorrow” can easily stretch for a month or even more.

Plus, they also have such a “trick” - they really don’t like to say “no” and sometimes they can point in the wrong direction at all, but they don’t admit that they don’t know the way. Or they will say that they will do something - they will bring it into the house, they will not do anything else.

For some reason, in Southeast Asia, such a thing as karma is felt more strongly. All more or less mature and conscious people do not need to be explained that the laws of the universe like a boomerang, cause and effect, and other laws of energy distortions really work, although sometimes they are delayed and therefore little realized. In general, the meaning is that if everything is in order with your karma, then you will live calmly and safely, receive various pleasant miracles from Asian countries as a gift. If somewhere you have a bias with categoricalness, such things as claims, bias, resentment, malice and other inadequacy are strongly expressed, then you will definitely get an answer in some form. Although, of course, illnesses or difficult situations are not always the answer for something, and sometimes vice versa, a blessing with the goal that you reevaluate and change something in life. Everything is subtle here, but the fact that the energy of these countries is stronger and more mobile has been noted for a long time.

What else..

Most countries may ask for a return ticket(if you, for example, take a one-way ticket). You can make a return ticket, for example,.

If you have an accident in any Southeast Asian country and suffer local, then you can be almost sure that in any case, the police will be on his side. And in some cases, you can also seriously get from the locals. Drive very carefully! And be sure to always have insurance. This is really important, posts often appear in communities that someone has crashed in an accident and is in the hospital without insurance, where huge bills are issued and all Russians begin to chip in to help the person.

Insure on such trips, Liberty24 is usually best advised right now. There you can insure even if you have not returned to Russia for a long time. But it’s hard for me to judge by the quality of their services – I haven’t used them yet. But despite this, I continue to insure every period of stay in new country although it has now become quite expensive.

A! Forgot to include insurance in the list above. But we can say that these are other costs. It will cost approximately $50 per month. The longer the payment term, the cheaper.

And now, I will briefly go over the countries (only my subjective feelings):

I am trying to write here only some things that have some practical use for understanding what is waiting in this country. Without enthusiasm and descriptions of the best places.

THAILAND

Generally:
At first, we flew to Phuket, somehow disappointed (it was still under New Year, everything was expensive and somehow uncomfortable) and immediately flew to the north of the country - to the city of Chiang Mai. We lived there for two months, in principle a wonderful city, there is a wonderful zoo where there are pandas and you can feed many animals from your hands. There are beautiful temples, in particular, an excursion to this snow-white temple of one famous innovator, excursions to the preserved villages of the Karen tribe (with long-necked women), which are actually more recreated for tourists. But then we met the New Year in hats and jackets, got frostbite on our ears and went to the sea.

We mostly lived in Thailand on the island of Koh Samui for about a year.

In addition, we traveled around the south of the country on a motorcycle, independently made vizarans to Malaysia and Myanmar (Burma), traveled along the Golden Triangle, stopped by Krabi and other places, traveled a lot in the Muslim non-tourist south, where no one speaks English, lived a little on the island of Koh Lanta.

Koh Samui is a beautiful island, developed, yet calm enough to feel relaxed, nice to relax with children and, for example, drive a scooter, even if you don’t know how to do it well.

Koh Samui

beaches of Koh Samui

It’s good there and on the small neighboring islands - we went there with friends to snorkel and just take a walk on the snow-white sand.

On Koh Samui, we even somehow took part in the annual international sailing regatta.

Visas:
Since recently, everything has become very confused with visas, I don’t know all the details now. They promise to make more convenient long visas for Russians over the next few months.

So far, there seems to be a single tourist for 3 months and a double (when you need to leave the country once for another neighboring one). These visas must be obtained at the embassy or through a travel agency and then extended from travel agents in Thailand.

At home:
Thailand (in particular, I'm talking about Koh Samui) is beautiful because it's really possible to rent a house on the first line (that is, with the sea a few steps from the house). In addition, there is never a tsunami on Koh Samui thanks to the bay.

2017

Generally:
I thought for a long time that Vietnam is about the same as Cambodia. It turned out not at all. More civilized, more interesting and more pleasant. The sea is better. In Mui Ne, where we settled, there are activities such as surfing, windsurfing and, of course, kiting (because the wind blows here most of the time, and the heat is much better tolerated).

At sea, most often there are waves, but not the same as, for example, in Sri Lanka, where it was often scary to enter the water. The sea is like Goa good beaches, there are medium waves, there are very calm beaches.

And the presence of a large number of Russians makes Mui Ne very similar to Goa. Mui Ne is also called the “Russian village”, this is true, there are a lot of Russians here and many locals know our language. There are Russian doctors and other specialists. But there is not that special spirit here, there are no freaks and hippies, as in Goa.

But in general, Vietnam is an excellent combination of comfort, cheaper prices than in most other Southeast Asian countries, as well as friendliness, new, clean houses, including within walking distance from the sea. So we stay here for more than half a year.

There is a good live band in Russian in Telegram on Mui Ne - @real_muine_locals Contact us, they will always tell you everything there!

Visas:
To get a visa, it is best to issue an invitation online from a travel agency for $ 15 per person for 3 months. Then at the border you will get a visa for 3 months free of charge (for Russians). Then we extend it with the help of a travel agency or make a visa run to the border with a neighboring country. Not expensive. If you need a trusted agency in order to quickly make an invitation online, write to me, I will share it.
In general, Vietnam is a comfortable country to live long. How long - has not yet specified) But in general, cheap and loyal.

At home:
In Mui Ne, you can easily rent a house or a guesthouse in a five-minute walk by the sea. The main difference from the same Goa is that there are much more clean modern houses and guest houses, everything is comfortable and pleasant, there is a lot of greenery and flowers, it pleases the eye, there is no devastation.
It is probably impossible to rent a house in Nha Trang, only apartments and expensive ones. Or hotel rooms for long stays. Most of the hotels are facing the sea. There are offers from 100-150 dollars a month for a room or apartment.

