Help me plan our first trip to Southeast Asia!
 

We are a Senior couple planning our first trip to Southeast Asia. Our plan is to spend up to a month in the region which would include Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos and Thailand. We live in NYC and can either fly out of there or since we are planning to being in Los Angeles after our trip we can start in LA. I have many questions before I begin to make our travel plans and hope that you can help me in making our decisions regarding an itinerary.

1. We are planning to spend the month in February in the region. Is this a good time to be there?
2. Best to fly from NYC or LAX? Which city do you suggest we fly into for a stopover?
3. Which airline would you suggest we use?
4. Is it too ambitious for us to see all 4 locations in a month and if so which one would you cut out/
5. Can you suggest an itinerary regarding where to start and finish our travels?
6. Will we need specific Visas and/or vaccines before entering these locations?
7. Would you suggest a Tour company, local guides and if so offer any suggestions?
While I have already begun my initial research into the locations I have always found it helpful to start with Fodor's in planning all of my trips. It would be most helpful to hear about your experiences, suggestions even if it is offering advice on only one of these questions.

Thanks!

All good questions. We, same age group, will be in Thailand (25th time) and Vietnam (6th time) from dec30 to feb 11.

You do not generally save that much time flying from LA, I don’t think. Some $$ savings. I suggest flying into one city and leaving from another. We love Korean Air, flying west, and Singapore. Cathy Pacific is also good. We love Emirates and Qatar too. Both often well priced. BA and Air France, plus Swiss and Lufthansa. Some like Turkish— new planes.
We favor the A380 for a plane and the 787.

Thailand is very easy for beginners, Vietnam not bad either. I plan all of our trips. You can click on my name and read trip reports to the region.

Don’t skimp on Hotels. 5* are bargains. I favor Marriotts. I have tons of favs, just ask.

BTW we fly from Boston.

I sometimes seek help from local tourist/travel agencies— foreign. For instance in VN I like Tonkin Travel in Hanoi. I use them for drivers and some guides, and some internal flights.

I think. I might concentrate on TH, VN and Laos (Luang Prabang only). LP is small and fab.

In Feb it is starting to get hotter. Apr is the hottest.

Unlike Europe, Asia moves slowly and so must you. Among other things humidity is horrid.

Yes you need shots— go to a travel clinic. VN require a visa, so does Laos. Thailand’s you get automatically on arrival. In nyc, just go to their UN office for visa or do it on line.

Ask me some specific questions and I will try to help.

I am in so Africa today but will be home in a week.

bob

I looked at google airline matrix for flights the first week of February R/T Bangkok returning the first week of March.
There are a lot of good choices from both LAX and JFK. UAL out of LAX is around $520.00 which is astoundingly cheap and for around $642.00 you can fly out of JFK on Asiana which personally I would do as they have excellent service and are a superior carrier than UAL.
However that choice is yours.
Good luck with your planning.
Larry

Seven years ago during January & February we visited all the countries you mention. However, we spent 9 weeks. Going to all 4 countries in a month would be too much for me. We travel very slowly now that we're retired. This trip was also our first trip to SEAsia and it was a lot to take in as we traveled. It was all so fascinating and different from the places we had previously been. Take that into consideration as you plan. We used Tonkin Travel for our travel in the VN portion of the trip and were very pleased with them. We also used Jermsak, a guide in Chiang Rai. I also believe he does tours in Chiang Mai. He was excellent and I highly recommend him. Otherwise we planned it on our own as we have other trips to Asia.
I would check the CDC website for vaccines or pills you might need depending upon where you decide to go. We did not have any shots and took Malarone for mosquitoes. But things may have changed since we were there. Happy planning!
We have a TR that you can read, https://www.fodors.com/community/asi...dyssey-930204/

1.February is and excellent time of year in which to visit SE Asia from a weather perspective although, being high season some places, e.g, Angkor Wat, will be very crowded.

2/3. No idea about airlines from the USA but it would definitely make sense to try for an open jaw ticket. e.g. say into Hanoi and out of Bangkok to avoid back tracking. Having said that flights within SE Asia using the many budget airlines like Air Asia can mean that it is realtively efficient and cheap to fly between say Hanoi and bangkok for your homeward leg.
4. It is too ambitious to visit all 4 countries. Which one to cut is entirely dependent on your interests. Personally I would drop Thailand and Laos. Laos because it is a bit of a dead end in terms of getting flights there and Thailand because IMO it has become over touristed in recent years. You could easily spend 3 weeks travelling down through Vietnam and then into Cambodia for a final week.

