East/South-East Asia Trip Suggestions

"AES" wrote in message
...
In article ,
Alfred Molon wrote:


Yes, I do have a guidebook and it tells me that there is not too much to
see in Hong Kong.

By the way, why is nobody suggesting to visit Bangkok. It's the place to
see for a first time visitor to Asia. Lots of things to see in Bangkok
itself, then there are the nearby Ayutthaya ruins and not too far away
there are islands with beautiful beaches.
--

For this one-time visitor (who's also seen Tokyo, Taiwan, Seoul,
Bangkok, Singapore, etc), Hong Kong is so spectacular from a _scenic_
viewpoint (the harbor, the views from the top of Hong Kong island and
all around it's shores, etc) and at the same time more than sufficiently
exotic that it's not to be missed.

(And Bangkok is a close second, with the sights on and along the river.)
(And Sydney also ranked way up there.)

But if your personal interests run to more serious cultural attractions,
then Seoul, Taiwan, Tokyo could well outrank Hong Kong.

Agreed and Taiwan has a great mix of friendly people, good food, a nice city
in Taipei, world class scenery in Taraoko Gorge as well as the coastal drive
from Hualien to Ilan, white water rafting, beaches from blank sand to rugged
to touristy, temples and tons of cultural delights, the museum in Taipei
that is constantly rotating the exhibits and on and on.

Bill

"Bill Barnes" wrote in message
...

"AES" wrote in message
...
In article ,
Alfred Molon wrote:


Yes, I do have a guidebook and it tells me that there is not too much to
see in Hong Kong.

By the way, why is nobody suggesting to visit Bangkok. It's the place to
see for a first time visitor to Asia. Lots of things to see in Bangkok
itself, then there are the nearby Ayutthaya ruins and not too far away
there are islands with beautiful beaches.
--

For this one-time visitor (who's also seen Tokyo, Taiwan, Seoul,
Bangkok, Singapore, etc), Hong Kong is so spectacular from a _scenic_
viewpoint (the harbor, the views from the top of Hong Kong island and
all around it's shores, etc) and at the same time more than sufficiently
exotic that it's not to be missed.

(And Bangkok is a close second, with the sights on and along the river.)
(And Sydney also ranked way up there.)

But if your personal interests run to more serious cultural attractions,
then Seoul, Taiwan, Tokyo could well outrank Hong Kong.

Agreed and Taiwan has a great mix of friendly people, good food, a nice
city in Taipei, world class scenery in Taraoko Gorge as well as the
coastal drive from Hualien to Ilan, white water rafting, beaches from
blank sand to rugged to touristy, temples and tons of cultural delights,
the museum in Taipei that is constantly rotating the exhibits and on and
on.

Bill

Sorry, meant black sand not blank.

"Steve" wrote in message
...
"Alfred Molon" wrote in message
...
Also the time is quite tight, if you want to visit all these four
cities. Skip Beijing, because it is not a nice city. Instead of Hong
Kong visit Seoul, which is more interesting. Tokyo is very nice, but
you'll need at least 4-5 days, better one week.

Based on the feedback here, I think I would cut it down to three cities.
Probably HK, Tokyo and Singapore.

Quite fancy Seoul though. I would maybe do Seoul and Beijing on another
trip.



Let us know if you choose Seoul. I've never had a desire to see Korea, even
more so since I went to Tokyo, so would be interested in your opinion. For
some reason it sounds all too modern - bombed heavily in the '50s -and the
last old city gate burned down a couple of years back. The cuisine seems
daunting and I'm told Koreans are fairly xenophobic and unfriendly.

But then I'm a big fan of Hong Kong and Jakarta. They ooze history - good
and bad. And I pretty much loathe Singapore.

Cheers,
George W Russell
Bangalore