Planning a world trip - advice needed

[ZZZZZZZROPE]

My and my gf are currently planning an around the world trip in August, with the below route;

New York (5 nights)
Cancun (2 weeks)
Lima (1 week)
Rio de Janeiro (1 week)
Buenos Aires (1 week)
Johannesburg (2 weeks)
Delhi (2 weeks)
Bangkok (2 months)
Beijing (1 week)

We are trying to do it a cheaply as possible with regards to accommodation etc

Does anyone who has done something similar have and advice?

Also i know there are alot of people on here who have been to Thailand etc. Would it be best to rent for 2 months or just stay in hotels etc?

Finally i would be looking to bring my laptop to grind a bit as i went. Would there be any countries that it wouldn't be safe to carry a laptop about, or should it be fine?

[The Camel]

While Bangkok is well worth a visit, why are you planning on 2 months there?

Thailand outside the capital is better imo.

[ZZZZZZZROPE]

yeah sorry thats just where we fly into, we are planning on travelling about, maybe also go to cambodia etc?

[Woodsey]

Going to Beijing in a few weeks so will report back. Hotels/guesthouse are cheap and good quality  in Thailand, I'd just do that so you can move around as you fancy it.

Get to Cape Town if you can, it's a long way from jo'burg though, fantastic city probably my fav city in the world. If you fancy going out to Kruger park for a few days rent a car and book national park accommodation inside the park online, was quite cheap but not been for 3 or 4 years. Think group backpacker type trips can be done from jo'burg out there too, which might be cheaper but you will need to cheack. The game is of much higher concentration and easier viewing in the southern third of the park so, stay in that general area.

There's a standard Rajastan/golden triangle circuit most people do from Delhi which I enjoyed, Delhi is worth 2 or 3 days in its own right too for sightseeing and general mooching and sucking up the atmosphere of the madness of India. Plenty of wtf's to be had in India if you have never been to the subcontinent before.

[kinboshi]

The Forbidden City in Beijing is an amazing place.

[The Camel]

Start the trip with a bang.

Stay here for a couple of nights:

http://www.mandarinoriental.com/bangkok/

It's about £200 a night, but anywhere else in the world it would be nearer a grand a night.

Amazing hotel.

[Woodsey]

The Forbidden City in Beijing is an amazing place.

If you had 4 or 5 days in Beijing what else would do there Dan?

[kinboshi]

The Forbidden City in Beijing is an amazing place.

If you had 4 or 5 days in Beijing what else would do there Dan?

I spent 3 days there.  Forbidden City is a definite, and Tiananmen Square at the same time.  Then a trip to the Great Wall, most take you to Badaling but don't know if that's the best place to see the wall.  As well as that, take in the street bazaars - they're incredible.  It's been 15 years since I was there though, so I might not be the best person to ask.

[Doobs]

Start the trip with a bang.

Stay here for a couple of nights:

http://www.mandarinoriental.com/bangkok/

It's about £200 a night, but anywhere else in the world it would be nearer a grand a night.

Amazing hotel.

We paid just over £50 in Kuala Lumpur, and less than £200 in Vegas.  The KL one must have been the best value hotel I have ever stayed in.

When travelling round Thailand I wouldn't book in advance anywhere.  You tend to pay half the internet rate if you turn up and haggle and they aren't so busy.  When travelling I think we only got badly caught out once in Malaysia, where we had to stay in some really bad beach huts, but even then it was just one night and we moved in the morning.  We loved Thailand and have been back a couple of times, staying much posher each time.  If you get down to the South of Thailand the Perhentians are worth a trip just over the border in Malaysia.  When I went you could see sharks and turtles snorkelling off the beach.  I haven't been for a long time, and in that time turtle numbers have allegedly fallen markedly, so maybe it isn't as unspoilt as it once was.  Edit: Just looked up the place I stayed on trip advisor, and it appears that the place is falling down, guess they haven't fixed up the rooms in 15 years.  Glad to see Rock Garden (my one really bad experience) is still resolutely bottom of the rankings there.  In Fact everything seems to have gone dowhill about the Perhentians looking at the reviews, shame it really was beautiful at one time, especially under the water.

