Detailed New Guidebook Can Help Plan Budget Trips to Southeast Asia

Southeast Asia can be one of the most exciting, exotic and challenging areas of the world for young travelers.

You can find yourself meandering through the jungles of northern Thailand on the back of an elephant, lounging on the beaches of Bali or watching the locals take pet birds for a walk in high-rise Hong Kong.

A new information-packed guidebook can help you design your adventure, even if you’re on a limited budget.

The Southeast Asia Handbook, by Carl Parkes (Moon Publications, $16.95), is a valuable tool for travelers visiting Hong Kong and Macau, Thailand, Myanmar, Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei, Indonesia, Indochina and the Philippines.

It’s brimming with details on how to get around, what to see, where to stay (from backpackers’ hostels to luxury hotels), dining, culture, history, festivals, entertainment and language. You’ll even discover where popular films were shot, and how to avoid the cons and come-ons that separate travelers from their money.

Although the best use of any guidebook is on the road, you should read up before you leave home. And this 873-page guide offers suggestions for other literature that should be consulted in advance of travel.

You’ll also discover how to make yourself a welcome visitor. For example, because many Asians believe the head is home to the soul, it’s considered impolite to touch anyone’s head, Parkes said. Since feet are considered the lowest part of the body, it would be a sign of disrespect to put them on a table.

In addition, it’s in the traveler’s best interest to adjust to Southeast Asia’s slower pace. “You must never lose your cool no matter how slow the situation,” Parkes said. “Smile, be polite, try some humor and then firmly ask for help and suggestions. Stubborn bureaucrats can suddenly become extraordinarily helpful to the cool tourist who knows how to play the game.”

Price haggling can also be confusing to the inexperienced tourist, but it can be fun when you know the value of what you want and approach the negotiations with confidence.

Many travelers are accustomed to encountering this situation in markets, but in areas such as Indonesia, Parkes said, you can try to bargain for almost anything: medicine in drugstores, immigration fees, hospitalization and entrance charges to museums or temple sites.

Before you go shopping, ask someone such as a hotel proprietor or taxi driver what the correct prices are for items or services that you want.

“The real secret to successful bargaining is to never appear to care . . . just smile, shrug your shoulders and walk slowly away,” advises Parkes. You’ll often be called back, and your last bid accepted.

The book also offers the nitty-gritty day-to-day details needed by budget travelers, such as where to find a youth hostel in oil-rich Brunei, how to judge jungle treks in Thailand and how to get the best air fares.