Transport:
Ordinary scooters, motorcycles. The average rent is $100-150 per month. You can buy a scooter, the average price is 250-300 dollars. This time we did not shoot, but bought. Before leaving, we will sell for the same price, it turns out that we went for free.

People, language:
The language is complex, people are very friendly, but they hardly understand English. It's good that some speak Russian, and in general a lot of Russians, otherwise with such English it remains only to explain on the fingers, and then it rarely turns out successfully.

Food:
The first country where on every corner there are dishes of crocodiles, snakes, cobras, ostriches, kangaroos, frogs, insects and so on. Haven't tried it and don't plan to.
The same baguettes as in Cambodia (where there was also a French colony), Vietnamese coffee according to its brewing system and with condensed milk. Everything is delicious and varied. Mui Ne is a fishing village, so there is a lot of seafood. Lots of green tea - pu-erh and others. Natural 100% cocoa, own coffee, many different healthy products. In every pharmacy, honey with ginseng, "magic" lingzhi mushroom and much more. I like)
Prices are probably cheaper than in many other countries - Bali, Thailand.

Infrastructure, entertainment:
In Mui Ne, it is still little understood. Seasonality here is quite pronounced - everything comes to life from November. There are clubs, restaurants with live music.
The main entertainment here is kiting, surfing, windsurfing. There are a lot of schools and those who do this. They promise that the whole sea will be occupied by skiers.

We also lived a little, for example, in Nha Trang - this is the most popular Vietnamese resort. It's full of entertainment all year round. Clubs, restaurants, music, children's parks, etc.

INDONESIA (Bali and other islands)

Generally:
A beautiful country and the island of Bali is especially wonderful.

Bali is one of the favorites on my list, although when we live there for a long time, we are drawn to go somewhere else.
On the one hand, this is such a curly island in every sense, such a village of hobbits. It is much richer and much less populated than the other islands of Indonesia. In the same neighboring Java, there are as many people as in Russia (150 million, only the density is huge - 1061 people per 1 square km). In total, Indonesia has more than 17,000 islands and more than 250 million inhabitants. Bali itself has about 4 million inhabitants, the total area of ​​the island is 6 thousand square kilometers.

Bali has a lot of greenery, flowers, especially in tourist places. Lots of frangipani flowers. There are a lot of beautiful carved houses. No high-rise buildings are being built here.

But Bali is not a bounty island at all.

It is huge and different. And there is also the other side of Bali - this is rubbish along the roads, serious traffic, traffic jams, garbage in the sea (depending on the season, specific beaches, etc.), corruption, there are many ordinary, not the most beautiful, rather poor houses.

In addition, everywhere except the south the sand is black or gray.

There's a "South" in Bali is a peninsula and south coast where surfers and tourists are concentrated. We mostly live in the south, but we also lived in Ubud for a while.

Have Ubud- this is a town where yogis, raw foodists and vegetarians, lovers of all kinds of creative activities, mostly love to live. Ubud is the bohemian capital of Bali, a town where artists and a variety of artisans live and exhibit, sell their products. There are many art galleries, pleasant interesting cafes and very beautiful carved stone houses in emerald moss. Balinese in general are very talented people. In the evenings, many of them voluntarily gather in amateur circles, theaters, play, sing, and dance. All houses are very beautiful, almost every house has its own beautiful temple in the yard. But Ubud is 1.5-2 hours from the sea, including traffic jams.

Ubud is famous for rice fields.

There is an East- Amed and other places where diving and snorkeling reign. It is also very beautiful here, there are much fewer people. We traveled east to north during the rainy season and unlike the south, where it rained daily, it was dry and very pleasant. The island is large, and the weather and beaches on it are very different.

There is a "North"- This is Lavina, the old capital of Bali - Singharaja. There is already black sand on the beaches. First of all, people come here to swim with dolphins - either on boats at dawn to look for dolphins in the sea, or to swim directly with small dolphins in the pool.

There is a West– we haven’t been there yet) Tourists or expats rarely live there.

Bali is for many primarily surfing. There are a lot of Australian tourists here.

The "chip" of Bali is a variety of beaches. There are many surfers, "secret", in the rocks, almost no one is the same in essence, all are very different. And a powerful ocean. This big waves, strong sea smells, bright colors (boats, sailboats, kiters, flags).

There are black beaches with an admixture of volcanic sand - but it is not pleasant to swim and sunbathe on them.

There is some very dense, strong and kind energy in Bali. I felt it as soon as I flew there, and I had the feeling that I had flown home. We lived here for more than 2 years, managed to feel and understand a lot during this period. And I think we will definitely be back. It is very good to raise a small child there - there are many excellent kindergartens, there are good international schools. There is a famous international Green School with very interesting and innovative schooling ideas.

Visas:
Now Russians can fly to Bali without a visa at all and stay for 1 month. But those who want to live longer need to immediately apply for a special tourist (social) visa, which can be extended for another 4 months directly in Bali with the help of agencies. There is a good detailed post about what and how for this visa.

That is, Russians can live for 5-6 months, depending on how long they initially give this tourist (social) visa - for 1 or 2 months. Then fly out of the country to some neighboring country such as Malaysia and again get the same visa and live again for 5-6 months. And so on. There are no restrictions on living a certain number of days a year for Russians.

At home:
Settling very close to the sea is not realistic.

But you can settle in 5-10 minutes from the sea on a bike. If you are planning to surf, then it is most convenient to settle somewhere “on Bukit” - i.e. on a peninsula where surfer beaches are concentrated. If you have a family vacation with children, Nusa Dua, Seminyak is the best. If you want to light up at parties, this is Kuta.

