What would you suggest if you had 7-10 days in the Far East?

happyoutscan

Going to Malaysia at the end of December for a wedding. As it is a bit of a distance I'm planning on sticking in Penang - location of the wedding - for about 6-7 days. I then if I wish have 7-10 days to venture elsewhere before flying back.

Flights are fairly inexpensive so I'm thinking of heading to either Vietnam, Cambodia or Thailand before returning to Kuala Lumpur for my return flight.

My interests are a bit of history and culture, relax and a few beers. There will probably be a couple of us and we are contemplating perhaps a 4 day visit to Vietnam then 3-4 days in Cambodia?

As we don't have too much time we are happy to take on any suggestions from anyone who has visited the region.

I might note that the reason we are going to be staying in Penang for a week is due to friends traveling from Australia for the wedding. They are there for the week so don't want to be rushing away from them.

Thanks in advance and look forward to any good places, stories, ideas you all may have.

athtrasna

Vietnam is my favorite place on the planet. Ho chi Minh and Hanoi are so different and should both be experienced. My favourite place though is Hoi An.

Honeymooned in Malaysia, hated Penang, might as well have been on the Costa del Sol. Any chance you can convince your friends to hop on a budget flight with you to another part of south East Asia?

happyoutscan

athtrasna wrote: »

Vietnam is my favorite place on the planet. Ho chi Minh and Hanoi are so different and should both be experienced. My favourite place though is Hoi An.

Honeymooned in Malaysia, hated Penang, might as well have been on the Costa del Sol. Any chance you can convince your friends to hop on a budget flight with you to another part of south East Asia?

In an ideal world yes but they'll have their 2 little ones with them so not really an option for them! I've heard alright that Penang is like that but it'll be a drink session those few days so will be nice to get away from the intensity of that.

Visited Tioman Island before which is fantastic but like the idea of going elsewhere thus Vietnam is an option, and a good one from what I've read. Would 7-10 days be too much in Vietnam or what would you think about 4/5 days in Vietnam and maybe the same in Cambodia?

athtrasna

happyoutscan wrote: »

In an ideal world yes but they'll have their 2 little ones with them so not really an option for them! I've heard alright that Penang is like that but it'll be a drink session those few days so will be nice to get away from the intensity of that.

Visited Tioman Island before which is fantastic but like the idea of going elsewhere thus Vietnam is an option, and a good one from what I've read. Would 7-10 days be too much in Vietnam or what would you think about 4/5 days in Vietnam and maybe the same in Cambodia?

We did 3 nights Hanoi, 2 nights Hué, 5 nights Hoi An and 3 nights Ho Chi Minh and the only place I wouldn't go back to is Hué. The Citadel is stunning but the town is a kip.

happyoutscan

Did you fly or train between your locations? Thanks again for your replies, I'm terrible at decision making when it comes to things like this!

athtrasna

happyoutscan wrote: »

Did you fly or train between your locations? Thanks again for your replies, I'm terrible at decision making when it comes to things like this!

Internal flights all the way. For Hoi An we flew into Danang.

happyoutscan

So we've booked our flights. Heading to Penang at end of December until January 2. Then we have until January 16 when we fly out of KL heading home. So around 2 weeks to get to see some of Cambodia and Vietnam.

We are thinking of doing Siem Reap and Phnom Penh for 4/5 days and then onto Ho Chi Minh, Hanoi and Hoi An for the rest of the days.

We're pretty relaxed as to an itinerary but any recommendations greatly appreciated.

verywell

I did Phnom Penh recently. I flew in Sat morning and flew out Sunday aft. We did the killing fields, prison, palace. Very nice city.

In a previous wkend I did Siam Reap. Had the same timescale as above and got all the major temples done. Gorgeous food also here. A LOT of children ambling around. I have seen ppl give children books and pens as a gift which is a great idea. Something to bear in mind. Esp when u see the kids at Angor Wat.

Cambodia is definitely worth a visit. People are also very welcoming.

fits

happyoutscan wrote: »

So we've booked our flights. Heading to Penang at end of December until January 2. Then we have until January 16 when we fly out of KL heading home. So around 2 weeks to get to see some of Cambodia and Vietnam.

We are thinking of doing Siem Reap and Phnom Penh for 4/5 days and then onto Ho Chi Minh, Hanoi and Hoi An for the rest of the days.

We're pretty relaxed as to an itinerary but any recommendations greatly appreciated.

I was in Malaysia last month. The currency is working in your favour. I would buy some now if I were you! You can buy 20% more for your euro than a month ago.

Penang is cool. Stay in Georgetown itself rather than the resort area. but I wouldnt spend more than 3 days there. The street food is incredible. If you want to do something flash, go to langkawi. Its an easy short flight. Or you can take the ferry. Tanjung Rhu hotel might be a nice place to stay for a while.