5. vietnam - Hanoi - Phong Nha Ke Be - Hue - Saigon - Mekong Delta ( Ben Tre, Cai Rang and Chau Doc) and te boat to Phnom Penh and to to Angkor . Some details of our travels there and lots of photos on our blog @ https://accidentalnomads.com/category/vietnam/
6. You can get evisas online for Vietnam and Cambodia. For vaccines, check with your GP or travel clinic, but yes, there will be some so allow plenty of time.
7. It is pretty straightforward to DIY in Asia but some do prefer to use agencies to organise everything. Do check credentials ( and prices) carefully and always pay be CC rather than wire money. Do be very specific in what you want to achieve. TAs in the region always seem to feel that they need to pack in as many destinations as possible into an itinerary, believing more is more - it really isnt in Asia. The best way may be to do part and part i.e. organise most yourself and book certain tours locally. Hotels and guest houses are very helpful in this respect.

Have fun planning.

Hi, allyboy,
You've gotten some great advice here, and I'll just tag along and add a few of my own thoughts. My husband and I traveled in 2014 for 3 weeks, and we traveled for 2 weeks in Thailand, 3 nights in Luang Prabang, and 4 nights in Siem Reap. If I had more time, I would've added a day to Luang Prabang, and would've probably added Hanoi and/or more countryside in either Vietnam or in Cambodia. All 4 countries are "doable" if you think of it more as visiting specific spots rather than visiting a country. You'll just be doing more flying, but the flights are pretty quick although not bargains.

I can't recommend Jermsak highly enough in Thailand! We hired him for 3 days in the Chiang Rai area and they were fabulous. He is a wonderful companion as well.

We really enjoyed Luang Prabang a lot. While some will say that the character has changed and it's not the charming place it was many years ago, I've nothing to compare it to and we found it a really laid back and relaxing place, with enough charm still there!

We flew Korean Air and were very happy with it. We flew New York to Bangkok, with a stop in Seoul (Incheon) and then flew from Siem Reap back to New York. I think we flew from JFK, but I can't recall this minute. Service was good -- and we flew economy! I liked Incheon very much - we had about 3-4 hours between flights and we were able to find places to lie down and nap. I know showers were available, too.

I followed in the footsteps of yestravel and gotravel and used their trip report for a number of the places we visited!

Here's my trip report from 2014...
https://www.fodors.com/community/asi...-reap-1005980/

I will add that I wouldn't go now to any of the elephant camps that still offer rides. I'd only visit one of the sanctuary type of camps if I were to go back.

Hope this helps.

The only thing I can contribute is to plug Singapore Airlines, even cattle class is wonderful!

We found February to be warm (for us) but manageable in Thailand and Cambodia. We'd even lucked into some spotty rain periods at Angkor that helped cool things down. On the other hand, Hanoi was really nice in April so I imagine it could be considerably cooler than other SE Asian locations in February. Luang Prabang was at least 15 degrees hotter when we landed there on the same trip.

Not sure I'm clear on the city/stopover question, NYC or LAX. Assuming it would be best to choose the shortest, cheapest route out of the US that would pair well on a ticket with your chosen carrier for the trans-pacific segment.

Airlines - we usually prefer an Asian airline that isn't Chinese (to be frank). Singapore as mentioned and Cathay Pacific are both head and shoulders better than the US carriers, IMO. Even EVA and Thai are an improvement over the N. American based options in terms of comfort and service. We found that they usually won on price too, but you never know.

All 4 countries are probably doable if you can accept that you're not going to see all of any one of them in the one week you allocate to it. But if you decide on sticking to one area and one planned out route in each place, sure, that can be done. But breaking it down, will you enjoy trying to see Chiang Mai, Bangkok and the southern beaches of Thailand in the 1/4 month? I wouldn't because it seems like a lot of effort relocating. Bangkok by itself would be perfect for a week.