In Bali, you can rent good houses with 2-3 bedrooms, with a swimming pool for 400-500 dollars. We rented an average house for about $250-400, rented both guest houses (a floor or an apartment in a guest house) and studio apartments, various options.
Once we rented a great house with 4 bedrooms and a huge hall and a beautiful garden and swimming pool for $ 400 per month for a company. But he was quite far from the sea (2 hours drive) and was in an ordinary local village, where there were no other tourists or whites, and almost none of the inhabitants understood English.

One of the guesthouses we stayed in Ubud:

Transport:
You can rent almost any scooter, motorcycle, car. The police stop quite often, raid tourists without international rights or without helmets. But usually you can get off with a fine of about 300 rubles. The traffic is quite intense and there are often traffic jams in the center. Although, we must pay tribute to the Balinese - they recently built a large road across the sea, they are doing something, they are unloading the main road.
Riding a bike is unrealistic - heavy traffic, no paths for cyclists. Eat public buses"Kura kura". Taxi is expensive.

People, language:
Few of the locals speak Russian, unlike those in Cambodia and Vietnam. But their own language is very simple.
There is a common language - Indonesian. There is also Balinese. In general, in Indonesia, each island has its own language and a person from Bali will not understand the own language of the neighboring island of Lombok. Therefore, on all the islands of Indonesia, everyone mostly speaks Indonesian. The language has no declensions, conjugations, articles, practically no tenses and a very, very simple pronunciation. For example, “kaki” is a leg, “lacki” is a man, “kaki laki” is a man’s leg) You can learn Indonesian at least for everyday conversations very quickly. This is a huge plus for the country.

The Balinese amaze with their attitude to spirits - they make offerings to spirits once or twice a day, their attitude towards death - festive cremations (we were once at the cremation of a member of the royal family) and their constant ceremonies, holidays, festivals.

Also on each island they have their own religion. We rode a motorcycle to different islands to the east of Bali (with the help of a ferry we moved on a motorcycle between the islands). These are the so-called Lesser Sunda Islands - Lombok, Sumba, Flores, Komodo and Rincha (where giant Komodo monitor lizards live). For a month we traveled around Java (there we also got married and registered a child - in the capital of Indonesia, the city of Jakarta). And when you go from Bali, you see this picture: Bali (mostly Hinduism plus their beliefs in spirits) - Lombok (mostly Muslim) - Sumba (Christians, their own religion, a little Islam) - Flores (mostly Catholic).

We traveled around these islands for about a month and it was the best trip in all five years, very interesting. We watched the Komodo dragons, even managed to go to an island with an erupting volcano, got into an earthquake on the island of Flores, which often happen there (after all, this is the “Ring of Fire” of volcanoes bordering the Pacific Ocean), looked at the colorful lakes in the crater of the Kelimutu volcano, we almost reached the Indonesian Papuans (half of the island of Papua belongs to Indonesia) and there were many other interesting things.

We also traveled in Java for a total of a month and saw the famous temple complexes of Borobudur and Prambanan, drove close to the recently erupted Merapi volcano, visited the city of Jogjakarta, looked at huge tea plantations, there were a lot of interesting things.

Borobudur temple complex

stroked the Komodo dragon in the capital of Indonesia - Jakarta

Prambanan temple complex in Java

at the site of a major eruption of the Merapi volcano in Java

But to live, of course, is best in Bali.

Food:
In tourist cafes there are a lot of delicious things, a variety of directions.
But directly the usual Indonesian food is not quite diverse, mainly fried rice with seafood, chicken or vegetables, all sorts of fried overcooked pieces of meat or dough, dishes with tofu. Nothing particularly interesting.

Infrastructure, entertainment:

In Bali, there are trendy shopping centers, and huge supermarkets, and art parties, nightclubs, pool parties, concerts are held (for example, on the Old New Year, Cord began to come and perform for free, etc.). Of all the countries in Southeast Asia, Bali is probably the most suitable place if you want to live quite fun and varied. Lots of foreigners. Lots of Australian youngsters who come here to surf and drink.

Bali is such a mixture of preserved, rather little spoiled culture and life and modern amenities, surfer tourists and party-goers.

In Bali, my husband and I did a course on how to go to Bali for a long time. The course has not been completed yet, I do not have time to finish a number of chapters, but even now there is already a huge amount of interesting and valuable, practical information, including details about renting houses, etc. But due to the fact that it is a little unfinished, it costs only $30, plus my help and answers to questions. If so, write to my contacts.

GOA (INDIA)

Generally:
At first I didn't really like Goa, but then I really liked it. We lived there last season for 9 months (although the official season is 6). I am talking about North Goa - it is usually referred to as "Goa". But there is more south goa where less populated areas and beaches.

We arrived there in September, when another 2/3 of the shops, cafes, shops were closed. In early November, everything magically opened up and started working. But there was almost no rain even at the beginning of autumn, it was quite pleasant to live. The further to winter, the more interesting, livelier it became, the sea and beaches are cleaner. Supermarkets were opened with delicious products, such as fresh dairy products and all kinds of organics, with Ayurvedic cosmetics.

Goa is a very relaxed place. Most of all I like long beaches with shacks - open cafes with mattresses and sunbeds. Many are going to sunset (sunset), music starts playing, someone is doing yoga, someone is spinning poi or something else. When we arrived in Goa, we almost did not work for the first month, we only went every day to cafes and beaches. The child was also very comfortable there both on the beach and in shek - he was then about 6 months old.

We left Goa in June. There is very comfortable weather in the season, no high humidity and intense heat - from November to March it's just fine. In January it gets quite cold in the evenings, but there are enough jackets and pants. In March, the heat begins slowly. In May-June, it is really already strong, but in general it is quite possible to live. The main rains are in July-September.

