We don't leave until Feb. but I am so excited about my first trip to SE Asia that I can't keep myself from obsessing about the details!

Warning! This is a long post so I hope you can make it to the end without suffering from a bout of narcolepsy!

We don't have our flight booked yet but I think we will be arriving from Portland, OR into BKK after midnight.

2 nights in Bangkok at the beginning of our trip. We will stay at the Old Bangkok Inn in the Jasmine room so I will report back.

Now, should we head south to the beach or north to Chiang Mai? We were originally considering heading north but I think we may save Chiang Mai for the end of our trip so we don't have to lug all of our purchases all over the place during our travels.

What do you think?

6 nights on Phuket Island on Nai Harn beach on the southern end of the island. I think we may stay at Sabana Resort. Check it out at http://www.sawadee.com/phuket/naiharn/pictures/

From here we plan on taking a 1/2 day kayak trip, scuba diving, exploring other beaches on the island and RELAXING! I know some of you will suggest this is way too long to spend at the beach but we really want some down time to chill.

We were going to fly but a friend of ours told us that the train ride is beautiful and suggested we take the train down south. What do you think?

Fly from this area back to Bangkok and then directly to Siem Reap. I don't think there are any flights directly from southern Thailand to Siem Reap, right?

3-4 nights in Siem Reap. We don't know where we will stay. Any suggestions for places around $50-60 USD?

Back to Bangkok in order to catch a flight to Chiang Mai. No direct flights from Siem Reap to Chiang Mai, right?

3-4 nights in Chiang Mai. We are considering staying at the Red Hibiscus in a mini suite http://www.redhibiscus.com/facil.html
or at Baan Orapin in a deluxe or junior suite http://www.baanorapin.com/photogallery.php

Any suggestions on that? I think these places are a little out of the way but we don't mind hopping a cab to go into town.

Fly back to Bangkok and stay our last 3 nights (for a total of 5) at either the Davis http://directrooms-thailand.com/davi...ngkok-1682.htm or Reflections Hotel http://www.reflections-thai.com/rooms.html.

We tend to shy away from hotels that are your standard fare. We don't want to stay in an American style/themed hotel. We prefer smaller hotels that give a taste of the Thai culture.

With the above schedule we would have either 1 or 3 more nights to either divide between these 4 locations or stay in another completely different location.

Should we go ahead and stay 4 nights in Chiang Mai and 4 in Siem Reap?

Spend more time in Bangkok?

Spend the additional 3 nights at another beach area?

I have said this before on a different post. I think we would get "watted out" if we spent too much time visiting wats.

In your opinion, what would be the absolute top 5 wats in this itinerary?

If you are still with me after reading this ridiculously long and detailed post, congrats and thank you!

I look forward to getting some feedback and also reading the gentle banter between Bob, Kathie and Gloria regarding their differences in opinions!

Overall, I think you have a good plan. I would NOT add another location to your itinerary, just add the extra days to the locations you've already chosen.

Personally, I wouldn't do the train from BKK to Phuket, only because I'd rather spend my time at the locations I've chosen. You'll lose a full day by taking the train. If, however, you are train buffs, go ahead and do it.

You're correct about flights - bascially you'll have to fly in and out of Bangkok to get to Siem Reap and connect there.

You comment about getting "watted out"... Remember that the whole reason to visit Siem Reap is to see a number of the amazing Khmer temple ruins, the largest and most famous of which is Angkor Wat. These are all ruined temples, some more "restored" than others. My favorites were the less restored temples (often referred to as the "jungle temples&quot where the trees growing though the building stone were simultaneously holding the temple together and tearing it apart. There are dozens of temples currently accessible to visitors. I couldn't choose "just five" of the best temples in the Angkor complex. Take it slow, ask your driver for recommendations on what to visit at various tijmes of the day in order to miss most of the tour buses. Start your touring at sunrise, go until maybe 11 am, then take a long break in the middle of the day, going back out at 2:00 or 3:00 until sunset. If reading this bores you -Don't go to Angkor, choose someplace else.

The Wats in Bangkok are entirely different. Lively working wats, they are colorful beyond belief. The "must see" wats in Bangkok, in my opinion: The Temple of the Emerald Buddha (which is part of the Grand Palace complex), neighboring Wat Po (home of the famous massage school). I have seen both many times, and still go back. You can do them both on the same day. I always enjoy the Golden Buddha in Chinatown, an entierly different experience, but cut this one if you are watted out. I'd also recommend Wat Ben very early in the morning to see the distribution of food to the monks ("making merit&quot. This would not be a tour of the wat, but you can stroll the lovely grounds and see a wat entirely different from the others you've visited. Perhaps one more wat in Bangkok: visit Wat Arun on your klong tour. One more stop I'd recommend that isn't a wat, but is a worthwhile experience, is the Erawan Shrine in Bangkok.

I would also recommend one wat in Chaing Mai, Doi Suthep.

