Suggestions For Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos
 

I am headed to SE Asia thru Honk Kong and would like to see the highlights of Vietnam, Cambodia and possibly Laos. I will traveling with a backpack, camera(s) and a notebook. Prefer independent, adventure type travel.

Will be leaving USA in mid June for about 21 days, I welcome all your suggestions and input :)

They are massive countries. 21 days is only enough to see the highlights of one of them, never mind three.

Independent adventure type travel is pretty much guaranteed in all of them.

I would suggest the lack of responses to your OP some 8 days later is due to the lack of details you provide. You are more or less saying "plan my trip please".

pgriffin,

Believe me, I'm a "Big Boy" when it comes to traveling and if you read any of my trip reports you should easily see I don't need "Plan My Trip Please" help.

What I look for are suggestions from others that may have had some unique experiences that are worth sharing.

Unfortunately, these type of posts tend to lead to criticism of the original post which is often unwarranted.

Thanks for your input and suggestions :)

Hi DMB Traveler,

I traveled to Cambodia, Laos & Vietnam last November & would be happy to share my highlights with you. (I was in Hong Kong about 5 years ago so my information would be... 5 years old)

As for booking - I used agoda.com for hotels in Cambodia & Laos; contacted Tonkin Tours (Mrs. Nhung) in Hanoi to book flights, hotels & a Junk cruise in Vietnam, drivers & a few guides. She was wonderful!! And when things went a wee bit pear shaped – she was there to help.

Favorite memories & highlights:
Yep, Siem Reap is crowded - just be ready. The big 3 are not overrated: Angkor Wat, Angkor Thom & Bayon. I hired the wonderful Ponheary Ly to guide me - it was thrilling to walk through the grounds with her. She set me up with a driver for the remote temples – no guide needed.
I really enjoyed the hike up to K’bal Spean & literally climbing all over Beng Melea (be sure to find the door to enter the inside). And riding a tuk-tuk anywhere is simply a must-do.

Luang Prabang: The whole place! Be sure to keep this one on your itinerary. Loved strolling the town during the day or night; morning Alms giving is worth the early hour; Xieng Thong temple; AM market; climb Phou Si hill; also high on the A-list were the waterfalls – visit both Khuang Si and Tad Sae; a private Mekong River cruise for sunset.

Vietnam
Loved ALL of Sapa! We did a home stay in a western style home - THE must do is a Red Dzao bath in Ta Fin!!! You sit in a wooden barrel in the bath house! The Sunday Bac Ha market was great - we bought our Black Hmong guide a puppy here.
Loved kayaking near the limestone karsts in Halong Bay - but a one night Junk Cruise is really too rushed.
Loved Hanoi – hire the HanoiKids to take you around – see Uncle Ho - go to Bac Kim for lunch! And have an egg coffee at a coffee house.
Loved the picture perfect area around HoiAn – get out on a bike or go see the Cham ruins at My Son – the morning market; Fun to get a tailor-made item here (made quickly but the craftsmanship is better in Hong Kong imho & my limited experience) Within hours, I became the proud owner of a custom bright red silk suit a la Mrs. Claus.
I would say you should see the Cu Chi tunnels outside HCMC to believe them. While posing for a photo - I got stuck in one and the guide had to rescue me! Left a big chunk of my pride there.
Loved Saigon – Binh Tay Night market and Cholon (China Town) – get a drink at the Rex’s famous roof top.

Would you like specific details or hotels? Glad to share more… Just hope some of this is helpful.

If you’d like to look – my photos are on line – I think the red suit is in there, too:
http://cambodialaosnam.shutterfly.com/

Have a wonderful time! Sounds corny but it is true - meeting so many wonderful people is the true highlight of SE Asia for me - so you will love it all - learn a few phrases of the languages & start the conversation.

BTW - Thank you for the videos from your trip to Antarctica – I am heading there this year and welcomed all your information – every morsel - especially the videos!