Not sure where to end but Bangkok seems like a logical place to start because it probably has the most inbound flight options. Siem Reap (Angkor) is well connected to Bangkok. And it looks straighforward to fly to Saigon from there. Luang Prabang I know is pretty easy and cheap to get to from Hanoi but possibly also from Angkor. May want to get back to BKK or SGN for your final city as HAN, REP and LPQ airports are not well connected to the US and may reduce your options. (actually HAN is just a quick connection to Hong Kong where Cathay is hubbed but as many times as we've connected or done layovers in HK, I'm not sure I would just now).

I'll stick with the logistics questions but visa and vaccine info is pretty readily available already. We don't tend to use tour companies ourselves but I know there's a very popular guide for Angkor that is recommended here often.

Can fly Korean Air from many USA cities direct to Seoul. From Seoul can fly direct to Chiang Mai Thailand. CM smaller city, much faster Immigration, compared to BKK. For fast Immig, nowhere better than S'pore, HK a second, Seoul 3rd, IMO. Visit CM for a few days. Can fly direct from CM to Luang Brabang or domestic to Bangkok, or direct daily to Hong Kong.

All boy—. Where re you

Thank you to everyone who has contributed to this page! I am slowly absorbing all of the information while I do my research which also includes picking my friends brains who have traveled there as well. I am slow to plan and first need to understand the region, understand where/when I specifically want to go, how to travel to each location and how much time I will allot to each location. My wife and I are retired and can spend as much time as we want, however, I am the reluctant one trying to limit this vacation to a month while she would go for longer!
night tour
We have decided that we will travel from Los Angeles as we will first spend time with family there. Questions abound: Should we fly directly to Bangkok and stay there for a few days before heading out to our next location? How many days in Luang Prabang? Chiang Rai or Chiang Mai? Would you consider the 1 night tour around The Golden Triangle? How about the 2 day slow boat down Mekong River to Luan Prabang? Will we have problems with our luggage ( only take carry on with wheels) when needed to board these type of boats?

I like the idea of flying into one country and out the other--just need to first figure out which ones to select. It's looking like into Bangkok and out of Ho Chi Minh city back to LA.

My husband and I did a Road Scholar tour of Vietnam and Cambodia last year which we thoroughly enjoyed. Just another idea to throw out there. It was our first time in Southeast Asia and we enjoyed it so much, we hope to go back someday.

Wherever you decide to fly to, I think it is a great idea to spend a few days in the city of your arrival if only to recuperate from the inevitable jet lag. Both Bangkok and HCMC are amazing cities.

Re the north of Thailand/ Laos A word of caution. In that region of SE Asia, they still practice "slash and burn" agriculture. This usually takes place in March through to late April but can occasionally be earlier. You should be fine in Feb I would think, but there is a possibility - global warming is affecting the seasons in Asia a lot!

You will be fine with wheeled carry-ons on the boats. Regardless of whether you do a cruise with Luangsay or similar or, as we did, hire a private boat, there will be people to help if needed. Just don’t expect to wheel them anywhere! Public boats are another option but they can get rammed with people - not the most comfortable of trips.

I would suggest allowing 3 days for Luang Prabang & Chiang Mai and 2 for Chiang Rai. The "golden triangle " is not as scenic as you may imagine so I wouldn’t bother. An alternative might be to consider Mai Hong Sorn/Pai or Chiang Dao.

To star with, visit those 4 countries in one month is completely unrealistic; you are going to spend more time in transportation (the ground ones in those countries except Thailand are frustratingly slow) than in visits. I would skip Thailand, swarming with tourists ('45 millions a year) and very occidentalized sky-scrappers, huge shopping malls, superhighways, Mc Do and Co.

Contrary to what someone told you, February is NOT OK everywhere ; it is a very bad month for the north of Vietnam ,which is by far the most beautiful part of your trip, bar the temples of Angkor :: cold (I have known 6° C in the mountains) and frequent heavy fogs (January is not better)..

Now, there is another problem : Laos and Vietnam are parallel north-south, so, if you want to visit ALL in both, you have to go all the way up one country and all the way down the other. The best would be Cambodia, (Siem Reap and Phnom Penh), then speed boat PP-Chau Doc in Vietnam and 3-4 days to do Chau Doc-Saigon through the Mekong Delta (the weather is perfect is the south in February). 2 days in Saigon, then fly Saigon-Danang and 3 days in wonderful Hoi An ; then day train Danang-Hue and 2 days in Hue; flight or night train Hue-Hanoi, 2-3 days Hanoi, 2 days Halong cruise with one night on board, then 3-4 days in the mountains and then fly Hanoi-Luang Prabang, which is enough in Laos, you cannot do everything !

