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19 day Itinerary for Thailand, Laos, Cambodia- Thoughts?

19 day Itinerary for Thailand, Laos, Cambodia- Thoughts?

Old Nov 15th, 2016, 07:35 AM
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19 day Itinerary for Thailand, Laos, Cambodia- Thoughts?

Hello all,

I'm new to this site and have been reading as much as I can over the last week. What a wealth of information and helpful people!

I'm hoping I can get some of your thoughts on our itinerary, some suggestions on places to stay and things to do (our budget is mid-range) and answer a few other questions.

We have a 19 day trip coming up. 2 adults, 2 kids ages 10 and 12 that are pretty adventurous.

Day 1-2: Travel. Fly into BKK late. Stay at a nearby hotel.

Day 3-5: Take shuttle from BKK to DMK or taxi from hotel. Fly to Chiang Mai. Stay 3 nights.
We don't have set plans for what we will be doing here or accommodations yet so suggestions would be great.

Day 6-9: Fly to Luang Prabang. Stay 4 nights.
Right now, I have a place booked outside of town (Thongbay Guesthouse). I like that they have a family villa and it's by the river. Not sure if being outside of town is going to be a big issue though? They have shuttles that go into town. My other option could be a Manichan Guesthouse in town.
We definitely want to do a day trek in the hills and visit some smaller villages, the rice tour, find somewhere to view the alms giving without being intrusive and my kids would love biking. Are there places that rent kid bikes? I know the guesthouse has bikes but not kid size ones.

Day 10-13: Fly to Siem Reap. Stay 4 nights.
No place booked yet. Definitely want to tour the temples and just walk around town. I've read on here about volunteering one morning at the Ponheary foundation and have contacted them. Will do that. Thanks!!

Day 14-16: Fly to Phuket. Stay 3 nights.
No place booked yet. It's not been easy to find something that's close to the beach. I'm not looking for just a resort experience with a pool, I'd like to be on a beautiful beach. I've been trying to research serviced apartments. Suggestions?

Day 17-19: Bangkok 3 nights and fly out.
Again no place booked yet. Have been looking at which areas might be better for staying with kids and convenient for getting around. Would Siam fit this bill? We will be flying out on Christmas day so our last few days will be right around this holiday. Will shops and tourist sites be open?


I originally didn't have Chiang Mai in the itinerary, but added it on as I love mountains and the posts I've read make it sound like a not to miss type of place. My husband on the other hand is a total beach bum so Phuket had to stay so I shortened one night off of Siem Reap, Bangkok and Phuket to add in the 3 nights of Chiang Mai. Will I regret this?

This is sort of unconnected and I'll repost in the China forum, but just in case anyone here would have some insight. We have only a 1 hour and 40 min layover in Beijing on the way to BKK. Will this be enough time? It's a straight through ticket so we shouldn't have to collect and recheck bags but I've read some varying accounts online. ( I've called Air China but haven't yet had the patience to wait for an answer from a live person! Last time I waited for 1.5 hours.) We have the opposite concern on the way home. A 12 hour layover at the Beijing airport. It will be the middle of the night, so going out for a few hours can't happen. What to do? Are the sleeping lounges decent or should we find a close by hotel? How efficient are the lines for security?

Thank you!
wanderingmind is offline  
Old Nov 15th, 2016, 09:36 AM
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This will be a wonderful trip! We are all different in what we enjoy, so take my comments with this in mind.

Let me remind you that 3 nights somewhere is just 2 days to see/do/experience. Yes, you may have a couple of hours in the morning or evening, but generally you lose at least half a day and up to most of a day each time you change locations. So, as you can see, fewer destinations means fewer travel days and more time doing what you came for.

Of all of the destinations you have chosen, Chiang Mai is my least favorite. Some people love the place. You added it in because you love mountains, but CM is not in the mountains. It's a huge, sprawling city. You could drive to places that are in the hills and stay there, but that would take more time. Spend some time reading about CM and see if it appeals to you.

Luang Prabang is a charming place. 4 nights is the absolute minimum I would consider for LP. It's a place that moves at a slow pace and you have to slow down to experience it. You will want to visit some of the main wats (Buddhist temples) and will want to cast with the novices. Personally, I think being outside of town in inconvenient but you may do fine with it. You really don't need any tours here, though if you want to hike in the jungle, do get a guide. There will be places with kid's bikes to rent.