There are several distinct areas (villages) in Goa - Arambol, Ashvem, Mandrem, Morjim, Siolim, Vagator, Baga, Calangute, etc. All of them differ in their spirit, people, prices. We also lived in the center - Siolim, Mandrem, and spent a lot of time in Arambol - there are the hippest beaches with sheks, where most people come to watch the sunset. Baga, Candolim, Calangute and other areas - charter package tourists are usually brought there and in spirit these areas are very different from Arambol and others. It turns out that you can visit Goa and not even feel its real hippie atmosphere.

Arambol

Visas:
Indian visa is obtained only at the embassy for 3 or 6 months. In Russia, an Indian visa is usually given for 6 months. In other countries, they can only give for 3 months. We specifically went to Sri Lanka again to the town of Kandy in the mountains to get there for 6, because in the capital of Sri Lanka for the first time we were given a visa for only 3. We thought that 3 would be enough for us, but we wanted to stay longer . As a result, we lived in Goa for 9 months. The cost of a 6-month visa for 1 person is $100.

At home:
There are many two-story houses where you can rent an apartment with 1-2 bedrooms. You can live right by the sea in a guesthouse or in a house or apartment.
We expected more low prices. My husband lived in Goa about five years ago and, according to his recollections, everything was cheaper. At first we rented a large apartment with a good, new renovation for about $ 400, practically opposite the sea.
Then, with the onset of the season, it became very noisy there - constant music, fireworks, drunken Russians sing "it's time to rejoice," and it was expensive, given the recent doubling of the dollar. And we moved to a house in the country (outside the tourist areas) for about 250-300 dollars. There we had our own large yard, where we could light a fire in the evenings and bake something, right behind the yard there was a river. Cows, dogs, monkeys, chickens came to visit us, beautiful birds flew in - the child was interested in life.

Transport:
You can rent scooters, or the legendary, beautiful Indian motorcycles Royal Enfield can be more expensive. We rented different scooters and motorcycles. The price, as elsewhere, is 100-200 dollars a month.

People, language:
Indians most often speak English well, albeit with a strong accent. It is sometimes difficult to understand them, but in general it is possible to communicate normally.

People are very kind and open. Mostly Catholics in Goa. Our hostess repeated to us a hundred times that she was happy to rent the house to us, because this is how little Dzhizas will live in her house - well, that is, Jesus, that is, a white child) And now I will be like a daughter to her. Constantly brought something "delicious" to a 6-month-old baby - for example, soda, chips, spicy fried pies. But in general, the owners were the nicest people, we even thought to come next year to Goa, too, and to the same house, so we agreed with them, but now we liked Vietnam so much that we decided to stay here to live.

Indians are very open in expressing their emotions - not only women, but also men happily ran up to the child, they even took pictures and videos of him alone, picked him up, glowed with happiness.

Food:
The food is very tasty. I immediately attacked the cakes, after Nepal I felt weak for them. The cafe has a variety of cuisines, including, of course, Russian and, for example, Israeli, because. many Israelis come to Goa.
But often very spicy, and it was in Goa that they didn’t want to hear me that I want something not spicy at all. Even kefir with vegetables was peppered.
Delicious pressed cottage cheese - paneer. Well, in general, everything is fine with dairy products - our neighbors brought fresh milk from under the cow every morning to our house.

Infrastructure, entertainment:
Trance parties, freak festivals, concerts, all kinds of Russian parties and more. There are many interesting Russian people in Goa. For fun, the husband starred with friends in an Indian movie, which has even been released, he was still well paid for it.

CAMBODIA

Generally:
In Cambodia, the sea is only in one part of it - in Sihanoukville, well known to many. We lived there for several months. The sea is calm, nothing special. The town itself is not big, sharpened for tourism, there are many guest houses. Quite a lot of Russian restaurants.

We were in the capital Phnom Penh, and in the famous temple complex Angkor Wat, and in the floating village, and in other interesting places.

But in general, Cambodia somehow didn’t catch on for a long stay. All in all, I don't want to go back there.

Visas:
I don't know how it is with visas in reality. We were offered and we took a business visa inexpensively right at the border and lived quietly for six months. I don’t know what’s next with the extension, there’s no time to look for conditions now, see for yourself. But it seems easy to leave and call in or extend for a long time.

At home:
With houses in Sihanoukville, things turned out to be more difficult than it seemed to be in Cambodia. Maybe because we were there in the very season - we celebrated the New Year there. We went there in the hope that everything would be much cheaper than Thailand. I don’t remember how much we rented accommodation there, for 200 something dollars, but the cheapest solution for us was to stay in a hotel room. Houses were more expensive and there were almost none. Houses are all some with a touch of abandonment, compared to Thailand devastation. It is also impossible to rent a house by the sea. But the hotel was half empty, overlooking the sea from the mountain, with its large terrace, and everything was pretty nice.

Transport:
So-so with transport. Jungle and off-road riding and enduro bikes are common in Cambodia, we filmed one for a while.

People, language:
It is not enough to really study the Khmer language, they did not try. People are simple, smiling, laugh a lot, despite the difficult military past.

Food:
The French colonial style is felt both in houses and in food. Only there, in a simple small shop, I saw a couple of options for brut champagne, cheese, salami - there was nothing like this in Thailand and Bali, I was surprised. Plus, of course, baguettes, frogs, a variety of very large menus in restaurants, Cambodian coffee with condensed milk and ice (as in Vietnam). Everything is quite interesting and tasty.

Infrastructure, entertainment:
There is nothing special to do in Sihanoukville in terms of entertainment, the infrastructure is underdeveloped. Quite a lot of Russian restaurants, well, Russian in general.

