Gap Year in South East Asia

 

Gsp Year in South East Asia, covering Thailand, Malaysia, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, and Myanmar.
 

It is no surprise that so many people take a gap year in South East Asia. It is accessible, cheap and ticks all the gap year boxes: Culture, landscapes, history and a completely different environment to be thrust into after being in a westernised environment for so long.

With out doubt out of all the countries listed above a Thailand gap year is the most sought after destination on a gap year in South East Asia, and will probably be the country you enter first. With out a doubt don´t allow too little time to absorb the Thailand experience, you will only regret it or long to go back there in the future. 6 weeks is usually enough time to spend in Thailand, depending on what you wish to see, with a suggested 8 -12 being enough time to cover the rest of your gap year in South East Asia.

Thailand.

Thailand is an exceptionally easy country to travel around in backpacking. With the economy really geared towards tourism (and rice incidentally, Thailand is the worlds biggest rice exporter, not a particularly interesting fact admittedly, but it does have one major impact on your travel budget...food there is seriously cheap!) This means you can essentially use Thailand as a great hub for your gap year in South East Asia. Whilst it is great to travel from Thailand, we would thoroughly recommend spending some decent beach time in there, our Koh Tao Adventure programme is the perfect gap year Thailand programme that will introduce you to the easy going paradise island way of life, whilst providing you with the opportunity to do some really cool activities, like learning to dive and experiencing an adventure day in Koh Tao.

Cambodia

Cambodia is another popular country to visit when on a gap year in South East Asia. Cambodia, has had a very troubled past, and the scars still show. Ruled by the Khymer Rouge with an iron fist for decades after the fall out of the vietnam war, the scene in Cambodia got really ugly, when the lunatic leader Pol Pot ordered the systematic (and sometimes just completely random) assassination of his own people. Millions perished under the regime, that was attempting to reorder society under a communist manifesto.  Regrettably this has left is mark, with millions of unexploded landmines still dotting the paddy fields, and everywhere you look people are missing limbs and bear visible scars of repression. This casts a somewhat gloomy picture of the country, but it is not all about the horrific legacies of the past. Like a phoenix rising from the ashes, Cambodia, is slowly but surely changing its outlook. With impressive cultural attractions like the palaces at Ankor Wat, and left over french colonial architecture all through out the country, Cambodia is a worth while destination to step into on your gap year in South East Asia.

Laos

Laos is definitely not to be missed on your gap year in South East Asia, a new player on the gap year backpacking scene having only opened its doors to tourism less than a decade ago, it has a lot to catch up on when compared to its neighbours. Not that this is a bad thing, quite the contrary, indeed because of this Laos delivers its own unique feel to any traveller on a gap year in South East Asia. So with a country as beautiful (and it IS beautiful, and culturally spectacular as Laos, what  is the biggest backpacker draw? "Tubing", ah tubing, imagine if you will being given an over inflated inner tube to a car tyre and then being dropped off upstream in a gorgeous meandering river valley.  Your mission for the day is to then drift your way down the river, stopping off at one (ok all) of the 50ish ramshackle wooden shack bars on route. The bars are not hard to miss, is the loud pumping technology music doesn´t grab your attention the size of the rope swings that each bar owner has meticulously constructed will. Some of these look blatantly unsafe, well, when you are sober, fortunately by the end of the day, when the rope swings get even more ludicrously bold, you will be far from sober.

Vietnam

To many Vietnam describes a war not a country, and if you choose to visit Vietnam on your Gap year in South East Asia, you will discover plenty to remind you of why that is. Vietnam is a stunning country, with an incredible coast line and beaches to die for, mountainous and tropical jungle regions, and indescribably beautiful country scenes. Vietnam, can be quite an assault on the senses, but ultimately a great experience.

An awesome gap year in South East Asia begins with Xtreme Gap.If you are searching for an unforgettable gap year in South East Asia, and want to be sure you are not paying over the odds browse our website .Being experts in gap year programmes in South East Asia, we are happy to give advice on all of your asia gap year questions