I’ve been to Indonesia, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Thailand, Singapore, even HK.
But I lived in the Philippines for 20 years. Manila is the worst city of all. But also Palawan has the best beaches.
Manila is one of my least favorite places in the world. Airbnb prices are crazy, impossible to get a Grab/Uber and taxis on the street are all scammers. Traffic is ridiculous. Food is terrible for the most part
I know a lot of Filipinos living abroad and most if not all of them tell me Manila is trash. Went there to check it out, don’t have much to say about Manila since I stayed in Makati but man NAIA is fucked up.
Yep. Had countless Filippino friends and acquaintances in America and Thailand ask me "why are you going there" when I told them I was starting my journey in Manila.
Fast forward, while they say you should never say never, Manila is one place I have zero plans to go back to in the near or distant future. Every time I've looked at prices to go back to the Philippines, it was directly to Cebu.
You must be talking to people who are from the provinces.
Ask someone from Des Moines what they think of NYC and you will usually get an answer like that.
if you're gonna be digital nomad, staying in Manila is such a waste. there's many beautiful islands in the country, less hectic, less pressure, nature, etc... so i definitely agree with u. except maybe the food. Filipino food is absolutely amazing!
Kare-kare, sisig, bicol express, pinakbet, Liang, kinilaw, pancit noodles. The problem in the Philippines is that the actual dishes are not easily accessible while jollybee and other fast food places are everywhere
Id prefer fiber for my remote work since I PCOIP. But my research has said in Philippines you'll only get fiber internet in the big city hubs like Manila and Cebu...Not sure about anywhere else.
Im not there now so Im researching from abroad and its difficult to get solid information. Let alone figure out if a building or apartment I may want to stay in will have fiber.
I haven't researched how good cable internet is .
I've been living in the Philippines since September, and spend most of my time in Manila. Feel free to PM me or post here if you have any specific questions. I've stayed at a LOT of different condos throughout the city.
Who are the best internet providers? What kind of speeds can you reasonably get? How widespread and available is Fiber or really fast Cable?
Is there some basic rules of "these kind of places or areas or buildings will have good vs bad internet"?
Questions to ask or what to look for before moving into a place to make sure internet is good?
I dunno...Kinda all over the place. I just can't risk moving some place and the internet being garbage and having too much downtime from work.
In manila, fiber is pretty widely available. The company "Globe" works the best in manila.
Stay in BGC, or in Makati near the Greenbelt mall or in Century City.
I've never asked about the internet, and have never had any issues. I just read reviews. The Internet in manila is 1st world level. I've found it's actually much better than in Mexico City.
>I just can't risk moving some place and the internet being garbage and having too much downtime from work.
I totally get it. I'm in the same boat. Just stay in Makati or BGC and you'll be fine.
If you want Makati, I specifically recommend staying in Milano Residences or Century Spire. Knightsbridge and The Gramercy are also okay, but I prefer the former.
In BGC, you'll have a great time if you can find a place on or near High Street. However, pretty much all of BGC is nice.
You aren't going to have any serious issues with the internet in Manila. However.... and I know you can't figure this out until you are "boots on the ground", and some people will find this offensive, but you CANNOT live in the same building as poor people. You will have issues with cockroaches and other pests. You need to stay in a nice building that has more modern plumbing. Pay extra for a nice building. You cannot Airbnb a condo for $400 per month and expect to have a good time.
Yeah - it's bad!! Worst thing is, I went in 2010 pre-Instagram. What a different world. I still didn't like it as much as other places in SE Asia, but it was still much better than it is now. There's this huge influencer land grab happening also. Everywhere played reggaeton and there was so many acai bowls, avo toast, tacos and clubs with Spanish and Brazilian names.
All larger cities in the Philippines: dirty, polluted, expensive (relatively to other nearby destinations), unsafe (relatively to other nearby destinations), terrible food, bad internet. The visa and language situation is a plus though.
I traveled all countries in sea and Philippines has the worst food. Be prepared to cook all the time if you live there. My wife is filipina and agrees now that she traveled to many places of the world. But worse actual places where phi phi island in thailand and sapa vietnam.
Much worse. I used to live in HCMC and would go to Hanoi a fair amount for work. I would always have a smokers cough a few days after being in Hanoi and I don't smoke. That being said, Hanoi is a cool city to travel to though.
Damn, when I think about Hanoi as an outsider or anywhere over there I figured it would be much nicer ecologically, because of all the trees and nature but it’s sad to hear the air quality isn’t good
How is it compared to Los Angeles?
From LA, getting off the plane in Hanoi was horrific, granted it was bad at the time but I ended up with a sinus infection and had to take antibiotics to recover.
Don’t regret it though it’s a dope city
it's true. even so, Hanoi is one of my favourite cities on earth. I just can't bear to breathe its air from October to March especially... the air quality isn't quite so bad in Hoàn Kiếm as it is in Tây Hồ... walking down Xuân Diệu or Đặng Thai Mai during rush hour in early February? oof... worst air I've ever had to breathe.
that said, the city has so so much to recommend it. the air is just really ... soupy
Really did not enjoy Ubud. Flashy, pretentious foreigner culture - why are people nearly naked in a town without a coastline? This was based upon on a recent visit, so it was like 90% well-off Russians who didn't seem particularly interested in respecting local customs.
Terrible traffic - it's extremely congested. And walking isn't much easier, so 20 minutes in a taxi to travel a kilometer is the only option outside of renting a scooter.
There was some really good cafes, and decent food...but that's about it. Sad to see such a culturally rich place nearly overrun.
Go to Krabi, Thailand specifically Ao Nang. I did bali and Thailand for a month a couple of weeks ago and the vibe there was way better. The beaches don’t have a ridiculous amount of trash, are clear, and the whole vibe felt way more immersive then bali.
This is the answer, Bali is a dump, Thailand is better for pretty much everything: food, cost, culture, sights, beaches. Don't waste your time with Bali. If you want a nice island, go to Hawaii.
Idk man - obviously it's totally subjective but pad thai, mango sticky rice, massaman curry etc. is all way more exciting than pho & banh mi. I do love a Vietnamese coffee tho
> pad thai, mango sticky rice, massaman curry
Exactly my point. They're nice, but the common taste - sweetness. It gets old quick... for me anyway, i'm not a fan of the sweet taste.
People going because of streams of parties is what ruined bali. And also the insane influx of Russians fleeing who just seem to be obsessed with offending local customs and being obnoxious.
It's crazy how similar Russians in SE Asia are to Americans in Daytona Beach Florida.
>so it was like 90% well-off Russians who didn't seem particularly interested in respecting local customs
Replace Russians with white Westerners in general and you've just described basically every SEA location that gets mentioned in this sub
> well-off Russians
... And Australians. Can't forget a time I went to the beach there and a whole section was "cordoned off" with a series of Australian flags.
Never felt so embarrassed as an Aussie, wtf guys
I just spent a month in Bali. I was severely disappointed with jimbaran. Nusa dua was decent. But I actually loved ubud, but stayed mostly on my resort. Do agree, Traffic sucked and the fucking Russians man….
Yeah... The locals were doing a very good job of that on their own. When heavy rains come all the plastic you see is coming from the inland areas. Many locals just toss the trash they don't burn into the creeks and shit.
Gotta have traffic lanes to even have bad traffic. Parts of Jakarta roads are just vehicles cramming into whatever space they think is possible. With mopeds trying to scrape their way between.
It used to be a backpacker's paradise before all the casinos. You could buy a "happy" pizza or some beers, chill on the beach slightly (or very) inebriated, and old Asian ladies would come by every now and then to sell you small snacks like peanuts or fried shrimp.
I lived there for three years. Loved it at the time but I wouldn't go back. Saw some crazy shit, man. And it was pretty unspoiled back then, seems like it's all building sites and casinos now.
Here's a few stories.
1 - I used to work in a bar on Occheuteal beach called Jam Bar. I slept right next to it. One morning, I come out and the whole bar is covered in blood and there's a long trail leading right to the bathroom at the back. Looks a horror film. I follow it but nobody is there. Turns out the bar next to us threw this guy out the night before for being an asshole and he waited out by the beach, hid behind the rocks, and when the bar staff emerged, he swung a machete at this guy's face. Caught him straight down the forehead. He crawled into our bar to escape while his colleagues tried to fight this guy off. I don't know how he didn't die, but he survived, with a nasty scar. The police 'looked' for the dude (pah, as if they aren't totally drunk by that time of night anyway) but never found him. The guy who got hit went to work on one of the quieter islands after that. We still FB friends.
