yestravel

We r making our first trip to SE Asia. We will fly into Saigon from the US and return from BKK. We plan 2 go 2 Angkor Wat, Dalat, Hue, Hanoi and surrounding area, Luang Prabang, and the plain of Jars in Laos ending up in Bangkok. After flying into SGN, would we then go to Angkor Wat and return to Saigon and then travel 2 the North of VN? Or are there alternatives for doing this? Thanks!

Kathie

How much time do you have? How are you planning to get from place to place?

Your idea of going from HCMC to Angkor then back to HCMC makes little sense geographically, and it means you would need a double-entry visa for VN. It makes more sense to see all of VN you want before going on to the other countries.

yestravel

Kathie -- good point about the need for a multiple entry Visa for VN -- hadn't factored that in. Yes, we would want to avoid that.
We most likley will use a combo of car/driver, plane and a train trip out of Hanoi.
Since there won't be a Visa issue in Thailand (we'll be there less than 30 days), perhaps flying from BKK to Siem Reap might work.

We plan to be away 7-8 weeks. Been researching and reading alot and just now trying to begin piece it together.

rhkkmk

i think added to the visa issue you may find the flights to SR from vn are quite expensive, but also they are from bkk also, so you might want to fly to PP instead and then go to SR.. or to vientienne

rhkkmk

air asia is a very cheap flt from bkk or to bkk from HCMC and honoi

Kathie

Flights to Siem Reap are generally expensive. Bob's suggestion of flying to PP instead is a reasonable one. It's about a 5 hour taxi ride from PP to SR.

If you are starting in HCMC, I'd suggest you head north, doing a south to north route.

If you want to use Bangkok for a hub, you can use the Discovery Pass on Bangkok Air to get good prices. You have to fly at least three legs on Bangkok Air, but with your itinerary, that looks quite possible. Go to their website and look at the routes. They fly between Bangkok and Siem Reap and Bangkok and Luang Prabang.

You've got a great trip here and 7-8 weeks is a good amount of time. Now it's just putting together the logistics.

yestravel

Thanks, rhkkmk & Kathie -- great suggestions. Will look into Air Asia & the Bangkok Air discovery Pass too. I need to compare the costs during various scenarios.
Yes, I'm very excited about this trip, but the logistics seem more complicated than other trips for some reason.