I am planning a 22 night trip to Thailand, Laos, and Cambodia for June/July 2011. We have never been to Southeast asia and want to see as much as possible, in a reasonable fashion during our time there. We are in our late 20s and like to travel, although we havent had the opportunity to do alot in our lives. We are on a moderate budget ( ie lodging around $100 a day, if that helps any). Currenlty, we are looking at 5 nights is Bangkok, 4 nights Luang Prabang, 3 nights Siem Rep, and 5 nights on Ko Samui. that leaves us 5 more nights which we want to use for some Jungle/ nature/ wildlife time. We are OK with having no AC for these days, but do require some necessitys ( Hot water, fans, electricity, etc). We are thinking of dividing the time between two days in khao Sok national park and the other 3 days in Muang Ngoi Neua or another similiar village in Laos. Is there a better way to spend these 5 days? We do not want to go trekking, but want to do day hiking.
Best "Jungle/Nature" place to fit into our Southeast Asia Trip
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If it is day trips you are after you will find these in Ko Samui, some of which will include riding elephants (their hair is as sharp as wire!), bamboo rafting or simply walking. It might be more convenient and perhaps better geared to what you are looking for.
In Laos there are a few hiking tours to be enjoyed, but most of them involve 3 or 4 days or accommodation in the jungle, which means you wouldn't have the comfort you would like.
There is another option you might like and you have not considered: in Cambodia, the town/city of Batambang is not too far fro Siem Reap and offers interesting hikes and experiences for a couple of days, and 2 get there the best option is by boat from Siem Reap. This boat ride will give you spectacular views and is an awesome experience all by itself, and in Batambang you will find great value accommodation. You would have to go back to SR if you are flying out of the country though.
I have a travel blog which might be helpful for you: I traveled for 10 months last year and visited the places you will go to shortly, and have uploaded info, photos and more.
Here is the post on Batambang:
http://www.maitravelsite.com/east-and-se-asia/battambang-the-less-known-cambodia/
Feel free to browse through it and if you have any more questions just get back to me (preferably via email or the contact for which i check every day)
Happy travels!
Federico
http://www.maitravelsite.com
Ko Samui is an international beach resort destination. I wouldn't consider it a "jungle/nature" place.
For jungle/nature consider northern Thailand (which is also the best place to ride elephants - at one of the conservations centers. such as the TECC at Lampang. You can also do trekking, either full day or multi-day trekking in northern Thailnd.
I loved the Luang NamTha area in northern Laos. But the level of comfort when trekking is very (extremely!) basic. Battangbang is definitely worth a visit.
There is some great trekking (day and longer) around Muang Sing and Phongsali in far northern Laos. a long way to go but well worth it for the amazing people and fantastic, realtively unspoilt scenery. Accomodation is basic but you will get electricity and fan in most places (we had hot water provided in giant thermos flasks. Luang Namtha is a bit more accessible but a lot more tourists visit (The Boat Landing is a nice place to stay). some great day treks around the area.
Khao Sok is also very nice with a wider variety of things to do -canoes, treks, jeep safaris, night safaris etc. It has a much more developed infrastructure than Laos and is easir to get to but IMHO does not match Laos.
Finally, June July is a good time weather wise to visit Koh Samui but don't expect a quite relaxing time - it does get very busy and is a bit of a party island (which is great if that is what you are looking for). Cambodia also has some less visited beach destinations but I am not sure about the weather at that time of year. www.travefish.org is a really good site for additional info on SE Asia.