Vietnam / Cambodia / Thailand next year

maggiesoop

Hi, I'm turning 60 next year and have never visited any of these places and would dearly loved to. We'd like the weather to be warm (preferably around 25 degrees) and not over run with tourists. Can anyone advise best time / best places / any recommendations, we'll take 3 weeks off work so plenty of time to explore hopefully. Thanks so much in advance.

richardw

Pls see post #7

natbags

i'm interested in this too, we are planning to go next Nov/Dec

danandjens_worldtravels

Check out Air Asia for cheap flights around SE Asia. And if you're lucky holidaypirates may have a cheap flight out that way - just keep checking.

Get yourself a Metro bank account so its easy and cheap to get cash out of the ATM's, saves having to worry about currency changes, how much to take etc.

Have a read of the Lonely Planet (not a bible) but for guidance on where you may like to go. I like Wikitravel too.

In short, its really easy to travel around these countries. Cambodia is a little more haphazard and lower hotel standards than Vietnam, but you can't beat Vietnam for cheap good quality accommodation.

Do a search of the counties you want to go to on this forum as there are lots of tips on here already.

3 weeks will actually fly by - I've done longer in each of those countries without feeling I was repeating myself or getting bored. I would either do one country well or select for yourself what you absolutely 'must see' and aim for those things only.

phatbear

richardw wrote: »

are planning to operate internal flights

found this an odd statement as they have been flying internally for at least a year as i flew from HCM to da nang with them last year

Doshwaster

danandjens_worldtravels wrote: »

3 weeks will actually fly by - I've done longer in each of those countries without feeling I was repeating myself or getting bored. I would either do one country well or select for yourself what you absolutely 'must see' and aim for those things only.

3 weeks really is no time at all in SE Asia. You could easily spend that amount of time in any one of the countries and hardly scratch the surface. If you try to do too much in a short amount of time then there's a danger that you'll spend half of your time travelling and not enough time actually getting to know places. You wouldn't try to see all of the best bits of Italy, France and Spain in a single 3 week trip.

Personally, I'd consider limiting yourself to Thailand with maybe a short (2-3) day side trip to Phnom Penh (cheap on Air Asia) and then save Vietnam for another holiday.

richardw

Yes, that's not quite correct about Jetstar, it's new routes to Phu Quoc and Nha Trang from Ho Chi Minh

PompeyPete

I'm with Doshwaster (#5).

3 weeks will fly past, and trying to do too much might tick boxes, but you want to keep the pace slow and enjoy these places.

Start and finish with a couple of nights in Bangkok. Then it depends how far you want to travel and what you want to see.

Very close to get to by train from Bangkok are Ayutthaya, which is the old capital of Siam. It's not too touristy and well worth lingering for a couple of nights...

http://wikitravel.org/en/Ayutthaya

The Kanchanaburi area, west of Bangkok is a class act. Famous for The Bridge over the River Kwai (filmed in Sri Lanka!), there is plenty to occupy you for several days, See this link...

http://www.seat61.com/Bridge-on-the-River-Kwai.htm#.Up1mnNJdVCg

A couple of hours west of Kanchanaburi is Sangkhlaburi on the Thai/Burma border. It's a serenely beautiful area, and easy to reach by public bus from Kanchanaburi....

http://wikitravel.org/en/Sangkhlaburi

You could also fly north from Bangkok or take the overnight sleeper train to Chiang Mai. I think it's a bit of a mini Bangkok, too touristy with a lot of air pollution. But it's very very popular and there's a lot to see in the area...

http://wikitravel.org/en/Chiang_Mai

Personally I'd miss out Chiang Mai, and in addition to Ayutthaya and Kanchanaburi I'd head south from Bangkok by train to a place called Prachuap Khiri Khan. It's a lovely laid back Thai town right by the sea, but is refreshingly devoid of tourists...

http://wikitravel.org/en/Prachuap_Khiri_Khan

On the perimeter of Prachuap Khiri Khan is Ao Maneo beach, which is a unique setting inside the Wing 5 Thai RAF Base. It's in a gorgeous setting, and from Monday to Thursday there'll be hardly anyone on it. We hired a pushbike for the easy flat ride there. You have to cycle across the runway to get to the beach...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H1_pvot4D8o

http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Attraction_Review-g1825963-d2665205-Reviews-Ao_Manao-Prachuap_Khiri_Khan_Prachuap_Khiri_Khan_Province.html

That would leave you a few days to do as Doshwaster suggest and have a side-trip to Phnom Penh or Siem Reap. Air Asia probably offers best value, and flies daily from Bangkok (Don Muang). The flight takes an hour and you'll find Cambodia a contrast to Thailand.

The above are just a few examples of what's available, but they're the places I'd go on your timescale. Lots of planning required, but as has been said SE Asia is very easy to get around independently, which is what most people do to keep costs under control.

I think you'll find the temperature a bit higher than 25c, and you'll have humidity to contend with. Avoiding the monsoon season might be a good idea, not too much because of the rain, but it can affect roads, rail and air.

Travel light. Whatever you might need in Thailand you'll find it.

On the medical side, nobody on a travel forum knows your medical history. So make an appointment at your local GP Travel Clinic. You'll have a very worthwhile one-2-one appointment.

Lots of airlines fly to Bangkok from UK. I've used several and if possible I'd advise trying to avoid going via Dubai. We used Oman Airways in March, which has Muscat as the hub. It's a much much smaller airport than Dubai, and we only had to wait an hour or so for the connection. There are direct flights too, but it's nice to stretch your legs a bit.

teachergirl

I would agree with Doshwasher. Three weeks is too short to do all three. In the summer we spent four weeks travelling around Cambodia and we still had other things we would like to see. Travel in these places can be less straight forward than we are used to and so you need to allow plenty of time. I think the lonely planet guides are an excellent start. You can borrow them from your local library to get some ideas of what you actually want to see. When you have made your decision a mixture of the lonely planet guide and tripadvisor or agoodo will allow you to book all your accommodation in advance.

We have never had a major problem travelling like this. Not on your list but my favourite country that I have travelled in was Borneo . Seeing orang utans in the wild was amazing:D

PompeyPete

Bangkok is a 24/7 city which will be in your face from the word go, and can be overwhelming and costly [scams] for the unprepared.

You'll find that once you start looking online for accommodation that you'll be absolutely overwhelmed with choice.

Personally I'd look for reliable FIRST HAND recommendations, and as has been said earlier in the thread use Lonely Planet as a friendly guide but not as a Bible [especially where accommodation is concerned].

We've stayed in loads of hotels in Bangkok, but our favourite mid-range hotel right on the Chao Phraya River with swimming pool, and excellent buffet breakfast is the New Siam Riverside....

http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Hotel_Review-g293916-d1763955-Reviews-New_Siam_Riverside_Guest_House-Bangkok.html

We paid £35 a night earlier this year for an excellent standard double with breakfast, and were completely satisfied with the vfm. Obviously a swimming pool isn't a necessity, but at the end of a long day on your feet you're glad of a dip.

A bit more upmarket, but not quite the vfm [imo] is the Navalai River Resort just down the road from the above...

http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Hotel_Review-g293916-d1108233-Reviews-Navalai_River_Resort-Bangkok.html

But the choices are endless. Just make sure you do your homework and read between the lines in the hotel reviews.

Systema_2

Fly from UK to Ho Chi Minh with Emirates - good flight if you pick the one with the least time stop over in Dubai.
We have spent 3 months of the year for the last 3 years in Vietnam and it is a great destination - much better than Thailand - IMO
Internal flights and train travel is easy if pre-booked and at the moment hotel prices are cheap.