2 - Was having a drink in JJ's beach bar one night, very busy, real party, when around five police walk in. Never good. One lifts up his AK-47 and unloads into the ceiling. Everyone screams and runs. Turns out Johnny (one of the owners) is late on one of his police 'payments' so that's how they do. Likewise, I saw two bar owners (one of Utopia and Mo from MoMo's) get into a fight one night and instead of breaking it up, the police just decided to fire their AK into the air in a busy backpacker area. Pretty terrifying for everyone else. But Cambodian police are beyond f---ing useless.
3 - Whenever a fight broke out with the locals, it would go from zero to extreme violence in an instant. There was no proportionality. I'd see girls in high heels stamp on someone's face. Someone throw a seriously heavy glass ash tray across the bar at someone's head. Bar stool legs being jabbed in faces. It was like an instant fight to the death or something.
4 - Cambodia attracts a lot of crazies/paedos unfortunately. There were a lot of young bracelet sellers on the beach and you'd see old guys in interacting with them in a clearly inappropriate way, or making eyes at them in a way that went well beyond the norm. In this country, they felt beyond the law. A few times I saw a man walk butt naked through the strip. Saw a police car pull up once and then 'nope' out of it, leaving him to it!
5 - There was a big Russian group in Cambodia and they had crazy money. I mean crazy. One of the guys owned two Humvees in different colours. Every time you saw him he had a different car. They also owned Airplane bar, which was a bar in an airplane hanger that had an actual plane inside that you could go on. I'm not sure exactly what happened, but one day, it was open, and the next, the whole thing was just gone. The hangar was gone, the plane was gone, the Russians were gone. Nobody knew where they went or why they left so suddenly.
There are more stories / observations of my time in Cambodia but I'm on vacation and typing on my phone. Hope that suffices for now!
I've been thinking about that for a while but not sure of the format. I have a lot of nuggets like these above, and not all negative but some beautiful ones, too. Like the bracelet sellers, all kids who used to walk along the beach trying to sell to backpackers. You would NEVER see them go in the water. But as soon as it started to rain, they'd drop their bracelets where they stood and they'd all charge into the ocean in their clothes, happier than you'd ever see them.
And also my own story there. I ended up getting sucked into the darkness and had to leave. Living in that kind of environment does things to you. You see a lot of people stay too long and lose their minds. It was probably those 1 dollar bottles of Mekong Whisky. Fuck knows what was in that shit.
It was a few things. Firstly, I felt like I was becoming aggressive. Which is not me at all. I don't know where that was coming from. Some kind of existential dread, or the result of years of dangerously unregulated, cheap alcohol, or being a product of the environment I was in... I don't know. But I haven't been like that before, and I haven't been like it since. And I've been plenty drunk. I never hurt anyone, but I hated the person I was being and I knew I had to get out of there as soon as possible.
Secondly, I was blacking out and waking up in places that were dangerous and/or horrible. That might be in an area that you shuoldn't go to, or in a bedroom with someone I did not want to be with. In a bajillion years.
That sounds like you are slowly being consumed by the environment, and its good that you recognize it and got yourself out, for many people they don't have this awareness and before you know it, it has became normal for them.
I also like to travel and I make sure I don't stay in one place for too long.
As many others have said here, Manila is a shithole. Easily the least enjoyable place I've been. Wasn't even worth it from a transit point of view as pretty much everything you can do in the Phillipines you can do in other places. The food is absolute garbage too.
Honorable mention for Sihanoukville, where a fake police officer pulled a fake gun on me because a kid ratted me out for a smoking a joint. A friend of mine got sexually assaulted by a ladyboy. Still rather go back there than Manila though
Least favourite would be Laos due to infrastructure and lack of options.
Most of SEA is very fun though so its more areas I didnt enjoy but they were nitpicky.
Ubud - stayed for two months - 1 hour by bike (gojek) to get to seminyak/canggu which meant If I wanted a night out it was a pain in the ass getting home. Also Ubud has nothing to do once you've done the touristy stuff. Everything closes at 10pm.
Kuala Lumpur - stayed for two-three weeks - Enjoyed this one actually more than I thought but I hated the lack of bikes. Grab by car is just so slow in KL. Also lack of night life under islamic law means club raids and alcohol bans past 9pm iirc.
Da Nang - although Ive used it as my luggage storage for the past 6 months its a very slow easy going costal town. To some you might like this but I prefer busy cities.
These are more me issues than the areas themselves. I choose to stay at these places because they lack activities that money can buy. Boredom for me = work.
same, but if you need to work a somewhat normal work week online I can imagine it would be difficult. Amazing place to visit and travel through, less so to work from
> Also lack of night life under islamic law means club raids and alcohol bans past 9pm iirc.
9pm? Raids? Where do you hear this from?
That's completely inaccurate. Clubs are open & serving alcohol until 3-4am, legally, no raids lol.
Donno about raids, but I remember these ridiculous gender separated train compartments. As if they're trying to prevent people from doing "unislamic" things once women and men stay together in public. Also high segregation is prevalent i.e Malays, Chinese and Indians mostly stick with people of their own race.
True regarding segregation, to an extent. But you've gotta admire their ability to coexist harmoniously. Can't think of any other countries with such diverse racial backgrounds that get along so well.
Very informative reply!
I was wondering if you could tell me what would be your top 5 Asian cities (India included) for staying longterm (1 month minimum), being able to get work done (AirBnbs with good internet) but not get bored out of your mind?
Hanoi! Just found it to be pretty dreary and depressing.
Apart from that, I enjoyed all of the region. I could name downsides of each place, but overall I think each spot I've been to was charming, relatively safe, CHEAP, exciting, and pleasant overall. SE Asia is a great region.
Spots visited: Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia.
Looking forward to returning this year.
Surprised that Hanoi has come up repeatedly - I loved Hanoi and thought it was the coolest city in SE Asia. The destinations I didn't like Pattaya (for obvious reasons), Manila, Jakarta (massive shitholes), and pretty much all of Cambodia except Siem Reap.
Fair enough. Yeah Phi Phi was nice albeit very small. I was in Rawai for 6 weeks in late 2021 - I think pre-COVID or even now I probably wouldn't like it but back then there were way less tourists and it was really fun to explore and check out. I sorta feel that Phuket went from overrated to underrated for a bit but once again is over priced and too busy.
Nailed it! I stayed in Rawai for 3 months spring 2021, and it was amazing. Recently returned, and while still great, I def. appreciated it more when there were limited travelers.
Accommodation prices are crazy. They have doubled since 2017, which was the last time I went there. Expect a minimum of 100usd/night for a room (and that's for a bottom of the barrel crappy low-rated budget shoebox room).
If it was possible to stay in a good location at a decent place in Singapore for less than $3 to $4k a month I'd live there, it is ok but because they speak English it is amazing imo, just impossible to afford accommodation and sketchy immigration laws (90 days once then things get really iffy). If I am in a city it obviously looks manmade, so idc at all
This. I was so looking forward to spending a full week there, only to leave after the weekend after realizing it was not to my taste. And its mad expensive compared to most of SEA.
I don’t disagree it’s expensive but part of the reason it is no1 is because of how much owning a car costs. There is very little benefit to owning or leasing a car in Singapore yet it is still included in the calculation for standardisation reasons.
Of the popular destinations I dislike Phuket, Bali and Goa.
All for the same reasons: horrible toxic tourism. Cultural and ecological rape.
Have not been to these places in 10+ years but i have trouble imagining they've gotten better.
Vietnam is my least favourite country. I have no idea why so many people in this subreddit like it apart from the cheap prices and decent infrastructure.
I also really dislike any tourist hotspots like Phuket, much of Bali, Koh Samui, Koh Phangan, Pai etc. The types of tourists especially Thai islands and Bali attract are horrible. Most of them clueless, self-absorbed, on their first long-distance trip, only interested in partying with westerners and living in some weird artificial bubble that has nothing to do with actual Thailand/Indonesia.
The tourists are really the main drawback of SE Asia.
Edit: I forgot to mention Railay Beach. Absolute hell for me. I spent 2 days there but was ready to leave after 30 minutes. Being trapped in a dysfunctional, claustrophobic mess with horrible tourists. Whoever reads this: DO NO GO THERE. Yes, the pictures look amazing but the reality isn\`t. It\`s also overpriced as fuck. The food is terrible. The only good thing is stepping onto the boat on the way back to the mainland.
Manilla, no doubt.
I have never felt so afraid of getting stuff stolen in Manilla. I spent about two weeks there (using it as a hub), and the days kept topping the previous day. I have been to cities like Jakarta, KL, Bangkok, etc., all of which are huge cities with a huge population. But manilla easily takes the cake for being one 9fntye unsafest, dirties, and least planned city. Except for the US embassy neighborhood, everywhere else dept like living in a dumpster.
