6 weeks in SE Asia starting on the 10th of Dec. Help

Esox Lucias

Hello all,

So, my girlfriend and I (both in our early 30s) are traveling around SE Asia for 6 weeks starting on the 10th of December, flying into Bangkok.

However, we are having trouble deciding on the best route. Originally it was Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam and back to Bangkok from northern Thailand. We are now debating going north first, and taking in Laos. The issue arises that she wants somewhere nice for Xmas, I couldn't care where we are. But a tranquil island would be nice for new years!

Anyway, does anyone have any experience of this trip for this amount of time over this time of year?

Any advice here would be great.

Cheers folks!

Gatica

We did the 4 countries in 4 weeks 3 years ago. Here's my thread on it.
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=78214817

Hope it helps. we did find it quite a stretch to do all, but you have an extra 2 weeks on us.

traprunner

3 years ago I did Malaysia, Thailand and Cambodia in 4 weeks. It was a rush. We flew everywhere. Air travel is relatively cheap and can be booked on the day of the flight for the same price as booking in advance.

2 years ago I did Vietnam. I spent 3 weeks there and still could have done with another week or two!

I'd advise knocking a country off the list as it's a big area and there'll be so much you'll miss.

catbear

When we in bangkok trying to decide between heading for an island or heading east to Cambodia for Christmas. In the end we were influenced by other regular travelers to that region who said that the islands were usually overrun by swedes and australians on holiday piss-ups.

We headed east and spent xmas in Cambodia. It's still my favorite xmas ever, no fuss, just chilling touring the ruins of Ankor.

Just as well though because if we had headed south as we had been thinking we would had been on Phi-Phi for the tsunami.

Luang Prabang is another good option.

Esox Lucias

That's all a great help folks. Knowing it can be done is a relief. I'd be the same as your BF Gatica, i just want to go with the flow, see how and where we end up :cool:. However my GF wants structure:(. Compromise is gonna be key I think.

Anything off the beaten path that ye encountered that ye can recommend?

Cheers for the replies.

traprunner

I haven't been to Laos but from the other 3 countries you are interested in....

Places I loved:
Cambodia - Siem Reap (Angkor Wat).
Vietnam - Hoi An, Sapa and Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) where you will to do the Saigon Shuffle crossing the road...keep walking slowly at a constant speed and don't stop. The traffic will avoid you. If you stop in the middle you will probably get hit.
Thailand - Chiang Mai. Very relaxed city. Easy to waste days in. Great countryside and has Flight of the Gibbons ziplines which are worth a visit if you are into thrills.


Places I probably wouldn't go back to:
Viet Nam - Hanoi although it is interesting to see the difference in people between it and Ho Chi Minh City
Cambodia - Phnom Penh. While it's interesting history wise one visit is enough
Thailand - Bangkok. Use metered taxis rather than tuk tuks. Tuk tuks will rip you off, drag you to suit shops and tell you that "today is your lucky day. Only one day a year the lucky budda temple is open." You will get ripped off by them!



I've travelled quite a lot and I rarely have structured holidays. You will find that you love a place and want to stay another night or don't really feel a place and want to leave. There is no problem booking accommodation the day of or day before your stay. You will meet people that will give you more ideas and tell you of places you didn't hear about. If you are doing a structured trip you probably won't be able to visit these places.

Gatica

To be honest these are very well frequented countries already and they have a huge tourist industry. Even in Cambodia, where it's relatively new, they have English and lots of tours on offer.
We just went with the bookable tours through the accommodation or a tripadvisor recommendation. All of these were good.
I would just stay away from the tuk tuk drivers offering cheap tours in Bangkok as they always see a new face coming and try to get you to go to these random places and buy suits or book tours, under a different guise. Don't fall for it. Just say where you want to go and decline any tours they offer.

traprunner

Just on Tuk tuk drivers....Chiang Mai had great ones as did Siem Reap. They were just a problem in Bangkok.

mighty magpie

traprunner wrote: »

I haven't been to Laos but from the other 3 countries you are interested in....

Places I loved:
Cambodia - Siem Reap (Angkor Wat).
Vietnam - Hoi An, Sapa and Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) where you will to do the Saigon Shuffle crossing the road...keep walking slowly at a constant speed and don't stop. The traffic will avoid you. If you stop in the middle you will probably get hit.
Thailand - Chiang Mai. Very relaxed city. Easy to waste days in. Great countryside and has Flight of the Gibbons ziplines which are worth a visit if you are into thrills.


Places I probably wouldn't go back to:
Viet Nam - Hanoi although it is interesting to see the difference in people between it and Ho Chi Minh City
Cambodia - Phnom Penh. While it's interesting history wise one visit is enough
Thailand - Bangkok. Use metered taxis rather than tuk tuks. Tuk tuks will rip you off, drag you to suit shops and tell you that "today is your lucky day. Only one day a year the lucky budda temple is open." You will get ripped off by them!



I've travelled quite a lot and I rarely have structured holidays. You will find that you love a place and want to stay another night or don't really feel a place and want to leave. There is no problem booking accommodation the day of or day before your stay. You will meet people that will give you more ideas and tell you of places you didn't hear about. If you are doing a structured trip you probably won't be able to visit these places.

solid advice here

I would spend as little time in Bangkok as possible.

I love koh tao and chiang mai in thailand. Siem Reap is a must in Cambodia. I would definitely stay a few nights in hanoi either side of doing ha long bay.