PHILIPPINES

Generally:
The first feeling from the Philippines is devastation. And devastation in some Mexican style. Well, perhaps because this is a former Spanish colony, everywhere there are figurines of Christ the Virgin Mary, names and names of people like Jose, Pedro and so on. And everything is colorful, the same jeepneys - bright buses, converted from American jeeps, painted, decorated, each is a completely unique work of art.

We lived on the island of Panglao, near the island of Bohol, where we also often visited. Were in the capital - Manila.
We did not get to the popular islands of Boracay, etc. Didn't swim with whale sharks. But the famous "chocolate hills" with tarsiers have been seen eating raw sea urchins.

Incredibly clean sea, the likes of which I have never seen anywhere else. But often at the bottom of the beaches there are stones, corrals - on many beaches it is almost impossible to swim without slippers. Although the main beach of Panglao - Alona has a sandy bottom.

There we wonderfully snorkeled over a huge hollow, went to very beautiful islands. In principle, we are not engaged in diving yet and have not tried it there either.

This country has a rather high crime rate - there are bars on the windows of kiosks and shops, in shopping malls there are guards with machine guns, it is not recommended to leave things unattended on the beach. I don’t know if it’s because of Catholicism that there is such a difference with other Southeast Asian countries, or because of something else .. But everything was in order with us.

For some reason, I am still drawn to come there, for some reason I still have warm feelings from the Philippines. But often the memories and aftertaste of the country are also associated with the people with whom you spent time there. We were good friends there with a local guy, and with one Norwegian, and friends came to us, lived nearby for quite a long time.

There is no direct flight to Panglao and other popular islands, so Russians fly there less often than to many other countries in Southeast Asia. But still, there were a lot of Russians.

I also remember the wonderful Filipino street dogs. Very lazy and kind. We also picked up a wonderful, very smart dog there, which we had to leave later. We flew to Bali, and it’s almost impossible to bring dogs to Bali, and it’s difficult to travel with a dog.

Visas:
Visas can be extended on the spot, as a result, you can live in the Philippines for about two years without leaving. Convenient for long stays.

At home:
We were looking for houses only on the island of Panglao. Therefore, I can only talk about this island. It was quite easy to find a house near the sea (you can also find it within walking distance, but it will be more expensive), average prices are $ 200-400 per house. We had a huge garden, a big house, our own fruits on the trees, three coconut palms - my husband often climbed for a coconut in the morning, and silence. It was very pleasant to live there.
We only had mobile Internet, very confused - we had to pay every five days, there was no longer term, but on the whole it was quite stable.

Our home in Panglao

Transport:
I do not remember. The usual conditions for scooters.

People, language:
A country where they speak fluently English language. I'm so used to the fact that I need to distort my pronunciation, simplify it so that the local population in other countries understands me, and then any saleswoman could correct my pronunciation towards the correct one.

Very musical people - they sing a lot in karaoke, bars and clubs, they organize festivals, they constantly sing, cleanly and in good English.

The main religion is Catholic Christianity. And there was a feeling that they really believe. At the same time, in the Philippines, for example, you can easily go to well-known healers.

Very cheap alcohol, even the local population drinks quite a lot of drinks like rum with Coca-Cola, beer. But at the same time, hardworking people, drunk the day before, do not stop them from working in the morning.

Food:
The food is simple. They love pork very much, they like to cook a lot of dishes for the holidays. But in general, the food is very simple, I didn’t remember any nuances of Philippine cuisine.

SRI LANKA

Generally:
Sri Lanka (formerly Ceylon) is huge. The part of Sri Lanka where everyone goes is a long coastal zone, where there are several villages, the most famous of which is Hikkaduwa, then after some interval there is the equally famous Unawatuna. We lived for almost half a year in Hikkaduwa. Plus, we went to a famous hotel with elephants - this is the view we had from the window:

You could look at the elephants there as much as you wanted and as close as you wanted, wash them and touch them.

In general, it turned out to be, one might say, a little more civilized and more expensive India.

A country in which, with all its advantages, there are quite large disadvantages for a long stay:

Everything is quite expensive, expensive houses. We rented not a small house, two-story, with a garden and monitor lizards and mongooses to boot, but it cost us $ 400 a month (including electricity and everything).

– not very good with local cheap cafes, there are practically no “edals” open during the day

- we lived from spring to August and all this time there were very strong waves - it was unrealistic to go into the sea without fear, lifeguards stood everywhere and drove tourists out. With a small child, it was somehow possible to swim in only one bay.
Although, as readers write to me, this is only during this period, and from autumn to winter the waves are completely normal)

The waves were deafeningly loud, plus in 2004 the tsunami that severely affected Thailand, Indonesia and other countries also claimed about 50,000 lives. This coastal zone was covered with waves over 15 meters high, it was very scary - we looked at the photos in the Tsunami Museum. Therefore, due to the noise of the waves and the fear of the tsunami, it was impossible to force ourselves to settle on the first line, and we settled on the other side of the road, but even there the sound of the waves was clearly audible. Plus, a train passes along the road several times a day and its beeps were also constantly heard.

Visas:
You can stay here for up to six months - you will need to extend the initial visa at a travel agency or at an immigration center.

At home:
Houses, as I said, are quite expensive, on average - 400-500 dollars, and the owners did not want to bring down the price in any way, despite the fact that it was not the season. Almost none with modern renovations. Quite large monitor lizards, mongooses are frequent inhabitants of the garden, but they are quite safe and protect from snakes.

Transport:
I vaguely remember, it seems a common situation - there are basic scooters, motorcycles.

People, language:
The people are very open, everyone carried the child in their arms from the age of three months and try not to let these smiling people who immediately took him in their arms. Timosha cried at first, maybe because of the dark color of his skin, but then he really liked it, he smiled.