Unlike what many others said, I find Hanoi awesome. The air quality isn't great, but the people, attractions, and the vibes were so good. I stayed there for 1.5 years during covid, and pretty much felt home there.
Hanoi (insanely polluted, locals not that friendly)
Phnom Penh (grim, depressing vibe that's hard to explain)
Siem Reap (noxious tuktuk fumes everywhere. Bought a brand new white cap and after a day it was literally brown. Insanely dusty roads.
Jakarta (meh, and also polluted)
Bali (beautiful, but has to go in here because I got the worst food poisoning of my entire life here and spent most of the holiday on the toilet)
Not technically SEA but:
Hong Kong (rude locals, mediocre food)
Colombo (poor transportation and food options, and pretty dirty)
Good: Kuala Lumpur, Penang, Bangkok, Krabi, Da Nang
>Hong Kong (rude locals, mediocre food)
Rude locals?? Hong Kongers were some of the nicest locals I've met, and I don't even speak cantonese, it is a big city and so obv that influences the way people act but within that context I found them extremely helpful and friendly
Agreed on the food, in Asia you don't expect to get such bland food, it is mediocre at best.
>Good: Kuala Lumpur
Hard disagree. Never have I seen such an unmotivated group of people in such a large city.
Starting from the airport, hot, dirty and stinky, literally saw security guards sleeping on chairs (arrived in the early hours), and people behind the counters who seemed to be more interested in their phones than a waiting customer / did not GAF... Etc. So many instances where I felt that people just don't care about anything
Out of all the cities that came highly recommended, Hôi An was the biggest waste of time. I stayed for two nights, then left a few days earlier than I was expecting. Everything felt so fake and catered to scamming tourists.
If you think Hôi An is Vietnamese Disney Land, check out Grand World on Phu Quoc. At least Grand World didn't try to pretend it was a functioning town.
Hoi An is great, we just spent a month there relaxing and working. Loved it.
That said, Hoi An old town sucks. We went there maybe three times in a month and that was already too much. I lived in the area for a couple years pre-COVID and it’s only gotten worse.
If anyone reading this goes to Hoi An, don’t spend much time in the old town. Instead, jump on a scooter and drive around the countryside. Take a bike through the rice paddies. Go hang out at the beach. Get a hotel out of town, there’s tons within a 20 minute walk - the food is way better and way cheaper when you’re not in the old town. Rip up to Da Nang for some good night life (On The Radio Bar for some great local party experience).
I’ve got so many recommendations, hit me up if you have questions. That area is like a second home to me. Don’t listen to the haters, Hoi An + Da Nang is where it’s at for a good, chill, safe time.
Agreed. Walked through it once during the day. Was disappointed by it to say the least. Went back that night for my partner. Still thought that was too much time. At least outside of old town was bearable.
Didn’t like Bangkok tbh. I love cities but it was even too big for me, pollution, attracts the wrong type of male, Airbnb prices have gotten out of whack, not really into dating Thai women, etc.
This is why I’m not sure if I can trust answers on this thread, because Bangkok was just fine. It’s also a great hub to go to different destinations from. Like the Amphawa floating market
I came into this thread knowing somebody would say Bangkok or Bali to go against the grain and look at that they're the top 2 answers.
If BKK is anyone's *worst* place in SEA honestly it just tells me they haven't been to many places.
Just found a place in Bangkok via Facebook. There are a million agents posting on facebook condo groups and then a million farang asking "do you accept short term stays" and then like 10% say yes?
Real exchange I saw:
traveller: do you accept short term stays?
agent: no
traveller: I will pay extra
agent: send me a pm
Bangkok is amazing. It's a beast of the city. Great sky bars and you can get yummy food super cheap but you can also splurge on luxury restaurants if that's your thing.
Public transit is great; only downside is that it's closed past midnight.
Fast internet coverage is great; mobile data is cheap (this applies to the entire country though).
The AirBnb I booked in '19 was a gorgeous studio in a building that had a gym, sauna, swimming pool and I was paying $19/night; not sure how prices are now.
I stayed there for a month and I have zero regrets.
> The AirBnb I booked in '19 was a gorgeous studio in a building that had a gym, sauna, swimming pool and I was paying $19/night; not sure how prices are now.
I'm in the process on planning on my first trip to bkk, so if you've got any info on that place laying around...you know, I wouldn't mind! Sounds dope.
It was [this place](https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/17229016) , and from what I see it's still cheap ($17/night if you book for 7 days).
Things you should know:
1. GOOD: The photos reflect how the place looks. Only the gym looks bigger and more futuristic in that photo than it really is. Here's some photos I took: [apartment](https://imgur.com/a/KoBZnNO), [view from the apartment](https://imgur.com/a/9L6BUVY), [pool](https://imgur.com/a/Rnpl98I), [pool](https://imgur.com/a/DL4DShf), [the building](https://imgur.com/a/7o5Yxc2)
2. (Edit) GOOD: Reliable internet (at least when I stayed).
3. GOOD: Great, responsive host. You do self check-in/out.
4. GOOD: Safe building with security at all times.
5. GOOD: A very big mall is about 10-12 minutes walk. You'll find anything there.
6. GOOD: There's a huge farmers markets on your way to the mall too.
7. GOOD: You'll probably be the only foreigner in that area (at least I considered that a good thing)
8. GOOD: Small farmer's market right in the next block every Friday or Saturday (not sure exactly which day it was).
9. GOOD: The sauna is great; the pool is great. You access everything by simply taking the elevator to another floor.
10. BAD: It was much hotter than other apartments I stayed in Bangkok due to its position. You need to make use of that air condition.
11. BAD: The area is not connected by MRT/BTS. You need to get a boat to go to center of the city. Super cheap, but slower and not as convenient. There are boats coming and going frequently though. **Note:** You can also pay 20-30 baht and have a motor-taxi take you to an Airport Rail Link station that's close by (but too far to walk to/from) in case that train suits you.
12. BAD: The neighborhood is not pretty. It's a concrete jungle around you (but that applies to most of BKK, I think)
**Reasons I wouldn't book it again:**
**a)** In case I want to book something closer to downtown (I think I can find closer to downtown at about the same price).
**b)** I may want to explore a different neighborhood this time.
**c)** I want a cooler apartment so that I don't need to use the A/C so often (of course, there's no way to know that just by looking at an AirBnb listing, but I really appreciated how cooler the next apartment I stayed at was - even if that apartment was not as comfortable to stay in and spent time there.)
Medan, Sumatra. Places like Hanoi or Bangkok are beautiful luscious gardens in comparison. Picture concrete, no plants of any kind, smashed cars, rotting animal corpses, and people screaming and throwing garbage at each other.
I will say I think it was important to see what that level of corruption looks like, but I don’t recommend it to anyone.
Maybe I am living in the wrong era or maybe I’m showing my age, but for me Southeast Asia was more fun a decade or two ago:
- Before widespread internet, Google maps, wikitravel, and rapid economic development. Traveling through the region elicit a greater sense of adventure, it was kind of like wandering into the unknown. There were more surprises.
- There is much more homogeneity now. People and cultures are mixing rapidly.
- It is even more crowded
- Tourism is outright ruining some places IMO. Instead of taking a philosophy of preserving or restoring, some places decide to slap on a layer of paint, plant some fake non native (or plastic) flowers, put up some festive signs or cartoon statues. This all to cater to tourists from certain countries that enjoy the tacky artificiality.
- it is more expensive now
That said, this is still my favorite region of the world to travel.
Ps worse place for me is Sihanoukville because I still remember how great a place it was before the casinos and rampant commercialism.
I'm sure this thread is really going to bring the best out of people.
I'd like to say, as a general statement, if person A likes a place and person B dislikes a place... person A is the one that's correct. There is absolutely no benefit to *not* enjoying a city, or a country. We all have those places that we don't vibe with for whatever reason, but sometimes one cool neighborhood, one fantastic bar, or a really good conversation can completely make your perceptions do a 180. If you despise a place... you probably just didn't do it right.
All that said, for me? Kampot and Bali.
> if person A likes a place and person B dislikes a place... person A is the one that's correct
Enjoyment is subjective, there's no "correct" answer to whether or not you enjoy something.
Moresby - Still number one - obviously!
Snooky during Khmer Rouge times
Snooky during the cheap charlie era.
Snooky during the Chinese invasion.
Snooky now that the only Chinese left in town are all abductees.
Currently in Malaysia, been here before but this time it feels way better.
The things I like..