If i had 6 weeks;
I would fly to bangkok, 1-2 nights,
train/flight to chiang mai, 4-6 nights (maybe fit a few nights in Pai),
fly to luang prabang, 2-4 nights,
fly to hanoi, 10 days with halong bay and Sapa trips in between,
bus to hue, 1 night and arrange bike trip to hoi an over hai van pass,
stay in hoi an 3-4 nights,
fly to HCMC, 3-4 nights,
fly to Siem Reap, 3-4 nights,
koh tao (via 1 night stay bangkok) 2-3 nights
finish up in Samui, Phangan, Phi Phi for a few nights.

traprunner

Ah yes, I forgot Halong Bay. We went on the Treasure Junk. Expensive but worth every cent.

AgileMyth

Don't get the bangkok hate. Its an amazing city.

With your time frame I'd try to be in luang prabang for Christmas. Maybe Hanoi for new year. Both cities I love too.

catbear

I'd second traphunters suggestions.

I did enjoy bangkok although we were in SE for six months so as a regular base it became very familiar and we used the water ferries, metro, the skytrain and buses most of the time. Never actually used a tuktuk.

The frustrating thing about booking everything in advance as your GF would like to do, is that you'll get charged big prices whereas just arriving in a hotel precinct and viewing hotels can get you some really good deals.

Also booking a trip from the travel agent a few blocks away from the main tourist drag can cost you less than half the price. I remember taking the bus from Bangkok to Siem Reap for $10 whereas the Aussies who had booked everything through their hotel had paid $50 for the same bus!!!

The thing to remember is that the backpacker route is well established so it's easy to break out of a schedule if you don't have to pay any cancellation fees.

conor_ie

I'd second a lot of the information that's been posted here... I'm not too long back from that part of the world so here's a few things I can add..

Getting around Cambodia I used Giant Ibis, the buses are a little bit more expensive but you can book online, the buses are speed limited, the drivers don't honk horns every 10 seconds.. there is Wifi on the bigger coaches.. they stop often so you're never stuck.

Sinoukville is a kip.. Its ok during the day but in the evening it does get very seedy... While I was in the area... I stayed out on Otres 1. If all you're looking to do is chill by the beach for a few days.. the place to go..

Phnom Penh.. 3 days is loads. Once you visit the Killing Fields and S21 there isn't really much else to do there..

If you haven't anywhere booked to stay in Cambodia, I stayed in most of the Mad Monkey Hostels.. They are clean, the food is decent.. they have pools in Siem Reap and Kampot..

Esox Lucias

Cool folks,

Cheers for all the info. We have decided to go to Siem Reap from Bangkok. This way we dont have to make a decision on Laos early on. As if any, it seems it will be that that gets the boot.

As long as she knows we have a decent hotel booked for xmas she promises to be more felxible for the rest of the trip. At the moment it will be xmas in HCMC.

Id like to do a couple of islands off Cambodia, Koh Rong Samloem maybe. Anyone been out there?

She also said to say thanks for the help. Its putting her mind at ease.

Thanks to you all.

mighty magpie

We done Koh Rong which is beside it. The hostels are fairly basic and you will need to pay a bit more for AC or any extras. However, if budget isn't an issue there are more upmarket places that look amazing including tree houses and bungalows.

Sinoukville is the gateway to these places which doesn't offer much from what I remember apart from the Otres beach which could merit a few nights stay.

catbear

The difference between very comfortable and roach motel can be a few dollars but ultimately look around, view the rooms before accepting, it's standard practice and no one gets offended if you ask to look first.

gercoral

Hi, just a quick question.
Had plans to go travelling to Central America in 2016 as a solo female traveller, and have been advised by everyone that I've told to not do it alone. Too dangerous, esp. for females. Whilst I'm usually a stubborn **** and usually go against what everyone tells me, I've kind of backed out of C.A. now; and now, SE Asia is on my list. I hope to either start in Oz and work my way back through SE Asia or finish in Oz (starting in Asia). I will more than likely be doing it on my own.

Say for example, how much would ye reckon 2 months around SE Asia cost? If I didn't deprive myself..so if I stayed in decent hostels and treated myself? I'm not rich by any means but I did south america a few years back for 3 months for about 3,000euro, everything included.

Thanks!

conor_ie

gercoral wrote: »

Hi, just a quick question.
Had plans to go travelling to Central America in 2016 as a solo female traveller, and have been advised by everyone that I've told to not do it alone. Too dangerous, esp. for females. Whilst I'm usually a stubborn **** and usually go against what everyone tells me, I've kind of backed out of C.A. now; and now, SE Asia is on my list. I hope to either start in Oz and work my way back through SE Asia or finish in Oz (starting in Asia). I will more than likely be doing it on my own.

Say for example, how much would ye reckon 2 months around SE Asia cost? If I didn't deprive myself..so if I stayed in decent hostels and treated myself? I'm not rich by any means but I did south america a few years back for 3 months for about 3,000euro, everything included.

Thanks!

I was in Vietnam and Cambodia earlier this year.. (August, Sep, Oct) and it can be done cheap.. While i was in Cambodia, I stayed at the Mad Monkey Hostels.. Clean, decent, and if you book through the website I don't think I paid anymore than $9 a night.. I think Vietnam was much the same, although
I did have to treat myself to a Hotel every once in a while..

catbear

For a female traveling alone SE Asia is much safer than Peru/Bolivia. We met loads of solo female travelers of all ages, even one lady in her 70s backpacking for nearly a year.