So he grew up in one or another village in his arms and has already become a very open and cheerful child, for which I am very grateful to Asia, and in particular to Sri Lanka and India.

Food:
The food is spicy, red pepper is added everywhere. Of the main Sri Lankan dishes - curry rice, kotu (a dish of dough or noodles, chopped vegetables and meat). In general, nothing particularly interesting in the national cuisine was remembered. Except, perhaps, the big clay bowls of buffalo yogurt. They were sold like that - in these thick-walled bowls, which it was not clear later what to do with.

Infrastructure, entertainment:
Here in Sri Lanka, it was not entirely clear to me what tourists should do here for a long time .. Swim, at least at this time (from spring to late summer) - mostly only in the pool or in some more quiet place, in the bay, which still needs to be reached every time. Excursions - through mines with semi-precious stones, look at elephants, a turtle farm, look at sometimes large turtles sailing. There are quite a few sights, entertainment such as clubs, cafes with live music, probably there are practically no - I don’t remember such. Is it just to live and live, as we did. And spending a lot of money on Sri Lanka - I would rather recommend another country. Although in Unawatuna the waves were smaller and it is more touristy.

The pool and the sea nearby are often found in this area of ​​Sri Lanka. But it’s easier in the pool, it was often scary to swim in the sea in those months when we were there - from spring to the end of summer.

NEPAL

Generally:
A very, very colorful country - the most interesting and original of all where I have been. The first feeling is the poorest and most destroyed of all where I have been. Now after the big earthquake, I'm scared to imagine what's going on there. Everywhere dust, broken roads.

We lived a couple of weeks in the capital - Kathmandu. Bright and pleasant impressions, very, very tasty, small restaurants on the roofs of old colorful houses. Beautiful pieces of local craftsmanship. Music with the mantra "Om Mani Padme Hum" is heard everywhere.

Then we went to a quieter place - to Pokhara. 6 hours on a difficult road along a serpentine road and we are in a town stretching in a valley at the foot of high mountains. We lived there for a couple of months.

Usually, everyone goes to Nepal to make a trek to the highest peaks of the world - thousands of people, because. in Nepal, out of the 14 world 8-thousanders, there are 8 pieces. The conquest of all 14 eight-thousanders of the planet is a very cool achievement among climbers and is called the "Crown of the Earth" - so far only a few dozen people have been able to do it. And including Everest (Chomolungma) is also located in Nepal. And it is precisely from Pokhara that all the tracks come out, many tourists come here and just live, and for this purpose. It is not necessary to climb to the top, you can just take a small track near the foot.

We saw thousands of people only like this from the plane. The rest of the time they were covered by clouds. They begin to disperse from October.

In Nepal there are famous, very beautiful stupas, temples, we also visited a temple with a crematorium in Kathmandu, we watched how the dead were burned at the stake on the river bank. There are a lot of red bricks, all kinds of antique products and decorative elements, colorful people, women in saris, immigrants from Tibet.

my husband did a time lapse on the most famous square with a stupa in Kathmandu. Now, after the earthquake, it is partially destroyed.

Tours to the mountains begin in October-November. We were there in August-September, and I was pregnant, so despite the fact that there seemed to be such a chance, we did not use it. Yes, and I'm not exactly a fan of tracks)

Lights are constantly turned off. Often. If it is not yet the season, then some hotels or houses do not turn on the generators, and as a result, you have to sit without electricity up to 5 times a day, on average from 1 to several hours. In general, the feeling is that there is always no light, it is impossible to work. I then had only one battery with a planted resource. It was after Nepal that I ordered myself another new one and a second new double (!) And they are saving me perfectly now in similar situations.

In general, living in Nepal is not as comfortable as in other countries, but, in principle, it is possible to get comfortable and get used to turning off the lights or having batteries.

Another minus of Nepal is not warm country all year round - somewhere from October-November the cold begins, in winter it is generally very cold. That is why they sell so many warm jackets, hats, pants and blankets - Nepalese go home in all this, because the houses are not heated.

But it is a very cheap country compared to many others. Here you can get a job even for $ 100 a month, or you can find something very, very simple, such as a room, even for 50.

One of the most popular countries for tourism in Southeast Asia are Malaysia and the Philippines. These countries are very similar and at the same time have significant differences.

Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia, which is geographically divided into two parts: western and eastern. West Malaysia is also called Malaya. It occupies the territory of the southernmost tip of the Malay Peninsula, bordered in the north by Thailand, in the south by Singapore and Indonesia. East Malaysia consists of two large regions of Sabah and Sarawak and occupies the northern part of the island of Kalimantan.

Due to the limited opportunities in economic development in Malaysia, the development of tourism is strongly supported. Now in Malaysia you can find a lot of chic hotels, well-groomed beaches, well-established tourist routes. Many people come to the country for great diving or delicious cuisine.

Most major cities Malaysia are the capital of Kuala Lumpur, Johor Bahru, Georgetown, Kuantan. The main resorts of Malaysia include: Langkawi, Penang, Sipadan. Many tourists come to Malaysia specifically to visit the national parks here.

The climate in Malaysia, due to the fact that it is located close to the equator, is hot and humid almost all year round without seasonal changes. The coolest time here is from November to January, when the temperature drops to 26 degrees, in summer the temperature rises to 33 degrees. If we talk about the rainy season, then it is observed in different time in different parts of the country. Heavy but short-lived downpours occur evenly throughout the year. The most favorable time to visit West Malaysia can be considered the period from late November to early February, and May-September is suitable for traveling in East Malaysia.

