mimi222

Me and my best girlfriend are planning on going to Asia for 15 days, we are in our mid-late twenties. We have so far planned on taking a 6 night 7 day cruise with Le cochinchine, starting in Saigon and ending in Angkor Wat, then heading to Thailand for 7 extra days. We decided against g adventures, contiki and that sort of things, because we are worried about the hotels, although we don't expect diamond hotels, we do want nice clean hotels. Any suggestions? Help? Ideas? Anything will be welcomed!!

mimi222

Oh, by the way we are planning on going on July, I know it's monsoon season, but a little rain can never get in the way, right??

Kathie

So you will start in Saigon, (do you plan to spend any time there?), end in Siem Reap (time there to see Angkor temples?) and then go to Thailand. Even if you only spend one day in HCMC and the three days it takes to see the Angkor temples, that leaves only 4 days for Thailand. Where would you like to go in Thailand?

There are plenty of nice, clean hotels at budget prices in HCMC and Siem Reap. And for a little more money you can stay somewhere really nice.

Tell us where you want to spend your short time in Thailand and your per night budget for hotels and we can be more helpful.

mimi222

well supposedly the cruise takes you from HCMC to Siem Reap, including a tour of Angkor Wat.
We will have one full day in HCMC to visit the tunnels, and then the cruise, which ends with a tour of Angkor Wat. Do you think maybe we should ditch the cruise and fly directly to Siem Reap?
After that we are planning on spending 7 nights in Thailand, between Bangkok and Phuket.
Our per night budget, maybe 100 or 120 USD. thank you!!!

Kathie

"A tour of Angkor Wat" - does this mean thay will take you to just that specific temple? There are many dozens of accessible temples near Siem Reap, and while the largest temple is called Angkor Wat, the whole conglomeration of temples is often referred to as Angkor Wat. Do some research - get a copy of Dawn Rooney's book Angkor: A Guide to Cambodia's Wondrous Temples. As I mentioned, it takes three full days just to see the major temples, if you are really interested the in temples, you would want more time. We spent a week there and would have enjoyed even more time there.

SO do your research and see just how long you want in SIem Reap. That may help you decide whether to take the cruise or not. If you choose not to take the cruise, you might want to cut Saigon and divide your time between Cambodia and Thailand.

For $100-120 per night, you can get very nice places to stay, especially because it is off season.

Phuket may be rainy, and the beaches may be red-flagged. Are you ok with that? If not, you might want to choose a different beach in Thailand.

you might find out photos of Angkor helpful www.marlandc.com

qwovadis

www.smartours.com great pretty cheap 4 star hotels

BBB.org A plus rated great values including air.

Great route for you affordableasia.com

good travelzoo.com sales affordabletours.com other good

companies.... Self-guiding choose 4 stars or above everywhere

asiarooms.com agoda.com otel.com booking.com all will

have good deals... theangkorguide.net good guide

Go out of monsoon season for least rain...

Happy Planning!

qwovadis

weather2travel.com climate guides

Bangkok just floated away for a week or so...

so a little rain in monsoon season can turn

into a BIG rain nonstop for weeks.

Have seen it completely ruin a trip.

So Dec-May for me

mimi222

thank you all for your responses... I guess we have to plan more this trip...

mimi222

qwovadis, so do You think May is better???

lcuy

Often people hear "rainy season" and think that they will be wet as they tour. "we'll pack raincoats" they say.

That's true most of the time, but another problem with the rainy seasons in Asia is that roads can become impassable, hotels and visitor sites flooded, ATM machines shut down...

I've traveled in southern Vietnam in May and in June. Both times we got huge afternoon downpours with thunder and lightning, then it would clear up an hour or two later. The power would go out, the roads were very scary, but not really a trip killer.

I had friends who were there at the same time as I was. They were stuck in a small, unattractive village for 3 days AND missed their international flight home due to those rains washing out a road.

It is just something to take into consideration.

mimi222

Thank you Icuy,
We already changed everything!!
We are going in late March, we are taking an 11 day tour that includes a 3 day stop in Siem Reap (no more cruise for us) starting in Ho Chi Minh City, ending in Bangkok. Then we are heading two nights to Ko Phi Phi, and ending with 2 nights in Phuket.

What do you guys think?? I guess this can be the start of our Asia fix, and hopefully we can go bakc and visit more loveley places!!!

Btw, thank you sll for your help!!,