To all of you that have helped us puting this together... Here is what we have today. I will like to hear what you have to say.
We tried to combine the wisdom of all fodores..

AUG 12 ARRIVAL IN BKK
AUG 12-14 - BKK - SHORT BUT WE WILL COMEBACK
AUG 14-17 - HUA HIN
AUG 17-21 Chiang Mai-Golden Triangle
AUG 21-24 - Hong Kong
AUG 24-27 - Siem Reap (In place of Hanoi)
AUG 27 NIght in BKK
AUG 28- SEP 4 - BALI (Fligth early in the morning)
SEP 4 - SEP 8 - BKK
SEP 8 - 9pm - DEPARTURE THAILAND

The longest time is in Bali mainly because we got a time share stay for a week. Chang Mai( Golden T) is the 2nd longest - Good ???

I will be waiting for you words.

I am using a Thailand Airr Pass ( a very good deal) plus Air BAngkok fro Siem Reap (not a bad deal) I still have to check the asian web page.

Thanks to all...

DIANA

Diana, several comments for your consideration.

Your itinerary is a bit chopped up. The less time you spend in transit, the more you'll enjoy your trip. Since your first couple of days in Bangkok will be adjusting to the time change, I wonder if you might be better off heading straight for Hua Hin to relax. It's about a 2 1/2 hour taxi ride from the Bangkok airport. That would put you in Hua Hin the nights of the 12th, 13th, 14th and 15th.

You'd have to drive to Bangkok on the 16th to catch a plane north. Are you planning on flyng into Chaing Mai or Chaing Rai? The Golden Triangle is an hour's drive from Chang Rai. I'd say choose one or the other. If you spend the nights of the 16th, 17th, 18th and 19th in the north, you'd fly to Bangkok to change planes to Hong Kong on the 20th.

Then you'd have the nights of the 20th, 21st, 22nd (and I'd suggest adding a night here) and 23rd in Hong Kong.

You'd fly to Bangkok and onward to Siem Reap on the 24th, spending the nights of the 24th, 25th, 26 in Siem Reap, and I'd recommend flying one of the evening flights back to Bangkok. Spend the night near the airport for your early morning flight out to Bali on the 28th. You'd have your week in Bali, then a few days to spend in Bangkok.

what kathie says makes lots of sense to me....she always does...

transit can waste so much time...if you arrange for a car to hua hin immediately it would be a good way to unwind and start your trip...if you are arrinving bkk very late, stay at the rama gardens and have a car the next AM to hua hin...

its a very ambiticious trip...don't expect not to be tired at the end..

have fun...

i have lots of restaurant suggestions on my trip report

Hi Diana, Can you elaborate on your Thai Air Pass? Is it just for inter-asia travel, and you've purchased another ticket to and from Bangkok? As I mentioned in your Too Much Rain Post, we have similar itineraries. (I'm doing Bangkok, Golden Triangle, Angkor Wat, Vietnam and Bali in 30 days). My plan was to find a cheap fare to and from Bangkok, then purchase the other tickets from a travel agent in Asia.

Diana-My two cents worth. Kathie and Bob and others have much more experience than I, but I would suggest more BKK time at the front end of your trip. My experience has been that I was so excited to be in BKK, that I wanted to immerse myself in things to see and do immediately. I'm 51 and the pace of BKK picked me up from the small amount of jet lag. Your plan shows an almost immediate shift to Hua Hin. You might give some consideration to shifting things around so there is more BKK time on your arrival and less on the back end. Hua Hin is very nice and relaxing, but my experience has been that I needed relaxation later on in the trip, not at the front end. I recognize that Bali will also provide relaxation, so if you shifted Hua Hin, I would not put HH and Bali consecutively. Whatever you decide, I'm envious of your trip.

Thank you to all... We are deciding were to put BKK ...but your suggestions are great! I will continue doing teh hotels that i think I already now... I am only missing recomendations for ANGKOR-- And also we are deciding out stay in HKK- The JW or the Reinassance. Bob suggested the second one...anyone else...

I Already contacted Putu in BAli....he is already great!!!

Eliza.. YEs we are doing almost the same itinerary. We will buy the air pass of Thai Air (maximun 8 segments), the segment to Siem Reap in Bankokg Air.. and the international we did it using miles! At first I was told that I Could not buy the airpass because I was not flying an Asian Airlines but I was able to do it with an internet wholesaler. When are you going?

My best,

DIANA

Diana,
Ah miles, I'm jealous! I was thinking about October 2004, but my husband is considering going to graduate school. So now we're thinking late spring/early summer 2005. I'm just in the initial planning stages.

I can't wait to read to your trip report when you return!

I stayed at the Borei Angkor in Siem Reap this past March. Having looked at other hotels in the area, I think it represents the best value for money. Beautiful swimming pool, great breakfast, nice rooms, extremely gracious staff, fairly new hotel. Take a look at www.boreiangkor.com. It takes about 5 minutes to get to the center of town by tuk-tuk ($1 each way, or round trip you drive a hard bargain). If you stay there make sure to get a deluxe room (or a suite) - the standard rooms are in a separate, older building, close to the road with no view. Deluxe
rooms are $63 including taxes,breakfast and airport transfer on www.asiahotels.com