Travel: We Just Returned from 40 Days in South East Asia

Standard Hotel, Bangkok

We recently returned from a 30+ day trip to South East Asia, which included a ridiculous amount of time getting there and getting home.

While we basked in the heat in SE Asia, we were very happy to miss the blizzard and extreme cold weather back home in February. We couldn’t even complain (especially not to friends at home) when it poured and flooded the streets in Bali for a few days.

This trip, all of our stays were at Hyatt hotels. They were a mix of paid stays and award stays, including one using American Express Fine Hotels credit, and another using Chase Sapphire Reserve Edit Hotels credit. As a Globalist World of Hyatt member, certain benefits, such as breakfast were included, as was use of lounges at hotels that had Regency Clubs. We are lucky to have found a way to live in relative luxury in a fairly affordable manner.

Although we like sightseeing, we don’t need to see everything. We also put a lot of emphasis on wandering and relaxation  – including many long walks and gym time almost every single morning. That’s important to us and I will include fitness center reviews in each of my hotel reviews.

We saw Buddhas and street art in Bangkok, floating temples in Hua Hin, supertrees in Singapore and Hindu deities in Bali  . . .

We also like seeing local culture and public and street art. Lastly, we love hidden gems, and we have our Australian friends, Paula and Charles, who author a phenomenal website called Thailand Awaits to thank for their continuing friendship and for taking us to many wonderful sights in Hua Hin that we may not have otherwise have seen.

Khao Tao Reservoir, near Hua Hin

This is an overview, with more detailed reviews to follow.

FLIGHTS

Condor

Flight from JFK New York to BKK Bangkok via Condor Air, with a long layover in Frankfurt, booked using Alaska Airline miles (Business Class).

Ground transport from BKK airport to Hua Hin, Thailand (and back to Bangkok), booked through Hua Hin Taxi Miss Oil (2,200 Thai Baht each way).

Flight from BKK Bangkok to DPS Bali via Thai Air, booked using Air Canada Aeroplan miles (Economy class).

Flight from DPS Bali to Changi Airport, Singapore via Air Garuda, booked using Flying Blue miles (Economy class).

Flight home from Singapore to JFK New York via Cathay Pacific, with a short stop in Hong Kong, booked using US Bank Altitude points ([disappointing] Premium Economy class).

We only used public transportation a few times. Nearly always, we used Grab (similar to Uber).

None of our flights were monumental, though we did get to visit some extremely nice lounges along the way (most notably, Cathay First Class lounge in HKG).

Cathay First Class Lounge

HOTELS

We stayed at the following hotels (reviews to follow).

Hua Hin, Thailand

The streets of Hua Hin

The Standard Hua Hin

The Standard Hotel, Hua Hin

Hyatt Regency Hua Hin (my second visit)

Hyatt Regency Hua Hin

Bangkok, Thailand

The Standard Bangkok

nice view to wake up to. Standard Hotel, Bangkok

Hyatt Regency Bangkok (my third visit)

Hyatt Regency Bangkok Suite

Bali, Indonesia

KLEO Seminyak

Cute hotel in Seminyak

Hyatt Regency Bali (my fourth visit)

Love the lily ponds

Andaz Bali (my third or fourth visit) (we have a special kind of love for this hotel).

Our terrace! Deluxe Suite at Andaz Bali.

Singapore

Andaz Singapore (my first stay at the Andaz. In 2019, I stayed at the Grand Hyatt).

The serenity of having my morning coffee by the pool at the Andaz Singapore!

I also made videos of the various hotels we stayed in. These will be uploaded to my YouTube channel shortly, so keep an eye out.

I love that my prior fast travel has morphed into slow travel whenever possible. My sister asked me to buy her a small Buddha for her new apartment on this trip, but I never got around to doing so (my apologies, Susan). So, I have to go back next year, right?  Next year, we’re going to add Da Nang, Vietnam and Siem Reap, Cambodia into our plans, and might skip Bangkok. Where have you recently traveled to and where are you going to next?