Re post #15 above esp. "February is NOT OK everywhere ; it is a very bad month for the north of Vietnam" . I disagree. Overall, if visiting a diverse range of locations as you seem to have in mind, Feb is one of the better months of the year in terms of climate.

In the north of Vietnam ypu can expect plenty of sunshine and clear blue skies in Feb. Yes it will be quite cool (avg temp: 17 °C) but for many, that is no bad thing. Rainfall is at its lowest in February although a mist is not unusual, especially in coastal areas and around Halong Bay ( which I would skip anyway) . In the far north conditions are dry but chilly at night and sometimes foggy.

Average temperature 17¨in HANOI ! In the mountains, which is the best part of the region, ° it is not uncommon in Sapa, the most visited site ebcause of its great trekking, a temperature of 0°C at night, and the homestays are not heated. One February, I was in Dong Van ; the fog was such for days that the gas tankers could not come from Ha Giang and the gas pumps were empty all over the area ; I managed to buy 5 gallons in the market at three times the price, and I was very lucky !

Going to the north without visiting the fantastic Halong Bay is like going to New York State without visiting New York. Besides, it is one of those rare sites (Mt St Michel in France is another one) which is stunning even when foggy

We are going to have to disagree. Such is the nature of forums! Both Halong Bay and, especially Sapa are the very antithesis of places I would want to visit. Iconic, yes, but for years they have been subjected to the worst aspects of over-tourism. Sapa and it’s environs, particularly were like a human zoo when last I visited several years ago. I can only imagine what they are like now after the opening of of the new road and cable car. Halong Bay is renowned, not only for its amazing beauty but also for its uncontrolled pollution Everyone’s interests, likes and dislikes are different and it is great that the OP is getting some opposing viewpoints.

As far as the weather is concerned, I do think you are missing the point. When someone wants to visit multiple destinations in SE Asia, Feb is one of the best months. I have travelled in Vietnam many times over the last 30 years at most times of the year, including the far north in February and I would definitely not say "it is a very bad month" as you suggest. Far from it. Yes, it is likely there will be mist, fog lower temps but blue skies and sunshine are also likely.
The fact remains that Feb is when the OPs are choosing to go.

There is an easy solution considering that you are mostly right : chance of OK weather in Hanoi and Halong do exist, but, before going to the mountains, our friend types "Weather Sapa" on Googles, then clicks on Accuweather and decides accordingly (if bad in Sapa, he types "Weather Bac Ha", only 3-hour rive from Sapa, but quite different)

To me Thailand is the beacon of modern SEA. Bangkok offers a smattering of everything. Good place to land and unwind. Min. 5 days, IMO.

I personally do not like Chiangmai Mai.

Luang Prabang is unique in the same way Hoi An is— 4 days each.

Do you like beaches? I prefer Thai resorts: JW Marriott, Khao Lak. Marriott or Hyatt Hua Hin. Samui is nice also.

Our fav bkk hotel to chill at is the Anatara Riverside.

Stay at the best quality hotels you can afford. Hire private drivers/guides to save time.

Thanks again for the support I am receiving which include the "friendly' banter I am reading regarding the weather!

Here's a possible itinerary : LAX- BKK and stay in Bangkok for 3 nights
Flight to Chiang Mai for 4 nights
Bus to Chiang Rai and stay for 2 nights
Travel by bus to Huay Xai for 1 night
Luxury boat cruise 2d/1 night to Luang Prabang
Luang Prabang for either 3-4 nights
Flight to Hanoi for 2-3 nights
Boat cruise to Halong Bay 2d/1 night
Travel down to Ho Chi Minh city for 10 days ( stop at Hue, Hoi An, Danang)
Ho Chi Minh 3 nights
Flight to Siem Reap 2-3 nights
Flight to Bangkok and back to LAX ( either staying overnight in Bangkok or not)
This has now become a possible 5 week trip. which we can manage.

