Banana Pancake Trail
Asia · Other
About Banana Pancake Trail
The Banana Pancake Trail is the name given to the well-trodden and constantly growing routes around Southeast Asia travelled by backpackers and other tourists. The trail has no clear definition but is used as a metaphor for places that are well-visited by mostly Western tourists who have left their mark on the local tourist industry, which has created restaurants, hotels and entertainment catering to these travellers' needs.
Banana Pancake Trail travel guide
Understand
The term "Banana Pancake Trail" is usually used tongue-in-cheek as an affectionate nickname and in reference to routes connecting the many guesthouses, cafes and restaurants that serve banana pancakes as a form of sweet breakfast. The Banana Pancake Trail is sometimes associated with travellers who use Lonely Planet travel guides, due to the fact that this publisher's books were the first to provide information about the region and were therefore used by many backpackers. The influx of Western travellers led to the rise of many restaurants serving food adapted to their needs, including banana pancakes and other comfort foods like yoghurt with muesli and honey. Some travellers in the region are digital nomads, people who work via the net while travelling. The region is also popular for retiring abroad.
Getting there
There is no firm (geographic) definition of the Banana Pancake Trail, as it is a metaphor to describe the ever-developing travellers' trail going through many different places in Southeast Asia and the Indian subcontinent (India and Nepal) rather than an actual route or road. But if you want to begin your journey by really diving head first into backpacker land, by all means book a ticket to Bangkok and make your way to Khao San Road. Yes, there's a reason it is mentioned in the very first sentence of the #1 backpacker novel of all time: Alex Garland's The Beach.
Go next
One possibility is to head west to India, Sri Lanka and Nepal. See flying on a budget and the "Get in" sections of those country articles for transport options. For routes further west from there, see Istanbul to New Delhi overland. Another possibility is to head east or south into Oceania. Gringo Trail, a similar range of destinations in Latin America.
Overview adapted from Wikipedia, travel guide fromWikivoyage (CC BY-SA)。Photography via Wikimedia Commons.