Vietnam And Cambodia

[IrishMick]

Hello Folks,. I am hoping to receive some friendly advice about things to do and places of interest in Vietnam and Cambodia. I will visit Thailand for 4 weeks mid march to mid April and I would like to split this up with a week or so visiting these two countries. I would plan on spending a week to 10 days,. I know this is a very short time but I would hope this would be enough for a quick tour of the highlights and a little relaxation in between. I will be on a pretty tight budget so recommendations for keenly price accommodation is also very welcome :-)

Thanks in advance for your replies.

[craigt3365]

IMHO, one of your top choices should be Siam Reap. If you like ancient sites like this, it is truly amazing and can be fairly well explored in 2 days.

7-10 days is not that much time, especially if you have to factor travel into that....leaving you with really only 5-8 full days to explore.

Vietnam is a very long country. Unless you fly, travel time can be long between destinations. This will also eat into your time and will raise expenses a bit. Also, travel from Cambo to Vietnam would probably best be done via air with such a limited time frame...and this will add to your expenses quite a bit.

Maybe you might want to focus on one or the other instead of both? I would pick 1. Cambo, 2. N. Vietnam or 3. S. Vietnam. If you do Vietnam, you could perhaps add the middle part to either option...for example Hue or HoiAn. I spent 4 weeks exploring Vietnam a few years ago and still didn't see quite a few locations.

[Spaniel]

I assume you will fly into Bangkok and at the end of the trip fly back out of Bkk to return home? Shortly after arriving in Bkk you could get a o/w ticket to Saigon then spend about a week in south Vietnam then go by bus from Saigon to Phnom Penh (approx 6 hours/$6.00). A couple of days in PP then again by bus to Siem Reap to see Ankor Wat (6 hours/$5.00). Unless you're really into ruins 2 full days at Ankor should be enough. You can get a 3 day pass for $40 so that will give you a extra day if you need it. From Siem Reap catch a share taxi to the Poipet/Aran border for around $10 then catch the bus in Aran to Bangkok for a few hundred bhat. Hang around Bkk for a couple of days then catch your flight back home.

Or instead of flying o/w to Saigon you could fly o/w to Hanoi, travel down the coast to saigon then continue on by buss to Cambodia as noted above. their are all kinds of options as to what to see along these routes so not knowing what your interest are you will have to decide.

For the o/w ticket to vietnam check out AirAsia website for best deals: www.airasia.com right they are advertising a o/w fare to Saigon for B990 for travel 1 April - 30 June. to get this price you must book by 26 December.

to enter Cambodia you can get a visa at the border for $20 but for Vietnam try to get the visa before you leave although you can always get it here in Bkk but takes several days. I understand they offer a e-visa but not familir with how you go about getting it.

For a cheap but decent place to stay in Saigon try Ngoc Minh Hotel (www.ngocminh-hotel.com) It's located in the "backpacker" area but that's actually a pretty good location. We stayed there 6 nights. In Phnom Penh the Dara Reang Sey Hotel was ok and good location (www.darareangsey.com) and in Siem Reap,Golden Temple Villa was great

(www.goldentemplevilla.com) Located in town and easy walk to markets and Pub Street.

To find all kinds of choices for hotels just google "hotels in Ho Chi Minh city" Hanoi, Phnom Penh etc. Another good source of info,www.lonelyplanet.com and goto thron tree then click on thread for Vietnam, Cambodia.

[IrishMick]

Thanks for the reply's. Very informative!!

[PattayaParent]

You can get buses from Laos and Camodia into Vietnam very cheaply but of course this eats into your holiday time. I'd suggest you maybe just spend 10 days in Camodia as you can travel there and back overland from Thailand and it will give you a bit of time to see the best places.

[Bakseedaa]

IMHO, one of your top choices should be Siam Reap. If you like ancient sites like this, it is truly amazing and can be fairly well explored in 2 days.

7-10 days is not that much time, especially if you have to factor travel into that....leaving you with really only 5-8 full days to explore.

Vietnam is a very long country. Unless you fly, travel time can be long between destinations. This will also eat into your time and will raise expenses a bit. Also, travel from Cambo to Vietnam would probably best be done via air with such a limited time frame...and this will add to your expenses quite a bit.

Maybe you might want to focus on one or the other instead of both? I would pick 1. Cambo, 2. N. Vietnam or 3. S. Vietnam. If you do Vietnam, you could perhaps add the middle part to either option...for example Hue or HoiAn. I spent 4 weeks exploring Vietnam a few years ago and still didn't see quite a few locations.

My advice is give both a miss, buy a packet of Viagras and Hit Pattaya for those 10 days... Cambodia is filthy and Vietnam is the same and dangerous... have fun in your life... buy the postcards and stay in Thailand....

[SantiSuk]

IMHO, one of your top choices should be Siam Reap. If you like ancient sites like this, it is truly amazing and can be fairly well explored in 2 days.

7-10 days is not that much time, especially if you have to factor travel into that....leaving you with really only 5-8 full days to explore.

Vietnam is a very long country. Unless you fly, travel time can be long between destinations. This will also eat into your time and will raise expenses a bit. Also, travel from Cambo to Vietnam would probably best be done via air with such a limited time frame...and this will add to your expenses quite a bit.

Maybe you might want to focus on one or the other instead of both? I would pick 1. Cambo, 2. N. Vietnam or 3. S. Vietnam. If you do Vietnam, you could perhaps add the middle part to either option...for example Hue or HoiAn. I spent 4 weeks exploring Vietnam a few years ago and still didn't see quite a few locations.

My advice is give both a miss, buy a packet of Viagras and Hit Pattaya for those 10 days... Cambodia is filthy and Vietnam is the same and dangerous... have fun in your life... buy the postcards and stay in Thailand....

Fair enough as a piece of advice , but if you are not thinking with your small head for the duration of your SE Asia visit then I would go for Siem Reap, Phnom Penh (better than Pattaya but on a smaller scale if you want a bit of R&R) and Hanoi. I would use night buses where possible to cut down on lost time, but depends if you are young enough in age or spirit to adopt backpacker ways. If you can afford to do it then BKK to Hanoi and/or Hanoi to PP by air would save you a day and a half each. PP to SR and SR to BKK can easily be done overnight on a bus. Personally I wasn't that impressed by Ho Chi Minh City.