Hello,

1. February-March is a good time to visit Southeast Asia.
2. I suggest you flying from JFK to Saigon (SGN) first, and leaving from Bangkok (BKK). Price for March, is around $440/person. JFK-SGN, BKK-JFK
3. I suggest you using China Eastern and stopover in China, it would save you a lot.
4. We have tours visiting Cambodia, Vietnam and Thailand for 10 days. I'm sure you'll be able to visit a lot of places and enjoy your time there for one month.
5. Itinerary: Vietnam--->Cambodia--->Thailand (message me if you need more specific plan)
6. For Vietnam, if you are US citizen you can apply for an E-Visa, and it is valid for a maximum of 30 days for the purpose of tourism, it cost $25 and its usually processed in 3 business days.
For Thailand, you do not need a visa if you plan to stay for less than 30 days.
For Cambodia, single entry visa USD30+ USD6(processing charge)
For more info, visit the us travel advisories website,
7. We have local resources in Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand. Feel free to contact us!

I assume you're not into big cities, thus the only 3 nights in BKK? Given that you will be jet-lagged, 3 nights to me is a minimum amt of time for a huge city with lots to see and do.

Not sure what this means - "Travel down to Ho Chi Minh city for 10 days ( stop at Hue, Hoi An, Danang)" are you dividing 10 days among the 3 cities?

Could you move VN until the end so you could fly home from VN and not have to double back to BKK? Flip Cambodia and VN perhaps?

I just wanted to add my 2 cents on Halong Bay. I really enjoyed it -- we went on the Dragon Pearl and their junks go to Bai Tu Long Bay which was not crowded at all. Even with the less than perfect weather, its tunning and I'm glad you're going to see it.

Are you going in 2020?

yestravel: It's not that I am not into big cities but from what Ive read ( and my son's experience there) Bangkok was not a place to stay for more than 3 nights. I am sure ( if needed I could add a day here).

Regarding traveling down from Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh city: The plan was to spend 2 weeks in Vietnam with first visiting Hanoi and Halong Bay. I did read about the Dragon Pearl cruise which sounds wonderful and it too would add a day.

What advantages would occur if I moved VN and Cambodia and how would you do this exactly? What would be your choice of rearranging the itinerary?

And yes our plan is to leave late January and travel for 5 weeks arriving back in LA.

Thanks so much for helping me!

“What advantages would occur if I moved VN and Cambodia and how would you do this exactly? What would be your choice of rearranging the itinerary?”
i was proposing you fly home from VN instead of going back to BKK. How to order it would depend upon flight availability and fares. You could go from LP to Cambodia and then onto VN. Again the order in VN would depend upon flights.

In terms of time in BKK, it was really hot both times when we were there in January time frame. We tended to move slower than normal and take a/c breaks. So 3 nights which will give you 2 days to me is not enough time. Sort of like seeing NYC after a long flight in 2 days.

A lot of time spent in tranportation, but the programme is nice. No need to stay in Danang, beautiful scenery but big town without much to visit except the Cham Museum and Marble Mountain. Stay in very charming Hoi An 34 km south of DNG (you can ask your taxi to stop at the museum (samll) and the mountain on thh way to HA)

yestravel and lardy: Here's another plan for us: I eliminate traveling from Chiang Mai to Chiang Rai and dropping traveling to Huay Xai and the 2d/1n boat cruise to Luang Prabang. Instead we fly from Chiang Mai to Hanoi ( take the cruise to Halong Bay or Cat Ba) . Travel down from Hanoi stopping off in both Hue, Hoi An and fly back to LA from Siem Reap. By doing this it will reduce the amount of travel, not double back to Bangkok but will result in NOT visiting Chiang Rai and taking the 2d/1n boat cruise. Any thoughts here?

Sorry typo : should have been Larsay! Typing too fast.

Especially that I am a thin person ha ha ha !

