travelday

My husband and I are planning to go to Thailand in January 2008. My husband is a very serious rock climber, so Railay is 'mecca' and will require at least 4-5 days. I think we can take between 2-3 weeks off for this trip. I am not a rock climber and can't stand the idea of being in that part of the world without stopping off at Ankor Wat. So....what to do!? How can we see Bankok, Railay, and hit Siem Riep in just 2-3 weeks? I don't want to spend the whole time traveling from one place to another, but at the same time I really want to see a lot. I wouldn't mind seeing Chang Mai, which I've heard is fabulous. Any suggstions as to itinerary and the best transportation from place to place? Thank you in advance!

Gpanda

Travelday-you can easily do BKK, Angkor Wat and Krabi in 2-3 weeks. I would do 2 days BKK, 3 days AW, 5 days Krabi and 2 days BKK. Note that 2 weeks in Asia is often 12 days on the ground. By doing it in this order, you can minimize travel time. take an early BKK-SR flight. Then take an early SR-BKK flight and an early afternoon BKK-Krabi flight. Returning to BKK for 2 days provides a nice way to conclude the trip. If it ends up being 3 weeks, you can extend each destination by a few days or add another such as Chiang Mai or Luang Prabang.

One note, the only airline from BKK-SR is Bangkok Air. They have a Discovery Pass that can save money for three legs of travel. The kicker is that Bangkok Air does not fly to Krabi, only Thai Air. we got around this by using BA, BKK-SR, SR-BKK and then Phuket-BKK. We took a Thai Air from BKK-Krabi. When we departed Krabi, we hired a car to drive us from Krabi to Phuket Airport. The drive is about 2 1/2 hous, but mostly scenic.

travelday

Thanks so much Gpanda. I really appreciate the advice. That seems to make more sense than what I was planning, which was to go straight to Krabi as soon as we landed in BKK. It would be nice to hit Cambodia first and then the rest (and I'm sure I'll feel only slihtly resentful when my husband disappears to climb for days on end when we arrive in Krabi!). Your suggestions about flights are really helpful as well - I actually was hoping to find a way to travel by car/bus (just not for 15 hours) so that we could see some of the country side. Thanks!

zengeos

I wuld suggest a more aggressive itinerary in Cambodia. Spend a couple days in Siem Reap to visit Angkor, but asotake a few days to go overland to Koh Ker and Preah Vihear. Koh Ker has a pyramid temple very similar in looks to Central American pyramids. Preah Vihear is a mountain ruin...there is a pretty aggressive hike up the mountain to the ruins or you can take a 4wd vehicle up. You might be able to do Preah Vihear and Koh Ker on a 2 day trip.

Just a thought.

mark-

zengeos

Here's a link to a couple tours and descriptions of the suggested areas.

http://www.goldenorangehotel.com/ToursMini.htm

There are plenty more 1, 2, 3 and 5 day trips to these and other temples, so enjoy!

Mark-

travelday

Thank you wonderful people!

Okay..so I've got the go-ahead from my boss for the trip so the real research has begun. After looking into several possible itineraries, this is the latest. I would love your feedback.

January 16 - Fly Thai Air to Phenom Pehn, Cambodia.
January 17 - Arrive Phenom Pehn
(1 night FCC Hotel)
January 18 - Bus to Siem Reap
(3 nights in Siem Reap - Angkor Wat temple complex)
January 21 - Fly Siem Reap via Bankok Air to Phuket. Hire car or take boat (suggestions as to what is better/cheaper?) to Krabi - Railay.
(3 nights in Railay at Sunrise Tropical Resort, which has the best reviews of all for the $$)
January 24 - Boat from Railay to Ko Phi Phi.
(3 nights in Ko Phi Phi - have looked at the Phitharom PP Resort, which has had pretty good reviews and seems reasonable)
January 27 - Boat back to Phuket (or taxi) from Krabi. Fly to Chiang Mai via Bankok Air.
(2 nights in Chiang Mai)
January 29 - Fly from Chiang Mai to BKK via Bankok Air
(3 nights in Bankok)
February 1 - Depart BKK for Boston.

