Got any traveling tips and advice?

In April, I'll be quitting my job and taking off for South East Asia with only one goal in mind, have fun and survive. I'll be traveling as long as my money lasts and I plan to make it last at least a year.

I'm starting in Taiwan and from there... who knows. Probably Vietnam, Lao... I don't know. We'll see where the road takes me.

I've never been anywhere in Asia before, let alone South East Asia. I know there are a fair amount of warlight players who've been to and lived in the area. Anything you want to share from your experiences would be welcome.

The important question: will you be retiring from, quitting, or stopping Warlight?

dont go to vietnam laos or burma or cambodia...


that is unless you know rambo

If you like history, authenticity or architecture, Taiwan is dull (though the Palace Museum is nice if you want to see what the KMT stole from Beijing). If you like ecology, Taiwan is interesting, if you can find a way to escape the urban areas. Avoid Taichung, it has little worth seeing. Nantou county, Yilan, Taidong, Kaoxiung, Jilong, Tainan are worth visiting. Taiwan's southeastern beaches are full of beautiful girls in summer, which is worth seeing.

I'd recommend Thailand. The Buddhist culture is authentic and they have a rich culture and cuisine. Hong Kong is nice but is boring after a week. Yunnan and Sichuan in China might be the most interesting parts of China, if you want to see something other than the east. Korea is probably a bit like HK (dull, all about materialism), but too ethnocentric. I think people from California would be most drawn to Japan. Indonesia is incredibly diverse in many ways and would definitely be worth a few months. Apparently southern India is more hospitable than northern India, and Gao is most comfortable for Westerners. If you are interested in food, every place mentioned is great.

go to nepal and bhutan, bhutan has beatiful nature preserves and you can say you at least spent a night in kathmandu

People, nature, culture, history. That stuff interests me. In that order. I will definitely have to make it to Indonesia. But I'll be traveling all through the whole area. So, I don't really need recommendations for where to go. If I like a place, I'll stay longer. If I don't like it, I'll move on.

I would appreciate any info regarding visas. Obviously, I will be doing my own research on that but hearing other people's actual experiences is always helpful. For example, I've heard that Taiwan requires any visitors to have a plane ticket out of Taiwan before they come in. Is that true? I was planning on buying a one-way ticket.

Also, I should point out that I'm a dual citizen and have two valid passports. One USA and one EU. From what I've learned so far it seems that traveling as a European citizen will be easier than as an American. Is that accurate?

I could add that I prefer seeing people and places than seeing museums. I want to meet people, socialize and go to places... beaches, springs, rivers, mountains, etc.

Museums are kinda... meh.

I've never entered Taiwan before purchasing a ticket to leave. I think if you dress well enough and simply explain you are traveling and have no interest in staying beyond the 30-day visa exempt period (passport stamps from recent trips might help verify this), they would let you in. but in my 10 or so trips to taiwan i've only been questioned once.

it would be easier to get into india with a EU passport and other nations wont question you as much if you came with it. most asian countries dont trust america

Sounds like Vietnam, Indonesia, Thailand and Laos are countries for you (I do not know how a country like myanmar is, it might be a option)

On to the more important question:

Will you still be playing WarLight?

The first resource I've been scouring is wikitravel. According to them, Taiwan allows a 90 day tourist visa to American citizens, no fee or application necessary. But I've heard 30 days from multiple people, including Gui above. Is wikitravel not a reliable source?

Link to wikitravel's info:
http://wikitravel.org/en/Taiwan#Get_in

No. Maybe for visa stuff it's OK (though I would be skeptical), but I would never use it for finding accommodations/restaurants and stuff. It is very obviously edited by businesses in the area advertising their own places. It hasn't reached the threshold like wikipedia has where there are enough people monitoring it to filter out that crap. Hostelworld.com is your friend for accommodations.

For visa stuff though I would use the US state department. Don't know for European passport. But look at the state department for Taiwan. It says this:

ENTRY/EXIT REQUIREMENTS: As a U.S. passport holder, you will be allowed to enter Taiwan without a visa for up to ninety days (no extensions permitted) as long as you have a passport valid for at least six months beyond the date of entry into Taiwan and have a confirmed return or onward air ticket. You must have already met any additional visa requirements for the next destination, if applicable. If your passport is valid for less than six months from the date of entry into Taiwan, you may apply for a landing visa that has a duration of stay of no more than thirty days. The cost of a landing visa, including processing fee, is NT $5140 (currently equivalent to approximately US $165.00). Extensions are not allowed. You also have the option of applying for and receiving a Taiwan visa prior to arrival in Taiwan. The cost including processing fee is US $164.00.

http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/cis/cis_1036.html


Why the hell am I doing this in the Warlight message board?

http://www.wikivoyage.org > http://www.wikitravel.org

They're similar sites, but the latter is now profit-driven whereas wikivoyage is open like wikipedia is. Most of the contributors who built wikitravel have moved to wikivoyage, so you should too.

It's 30 days for Americans (unless the policy changed in the last 60 days). Maybe it's longer for EU citizens.

you need to remember white people in general aren't very welcome in some places worse if you use american ID myannmar is a VERY dangerous place as is Laos just be careful cause we'd never know if something happened to you.

Go to Vietnam. I lived there 1 year and found the people friendly and fun. The country itself is rich in beautiful landscapes and is full of both historical and cultural features. Go to Ho Chi Minh and see the Mekong Delta, Kuchi Tunnels, Museums. Hire a moped to get around for about $5-10 dollars a day. Great Fun! Head over to Nha Trang for great vistas and seafood. Also go to the hot springs and mud baths near there. Then you have Halong bay and Hanoi in the north. See Cat Ba Island.

Going someplace and telling them you plan to leave within 30 days sounds like it might give them good reason to investigate you further.

I'll be heading south of asia a bit after you.

But I have found http://www.lonelyplanet.com/thorntree/index.jspa to be helpful. Its a travel forum run through the BBC. They were down for a long while until recently. So they are still putting old threads up again.

how did this become notable!? I dont get it.

visit hong kong. it is a beautiful city.