Itinerary for Indonesia or Thailand, July/August

[HappyHolidays75]

I'm torn between the two for a last big trip with DD before uni.
Where would you recommend going in each?
Both have an overwhelming number of options.
We like backpacking, public transport, beaches, mountains, sightseeing, hiking, watersports - wanting an active and varied holiday. Beachtime is limited to about 2-3 hours before boredom sets in!
Equally if there's somewhere else amazing you'd recommend please tell me!

Ubud in Bali was my fav place in Indonesia. It's not the beach area but it has views of rice padi. We stayed at a hotel with bungalows facing the rice padi and it was the most peaceful room I've stayed albeit it was a cheap one.
Labuan bajo is also popular nowadays. I haven't been but it's like Bali before it became over developed.

Id recommend Bangkok, Chiang Mai and Koh Samui, we did this last summer. Chiang Mai is particularly stunning if you like hiking and mountains, Easydrive do excellent private tours of the area.

@Papadonut do you stay on Bali or go to any other islands?
@SophieV80 how did you find the weather? Did it restrict what you could do at all? I'll check out easy drive.
Thank you both!

I only stayed in bali, but you could make a journey to Lombok which is next to bali.

I think at that time of year I’d go for Bali, Lombok, Yogyakarta (with a day trip to Borobudur). July/August is rainy season in much of Thailand.

We've plumped for Indonesia this year. DS went last year and loved it so this year we are all going. We are having 4 days in Singapore for the city, 4 days in Ubud for temples, jungle treks, 4 nights sailing around Komodo National Park for wildlife and marine life and then 4 days recovering in a hotel at Labaun Bajo. Accommodation (except Singapore) was super cheap compared to Europe and the food and drink should be a fraction of the price too.

Indonesia is magical.

Gilli islands though busier than when we went 20 years ago still look lovely - good diving. Snorkel with Manta Rays in Nusa Penida.

Recommend Sulawesi for culture

www.tripadvisor.co.uk/ShowUserReviews-g317108-r93177231-Rantepao_South_Sulawesi_Sulawesi.html

@Lordofmyflies that sounds fantastic. Who have you booked the sailing with?
@Nomorepants I'll check those out too. A colleague raves about the gili islands.

I’ve gone through “seek Sophie” which is an on line broker for many different Sailing vessels:

@Lordofmyflies I was actually looking at that site yesterday. Thanks!

Following as my dd is talking about going to Lombok travelling.

My DS has just left - he loved it too.

@Nomorepants did your Ds go on his own? This will be the first time my dd has gone travelling and I'm trying not to worry too much but failing who did he fly with?

He’s with friends. He’s met lots of other kids all seeming to have a good time and it sounds quite social. Solo-ing seems a much bigger & cooler thing to do these days.

This sounds amazing and exactly what we want to do! Can I ask whether you organised it yourself or got an agent to do it?