Top 10 Destinations in South East Asia

I am lucky enough to have visited every country in South East Asia.

OK, so I haven’t been to every inch of the place but I’ve a better angle than most so I’d thought I give you guys my top 10 picks!

First let me give you the criteria.

These places/countries are judged on:

• NB – Natural beauty / Historical wonders
• UE – Unique Experiences offered
• CH – The Chill-out Factor (Off the beaten track, smoke etc.)
• CR – The Craic! (Irish term meaning fun or entertainment)
• X – The Girls  (the real X factor)

So here they are…

Naughty Nomad’s

TOP 10 Spots in South East Asia!

😉

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10. Flores, Indonesia

Komodo Dragon

In a word: Wild.

NB – Diverse & Dramatic.

UE – Volcanoes &  Dragons.

CH – Few Tourists here.

CR – Restricted to Weekends.

X – Cute accents; pity there’s not more of them.

Bottom Line: Launch Pad for Komodo and home to some of the most dramatic volcano scenery in the world.

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9. Vang Vieng, Laos

Riverside bar; drugs on the menu.

In a word: Lazy.

NB – Winding Rivers through beautiful karst scenery.

UE – Tubing down the river, drugs on the menu.

CH – Very chilled but too many tourists. Low season is better.

CR – Riverside bars with ‘happy’ pizzas and friends on TV. Night-life limited.

X – A big no no. $500 fine if you are caught with a local girl.

Bottom Line: Great place to flake out for a few days, but no Boom Boom.

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8. Myanmar

Me in Bagan, Myanmar

In a word: Bizarre.

NB – Bagan puts Angkor Wat to shame.

UE – This is why this place is on the list. No American brands, strange clothing, painted faces, fashion shows in every bar and no mobile phones.

CH – Horse carts and only hardcore tourists.

CR – The odd full moon festival and driving the horse cart pissed.

X – Sigh, no phones and the girls don’t drink…

Bottom Line: This country is the most unique in the S.E. Asia and leaves more memories than any other, but night-life is a little frustrating.

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7. Ha Long Bay, Vietnam

Drop anchor and light up.

In a word: Popular.

NB – Sunsets over the South China sea accompanied by 1,960 islets.

UE – Spending an exciting night on a Vietnamese boat.

CH – Rack and pack em in the day but lovely when the sun goes down.

CR – Some weed, liquor and midnight swim anyone?

X -Unless you got some horny Americans on your boats…

Bottom Line: It may be a tourist trap but it’s 100% worth it.

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6. Palawan, The Philippines

I took this in El Nino, Northern Palawan

In a word: Adventurous.

NB – Jungles, empty beaches and the world’s largest underground river.

UE – Epic Motorbiking trips . Canoeing to a deserted island.

CH – Your own private beach anyone? Purple Sunsets? Heaven.

CR – Diving ship wrecks and the dangerous dirt bike trails.

X -There’s always a few cuties to date in Philly…

Bottom Line: If you want  adventure, love and escapism; this is the place.

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5. Bali, Indonesia

There's a lot more than Kuta beach.

In a word: Unique.

NB – Great Beaches, beautiful landscapes and endearing rice paddies.

UE – Balinese culture; surfing; diving; motorbiking around the island.

CH – Beers on the beach are good; but a lot of tourists in Kuta.

CR – Plenty of great restaurants, live music and pumping nightspots.

X – Balinese girls are premium with good values. Other options include cheeky Javanese Muslims and crass Australian women.

Bottom Line: It may be a tourist trap but it’s 100% worth it.

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4. Cambodia (in general)

Life is cheap. My friend Dan took this one in the killing fields.

In a word: Lawless

NB – Angkor Wat.

UE – No rules. People go off the rails here.

CH – You can smoke weed out  in the open; on a beach. Nuf said.

CR – Every night is an adventure ; endless debauchery.

X – Khmer girls are cute and love foreigners.

Bottom Line: You may never leave.

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3. Phuket, Thailand

Bangla Road

In a word: Sex.

NB – It’s got a decent beach.

UE – Going to pool hall at 6am and being surrounded by gorgeous women.

CH – Flake out on the sand, oversexed and hungover.

CR – Live music and perfect for pub crawls.

X – Girls, girls and more girls…

Bottom Line: Sex, and lots of it. Spend more than a week here and you will probably catch something.

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2. Borneo, Malaysia

Me and Dan on the skywalk in Mulu, Borneo

In a word: Idyllic.

NB – Unique wildlife, pristine beaches and the world’s biggest cave.

UE – Jungle excursions and staying in long houses.

CH – Back to Nature.

CR – Fantastic pub culture. Get to Rainforest Festival in July.

X – Chinese girls here incredible attractive, probably the best in S.E Asia… They are quite friendly as well! Excellent place for dating hotties and MLTR.

Bottom Line: Something for everyone. So much to do here, not enough time. Everyday here is an absolute pleasure. You’re just ‘happy’ here.

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1. Boracay, The Philippines

What more could you want?

In a word: Paradise.

NB – White beaches, palm trees , turquoise waters and violet sunsets. Ahh!

UE – Mongolian Buffets, Mojitos and free love.

CH – In low season this place seems to good to be true. Think Disney land with no ques; hammocks and female acoustic sets.

CR – Ram-shackle discos by the beach with live music and cheap drinks.

