Southeast Asia forum

MV

Need more detail here. Are you and your friend men or women? What do you enjoy? What do you dislike? What do you want to get out of the trip? Do you want to "see" a lot, or "experience" a lot?

Maeve
Generally speaking, experiencing takes longer than seeing. You can go and see the Jim Thompson house, get the tour, and be out of there in under an hour. On the other hand, the "Gibbon Experience" is going to take some time.

At 21, I would assume that parties, islands and beaches would be the order of the day, with a few of the other major sites thrown in.

Personally, I believe that to get a good handle on one of these countries takes about six months - which is three times more than you have. I would try and narrow it down to what you want to do specifically.

Bangkok is large, and has plenty to see and plenty to do. It's cheap if you stay in guest houses and avoid eating western food or going to pricey sit down restaraunts. You can take a look at this site for the things to see in BKK, but I particularly like the area around the Chao Praya river.

I haven't been to Kanchanaburi because it's on the opposite side of Thailand from where I live. But I have never heard a bad review of the place. Everyone I know recommends it.

Ayudaha would seem to be a logical stop for you.

In Cambodia so would Angkor Wat and, perhaps, Sihanoukville .

As for Islands and parties, that's easy to find here as well.

From a geograghical standpoint, it sounds like going from Thailand into Laos via Vientiane would be logical. A trip to Luang Prabang and then on to VV would make sense. From there head back to Vientiane. A stop at Tha Khek and then another at Savanakhet would make sense. Then further south to Pazse and the Mekong Islands and into Cambodia. Hit Siem Reap and then decide if it's off to Sihanoukville or not. Then cross into Vietnam, and from Saigon you can work your way up the coast to Hanoi . Lots of info here on where to go (Hue gets good marks by most). Once in Hanoi you can make the obligatory trip to Halong bay and then eventually back to BKK (assuming your flight out if from there).

Check the site here for the places along the route I mapped out and I suspect they will satisfy most of your desires.

If you are going to Ankor Wat there is not much reason to hit Sukohthai or Ayutthya. Unless you really like temples, that is.

When in Ankor Wat do consider visiting Beng Melea. It's far but well worth it.

i meant to add - you'll certainly take a slice of time on buses to get from Vang Vieng back up through Sam Neau to Hanoi -- so, it might be better to head down to Vientiane from Vang Vieng and catch a flight to Hanoi.

So you'd see Thailand (BKK/Islands/Chiang Mia - area in north), Laos (Luang Prabang, VV, and Vientiane), Vietnam (North & Delta), Cambodia (PP to Siam Reap).

The problem there is you have two flights on a budget, but there would be a lot less rushing around and time spent in buses.

Perhaps best to do the Vientiane - Hanoi flight and Then work your way from Hanoi down to HCMC if you're only going to do one flight during the trip.