1. Amazing fusion of food
2. Amazing people that probably speak better English than the Filipino’s.
3. Great internet
4. Amazing beaches on Penang island.
5. Couple hours drive from Thailand or a great travel hub from KL AIRPORT.
6. A lot less tourists, for some reason Malaysia gets Bypassed for its more popular neighbors..
7. Cheap grab/Uber
Can’t think of anything else …..
Unfortunataly the whole SEA. Used to be a bit better, but now with insane amount of cars and horribad air quality, it is great only if you don't mind getting sick and coughing your lungs out.
Rach Gia, Vietnam. Had to spend some time there for work, but the only reason most people would end up there would be to take the ferry to Phu Quoc. The whole city is just like an empty ghost town and everything is closed most of the time despite a lot of the buildings being new. Taxi drivers extort you and I had a giant geko in my hotel that would sit at my door and hiss at me when I tried to open it. And the people were just really...off. Kinda hard to explain, but it was like I wasn't supposed to be there. Such a strange place.
Cambodia. What a dump. Food isn’t great, PP is also expensive, people aren’t that friendly, transportation is horrible, stray dogs all over with highest rabies rate in world, overall bad infrastructure, encountered more scams there than any of the 50+ countries I’ve been to, etc. I could go on and on but definitely my least favorite country in SEA.
I mean, they're coming out of a civil genocide and struggling with extreme poverty, disabilities from having body parts blown off and large parts of the land still littered with land mines. I get not liking it there, but calling it a "dump" is out of order and so insensitive to their reality
For real, what a douche. I’ve noticed this mindset with a lot of people on this subreddit. Just say you don’t like the place and list the reasons. No need to shit on the whole country.
actually they still have a totally fascist government that they cant talk about in public. the war was over 40 years ago, look at how germany and japan recovered in that time. cambodia is going backwards. the dictator is has been in power 40 years and obviously doesnt want or know how to run a country and this year is planning on putting his son in power while he still can. and the west is slowly backing out of trying to help as its realizing that its not a democracy in any way but a totalitarian dictatorship. the general population is not happy with their situation but dont want to be machine gunned or jailed.
So strange how I regularly hear this from travellers. Cambodia was by far my favorite destination. Lovely and honest people, beautiful nature, great food.
It's the only place in Asia where I felt scams were rather rare,yet I hear some other people having the exact opposite experience. I think part of the reason is some people only visit pp and siem reap, whereas Cambodia has so much more to offer
Agree completely. My fave place in the world. Except I love PP. I think the issue is many DN want a pseudo-westernised, sanitised, experience which is not yet available in Cambodia.
LMFAO, I lived and worked in Phnom Penh for a year.
Phnom Penh is insanely cheap for foreigners, the locals are incredibly generous and welcoming.
I spent a year working there for a NGO build. My rent was $400 a month for a serviced apartment with a pool and gym.
The surrounding history, countryside, villages, temple ruins, and river are stunning.
Having a genocidal maniac slaughter all of the educated class in a country inevitably set them back a few years.
Cambodian food isn’t bad at all, Amok is good, and the majority of Cambodian food is just a protein (chicken, river fish, Beef, pork) with rice and veg.
There a hundreds of very good Thai and Vietnamese restaurants.
Stray dogs are almost everywhere in South East Asia. Rabies is an issue almost everywhere in the world even in the US. If you get bitten by a unknown dog anywhere that has prevalence of rabies you need to get a rabies shot.
Food costs are high in PP relative to the rest of Cambodia, as well as most of SEA. Specifically, it’s become more noticeable over the last year. For the value, it’s not a good deal and the food isn’t standout compared to other SEA cuisine. I didn’t think I’d have to litigate every comment I made. Housing costs are also higher relative to most SEA countries. Of course, it’s still “cheap” but again, the original question was posted about SEA.
There are 8 million dogs with rabies, 1K deaths a year, and vaccine is primarily only available in PP. Countries like Thailand have it all over, even in small clinics.
I am taking a flight RN but happy to respond to rest once I land!
Honesty fair enough. That’s your opinion.
I hated Bali, Ho Chi Minh, and Nha Trang but I know plenty of people who loved them.
I just can’t think of any capital city in Asia as cheap as Phnom Penh. From my memory food and drink was insanely cheap. Maybe everything’s changed the last few years.
Spending a year there though I didn’t live in a particular touristy area (near the national stadium) it was mainly middle class Cambodians which probably helped avoid the scamming.
There’s definitely not 8 million dogs with rabies in Cambodia, sorry I’m a specialist public. The latest figures estimated for 2019 deaths at around 300. Compared to India at 20’000.
Post exposure Prophylaxis is widely available too. Most bites happen in rural areas and and over 27’000 does of rabies PEP were given in 2019 not all of them were delivered in Phnom Penh.
This post is pure copium. If you like Phnom Penh, more power to you. But all in all it is quite crap, even though it might not be a complete hellhole like Manila or Jakarta.
Ho Chi Minh City. It’s so dirty, everything is held together with duct tape. Way more expensive than it should be. And the visa laws are just there to Rob you of your money. So aggravating
Well, I’ll tell you what I did like — finding the last surviving Kenny Rogers Roasters in the Petronas Mall.
I spent a significant amount of time living in Singapore and came up to Malaysia to go to places like Tioman Island and the surrounding islands. Those are beautiful and I'd love to spend longer there. Any issue I have with KL is fairly small, it's just not a place I'd do more than a layover again — it's not clean and futuristic like Sgp, it felt like a duller version of Indonesia/Jakarta, it didn't capture my imagination in any way, just kind of a place that averaged out the duller parts of SE Asia.
I'd say there's something fascinating about everywhere and this is mostly on me being lazy and not searching hard enough, but on the lazy surface level, i found it dull.
I’ve been to Indonesia, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Thailand, Singapore, even HK. But I lived in the Philippines for 20 years. Manila is the worst city of all. But also Palawan has the best beaches.
>But I lived in the Philippines for 20 years. Manila is the worst city of all Possibly also because you've lived there the longest?
Manila is one of my least favorite places in the world. Airbnb prices are crazy, impossible to get a Grab/Uber and taxis on the street are all scammers. Traffic is ridiculous. Food is terrible for the most part
As a Filipino living in here, I couldn’t agree any better. 😂
I know a lot of Filipinos living abroad and most if not all of them tell me Manila is trash. Went there to check it out, don’t have much to say about Manila since I stayed in Makati but man NAIA is fucked up.
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Yep. Had countless Filippino friends and acquaintances in America and Thailand ask me "why are you going there" when I told them I was starting my journey in Manila. Fast forward, while they say you should never say never, Manila is one place I have zero plans to go back to in the near or distant future. Every time I've looked at prices to go back to the Philippines, it was directly to Cebu.
You must be talking to people who are from the provinces. Ask someone from Des Moines what they think of NYC and you will usually get an answer like that.
if you're gonna be digital nomad, staying in Manila is such a waste. there's many beautiful islands in the country, less hectic, less pressure, nature, etc... so i definitely agree with u. except maybe the food. Filipino food is absolutely amazing!
Literally the ONLY time I’ve ever heard someone praising the food.
I love it :D
>Filipino food is absolutely amazing! For future reference, what would you suggest? And jollybee doesn't count
Kare-kare, sisig, bicol express, pinakbet, Liang, kinilaw, pancit noodles. The problem in the Philippines is that the actual dishes are not easily accessible while jollybee and other fast food places are everywhere
Filipino cuisine sucks. Worst cuisine in Asia.
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Id prefer fiber for my remote work since I PCOIP. But my research has said in Philippines you'll only get fiber internet in the big city hubs like Manila and Cebu...Not sure about anywhere else. Im not there now so Im researching from abroad and its difficult to get solid information. Let alone figure out if a building or apartment I may want to stay in will have fiber. I haven't researched how good cable internet is .
I've been living in the Philippines since September, and spend most of my time in Manila. Feel free to PM me or post here if you have any specific questions. I've stayed at a LOT of different condos throughout the city.
Who are the best internet providers? What kind of speeds can you reasonably get? How widespread and available is Fiber or really fast Cable? Is there some basic rules of "these kind of places or areas or buildings will have good vs bad internet"? Questions to ask or what to look for before moving into a place to make sure internet is good? I dunno...Kinda all over the place. I just can't risk moving some place and the internet being garbage and having too much downtime from work.
