How do I travel from Tibet to India overland?

$15,000US to blow on Travel throughout South East Asia, unlimited time. Where/What would you go/do?

• Okay so i'm basically quitting everything that I do once I save $15,000. I plan for this to be my "while i'm still young and single" trip of a lifetime. My desires is to travel all around south east asia primarily being korea, all over china including Taiwan & Tibet, india, nepal, vietnam, thailand, laos. Possibly mongolia, phillipines, cambodia, Burma, and north korea. I plan to backpack and stay in hostels...i really want to be able to travel for 6 months but i'm a biiiig food lover. I will eat and eat and eat...so I know I won't save too much money in that area. I just want to take as many photos that I can and see great views, be humbled. Any websites and insights will be of great help! Especially on how I can travel within each area locally for cheap and maybe even cheap means of travel from one country to another like a local bus or train. I will begin my travel at earliest april 2010 and late as end of may 2010. Lookout on weather conditions and what type of clothes to take would be good info too! Thanks again in advance. -ATController

• Answer:

  On 15G you could travel in hostel accomodation for 2 years or more, including visas, tours etc. You can stay in a cheap locally run hostel in Thailand / Malaysia etc for a few dollars a night, China it's 30-100 yuan a night so a max of $8 and that'll get you a good YHA accredited one in most places. Pack a few essentials, and buy local clothes when you arrive, wear what the locals wear, for example a couple of 40 baht lightweight shirts saw me through 8 months in Singapore-northern Thailand, over to Taiwan and Japan, they dried in minutes, rolled up in the smallest gaps and were very hard wearing. Only thing I'd get before would be a decent pair of walking trousers, boots, secure backpack and a windproof/waterproof top with a few base layers. Do the hotter countries together, and yes Taiwan gets bloody hot in the summer. Even northern China where I worked since 2002 hits 35 in July - August and -30 in winter. I don't live by them, but always photocopy a few pages from guidebooks, you can throw these away after use, but they can be useful in emergencies, or if you just want to find a better stop for a decent shower and food or hooking up with other travellers and knowledgeable locals. I always travel by local buses when possible/safe and crossed borders overland from Sing to Thailand etc.