South Africa is one destination that comes to mind although August might be considered their winter. How about doing a luxury safari. They are exhilerating but you can also chill and watch the game all around. Kenya is another possibility.

It might be worth check the weather figures out - it's a bit wetter in the Far East that time of year. How about staying in the interior of Bali. There are some cracking resorts inland surrounded by exotic scenery. Also August is a good time to go in terms of the weather and you could combine it with one of the cities such as Singapore, Bangkok or KL - even throw in Vietnam.

we looked at Mexico when we were booking our honeymoon - if you stay away from cancun the resorts look amazing.

there are fantastic historical sites aswell as the beaches and swimming with dolphins.

hth

allie

Kenya would be good in August as would Mexico. I love Mexico so much to do but agree stay away from Cancun for honeymoon, try P Aventuras area. What about Borneo, lots to do and weather not too wet could tie in with a city Hong Kong, KL Singapore or Bangkok. Also cruise from Hong Kong that goes to Vietnam and China (4 days I think). Depends on your budget but Canada and Cruise to Alaska could offer excellent scenery. Finally what about US, could try NY and Vegas with a horse ranch for a few days. What is your budget?

Load of info on Mexico if you need

sunbear - don't really fancy a safari...not for a honeymoon anyway...
interior bali? sounds interesting...tell me more
still like the sound of singapore, malaysia and thailand too as you mentioned...any particular areas that are of extreme beauty and a must see?

allie - i'm still not quite convinced by mexico to be honest...don't really want to stay at a resort as i mentioned...unless it is likely to be quiet and amazingly beautiful in terms of natural surroundings

travelalot...can you tell me more about mexico in terms of what sites one must see when there...does it have alot of naturally beautiful scenery?
also not considered borneo...have you been there yourself? KL keeps being mentioned...is that the best part of malaysia? i like the idea of canada still because the scenery seems so amazing...in particular the west coast area...lake victoria, bannf etc...then do a mission over to vancouver and check out the niagra falls maybe?! hmmm...have you been to canada yourself? don't really want to do america...not for honeymoon. Budget is slightly flexible at the moment...because we are looking to see what is out there and what we fancy. Approx = £2500. Ideally as cheap as possible without compromising on luxury and scenery!

Confused,
the budget you mention is that per person or for the whole trip? I mention Bali because its going to be the place with the best weather in the Far East at that time of year. The North of Bali is famed as a cultural centre with a lot of arts and crafts being produced - for example the area around Ubud. There are a number of up market small hotels you can stay in - set in jungle area or views of rice padi terraces - that kind of thing.

Malaysia gets a mention. The Datai on Langkawi is a luxury hotel in a very quiet setting on a glorious stretch of beach. the island itself is quiet quite scenic. KL (Kuala Lumpur) the capital of Malayasia gets mentioned because it is one of the hubs used in South East Asia to get to places like Bali, mainland Malaysia and Borneo. The other hubs being Singapore and Bangkok. They are convenient locations to provide a city element to a two or thee centre holiday or honeymoon. All three cities are great places to stay for few days - they have top notch hotels, great shopping and interesting sightseeing.

For our honeymoon in 2001 we combined 7 nights in Hong Kong with 10 nights in Langkawi. Hong Kong because we had already been there twice, loved it and found so much to do there that we couldn't fit into our first 2 trips (and we've been back again since then and still not had enough of it!) - Langkawi for the relaxation and romantic natural surroundings.

If you're not really looking for a beach holiday, I'm not sure that Langkawi would be right for you. We hired a car there and pretty much saw the whole island in two days, but vegging on the beach most of the time suited us just fine after 7 hectic days in HK. It did give us a taste for Malaysia though and we went back there last year to KL and Borneo. KL's ok, but we saw and did just about everything we wanted to in the 5 days we were there and thought it was pretty tame after HK.

But Borneo was fabulous and I think you could easily spend 2 or 3 weeks there without getting bored. There's so much to see and do, like trekking through the rainforest, seeing all the different wildlife - orangutans, turtles, proboscis monkeys, etc, whitewater rafting, climbing Mt Kinabalu, visiting tribal villages and longhouses, etc, etc, etc. And if you didn't want to spend the whole of your honeymoon there, you can easily combine it with Hong Kong, Singapore or Bangkok, all of which imho are more exciting than KL.

My husband and I spent a week cruising down the nile and then an extra week at the Luxor Hilton. The cruise was a real romantic touch and was very intimate, but it combined sitting and relaxing on the decks watching the world go by (getting a tan) and at the same time it stopped at various destinations which were included in the price but you decide if you want to go or not. The second week you can do what you want relax by the pool, go shopping or take some more excursions like the pyrimids. Fab. Good luck finding your perfect holiday.

sunbear - that is overall...could increase it but just using it as an estimate at the moment...i will look in to bali further. i think along with singapore and malaysia, i need to do some more research on borneo too.

xenosuk - thanks for the tips...can you tell me more about borneo? what is the scenery like?

