Honeymoon in Thailand or Vietnam?
 

We are just booking a honeymoon to travel in early September 05 - my soon-to-be husband is mad on watersports, snorkelling, swimming etc and so I'm looking for places that he can indulge his love of nature and that I can enjoy some temples and history myself. We both love riding bicycles, kayaking, massages, hiking etc! Not really looking for a big city and not remotely interested in shopping or too many crowds/beeping horns! To this end we have been considering either a Thailand/Angkor Wat or Vietnam/Angkor Wat stay. I have come up with a Bangkok/Siem Reap/Krabi itinerary or Hanoi/Sem Reap/Mui Ne ... having not been to this part of the world before any ideas/suggestions or clarification would be appreciated!!! How does Mui Ne compare for Southern Thailand? Are there any areas in Thailand recommended that aren't too touristy??? Thanks!

I'd recommend Thailand over VN for your honeymoon. While VN is very interesting, the infrastructure for travelers isn't as good.

And when you described not wanting beeping horns, well, in Hanoi people drive with their horns, When I'd awake in my nice hotel in Haoi at 3 am I could still hear the horns beeping outside in teh street (and this was with all the windows closed and teh AC on!).

In Bangkok, definitely stay at one of the lovely hotels on the river. You'll be close to many of the cultural attractions via water taxi, and staying by the river is very pleasant, with less traffic and less air pollution.

There are plenty of areas of Thailand that are virtuallly untouched by tourism. However, most travelers want the amenities that tourism brings, so I expect you'll stay someplace where there are other travelers. That doesn't mean it will be crowded, however. If you are familar with resort areas in the US, Mexico, the Caribbean, etc. you'll find Thailand's resort area less crowded and more pleasant (in my opinion).

Have to agree with Kathie, and can certainly confirm the part about horns in VN. If you're really stuck on VN, I would suggest that you head straight to Hue, where you can rent bikes to go around the old citadel as well as out to the royal tombs in the countryside.

In Thailand, I suggest you think about going to Koh Chang instead of Krabi. It's a bit more out of the way, and you might be able to take advantage of Bangkok Airways' air pass, since they fly to both Trat (Koh Chang) and Seam Reap.

To add to Michael's post, it is also more likely to be nice weather in ko chang at that time of year (september)

Thanks everyone ... thinking now of the following: Three nights Bangkok, three nights Siem Reap and seven nights in Koh Chang ... sound okay?

For what your interests are, that sounds good. Remember that Koh Chang is pretty quiet.

If I were you, I'd return to Bangkok for your last day before flying home. This would take one day away from Koh Chang, but I do think you'll find 6 days enough there.

5 nites in koh chang would work better with a return to bkk as kathie says staying someplace really nice like peninsula or oriental or shangri-la

Now have two posts going on this but hoping to book something within the next 24 hours :) Would there be any chance of windsurfing or similar in Koh Chang??? Are the beaches rocky?