Siem Reap: I'm delighted to hear that you've read about the PLF and plan to volunteer. This mat well be the thing that will have the most impact on your children. Have you gotten a copy of Dawn Rooney's book, Angkor: A Guide to Cambodia's Wondrous Temples ? This will help you prepare for your time in Siem Reap. There are dozens of accessible temples in the nearby area and dozens more farther afield. We spent a week there and "only" saw a couple dozen temples. So chose which ones appeal to you most. You will need a driver for Siem Reap, your choice of whether to hire a guide. If you do, make sure the guide considers the children so they aren't bored but fascinated.

Phuket - choose your beach carefully, as I expect you don't want o be on Patong - a busy, busy beach with lots of sex tourists. There are many quieter beaches. Since you are thinking serviced apartments, you might want to consider one of the Marriott time-share properties on MaiKhao beach, as these are typically two bedroom, two bath units. But there are lots of options

Bangkok, I'd highly recommend that you stay along the river. The Chatrium is a good option as is the Anatara Riverside. Yes, everything will be open on Christmas. Be aware that the country is currently in mourning over the death of their beloved king and that people are wearing black (or white).

If you want more specific accommodations recommendations, give us a per night budget and we can be more helpful.

Have a wonderful trip!
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Old Nov 15th, 2016, 10:51 AM
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A few random thoughts in addition to Kathie's excellent advice. Consider getting a taxi from Suvanabarmi to DMK on arrival. It only adds and hour to your travel time and you then have the opportunity to get an early flight to CM the next day.

As for CM itself, if you are expecting mountains, your will be disappointed. The only one nearby is the Doi Suthep. An alternative would be Chiang Dao a couple of hours north. That is in the mountains and has a load of trekking, caves etc on the doorstep. Chiang Dao nest 1 or 2 are decent places to stay.

4 nights in Luang Prabang is a good amount of time. It is quite a small place and you can walk around it easily in day but it is better to take your time. It is definitely worth getting up at dawn and just wandering. The alms giving ceremonies are a bit of a circus these days with some very badly behaved tourists in evidence. Like Kathie, I feel it is better to stay in town. The Apsara is a great place, but I think you will need to book quickly (it may already be too late).

We stayed at the Seven Candles Guest house in Siempre Reap for a couple of weeks, which is owned by Ponheary Ly. It is more of budget places than mid range but perfectly acceptable and lovely staff. It is also away from the madness that is Siem Reap at night! (but still within walking distance.)

I second the suggestion of the Anantara Riverside. We took my in laws there for their Golden Wedding Anniversary and loved it. Worth joining their loyalty clubs for special rates.
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Old Nov 15th, 2016, 10:53 AM
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Forgaot to add; I am not a fan of Phuket and much prefer Khao Lak - cheaper and less crowded and still great beaches. Whichever you go for do consider a day (or night) out with John Grey Sea Canoes.
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Old Nov 15th, 2016, 02:04 PM
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Thank you both for your replies!

For accommodations, I'd like to keep it under $100 a night for CM, LP, and SR. And since it will be closer to Christmas and the rates are higher, under $150 for Phuket and Bangkok. A pool in SR, Phuket and Bangkok would be great too. Is this considered more like budget rather than mid-range? Just nice, clean (no bugs please) reasonably priced accommodations where we can all fit into one room rather than having to rent 2 rooms.

I did order a copy of Dawn Rooney's book, thanks to your suggestion of it that I read somewhere on this site. I so excited to see the temples, it's something I've wanted to experience for a very long time.

I'm going to have to rethink CM. We have such limited time that I don't think a further drive to Chiang Dao will be doable. I did a search here and a recommendation previous recommendation was for Sgt. Kai tours. It looks several years old though. Would that still be recommended for a day trek in the hills?

We arrive at BKK close to midnight, so I'm not sure taking a taxi closer to DMK that late would work out for us. Right now, I'm seeing a flight from DMK to CM at 2pm so hopefully that will give us enough time to get some sleep and then get over to DMK the following day.

Seven Candles Guesthouse looks great! Unfortunately it looks like they are all booked.
At upwards of $500 per night Anantara, while gorgeous, is out of our budget.

Khao Lak could be a possibility. How long would it take from Phuket airport? It looks like at least an hour I think. Not too bad.
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Old Nov 15th, 2016, 09:06 PM
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Bangkok is open 24/7, so you'll have no problem at any hour with either getting a taxi or booking into a hotel. Airport taxis are cheap, but make sure you have the hotel name and address printed off in Thai for the taxi driver.

