crosscheck

can anyone recommend a 12-night relaxing/adventurous beach/hilltribe/elephant itinerary for 12 nights in december a family w/ two teen boys, 13 & 16. we were planning on thailand and are now considering switiching to cambodia and/or vietnam. we already have tickets to tokyo.

KimJapan

Is it your first trip to Asia? If so, I'd recommend Thailand. 2 days BKK, 3 -4 days Chiang Mai for elephants and trekking - consider 2 nights at the Elephant Conservation Center doing the Mahout program, 3 days beach (where depends on when you are going), and finish in BKK.

How do you plan to get from Tokyo to where you are going? Buy a ticket, miles?

crosscheck

My husband and I each have been to Asia several times (Bali, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong), but never to SE Asia and never together. This is the boys' first time. We were going to do Thailand, but we're a unsure because of the coup and also we like to be off the beaten track. We used mileage to get business class tickets to Tokyo and were originally planning on flying to BKK but are now considering a nonstop to Ho Chi Minh City.

Kathie

Thailand certainly has better tourism infrastructure. VN has better infrastructure than Cambodia. Note that almost all of Ambodia is a malarial risk area, parts of VN are, and only the rural borders with Burma, Cambodia and Loas are malrial risk in Thailand.

No doubt, Thailand fits your bill best. If you are nervous about the coup, wait for a week or two before firming up your plans.

I have tickets to Thailand in early November and am perfectly comfortable going at this point. But you have to decide what is comfortable for you.

MichaelBKK

It's amazingly easy to get off the beaten track in Thailand. There are beaches that are relatively easy to get to but are still pretty much un-developed. Examples include Chumpon, Nakorn Si Thammarat and Songkhla. Although, with two boys you might want some development so they'll have something to do. Koh Chang might be a nice option. There's skin diving and trekking to do.

For elephants, you might consider Chiang Rai and the Golden Triangle rather than Chiang Mai.

crosscheck

how is this:
1 night tokyo (in transit)
4 nights bkk
3 nights chaing rai
4 nights koh chang

Kathie

Are you comfortable having your beach stop in a malarial risk area? Koh Chang is right near the Cambodian border, and is really the only beach resort area in Thailand that is malarial risk. For activities and such, you'd be better off in the Phuket or Krabi area, both of which will have good weather in December.

And do you have to spend a night at Narita? Most flights from the US are timed so you can get on your connecting flight to Bangkok within a couple of hours. I'd recommend that you get to Thailand as soon as possible. Most people find breaking up the long flight to be a time-waster and not helpful in making the adjustment to teh new time zone.

crosscheck

thanks, kathie, for your advise. we wanted to actually spend 24 hrs in tokyo because my kids are sushi addicts but we now are rethinking that so we will have 4 nights each in bangkok, north and beach. i think phuket is too touristy for us. will check into krabi. what do you think of the malaria risk in chiang rai?
our plan b possibility if the coup proves to be risky is to just do vietnam. there seems to be controversy about the malaria risk there.

Kathie

The cdc and WHO indicate that there is no malaria risk in Chaing Rai. If you opt to go into the Golden Triangle area, there is malarial risk. Also, if you are going on jungle treks outside of Chaing Rai nearer the borders of Thailand, there is malarial risk.

I don't know that there is contraversy about malarial risk in VN. The cities are not malarial risk areas, nor are areas above 1500 m. Rural areas (especially the Mekong delta area) are risk areas. Take a look at www.cdc.gov/travel

Note that there are touristy parts of Phuket and non-touristy parts. There are also nearby islands and mainland areas (like Krabi). All should have good weather in December.

crosscheck

thanks -
now we're thinking 4 nights bkk (the peninsula)
4 nights chiang mai or the golden triangle anantara
3 nights beach
1 night tokyo on the way back

which would you recommend - chang mai or the anantara?
which beach - relatively easily accessible from the north (or should we skip the beach altogether)?

ccc

My two cents. Skip the beach - you can go to the beach at home - and use those days to go to either Luang Prabang or Angkor Wat. Both are very special places which are changing rapidly. Our four children loved both.

Kathie

I absolutely loved the Anantara at the Golden Triangle! They have a small division of the Thai Elephant Conservations camp on the grounds. This is a malarial risk area, and since the malaria in the border areas is resistant to larium, you have just two options for anri-malarials: malarone or doxycycline. Do visit a travel medicine or tropical medicine specialist. Most medical schools have such clinics.

ccc is right,,, the beaches are nice, but they are not unique to Thailand. So if you and your kids don't feel the necessity to visit a beach, you could opt for the Temples at Angkor (Siem Reap, Cambodia) or Luang Prabang. You need a minimum of three full days for either one. Both are malarial risk areas.

crosscheck

thanks for prompt responses. my husband is now saying no anti-malarials. (we often go to latin america and have avoided them up until now.) ccc- did you give them to your kids?

so that means no anantara, no angkor and no laos...any alternative suggestions?

Kathie

Chaing Mai is not a malarial risk area. And the beach areas (other than Koh Chang) are not malarial risk. And Bangkok is not malarial risk. So you could combine those three areas.

I don't know what your husband's level of knowledge is about malaria and anti-malarials. He may want to read the cdc website before saying absolutely not.

ccc

Yes, all of us - including our 4 children - took malarone. There were no bad effects.

crosscheck

thanks. my husband has okayed the meds. here is a new idea:
- 1 night tokyo
- 2 nights bkk
- 4 nights luang prabang
- 3 nights angkor
- 1 night bkk
i am concerned that this is too much traveling around. we went to four places in australia/fiji in 2 weeks and it was too much. what if we skip angkor?

Kathie

Yes, it is a lot of traveling. I would suggest you cut one location.

Which one to cut? That's a hard question and depends on your interests. Do you know much about Luang Prabang and Angkor? Do a bit of research. Some photos of those places may help: www.marlandc.com

dperry

I would recommend you keep Angkor in your plan. I was first there in 2003, then again this spring. The amount of development since my first visit was staggering, and there was a significant increase in the # of tourists. I would suggest seeing it now
Just my opinion....

ccc

I'm a buyer of your plan. Yes, it's bouncing around a bit, and you will want to check flight schedules to confirm that it's not too crazy but at the end of the day you - and more importantly, your children - will have seen some unbelievable places. You can always come back and spend more time if one of these places resonates. If I were going to cut anything, it would be Tokyo. Even if you don't cut Tokyo, if you take 1 day from LP (3 or 30 days is plenty) and add it to Bangkok you will be in great shape.

ccc

I should add that the basis of my recommendation is that there's not alot of real formal sightseeing to do in LP - which is what my kids really liked about it.