Country Summaries

Australia / Asia

Please read.....

The actual country index is listed to the left, underneath is an example of information and advice layout. It is well worth looking at exactly what each heading means, before viewing the specific country info. Without taking a quick once over of this info you will, in many cases, misunderstand the context of information given in the actual summaries.

• Intro: A quick low down on the country

  • Highlights: A few things that should not be missed or make it a great destination - take a look at some of the world's highlights. Watch out for: - either for just one place a region or the whole country. These are not places to miss.

  • Lowlights: A few not so wonderful things and anything overrated.

• Visa strategy: Visa requirements and the best way to go about getting your visa. This is normally written from the point of view of a European Union passport holder, but requirements are normally the same for most Australian and USA holders. Visa information changes regularly and it is a pain to get up to-date information - always confirm it for yourself. For more details on general visa strategy, see the discourse in the before you go section.

• Typical tourist trail: The normal route people head around.

• Dangers: Any particular things to watch out for.

• Hot/cold, wet and dry: The general weather situation.

• Costs: Roughly what it costs on an average budget per day in USD, taking into account any must dos - take a look at overall travelling costs. This is for reasonably comfortable travel (but far from luxurious - you can always cut costs), food (average restaurant or self catering depending on cost/destination) and a place to stay (basic-ish but not shitty double room shared between two). It reflects the normal way most budget travellers travel.

Warning many of these quotes are rough and given in USD and it should be noted note that exchange rate factors can and do make a significant difference in how 'affordable' a trip can be. Traveling on a strong currency somewhere with a weak one is bliss, the converse is often very painful. In addition big changes in energy prices and strong inflation (currently running near to or over 10% in many parts of the developing world) will have a knock-on effect to most day-to-day travel costs.

• Money: How to carry and get hold of your money - read more on getting hold of and carrying funds on the road.

• What to take: Any special things worth taking, outside of the What to Pack section.

• What to buy: Any special things worth allowing room/money to pick up.

• Getting around: Transport choices and the best of them - see an overview of options in the On the Road section.

• Guide book: The best guidebook and if you can pick it up there or on the way. You can, and hopefully will, click through links to buy or view books with Amazon in the UK or USA/Canada. Remember if you have found the site useful and follow the Amazon link and then eventually buy something you are helping to keep it going since the site receives about 4% commission. Take a look at general choices and get an overview.

• People vibe:

  • Locals: what they will be like

  • Other travellers: what sort you are likely to meet

• Tourist factor: How touristy the destination is and how hard it is to get off the beaten track.

• Accommodation: What accommodation normally consists of - see an overview of the sort of choices you will have .

  • Hot water: if this is ever a problem

  • Average cost: for a basic double room, normally with a bathroom; so cheaper will always be possible

• Communications: Internet and phone - see staying in touch overview

• Health: General health problems to watch out for - read more about getting ill and staying healthy

• Media:

  • Books: Second hand or new book situation - find out more about getting books on the road

  • TV: English language TV or film situation - find out more about English language media when on the road

• Food: What it is like and how easy it is to eat well

  • Vegetarians: Situation for vegetarians - if there is no problem mentioned assumes this is for less-strict vegetarians. Read more about vegetarianism while travelling

• Hassle and annoyance factor: What it is like at the worst for hassle and annoyance like sleepless nights, touts and beggars - get some tips on dealing with beggars and hassle

  • Women alone: How much hassle you will have as a female with no male company - read more on travelling alone

• Drugs, cigarettes and alcohol: The things you should not do, but want to know about anyway - read the guide and warnings about drugs abroad, in the On the Road section. These are not recommendations, just the response to an awful lot of e-mails received on the subject. Please note the author is indifferent to most drugs. Reports are normally based on conversations with other travellers and meagre experiences.

• Rating: A quick highly, subjective rating out of ten rating - five being strictly average. Based on range and status of sights and activities, ease of getting around, attitude of locals & fellow travellers and value for money.

Please don't think overviews or ratings are too critical: remember there are many countries to compare and without being at least a little subjective this guide would be no different to a holiday brochure. Any country, or in fact all countries will have hidden depth, but for a backpacker huge amounts of time are rarely available to truly discover what lies deep beneath the surface. So unfortunately, ratings and summaries do tend to reflect how much of this you can discover in a typical two to three week stay, or longer in the case of bigger countries like India. Costs, accessibility, commercialisation, local friendliness etc., will almost always be reflected.

Look out for: Miss at your peril - 'Highlights of Independent Travel'. Appearing before a country name means this applies to whole place; after applies to one or two places. Don't ignore these - they are not earned easily!

Please note: Selected are mainly major backpacker destinations and only those that authors have recent and widespread experience in, although opinions are subjective to individual experiences and therefore should be used as a guideline for preparation or destination choices only. A number of summaries have been written by reader contributions.

»  More coming soon...   

Indonesia and Caucasus updates mid-year

» Just added...  

France    Taiwan    Korea    Central Asia & the CIS    Libya & Tunisia

» Kindly added by third parties...  

USA & Canada    Mongolia    Vanuatu    Scotland/England    Georgia

» Recently up-dated... 

Philippines    Myanmar    Japan    Uganda

» Sorry no... (yet)

Limited Europe (there's too much, but we have added the UK and France)    Caribbean Islands (until a decent ferry service makes island hopping cost effective this will never be a 'traveller' destination.

    Australia and the Pacific

	Australia
	New Zealand
	French Polynesia
	Fiji
	Easter Island
	Vanuatu

    Northern Asia

	China
	Taiwan
	Japan
	Korea
	Mongolia

    Southern Asia

	Bangladesh
	India
	Nepal
	Pakistan
	Sri Lanka

    South East Asia

	Indonesia
	Malaysia
	Myanmar
	Philippines
	Singapore
	Thailand

    Indochina

	Cambodia
	Laos
	Vietnam

    Central Asia

	Russia
	Kazakhstan
	Kyrgyzstan
	Uzbekistan

Africa

    North Africa

	Egypt
	Libya
	Morocco
	Tunisia

    East Africa

	Ethiopia
	Kenya
	Malawi
	Tanzania
	Uganda

    West Africa

	Benin/Togo
	Burkina Faso
	The Gambia
	Ghana
	Mali
	Senegal

    Southern Africa

	Botswana
	Lesotho
	Mozambique
	Namibia
	South Africa
	Swaziland
	Zambia
	Zimbabwe

The Near East

   The Middle/Near East

	Israel & the Occupied Territories
	Iran
	Jordan
	Lebanon
	Syria
	Turkey

The Americas

   North America

	Canada
	México
	United States

    Central America

	Belize
	Costa Rica
	El Salvador
	Honduras
	Guatemala
	Nicaragua

    South America

	Bolivia
	Brazil
	Chile
	Colombia
	Ecuador
	Peru
	Quick summary: Argentina, Paraguay & Uruguay

Others

    Russia and the Caucasus  

	Russia
	Georgia
	Armenia

    British Isles and France

	France
	England & Scotland