5 Southeast Asia Countries Backpacking Itinerary for 12 Days

I finally did it! I solo traveled around Southeast Asia for 12 days only with my 45L backpack (and another small backpack). When I was younger, I always wondered how people could travel with just a backpack (I used to be an over packer) and survive. Okay, I will touch on the race topic here, but I genuinely hardly ever saw Asian people backpacking when I was young. Asian people always brought several luggage when they traveled, and I grew up thinking that it was almost impossible to pack everything into one bag. It was always Western people that I saw at the airport who were backpacking. They inspired me, and I wanted to challenge myself. I’ve been kind of into minimalism, and I reflect on the items I pack each time I travel. Eventually, I was able to downsize to a 45 + 10L backpack, and I also brought a small 10L backpack for my laptop. I’ve never been prouder of myself.

By the way, this post is more like a recap report of the countries I visited in Southeast Asia, and the “how” and “why” of my trip. I will not provide details such as the cost or accommodation because it would make the post very long. I will share all the extra details in the future, so stay tuned!

Southeast Asia countries that I traveled to

There are 11 countries that are considered part of Southeast Asia. If you’re from Southeast Asia, you don’t need a visa to enter other Southeast Asia countries. I’m from Indonesia, in case you don’t know, and this is a big reason why I want to travel to Southeast Asia. Coming from a developing country, it’s a pain in the ass to keep on applying for expensive visas. So, I want to use this advantage and decided that I will travel to these countries:

• Malaysia
• Cambodia
• Laos
• Thailand
• Singapore

I will start with Malaysia for 3 days, and then continue my way up to Cambodia for 5 days. I will continue up north again to Laos for 3 days, fly south to Thailand, and stay there for 2 days. Eventually, Singapore will be the last destination and it will be just a 14-hour transit.

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

I went to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia as my first destination for this trip. The reason why I decided to go to Kuala Lumpur first, is because I have never been there. The first city in Malaysia I’ve been to is Penang. In my mind, it’s probably a good idea to visit a big city that has everything before going to smaller cities. This way, I can buy things that I forgot to bring or prepare myself before embarking on my journey.

I stayed in Kuala Lumpur for 2 days only. I arrived on 31 Oct 2023 at night with Airasia. It was a rough flight because of the weather. Then I took a train to the KLCC area, where I will be staying for the rest of my time in Kuala Lumpur. I still have to work remotely, so I spent a chunk of my time in the hostel. My goal was to see and visit the Petronas Twin Tower, and so I did. I’ve been to several tall buildings, so this is nothing new. Then I went to the Petaling Jaya area to meet up with my mom and her friends (they are traveling to Penang, and stopping by in Kuala Lumpur). I spent the rest of my night with my mom and her friends in a mall.

Another thing that I love about Malaysia is I can just switch between Indonesian and English effortlessly. Indonesian and Malaysian languages are like sisters, so we can comprehend each other most of the time. I regret not spending more time in Kuala Lumpur. I didn’t fully explore the food and I will definitely go back in the near future. I gotta say though, the accommodation that I picked is top tier for a hostel! It’s definitely something I will never find in Europe with that price point. This is why I love traveling around Asia, the hostels are clean and super duper nice. They really raised my standards for hostels.

Phnom Penh, Cambodia

I’ve never been to Cambodia at all and sadly the perception people around me have about Cambodia is mostly negative. They are scared about human trafficking and telling me that the country is developing (I mean… Indonesia is a developing country too lol). I decided to just go and see it with my own eyes. TLDR, Cambodia is AMAZING! I love Cambodia. If I have space in my backpack, I will buy one of those touristy “I Love Cambodia” t-shirts. Cambodian people are friendly, the cities are amazing, the food is alright, the temples are to die for!

I flew from Kuala Lumpur to Phnom Penh. My goal in visiting Cambodia is to visit Angkor Wat (thanks to Wong Kar Wai for introducing Angkor Wat to me through his iconic movie, “In the Mood for Love”). But I have to stop by Phnom Penh first because a flight from Kuala Lumpur straight to Siem Reap is either expensive or non-existent (as of Sep 2023, not sure if they gonna have more flights in the future). Phnom Penh is beyond my expectations.

Traveler Tip: If you want to know whether the area is good, choose a place where there are a lot of embassies, it will be pretty much safe there.

I stayed in Phnom Penh for 2 days. The weather was mostly hot, but it was still manageable for me to walk around. Grab is also available in Cambodia and you can get yourself a tuktuk. I went to the Grand Palace, did a Mekong River Sunset Cruise, and ate at a fancy restaurant. I also went to Raffles’s Elephant Bar, a small mall (just to pee haha), and walked around the night market.

Siem Reap, Cambodia

Then I took a night sleeper bus from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap. This is something that is new for me, and I love night sleeper buses. Disclaimer, I am a short person with the ability to sleep anywhere anytime so sleeping in a very small space is no biggie for me. I booked the sleeper bus in advance and it was almost twice as expensive as booking it straight from a hostel, but I’m still glad I booked in advance because it gives me peace of mind.

The trip from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap via bus is around 5-6 hours. The bus departed at around 10-11 pm, but by that time I already passed out. By the time it arrived in Siem Reap, all the passengers were gone and I was the last one who woke up. The driver even shouted loudly “Good morning lady!” so I could wake up. I quickly gathered my stuff and outside the bus, you can see a lot of tuktuk drivers.

