Vietnam / Cambodia / Thailand next year

bylromarha

PompeyPete wrote: »

I think that the Sorya Centre Mall is still the only shopping centre in Phnom Penh with an escalator to each floor.

City Mall also has them throughout. Legend cinema at the top - only place in PP I wished I had a jumper as the air con was so low!

bylromarha

maggiesoop wrote: »

Hi guys, just had a chance to look through all replies in details, thanks again. Have made 3 pages of notes. We could either go March or November, which would you recommend? As regards what to do, hate shopping, prefer fantastic scenery, visiting important museums/places of interest, and eating authentic food (is street food a no-no?) and talking of which, do you get dodgy tummies - sorry, I'm at THAT age, I have to ask!

November is better weather. March much more humid.

Street food is part of the tourist trip if you ask me, but I'm the sort of person who eats deep fried bugs from a food cart and get my kids to too. :eek::eek::eek:

Dodgy tummies - I got one the first time, not subsequent visits. Keep well hydrated from sealed water bottles.

Regarding what to visit, get a few lonely planet books from the library and see what takes your fancy.

lovesgshp

We have only had food problems a couple of times on our travels. Once in Surat Thani in Thailand, which was a street vendor in the port. Food was in those heated trays that you see in supermarkets etc. Wife would insist on eating from it, but I declined. Result: a long haul flight with the loo nearly permanately occupied!!
2nd a 5 star hotel in Grand Comores. Electricity went off for most of the day, so food in the fridges went off, but they still cooked it for the evening. Result: doctor in about midnight giving injections to many of the guests who had gone down!!!
Other than that, roadside stalls, street markets, local restaurants have been ok, as it is usually cooked to order.

Doshwaster

The only time I've had stomach problems was due to overindulging in Thai whisky. Avoid!

danandjens_worldtravels

Everyone will get sick now and again, but street food is no more dangerous and is probably safer than hotel food as at least you can see it being cooked, even if you're not exactly sure whats in it :eek:

maggiesoop

Thanks again guys, really appreciate all the info. So the concensus seems to be going Oct/Nov rather than March, and with time constraints, you are recommending only visiting Cambodia and Vietnam which happy to do.

Next big decision, do we book anything at all with a travel agent (ie International / internal flights?) And what about accommodation or tours, can we book ourselves fairly easily?

As an aside/query, I have a couple of spare bedrooms in my house (kids flown the nest) so sometimes host foreign students. A few years ago I hosted a couple of 50 year old Thai ladies who came to Edinburgh on a teacher-training trip (they were lovely but hated our weather in April and not so keen on British food so cooked rice & noodles every 2nd day - I ate some fabulous Thai food for two weeks) however they assured me that it was very cheap (in comparison to Scotland)to live in Thailand (one was from Bangkok and the other from the south of Thailand) so I'm a little surprised when I see people paying rates of around £40-£50 a night which isn't that far off the mark for a double room in Edinburgh!

Look fwd to hearing all comments, thanks.

danandjens_worldtravels

maggiesoop wrote: »

I'm a little surprised when I see people paying rates of around £40-£50 a night which isn't that far off the mark for a double room in Edinburgh!

ha ha, so am I but what you get for these rooms is more than you would for a room in Edinburgh for the same price.

How much you want to pay depends entirely on your budget and your level of comfort. I found $6 - $8 USD in Vietnam got me a family hotel (about 6 - 10 rooms), double/twin room, clean, tv, en suite and hot water. Cambodia $6 - $10 US got the same but less clean and no tv. (this was in 2009)

I'd book nothing with the travel agent, Kayak and skyscanner are a good indicator of flight prices, then go to the airline direct, Air Asia are probably the best for your flights around SE Asia. Tours in the country you want are easy - again get yourself a lonely planet and see what you want to do, also look on previous threads here, lots of us have written about these places in the past. Wiki travel is also good.

For your first night, if you land late, I would book a hotel and have a plan of how you are a going to get from the airport to the hotel, some accommodations may offer airport pickup. This can be a good idea as you can get settled in town, find your feet and go exploring.

Booking accommodation for your whole trip is up to you -
Yes - you know where you are staying, you don't have to waste time finding somewhere to stay for the night, you don't have to worry its all full (they never are)
No- It leaves less flexibility to alter your plans if you are having a great time or equally if you hate a place. It may leave you less time to do your 'activities' or 'sight seeing' however you may find its part of the fun, checking out areas and hotels, speaking to locals for ideas and offers of rooms.

You may want to do a combination of both, it depends on how confident you feel about travelling on the hoof and what you want to do in the towns and cities you will be travelling to.

PompeyPete

Refer you back to my first reply #8.

Do you intend to fly into and out of Bangkok?

Do you want direct flights, or are you happy to change mid-way (Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Muscat)? I've used Emirates, EVA (direct), Royal Brunei, Etihad and Oman Airways to fly to Bangkok. My favourite was our last trip in March by Oman Airways. Their hub is Muscat and the changeover was seamless. I don't like Dubai as it's mega busy 24/7.

As mentioned earlier use Skyscanner to get an idea of costs/timings. But make sure you book direct with the airline as it's easier to sort out any niggles direct.

If you're flying into Bangkok then as it's your first visit it'd be a crime not to stay at least a couple of nights.

On the way home I wouldn't risk returning to Bangkok on the same day as your flight back to UK. So you'll need another night [at least] in Bangkok.

Do a side trip from Bangkok for 2 or 3 nights. Kanchanaburi is a great place, and easy to reach under your own steam by train (preferably) or bus.

With only 3 weeks in total you simply won't have time to do Vietnam and Cambodia.

Personally I'd go to Cambodia, and spend the rest of your time there.

Fly from Bangkok to Siem Reap (4 nights) by Air Asia, and take in Battambang (3 nights), Phnom Penh (3 nights), perhaps Kampot/Kep (2 nights), fly back to Bangkok from Phnom Penh.

That'll more or less take up all your time.

Even with that straightforward itinerary there are 6 lots of accommodation and a fair bit of travelling. Travelling around SE Asia can be tiring, frustrating and time consuming, so bear that in mind with whatever itinerary you go for. Don't travel by road overnight.

It's very easy to travel around cheaply and independently.

Use the Trip Advisor forums for Thailand and Cambodia for up to the minute advice. Good accommodation websites are Sawadee, Agoda, Booking.com, Travel Republic, and for something a bit different Airbnb. But trusted recommendation for accommodation are always the best option imo.

A lot of people pre-book accommodation and a lot just book as they go. The latter gives you more flexibility. But I'd definitely have my accommodation booked in Bangkok both on arrival and departure.

Leave Vietnam (Laos and Myanmar) for another time.

Doshwaster

maggiesoop wrote: »

I'm a little surprised when I see people paying rates of around £40-£50 a night which isn't that far off the mark for a double room in Edinburgh!

The point being that in SE Asia you can spend anything from £2 a night to £200 and more but £40 will get you a much, much better room that it does at home. Even in Bangkok it will get you a very good 4* in a central location.

What you pay is up to you but you often have a better stay in a simple guest house than a luxury hotel which could be anywhere is the world.

I'm not particularly fussed about hotel facilities such as spas, restaurants and swimming pools - all I ask for is that it is clean, is in a good location and has air conditioning plus these days wi-fi is very useful. After a long flight it's nice to spoil yourself with a little luxury but otherwise I'm happy spending closer to £20 a night - though my days of stopping in backpacker hostels is long gone.

PompeyPete

Doshwaster +1.

The accommodation options are bewildering, and because of the competition you really have to read between the lines when scouring hotel reviews, and be careful who to take recommendations from.