I went on holiday/"went travelling" (
) to Australia, Cambodia and Nepal earlier this year, and i'd definitely recommend all three places, to say the least! I had a fantastic time... would be nice to write up some stories and post some piccies eventually, if anyone's interested.
I'd say they're all fairly good locations if money's an issue, Cambodia and Nepal, because they are cheap if you live on a budget (think 60p a room for the night in the mountains cheap, in Nepal!). Saying they are "poor" countries is however mightily condescending, but definitely... poverty is there. Technically, Cambodia is better off according to "the figures" but I found Phnom Penn pretty confronting when I arrived.
Cambodia's a fantastic country though... and it seems to be getting a fair chunk of tourism at the moment, due to people getting the "scam bus" (
) over from Thailand for the beach(es) and a lot of package tours coming from Asia. Still, as soon as you get away from Siem Reap and Sihnoukville, it's a pretty different world. I didn't really have time to explore that much, but apart from those places I went to Phnom Penn and Kampot (great little town, and the Bokor park is amazing! The old "Hotel" and seeing Vietnam through the mist at the top are great, plus the all round craziness of "wow, i'm up a hill in a flat as hell country!".) Temples of Angkor are well... enough said, they're fucking amazing, although it doesn't quite sink in, as you're just seeing... so much.
I mentioned Australia's good on a budget, cos... whilst it's expensive, it's easy as hell to find work, and they pay you a nice sum for picking fruit, working in a bar, whatever. The minimum wage is about £8 an hour (and i met backpackers on about $30)! The people I met who had really managed to get money together and travel 'round were in slightly "off the beaten track" places... working on cattle farms 1000 miles from the nearest city etc, or picking fruit in Tasmania (which is far enough away from Kings Cross for a lot o' people...). If you buy a LPG car, it's possible to go exploring all along the west coast and around Tassie and stuff without spending "too" much. I missed out on the West Coast, sadly... Perth is meant to be good fun in the right parts, though, and there's a shit-ton of desert and wilderness and work out in the middle of nowhere, depending on what you're into.
Personally, my favourite thing was probably going to the outback and seeing Uluru etc in Australia, as well as Tasmania. The Red Centre is pretty indescribable (I got a ton of pics there, though...), but seeing about three clouds all day, sleeping under the stars and the feeling that there really is..... nothing around, is kinda great.
I ended up in Nepal after Cambodia, having had a mini-fantasy of sitting on some mountain for a couple of years :D I think in some ways this was my favourite place. I went there alone, having been with a friend in Cambodia, and staying with relatives some of the time in Aus, and I kinda loved this. It's just the most fantastic country, with genuinely friendly people (seriously: it's impossible for someone to have the "omg they just want my money wah wah" mindset there for long). Lots of the people I met had been in India, and found it hugely different, in terms of how you actually have... personal space, and aren't constantly swamped. I went to Kathmandu and Pokhara and then trekking in the Annapurnas to 4000 n something metres. If you have a desire to test your patience and yet still be smiling, amazed and laughing, then Nepal will probably do the trick :D buses crawling up mountains (and sometimes off them, sadly..), strikes, climbing up hills for sunrise and 3500 steps at a go.... stuff like that. Dunno if I can really put a lot of it in words, but chaotic, polluted confusion, and serene blissfulness (o2 deprivation!) on the roof of the world kinda hooked me...
In fact, I'm still on a natural comedown from not being there any more... hah.
ramble ramble ramble :D