After a guy arranged me with one of the tuktuk drivers, it was still 5 in the morning. The tuktuk driver asked me whether I wanted to visit Angkor Wat straight away, and I shrugged and said “Okay, why not?” since I could not check in to the hostel anyway. He took me to the Angkor Way ticketing office. I purchased the 3-day ticket (this is the most popular option, if you buy 1 day, you will still have to pay for the price of the 3-day ticket).

Angkor Wat is good, but the other smaller temples are great! I thought I would only spend 1 or 2 days exploring the temples, but on the third day, I asked my tuktuk driver to drive me back to my two favorite temples. I seriously cannot comprehend how this piece of history exists and how lucky we are to be able to see it. Imagine someone built it centuries ago and now, in a very different time, we are here and able to see and touch (some of the temples, you can touch). I will go over it more in-depth in another blog post but overall, PLEASE GO AND VISIT ANGKOR WAT AND THE OTHER TEMPLES. Yes, I did just capslock all of it because that’s how much I encourage you to go.

I went to several bars, my first ever drag queen show, and ate in a fancy restaurant again (this is the same chain as the one in Phnom Penh). I also went to a cafe to remote work and two spas. The food was great but I think I was not as adventurous as I was before because I’m scared of having stomach issues (which I eventually did have in Bangkok).

Luang Prabang, Laos

I asked Reddit about Laos and they told me to skip Vientiane and just go straight to Luang Prabang, and so I did. Just like my impression of Cambodia, Laos is amazing. Maybe I can’t conclude yet, because I only visited Luang Prabang, but I had a great experience during my 3-day visit there.

Why I choose air and not land, is because I don’t want to bother with the immigration process via land. I read not-so-nice stories about immigration by land and the immigration office asking for a lot of money to cross the border. I flew with Lao Airlines and it has been a long time since I’m flying with such a small airplane. I had to transit in Pakse before I could reach Luang Prabang and it was quite shocking how there’s no wifi and the airport is very small there. I probably will share my experience there in another blog or on my TikTok.

When I arrived in Luang Prabang, I had to get a local SIM card and it was $2 for 3 days. Then the transportation from the airport to my hostel was also very cheap (I will make a blog post dedicated to all the costs and budget). I stayed at Mad Monkey hostel and this one is a bit better than the one in Phnom Penh, although it is much further from the city center. If you can ride a scooter, you can rent it for $10 for 24 hours. The road in Luang Prabang is quite nice, although there’s an occasional big hole.

My highlight from Luang Prabang is the Kuang Si Waterfall. I was looking for a day tour but the schedule is not suitable for me, so I decided to rent a scooter (thanks to living in Bali for one year, I’m quite confident with my skill). The ride from my hostel to Kuang Si Waterfall is about 1.5 hours (or 1 hour if you ride fast). The Kuang Si Waterfall is very amazing and you can swim there! Well, not near the waterfall because it’s very dangerous. The place itself is very big so there are several places where you can swim (with caution).

Another highlight is Phousi Hill, it’s right in the city center and when you climb up the many stairs, you can see probably the whole city of Luang Prabang and the Mekong River. The entrance to go up to Phousi Hill is just across from the Royal Palace. The sight is very beautiful during sunset time.

Overall, Luang Prabang is a small and chill place with French influence. The food, people, architecture, and nature are amazing. Just like the other countries, I wanted to stay longer and explore more.

Bangkok, Thailand

Last June 2023, it was my first time traveling to Thailand (Chiang Mai & Bangkok). I know where I need to stay so I can be very efficient with public transport. My purpose in visiting Bangkok is to meet up with a friend and eat at the Jodd Fair Night Market. My friend and I went to a dog cafe. The dogs were very friendly and some staff standby in the cafe and took care of the dogs.

I’ve been to Jodd Fair Market before and it was full of food selection. It will be so much fun to visit with a friend, that’s why I dragged my friend there so we can try more food. However, it rained for a while so we had to move to a nearby mall. After the rain was over, we continued our food-venture at Jodd Fair.

The rest of my time in Bangkok passed by very quickly and even though I visited Thailand for seven days before, it feels like it’s not enough. To be honest, I can never get enough of traveling.

Singapore

This time, I’m only transiting for 14 hours in Singapore. My purpose in choosing the long transit is just to eat. It’s probably a tad bit too long to my liking, but it was nice not hurrying and taking my time while eating and exploring The Jewel. I was also kinda sick the night before (thanks to the spicy food I tried in Bangkok), so I couldn’t fully enjoy my time in Singapore. There’s nothing much to see in Singapore as I’ve been here several times. I had a Shake Shack burger and cakes from Nesuto. And then I just wait around the nap area in Terminal 4, while waiting for my boarding time. While waiting for the hours to pass, I’m glad for my petite body and my ability to fall asleep anywhere anytime. It truly does come with age, after waiting for 14 hours of layover, I think my time of budget traveling will be up soon.

Summarized Southeast Asia Travel Itinerary

This is my summarized Southeast Asia itinerary. It was 5 countries in 12 days.

31 Oct 2023 – Jakarta > Kuala Lumpur
1 Dec 2023 – Kuala Lumpur
2 Dec 2023 – Kuala Lumpur > Phnom Penh
3 Dec 2023 – Phnom Penh
4 Dec 2023 – Phnom Penh > Siem Reap
5 Dec 2023 – Siem Reap
6 Dec 2023 – Siem Reap
7 Dec 2023 – Siem Reap > Luang Prabang
8 Dec 2023 – Luang Prabang
9 Dec 2023 – Luang Prabang > Bangkok
10 Dec 2023 – Bangkok
11 Dec 2023 – Bangkok > Singapore
12 Dec 2023 – Singapore > Jakarta

Thanks for reading and see you in my next blog post!