A 27 day itinerary in Asia
This trip was the most demanding trip I’ve planned so far. This trip included a country with extremely low number of tourists and a country with regulated tourism. This meant months of researching, trying to plan an itinerary that allowed us to visit six countries in 27 days. That is why I was so pleased when I figured out that my research was spot on. I wouldn’t have spent my days in any other way. If you have an extra day or two, sure, add a day here and there but I got to see all the things I wanted in 27 days. It doesn’t mean that I’m not going back; cause I’ll probably be back to some of these countries, but this itinerary covers a great mix of what to do in these six Asian countries.
Some people want to go on a trip and figure out the route along the way but since I have limited days of traveling, I plan my trips. Planning allows me to get the most out of my vacation days. When I plan a longer trip, I always keep in mind that countries can offer a similarity of things to see and do, which is why I try to visit places that are unique for a country. I often solve this by making sure I plan limited time in big cities, because they often offer a great deal of similarity, they’re usually not that different. I rather spend time in the countryside or rural areas to truly get an authentic experience. When I do spend time in the big cities, I spend time on what’s unique to that specific city. This is why I spent most of my time in the Ho Chi Minh area learning more about the Vietnam War.
Another thing I also make sure to do when I discover similar things to see and do between the countries, I make sure to check out which one of the two places that offers the best experience. For this trip I decided to do a swamp tour in Bangladesh instead of doing a tour on the Mekong Delta in Vietnam, based on other people’s feedback. Trip Advisor can help you with that if you don’t have anyone to ask.
Tips:
- To research flights, I recommend using a search engine, such as Momondo or Skyscanner, to check what airlines are flying and at what times
- To book hotels, I prefer either Booking.com or Hotels.com
So, this was my itinerary for 27 days
Day 1: Bangkok, Thailand
Since we only had a day in Bangkok, we stayed at an airport hotel. This is convenient if you have an early flight the next day.
I’ll come back with “24 hours in Bangkok” but we spent the day checking out temples, a food market and a river cruise
Day 2: Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam
Caught an early flight to Ho Chi Minh so we’d have plenty of time to check out the city. I use either Grab or Uber when I arrive in a new country, just to avoid the hassle of bargaining without really knowing what your final price should be. Grab worked great in Vietnam.
Day 3: Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam
The Cu Chi tunnels. It was a great experience, don’t miss out on this.
Day 4: Hoi An, Vietnam
There are different ways to travel from Ho Chi Ming to Hoi An and due to limited time we chose to fly most of the way. If you choose to fly, Da Nang is the closest airport and then you can catch the shuttle bus or a taxi. We chose to use the Grab app and get a driver since the next bus wasn’t set to depart until an hour after we landed. The price isn’t too much of a difference if you’re more than two people traveling.
Day 5: Hoi An, Vietnam
This little town is so charming. I truly recommend making room for this place in your next itinerary to Vietnam.
We rented scooters for the day to see the surrounding area of Hoi An.
Day 6: Chiang Mai, Thailand
There are direct flights from Da Nang to Chiang Mai with AirAsia at a low cost, so this is what we did. We spent the day getting familiar with the city, checking out some temples and eating delicious Thai food.
Day 7: Chiang Mai, Thailand
We went to an Elephant Sanctuary. This was such a fun experience! Please, do not ride elephants! Spend time with the rescued elephants instead.
Day 8: Chiang Mai, Thailand
A full day checking out Doi Inthanon National Park. This is one of Thailand’s most famous national parks. My favorite part was seeing the King and Queen Pagodas.
Day 9: Chiang Rai, Thailand
If you’re in the Chiang Mai area, please make sure to spend at least a day in Chiang Rai. Chiang Rai has some amazing temples! It’s easy to catch a bus from Chiang Mai and the ride is about 3,5 hours between the two cities.
Day 10: Left Chiang Mai, traveled to Mandalay, Myanmar
Spent the day checking out the last couple of temples that we wanted to see before heading to Mandalay, Myanmar. The flight time is about an hour. We flew with a small airplane and there were only a couple other passengers, almost giving us the private jet feeling.
Day 11: Mandalay, Myanmar
Only spent a day checking out Mandalay and finished the itinerary for the day just in time to see the sunset from Mandalay Hill. I’ll write a separate post “24 hours in Mandalay”
Day 12: Bagan, Myanmar
After checking off the list for Mandalay, we went to Bagan and there are several ways to travel from Mandalay to Bagan:
– Plane
– Taxi
– Bus
We chose to get a taxi but remember to bargain! My boyfriend was able to get a taxi for 50 dollars, which is half of what most drivers were asking. The drive is 3 hours.