Excellent idea ! 2 days Hanoi, 2 days/1nt on board Halong, then, if you have the time, minimum 3 days in the stunning northern mountains. Then Hanoi-Hue by plane or night train, 2 days Hue, CAR He-Lang Co Lagoon-Pass of the Clouds-Danang Cham Museum-Marble Mountain-Hoi An and you end with a direct flight Danang-Siem Reap (THREE days minimum in SR)

Based on my take of your interests from what you have posted so far, I would be considering something like this:

Day 1 Hanoi
Day 2 Hanoi
Day 3 Hanoi
Day 4 Halong
Day 5 Hanoi
Day 6 Hue
Day 7 Hue
Day 8 Hue
Day 9 Hoi An
Day 10 Hoi An
Day 11 Saigon
Day 12 Saigon
Day 13 Saigon
Day 14 Ben Tre
Day 15 Ben Tre
Day 16 Can Tho
Day 17 Chau Doc
Day 18 Chau Doc
Day 19 Chau Doc
Day 20 Phnom Penh
Day 21 Phnom Penh
Day 22 Siem Reap
Day 23 Siem Reap
Day 24 Siem Reap
Day 25 Luang Prabang
Day 26 Luang Prabang
Day 27 Luang Prabang
Day 28 Chiang Mai
Day 29 Chiang Mai
Day 30 Chiang Rai
Day 31 Chiang Rai
Day 32 Bangkok
Day 33 Bangkok
Day 34 Bangkok
Day 35 Bangkok

You can either look at an open jaw ticket into Hanoi or Bangkok (or vice versa) or a return to either city and regional budget airline flights back to the city of departure ( just make sure you are there at least on night before).

Hanoi has a lot of sights to visit and ideally warrants 4-5 full days but a trip to Halong will take out a chunk of that, although with the new road it won’t take as long to get there. If going to Bai Tu Long then allow a two night stay. An alternative could be Ninh Binh - similar karst scenery but on land.

For travel within Vietnam, we generally use the overnight train. It is a fun way to experience Vietnam but recognise it is not for everyone! Budget airlines cost about the same and are pretty efficient. You could fly to Danang and get a taxi to Hue very cheaply. A taxi tour from Hue to Hoi An taking in the Marble Mountains and Hai Van pass would take 4-5 hours and cost $50 well worth doing!

For me at least, Hue is way more interesting than Hoi An but as they are only 3-4 hours apart, you could easily switch the days around to spend more time in whichever interests you the most.

To get to Saigon you would need to fly from Da Nang either with Vietjet or Vietnam Airways. I would go Vietnam Airways if there is not a big difference in cost.

Three nights in Saigon would give you enough time to see the main sights in the centre such as the Reunification Palace, Notre Dame, The Opera House, Jade Pagoda, and the War Remnants museum. The markets of Cholon are worth a look too but are a short taxi ride away.

Days 15-19 would take you through the Mekong Delta, one of my favourite parts of the country. You could either do it in stages independently as we did ( fairly easy to organise locally) or there are cruises such as Mekong Eyes that offer a variety of options. Either way you will get to experience some fantastic sights. Chau Doc is and especially wonderful place. And worth a couple of days as there is so much to see.

From Chau Doc there is a boat that will take you all the way into Phnom Penh. A couple of days there to explore and the a short flight to Siem Reap. I am pretty sure there are direct flights from SR to Luang Prang and again to Chiang Mai.

I like Chiang Mai but you can cover the main sights in a full day. Chiang Rai is more compact and, if you can, do try to be there on a Saturday night for the fantastic walking market. Far better than the one in Chiang Mai.

Bangkok is now a typical Asian megalopolis. Hot, polluted and very crowded but there are some amazing sights to be seen. You can easily spend several day up and down the Chao Praya river visiting the many temples and markets. It also has some amazing 5 * hotels at a fraction of the cost you would see in Europe or the USA. Worth splashing out at the end of what I am sure will be an incredible trip.

And what do you do for 3 days in tiny Chau Doc ?
Day 4 and 5 Halong. One day only is an heresy ! Day 5 ; bus Halong-NIN BINH + taxi 8 km NB-superb Tam Coc (Halong Bay on Land)
Day 6 and 7 Tam Coc. Night of Dy 7 : trin direct Ninh Binh-Hue
Day 8 and 9 Hue
Day 10: superb car ride Hue-Lang Co Lagoon-Pass of the Clouds-Danang Cham Museum-Marble Mountain-Hoi An Hoi An
Day 11-13 : Hoi An ; afternoon 13 ; flight Danang-Saigon
Day 14 and 15 : Saigon
Day 16 ; superb excusion Cao Dai Templke of Tay Ninh + Cu Chi Tunnels
Day 17 : Bus Saigon-Can Tho
Day 18 : floating market of Cai Rang + bus CT-Cai Be + ferry CB-An Binh iland (stay in the excellent Phuong Nam Homestay)
Day 19 Ferry An Binh-Cai Be + bus CB-Chau Doc
Day 20 Speed boat CD-Phnom Penh

Hi Larsay. Do allow me to enlighten you.:) Firstly, with a population of over 150,000, few would describe Chau Doc as "tiny". It is a thriving town with a lot to see and do, both in the town itself and in the immediate vicinity.

