Southeast Asia forum

The first three spots will be at least a week if you want to check out Bangkok to settle into things (2/3 days) then spend some time relaxing on the beaches (3 days) before you go temple spotting (2/3 days). A good feature http://www.travelfish.org/feature/71 on getting from Bangkok to Siem Reap, though if you're already at Pattaya you'll probably want to avoid doubling back to Bangkok if possible and get direct transport to Aranyaprathet.

I've heard nice things about Ko Semet and terrible things about Pattaya, just saying. If you don't need to hit the beaches right away, you could keep them in your back pocket for the end of your trip as a reward for good schedule keeping. That way you could go directly from Bangkok to Siem Reap.

Also, many people go from PP through the Delta to HCMC - this will take a couple days but give you the opportunity to come in through places like Can Tho and then hit HCMC without again having to double back to HCMC from the delta to catch your flight forward.

I think fitting Sapa into the schedule is tight, and highly recommend that you fly from Hanoi to Luang Prabang to save time. You'll probably want to fly from LP or Vientiane to Chang Mai also - I know it gets pricey, but if you're not flying I'd maybe recommend thinking of Chang Mai as another reward for good schedule keeping and otherwise be prepared to let it go in case you decide to spend more time somewhere else.

Just some thoughts, sorry I couldn't be more concrete. However, the best advice I have is to let the schedule stay loose and be willing to dump a chunk of it if you are somewhere you really like. If someplace really appeals to you then soak it up. In many of these areas it is a plethora of day or two day trips in the region around the city that make people fall in love with the place.

I like Rasheeed's bluntness. Without knowing what you really want to see I'd suggest cutting out Laos so you can linger longer in Vietnam and then fly directly from Hanoi to Chiang Mai.

LP is nice, but doesn't have to be four days - be prepared to give that day to another location if you like without a terrible consequence on your time spent there.

Just to recommend - an overnight home-stay/village-stay somewhere west of Chiang Mai is a great experience if you have four days there. It is especially interesting to stay with a Karen group if you are able to get a guide who can translate.

Well, you've still got 5 days to play with off the revised schedule, but I do ultimately agree with Rasheeed and Nokka - however, I can also understand that you want to see a lot. There is a common thread here between taking a quick trip to see a lot and get a feel for what is out there and going to get a depper feel for a place. As it sounds like you really want to get a sense of what is on offer - you probably don't want to ditch an entire country, but I think the advice about not taking it too fast is advisable.

As for your budget - the flight from LP to Chiang Mai is around 160 USD via Lao Airlines, I'm not sure how much the other flights cost - but that would make 250 too low no matter.