Day 13: Bagan, Myanmar
We rented e-scooters, they are the perfect way to get around. You’re able to go wherever, whenever, seeing all the temples. Even going a bit off road.
Day 14: Bagan, Myanmar
The area is green and lush and there are temples literally everywhere. An amazing place! If you don’t want to spend $300 on a hot air balloon ride, make sure to check out the Bagan Watchtower at sunrise.
Day 15: Travel day. Bagan à Mandalay à Bangkok
As I mentioned, this was not an easy trip to plan. When I say it wasn’t easy, I mean fitting all of these countries into a 27 days itinerary. I chose to travel to Bhutan with DrukAsia as my travel operator and they book airline tickets from DrukAir. DrukAir doesn’t fly every day from all their departure cities so the only way we could fit in all the places we wanted on this trip, meant that we had to travel from Myanmar, via Bangkok in order to get to Bhutan. Our day 15 then became a travel day. We spent the night at an airport hotel in Bangkok.
Day 16: Timphu, Bhutan
We caught an early flight from Bangkok to Bhutan, which meant that we had a full day to spend when we landed. Our guide and driver picked us up at the airport, and then we headed straight to Timphu.
Day 17: Paro, Bhutan
Bhutan is a beautiful country and Paro is a small town with a nice shopping street that offers a variety of souvenirs. Paro is also the closest town to Tiger’s nest, Bhutan’s most recognized spots.
Day 18: Paro, Bhutan
DrukAsia saved the best for last. We spent out last day hiking the Tiger’s Nest. An inredible experience I could finally check off my bucket list!
Day 19: Bhutan to Dhaka, Bangladesh
We left a relaxing country for a busy one. Landed in Bangladesh and the hassle began. We tried Grad and since it didn’t work, we decided to get a taxi with taximeter. The taxi ride wasn’t a pleasant experience so when we figured out that we could use Uber, we could enjoy Dhaka a bit more. Definitely recommend using Uber as a tourist.
Day 20: Dhaka, then Sylhet, Bangladesh in the evening
I would recommend taking the train, I’ve heard plenty of people enjoying the experience and I think I would have too but we chose not to, simply because we weren’t too sure of the safety. There isn’t that much to do in Dhaka, so 24 hours allowed us to see all the places we wanted.
Day 21: Sylhet, Bangladesh
I really enjoyed getting out of the big city. Sylhet is not as busy and not as noisy and surrounded by tea plantations and beautiful paddy fields. The cost of hiring a driver for a day is cheap, so I recommend having a driver to show you the countryside.
Day 22: Sylhet, Bangladesh
Sylhet is famous for it’s tea plantations so make sure to check that out. Tourism is not really established, so don’t expect a guided tour with an English-speaking guide, but the experience is still nice.
Day 23: Sylhet to Delhi
We had a return ticket to Dhaka, then a one-way ticket to Delhi. This meant that we had to pick up our luggage at baggage claim in Dhaka, before heading over to check-in. The flight from Sylhet did for some reason land at the international terminal, and since the international and domestic terminal are separate, we had to make our way to the domestic terminal to pick up our luggage, then make our way back to the international terminal to check-in.
Our plan was to make it to Agra that same night, so we could wake up early to see Taj Mahal when it opened. Landing in Delhi, we didn’t know exactly how to get to Agra. I wanted to take the train but since there were only general class tickets we decided to hire an Uber. The drive was about 3 hours.
Day 24: Agra
Woke up to see the Taj Mahal at sunrise. After spending a couple of hours there we got back to the hotel, had breakfast, a little nap, then headed to Jaipur. Our plan was to see both Fatehpur Sikri and Abhaneri Step Well but we only had time for Fatehpur Sikri.
Day 25: Jaipur
Riding a tuc tuc is part of the experience while visiting India, so we decided to hire one for the day. We managed to see pretty much all there is to see except for the forts. We saved them for day 26.
Day 26: Jaipur
We didn’t fly out of Jaipur until later that evening, so we spent the day seeing the forts and Jawahar Circle. Jawahar Circle is a must!
Day 27:
Set for departure. We finished our 27 days of traveling and headed home. Can’t believe how many experiences I got to collect in just under a month.
