Advice for Planned Trip to Thailand/Cambodia

another question

Hi all,

I am just looking for someone to point me in the right direction.

I would love to visit both Thailand and Cambodia next year but I will be travelling alone and don't really know where to start.

I thought that a company like The Travel Department that you see advertised in the Irish Independent might offer some form of an escorted/group trip to Thailand but they don't seem to have any on their website.

Their adds always catch my attention as they seem to tick all the boxes I require such as:

1) Decent accomodation (4/5 star hotels)
2) Airport transfers
3) B&B or Half board supplement
4) Single room supplements
5) Good flight times/minimum stopovers etc
6) Day trips/excursions

I don't want to be confused with a 'student tourist', this is not an insult, I just have no interest whatsoever in hostels or trekking around looking for accomodation. I like to be comfortable and not worrying about clean bathrooms and have decent food.

I'm not even that pushed on Bangkok even though I have wanted to visit Thailand for years, I would be much more interested in something like the Eastern & Orient Express that goes up through the north of the country and to visit the islands.

I love Cambodia and would love to visit Ankor Wat, this is a must do.

Has anyone any experience on how to go about the above. I am not the worlds best traveller, I don't even really like travelling but these are two countries that I have to visit and experience. Ideally, I would like most if not all of points 1-6 listed above to be included and any companies that anyone could recommend would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you.

toetatoe

Hi there. I traveled through Thailand and Cambodia in 2007. I spent about 5 weeks split between the 2 countries and found both very easy places to travel alone. I don't feel that you need to be part of a group/escorted tour as it is so easy to arrange transport and a local guide once you arrive. I did this in Phnom Penh and Angkor and it made my trip. It really is set up for tourists so that you don't need to worry too much about the practicalities before you arrive.
Accommodations are inexpensive and I found that my smallish budget (about €25/night) went a very long way. I expect that if you are staying in 4/5 star hotels, you will be very comfortable. Food is exceptional, so you have nothing to worry about there.
Cambodia was the highlight of a RTW trip for me and can be combined easily with Thailand. I flew into Bangkok and took a bus over the border to Cambodia, but it is just as easy to catch the short flight, all depending on your time limitations.

another question

toetatoe wrote: »

Hi there. I traveled through Thailand and Cambodia in 2007. I spent about 5 weeks split between the 2 countries and found both very easy places to travel alone. I don't feel that you need to be part of a group/escorted tour as it is so easy to arrange transport and a local guide once you arrive. I did this in Phnom Penh and Angkor and it made my trip. It really is set up for tourists so that you don't need to worry too much about the practicalities before you arrive.
Accommodations are inexpensive and I found that my smallish budget (about €25/night) went a very long way. I expect that if you are staying in 4/5 star hotels, you will be very comfortable. Food is exceptional, so you have nothing to worry about there.
Cambodia was the highlight of a RTW trip for me and can be combined easily with Thailand. I flew into Bangkok and took a bus over the border to Cambodia, but it is just as easy to catch the short flight, all depending on your time limitations.

Thank you for taking the time to answer and for the advice. Where did you fly from? Did you go dublin-london-bangkok? and how long was the bus trip over the border to Cambodia from Bangkok?

toetatoe

Yes I flew DUB-LON-BKK, did a circular route through Thailand coming back into BKK to catch the bus to PP. The journey was quite a long one taking up most of a day iirc, so I wouldn't really recommend doing this if you want a more 'pampered' travel experience or are short on time. The flight is way more convenient but it was too expensive for my meagre budget at the time. A quick search on Kayak shows return flights from DUB to PNH via BKK for just over €1000.

killbillvol2

another question wrote: »

Hi all,

I am just looking for someone to point me in the right direction.

I would love to visit both Thailand and Cambodia next year but I will be travelling alone and don't really know where to start.

I thought that a company like The Travel Department that you see advertised in the Irish Independent might offer some form of an escorted/group trip to Thailand but they don't seem to have any on their website.

Their adds always catch my attention as they seem to tick all the boxes I require such as:

1) Decent accomodation (4/5 star hotels)
2) Airport transfers
3) B&B or Half board supplement
4) Single room supplements
5) Good flight times/minimum stopovers etc
6) Day trips/excursions

I don't want to be confused with a 'student tourist', this is not an insult, I just have no interest whatsoever in hostels or trekking around looking for accomodation. I like to be comfortable and not worrying about clean bathrooms and have decent food.

I'm not even that pushed on Bangkok even though I have wanted to visit Thailand for years, I would be much more interested in something like the Eastern & Orient Express that goes up through the north of the country and to visit the islands.

I love Cambodia and would love to visit Ankor Wat, this is a must do.

Has anyone any experience on how to go about the above. I am not the worlds best traveller, I don't even really like travelling but these are two countries that I have to visit and experience. Ideally, I would like most if not all of points 1-6 listed above to be included and any companies that anyone could recommend would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you.

1, 2, 3 and 4). You'll be spoiled for choice and they'll organise transfers if you want them. Rates are for the room so no hassle with single supplements. Most 4/5 star hotels will have a number of restaurants on site so you'll be ok (but you'll miss out on great street food).
5) The likes of Trailfinders (or kayak.com online) will sort out flights for you.
6) Again you'll be spoiled for choice. Your hotel will organise them if you want, You'll pay more but I suspect you just want the simplest holiday possible.

Finally, you don't appear to be on a tight budget so fly from place to place. Bus travel is slow and train travel isn't much better.