Southeast Asia forum

I should mention that we are on somewhat of a tight budget, but wo uld be willing to splurge occasionally. We also aren't too old to party occasionally, but are probably more interested in sightseeing, experiences, and relaxing. The idea of scuba diving just came to us and its cheap. Neither of us have scuba dived before and thought it would be fun. If we don't scuba, snorkeling is a must though. So we aren't tied to going to Ko Tao, any of the Thai islands will do. I've read the travelfish sections on islands and weather and still can't decide which is best to go to. It will be late September so I'm thinking the east gulf coast (hence Ko Tao) would be best.

Well, I'll try to go a little easier on you than Bruce.

If you have the means to fly all of the routes that you indicate, then your itinerary is almost doable over 5 weeks. (Note - I say "almost" - I think it's way too much for that amount of time, even with the flying).

However, if you're on a "tight budget", as you say you are, then you're going to have to do some serious re-thinking or spend practically the whole trip on busses. The flights from Siem Reap to HCMC, Hanoi to LP, and LP to Chiang Mai are all very expensive flights. As far as I know, none of the budget airlines do any of those routes, so I believe you'll be looking at airfares in the $200 or more range. That said, each of those routes are very, very long, and to do all of them overland in 5 weeks would be pretty ridiculous.

Flying within Thailand and Vietnam is much cheaper b/c you can rely on Air Asia and Jetstar, but for Vietnam you indicate that you'll bus or train it from Hoi An to Ha Noi... That's a full 24 hour trip in itself, plus another couple days just to get from Ha Noi to Ha Long Bay and back. I just don't see you covering all these different regions and enjoying yourself unless you fly every long haul, which given your tight budget doesn't seem reasonable either. If you do go for it, more power to you, but my opinion is that you'd really just be doing it to say you did it.

My suggestion, similar to Bruce, is to cut out at least 2 or 3 regions, if not an entire country (or two).

To answer your specific questions -

"Overland (?) from Bangkok to Siem Reap" - Probably best way is by bus from Ekkamai or Morchit Station...May also be done by train for a little cheaper... Once across the border, you can catch another bus to Siem Reap or arrange a taxi for around $40. Keep in mind the road is not paved, and what looks like a short distance on a map actually takes at least 7 hours. Cambodia visa will cost you around $20 or 1000 baht.

"fly (?) to HCMC" - I believe this is expensive from Siem Reap. Air Asia offers a flight to HCMC from Bangkok for around US$50/person one way.

"fly (?) to Hue ; bus/train (?) to Hoi An" - I would recommend flying to Da Nang from HCMC on Jetstar (from where Hoi An is easily reached) for around $30, then doing the 2 hour bus trip to Hue on one of the open tour busses directly from Hoi An.

"bus/train (?) to Hanoi" - Though bus and train are both doable from Hue or Da Nang, with your time restraints I wouldn't recommend it. Not sure about Hue, but from Da Nang you can fly this route for around $30 on Jetstar.

"fly (?) to Luang Prabang, Laos" - I've looked into this and it's expensive. Overland will take 2 to 3 days.

"Bus to Vang Vieng / Vientiane " - Both from LP to Vang Vieng, and from Vang Vieng to Vientiane are each a solid day of travel, but certainly doable by bus.

"Fly (?) to Chiang Mai" - This is quite expensive. The trip from Vientiane by bus takes about 17 hours and entails switching busses in Udon Thani .

"Train to Sukhothai" - Not sure about train, but bus is easy from Chiang Mai, especially if you're on your way to Bangkok anyway.

"Somehow (?) get to Koh Tao" - If you were in Sukhothai, I believe you could fly from Phitsanulouk to Bangkok for cheap on Air Asia (you can defenitely fly there from Chiang Mai or Udon Thani for cheap). From Bangkok, you could fly to Koh Samui (rather expensive) and take a ferry to Koh Tao. Or, you could bus or train it to Chumphon and catch a ferry from there to Koh Tao. The bus/train ride from BKK to Chumphon is around 9 hours I believe.

Hope that helps a little. My advice is that you can still see a lot without trying to do too much. If I had 5 weeks, I'd pick no more than two countries and no more than 3 regions, maximum.

Good luck.

jdahm17

DLuek and I go about answering you differently, but we essentially say the same thing:

ME

My personal view is that you choose to visit no more than 2 countries (maybe 3 if you fly in / out Siem Reap). And, that these countries be linked overland.

DLuek

If I had 5 weeks, I'd pick no more than two countries and no more than 3 regions, maximum.

Cheers

dahm,

It seemed at first like you were on top of things, but all the question marks in your innitial post made it seem like you were pretty clueless.

I just finished a 5 month trip through Vietnam, Laos and Thailand, (also have travelled Cambodia and Thailand twice before that), and my experience tells me that most of the bus/train travel times you have here are significantly shorter than it will actually be. I would be utterly amazed if you can get from Bangkok to Siem Reap in 8 hours. When I did that trip a few years ago, the bus ride just from Poi Pet to Siem Reap alone was over 8 hours. Factor in the 5 to 7 or so hours it takes from Bangkok to Aranyaprathet, plus the hour or two of getting through the border and waiting for the bus, and my guess is the trip will be at least 12 to 15 hours total... I would recommend springing for the taxi from Poi Pet to Siem Reap instead of the bus to save time. Beyond that, I would add 1 to 4 hours to every bus trip you mention. You can also fly BKK to Sime Reap on Bangkok Air for around $150 I think.