Well if you are such a "big boy" when it comes to travelling then you should surely know that visiting Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos in 3 weeks is utter, utter madness. Unless you like ticking boxes. You will find the "highlights" in any guide book.

pgriffin,

If you took the time to read my or others trip reports you would broaden your horizon because you would discover that not everyone travels the same way.

For some, "Utter, utter madness" is the way to do it. For others staying in a 5 star hotel or riding an air conditioned tour bus with 50 other passengers works too. To each his own.

The previous thread by "mbran" is the type of info that my original post was meant to solicit and it did. Info that I and others could use to enjoy visiting these countries.

Info that is well presented without criticism or self righteousness. Info that is much better than you would find in any guidebook for any price.

This is a forum to share helpful travel info and experiences, not a place to rant and rave at those that maybe utterly mad or travel insane.

Afterall, in the words of "Seal"... "We are never gonna survive unless we get a little crazy"

Thanks again for your insightful input :)

m-bran,

I think you picked the right time to go... I think it is going to be a wet, hot and humid experience for me :)

How did you get your Vietnam Visa? I am considering the online options.

Have the option of starting in HAN or HCMC and would welcome recommended hotels for either city.

Your info was very helpful (where do I send the $19.99 plus S&H). I will definitely follow in some of your footsteps.

Glad you enjoyed the Antarctica stuff... Hope you'll have time to explore a bit of Usushia too :)

DMB,

We started Hanoi & worked down the coast but have heard others start in Saigon & travel northward. Maybe your connections will work better for one over the other for entrance & exit flights?

My hotels were in the 3 star range:
For Hanoi - Hanoi Happy Hotel was excellent. Highly recommend.

For HCMC - Blue Diamond – great location & great staff – *(One comment - We booked two single/lowest priced rooms – these do not have an exterior window and each came with a damp moldy/cigarette smell. Had to upgrade & fortunately rooms with windows were available.)

I chose the loose leaf VISA option & submitted the information directly to the VN Embassy in DC. This was fast & a great option for saving pages in your passport - if you like the stamps, then do not use this option.

Your trip must be rapidly approaching - how exciting! Enjoy!

All good suggestions above but very much on the well trodden tourist trail. Other options I would recommend which are less well visited (and a lot more rural) are:

Vietnam - Ba Be Bakes, Dien Bien Phu, the Mai Chau valley - all in the far north.

Northern Laos - Phongsali, Muang Sing - great for trekking from village to village and meeting the various minority peoples.

Southern Laos - for the river life around Si Phan Don & Wat Phu ruins which pre- date Angkor by a few hundred years. Easy to get into Cambodia from there by boat and bus to /from Kratie.

21 days is not long as the travelling is not always straight-forward in these areas but can be fun and is certainly "doable"

mbran,

Made it to Luang Prabang and have followed in some of your footsteps.

What a view from Phou Si Hill but I am out of breath :(

Again, Thanks for the tips... Next Hanoi :)

DMB – so nice to get a ‘postcard’ from the road.

Hope you enjoyed the laid back LP – and hope you don’t find Hanoi’s bustle too
Hanoi-ing!

Will keep an eye out for your updates. Enjoy!

mbran,

Made it to Hanoi after a weather divert.

Taxi's and Scooters on street Hanoi-ing but "The Rising Dragon Hotel" service is spectacular (for US$29 per night) and we have only been here 5 minutes :)

DMBTraveler,
Would absolutely love to hear about your travels. We too are amongst the mad and travel in your style. We are planning a 5 week trip to SE Asia and we too would like to hit as many countries as possible and see as much culture and highlights as possible. Thanks!

jjkkkt,

Glad to read that there are other "mad" travelers on the this forum :)

Think you will love SE Asia. I cannot recall too many if any that do not enjoy traveling to that part of the planet.

I have posted about most of my travels on Fodors or you can "Google", DMBTraveler195 for my videos and pictures.

Will be interested to read about your adventures too !!