First Trip to Southeast Asia
May 29th, 2012, 07:33 PM
#1
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First Trip to Southeast Asia
Wide and I are looking to go to SE Asia in the late summer or early fall. We have 2 weeks and are looking for some advice. We really would like to try Vietnam and maybe even Cambodia in one trip. We live in Chicago.
Is this feasible in a 2 week trip?
Is the weather nice during this time?
Can anyone recommend a rough itinerary?
more questions to come, thanks.
Is this feasible in a 2 week trip?
Is the weather nice during this time?
Can anyone recommend a rough itinerary?
more questions to come, thanks.
May 29th, 2012, 08:03 PM
#2
Late summer and early fall can be rainy. Not really a problem unless you'll planning on hiking or driving on country roads that can get flooded.
In two weeks, i wouldn'[t do more that three cities, but that's just because SE Asia is not someplace I like to rush.
What do you like to do? Historical things, museums, hikings, watching crafts being made, sitting on beaches, zip lines, eating, mountain climbing? Are you on a budget or have do you have money to burn? It's hard to suggest an itinerary without knowing what you hope to get out of your trip.
You might consider flying into Cambodia, then coming back to Saigon overland. Could perhaps start in Hanoi then fly to Siem Reap to see the temples of Angkor Wat. Take a boat to Batambong then bus back to Phnom Penh, then fly home from there.
It can get tiring (and expensive) if you fly all over asia. There are certain gateway cities that you can use to connect easily to some places, you should determine where you want to go before buying your international flights. Also, Vietnam visas are expensive, so you should try to only enter the country once (not including layovers where you don't leave the airport transit areas).
In two weeks, i wouldn'[t do more that three cities, but that's just because SE Asia is not someplace I like to rush.
What do you like to do? Historical things, museums, hikings, watching crafts being made, sitting on beaches, zip lines, eating, mountain climbing? Are you on a budget or have do you have money to burn? It's hard to suggest an itinerary without knowing what you hope to get out of your trip.
You might consider flying into Cambodia, then coming back to Saigon overland. Could perhaps start in Hanoi then fly to Siem Reap to see the temples of Angkor Wat. Take a boat to Batambong then bus back to Phnom Penh, then fly home from there.
It can get tiring (and expensive) if you fly all over asia. There are certain gateway cities that you can use to connect easily to some places, you should determine where you want to go before buying your international flights. Also, Vietnam visas are expensive, so you should try to only enter the country once (not including layovers where you don't leave the airport transit areas).
May 29th, 2012, 08:09 PM
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Thanks for the reply. Eating is up there for sure but we do want to see historical places and explore. We have a medium sized budget. We want to stay in nice place but not extravagant.
May 30th, 2012, 04:46 AM
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Danlitec, traveling nicely on a medium-sized budget is easy in SEA. You can stay at a very nice hotel, with great service and a wonderful breakfast, for $75 in Hanoi (Hanoi Elegance Diamond), slightly more in Saigon. There are much more opulent (and more expensive hotels, but I'm talking quite nice for that price). In Siem Reap, you can pay anywhere from $20 a night in a guest house to $250 a night at La Residence d'Angkor.
You can eat excellent local food for $5.00 or $25.00. You'd have to try really hard to spend $80 for two for dinner in Hanoi.
We were in Hanoi, Hue, HoiAn and Saigon (Vietnam) and Siem Reap (Cambodia) over a period of 15 full days (not including travel days) and it was very doable (we also had 4 days in Hong Kong). I do wish we had had time to go into the countryside in Vietnam, but we very much enjoyed the parts we did see. If Forced to cut down the number of days, I wouldn't remove any places, just cut down on the time we spent - remove a day (or two if I had to) from the 5 days we were in Hanoi, and a day from the 3 days we had in HoiAn. We could remove the day we spent at the pool in Siem Reap, but that was a really nice interlude (same goes for the beach in HoiAn).
Have fun planning.
You can eat excellent local food for $5.00 or $25.00. You'd have to try really hard to spend $80 for two for dinner in Hanoi.
We were in Hanoi, Hue, HoiAn and Saigon (Vietnam) and Siem Reap (Cambodia) over a period of 15 full days (not including travel days) and it was very doable (we also had 4 days in Hong Kong). I do wish we had had time to go into the countryside in Vietnam, but we very much enjoyed the parts we did see. If Forced to cut down the number of days, I wouldn't remove any places, just cut down on the time we spent - remove a day (or two if I had to) from the 5 days we were in Hanoi, and a day from the 3 days we had in HoiAn. We could remove the day we spent at the pool in Siem Reap, but that was a really nice interlude (same goes for the beach in HoiAn).
Have fun planning.
May 30th, 2012, 05:48 AM
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i like 3 days at each stop... you can start in the north with hanoi and fly on vietnam air southward visiting hue, hoi-an and HCMC and then fly to siem reap, where 3-4 days is best.
3* hotels in vietnam are quite nice.
i enlisted tonkin travel in hanoi to help me. they did a great job at a good price.
3* hotels in vietnam are quite nice.
i enlisted tonkin travel in hanoi to help me. they did a great job at a good price.
May 30th, 2012, 06:25 AM
#6
I also recommend Tonkin Tours -- they are very responsive and helpful. Tonkin consistently had better rates on hotels than I could find. However booking on your own is very easy if u don't want to use a TA. And as mentioned above u will get very nice hotels in VN for a very reasonable amount. I would imagine u will find some deals during the time of year u r planning to go.
U could easily spend the full 2 weeks in VN. Instead of going to SR u could take a day or two and visit the Mekong Delta and go to Halong Bay for 2 days 1 night if that interests u. It would give u a nice break from the heat.
I was there in January/February so can't speak to the weather from personal experience, but the locals we asked about the weather mentioned that summer is VERY hot & humid.
U could easily spend the full 2 weeks in VN. Instead of going to SR u could take a day or two and visit the Mekong Delta and go to Halong Bay for 2 days 1 night if that interests u. It would give u a nice break from the heat.
I was there in January/February so can't speak to the weather from personal experience, but the locals we asked about the weather mentioned that summer is VERY hot & humid.
