Please help!!! Vietnam/Cambodia Itinerary Decision Due Today!
 

If you had to pick one of these trips, which would you choose? <BR> <BR>A) <BR>Hanoi, Halong Bay, Danang, Hue, Hoi An, Saigon, Mekong Delta, Angkor Wat, Phnom Penh, Singapore <BR>or <BR>B) <BR>Hanoi, Perfume Pagoda, Hoa Lu, Danang, China Beach, Hue, Hoi An, Saigon, Mekong Delta, Angkor Wat, Bangkok <BR> <BR>...which would you choose? Here are my main issues: <BR>==would I be truly missing out by not seeing Halong Bay? or Phnom Penh? Bearing in mind that itinerary B has one more day in Angkor Wat. <BR> <BR>I have been to Bangkok and Singapore, but never to Vietnam or Cambodia. <BR> <BR>Thank you in advance for your help!

In February 2001 we went on a trip that included both Angkor Wat and HaLong Bay as extensions of a trip mostly spent in Thailand. Both AW and HB were marvelous, each in its own way. Having seen Guilin in China, we were reminded of it when we saw HB -- simply marvelous. If it were ours to choose, we would go Hanoi, HaLong Bay, Danang, Hue, Hoi An, Saigon, Mekong Delta, return to Saigon and take plane to Siem Reap and Angkor Wat, to Bangkok, and home. At the time we were there, Phnom Penh was having troubles and so we did not go there, instead spending a day on the Tonle Sap and its floating villages.

It would certainly be A!

Thanks for your responses -- Pat, could you please tell me why you would pick A? These factors will play into my decision. Thank you.

J <BR>Hanoi, Ho chi minh and Danang will offer you the most beautiful capital in asia, as well as a taste of western metro life in sai gon, and then another big gateway to vietnam (danang). <BR>Hue is absolutely for history, i think you should not miss out Halong bay, as well as missing the Capital Phanom penh, although tourists are now flooding to Siem reap (for angkor), but the palace and beautiful lake in the city centre should pull you back to reconsider again. <BR>Actually, I would like to miss out Singapore, because my bangkok is the natural gateway to indochina. <BR>Welcome to asia.

Yes -- but one itinerary has Halong Bay but not Phnom Penh, and the other the opposite. What do you think?

anyone? thanks.

jhm-- <BR> <BR>still in time for ur decision? i've been everywhere on ur list except the perfume pagoda (not sure where it is), and i'd go w/ B--my impressions of singapore and phnom penh weren't that striking (more later) and bc of the commercialism at every turn, halong bay was not that memorable for me. also, any excuse to spend an extra day at angkor wat wd be justified! i spent 1 1/2 days at the various angkor sites and an afternoon on a boat on tonle sap. as for phnom penh, at the time (second half of the 90s) i was living in ho chi minh city, and phnom penh therefore wasn't as exotic as others might find it, and i absolutely cd not stomach going to tuol sleng, the fmr high school-turned-khmer rouge prison w/ the photos of every victim still on the walls. i felt i shd have gone, and to the killing fields as well, to witness, but i cd not. i wanted to leave asap. an extra day at angkor also assumes u like climbing ard ruins, poring over bas reliefs of ancient wars and scenes from everyday life, etc. i'm torn btwn wanting to go again and wanting to preserve the sense of awe i felt in my first encounter there. and finally, even tho i've been to bangkok maybe 15 times, i always find something exotic abt it and have a great time. hope u will too!

Thanks -- I still haven't made the call (procrastination?). I am leaning toward B, but am holding back because of the Phnom Penh issue. I will probably not be getting back to Cambodia anytime soon, and feel like I would be missing modern Cambodia -- and important parts of Cambodia's history (killing fields, etc.) -- by just going to AW. However, if I just have a day and a half at Angkor, I don't want to miss anything there either...sigh. Such problems to have. :) <BR> <BR>More input is appreciated...thanks to all who responded.

jhm _ sorry, no help for you, but a couple of questions! we are just beginning to plan a vietnam trip for this winter (the only time we can go) and having a hard time narrowing down destinations. How much time are you planning on spending on your trip? How are you getting between places _ train, flying, etc? Also, where have you found the best flights to ho chi minh city(assuming you are somewhere in us?) <BR> <BR>We want to see ho chi minh, halong bay, hue, hoi an, and Mekong delta for sure, but other places sound interesting too _ esp. perfume pagoda and hanoi.... <BR>And we only have two weeks at the most! <BR>We have decided against trying to see any other country, at least _ that will have to wait for next trip! Thanks for any wisdom....

Hi, texasgirl. No problem -- I'd be happy to help as much as I can. My husband and I will be leaving from NY. We are going to fly from place to place and set up our trip through Japan & Orient (www.jot.com). The benefit of such agencies: you can have them arrange all in-country travel for you as opposed to improvising. I personally prefer improvisational travel, but since we only have two and a half weeks off from work, we don't want to do the old show-up-at-airport-and-find-only-flight-to-placeX-is-every-other-Thursday thing.) I would also recommend looking at Absolute Asia and Big Five (who specialize in Africa, but also do Southeast Asia travel). All of these do independent travel as well as group travel. Otherwise, I'd check Vietnam Airlines' website == you have so little time, I would spend the time flying (although I am told that train travel there is very interesting as well, it would just take more time)... <BR> <BR>hope this helps!

by the way, I am assuming you'd be flying from TX (if that's where you are) to Los Angeles and then from there to Asia. We are flying into Hanoi, not Saigon, and have found that both Cathay Pacific and Singapore Airlines have flights into Hanoi, transferring at Hong Kong or Singapore, respectively.

AA and JAL has non stop service from Dallas to Narita or Osaka. Vietnam or JAL fly directly into Ho Chi MInh.

marsha: thanks, I have been looking at american prices (on their site and on orbitz) and they're pretty expensive for when we want to go, especially compared to some other asian destinations we had been considering. But I will look directly at JAL, good idea. <BR> <BR> <BR>jhm _ thanks for your input; I'll check out those agencies you suggest. We usually like to wing it when we get there but in looking at the distances in Vietnam, maybe we will have to book it all ahead. Still can't decide about putting Hanoi on the itinerary; I have a Vietnamese-American friend who insists we shouldn't go to the north, but she is from the south and so has her own issues! It would make it easier to get to Halong Bay but I'm not sure about that now either.... oh well, what a great time we'll have researching. When is your trip? And have you decided on the itinerary yet?

you should take A . because i had been in halong bay in 1998 on my trips. it was a great place to see in the world. i surely you will enjoy when you get there. ciaos.