The submerged forest of Tra Su is one of the wonders of the delta region. That alone is worth the trip, but for an excellent day out, it could easily be combined with a visit to Sam Mountain and it’s unique cave temples. There are some more details and lots of photos from one of our visits there in the Vietnam section of our blog @ https://accidentalnomads.com/category/vietnam/

Perhaps it wasn’t clear from my previous post but I was referring to NIGHTS in each location, not DAYS . Three nights will usually allow for 2 full days of sightseeing. Two full days in Chau Doc is an ideal amount of time IMO.

On the second day in Chau Doc I would suggest exploring the town, starting with a morning visit to one of the most dynamic, thriving markets in the delta followed by lunch (or a later dinner) at the excellent and atmospheric Victoria Chau Doc hotel. Excellent, if expensive ( for Vietnam ) Vietnamese/ French cuisine (they even have decent wine!)

In the afternoon hire a boat and guide for a trip on the Bassac river to visit some of the floating houses and fish farms to experience the Cham peoples way of life. After a boat trip, head across the river to explore the Cham villages on the opposite bank. A guide is helpful for these places, happy to suggest options if I can find the contact details.

If heading through to Cambodia it would be a real shame to skip through Chau Doc as you suggest.

What a condescendence, as usual ! I am so happy that you "enlighten" somebody who has been living in and roaming Vietnam for now nearly 20 years and who has been 2 times in Chau Doc. Besides, your message did not mention Tra Su, which is not in Chau Doc ! As for you Victoria, thank you very much ! 80 000 VND fop a small bottle of Tiger beer was enough for me, in addition to reading that the buffet breakfast was 450 000 per person !

I like Crellston's plan in general. He's been to several places that I have not been so I can't comment on those. I have a couple of different opinions from what he said. We took the overnight train from Sapa to Hanoi and I hated it. I found it uncomfortable and didn't sleep. I will agree its a way to mingle with the locals. We spent 1 night in Bai Tu Long and it was fine. Not sure why you would need the 2 nights. (Crellston, glad to hear the trip out to Halong Bay has been shortened. That I did not enjoy.)

I would read about Hue & Hoi An and see which appeals to you. We liked them both, but they are quite different. In Hoi An you can go to the beach if you like that. I agree to split your days depending upon which sounds more appealing to you. We had a driver that took us from Hoi An to Hue and made the stops that Crellston mentioned. It was a nice day. Some people take the train to do it.

Time in Chiang Rai with Jermsak is well worth the time in CR by itself. Jermsak's insights into the history and the area are fabulous. He offers many options for things to see and do. I wouldn't skip it.

"Airlines - we usually prefer an Asian airline that isn't Chinese (to be frank)."
That is true unfortunately though two Chinese airlines do rate well. Per Skytrax Hainan is in the top ten as a 5* rated carrier and China Southern has improved a great deal now rating 4*s. EVA is actually a 5* rated carrier as well as is Thai.

https://www.worldairlineawards.com/w...airlines-2019/

Thank you again for all of your help, however, I must say that I am not enjoying the negativity that is apparently going on between a few of you. This forum is set up to help and guide one another in a positive manner. It's not a question of who is right and wrong nor who has the most knowledge in the areas discussed. While I certainly appreciate all of the info that is coming my way I wish that we could all agree to disagree! There is just too much bickering going on in this world and that is why we choose to travel. End of lecture! Now let's get back to offering me help because frankly I need all the help that I can get.

Thank you jacketwatch and yes we would be interested in your suggestion for a tour guide!

Well, then , 2 days Along, 2 days Hoi An et 2 days Chau Docthough marvelos Hoi An is better in 3 days) , with visit of Mount Sam (forgotten by Crellston) and Tra Su,; but certainly not 3 days with all the superb things to see somewhere else !