Itinerary help- Singapore, Thailand, Cambodia, Philipines
Aug 8th, 2006, 09:37 PM
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Itinerary help- Singapore, Thailand, Cambodia, Philipines
Hello,
My friend and I are planning our 1st trip to SE Asia. We plan to arrive Dec 31 (celebrate New Years at the destination) and return Jan 16. Need to be in Manila Jan 6-9 for a wedding.
We were considering arriving in Singapore and staying for 3-4 days, which leaves 2 days before heading to Manila.
It is most important for us on this trip to see the culture vs beach. A couple beach days at the end would be fine.
Questions:
1) Does arriving in Singapore for 3-4 days make sense, knowing we have 2 days to spare before Manila? If so, any suggestions for locations ok for americans? Any other suggestions for arrival country?
2) We would love to cover all 4 countries- is this realistic?
3) What is travel time between BKK and Chiang Mai? Phuket/Ko Samui? And what are modes of transportation available?
4) What is travel time between Phnom Penh and Siem Reap? What modes of transport are available?
Any itinerary suggestions you may have are much appreciated.
Thank you,
Trvl7
My friend and I are planning our 1st trip to SE Asia. We plan to arrive Dec 31 (celebrate New Years at the destination) and return Jan 16. Need to be in Manila Jan 6-9 for a wedding.
We were considering arriving in Singapore and staying for 3-4 days, which leaves 2 days before heading to Manila.
It is most important for us on this trip to see the culture vs beach. A couple beach days at the end would be fine.
Questions:
1) Does arriving in Singapore for 3-4 days make sense, knowing we have 2 days to spare before Manila? If so, any suggestions for locations ok for americans? Any other suggestions for arrival country?
2) We would love to cover all 4 countries- is this realistic?
3) What is travel time between BKK and Chiang Mai? Phuket/Ko Samui? And what are modes of transportation available?
4) What is travel time between Phnom Penh and Siem Reap? What modes of transport are available?
Any itinerary suggestions you may have are much appreciated.
Thank you,
Trvl7
Aug 9th, 2006, 02:05 AM
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I am sure that most people on this Board will tell you that visiting four countries in the time you have is attempting to do too much.
My comments in reply to some of your specific queries would be:--
I would personally find it difficult to fill three to four days in Singapore, but others may feel differently.
You can travel from Bangkok to Chiang Mai by plane in less than an hour. Say four hours in all from hotel to hotel. Alternatively, you can take an overnight train or a bus; but I would not advise the bus.
The only way I know of for travelling from Phuket to Samui would be by road and then ferry -- unless you want to fly via Bangkok. I would expect it to take most of a day.
You could fly to Siem Reap from Phnom Penh, or travel by road or, if you were feeling adventurous, by boat. Allow a day by road and probably two days by boat. Ankor Wat really needs four days to do it justice.
Given the time you have and your commitment to a wedding, I do think that you need to settle on just a couple of countries.
My comments in reply to some of your specific queries would be:--
I would personally find it difficult to fill three to four days in Singapore, but others may feel differently.
You can travel from Bangkok to Chiang Mai by plane in less than an hour. Say four hours in all from hotel to hotel. Alternatively, you can take an overnight train or a bus; but I would not advise the bus.
The only way I know of for travelling from Phuket to Samui would be by road and then ferry -- unless you want to fly via Bangkok. I would expect it to take most of a day.
You could fly to Siem Reap from Phnom Penh, or travel by road or, if you were feeling adventurous, by boat. Allow a day by road and probably two days by boat. Ankor Wat really needs four days to do it justice.
Given the time you have and your commitment to a wedding, I do think that you need to settle on just a couple of countries.
Aug 9th, 2006, 04:06 AM
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trv17- search this forum for my trip reports to the Philippines for things to do and see in Manila and the surrounding area. Its an area that does not get much attention on this forum but I can assure you there is plenty to see and do.
Aug 9th, 2006, 04:57 AM
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four countries in just over two weeks..crazy....i too would find 4 days in singapore a bit too much...arriving in bkk you would find plenty to do however...new years eve will be expensive for hotels and at this late date you might not get what you want...book now...lots of hotels require a set dinner on that nite for all guests as well...
if this were my trip...i would fly to bkk, spend days there, then go to phillipines and then go back to bkk and then to one other destination..
if this were my trip...i would fly to bkk, spend days there, then go to phillipines and then go back to bkk and then to one other destination..
Aug 9th, 2006, 05:46 AM
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Yes, you have WAY too much you want to do. Choose where you want to spend your first 5 days. Singapore is an easy intro to Asia, and you could spenf 5 days there relaxing and seeing the sights. But given your interests, you'd be better of flying to Bangkok and from there to Manila. Don't forget you will be very jet-lagged. You'll enjoy your trip more if you don't spend all of your time in transit. CHoose one other place you'd like to visit in the few days after the wedding - or stay in the Phillipines and enjoy one of their lovely beaches if you would prefer to relax.
Aug 11th, 2006, 06:00 AM
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A couple of days should be enough for Singapore. Personally I would just head to the Philippines and forget about anywhere else. I can recommend Palawan, I spent a couple of very relaxing weeks there last year. At Sabang there is an underground river you can visit and El Nido is a great beach location with options for diving/snorkelling and Island hopping.
http://www.travelsinasia.com/
http://www.travelsinasia.com/
Aug 17th, 2006, 07:15 AM
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I would arrive in Singapore and stay Dec 31/Jan01/Jan02/Jan 03 and then fly to Manilla and stay there until after the wedding. Then I'd leave the day after the wedding and fly to Bangkok and stay until you were to fly home.Then you will have done three countries and not been in airports too much. Singapore is very laid back and easy to get around in and is a good starter. I've stayed there up to a week and a half and still find things to do. So, 3-4 days would be fine....plus,why rush around and push it? You don't have to always be "seeing" things...just wonder around on an unplanned schedule and discover things. That's what I've doing in Singapore for years. There are a lot of the so-called sights that I still haven't been to. Happy Travels!
