Southeast Asia forum

Jay

Only you can know what's best for you. But, from a general tourist perspective, a couple of comments.

27, 28 July : Halong Bay

I've written elsewhere on this regarding time there and weather.

My view is that the one nighter boat trips, while cheap, generally land you amongst the 'yahoo-ing noisy crowd' and that may not be your intention. Personally, I'd suggest you consider a cruise that lasts 2 nights, and that takes you away from the crowd.

So, on the trip itself, go look at:

http://www.travelfish.org/board/post/vietnam/6361_booking-of-halong-bay-tours

Also type in 'Halong' into the Search Travelfish box in the grey area and look at the various pages.

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On the subject of weather, your travel time coincides with the wet season. It is possible your trip is rained out. So, I suggest you seriously consider leaving the booking till the last minute and keep an eye on the weather. On this, go to:

Check out the weather at:

http://www.wunderground.com/cgi-bin/findweather/getForecast?query=hanoi,%20vietnam&wuSelect=WEATHER

On the left is a box showing the area (under the title 'satellite') right click that into another page and it will show the weather on the day. Halong is between the word Cam Pha and Hai Phong.

Recently, the area has been drenched.

- - - -

29, 30 July : Hué

You get back from Halong into Hanoi at about 5 or 6pm. You don't say how you're getting to Hue? Is it by overnight train? If so, that leaves you about 2 half days to visit the various 'attractions'.

Given that you have Vietnamese ethnicity, I suggest this may not be long enough. There is much to see, and its rather spread out. I'd be suggesting 2 1/2 - 3 full days in Hue.

- - - -

You don't say how you're getting to Hoi An .

Normally, travellers take the bus from Hue, and you will leave about 9am and get to Hoi An about 2 or 3pm. This means a whole day out of your itinerary.

Also, you don't say how you're getting from Hoi An to Phnom Penh. If you fly, its, Hoi An >[bus]> DaNang >[fly]> SaiGon >[fly]> PP. I'd suggest this will take the best part of a day with connections etc..

So...

31 July, 1 August : Hoi An
2, 3 August : Phnom Penh

Doesn't make logistical sense.

As for southern Thailand, I'm assuming you fly. Only Bangkok Airlines does this, and they fly to both Koh Samui and Phuket. I suppose you could go via BKK, but this will take time.

There are various comments on Travelfish about weather and island/beach locations during August. You know what you're looking for, so maybe try the Search Travelfish box with the words 'august weather thailand islands beaches'.

Hope this helps.

Cheers

Jay

Thanks for the feedback.

I didn't note anything untoward about your linguistic capabilities. But, now you admit to being French, weellllll!!!! :)

Cheers