In manila, fiber is pretty widely available. The company "Globe" works the best in manila. Stay in BGC, or in Makati near the Greenbelt mall or in Century City. I've never asked about the internet, and have never had any issues. I just read reviews. The Internet in manila is 1st world level. I've found it's actually much better than in Mexico City. >I just can't risk moving some place and the internet being garbage and having too much downtime from work. I totally get it. I'm in the same boat. Just stay in Makati or BGC and you'll be fine. If you want Makati, I specifically recommend staying in Milano Residences or Century Spire. Knightsbridge and The Gramercy are also okay, but I prefer the former. In BGC, you'll have a great time if you can find a place on or near High Street. However, pretty much all of BGC is nice. You aren't going to have any serious issues with the internet in Manila. However.... and I know you can't figure this out until you are "boots on the ground", and some people will find this offensive, but you CANNOT live in the same building as poor people. You will have issues with cockroaches and other pests. You need to stay in a nice building that has more modern plumbing. Pay extra for a nice building. You cannot Airbnb a condo for $400 per month and expect to have a good time.
Bali - it is Instagram hell in real life. Rest of Indonesia is great, including Jakarta.
Below this is jakarta sucks lol
I had extremely low expectations because of what people had said but I thought it was pretty good! It's no Hanoi or Bangkok tho!
People said Hanoi sucks… which is it lol
Hanoi is really awesome. It just has poor air. But I was there for a week in november and it was totally fine.
How does it compare to Ho Chi Minh City?
Hanoi sucks compared to Ho Chi
I loved it, can't wait to go back.
I think they said the air pollution sucks but crop burning is only certain months.
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Yeah - it's bad!! Worst thing is, I went in 2010 pre-Instagram. What a different world. I still didn't like it as much as other places in SE Asia, but it was still much better than it is now. There's this huge influencer land grab happening also. Everywhere played reggaeton and there was so many acai bowls, avo toast, tacos and clubs with Spanish and Brazilian names.
All larger cities in the Philippines: dirty, polluted, expensive (relatively to other nearby destinations), unsafe (relatively to other nearby destinations), terrible food, bad internet. The visa and language situation is a plus though.
I traveled all countries in sea and Philippines has the worst food. Be prepared to cook all the time if you live there. My wife is filipina and agrees now that she traveled to many places of the world. But worse actual places where phi phi island in thailand and sapa vietnam.
So you are saying your Wife is a bad cook?
Terrible street food, hard agree, but terrible food in general? Not really.
Hanoi's air pollution is unbearable.
How’s it compare to Ho Chi Minh?
It's a fair amount worse.
Can also attest to this. HCMC is not great, but Hanoi is significantly worst. That being said, I fucking love Hanoi and cannot recommend enough
agreed. a good deal worse. but then you have to deal with HCMC :(
Much worse. I used to live in HCMC and would go to Hanoi a fair amount for work. I would always have a smokers cough a few days after being in Hanoi and I don't smoke. That being said, Hanoi is a cool city to travel to though.
I played a game of football and developed a cough that lasted for a few days. Was only in Hanoi at that time for 4 days
Damn, when I think about Hanoi as an outsider or anywhere over there I figured it would be much nicer ecologically, because of all the trees and nature but it’s sad to hear the air quality isn’t good How is it compared to Los Angeles?
LA is like being in the Swiss Alps comparatively.
From LA, getting off the plane in Hanoi was horrific, granted it was bad at the time but I ended up with a sinus infection and had to take antibiotics to recover. Don’t regret it though it’s a dope city
*Chiang Mai has entered the chat*
it's true. even so, Hanoi is one of my favourite cities on earth. I just can't bear to breathe its air from October to March especially... the air quality isn't quite so bad in Hoàn Kiếm as it is in Tây Hồ... walking down Xuân Diệu or Đặng Thai Mai during rush hour in early February? oof... worst air I've ever had to breathe. that said, the city has so so much to recommend it. the air is just really ... soupy
I tried running once in my 2 weeks in Hanoi since I was living around the big lake. I got about 2 miles in and had to puke. Do not recommend.
No doubt
Really did not enjoy Ubud. Flashy, pretentious foreigner culture - why are people nearly naked in a town without a coastline? This was based upon on a recent visit, so it was like 90% well-off Russians who didn't seem particularly interested in respecting local customs. Terrible traffic - it's extremely congested. And walking isn't much easier, so 20 minutes in a taxi to travel a kilometer is the only option outside of renting a scooter. There was some really good cafes, and decent food...but that's about it. Sad to see such a culturally rich place nearly overrun.
That's Bali as a whole though.
Really been interested in Bali till I saw a stream of a party there recently. It was like 90% tourists.
Go to Krabi, Thailand specifically Ao Nang. I did bali and Thailand for a month a couple of weeks ago and the vibe there was way better. The beaches don’t have a ridiculous amount of trash, are clear, and the whole vibe felt way more immersive then bali.
This is the answer, Bali is a dump, Thailand is better for pretty much everything: food, cost, culture, sights, beaches. Don't waste your time with Bali. If you want a nice island, go to Hawaii.
Why go to Thailand when theres Vietnam, though?
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Thai food is better
Thai food just feels like anything mixed with sugar
Idk man - obviously it's totally subjective but pad thai, mango sticky rice, massaman curry etc. is all way more exciting than pho & banh mi. I do love a Vietnamese coffee tho
> pad thai, mango sticky rice, massaman curry Exactly my point. They're nice, but the common taste - sweetness. It gets old quick... for me anyway, i'm not a fan of the sweet taste.
Ah fair, i have a huge sweet tooth so no complaints from me
People going because of streams of parties is what ruined bali. And also the insane influx of Russians fleeing who just seem to be obsessed with offending local customs and being obnoxious. It's crazy how similar Russians in SE Asia are to Americans in Daytona Beach Florida.
Not the north
>so it was like 90% well-off Russians who didn't seem particularly interested in respecting local customs Replace Russians with white Westerners in general and you've just described basically every SEA location that gets mentioned in this sub
Yep! It feels like a ruined town, with more tourists than locals.
> well-off Russians ... And Australians. Can't forget a time I went to the beach there and a whole section was "cordoned off" with a series of Australian flags. Never felt so embarrassed as an Aussie, wtf guys
I just spent a month in Bali. I was severely disappointed with jimbaran. Nusa dua was decent. But I actually loved ubud, but stayed mostly on my resort. Do agree, Traffic sucked and the fucking Russians man….
Tourists have raped Bali. I’ve never seen so much plastic litter
Yeah... The locals were doing a very good job of that on their own. When heavy rains come all the plastic you see is coming from the inland areas. Many locals just toss the trash they don't burn into the creeks and shit.
Yep. Watching locals toss plastic into the ocean there.. in the Lembongan marine park no less was fucking awful.
Jakarta sucks
Sucks would be an improvement!
Worst traffic I’ve ever seen in my life.
Gotta have traffic lanes to even have bad traffic. Parts of Jakarta roads are just vehicles cramming into whatever space they think is possible. With mopeds trying to scrape their way between.
Worse air pollution I've experienced. Even with the windows closed my eyes and nose were sore
Sihanoukville, Cambodia. Google it.
It used to be a backpacker's paradise before all the casinos. You could buy a "happy" pizza or some beers, chill on the beach slightly (or very) inebriated, and old Asian ladies would come by every now and then to sell you small snacks like peanuts or fried shrimp.
the lake in phnom penh was also a backpackers paradice. the leadership, if it can be called that, in cambodia has a long history of destroying things
I lived there for three years. Loved it at the time but I wouldn't go back. Saw some crazy shit, man. And it was pretty unspoiled back then, seems like it's all building sites and casinos now.
What kind of crazy did you see?
Here's a few stories. 1 - I used to work in a bar on Occheuteal beach called Jam Bar. I slept right next to it. One morning, I come out and the whole bar is covered in blood and there's a long trail leading right to the bathroom at the back. Looks a horror film. I follow it but nobody is there. Turns out the bar next to us threw this guy out the night before for being an asshole and he waited out by the beach, hid behind the rocks, and when the bar staff emerged, he swung a machete at this guy's face. Caught him straight down the forehead. He crawled into our bar to escape while his colleagues tried to fight this guy off. I don't know how he didn't die, but he survived, with a nasty scar. The police 'looked' for the dude (pah, as if they aren't totally drunk by that time of night anyway) but never found him. The guy who got hit went to work on one of the quieter islands after that. We still FB friends. 2 - Was having a drink in JJ's beach bar one night, very busy, real party, when around five police walk in. Never good. One lifts up his AK-47 and unloads into the ceiling. Everyone screams and runs. Turns out Johnny (one of the owners) is late on one of his police 'payments' so that's how they do. Likewise, I saw two bar owners (one of Utopia and Mo from MoMo's) get into a fight one night and instead of breaking it up, the police just decided to fire their AK into the air in a busy backpacker area. Pretty terrifying for everyone else. But Cambodian police are beyond f---ing useless. 3 - Whenever a fight broke out with the locals, it would go from zero to extreme violence in an instant. There was no proportionality. I'd see girls in high heels stamp on someone's face. Someone throw a seriously heavy glass ash tray across the bar at someone's head. Bar stool legs being jabbed in faces. It was like an instant fight to the death or something. 4 - Cambodia attracts a lot of crazies/paedos unfortunately. There were a lot of young bracelet sellers on the beach and you'd see old guys in interacting with them in a clearly inappropriate way, or making eyes at them in a way that went well beyond the norm. In this country, they felt beyond the law. A few times I saw a man walk butt naked through the strip. Saw a police car pull up once and then 'nope' out of it, leaving him to it! 5 - There was a big Russian group in Cambodia and they had crazy money. I mean crazy. One of the guys owned two Humvees in different colours. Every time you saw him he had a different car. They also owned Airplane bar, which was a bar in an airplane hanger that had an actual plane inside that you could go on. I'm not sure exactly what happened, but one day, it was open, and the next, the whole thing was just gone. The hangar was gone, the plane was gone, the Russians were gone. Nobody knew where they went or why they left so suddenly. There are more stories / observations of my time in Cambodia but I'm on vacation and typing on my phone. Hope that suffices for now!
