Sarah0807

3 well traveled girls ages 25-28 planning about a 3 week trip to Thailand from Boston. I'm mapping out our trip plans in the next month or so and would love to know any feedback from experienced travelers, as none of us have been to Asia. Just some info on our style We love to see amazingly beautiful picturesque places, beaches, bungalows on the water, hiking, animals, villages, less touristy stuff, but massages and elephant rides sound nice, cities are ok for a day but we really dont like city life, very unique experiences, yoga, vegetarians, scuba, we have $$$ to spend but want to splurge on some things and save on others...any feedback or suggestions on what to add etc would be great. Should we squeeze in Laos, Luang Prabang, or anything else??

We arrive in Hong Kong for a day or 2 then head to Krabi all of these dates are flexible and we might leave earlier for the trip...

July 9th-13th Krabi, Phi Phi Island, Maya Islands, National Park, etc.
July 14th Travel to Bangkok to get visas for Vietnam, Cambodia, maybe Laos
July 15th Bangkok still working on Visas get bus to Chang Mai
July 16th Chang Mai, get motorcycles, explore golden triangle
July 17th Chang Rai, explore
July 18th Chang Rai, head back to Chang Mai, return motorcycles, get bus back to Bangkok or straight to Angkor Wat/ Siem Reap
July 19th Bangkok OR go straight to Angkor Wat
July 20th Vietnam Angkor Wat
July 21th Angkor Wat or another part of Cambodia/vietnam
July 22st Bangkok meet Shelby if early enough go to Koh Chang
July 23nd Maybe head to Koh Chang
July 24rd Koh Chang
July 25th Bangkok
July 26th Leave for India at 6:30pm
July 27th-July 30th New Delhi or Europe...tbd

Looking forward to any feedback/advice!!
Thx!

Kathie

"Should we squeeze in Laos, Luang Prabang, or anything else??"

Frankly, you can't squeeze in what you've listed!

You say your trip is three weeks in Thailand, but you list 3 other countries as well. Have you done any resaerch on this trip? Do you know it will be rainy season in Krabi, PhiPhi, etc? Do you know how long the bus takes from Chiang Mai to Bangkok? What does it mean that you have Vietnam Angkor Wat on July 20? Do you know that Angkor is many dozens of temples and a day isn't enough?

You don't have time for overland travel with this schedule, even with flights you won't fit it all in. Time to pause and consider what is important for you to do/see/experience. Then look at transport, visas, etc.

Sarah0807

Thanks for the feedback! We have done some research, mostly on where we will fly in and out from, but the actual trip planning we have not researched as much, and was hoping to get some travelers advice. We know its rainy season, and its about 10 hrs from Bangkok to Chang Mai and another 3 to Rai..we will be arriving with another 2 weeks to add on, so we will have more time to spend in each area. I guess I was looking more for advice on what areas people suggested were worth adding to the trip and which ones might be taken out?

Kathie

It sounds like this is likely your first trip to Asia. Travel in Asia can be slow, and you should anticipate glitches and delays and plan enough time to allow for them.

Not all of Thailand is rainy at this time of year. Take a look at www.weatherbase.com for historic weather patterns.

If you are at all interested in Angkor, I'd say go. It is changing fast. Do some research ahead of time so you know how much time there is right for you. It takes three full days just to visit to "major" temples. Get a copy of Dawn Rooney's book, "Angkor: A Guide to Cambodia's Wonderous Temples."

You really don't have time to go to VN. If you cut VN, you don't need to spend time in Bangkok getting visas. You can get your Cambodian visa on arrival.

I'd reconsider your plan to take the bus to CM. There are very cheap flights available on Air Asia.

Are you flying to Siem Reap? I know that's an expensive flight, but it takes a full day to go overland from Bangkok to Siem Reap.

If you just do what is "firm" on your itineray - Krabi, Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai, Angkor and Koh Chang that is more than enough for your allotted time. Remember it will pretty much take a full day to get from one location to another, so you have to take your travel days out of the time you sre spending in a place.

irecommend

Fly from Bangkok to Chiang Mai.


Unless you are very experienced motorcycle drivers I think you would be nuts to go so far on them. The driving is crazy and dangerous. Take the bus to Chiang Rai. Its $6 from Chiang Mai.

Gpanda

With three weeks, you should go to five locations maximum. You will lose between 1/2 day and a full day for each time you switch locations. If I were you, I would do the following:

Bangkok-3 days
Northern Thailand-5 days, including a two day overnight trek to some hill tribes. This is the only way to see the non-touristy hill tribes in their actual lives. You have to walk in.
Beach-7 days. As Kathie says, Krabi and the Andaman Sea will have a rainy season, The Gulf of Thailand will have much better weather. Look at guide book.
Angkor Wat-4 days. This is the minimum to see the major temples. Try [email protected] for a guide. Also look at thePLF.org to see some work being done with local schools.
Bangkok-3 days-after being in Asia for 2 1/1 weeks, Bangkok will seem very different. You can stay in two differnt places and will also have a different experience.

This time split will allow you to enjoy your time in each location and not have the next transfer hanging over your head.

rhkkmk

i'm sitting here scratching my head... what is this all about...its a whirlwind....it makes no sense to me at all...

hardly no time is allowed to enjoy any area...you just move on to the next...

get rid of the bus travel....fly to save time...air asia is fantastic and cheap...

if you are lucky you can get one visa per day in bkk.... if you fly into other countries you can get visas on arrival at laos and siem reap....

koh chang....it generally takes a full day to get there via roads and 1/2 via flight.... going for one or two days makes no sense to me...

july 20----don't understand this at all??

july 26-27 are also unclear as well..

i am from boston too and want you not to underestimate how tired you will be on arrival from boston into SEA.... it takes about 2 days to recover from those flights...

Zoey

I would stay in Hong Kong for a few days and get acquainted with Asia. As this is your first time in Asia, Hong Kong is a great place to start as everyone speaks English and it is an easy place to navigate especially when you are totally jet lagged.

Hong Kong 3 days
Bangkok 4 days (if you can be in Bangkok on the weekend, you can check out the crazy weekend market).
Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai 5 days
Ko Samui 5-7 days to relax (you will need it!) Phuket has too much rain in the summer months. Not sure about Krabi as I have never been.
Siem Reap, Cambodia 3-4 days

If you want to do more like add Vietnam or India then I would omit Chiang Mai unless you do less days relaxing on the beach on Ko Samui or which ever island you choose. I personally like to mix it up with big cities and resort like areas when I go away for a while. I was in Asia for 3 weeks and we did a lot and it always felt like we were packing and in an airport. Sometimes you can waste majority of a day traveling so the more you do the more traveling days you have. Good luck!