Any thoughts? I have my eye on a boutique hotel in Bankok that looks fabulous and is reasonable. Recommended by some Travel Magazine that I can't recall because I ripped out the article. Feedback on the hotels selected? Thanks to all!

Kathie

My thought is - slow down!

Three nights in Siem Reap means you'll have two days at the temples. I'd add one night so you have three full days there.

Where to steal the night from? Well, you might want to consider just staying at one beach place, and consolidating it into 5 nights there OR you might want to cut out CM all together and add the other night to Bangkok. Bangkok has lots to do and see. While some people like CM remember it's a huge, sprawling city with worse air quality than Bangkok and no public transport. Fabulous is not a word I would use in the same sentence as CM. If you really want to see CM, two nights there means you have just one day, so you don't have enough time to experience it on this trip. Save it for another trip.

travelday

Kathie, you're the best. I have been reading posts on this website for hours and you always seem to have fantastic advice.

I think you're right. A friend who just returned from 2 months in Thailand loved CM. I'm not sure I honestly trust her opinion, particularly after reading all the negative feedback on this forum.

Maybe I will just cut it out. Okay, here would be the revised intinerary.

January 16 - Fly Thai Air to Phenom Pehn, Cambodia.
January 17 - Arrive Phenom Pehn
(1 night FCC Hotel)
January 18 - Bus to Siem Reap
(4 nights in Siem Reap - Angkor Wat temple complex)
January 22 - Fly Siem Reap via Bankok Air to Phuket. Hire car or take boat (suggestions as to what is better/cheaper?) to Krabi - Railay.
(3 nights in Railay at Sunrise Tropical Resort, which has the best reviews of all for the $$)
January 25 - Boat from Railay to Ko Phi Phi.
(3 nights in Ko Phi Phi - have looked at the Phitharom PP Resort, which has had pretty good reviews and seems reasonable)
January 28 - Boat back to Phuket (or taxi) from Krabi. Fly to Bankok via Bankok Air
(4 nights in Bankok)
February 1 - Depart BKK for Boston.

LeighTravelClub

Hi travelday, we have done all of your proposed destinations and your revised itenary looks fine. However, after many visits to Phi Phi I'm not sure about your hotel choice there. Loh Dalum, though quite pretty is not the cream of Phi Phi. Rather busy, tends to fill up with day-trippers, can be, well.....a bit rough round the edges. You might like to look more to the north east of the island and away from Tonsai/Loh Dalum, unless, of course, you want to be right in the action! Give me an idea of budget for your Phi Phi hotel and I think I can point you to somewhere better.

travelday

Hi Leigh - thank you so much for offering to help with Phi Phi hotels. I have had a really hard time finding something that seems right. I want to spend no more than USD$100/night (preferably less) for something comfortable and clean with a private bathroom.

We like action but I'm not looking for major full moon party action or anything too wild (we're both in our early 30's). I was thinking about something father afield, but I was worried about getting back and forth at night. My husband will likely spend his days rock climbing, and I will be trekking around on foot exploring or lazing around on the beach. I would love any suggestion you have.

Scotters

I notice that you are flying Thai to Phnom Penh and then using Bangkok Air to fly to Phuket and then back to Bangkok. If you flew Bangkok Air on all three sectors you could make use of their Discovery Pass and save some money.

travelday

Thanks Scotters - I do plan to get the Discovery Pass. I just wish that they flew to Krabi. It would make things a lot easier.

Scotters

Another way is to fly using a discount airline such as Air Asia. From Bangkok to Phnom Penh it can be as low as $47 (including taxes)and to Krabi from BK $34.
This is a cheap way to go and fine if you have not lots of baggage (limit 15kgs per person) Getting from SR to BK you still have to use Bangkok Air unless you go back to PP.
You will enjoy the FCC, the rooms are not lush but very adequate. The atmosphere there is great especial at the bar and the food is good through slightly expensive.
The bus ride is quite comfortable and the Mekong Express bus is the best of several companies

travelday

Fantastic. Thanks! Any recommendations for Phi Phi hotels?

MichaelBKK

Actually, Bangkok Air just announced they were resuming flights to Krabi, along with the addition of a new CM - SR flight (one way only) and HK - Samui direct flights.

travelday

Oh my god, that makes life so much easier! Thank you for the info!