We are a group of 4 people, and we are planning a two weeks trip in mid June in Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam. We will land in Bangkok and stay there for two days, take a bus to Siem Riep. Stay 3 nights; take a boat in the morning to Phnon Phen. From Phnon Phen take a bus to Saigon. From Saigon use the train to reach Dalat, Hue and finally Hanoi (and maybe Sapa), during a full week. <BR>Questions: <BR>1. Witch is the best way other than the plane, to travel from Hanoi (or any other city in Vietnam) to Bangkok? Is there any train or bus that will cross Laos?<BR>2. From what I read all these places should be pretty safe for a small group of Europeans, but nevertheless I have to ask: Does anybody have any piece of advice regarding the risks involved by such a trip?<BR>3. I would appreciate any hints about hostels or any other cheap accommodation (no more than 10 USD per person per night) for any of those cities, because we are buying only the plane tickets to and from Bangkok, and the visa for Vietnam (I hope I will be able to get visa for Cambodia and Laos at the border).<BR>4. Do we need any special medication like pills for malaria or yellow fever? <BR>5. Have anybody done parts of this trip recently? I am most concern about getting from Siem Riep to Saigon, and From Hanoi to Bangkok. Should I plan to spend some days in Laos, too?<BR>

Good luck. To fast paced for me. As for things to plan for. I suggest you travel extremely light. Not having to check luggage will speed your way through airports and trains. When I traveled to Bangkok for 2 weeks I literally bought clothes to wear as I traveled. Yunkut (Maybe spelled wrong) but that's Thai for mosqito. Long sleeves, long pants will save you since it sounds like you'll be roughing it on alotta cheap transportation. Don't worry about the heat, you'll ajust. Crossing boarders with anything looking like a controlled substance is not recommended. Since Bangkok is your start and stop point just plan on addressing any perscription needs there. Local pharmancies sell just about everything over the counter without a perscription really cheap. Finally beware of the little green peppers used to spice up the food, hot hot hot!<BR><BR>Enjoy.

Razvan: Of your proposed trip, i have only been to vietnam, but it sounds to me like you might be trying to do a bit too much in just two weeks. Ground transportation around this area seemed pretty slow. For instance, the train from Saigon to Hanoi takes something like 36 hours. If you are trying to stop in Dalat and Hue you will end up with only a day or two in Hanoi. SaPa was my favorite part of vietnam, but you need at least three or four days to do the trip. (the train from hanoi to sapa is overnight both ways, about 10 hours i think.) <BR><BR>I think you will find plenty of hotels in your price range; we stayed all over Vietnam and found safe, clean places, all with aircon and private bath, for as little as $8 per night, and $20 got your something very nice in most places.<BR><BR>Oh, and we did try Larium for malaria; we didn't particularly like the way it made us feel, but better safe than sorry, especially if you are traveling a bit rough. You should check to see what vaccinations are needed before you go _ a tetanus booster is a good idea if you haven't had one, and the hepatitus vaccinations. Not sure about yellow fever.

Good luck with your trip, we're doing something similar & taking 3 months so it definately does sound like a bit much for 2 weeks. <BR><BR>We're getting something like 4-6 vaccinations before we go Polio, Hep, Tetinus,Typhoid & maybe another one... & maralia tablets are strongly recommended.<BR><BR>Give your doctor a call!<BR>Enjoy

ttt

I agree with other that you are trying to do way too much in a short amount of time. At the very least, I'd cut the number of places you are visiting in half. (Personally, I wouldn't do more than three stops in two weeks, say Siem Reap and two other places)<BR><BR>As for travel immunizations, check the cdc website at www.cdc.gov<BR><BR>Here's the general info: you should have routine travelers immunizations: Hep A (& B, if you have risk factors), typhoid, tetanus (which is combined with diptheria), polio (which in European countries is sometimes combined with tetanus).<BR><BR>If you are traveling to places like Cambodia, Laos and VietNam, anti-malarials are recommended. There is resistant malaria in these areas, so DON'T take larium. the two effective anti-malarials here are malarone and doxycycline. The cdc website will give you more information.