But hey, if you want to spend half of your time in transport, more power to you. Bruce would probably disagree with me here, but I think there is certainly something to be said for a whirlwind trip like this where you're in a different country each week. One issue is that you mention you would stay longer in a given place if you like it (i.e. northern Vietnam) but I doubt you'll be able to change your air tickets easily and/or cheaply, and you certainly won't get the airfares you mention if you're buying the tickets at the last minute.

To answer your question of "which parts to cut out"?

This is just one guy's opinion, but the ones I would absolutely keep are:

Bangkok, Angkor Wat, Hoi An, Koh Tao, and Luang Prabang (LP and Vang Vieng are the only places I've never been on your list, but I've heard LP is a can't miss).

The ones I'd consider skipping, starting at the ones I'd skip first, are:

Vientiane, northern Vietnam (the whole thing), Hue , Chiang Mai, HCMC, Sukhothai, Vang Vieng (again, I've never been to VV so am only basing this on what I've read).

One thing I would change for certain is I would skip VV and Vientiane, make just the one stop in LP and spend more time there, maybe visit Plain of Jars. I would also book your flights well in advance to make sure you can lock in the fares you found (of course this would take away the aspect of being able to stay somewhere longer if you like it, but with this kind of trip how much freedom to do that can you really hope for?) Finally, I would consider changing things around completely by cutting out northern Vietnam completely. If you do go to northern Vietnam, why take the bus/train, when you can fly it for a tiny bit more $ on Jetstar (if not from Hue than from Da Nang)?


As long as you're willing to devote nearly half of your total days to travel, I say go for it. To check out some of the logistical insights I had from my last trip, go see my trip reports in the trip report section of the forum.

Peace,

DL

DLeuk, they finished paving the road from Poipet to Siem Reap back in May. That stretch shouldn't take more than two hours in a taxi now according to the owner of the TOA site who lives in SR.

Are you sure you can get a bus from Ekkamai to Aranyaprathet? I thought you had to get one at Morchit, the northern bus terminal?

Another good site for Cambodia info with good detailed maps is

http://www.canbypublications.com/cambodia/cambodiahome.htm


jdahm17, you asked if 3 days was too long in Siem Reap ... Well, people tend to get very templed out by day #3. They recently changed things so you don't HAVE to use the three-day pass on three consecutive days any more which is great for those who aren't too rushed. I'd certainly recommend taking a day off after day #2. Relax by a pool or go see something else; otherwise you may find you just can't "absorb" any more temples!

Can't help with Vietnam I'm afraid ...I only spend about 6 months a year in SE Asia so I haven't managed to get round to it yet. ;-))

Laos seems really rushed and you're going to be spending two whole days of your very brief time there in buses. If you're going to splurge on flights then I'd just stay in LP and use the two extra days to do a trek or a boat trip or around LP.

I'm not wild about Chiang Mai myself ... not in the same league of "must sees" as Angkhor Wat and Luang Prabang... so that's one place I'd cut out.

According to their route map Bangkok Airways flies from LP to Sukhothai. It's a more expensive airline than Air Asia though, even with the "Discovery Airpass".

http://www.bangkokair.com/travel_tools/route-map.php

If you go to Ko Tao I'd advise getting the night sleeper train ...you can lie down and might get more sleep than on a bus. The train usually leaves bang on time (7.30pm I think) but it's always about an hour late getting into Chumpon. This is good because it means you don't have to hang around in the dark as long as you do if you take a night bus. The ferries all leave at 7am so you can be on the beach on Ko Tao before 10am. The only problem with the train is that you need to book sleeper berths a few days in advance...especially if there's a Full Moon Party on Ko Phangan around the time you're going or coming back.

PS.

"Several contributors to Travelfish suggest the the coastline around SE Asia is not ideal for good snorkelling (as far as what you see etc.)"

Bruce darlin, the epicentre of marine biodiversity on this planet happens to be in SE Asia! You don't think the snorkeling around Bunaken, the Banda islands or the Tukang Besi archipelago is any good then??

Ko Tao doesn't have world class snorkeling for sure, just the more common reef fish and a few black tip sharks. It's OK for pottering around with a mask and snorkel though. Weather is hard to predict but you can always change plans and head over to an island on the Andaman coast if you hear it's pouring on Ko Tao when you get back to BKK.

SBE

When I suggested "the coastline around SE Asia , I meant that. I didn't mean the islands that are part of the ocean in which Indo lies. Yes, I agree that the 'strip' between Ambon and Biak is THE CENTRE of coral reefs in the Indo-Pacific. And, that many locations beyond this 'strip' are great (some more than others). On this, I'm sure you'd agree that for ppl with time constraints, the snorkelling in the Gulf of Thailand is pretty ordinary.

DL

quote...

See, this is why I usually never respond to the many itinerary suggestion posts on Travelfish - once I start I can't help but to start thinking about it as though it were my own trip! Half a day later, and I'm still writing...

Yep, I'm fast coming to that conclusion. You try and help some people and they don't like what they should have already realised and they go and bite.

I think I'll contribute less. Let them go learn the hard way.

Cheers