President Obama is headed for the Far East. I’ve never been there. If I went, I think I’d go to Cambodia, Vietnam, and the beaches in Thailand. Have you been? Where would you go?
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BooMan
Martin Longman a contributing editor at the Washington Monthly. He is also the founder of Booman Tribune and Progress Pond. He has a degree in philosophy from Western Michigan University.
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Hong Kong. Durr. 🙂
I would go to the Grand Canyon. That’s far enough east for me.
‘If Columbus had landed in Southern California instead of the east coast, everything east of the rockies would still be wilderness’
; )
nalbar
My wife’s a Filipina, so plainly I’ve been there (Manila and the Bataan peninsula, and Cebu island).
I’ve flown through Taipei and Seoul, and have visited Vladivostok (Interesting….pricey, though). I really want to visit Japan, though…..
i’ve been to vietnam. i spent that whole trip in VN only, with a one day stopover in hong kong. VN was, quite easily, the most beautiful place i have ever been.
most of the other travelers i met, however, doing a loop that started in bankok and went from thailand to laos to vietnam to cambodia and then back to thailand (or sometimes the reverse of that loop). almost to a person, they all thought that laos was the most interesting of those countries to visit. as one person said “it’s like vietnam was before it got so touristy.” so i guess i would recommend laos, even though i’ve never been there.
as for where i would want to go, i’d look further south, to indonesia, malaysia and brunei. but honestly, i’d be happy just to get out of the country to canada at this point.
I’d have to be sure to stop by the city of Obama, in Fukui, Japan.
In order:
Hong Kong.
Singapore.
Bangkok
Japan.
Would not go to:
The P.I.
Viet Nam
Guam
Indonesia
Why? Too many bad memories from my mis-spent youth.
Never been further than the eastern end of Long Island. (I grew up in western Long Island.) I’d love to go to Hong Kong.
Most of what I know except historical stuff I got from ‘No Reservations’ on the Travel Channel. For what’s it worth Indonesia, then Vietnam and lastly Bali. They all look incredible.
Spent time in Japan in the ’80s & in a trip a couple of years ago (my ex is Japanese); I love the temples at Kyoto, and Hiroshima is profoundly moving. I also liked Okinawa a lot.
I would love to spend time exploring China, government notwithstanding.
Singapore, Hong Kong, Kuala Lampur, Tokyo
Let’s see, I’ve lived in Taiwan for just over 8 years, so I know this place pretty well. Great stuff here but I don’t think it’s very tourist-friendly for English speakers.
I’ve been to Bali (everywhere), Hong Kong (airport), Cambodia (Siem Riep, to see the Wats), Vietnam (Ho Chi Minh City, Halong Bay, Hanoi), Mainland China (Yangtse River, Chongxing, Zhang Jia Jie, Zhouzhuang, Feng Huang, handful of less remarkable spots), Thailand (BK and Chiang Mai, part of the rural south, the Golden Triangle), Kuala Lumpur (the Petronas Towers have to be seen up close to be appreciated), the Philippines (Manila and Cebu), and Laos, although only just barely set foot there.
I’d Like to see pretty much the rest of Vietnam and Thailand, hit Cambodia again, definitely get another look at Kuala Lumpur, and more of Malaysia in general. Other places, Papua New Guinea, Pulao, more of the islands in the Ring of Fire, and pretty much everywhere in Japan. I hear the mountains of North Korea are stunning, but of course that trip’s not in the cards anytime soon.
As mentioned above, everyone I’ve talked to that’s been around much all say that Laos is the best, so I’d like to really get around there too.
I forgot to mention Xi ‘An in China. If you ever think about going there, that was by far my favorite place that we visited (never been to Beijing, oddly). The rest of the Chinese names can be wiki’d and googled for some good pics and travel accounts.
I say ‘Indo’, you say ‘nesia!’
“INDO!”
Bali, Sulawesi, Yogyakarta, Irianjaya, Flores, etc., etc., etc.
For an unforgettable trip, you cannot go wrong.
Flores has been nominally on my list since one of my diving instructors in Bali was from there, and I thought he was a top-notch guy. Can you tell me a little about it? It just struck me from the outset as a place that I’d really enjoy.
It’s ‘out there’, so if you are looking for a trip without hitches of hiccups, don’t bother. Part of the fun for me was getting there – a boat trip from Bali to Flores/Kamodo and back. I remember the underwater scene (snorkeling) was the most colorful anywhere – like they coined the term florescent because of the place. Housing was dirt cheap and so was the diving, but I would take the time to find a first class dive operation – there is a lot of magical thinking in Indo which could cost you your life – a few questions about Nitrogen mixes, etc should allay your concerns (this is a country where a spell, a ribbon and bow could be the only thing securing 20 tons of logs on a Lorry).
I would actually recommend Northern Sulawesi and Sulawesi in general for diving (must know politics on ground a bit) – there is tons of stuff you just can’t see anywhere else. Bunaken is an island that comes to mind..
Either way, take at least 3 weeks for the trip, so travel, holiday, political or weather issues don’t spoil your fun.