Last minute trip - Vietnam, Cambodia or Thailand?
 

Hi All,

My boyfriend and I are going to Taiwan and Hong Kong to visit family and leaving in about a week. We have about 10-14 days to go explore another country and are thinking about SE Asia.

I have been reading up on Vietnam, Cambodia, and Thailand on the message boards and we just can't make a decision. It all sounds so wonderful! I am concerned about Cambodia being difficult due to the rainy season and think that Vietnam or Thailand could be easier to plan last minute? If anyone has any advice on which country would be easier to plan and not washed out by the rain, I'd love to get your advice!

Thanks so much and love reading all of the forums,
hulapig

You can't plan for rain/shine - impossible, so why even try. In this part of the world, a little rain doesn't last all day - actually has a cooling effect. Go where you really desire to go. Vietnam will require prearranged visa approval - can be done online quite easily (3 or 4 days notice), and the other 2 countries the visa is handled at the airports. Thailand is the most developed and most expensive, and Cambodia the least. I personally like the northern and central areas of Vietnam - I don't care for over-development or luxury, but you might?

of all those countries thailand has the best infa-structure for tourism and is the easiest to travel around....bkk is a fabulous city and the beaches are endless in the south...

the real bad rainy season is in the month of september....you should be quite fine in july... some rain but not bad...

Thanks so much for the replies! rhkkmk - I have been reading up on your Thailand posts with gpanda. Very fun reads!

I am thinking Thailand just for the ease of travel and the fact that the southern beaches won't be too hard hit by the rain.

Vietnam sounds great but might be better to go during a cooler period since it sounds like a lot of city exploring rather than beach lounging.

My boyfriend is leaning towards Cambodia, since we're relatively young, can handle the "harder" travel, and would be nice to see before it is overly tourist developed.

Most likely going to buy tickets tomorrow - it might just come down to which plane ticket is cheapest!

All your choices are wonderful and you may base your consideration on the ease of getting to one of the locations. If you love ancient ruins, there is nothing like Siem Reap. We did not get to Phenom Phen, but hear that is also good for a few days. The beaches in Cambodia are less developed but are supposed to be wonderful.

Bangkok is the most developed of the cities, it has great shopping and it has the Grand Palace and surrounding areas which are spectacular. The food in Thailand is also fabulous. We did not get to the beaches in Thailand but rather explored the Northern region which we loved. Of course the beaches are supposed to be spectacular. Ayuthaya is a great day trip out of Bangkok and has ruins similar to Cambodia's.

Vietnam is as easy to travel in as Thailand so I would not base my consideration on ease of travel. We personally loved the North and Central areas of VN, rather than the southern area. Vietnam is extremely hot though and has less air conditioning than in Thailand, so you may consider that in your equation. Many of the restaurants in VN are outside and there are fewer indoor air conditioned malls to shop in when you need to escape the oppressive heat. If you are looking for beaches, VN has nice beaches also, however we cannot compare them to Thailands as we did not spend out time at a beach.

Whatever you do will be right. All locations are fabulous.

One thing to consider is that Bangkok may be cheaper now than at other times as they have had such civil unrest. We went last year when they were also in the midst of problems and got great hotel rates.

How about 10 or 11 days in Thailand with a 3 day stop over in Angkor Wat, Cambodia? My favorite of the 3 countries is Vietnam, but it is probably not as good for first time SEA travelers and you need a lead time for visa paperwork.

taiwan, hong kong and thailand airfare booked! now for all the detailed planning. thanks so much for your responses. I have already been compiling info from trip reports from the last couple of years. :)