X – Romantic, sexy and artistic; these Filipinas are addictive. Plenty of creamy Japanese and Korean tourists around too.

Bottom Line: For this nomad, this place is paradise.  Go in Low season.

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Honourable Mentions

I decided to only include places I’ve actually been in the top 10. I contacted some fellow globe-trotters to give their top 10 as well. I’d like take this opportunity to thank everyone involved! The only problem was everyone had different picks!  But it’s nice to see there was some consistencies.  Here are some other picks from fellow travellers…

• The Malukus/ Sulawesi, Indonesia
• Pie, Thailand
• Aceh, Sumatra, Indonesia
• Northern Laos
• Hoi An, Vietnam
• Luzon, Philippines
• Northern Vietnam
• Koh Phi Phi, Thailand
• Dili, East Timor (I’ve been here, it just missed the list)

Check out my S.E Asia City Guides!

Please share your favourite places! Leave a comment below!

Jakarta City Guide

Crosstown Traffic

Jakarta in a word: Huge.
C.O.H: 4 / 5
Q.O.G: 3 / 5
S.T.L: 2 / 5
City guide ratings explained

Costs €$£

Beer:Around  €1
Bed: €10-15 for a private room
Bud: €10 per finger
Board: €1 for a basic meal.
Budget other: If you don’t book in advance you could end up shelling out for a hotel.
Currency Conversion

Overview

I think wiki-travel provide an adequate description. Jakarta is “a sweltering, steaming, heaving mass of some 10 million people packed into a vast urban sprawl.” It may be the capital of the largest Islamic nation, but there’s just as much debauchery here as Bangkok.

 

Miss Indo 07

The Girls

There is a good mix of Indonesian shades here. They island of Java has some of the most beautiful girls in South East Asia. They are very feminine and in this authors opinion, have the sexiest accents in Asia. Religion is rife but don’t despair! Jakarta represents the more liberated elements of Indonesian society and there are plenty of willing girls who drink and sleep around. Like the surrounding regions, getting girls in this city is much easier than in the west. Language can be an issue but Bahasa Indonesian is very easy to pick up. In nightspots like Block M prostitution is very prevalent. Day game is great, especially if you don’t won’t to deal with the sprawl of Jakarta nightlife.

Nightlife Recommendations

The problem with Jakarta is it’s size. The main backpaking area Jalan Jaska is  miles away  from the rest of the nightlife.

Jalan Jaksa (no Koh Shan Rd.!)

Jalan Jaksa

Memories- This place is nice for a good beer, live music and observing the spectacle that is of Jakarta nightlife.

Ali’s – A slice of Africa in Asia. Great music and great fun. I picked up here before.

Block M

Seedy for some but it has to done. Click here.

Blok M -ish

Stadium

5000 capacity. This place is the biggest club in South East Asia; an institution. Open Thursday and doesn’t close till Sunday. Bring your credit card.

Getting High (courtesy of webehigh.com)

Nomad’s input: Reggae shop, Jalan Jaska

Legislation: it is illegal to posess or smoke marijuana in this country

DEATH upon conviction, even a small plant with no flowering lands you at least US$2500 fine + jail term. Not sure if caught with a handful of buds though.

Law enforcement: sometimes enforced, but other times the police just looks the other way. The police has no idea what marijuana looks/smells like, but be careful of drugraids. Smoking up in public is no problem, as long as there is no police around. If locals catch you they will just laugh.

Where to buy marijuana: Kampung Ambon in Cengkareng is the wholesale marijuana hub in Jakarta, it is where the best stuff is sold. Other places to find would be in the discotheques, just ask the dealers scattered around.

A good place to get weed from is Block M near a mall called “pasar raya”. just ask one of the indonisians hanging around, selling DVD. The weed in Block M is good but if you want to score hash, go to the north, to “Glodok” or “Mangga Dua”. Another good place to get weed is Kemang, dont be afraid to ask people, its totaly safe.

For ease of convenince, you can go to the disco in town and ask the many dealers inside. most will offer you MDMA but they do have weed as well. It’s expensive there cos it’s all pre-rolled tiny joints, made up from 2 mini skin, amount of weed inside is just as much as 1 bong hit mixed with clove tabacco.

One particular spot which has at least a few dealers aggresively approach you as you enter, is the infamous ST*D**M, (=sports ground).”

Marijuana prices: 0.5-1$/g good qualety 30$/150g bad qualety
small packets for Rp 150,000 big packets Rp 400,000
also: “Rp20,000 for a mini joint”

More information: Jakarta is not famous for its weed but for its XTC witch starts at 2$ per pill.

My Jakarta Experience

First night here, I thought I landed in hell.

Second night BOOM! Weed, Women, everything. Scored in Ali’s with an Indonesian who didn’t even speak English. But she wasn’t great and a Christian, I wanted a Muzzy!

One day just walking down the street I gave my number to this AMAZING looking Muslim girl. I thought there was no chance she would contact me given how beautiful she was. Turns out she text me the day we were leaving! I told her I only had a few hours so she invited me straight to her room. After talking for a while I put the moves on her. She showed token resistance  but soon caved. I had the best sex of my life – again and again and again. She was so into it and kept asking for more! She was my first Muslim and one of the sexiest women I’ve ever been with. Jakarta may be a bit of a shit hole but it sure has some gems.