The Philippines is an island country in Southeast Asia. Sometime back in the 16th century, Ferdinand Magellan discovered it for Europeans, Spanish colonization began, then later in the 19th and 20th centuries the Americans dominated the country. The cultural traditions of the Philippines are significantly affected by the influence of these two civilizations: Spanish and American. More than 80% of the population are Catholics. In terms of population, the Philippines is much larger than Malaysia (105 million people and 28 million people, respectively), although the territory of Malaysia is larger than the territory of the Philippines. The Philippines has more large cities. In addition to the metropolitan conurbation of Metro Manila, which combines 16 large cities, the following cities are considered large:

• davao,
• cebu,
• Zamboanga,
• Antipolo.

The most interesting for tourism in the Philippines are the islands:

• Luzon,
• Mindanao,
• Palawan,
• Mindoro,
• bohol,
• Cebu.

There are many destinations for tourism in the Philippines: beach holiday(the most famous resort is), active recreation (diving, snorkeling, surfing, windsurfing, rafting, mountain climbing, golf and many others), viewing natural wonders (chocolate hills, underground river) and observing animals and flora in national reserves, familiarization with the monuments of antiquity and the ruins of ancient Spanish fortresses, visiting museums,.

In the Philippines, the climate is tropical, monsoon, turning into subequatorial in the south. The average temperature throughout the year is 26 - 27 degrees. There are two seasons. The rainy season lasts from late May to mid-November. This time is considered unfavorable for visiting the country, but there are still several islands in the southern part of the archipelago that are less influenced by seasonality.

The most important news is that we are at home, in Mariupol. Is our three-month trip "Malaysia-Thailand" ended just a couple of days ago, and we are already getting ready to celebrate the New Year in a cold city with real winter, a Christmas tree, Santa Claus and relatives of a woman and grandfather discharged from Moscow. By the way, this will be the first Arinkin New Year in Ukraine. She always met the previous ones on her travels. Today, just a little about what this year has become for us. Highlights, photos and stories.

Exactly one year ago we were in a place where you need to fly on four planes. Less will not work, because the Philippines are islands on the very edge of the Earth.

On New Year's Eve, we dined on the Puerto Princess embankment, rode a bike with a stroller with Arina's friend Jippi, watched a concert, and by midnight we were already watching fireworks over palm trees in pajamas. Even then we knew that in a month we would go on our most grandiose journey from the south to the north of Vietnam.

It was so hard to say goodbye to the island of Palawan. We lived very peacefully and calmly there: Arinka went to kindergarten, Sasha played billiards, I taught English with Melanie and gradually understood and. However, if you want more details, then everything is in the farewell post.

Now I can't believe we did it! In early February, we flew to Vietnam with the serious intention of driving it from south to north. Arina was not yet three years old, but for some reason it seemed to us that this adventure was within our power. The first month we lived in our apartment in Vung Tau, I am developing a travel route in great detail. We even managed to buy a bike (does anyone else remember?) and safely sell it, deciding that 3 thousand km on a bike with a child is somehow too much.

As a result, instead of a bike, we also chose a short-term rental of motorcycles on the spot. Most vivid impressions from Vietnam - these are elephants in Dak Lak ...

A city in which eternal spring, beautiful temples and waterfalls -. Tourist, cozy and intimate, as well as quirky and unusual.

But our favorite place in Vietnam has become in the very north of the country. Remember these landscapes?

7 weeks of active movement around the country, 10 cities, many villages... This was the most epic adventure in 2013. It was hard, but very interesting. Would we do it again? Yes, but in another country.

We watched and participated in the parade on occasion, launched flower boats into the sea during the full moon ... We did a lot of other things, so I will write a separate report about Krabi.

In the same place in Krabi, the biggest trouble for the whole year happened to us - 2 thousand dollars. It was very hard not to hang our noses and continue to enjoy life, the sun, Thailand ... But we managed and did not let the black stripe last too long. We left Thailand happy, although we did not want to fly home in the middle of winter.

On the night before Catholic Christmas, we flew from Bangkok to Kyiv.

"Why did you return to Ukraine in the middle of winter?" This is a question our friends ask us all the time. And here is the answer: a year ago, Sasha bought an apartment in a house under construction in Pozdnyaki (a district of Kyiv). Now the house has been completed, we need to draw up documents and start repairs there. Since the apartment is large and absolutely unfinished, this epic will last more than one month. We plan to be back in warmer climes next fall, somewhere on the edge of the earth. In the meantime, I have a few dozen more unwritten posts in stock, for which I took wonderful travel photos. There will be time to write everything.

That was such a year - six countries and a lot of memories in my head and on the blog. But there is still a lot that is not shown and not written. I'll catch up, now there will be more time.
We do not regret anything that happened. We are happy! Happy New Year everyone! Love to you and eternal summer in your homes!

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Another popular holiday destination in Southeast Asia is Malaysia, Philippines and Indonesia. These countries, on the one hand, are similar, and on the other hand, have their own unique sights, natural features and unique attractiveness. Therefore, tours to Malaysia, Indonesia or the Philippines have become actively included in the plans of tourists, especially in the winter season.

The Philippines is a country scattered over 7100 islands, each of which is full of variety for recreation. The largest islands in the Philippines: Luzon, Mindanao, Samar, Negros, Palawan, Panay, Mindoro, Leyte, Cebu, Bohol, Masbate. Two islands in the north and south - Luzon and Mindanao - make up 66% of the country's territory. The archipelago is part of the Pacific Ring of Fire (this is a zone of increased seismic and volcanic activity), so there are many active and extinct volcanoes on the territory. The largest mountain range Cordillera(central and northern parts of the island of Luzon). The highest peak in the country mountain-volcano Apo(height 2954 m) on the island of Mindanao.

Sights of the Philippines

Philippines known for their rice fields and modern metropolises, volcanoes and Asian buffaloes. Holidays in the Philippines are suitable for young people, for couples, for lovers of active sports - diving and surfing.