Echo what was said on South Africa, if you can get the state owned National Park rate it is a lot cheaper than the luxury lodges.  We stayed in a rondavel in some minor National Park for peanuts.  We had warthogs and monkeys monkeying around just outside our door.  It really was very good, but it was about 15 years ago and I really can't remember what the place was called.  I loved Cape Town and if you can get on Stellenbosch wine tasting trip, it is really beautiful there too.

I have never been, but not heard great things about Bangkok, but mainly good things about Peru.

What, no Australia/NZ?

[The Camel]

Start the trip with a bang.

Stay here for a couple of nights:

http://www.mandarinoriental.com/bangkok/

It's about £200 a night, but anywhere else in the world it would be nearer a grand a night.

Amazing hotel.

We paid just over £50 in Kuala Lumpur, and less than £200 in Vegas.  The KL one must have been the best value hotel I have ever stayed in.

When travelling round Thailand I wouldn't book in advance anywhere.  You tend to pay half the internet rate if you turn up and haggle and they aren't so busy.  When travelling I think we only got badly caught out once in Malaysia, where we had to stay in some really bad beach huts, but even then it was just one night and we moved in the morning.  We loved Thailand and have been back a couple of times, staying much posher each time.  If you get down to the South of Thailand the Perhentians are worth a trip just over the border in Malaysia.  When I went you could see sharks and turtles snorkelling off the beach.  I haven't been for a long time, and in that time turtle numbers have allegedly fallen markedly, so maybe it isn't as unspoilt as it once was.

Echo what was said on South Africa, if you can get the state owned National Park rate it is a lot cheaper than the luxury lodges.  We stayed in a rondavel in some minor National Park for peanuts.  We had warthogs and monkeys monkeying around just outside our door.  It really was very good, but it was about 15 years ago and I really can't remember what the place was called.  I loved Cape Town and if you can get on Stellenbosch wine tasting trip, it is really beautiful there too.

I have never been, but not heard great things about Bangkok, but mainly good things about Peru.

What, no Australia/NZ?

I was quite surprised at the rate quoted on the website tbh.

I seemed to remember it was half that when I stayed about 4-5 years ago.

No comparison to Vegas MO though, the Bangkok one is much much better.

ZZZRope is an Aussie I believe.

[ZZZZZZZROPE]

thanks for all the replies!

Hi woodsy, i think we are going to do kruger park then we are going to stay in cape town. Ill need to do some research though and get the cheapest rate.

 i found this hostel in cape town which looks pretty fun;

http://www.hostelworld.com/hosteldetails.php/Ashanti-Lodge-Gardens/Cape-Town/978?dateFrom=07+Sep+2013&dateTo=14+Sep+2013&sc_sau=avdc&sc_pos=1


I like the idea of just moving around thailand and taking it as it comes. We may go to Cambodia also.

Does anyone have experience with rio? it seems ridiculously expensive!!

I'm actually Scottish Camel and we were thinking of doing Aus at a different time, but i am in the process of convincing Camilla of a 6 month ' working'  holiday in Australia after Beijing. That would be awesome.

[Woodsey]

Looks a decent place. I think you are at the top end of downtown there, just be careful at night in that location, use taxis etc, daytime will be fine. You will enjoy CT a lot I think.

A few more tips on Kruger for you. Its easy to drive around yourself, but you have to be back in the camps by a set time, around 5ish or something, you can't go out on your own after that. Some but not all of the national park camps organise night safaris that take you out in a truck with spotlights at night, I would try and stay in the camps that do that. The numbers are limited so you have to book them well in advance too as they only send out 2 or 3 small trucks and it does sell out in advance. They will take you out for 3 hours of something, take a few beers with you and enjoy  