We went to the perhentians by flying to kota bharu from Penang. that was amazing for snorkelling but I think December is Monsoon season and everything is closed on the east coast. Dont spend long in KL. 1 day is enough.

eagerv

Spent a week last year in Sihanoukville, Cambodia.

Very laid back, particularly Outres Beach.
I could chill out there comfortably for a month!

A few years ago got a very cheap Air Asia flight to Kota Kinabalu, Borneo, from KL. Great if you like wild life, mountains, sea etc.

Spent three days also in Penang. I really enjoyed it, but didn't leave Georgetown.

faigs

Siem Reap definitely worth 4/5 days, you'll be sick of temples after 3/4 main ones but you have to see them! Worth going to Phnom Penh for a couple of nights to see S21 and the Killing Fields, a sobering experience. Otherwise its a huge city with people living hand to mouth, not spectacular but the people won me over, I had an overwhelming feeling of wanting to help the Cambodians after I left! Loved Ho Chi Minh and dying to see more of Vietnam!

happyoutscan

faigs wrote: »

Siem Reap definitely worth 4/5 days, you'll be sick of temples after 3/4 main ones but you have to see them! Worth going to Phnom Penh for a couple of nights to see S21 and the Killing Fields, a sobering experience. Otherwise its a huge city with people living hand to mouth, not spectacular but the people won me over, I had an overwhelming feeling of wanting to help the Cambodians after I left! Loved Ho Chi Minh and dying to see more of Vietnam!

Yeah we are getting excited now. Because of time we are going to do 2 nights in Siem Reap and 2 in Phnom Penh which will leave us with 10 nights for doing 2/3 spots in Vietnam. I'm thinking Ho Chi Minh, Hanoi and Hoi An.

happyoutscan

So we are currently with an itinerary as follows for our trip:

Leaving Penang for KL on Jan 1 and flying to Siem Reap on the morning of Jan 2.

- Siem Reap: 2 nights
- Phnom Penh: 1 night
- Vientiane, Laos: 2 nights
- Hanoi, Vietnam: 2 nights
- Hoi An, Vietnam: 4 nights
- Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam: 3 nights before heading back to KL to get our flight back on Jan 16.

We have thrown in the visit to Laos as we are in the vicinity and think it might be worth a visit. We both like the hustle and bustle of flying so that's not an issue as most flights are short and we are organizing the flights in such a way as to optimize our time in each location.


However we are hoping to go visit Thailand in a couple years so could do it then too.

The four nights in Hoi An are an attempt to just lounge and really relax and probably do some serious drinking as a reward for our efforts!

Any suggestions or recommendations - good, bad or indifferent - you fine people may have would as always be highly appreciated!

clever user name

happyoutscan wrote: »

So we are currently with an itinerary as follows for our trip:

Leaving Penang for KL on Jan 1 and flying to Siem Reap on the morning of Jan 2.

- Siem Reap: 2 nights
- Phnom Penh: 1 night
- Vientiane, Laos: 2 nights
- Hanoi, Vietnam: 2 nights
- Hoi An, Vietnam: 4 nights
- Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam: 3 nights before heading back to KL to get our flight back on Jan 16.

We have thrown in the visit to Laos as we are in the vicinity and think it might be worth a visit. We both like the hustle and bustle of flying so that's not an issue as most flights are short and we are organizing the flights in such a way as to optimize our time in each location.


However we are hoping to go visit Thailand in a couple years so could do it then too.

The four nights in Hoi An are an attempt to just lounge and really relax and probably do some serious drinking as a reward for our efforts!

Any suggestions or recommendations - good, bad or indifferent - you fine people may have would as always be highly appreciated!

Personally, I'd forget Laos...pretty unremarkable place to be honest. You can certainly put those 2 days to better use. You said you will be in Penang...I'm actually there at the moment renewing my work visa. Its a nice place, has some great food and the prices are reasonable. If you get bored there take a trip over to Langkawi on the ferry. Its a nice little island and duty free, so everything is cheap as hell!

Cambodia is amazing, as is Vietnam. Ho Chi is a much nicer city than Hanoi, in my opinion. So if you wanted to do Thailand as well you could cut that out. Where in Thailand depends on your preferences. If you want to laze on a beach and do nothing then go to one of the islands (Samui, Pha Ngan. Tao, Chang) or Pattaya. If you want the hustle and bustle of a city go to Bangkok or Changmai. There really aren't many big cities in Thailand.

I live in the south of Thailand in a place called Satun. There is an island not far from there called Koh Lipee which is amazingly beautiful and not as touristy. You can get the ferry from Penang to Langkawi and then Langkawi to Satun...then get the ferry to Koh Lipee! Just a suggestion, but much quieter than the other islands and much cheaper than flying to Thailand.

Wesser

Suggest going on a food tour of Vietnam
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