siem reap to Si Phan Do
 

We are going from Siem Reap to the elephant Sanctuary near Krung Sean Monourom.

I see that the border crossing to Laos and Si Phan Don is very close to the road that might take us there and goes through Krong Stung. If we could take a day in Laos it looks amazing, but we don't have a lot of time more than that. Also it seems like I would need to get ANOTHER Visa to get back into Cambodia. we are on somewhat of a budget and for two of us we are talking over $120 just for visas. If it is a spectacular once in a lifetime thing to do, I would not hesitate, but if there are similar or comparable places in Cambodia or Vietnam it would not make sense.

ALSO, from the elephant sanctuary we want to go to southern Vietnam especially the bird Sanctuary Rung Tram Tram Sur near the Cambodia border in Vietnam just off Mekong river.
Do we have to travel overland to Phnom Penh? can we take a Mekong boat from somewhere above Phnom Penh? Is it best to just go to Ho Chi Minh city first and then south to Mekong?

Any suggestions appreciated.

The trip to Si Phan Don takes forever! It 8s a nice laid back places but just not worth it for one day.

To get to the Submerged Forest in Vietnam you would need to get the boat from Phnom Penh ( no boats further north) to Chau Doc. Lot sto see in th area and well worth a few days a couple entries in the Vietnam section of our blog from a couple of years ago @ https://accidentalnomads.com/category/vietnam/

Hang Chau is a decent boat company - $35 and 5-6 hours.

Thanks for the reply.

Not sure if you understood. We might be taking the road that goes through Stung Tren anyway, and that is only 60K from the border. But it sounds like you don't think it would be worth it in any case

Yes I did understand and my advice remains the same.

It is not just the distance but the travel connections bus- boat- bus etc. There was a LOT of waiting around time when we did it ( in both directions). Dong Khong is nice ad laid back but the only real activity is to cupycle around the island and pay a visit to the waterfalls nearby. Just not worth the expense and time of getting there imho.

If you have the time spend it in and around Chau Doc. Loads to see worth 3-3 days. You could also include a trip to Cantho for Cai Rang floating market on te way to Saigon.

Thanks,

we are now questioning even going to EVP. It sounds great but will take a full day to get there and then probably most of a day to get to Phnom Penh.

We have built in buffer days before we fly out of HCMC, so your recommendation of staying in that area might make sense!

Do you have suggestions for going from Siem Reap to Phnom Penh and then Chau doc? It seems a shame to go to Cambodia and just see Ankor Wat!