Starting to plan a 4 week trip focused around Laos and Angor Wat. Curious to know what fellow travellers would recommend: starting and ending in Hanoi with side trips to Halong Bay and Sapa OR starting and ending in Thailand going through Chiang Mai and a beach stay at the end.

I'd like to do Hanoi and surrounding areas because I think it might be a little less touristy and crowded than Thailand, however I'm wondering if late December a bad time to see northern Vietnam, in which case I'll save it for another time.

Spending at least 15 days from SiemReap/Angor Wat to Luang Prabang - have less than two weeks to work with for either Thailand or north vietnam. Any advice greatly appreciated!! Sara

Either one would be fine. The weather in Thailand in December is nice, a bit less hot than other times of the year. If you opt for VN, Hanoi will have good weather, cooler than Thailand. Halong Bay tends to be misty and cool then, and Sapa can be rather cold.

We debated about going to Sapa last December/January and finally decided we wouldn't go there at that time of year as it gets quite cold, hiking isn't so comfortable, and carrying cold weather clothes around for the entire trip wasn't something we wanted to do.

We did end up in the Chiang Mai area, and LOVED it. It was warm but not dreadfully hot, clear crisp mornings, and the area itself was very interesting we thought. We're planning another stay in the area for August 2007.

http://www.baanrailanna.com/eng/main_th.htm
http://www.joyshouse.net/new_site/inside/culture.htm
http://www.chiangdao.com/nest/contactcdn.htm
http://www.baanpaivillage.com/pai.html
http://www.changthai.com

You might be interested in the places I've given links for.

You can fly to Phuket non-stop from Chiang Mai once a day, which was very convenient for us, as we went to Khao Lak after Chiang Mai, and finished up in Bangkok.

For Laos, these places might be interesting.
http://www.thongbay-guesthouses.com/rooms_lp.htm
http://en.tigertrail.travity.de/page...FB194E29576%7D
http://www.thavonsouk.com/index.htm
http://www.salalao.com/
http://www.phousihotel.laopdr.com/
http://en.tigertrail.travity.de/page...B90AD42B343%7D
http://www.geckovilla.com/gallery.html
http://www.ubikasia.com/satrihouse/index_english.htm
http://www.3nagas.com/

Kathie and Kim, Thank you both so much for your very helpful info. I going to re-route the trip BKK-Siem Reap-Luang Prabang-Chiang Mai-Thai Beach (most likely Ko Samui) and save northern Vietnam for another time.

Kim - thank you for all the great links, after looking at some of the places in Chiang Mai, I am feeling less sad about not seeing Hanoi on this trip How long did you spend in Chiang Mai?

Sara

sara...good move...VN is a trip in itself.....you have laid out great routing for yourselves...

bkk air should be able to help you with their pass to save a bit of money as well...take a look at it...

book hotels now for LP...the good ones are hard to get often....we loved the pansea...

The Pansea looks spectacular - alas, we are looking to stay a bit low-budget for most of the trip so that we can afford a couple days at the Sarojin Khao Lak.

I hope to post our preliminary itinerary for further suggestions. Thanks again! Sara

We spent a total of 8 nights in Chiang Mai, 5 at Yaang Come Village, 2 at the Elephant Conservation Center, then 1 at Yaang Come Village. Nowhere near enough time for us. Our to do list in northern Thailand got longer after going there once...just like our Bangkok list keeps getting longer and we've been to Bkk 5 times.

You note you are going to Koh Samui...but the Sarojin is in Khao Lak, which you would access from Phuket. We spent a week in Khao Lak too, and the beach is lovely. Quiet, picturesque, lots of shells. And Khao Lak could use your tourist money as it is still very much suffering the loss from the tsunami.

Kim - Just after I wrote Koh Samui, I did some research and found Khao Lak (after seeing you with it listed) and it really sounds perfect.

Trying to decide if Sarojin is worth the splurge - $330 a night was what I found online, yikes!

I had been thinking of just 2 or 3 days in Khao Lak - am I crazy to plan such a short beach trip??

I don't think I would pay $330/night for it to be honest. There are lots of lovely places in Khao Lak that don't cost $330.00 night. There are new/rebuilt ones opening all the time. We stayed at the Khao Lak Merlin, and it was perfectly nice, had fantastic pools and beaches, but was too "big hotel" for us. I think the majority of people would be quite happy at the Merlin though...we are very picky and very much small, personal hotel people. Take a look at www.khaolaklovers.com for a good idea of what is available. The site is run by someone local. www.sawadee.com lists some of the places in Khao Lak under the Phang Nga heading, but their listings are far from comprehensive.

For time, it's about an hour or a bit more from Phuket airport to get out to Khao Lak. We stayed a week and it was a good amount of time for us. We did a trip with John Gray Sea Canoe one day (Hong by Starlight) that was outstanding. Otherwise, we walked the deserted beach, swam, relaxed. Time to spend there...how much do you enjoy the beach atmosphere? There are other things to do around there too...a couple of national parks, one right in Khao Lak, hiking, drive up the coast for nice scenery.

Here's the link to my trip report where you can read about Chiang Mai and Khao Lak.
http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34734627