South East Asia - 5 weeks my route....

hussey

Ok I've a few searches on this forum and have got some good info so far.

The back ground: I live in Sydney, work told asked me to take 4 weeks holidays for Xmas, I asked could I take 6-8 and they said yeah.

So decided to go for 5 weeks to Asia ... this could possibly be cut to 4.

So for a rough guide here is what I want to do

Fly sydney -> Hanoi
Hanoi -> HCMC (via bus/over night train)
I'm guessing this will take 10-14 days (all the cities in between included in time frame)?

From HCMC head to Phnom Penh (2/3 days?) then to Siam Rep/Angor Wat (sorry bad spelling) (2 days?)

so I want to head to Laos, but don't want to take a 24 hour boat/bus etc
I have budgeted for one flight .. (possibly 2 depending on if get deals)

so would I better off flying to Luang Prang then to Vang Viene -> Vietennne (2 days) then get a train/bus to Bangkok -> sydney? (no time in Bangkok - as seen it before)

Or would it be easier to head back from Laos to hanoi -> sydney?

everything else seems pretty easy but the getting to Laos bit in a decent amount of time seems the killer.

Now if I was only to get 4 weeks from work - any suggestions as to what I should scrap if this is the case?

Also what airlines fly to Laos?
Laosair is the obvious one ... anything else?
Airasia another one

Also is Cheng Mai (north thailand) worth seeing (as my time would be limited)
i.e. would anyone recommend this over Cambodia?
Bankok-> North thailand -> laos -> Vietnam
or Vietnam -> Camboda -> Laos

Cheers - all advice appreciated

Placid_Casual

10-14 days from Hanoi to HCMC is cutting it fine if you're including time spent in both of those cities. In Hanoi, you'll want to do a tour of Halong Bay which is generally 3 days (you can probably do shorter but it'll be rushed). Its a great city, so you'll want at least 2-3 days to see it.
Along the coast, the main places to see are Hue (one day to see the ruins of the former royal palace - don't go expecting too much though), Hoi An (lots of old Vietnamese buildings and full of tailors) and Nha Trang (beaches). Its about 10-15 hours on bus or train between each of these places. You can do it overnight if you don't mind a bad night's sleep.
HCMC has some very good museums but not as interesting as Hanoi.

So, assuming overnight travel
Hanoi 3 days
Halong Bay 3 days
Hue 1 day
Hoi An 2 days
Nha Trang 2 days
HCMC 3 days
Not very relaxed but certainly doable.

You're plan for Cambodia sounds ok but i'd allow an extra day or two for Angkor - it really is spectacular.

You can fly from Siem Reap to Laos but not sure of which airlines go to which destinations. I flew Pakse (southern Laos) to Siem Reap a few years ago with Lao Air and they were excellent - best airline food I ever had and it was only an hour flight.
In Laos i'd choose to go either south (Four Thousand Islands) if you want to chill or north (Luang Prabang) if you want to see and do a bit more. There's not a whole lot to recommend Vientiane really.

If its only 4 weeks i'd say drop Laos. You can always go back and i'd recommend you do - its a great country but one you need to give time to.

Don't underestimate how long it can take to get from place to place in this part of the world and how tiring this can be. I hope you have some time off back home before you go back to work!

lemon_of_old

I second dropping Laos. I just arrived in Phnom Penh last night from Laos, and despite planning on breezing through the country in a week or so, it ended up taking me a month to get through the place. To get from one town to the next you're talking a minimum of 8 hours, more like 12. It's a great spot, but the beauty of Laos is not in visiting an individual place, it's taking the time to appreciate the country, and you don't have that time so you're better served somewhere else IMO.
I haven't been to Vietnam yet so can't give you any info there, but as for Chiang Mai, it's a great spot and well worth a visit, as is Pai, which is about 3 hours by bus Northwest of Chiang Mai. Phnom Penh I can't wait to get out of. I'm here 10 hours and we've already had an attempted bag snatching, ended up in a sex tourist hotel by accident, and have been surrounded by beggars.
If I had 4/5 weeks I'd pick one destination per week with a few backups. You don't know if you're going to like somewhere until you get there. You might hate it and want to leave after a day (Phnom Penh!) or you might want to stay for a week (Chiang Mai and Pai!). Make sure to give yourself enough time, it's a holiday after all!
Happy travelling!

irelandsown

lemon_of_old wrote: »

I second dropping Laos. I just arrived in Phnom Penh last night from Laos, and despite planning on breezing through the country in a week or so, it ended up taking me a month to get through the place. To get from one town to the next you're talking a minimum of 8 hours, more like 12. It's a great spot, but the beauty of Laos is not in visiting an individual place, it's taking the time to appreciate the country, and you don't have that time so you're better served somewhere else IMO.
I haven't been to Vietnam yet so can't give you any info there, but as for Chiang Mai, it's a great spot and well worth a visit, as is Pai, which is about 3 hours by bus Northwest of Chiang Mai. Phnom Penh I can't wait to get out of. I'm here 10 hours and we've already had an attempted bag snatching, ended up in a sex tourist hotel by accident, and have been surrounded by beggars.
If I had 4/5 weeks I'd pick one destination per week with a few backups. You don't know if you're going to like somewhere until you get there. You might hate it and want to leave after a day (Phnom Penh!) or you might want to stay for a week (Chiang Mai and Pai!). Make sure to give yourself enough time, it's a holiday after all!
Happy travelling!

You must be just behind me. Haha. I left Phnom Penh on Wednesday. Arrived on Monday night and found the place quite dirty and full of beggars. You can do all the sights in one day. Siam Reap is so much nicer. The people are lovely and the nightlife is great. Angkor Wat is amazing too. There are still beggers and landmine victims in Siam Reap but you get used to them. Enjoy ur trip.

Placid_Casual

Personally, I found Phnom Penh fascinating. It IS dirty and there ARE lots of beggars but I guess it was this very edginess that made it appeal to me. It wouldn't be everybody's cup of tea but it felt, i don't know, real I guess. Plus I had a couple of crazy nights out there :pac:.
Certainly thought a lot more of it than Siem Reap, which is a total tourist town, for obvious reasons.

lemon_of_old

Update - I now love Phnom Penh. Yeah it's dirty and manky but Placid_Casual is dead right, it's so edgy. Spent 2 days there and am gonna go back for another few days before Vietnam. And Siam Reap is quite nice, going to see the temples tomorrow. Enjoy your trip too Irelandsown!

S.M.B.

I wasn't a big fan of Phnom Penh myself.

I only spent a day or two there so maybe if I had a few more days I would of grown to like the place a bit more.