It's been a long time in the making but today I've finally found out my leaving date for a 6 month career break, so as of 1 October I'm outta here for 6 months. Still very much in the planning stages but rough plan is to head to Tenerife for 6 weeks first, which I appreciate is not particularly exotic but we're doing some scuba diving training there and the instructor is excellent. Then on to India for a month, Sri Lanka for a few weeks, possibly the Andaman islands as my mate is thinking of taking a job out there, and then on to Beijing making our way down through Vietnam, Cambodia, maybe Laos and the rest of S.E.Asia. Thailand although v.popular on the travel circuit is not on our list for no other reason than we spent a month there last year.

Just wondered if anyone knew of any absolutely "must see's" or "hidden gems" within those areas that they can recommend, or anywhere we've missed altogether that we should consider. I know we've missed off Oz and NZ but that's mainly because it's costing a small fortune as it is and living in Asia is obscenely cheap compared to Oz/NZ. Also gutted to have have to leave japan off the list for the same reason.

Lucky you, make the most of your trip...............Climb up the Teide volcano in Tenerife, the highest peak in the Atlantic Ocean, but not straight after your scuba diving, it's 12,000 ft so you'll probably get the bends! Amazing moon/mars type scenery up there.

I've done a bit of travelling around SE Asia, so I can only help you with that bit (apart from confirming that yes, Oz is incredibly expensive in comparison!)

The gibbon experience in north west Laos (by the Thai border crossing) is ace. Luang Prabang is worth a look- go and see the waterfalls near by, if you leave the trail to the top around half way up there is a hidden natural infinity pool that the monks use! Vang Vieng is a laugh if you don't mind getting very drunk and using high rope swings with the rest of the worlds travellers. I went down the river there 4 times and felt incredibly broken afterwards! I didn't find the capital Vientiane up to much, but I was quite ill at the time. Down in southern Laos the Bolaven Plateau and Don Det are worth a look, but very very basic when I was there. Across the border in Cambodia Ban Lung is quite an interesting little dust pit- lots of waterfalls! Definitely head to Siam Reap (home of Ankor Wat etc- Ta Phrom the tomb raider one was my favourite!). If you go to Phnom Penh prepare to be harrowed by the Khmer Rouge stuff- me and woman didn't speak for the rest of the day. The heart of darkness is an interesting experience, just try not to upset the royals offspring or you will be in a lot of trouble. Shianoukville is good for a party on the beach! We only did southern Vietnam, but HCMC and a tour of the delta are worth doing- we combined the delta tour with a trip back into Cambodia which worked out nicely. I can thoroughly recommend going to Delat and hiring an 'Easy rider'. This is not as dodgy as it sounds- they are motorbike tour guides! I'm gutted I didn't get to see Ha Long Bay. Malaysia is very good- look out for the Perhentian Islands off the north east coast, long beach is the better one. Good diving there as well- there isn't a lot else to do there to be honest which is probably why I liked it so much! The Cameron Highlands are worth a visit as well- good tea! Clarke Quay in Singapore is a good night out- look out for 'The Clinic'. Its a bit unusual!

Hope that helps. Get a copy of the yellow bible (lonely planet SE Asia guide), and use the lonely planet forum as well- it's very useful. Have a good time- I'm massively, massively jealous!

Lucky you, wish I'd done it when I was younger and without ties.

Cheers "me!", some good suggestions there, I've got a Rough Guide so will look some opf them up and have a bit of a read. Slater - I've been to Tenerife a few times but as I'm always diving Teide is off limits but hoping to have a clear 24 hours this time to get up there, that been said not sure what it looks like up there now after the fire.