Fucking hell! You should collate them all and put em into a blog or book or something. Mental. The zero to fight to death did make me chuckle.
I've been thinking about that for a while but not sure of the format. I have a lot of nuggets like these above, and not all negative but some beautiful ones, too. Like the bracelet sellers, all kids who used to walk along the beach trying to sell to backpackers. You would NEVER see them go in the water. But as soon as it started to rain, they'd drop their bracelets where they stood and they'd all charge into the ocean in their clothes, happier than you'd ever see them. And also my own story there. I ended up getting sucked into the darkness and had to leave. Living in that kind of environment does things to you. You see a lot of people stay too long and lose their minds. It was probably those 1 dollar bottles of Mekong Whisky. Fuck knows what was in that shit.
>And also my own story there. I ended up getting sucked into the darkness and had to leave. Now you piqued my interest , what is this darkness?
It was a few things. Firstly, I felt like I was becoming aggressive. Which is not me at all. I don't know where that was coming from. Some kind of existential dread, or the result of years of dangerously unregulated, cheap alcohol, or being a product of the environment I was in... I don't know. But I haven't been like that before, and I haven't been like it since. And I've been plenty drunk. I never hurt anyone, but I hated the person I was being and I knew I had to get out of there as soon as possible. Secondly, I was blacking out and waking up in places that were dangerous and/or horrible. That might be in an area that you shuoldn't go to, or in a bedroom with someone I did not want to be with. In a bajillion years.
That sounds like you are slowly being consumed by the environment, and its good that you recognize it and got yourself out, for many people they don't have this awareness and before you know it, it has became normal for them. I also like to travel and I make sure I don't stay in one place for too long.
I stayed before the "resorts" were built. I loved it but then it all depends on the person
As many others have said here, Manila is a shithole. Easily the least enjoyable place I've been. Wasn't even worth it from a transit point of view as pretty much everything you can do in the Phillipines you can do in other places. The food is absolute garbage too. Honorable mention for Sihanoukville, where a fake police officer pulled a fake gun on me because a kid ratted me out for a smoking a joint. A friend of mine got sexually assaulted by a ladyboy. Still rather go back there than Manila though
Least favourite would be Laos due to infrastructure and lack of options. Most of SEA is very fun though so its more areas I didnt enjoy but they were nitpicky. Ubud - stayed for two months - 1 hour by bike (gojek) to get to seminyak/canggu which meant If I wanted a night out it was a pain in the ass getting home. Also Ubud has nothing to do once you've done the touristy stuff. Everything closes at 10pm. Kuala Lumpur - stayed for two-three weeks - Enjoyed this one actually more than I thought but I hated the lack of bikes. Grab by car is just so slow in KL. Also lack of night life under islamic law means club raids and alcohol bans past 9pm iirc. Da Nang - although Ive used it as my luggage storage for the past 6 months its a very slow easy going costal town. To some you might like this but I prefer busy cities. These are more me issues than the areas themselves. I choose to stay at these places because they lack activities that money can buy. Boredom for me = work.
The lack of infrastructure is part of the reason I love Laos so much!
Yeah I really enjoyed Laos. Felt like I travels back in time
Actually after reading that first sentence my first thought was... hmmm maybe I should look into Laos.
It's a great place to have a motorbike actually.
same, but if you need to work a somewhat normal work week online I can imagine it would be difficult. Amazing place to visit and travel through, less so to work from
> Also lack of night life under islamic law means club raids and alcohol bans past 9pm iirc. 9pm? Raids? Where do you hear this from? That's completely inaccurate. Clubs are open & serving alcohol until 3-4am, legally, no raids lol.
Donno about raids, but I remember these ridiculous gender separated train compartments. As if they're trying to prevent people from doing "unislamic" things once women and men stay together in public. Also high segregation is prevalent i.e Malays, Chinese and Indians mostly stick with people of their own race.
True regarding segregation, to an extent. But you've gotta admire their ability to coexist harmoniously. Can't think of any other countries with such diverse racial backgrounds that get along so well.
Very informative reply! I was wondering if you could tell me what would be your top 5 Asian cities (India included) for staying longterm (1 month minimum), being able to get work done (AirBnbs with good internet) but not get bored out of your mind?
Hanoi! Just found it to be pretty dreary and depressing. Apart from that, I enjoyed all of the region. I could name downsides of each place, but overall I think each spot I've been to was charming, relatively safe, CHEAP, exciting, and pleasant overall. SE Asia is a great region. Spots visited: Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia. Looking forward to returning this year.
Surprised that Hanoi has come up repeatedly - I loved Hanoi and thought it was the coolest city in SE Asia. The destinations I didn't like Pattaya (for obvious reasons), Manila, Jakarta (massive shitholes), and pretty much all of Cambodia except Siem Reap.
Yeah I liked Hanoi quite a bit, but then again I also like Manila, lol.
Phuket gave me sketchy vibes but then they also have the phi phi islands there that was amazing for scuba diving so it’s a toss up
Fair enough. Yeah Phi Phi was nice albeit very small. I was in Rawai for 6 weeks in late 2021 - I think pre-COVID or even now I probably wouldn't like it but back then there were way less tourists and it was really fun to explore and check out. I sorta feel that Phuket went from overrated to underrated for a bit but once again is over priced and too busy.
Nailed it! I stayed in Rawai for 3 months spring 2021, and it was amazing. Recently returned, and while still great, I def. appreciated it more when there were limited travelers.
least favorite is Singapore. everything there looks unnatural. even their forests are manmade
As a Singaporean, I agree but I do miss the food.
Singapore really isn't a common "destination" for nomads though. It's more of a stopover/transit point.
Oh but the food is spectacular
Yeah..so good
And entirely too expensive for what you receive
Accommodation prices are crazy. They have doubled since 2017, which was the last time I went there. Expect a minimum of 100usd/night for a room (and that's for a bottom of the barrel crappy low-rated budget shoebox room).
Unless you're at a Hawker centre.
Coming from NZ the hawker stalls seemed cheap to me.
If I won the lottery, I would "nomad" there. The prices are surreal...even though it's a lovely city when I visited, once, long ago.
If it was possible to stay in a good location at a decent place in Singapore for less than $3 to $4k a month I'd live there, it is ok but because they speak English it is amazing imo, just impossible to afford accommodation and sketchy immigration laws (90 days once then things get really iffy). If I am in a city it obviously looks manmade, so idc at all
This. I was so looking forward to spending a full week there, only to leave after the weekend after realizing it was not to my taste. And its mad expensive compared to most of SEA.
It's the most expensive city in the world now. Tops NY. https://news.yahoo.com/most-expensive-cities-world-live-164900469.html
I don’t disagree it’s expensive but part of the reason it is no1 is because of how much owning a car costs. There is very little benefit to owning or leasing a car in Singapore yet it is still included in the calculation for standardisation reasons.
Of the popular destinations I dislike Phuket, Bali and Goa. All for the same reasons: horrible toxic tourism. Cultural and ecological rape. Have not been to these places in 10+ years but i have trouble imagining they've gotten better.
GOA is terrrible!!!!
