What is the cheapest way to move around Asian countries and Australia (Most of them are separated by water)?

Question

Hi I want to backpack around Asia. I'm planning on going somehow in this order:

Venezuela (Where I live) -> Los Angeles -> Hawaii -> Japan (Tokyo, Osaka) -> South Korea (Seoul) -> China (Xi'an, Shanghai, Pekin) -> Taiwan (Taipei) -> Hong Kong -> Philippines -> Thailand -> Malaysia -> Singapore -> Indonesia -> Papua New Guinea -> Australia (Sydney) -> New Zealand -> Fiji -> and back home...

Most of this places are separated by water, and I guess air tickets will make my trip unaffordable (as far as I know), but I don't know if there are ways to do some of the traveling by ferry boat or something.... Any ideas???? (Or places I must see, tips for saving on housing, etc...) Thanks!!!!!

Answer 1

if you don't fly it's going to take you over a year to do this. good luck. see you next year.

Answer 2

The Weidong Ferry runs between Incheon, South Korea (close to Seoul) to Qingdao and Weihai, China. From either of these cities you can take a train to other Chinese cities easily. I took the ferry from Qingdao to Incheon last October. Try to get a window berth if you buy the cheapest ticket as it gives you more privacy and a great view of the water. Also, make sure you have Korean won for the vending machines. There really isn't a snack store and the meals are an hour long for each. It's not a bad trip, but it will take almost a day to do it. Make sure you have a tourist visa to enter China.

I know there are also ferries that run between Mainland China and Hong Kong and Taiwan. I haven't been on these, but they are likely to be cheaper than the plane. You can probably get a train from Mainland China to Thailand. On Chinese trains you want to get soft or hard sleeper. Get soft seat if neither of these is available. Avoid hard seat if at all possible. It's dirty, crowded, smelly, and that's where the "Standing Room Only" ticket holders stand. China also has sleeper buses for long distances and regular buses with reclining seats for short distances. Just ask for the "chang tu qi che zhan." If you are tall a sleeper bus could be uncomfortable as the berths aren't very long.

As for other places of interest...there is a large panda reserve near Chengdu and it was recently named a world tourist city. Also, Dali is supposed to be very nice and a place where minority groups stilll wear traditional clothing. In Beijing, when you go to The Great Wall, avoid the Badaling "Blink and You Missed It" tour. It's a tourist trap. Hire a driver to take you to Motianyu and back. That way you can take as long as you like on the Wall. It will cost a little more, but you'll be able to do the Wall your way. In Australia you should really go to Ayer's Rock. It's amazing. I went on a tour through http://www.adventuretours.com.au. We slept on swags (canvas covered matresses) in sleeping bags right under the stars (no tents). We went to King's Canyon, the Olgas, and Ayer's Rock. The guides were cool and knew a lot about the history of the areas we were in. If you do this tour get Ben or Celia. It was a 3-night, 4-day tour that round tripped from Alice Springs. Alice Springs is a good place to get aboriginal art. Buy from them and not from a gallery as it's cheaper without the middlemen.

If you don't have a YHA membership you should look into getting one. It lasts a year and gives you discounts at hostels around the world. In Australia it gave me a discount on my greyhound bus ticket from Adelaide to Alice Springs as well.

Answer 3

Any particular reason why your itinerary is the way you planned?

Just noticed that from mainland China-Taiwain-HK, you're going to the Philippines, then to Thailand and the rest of IndoChina. I was thinking maybe it would be better that after HK, you proceed with Thailand and the rest of IndoChina first since they are all in one large land (continent). It might be cheaper to travel around via land. Since the Philippines is an archipelago, separate from Asia main land mass. You can probably go to the Philippines after Indonesia, and before going to Papua New Guinea. Or, Singapore-Philippines-Indonesia-Papua New Guinea.

Anyway, I wish you luck, and enjoy your trip! :)

Answer 4

I can not tell you how to get to Los Angeles but I can tell you about the Cathay Pacific All Asia Pass.

It includes a round trip ticket from NYC, LA, or San Francisco to Hong Kong. From there you get 21 days of unlimited air travel on economy to any of the 23 cities that the airline serves for $1599 or $1399 if you subscribe to their enews online. You can extend the air pass to up to 90 days for additional charge.

23 cities covered are
Bali
• Bangkok
• Cebu
• Colombo
• Fukuoka
• Ho Chi Minh City
• Hong Kong
• Jakarta • Karachi
• Kota Kinabalu*
• Kuala Lumpur
• Manila
• Nagoya
• Osaka
• Penang
• Phuket* • Phnom Penh*
• Sapporo
• Seoul
• Singapore
• Surabaya
• Taipei
• Tokyo

The following cities can be added for additional charge.
Adelaide
• Auckland
• Brisbane
• Cairns • Delhi
• Dhaka*
• Hanoi**
• Melbourne • Mumbai
• Perth
• Sydney

You can download the brochure at http://www.cathayusa.com/offers/allasiapass/07AAP-USA-Brochure.pdf
or find out more at their website at
http://www.cathayusa.com/offers/AllAsiaPass/offer.asp
With the air pass you may not be able to visit some of the locations without making seperate arrangements but you may be able to add other destinations without any additional costs.
Also visit this website for additional air passes in the region.
http://www.airtimetable.com/airpass_asia.htm

As for lodging I strongly recommend Hostelling International
http://www.iyhf.org/ Some of the lodgings are pretty roomy and private. At other times they can be a bit crowded. The hostels I stayed in Japan were extremely clean. Great things about hostels are usually you meet travelers with some common interests and they can usually give you information on what they liked and disliked about the destination and other destinations that you will be visiting. You can also find bullitens. If not a hostel I think you should use the Japanese Inn Group website http://www.jpinn.com/ to get lodgings in Japan. They have inexpensive lodging that commonly have foreign tourists so they will usually have some information in English and probably in other languages.

I'm getting excited just thinking of your trip. Have a great trip!! And let me know if I can help you in any way or to just let me know what you decide. :)

Answer 5

Viva Venezuela!

Las Islas Filipinas is the place to be! There are lots of budget airlines operating at Subic International Airport, few hours drive north of Manila. Cebu Pacific alone offer good prices. Check www.wowphilippines.com.ph and www.cebupacificair.com.

Bienvenida!

Welcome to the islands, the Philippines! Mabuhay!

Answer 6

I do know that between Australia and the South-east Asian countries, budget airlines are really affordable and convenient to travel around. So this should solve your problem around here.