Vietnam forum

Travel Help/Suggestions Needed

jxs336

longtail driver
Posts: 9

My wife and I are heading to Asia in the summer.
I'll let you know my travel plan, can someone please provide me with suggestions or tips on would it be better to travel by land or by air and also where and how to find places to stay, should I book online or when I get there and let me know if the amount of time in each destination is adequate.

I've so far only booked my international flight

Vancouver to Bali
Bangkok to Vancouver

so I was thinking

Vancouver to Bali (stay in Nusa Dua for 6 nights)
Bali to Vietnam (stay for 9 nights)
Vietnam to Laos (stay for 5 nights)
Laos to Thailand (stay 2 nights for full moon party)
Thailand to Cambodia (stay for 4 nights)
Cambodia to Thailand (stay for 14 nights)

I basically need help on transportation and accommodations for everything. I would like to do some site seeing but nothing crazy and stay in nice 4 star or better places.

thanks
jayson.s@shaw.ca

#1 Posted: 24/3/2010 - 10:49
rawjer

tuk tuk driver
Posts: 103
priceoftravel

Posted from within Vietnam.

Jayson, that sounds like a hell of a trip. I think you've come to the right place, with the exception of the Bali part.

As you probably know, the SE Asia mainland is almost always done as a circuit with many people stopping off in the same cities as they go. Most of the "in-between" cities here will lack 4-star hotels if they have any hotels at all, so you'll want to hit the big and famous destinations.

One of the great things about the travel guide part of this site is they've done a nice job pointing out the better high-end hotels in addition to the backpacker places, so as far as hotels go just click around in the top menu to the city you want and look under the Accommodation tab. If you have questions about a specific city you might get help on the boards, but you'll get at least 90% of the way there reading the Travelfish reviews and the user reviews at the bottom of those pages.

For transport once you are here, the trains in Vietnam and Thailand are quite nice if you book the soft sleeper-type tickets, or even the private carriages that up the luxury factor for only a bit more money. You can also get cheap domestic flights with very little notice once you get here, so you might want to fly on a few of those segments.

Maybe others here will chime in with advice, but it'll probably be easier with more specific questions once you have more of a firm itinerary in mind. I've used this site almost exclusively and I'm now 7 weeks into Vietnam alone, with all those others coming up.

#2 Posted: 24/3/2010 - 15:49

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Price of Travel
daawgon

som tam seller
Posts: 552

If you've never been to Indochina before, my comment is that you're not giving enough time to each individual country. These short 4 or 5 day trips won't let you see much, and travel is slow in the area. I suppose if your intent is just to hop from one resort to the next this will be fine. Vietnam, for instance, is quite a large place, and even 3 weeks there is insufficient to see it all.

#3 Posted: 25/3/2010 - 00:57
daawgon

som tam seller
Posts: 552

I really think you're in the wrong forum is you insist on premium accommodation - most of us here prefer guesthouses (they're much more friendly and comfortable).

#4 Posted: 25/3/2010 - 01:01
glomer

beach masseuse
Posts: 86

I know you're not particularly soliciting this kind of response, but I'm just going to throw it out there that spending 6 nights in Nusa Dua is a bit of a waste for Bali. You would have a much more interesting--and equally posh, if that's what's desired--experience if you based yourself in Ubud and environs. Personally, I also like Bedugul, but if you're after something beachy there are many, many options that exceed Nusa Dua in terms of beauty, cultural interest, etc. Just my two cents.

#5 Posted: 25/3/2010 - 04:46
lexkssnbrg

tourist
Posts: 53

Personally I think you're spending just few nights in each country and therefore it would be very difficult to understand what each of them has to offer as a tourist destination.

Becaus you're traveling in summer, from experience, everything will be waiting for you until you arrive in these countries and possibly pomotions will be going on. So just book your flight tickets and your very first night accommodations. Negotiating on arrival will help save lots of $$.

Happy planning!

#6 Posted: 25/3/2010 - 10:45