Our favouite hotel is the New Siam Riverside on Phra Athit. Excellent vfm, swimming pool and terrace right by the river.

Khao Lak is 60-90 minutes north of Phuket Airport. It's a coastal strip that stretches about 25kms along the Andaman Coast. Two main townships, Bang La On, and Bang Niang a bit further north. I preferred Bang La On. They aren't as commercialised at Phuket, but they're catching up, as are the prices. My opinion is the area is overated, and full of package or tour groups. If you don't like tour groups then make sure the hotels you want to stay at don't accept them.

Have a look online at Boss taxis to get you there from the Phuket Airport, reliable, good vehicles, and reasonable price.
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Old Nov 15th, 2016, 09:25 PM
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$100 - 150 per night would normally be considered mid range, but not that close to Christmas. You will face additional problems trying to find a room that will fit 4. Booking.com is a great resource for booking rooms and has a useful facility to filter rooms by price/rating/ location etc. So would be a good place to start. It also pretends to filter by no. Of guests but in reality will just search mostly for two rooms.

Accor hotels - Ibis/Novotel/Sofitel etc. Do have family rooms so they would be worth looking at www.accor.com we stayed at a number of Ibis places around the world. Decent. Clean and comfortable rooms, if a bit bland but they do have family rooms. The ibis Riverside in Bangkok is nice but the one negative is that it is on the wrong side of the river and doesn't have its own ferry. That said, it does have a shuttle to the skytrain (but it is only a 10 min walk anyway) . Staying by the river is nice but room rates are higher than elsewhere in the city.

Khao Lak is 1-1.5 hours from Phuket. Taxis are around 1000 baht I think but I would suggest renting a car from the airport. It is an easy drive and a car would provide so much more flexibility. One other thought is, rather than CM, you could spend a couple of days in Khao Sok National Park, a couple of hours drive from KL. Great scenery, some decent treks, "jungle lodges" , boat trips on the lakes through the karst scenery. You can even spend the night on a raft house on the lake.

http://www.khaosok.com

A quieter alternative to Chiang Mai which would also provide better trekking ops is Chiang Rai. If you can make it on a Saturday night it has a great walking market. The Black House and White Temple are definitely worth seeing . Some more info and photos on our blog https://accidentalnomads.com/2015/10...ack-and-white/

Many of the day treks from CM will try to take you to the minority people villages which are very exploitative and not a great experience. To get any decent trekking you do need to get much further away from the city. If that is you main reason for going, I don't think Chiang Mai is for you. I like the city but it is polluted, it does get very busy. It does however, have some very interesting wats and arguably, the best food in Thailand. We usually stay there for a couple of nights when visiting other parts of the north.

One other alternative to CM would be Kanchanaburi (bridge over the river Kwai ) . Lots of historical interest ( at least if you are British or Australian!) and a jumping off point for Erawan National Park. You can get there by train from Bangkok but again, a car would give more flexibility.
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Old Nov 16th, 2016, 12:54 PM
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The New Siam Riverside is a v.good mid-ranger, breakfast included, swimming pool, right on the river, lots going on around, @ works out at about US$60 a night for a double.

Have done CMa couple of times, ditto Kanchanaburi. The latter wins hands down. We'll be there again at the beginning of February. Beautiful part of this troubled world we live in.
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Old Nov 18th, 2016, 07:14 AM
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Cambodia...Check out Siddaharta in Siem Reap. We were there a few days ago.
Nice pool, very clean rooms on budget.Location kind of behind children's
Hospital behind the Sofitel.Tuk tuk is 2 dollars to pub street,5,dollars to airport.

Laos...Ck out Villa Santi Resort. It's out of town but has a shuttle.
Huge pool for the kids,the grounds are beautiful loved it.Stayed 4 nights.
Fresh air rice fields.

Chang Mai stayed at the Elephant Nature Park.The kids would love that.
It's a rescue reserve for Elephants that have been ridden into the ground
abused by their owners,Land mine victims,so on.
Pure heaven life changing!I return yr after yr now.
There is a camp a hr out of Siem Reap with cute huts the kids would love that
There r 2 Eles u can walk in the forest with.... owned by Elephant Nature Park.
They will pick u up! Volunteer for a couple of days here!
zoso is offline  
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