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-   -   Help with trip to Angkor Wat and where else? (https://www.fodors.com/community/asia/help-with-trip-to-angkor-wat-and-where-else-725971/)

PA_Kathy Aug 2nd, 2007 07:58 PM

Help with trip to Angkor Wat and where else?
 
My husband and I want to go to Angkor Wat in November -- are we too late to be making plans??

We have 2 weeks (can stretch it a little), and are wondering what to do with the time not at Angkor. We will probably spend 5 days in Siem Reap, so the question is what do we have time for afterward? We've thought about Viet Nam - maybe Hanoi and Hue (hubby wants to crawl through the VC tunnels).

Any suggestions for our remaining time will be much appreciated. BTW, we are not beach people - like historical and cultural sites.

Can anyone recommend good accomodations in SR for under $100/night?

Thanks!

rhkkmk Aug 2nd, 2007 08:22 PM

bangkok is a good addtional place with good connections via bangkok air....

where are you flying into??

MichaelBKK Aug 2nd, 2007 10:18 PM

Now is a good enough time. It's definitely not even getting close to too late.

The tunnels are near Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon). I would suggest that you look at flight to Saigon, then on to Seam Reap, then back to Saigon for a connection to Hue. Much as I like Hanoi, I think you have to leave it out this time, if hubby wants the tunnels, and I wouldn't choose Hanoi over Hue.

You'll probably want to stay at least one night in Saigon at the beginning to rest up before proceeding to Seam Reap. You could spend two or three nights and even do Hue before going on to Angkor.

I'd recommend three nights in Hue to see all the tombs as well as the palace. You could easily cut at least one day off your Seam Reap time to give yourself more days elsewhere.

I personally kind of like Phnom Penh. I think it's under-rated, but I wouldn't add a fourth place to your itinerary, as it would probably make it too rushed.

smartcookie Aug 2nd, 2007 10:51 PM

I agree with the Bangkok idea. You won't need a visa there either like you do for Cambodia and Vietnam. Bangkok Airways does have quick flights connecting Siem Reap bo both Bangkok and Ho Chi Min. So, it would be easy to do either. I decided to leave Ho Chi Min out of my itinerary due to all the suggestions here. Read up on Hanoi, Hue, and Ho Chi Min here before you pick which one to go to as you probably only have time to do one of them if you decide on Vietnam since you lose 2 days in travel time from the US.

naciholidays Aug 2nd, 2007 11:36 PM

There are flight from SR to both Ho Chi Minh and Ha Noi, you can choose any of them. Also there're two tunnels in Vietnam, one at Cu Chi (30km from HCMC), another is Vinh Moc tunnels at Quang Tri province (between Hue and Hanoi). You can spent one day for the tunnel, 3 days for Hue and the rest for Hanoi.
If you need more details, contact me YM: cuongnaci or email.

Kathie Aug 3rd, 2007 05:49 AM

hey, naci, no advertising is allowed in the forum.

It's so nice to see someone spending 5 days in Siem Reap! I spent a week there and loved every minute!

In terms of where else to visit, I'd recommend choosing just one other place. For cultural and historial sites, I'd recommend either Hanoi or Bangkok.

Since you have 2 weeks, you'll likely have just 12 days on the ground in Asia. You'll want to make some decisions based on air connections. Bangkok is often the gateway that people use, and is an amazing city with lots ot do and see. You could fly in, spend a couple of days in bangkok getting aclimated to the time and the heat before heading to Siem Reap. Then have a few days in Bangkok after you leave Siem Reap. This would give you the least amount of travel time, the most in terms of spending time at your destinations.

Hanoi's air connections are not as good. If you opt for Hanoi, you'll likely still fly in to Bangkok, so you waste connection time at each end. But if Hanoi really calls to you, it's a delightful city with lots of the history intact (unlike HCMC). There have been a couple of recent thrad about what to do in Hanoi (and there are literally hundred of threads about what to do in Bangkok!).

Gpanda Aug 3rd, 2007 06:00 AM

PAK-To get to AW, you will already be flying through a more major city, e.g., Bangkok. I suggest that you just spend the rest of your time in that city. That seems to be the simplest second destination.

Clifton Aug 3rd, 2007 06:40 AM

We combined Thailand and Cambodia. If we had it to do over again, we'd have devoted all of our time to casual travel within Cambodia, even though we did enjoy Thialand. As it was, we visited also visited Phnom Penh, Battambang and the smaller town of Kampong Chhnang. But we do enjoy laid back, non-sightseeing travel. Probably not the best choice if more major sights are important to you. But we felt we had the chance to see a Cambodia not well represented by the tourist oriented goings on around Angkor.


PA_Kathy Aug 3rd, 2007 08:41 AM

Thanks for all your responses.

We have been to Bangkok and other parts of Thailand - enjoyed it very much, but prefer to see something else. We'll be flying from SFO, so connections will probably be through Seoul or Bangkok - haven't made any reservations, yet.

Gpanda Aug 3rd, 2007 10:05 AM

You might try Luang Prabang in Laos. I think Bangkok Airways flies between the two. If you're flying in and out of BKK, you could easily fly a triangle using the Discovery Pass and save money. You have to purchase that from outside Thailand.

Craig Aug 3rd, 2007 11:12 AM

I second the vote for LP but you'd still need another destination as you probably wouldn't want to spend more than 4-5 days there.

cruisinred Aug 3rd, 2007 11:40 AM

I think Luang Prabang and Hanoi would make wonderful additional stops for your trip.
If you can stretch your time a bit, you could add a day or 2 in HCMC....but if you can only choose 1 place in Vietnam, than definitely Hanoi....so much charm and atmosphere.


PA_Kathy Aug 3rd, 2007 12:20 PM

I have just been reading a little about LP on another thread - sounds interesting - will do some more homework.

Elizabeth_S Aug 3rd, 2007 01:09 PM

We stayed 5 nights in Siem Reap in January and really enjoyed it - we stayed at the Angkor Holiday HOtel which was approx $65USD/night for a large room with broadband and including breakfast. Near enough to "town" so you can walk to Bar/Pub street - we really liked staying near town rather than out in the sea of cookie cutter hotels closer to the Angkor Wat site.

We also spent 4 nights in Luang Prabang and loved it - would have stayed longer and travelled around the area more.

Here's a link to our blog - this is the link to the Luang Prabang portion - use the link on the left margin for Siem Reap

http://lizandrichardsa.typepad.com/2...ang/index.html


PA_Kathy Aug 3rd, 2007 02:55 PM

Elizabeth - great photos. Thanks for the link.


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