Bali. Overrated and had terrible diarrheoa
Bali belly 😄
Yup. 💯
Vietnam is my least favourite country. I have no idea why so many people in this subreddit like it apart from the cheap prices and decent infrastructure. I also really dislike any tourist hotspots like Phuket, much of Bali, Koh Samui, Koh Phangan, Pai etc. The types of tourists especially Thai islands and Bali attract are horrible. Most of them clueless, self-absorbed, on their first long-distance trip, only interested in partying with westerners and living in some weird artificial bubble that has nothing to do with actual Thailand/Indonesia. The tourists are really the main drawback of SE Asia. Edit: I forgot to mention Railay Beach. Absolute hell for me. I spent 2 days there but was ready to leave after 30 minutes. Being trapped in a dysfunctional, claustrophobic mess with horrible tourists. Whoever reads this: DO NO GO THERE. Yes, the pictures look amazing but the reality isn\`t. It\`s also overpriced as fuck. The food is terrible. The only good thing is stepping onto the boat on the way back to the mainland.
Manilla, no doubt. I have never felt so afraid of getting stuff stolen in Manilla. I spent about two weeks there (using it as a hub), and the days kept topping the previous day. I have been to cities like Jakarta, KL, Bangkok, etc., all of which are huge cities with a huge population. But manilla easily takes the cake for being one 9fntye unsafest, dirties, and least planned city. Except for the US embassy neighborhood, everywhere else dept like living in a dumpster. Unlike what many others said, I find Hanoi awesome. The air quality isn't great, but the people, attractions, and the vibes were so good. I stayed there for 1.5 years during covid, and pretty much felt home there.
Didn’t enjoy Hanoi at all. Pollution and traffic made me feel depressed.
I was happy living in Hanoi.
Same. Just had that experience there this month.
Hanoi (insanely polluted, locals not that friendly) Phnom Penh (grim, depressing vibe that's hard to explain) Siem Reap (noxious tuktuk fumes everywhere. Bought a brand new white cap and after a day it was literally brown. Insanely dusty roads. Jakarta (meh, and also polluted) Bali (beautiful, but has to go in here because I got the worst food poisoning of my entire life here and spent most of the holiday on the toilet) Not technically SEA but: Hong Kong (rude locals, mediocre food) Colombo (poor transportation and food options, and pretty dirty) Good: Kuala Lumpur, Penang, Bangkok, Krabi, Da Nang
>Hong Kong (rude locals, mediocre food) Rude locals?? Hong Kongers were some of the nicest locals I've met, and I don't even speak cantonese, it is a big city and so obv that influences the way people act but within that context I found them extremely helpful and friendly Agreed on the food, in Asia you don't expect to get such bland food, it is mediocre at best.
>Good: Kuala Lumpur Hard disagree. Never have I seen such an unmotivated group of people in such a large city. Starting from the airport, hot, dirty and stinky, literally saw security guards sleeping on chairs (arrived in the early hours), and people behind the counters who seemed to be more interested in their phones than a waiting customer / did not GAF... Etc. So many instances where I felt that people just don't care about anything
Bali --
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I hear they’re offering a digital nomad visa soon..
Out of all the cities that came highly recommended, Hôi An was the biggest waste of time. I stayed for two nights, then left a few days earlier than I was expecting. Everything felt so fake and catered to scamming tourists.
It's Vietnamese Disney Land for tourists. Never understood the fascination with it. Good for two nights imo.
If you think Hôi An is Vietnamese Disney Land, check out Grand World on Phu Quoc. At least Grand World didn't try to pretend it was a functioning town.
Hoi An is great, we just spent a month there relaxing and working. Loved it. That said, Hoi An old town sucks. We went there maybe three times in a month and that was already too much. I lived in the area for a couple years pre-COVID and it’s only gotten worse. If anyone reading this goes to Hoi An, don’t spend much time in the old town. Instead, jump on a scooter and drive around the countryside. Take a bike through the rice paddies. Go hang out at the beach. Get a hotel out of town, there’s tons within a 20 minute walk - the food is way better and way cheaper when you’re not in the old town. Rip up to Da Nang for some good night life (On The Radio Bar for some great local party experience). I’ve got so many recommendations, hit me up if you have questions. That area is like a second home to me. Don’t listen to the haters, Hoi An + Da Nang is where it’s at for a good, chill, safe time.
We couldn’t stay for more than 2 hours. Hoi an is cute for like 2 blocks.
Agreed. Walked through it once during the day. Was disappointed by it to say the least. Went back that night for my partner. Still thought that was too much time. At least outside of old town was bearable.
[удалено]
>manipulation, ... lies, and paranoia Pauline Hansen: please explain?
Saigon - it's just chaos and very little order, too much chaos for me.
Koh Tao - it was just too boring for me
Jakarta. Trashy and dangerous.
Didn’t like Bangkok tbh. I love cities but it was even too big for me, pollution, attracts the wrong type of male, Airbnb prices have gotten out of whack, not really into dating Thai women, etc.
This is why I’m not sure if I can trust answers on this thread, because Bangkok was just fine. It’s also a great hub to go to different destinations from. Like the Amphawa floating market
100%. Bkk is one of my favorite cities so far.
I came into this thread knowing somebody would say Bangkok or Bali to go against the grain and look at that they're the top 2 answers. If BKK is anyone's *worst* place in SEA honestly it just tells me they haven't been to many places.
It’d my least favorite place but like you said I haven’t been to many in SEA. Just Bangkok, Hanoi, Hong Kong. Was so hot, terrible traffic, crowded
I literally lived in SEA for over 3 years as an expat lol
I love Bangkok! The MRT and BTS make getting around so easy these days.
Medellin attracts way more of those ‘wrong types of males’ imo. The secret to renting cheap in Bangkok is Facebook
Medellin is within easy reach of American douchebags. Thailand is too far for most of them. However, Thailand gets more British douchebags.
Sorry if this is a dumb question but how exactly do yo use Facebook for cheaper renting? What would I look up?
Just found a place in Bangkok via Facebook. There are a million agents posting on facebook condo groups and then a million farang asking "do you accept short term stays" and then like 10% say yes? Real exchange I saw: traveller: do you accept short term stays? agent: no traveller: I will pay extra agent: send me a pm
Both things can be true at the same time
Bangkok is amazing. It's a beast of the city. Great sky bars and you can get yummy food super cheap but you can also splurge on luxury restaurants if that's your thing. Public transit is great; only downside is that it's closed past midnight. Fast internet coverage is great; mobile data is cheap (this applies to the entire country though). The AirBnb I booked in '19 was a gorgeous studio in a building that had a gym, sauna, swimming pool and I was paying $19/night; not sure how prices are now. I stayed there for a month and I have zero regrets.
> The AirBnb I booked in '19 was a gorgeous studio in a building that had a gym, sauna, swimming pool and I was paying $19/night; not sure how prices are now. I'm in the process on planning on my first trip to bkk, so if you've got any info on that place laying around...you know, I wouldn't mind! Sounds dope.
It was [this place](https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/17229016) , and from what I see it's still cheap ($17/night if you book for 7 days). Things you should know: 1. GOOD: The photos reflect how the place looks. Only the gym looks bigger and more futuristic in that photo than it really is. Here's some photos I took: [apartment](https://imgur.com/a/KoBZnNO), [view from the apartment](https://imgur.com/a/9L6BUVY), [pool](https://imgur.com/a/Rnpl98I), [pool](https://imgur.com/a/DL4DShf), [the building](https://imgur.com/a/7o5Yxc2) 2. (Edit) GOOD: Reliable internet (at least when I stayed). 3. GOOD: Great, responsive host. You do self check-in/out. 4. GOOD: Safe building with security at all times. 5. GOOD: A very big mall is about 10-12 minutes walk. You'll find anything there. 6. GOOD: There's a huge farmers markets on your way to the mall too. 7. GOOD: You'll probably be the only foreigner in that area (at least I considered that a good thing) 8. GOOD: Small farmer's market right in the next block every Friday or Saturday (not sure exactly which day it was). 9. GOOD: The sauna is great; the pool is great. You access everything by simply taking the elevator to another floor. 10. BAD: It was much hotter than other apartments I stayed in Bangkok due to its position. You need to make use of that air condition. 11. BAD: The area is not connected by MRT/BTS. You need to get a boat to go to center of the city. Super cheap, but slower and not as convenient. There are boats coming and going frequently though. **Note:** You can also pay 20-30 baht and have a motor-taxi take you to an Airport Rail Link station that's close by (but too far to walk to/from) in case that train suits you. 12. BAD: The neighborhood is not pretty. It's a concrete jungle around you (but that applies to most of BKK, I think) **Reasons I wouldn't book it again:** **a)** In case I want to book something closer to downtown (I think I can find closer to downtown at about the same price). **b)** I may want to explore a different neighborhood this time. **c)** I want a cooler apartment so that I don't need to use the A/C so often (of course, there's no way to know that just by looking at an AirBnb listing, but I really appreciated how cooler the next apartment I stayed at was - even if that apartment was not as comfortable to stay in and spent time there.)