Definitely worth a visit the capital of the Philippines – manila, which consists of 18 cities that form a large metropolitan area. Visit the Museum of Dr. Rizal, visit the memorial with mosaic maps of the battles in the Philippines, Fort Santiago, Manila Cathedral, St. Augustine Cathedral. Rojas Boulevard is known for its adult entertainment.

In summer, the capital of the country moves to Baguio- a city 250 km from Manila, in the province Benguet at an altitude of 1525 m. Mild climate, fresh air and many attractions - the Mansion Mansion (this, by the way, is the summer residence of the president), the "Temple of the Bell", rocks and ancient burials.

Entertainment on the islands is nightclubs, bars, discos, parties on the beaches, concerts and festivals, casinos and beaches.

Weather and climate in the Philippines

The tropical climate of the Philippines is divided into three seasons: season with high temperatures (dry cold season, from December to February), warm season - March-May and season with high humidity and rains (from June to November). Best time to visit the Philippines from December to May. You should beware of typhoons - the peak is in July-October, but they can happen at any time. Earthquakes, floods and volcanic eruptions are also not uncommon.

Hotels in the Philippines

Most of the hotels are bungalows, and there are practically no high-rise buildings, as the authorities care about nature.

Get to the Philippines You can fly Korean Air with a change in Seoul, KLM with a change in Amsterdam, Qatar Airways via Bangkok, Amsterdam or Dubai. Planes arrive in the cities of Cebu, Angeles, Davao, Kalibo, Laoag, Manila or Zamboang. Most flights operate through Cebu International Airport in the center of the Philippines. Budget airlines use Clark Airport in Angeles (85 km from Manila). There are flights to Singapore from Francisco Bangoy or Davao Airport, while Kalibo Airport connects the Philippines with Seoul, Shanghai or Taipei.

Tourists from Russia do not need a visa to visit the Philippines for up to 30 days. Citizens of Belarus you need to make a visa to the Philippines, which can be issued at the Embassy of the Philippines in Moscow.

Malaysia is a relatively new destination for tourism, but the number of tourists here is growing every year. The number of hotels and resorts in Malaysia is growing at a rapid pace, fully responding to the various needs of tourists. People come here for diving, food and beaches. Major tourist cities in Malaysia- this is the capital of Kuala Lumpur, Johor Bahru, Georgetown, Kuantan. A beach holiday in Malaysia can be found in resorts such as Langkawi, Penang, Sipadan. A separate area of ​​tourism can be considered visiting national parks and natural attractions, because the nature of Malaysia cannot but surprise.

Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia, which is geographically divided into two parts: western and eastern. West Malaysia is also called Malaya. It occupies the territory of the southernmost tip of the Malay Peninsula, bordered in the north by Thailand, in the south by Singapore and Indonesia. East Malaysia consists of two large regions of Sabah and Sarawak and occupies the northern part of the island of Kalimantan.

Weather and climate in Malaysia

Coolest time in Malaysia- November - January - the air temperature drops to 26 degrees. In summer, the average daily temperature reaches 33 degrees. The rainy season in Malaysia takes place in different areas at different times. But strong short-term showers pass throughout the year everywhere. The best time to visit Malaysia in the western regions is November-February, the eastern regions are from May to September.

Sights of Malaysia

Malaysia will be able to surprise with temple complexes and natural features and cultural traditions. Genting Highlands Mountain Resort can provide both cultural and entertainment holidays in Malaysia - this is a visit to the Chin-Sui temple, and for entertainment - Genting Highlands complex with an area of ​​6000 hectares - "Malay's Las Vegas". Separate excursions are organized to tea plantations, orchards and a farm. There are many ancient temples, caves and grottoes on the island of Penang.

The capital of Malaysia is Kuala Lumpur known to everyone for its twin towers Petrona's Twin Towers, as well as mosques and temples. Take a walk in theme parks and join the world of flora and fauna. A vibrant nightlife flows in Kuala Lumpur - clubs and restaurants welcome guests around the clock.

Get to Malaysia it is not possible directly from Moscow, but there are charter flights that are organized during the "peak seasons" - for the New Year and May holidays. It is best to fly with Qatar Airways via Doha, Emirates Airlines via Dubai, Etihad via Abu Dhabi, Air China with a transfer in Beijing, or Uzbekistan Airways via Tashkent. Thai Airways and Singapore Airlines with connections in Bangkok and Singapore. In addition to flights from Russia, you can find any flights to Malaysia from any European capital. The duration of the flight may vary depending on the transfers and the convenience of connections from 12 to 24 hours.

Citizens of Russia and Belarus do not need a visa to visit Malaysia for up to 30 days. After arrival, you must fill out a migration card and keep it until you leave Malaysia. Tourists are charged a registration fee of 8-10 $.

Holidays in Indonesia allow you to combine business with pleasure - there are beaches for every taste and great opportunities for active sports.

Weather and climate in Indonesia

The climate in Indonesia is tropical, divided into two seasons - dry from March to September and wet from November to March. During the wet season, precipitation occurs more frequently at night in the form of showers, which makes it difficult to land travel around the islands. The average annual air temperature is from 26 to 35 degrees, water - 26-27 degrees all year round. Hottest months- July and August.

Indonesia Hotels

In Indonesia, hotels provide a wide range of services and a good level of service. There are cheaper hotels - 2-3 stars, and five-star hotels are classified as "deluxe".

Souvenirs from Indonesia

Most often, batik, mother-of-pearl, masks, dragon figurines, jewelry and jewelry are brought from Indonesia.

The most popular attractions in Indonesia are the volcanic Lake Toba, the royal graves, the palace on the island of Samosir, the Mesjid Raya mosque, the military museum in Medan, the Gunung Leser reserve.