Asia (Hong Kong, Cambodia & .....)

english4490

Hey Everyone,

Was wondering if anyone had any suggestions or ideas for an itinerary for Asia in late November for 2 weeks or so.Was in Thailand and Singapore last year for 15 days and loved it so planning another trip. Managed to get Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Phi Phi and Singapore into 15 days. Obviously would have loved more time in all but i got to see and do most of what i wanted and hopefully will be back again! flew into BK and out of Singapore instead of in and out of the same place.

My partner and i are planning on flying into Hong Kong and spending a few nights there, anyone an idea how many days would be needed here?
then the plan is to fly to Cambodia, probably Siem Reap for a few days around Ankor Wat. after that we are not sure, would people recommend Phnon Penh? i would like to visit the Killing Fields and S21 prision etc. but with time limited is it something i should leave? if not would a day or 2 be enough? after this then would like a few days R+R so either a cheap flight somewhere or bus down + ferry to some of the Islands such as koh rong / samloem. i have head mixed things about Sihanoukville? any one been / is it worth the trek down for a few nights or in the 6/7 hours it would take each way am i just better off hopping on an air asia flight elsewhere? finally then instead of backtracking to HK to fly home was thinking of maybe flying home from Kuala Lumpur. From what i have read and heard its not the most exciting place in Asia but might be nice for a day or 2 wandering and 5* are very cheap so might be a nice treat at the end of the trip before flying home?

we planned carefully last year and cheap flights saved us a lot of time, i don't want to just be on the go all the time but would people think something like below is ok??
HK: 3/4/5 days
SR: 3 DAYS
PP: 1/2 DAYS
Beach/ Island: 3/4 days
City: a day or two

budget it middle of the road and have 13/14 days, would love to have twice the time. any comments/thoughts/ suggestions would really be appreciated

Easypeasey

Hi,

I would recommend HK for min 3 days, very developed city with lots to do and see. An idea which I did while in HK, went to Macau for 3 nights also, it is, an hour boat away. This is the equivalent of Asian Vegas, has all the hotel chains MGM, Venitian etc , fab place to see, worth looking up if you were interested in this kind of thing.

On a seperate trip I visited SR, stayed for two nights/3days, with an early start one full day visiting Angkor Wat is achievable. Transport to/from Phnon Penh didn't work out for us so we skipped it and flew straight to Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam. I would recommend this as an option Ho Chi Minh City is a good base, from there you can do a tour of Mekong Delta, Chu chi tunnels again 3 days would suffice and from there you could go to the coast for a few beach days. Hoi An/Hue/Nha Trang

All internal flights were really cheap in Vietnam so for time saving definitely recommend this.

Hope that is of some help

cournioni

Planning a similar trip myself. Anyone have any ideas on what would be the best and safest booking method? I wouldn't be too worried about sorting myself out for flights, hotels etc. but should anything go wrong with connections etc. I would like to have something to fall back on.

Are there any travel agents in Ireland that would specialise in trips to South East Asia for reasonable enough rates?

Ed_Stephens

You're trying to squeeze an awful lot into 14 days, all that travelling and rushing around will take it out of you. I'm just back from 7 days in Hong Kong and it was a very packed week, if you can I recommend staying on Hong Kong island and not Kowloon. HK is an assault on your senses and I would recommend 5 days easy.

There is an airport in Siem Reap but it can be pricey as there's not a lot of daily flights however if you want to save some money it costs about $15 to get the bus from Siem Reap to Phnom Penh. I did 4 nights in each a couple of years back and again it was quite a packed schedule. One day in Angkor Wat does not do it justice, the scale of the place is hard to believe and 3 days is what I would recommend. Phnom Penh should be at least 3 days, there's more to it than S21 and the Killing fields but you can do these in one day easy. Fly from Phnom Penh to Bangkok Don Muang with Air Asia for cheap and fly home from there. You could stay in Bangkok for a night or two to get your city break but Hong Kong is one hell of a city and hard to beat. I recommend a day trip to Stanley when in HK, lovely place, away from the madness.

Trailfinders are probably the best agents for advise on the region

EJ Aza

Hi, I don't have time to write a full response and I haven't been to HK; but, I have travelled Vietnam, Cambodia. Thailand and Malaysia...

You need 3 full days in Siem Reap; a full day to explore Angkor and possibly another as it is breath taking. We did sunrise and sunset in the one day. Amazing. A full day wandering around the town and there is a lot of art to buy in the art market. Some very good restaurants and some nice places where locals go and you can cook your own food.

Pnom Penh - 2 days is fine worth doing the killing fields and s21.

Sihanoukville aka Snookyville - was ok, busy enough and a little touristy, Koh Rong - very few people, we went there for diving but there is little else to do and the 'beaches' had a lot of sand flies. We were backpacking and wanted off the beaten track so it suited us perfectly.

I loved HCM and we got a local bus to the tunnels. Hoi An is absolutely my favourite town in Vietnam and as another poster said flights are cheap. You could easily fly into Siem Reap; south to Pnom Penh, south to HCM and then hop on a flight to Hoi An (beaches, are good, amazing food, lovely vibe); why do you want to go to KL? KL is a nice city but why not stay in Cambodia / Vietnam?

clever user name

I lived in Hong Kong for 6 months and to be honest 3 or 4 days is plenty. I'm not sure what other people like to do on holidays but for Hong Kong all I can think of is shopping, eating, The Big Budda, Markets, Victoria peak and maybe Lantau Island. I would head to Macau for a night also like one of the posters above mentioned. Its good fun in the casinos and if you're feeling adventurous do the bungee jump off the Macau tower, great craic.

Haven't been to Siem Reap, but Phnon Penh is an interesting place. Its worth going for the killing fields alone, eerie place. Kuala Lumpur is a nice city, I really liked it. And as you said, some of the hotels are unreal. Malaysian food is also really good. Plus its easy to get home from Kuala Lumpur, plenty of flights to London and Amsterdam.

No interest in Vietnam op? I'd personally recommend it over Cambodia. Like someone mentioned above, Ho Chi Min city is class!!