Aug 17th, 2006, 08:24 AM
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I think it really depends what type of traveler you are, how relaxed you feel you need your itinerary to be. We often fill our international itineraries up and when I post them on these boards I've been cautioned it is too much, but I've never found that to be the case.
For example, I thought two full days was more than enough time to spend at Angkor. It was an amazing experience, but any more time than that and I would have been over-templed. I felt similarly about the beautiful wats of Chiang Mai. Other folks, who are very into temples will clearly feel differently, it depends what you enjoy. However, I should add that I really loved Chiang Mai, generally speaking, as well as the whole loop towards Mae Hong Son, so I could have happily spent even more time there - even without more wat touring!
On to your more detailed questions... the flight from BKK to CM is easy and lots of carriers fly it. It's about a 2 hr. flight. Bangkok Air also flies sort of directly from Siem Reap to Phuket - you do go through BKK, but they treat it almost as if it's a domestic, through flight (no reclaiming of luggage, etc.) I confess, however, I don't know if the new airport has complicated this any.
If you're not real beach people (we felt similarly, we like a couple days at the beach, but it is never the main focus of our trip) you might want to just consider staying around Phuket. The beaches there are perfectly nice (I liked Surin beach), it's super easy to get a day trip to a more isolated, paradise sort of beack like Ko Phi Phi / Maya Beach and you can usually combine this with an activity like snorkeling, if you want. In fact, the trips we took (snorkeling, sea kayaking) involved spending half the day just relaxing on gorgeous tropical beaches. We opted to stick with Phuket because it was the easiest place to get to and we didn't want to waste the travel time to get to Ko Samui, Ko Tau, etc. I'm really glad we did.
Hope that helps and have a great trip! Cheers, Carrie
For example, I thought two full days was more than enough time to spend at Angkor. It was an amazing experience, but any more time than that and I would have been over-templed. I felt similarly about the beautiful wats of Chiang Mai. Other folks, who are very into temples will clearly feel differently, it depends what you enjoy. However, I should add that I really loved Chiang Mai, generally speaking, as well as the whole loop towards Mae Hong Son, so I could have happily spent even more time there - even without more wat touring!
On to your more detailed questions... the flight from BKK to CM is easy and lots of carriers fly it. It's about a 2 hr. flight. Bangkok Air also flies sort of directly from Siem Reap to Phuket - you do go through BKK, but they treat it almost as if it's a domestic, through flight (no reclaiming of luggage, etc.) I confess, however, I don't know if the new airport has complicated this any.
If you're not real beach people (we felt similarly, we like a couple days at the beach, but it is never the main focus of our trip) you might want to just consider staying around Phuket. The beaches there are perfectly nice (I liked Surin beach), it's super easy to get a day trip to a more isolated, paradise sort of beack like Ko Phi Phi / Maya Beach and you can usually combine this with an activity like snorkeling, if you want. In fact, the trips we took (snorkeling, sea kayaking) involved spending half the day just relaxing on gorgeous tropical beaches. We opted to stick with Phuket because it was the easiest place to get to and we didn't want to waste the travel time to get to Ko Samui, Ko Tau, etc. I'm really glad we did.
Hope that helps and have a great trip! Cheers, Carrie
Aug 17th, 2006, 09:42 AM
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Bangkok to Changmai takes about an hour to fly to. I started to suggest 2 days in Changmai, but then you're back wasting time in an airport again...and with the airport situation these days...who wants that? Who knows...maybe by December, things might have calmed down...but one never knows. Happy Travels!
Dec 12th, 2009, 04:25 AM
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Skip Singapore all together unless shopping is your bag. My perspective is quite different. 16 Days I see little oppurtunity for you to learn about any one culture not to mention 4 countries sounds like you will never have time to unpack. get down to the roots. If traveling is a passion of yours, then I suggest taking in one small slice of mother earth at a time. She is big, beautiful and full of natural wonders and PEOPLE.
But hey that is just me. It just so happens I am trying to place my finger on a destination from San Diego to poss. Liam-Machu Piccchu, Lake Titicaca and then end it in La Paz Bolivia. ALL this in 30-40 days. And I am wondering if this is enough time to hang loose unwind and take in the history-people and their naturals wways????
But hey that is just me. It just so happens I am trying to place my finger on a destination from San Diego to poss. Liam-Machu Piccchu, Lake Titicaca and then end it in La Paz Bolivia. ALL this in 30-40 days. And I am wondering if this is enough time to hang loose unwind and take in the history-people and their naturals wways????
Dec 12th, 2009, 09:17 AM
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mspice, this thread is from 2006. I doubt the OP is still ruminating about where to go.
If you used the search function to look for threads on say, the Philippines the search isn't working well right now and is bringing up very old threads. IF you want threads about a particular country, try using the drop-down menu. I think it's still working.
If you used the search function to look for threads on say, the Philippines the search isn't working well right now and is bringing up very old threads. IF you want threads about a particular country, try using the drop-down menu. I think it's still working.
