Six Week Holiday - Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia & Thailand

Naos

Afternoon all,

First post here!

Myself and the GF are heading off on holiday in a few weeks and just looking for some pointers.

We fly into Kuala Lumpur (27th Aug) and fly to Ho Chi Min City on 29th Aug. Fly out from KL on 5th October.
We're basically trying to figure out how long to spend in each of the four countries.

Without trying to sound like a prat, we're both working so it's not a budget trip, will travel by air to save time.

We'd like to see some Malaysian beaches as well if possible!

I understand it's fitting a lot in, so I put it to you - how long would you spend in each country, assuming you had to see them all?

- As it's wet season we'll most likely be avoiding any of the very rural stuff, treks etc.
- Main wants: See the highlights and spend some downtime on beaches.

Thanks in advance!

Gatica

Hi! have a look at this thread where we did a similar trip in 4 weeks.
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=78214817

We also flew between our destinations. You'll see our trip breakdown and budget in that thread....

Graham_B18C

Currently on my last stage (Borneo) of a 12 week trip very similar to yours. We went Bangkok, Chaing Mai, Hanoi all the way down to HCM then Cambodia, south Thailand and Malaysia. Vietnam was our favourite part of the trip so far, we were there for 3 and a half weeks and could of spent more time there. We were travelling on overnight busses and trains through it though. My favourite places were Sapa (north of Hanoi) and Hoi An, Sapa is a small town in the mountains, really lovely place where you can go trekking through mountainside rice paddys with local tour guides (or go alone). Hoi An is a town close to DaNang (personally I wouldn't bother visiting DaNang again). Hoi An had a lovely beach, really nice hotels, extremely cheap beer (11c a glass!) and loads of tailors and cobblers trying to get you to buy clothes.

We spent 9 days in Cambodia - 5 in Sinoukville, 2 in Phnom Penn and 2 in Siem Reap. Depending on how many temples you plan on visiting then I'd say 2-3 days in enough for Siem Reap and the same for Phnom Penn. We spent longer in Sinoukville because we were on a small island for a few days (Koh Rong Samluam (sp?)) but it wouldn't be a must see by any means.

If I could do it again though I would spend less time in Bangkok and more in either Vietnam or Malaysia, I left KL for Kota Kinabalu this morning and really hated leaving KL. Absolutely loved the place, 'twas the first place in Asia that I thought I would really like to live. Stayed in a place called Putra Sunway, 5* hotel for about 45 quid a night and it was really really nice but if you have the money then we drank in the sky bar in Traders hotel opposite the Petronas towers and it was really nice too, about 3 times the price of our place to stay in but you have an incredible view!

I can't comment on Malaysian beaches just yet though, we're climbing Mt. Kinabalu tomorrow then flying to Sandakan on the 21st, then heading to Semporna on the 26th.

If you're going to south Thailand then I'd avoid Haad Rin like the plague, even if you do want to go crazy at the full moon party you should stay somewhere else on the island and head over for the nights. We stayed in a place called Haad Tian in an A/C beach bungalo for three nights which was really lovely, it cost us twice that for a pretty crappy place in Haad Rin at Full moon time for three nights.

We skipped Laos because it just seemed like too much hassle to get through (for us) as we weren't going to fly. If you have any questions about anything else pop em up or PM me and I'll try my best to help you

Graham_B18C

Oh and if you haven't get your internal flights booked yet then I'd suggest booking them very soon, the prices go up and up the later you leave it with AirAsia

Naos

Many thanks for the replies!

Had a read of that thread Gatica - interesting read.

And Graham thanks for that very detailed response! After more reading and input from you guys we've actually made a bigger decision and well.. decided to strip out Cambodia.

So we're going to do Vietnam, South Thailand and Malaysia. I think we were trying to see far too much and would've been moving around a lot, not exactly the relaxing break we'd envisioned.

Can always come back

Graham_B18C

Where you planning on going in south Thailand outta curiosity?

Stinicker

Graham_B18C wrote: »

Where you planning on going in south Thailand outta curiosity?

Prepare to get ripped off if going to Phuket, avoid Patong Beach, everything is double or triple normal Thai prices and full of scum tuktuk drivers. If going to Phuket rent a car in the airport and stay in Karon Beach or one of the quieter resorts and at least there you won't fall victim to the rip-off tuktuk mafia there. Crime against tourists is a problem in Phuket too and whatever you do don't rent a jetski anywhere in Thailand or you will be had for hundreds. Over the last two years I have visited Thailand 3 times and I have seen dozens of tourists get scammed each time by the mafia who run these jetski scams. The Russian Mafia control alot of the Thai tourist industry especially in Phuket so it is a case of payup of get your head knocked off. Such a lovely country but for the uninitiated it can turn into a nightmare holiday so fast.

The reason I write this is I was charged €40 in Phuket for a 20mins tuktuk drive, and there is no alternatives to tuktuks there as it is all part of a cartel controlled by the mafia, taxi cars are even more expensive, the worst part is I knew I would be ripped off and had no choice to pay or else stay stuck in the resort (Patong) by contrast had I taken my drivers licence with me I could have rented a car for €25 a day and explored the whole island without feeling ripped off. The same price in other parts of Thailand would be €5-10 and I was charged €40. Everything in Phuket is more expensive and it is like Ibiza for Aussies and Kiwis and very much over-ran, the quieter resorts are nicer but equally expensive but you are less likely to encounter schoolies from Oz and more likely to meet a honeymooners, older retired folk etc.