I agree with kathy on everything except seeing both temple of the emerald buddha and wat po on the same day. I think if you might find it too much and too hot and too overwhelming and too "same" for one day. I'd go to the temple in the morning and something else ( a klong ride, prasart garden, jim thompson house, vimanamek mansion) in the afternoon.

And I know you don't want to hear this but you really should cut at least one day off your time in Phuket.

Baan Orapin is very well located. You can walk to the night market, restaurants, shops etc.

You really should read up on Siem Reap and decide how much temple going you want because that's really all there is to do there. I'm like Kathie and could spend several days but you may decide that two full days is enough for you. Only you can make that decision. 4 nights in CM makes sense. Personally I think you should add a day to Bangkok.

Gloria, I have read up on Seam Reap. I think 2 full days would be plenty time for us to explore the wats. I also think this is going to be more fascinating than I could realy imagine.

We are going to stick with 6 nights in Nai Harn. My boyfriend won't have it any other way otherwise I would cut it down to 5. We will explore other places and use Nai Harn as our base. That will really only give us 5 days.

Now we are looking at:

2 BKK
6 Nai Harn and other less populated beaches on Phuket
3 Siem Reap
5 Chiang Mai and exploring neighboring villages
4 BKK

Any other suggestions?

Another possibility is to spend 3 nights in CM and 2 nights in the Chiang Rai area.

its all very workable but lots of moving around....i think 3 full days in SR is necessary even if you move fast...arrive early and leave on the 7PM plane gives you extra time also...SR is hard work!! it is different than ordinary wats...wait until you see it!!! i generally tire very quickly of wats but not angkor...its amazing!!!


i'm concerened about your bkk hotels but you have done lots of research...good luck...remember its not like europe in any way...

I think one of your stays in bangkok should be on the river. If you want to stick with small hotels maybe consider Ibrik which has gotten some good write ups. Or Changarobase (spelling wrong but it starts with CH) .

One other thought. Is there a way for you to go directly to the beach when you arrive? Don't go to Bangkok first? that way you can get over your jet lag in a place where there is not much to do and it would give you some extra time in Bangkok without taking away from the beach.

Bob, you think 4 locations in 20 nights is too much moving around?! Thanks for your concern about our choices for hotels. I have done oodles of research. I have checked into staying at the Oriental, Penn and Marriott and they don't intrigue me and neither of us like staying in big modern hotels. We have discussed it in depth. The Old Bangkok Inn and Davis get great reviews and the Reflections looks like fun! We like fun places better than we do stuffy places where you can't walk in with a backback (not that we will have one).

Gloria, good suggestion about going straight for Nai Harn but after traveling 26 hours and arriving after midnight I don't see that as an option. I doubt there is transport at that time of the night but maybe there is?

I have checked out the Ibrik and that also seems like a wonderful place but for our first time in Bangkok is it a good idea to stay so far away from the sites and action?

Thanks!

Hi,

Where are you staying in Siam Reap? Am looking into Cambodia now. Any websites/hotels you recommend?

thanks!
gina

You could stay somewhere near the airport and leave early the next morning for Phuket.

my concern is that bkk and many asian city accomodations are not what they seem....they have a way of enhancing the pictures....i am just leery...as this is your first trip it is important that it be all positive....the davis is fine and in a good location, albeit quite a ways from the skytrain....i'm just not sure about the other two...based on your screen name i just don't want you to think that there is any comparison with europe's 2 star hotels for instance....

none of the bkk hotels are stuffy really except one might think the sh-la, oriental and that ilk are a bit more high brow...the second tier hotels however, even if they are chains provide a level of service, security and the like that westerners expect....like hot water 24/7 and lack of insects in your room....this is why they are popular with westerners....local places run the risk of not having standards that are acceptable to westerners....sorry if you or others are offended in my saying this...its just a warning...

Bob-- I disagree. I love the Oriental and have been staying there for 20 years and would find it very hard to be in bangkok and not stay there. However,if my first trip to Bangkok was in 2005/06 I would probably be doing exactly what eurotraveller is doing. In general I loathe big western hotels and do everything in my power to avoid them. The Old Bangkok Inn is the only hotel that has opened in bangkok recently that interests me at all. It may not have the amenities and the pools and the technology and the huge bathrooms (although it sounds like it has some of it) but it sounds like it has soul which is lacking in many of the big hotels. And it sounds like the owner is someone who is wonderful. Just look at the website and read how she is promoting charitable giving. Definitely my kind of woman!

I started my asian travel in 1985 and was in places like Vietnam and Cambodia in the early 1990s; Issan area of Thailand in 1986; China in 1987 etc so I have certainly had my share of non luxury hotels. But it was always the people that mattered. Here's a chance to have the personal experience without suffering. I say do it! And forget about all the deluxe hotels we talk about.

On the other hand I would not stay at Reflections because it sounds too trendy and too western hip for me. Old Bangkok Inn is more my style.

By the way from my reading Baan orapin may give you more of the personal touch than Red Hisbiscus.