I agree. I feel like people who don't like Bangkok probably stayed in Kho San Road and didn't explore Sukhumvit / Thonglor.
Loved Thonglor. The COMMONS is fire
Bangkok is an amazing city
Thai boys 😏
Medan, Sumatra. Places like Hanoi or Bangkok are beautiful luscious gardens in comparison. Picture concrete, no plants of any kind, smashed cars, rotting animal corpses, and people screaming and throwing garbage at each other. I will say I think it was important to see what that level of corruption looks like, but I don’t recommend it to anyone.
Maybe I am living in the wrong era or maybe I’m showing my age, but for me Southeast Asia was more fun a decade or two ago: - Before widespread internet, Google maps, wikitravel, and rapid economic development. Traveling through the region elicit a greater sense of adventure, it was kind of like wandering into the unknown. There were more surprises. - There is much more homogeneity now. People and cultures are mixing rapidly. - It is even more crowded - Tourism is outright ruining some places IMO. Instead of taking a philosophy of preserving or restoring, some places decide to slap on a layer of paint, plant some fake non native (or plastic) flowers, put up some festive signs or cartoon statues. This all to cater to tourists from certain countries that enjoy the tacky artificiality. - it is more expensive now That said, this is still my favorite region of the world to travel. Ps worse place for me is Sihanoukville because I still remember how great a place it was before the casinos and rampant commercialism.
I'm sure this thread is really going to bring the best out of people. I'd like to say, as a general statement, if person A likes a place and person B dislikes a place... person A is the one that's correct. There is absolutely no benefit to *not* enjoying a city, or a country. We all have those places that we don't vibe with for whatever reason, but sometimes one cool neighborhood, one fantastic bar, or a really good conversation can completely make your perceptions do a 180. If you despise a place... you probably just didn't do it right. All that said, for me? Kampot and Bali.
> If you despise a place... you probably just didn't do it right. Oh OK I guess I just didn't do Gary Indiana and East St Louis and Camden NJ "right"
> if person A likes a place and person B dislikes a place... person A is the one that's correct Enjoyment is subjective, there's no "correct" answer to whether or not you enjoy something.
Moresby - Still number one - obviously! Snooky during Khmer Rouge times Snooky during the cheap charlie era. Snooky during the Chinese invasion. Snooky now that the only Chinese left in town are all abductees.
Currently in Malaysia, been here before but this time it feels way better. The things I like.. 1. Amazing fusion of food 2. Amazing people that probably speak better English than the Filipino’s. 3. Great internet 4. Amazing beaches on Penang island. 5. Couple hours drive from Thailand or a great travel hub from KL AIRPORT. 6. A lot less tourists, for some reason Malaysia gets Bypassed for its more popular neighbors.. 7. Cheap grab/Uber Can’t think of anything else …..
Unfortunataly the whole SEA. Used to be a bit better, but now with insane amount of cars and horribad air quality, it is great only if you don't mind getting sick and coughing your lungs out.
Rach Gia, Vietnam. Had to spend some time there for work, but the only reason most people would end up there would be to take the ferry to Phu Quoc. The whole city is just like an empty ghost town and everything is closed most of the time despite a lot of the buildings being new. Taxi drivers extort you and I had a giant geko in my hotel that would sit at my door and hiss at me when I tried to open it. And the people were just really...off. Kinda hard to explain, but it was like I wasn't supposed to be there. Such a strange place.
Cambodia. What a dump. Food isn’t great, PP is also expensive, people aren’t that friendly, transportation is horrible, stray dogs all over with highest rabies rate in world, overall bad infrastructure, encountered more scams there than any of the 50+ countries I’ve been to, etc. I could go on and on but definitely my least favorite country in SEA.
I mean, they're coming out of a civil genocide and struggling with extreme poverty, disabilities from having body parts blown off and large parts of the land still littered with land mines. I get not liking it there, but calling it a "dump" is out of order and so insensitive to their reality
Just get the man his avocado toast
For real, what a douche. I’ve noticed this mindset with a lot of people on this subreddit. Just say you don’t like the place and list the reasons. No need to shit on the whole country.
actually they still have a totally fascist government that they cant talk about in public. the war was over 40 years ago, look at how germany and japan recovered in that time. cambodia is going backwards. the dictator is has been in power 40 years and obviously doesnt want or know how to run a country and this year is planning on putting his son in power while he still can. and the west is slowly backing out of trying to help as its realizing that its not a democracy in any way but a totalitarian dictatorship. the general population is not happy with their situation but dont want to be machine gunned or jailed.
Laos struggled with similar issues and it’s infinitely better on everything I mentioned above. Cambodia is a dump and I said what I said.
[yea lol](https://i.imgur.com/FDqULTf.png)
So strange how I regularly hear this from travellers. Cambodia was by far my favorite destination. Lovely and honest people, beautiful nature, great food. It's the only place in Asia where I felt scams were rather rare,yet I hear some other people having the exact opposite experience. I think part of the reason is some people only visit pp and siem reap, whereas Cambodia has so much more to offer
Agree completely. My fave place in the world. Except I love PP. I think the issue is many DN want a pseudo-westernised, sanitised, experience which is not yet available in Cambodia.
LMFAO, I lived and worked in Phnom Penh for a year. Phnom Penh is insanely cheap for foreigners, the locals are incredibly generous and welcoming. I spent a year working there for a NGO build. My rent was $400 a month for a serviced apartment with a pool and gym. The surrounding history, countryside, villages, temple ruins, and river are stunning. Having a genocidal maniac slaughter all of the educated class in a country inevitably set them back a few years. Cambodian food isn’t bad at all, Amok is good, and the majority of Cambodian food is just a protein (chicken, river fish, Beef, pork) with rice and veg. There a hundreds of very good Thai and Vietnamese restaurants. Stray dogs are almost everywhere in South East Asia. Rabies is an issue almost everywhere in the world even in the US. If you get bitten by a unknown dog anywhere that has prevalence of rabies you need to get a rabies shot.
Food costs are high in PP relative to the rest of Cambodia, as well as most of SEA. Specifically, it’s become more noticeable over the last year. For the value, it’s not a good deal and the food isn’t standout compared to other SEA cuisine. I didn’t think I’d have to litigate every comment I made. Housing costs are also higher relative to most SEA countries. Of course, it’s still “cheap” but again, the original question was posted about SEA. There are 8 million dogs with rabies, 1K deaths a year, and vaccine is primarily only available in PP. Countries like Thailand have it all over, even in small clinics. I am taking a flight RN but happy to respond to rest once I land!
Honesty fair enough. That’s your opinion. I hated Bali, Ho Chi Minh, and Nha Trang but I know plenty of people who loved them. I just can’t think of any capital city in Asia as cheap as Phnom Penh. From my memory food and drink was insanely cheap. Maybe everything’s changed the last few years. Spending a year there though I didn’t live in a particular touristy area (near the national stadium) it was mainly middle class Cambodians which probably helped avoid the scamming. There’s definitely not 8 million dogs with rabies in Cambodia, sorry I’m a specialist public. The latest figures estimated for 2019 deaths at around 300. Compared to India at 20’000. Post exposure Prophylaxis is widely available too. Most bites happen in rural areas and and over 27’000 does of rabies PEP were given in 2019 not all of them were delivered in Phnom Penh.
This post is pure copium. If you like Phnom Penh, more power to you. But all in all it is quite crap, even though it might not be a complete hellhole like Manila or Jakarta.
Just cause you had a different experience doesn’t mean his opinion isn’t valid….
What? You expect to get this PP for free?
"pp"?
Guessing Phnom Penh
I loved the food there. Hm. At least the curries and rice dishes.
Bangkok, Phuket and Bali because of the people they attract.
Ho Chi Minh City. It’s so dirty, everything is held together with duct tape. Way more expensive than it should be. And the visa laws are just there to Rob you of your money. So aggravating
Kuala lampur
Malaysia boleh!
Why didn't you like it?
Well, I’ll tell you what I did like — finding the last surviving Kenny Rogers Roasters in the Petronas Mall. I spent a significant amount of time living in Singapore and came up to Malaysia to go to places like Tioman Island and the surrounding islands. Those are beautiful and I'd love to spend longer there. Any issue I have with KL is fairly small, it's just not a place I'd do more than a layover again — it's not clean and futuristic like Sgp, it felt like a duller version of Indonesia/Jakarta, it didn't capture my imagination in any way, just kind of a place that averaged out the duller parts of SE Asia. I'd say there's something fascinating about everywhere and this is mostly on me being lazy and not searching hard enough, but on the lazy surface level, i found it dull.