MaccyB - today i have started considering a cruise on the nile more seriously than before...i have heard many good things and been told that it is very romantic too. is the scenery amazing while you travel on the nile? of course at the same time you get to stop off and see some of the wonderful historical places...so not just lying about all the time...definitely want to relax too which it seems the cruise might provide a bit of both of. what was your week in luxor like? what did you get up to while there? pure relaxation or did you get out and about?

The scenery is amazing by day and by night. We went through about 8 roles of film just on the cruise cos there is so much to see. To be honest with you, neither my husband or I are sun worshipers so we would sit either in the pool on top deck or on the bar terrace. One thing I will say is try and upgrade to all inclusive becasue drinks can get expensive especially all the water you drink out there. Our week in luxor we spent practically relaxing. We paid for a trip to the pyramids (which again you need to budget for becasue it is not included and it is not cheap, mind you I have recently found out that there are packages that include a stay in cairo as well as luxor- worth a look) we also went into the town shopping, we took a boat trip to crocodile island. We wanted to take the trip to Ablesimble but we couldnt afford it which we really regret as apparently it is unmissable. All things that make your trip unforgettable. If you need any more info no prolem.

To give you an idea of the scenery in Borneo, here's a slideshow of some of the photos I took in Borneo -

http://uk.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/xenosinmalaysia/slideshow?.dir=/8a5a&.src=ph

A good site for photos/video and general info is:-

http://www.sabahtourism.com/

Your slide show is brill, it looks glorious over there, I never really thought about it as a place to go, but it is sure is going to be added to our ever increasing list of places we want ot visit. I expect it is quiet expensive though might have to make it a holiday over one of our special anniversarys. Thanks for sharing your snaps.

Actually Borneo can be quite reasonable - I've seen that same hotel for around the six hundred pound mark, twinned with KL. I think Borneo is one of the best value destinations out there - considering the quality of the accommodation. Mind you the Rasa Ria hotel is very remote so you are stuck with hotel food and drink prices, unless you catch a taxi to go out.

xenosuk - thanks for the pics...they're great!

right our options have been narrowed down now slightly

1) there is egypt - a nile cruise followed by a few days in cairo or some other city

2) south east asia - in which case we would most likely include vietnam, malaysia and singapore...a few days at each...or that would be the general idea

3) last but not least - canada - this looks amazingly beautiful too to say the least...i think we would most likely consider Alberta or British Columbia with possibly a trip to the niagra falls on our return

can anyone provide me with further information regarding canada and a honeymoon or trip they may have been on...definitely like the idea of the lakes and mountains in alberta...seem very romantic and the lady quite likes what she has seen of canada in the brochures...recommendations, advice and stories would be much appreciated!

Can't help you too much there, but what I can tell you is that Banff in Canada is a georgeous area especially if you fancy having a go at the snow sports, but if not there is still plenty to do. Trips around the rocky mountains, the wild life is fantastic and the scenery. Although we didn't stay there I know there is a luxury hotel can't remember the name of the top of my head which had a hot spa outside looking over georgeous landscapes. Worth a cosideration maybe??

yes i definitely think it's worth serious consideration...the mountains and lakes look beautiful...not sure about winter sports as we are going in august...but like you said, am sure we will find other things to do in banff and surrounding locations eg horse back riding, cycling, seeing the beautiful sites etc etc

was looking at chateau lake louise today...not sure if that is the one you are referring to?

any more advice on canada from anyone would be much appreciated!

With regard to Niagara...majestic though the falls are I think the resort that has been built up around it detracts quite a bit from the overall impression...we found some parts were quite tacky...reminded me of some British seaside resorts.

hmmm...thanks for that sunbear...are the niagra falls worth going to see despite the surroundings?

or are they not THAT special to make a special trip from the west coast of canada?

have you looked at the rainfall figures for the places you mention? August is probably not a good month to go to Vietnam- it has 11 inches of rain. Parts of Malaysia also has high rainfall. Borneo has 10 inches although I think you would get rain there most months.We love Asia but July/August need research weather wise. We have been to Bangkok and Singapore July/ August and both had rain but in short bursts( they have between 6 and 8 inches of rain) We have also been to Hong Kong then-and were lucky because we had packed waterproofs (13inches of rain a month) and only had one afternoon of rain.We are going to Bali in July and that has no rain.

hi fiona...yes it seems the south east asia has quite a bit of monsoon type weather at that time of the year...which is why i am wanting to research further in to canada and egypt at the moment...i have quite a bit of information about egypt but need more on canada from people's experiences...

thanks for the pointer though...may have to do south east asia some other time : (