Also if you are feeling brave   some of the camps do walking safaris, these give you a totally different experience and are well worth doing. You will have an experienced armed guide and its actually pretty safe. You won't see as many animals probably because you don't cover as much ground on foot, but it just gives you a different perspective on the bush and the guides are pretty good. If you want to do that, I'd suggest doing it towards the back end of your visit to Kruger. The reason I say that is because on the first couple of days you will be all enthusiastic and dead excited with all the new stuff you are seeing, by day 3/4 most people turn into safari snobs and are only interested in finding the big stuff like lions etc. That is then a good time to do something new, once you're bored of seeing your millionth springbok  

Also, if your not tight on space and good pair of binoculars a good idea and, you deffo need a torch for walking through the camp at night to keep an eye out for nasties on the ground. There's always a few comedy hyenas sniffing around the camp fences at night too to have a look at with your torch too 

[ZZZZZZZROPE]

Looks a decent place. I think you are at the top end of downtown there, just be careful at night in that location, use taxis etc, daytime will be fine. You will enjoy CT a lot I think.

A few more tips on Kruger for you. Its easy to drive around yourself, but you have to be back in the camps by a set time, around 5ish or something, you can't go out on your own after that. Some but not all of the national park camps organise night safaris that take you out in a truck with spotlights at night, I would try and stay in the camps that do that. The numbers are limited so you have to book them well in advance too as they only send out 2 or 3 small trucks and it does sell out in advance. They will take you out for 3 hours of something, take a few beers with you and enjoy 

Also if you are feeling brave  some of the camps do walking safaris, these give you a totally different experience and are well worth doing. You will have an experienced armed guide and its actually pretty safe. You won't see as many animals probably because you don't cover as much ground on foot, but it just gives you a different perspective on the bush and the guides are pretty good. If you want to do that, I'd suggest doing it towards the back end of your visit to Kruger. The reason I say that is because on the first couple of days you will be all enthusiastic and dead excited with all the new stuff you are seeing, by day 3/4 most people turn into safari snobs and are only interested in finding the big stuff like lions etc. That is then a good time to do something new, once you're bored of seeing your millionth springbok 

Yeah the night safari sounds like great fun! ill need to do alot of reading up over the next couple of days.

What area in cape town would be your first choice?

[Woodsey]

Looks a decent place. I think you are at the top end of downtown there, just be careful at night in that location, use taxis etc, daytime will be fine. You will enjoy CT a lot I think.

A few more tips on Kruger for you. Its easy to drive around yourself, but you have to be back in the camps by a set time, around 5ish or something, you can't go out on your own after that. Some but not all of the national park camps organise night safaris that take you out in a truck with spotlights at night, I would try and stay in the camps that do that. The numbers are limited so you have to book them well in advance too as they only send out 2 or 3 small trucks and it does sell out in advance. They will take you out for 3 hours of something, take a few beers with you and enjoy 

Also if you are feeling brave  some of the camps do walking safaris, these give you a totally different experience and are well worth doing. You will have an experienced armed guide and its actually pretty safe. You won't see as many animals probably because you don't cover as much ground on foot, but it just gives you a different perspective on the bush and the guides are pretty good. If you want to do that, I'd suggest doing it towards the back end of your visit to Kruger. The reason I say that is because on the first couple of days you will be all enthusiastic and dead excited with all the new stuff you are seeing, by day 3/4 most people turn into safari snobs and are only interested in finding the big stuff like lions etc. That is then a good time to do something new, once you're bored of seeing your millionth springbok 

Yeah the night safari sounds like great fun! ill need to do alot of reading up over the next couple of days.

What area in cape town would be your first choice?

My first choice would be camps bay but its really expensive. You need a car really when you are there, so assuming you have a car I would probably just stay at somewhere like you have chosen that's fits in with your budget and just drive around. Taxis are cheap so if you want to have a drink just use them at night, but deffo don't start wandering around the downtown area at night.

[Woodsey]

Just a quick heads up for your about the Chinese visa because I've just posted off my application this morning. The cost of it is 84 quid! Talk about taking the piss, don't think I've ever paid even half that anywhere else, with postage costs its costing me nearly 100 quid