Trip plans to SE Asia for 2014 coming together! Int'l flights purchased!
 

So our next trip is seriously in the works!

We will be going to Thailand (Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai/Mae Salong), Laos (Luang Prabang) and end in Cambodia (Siem Reap). Reservations are almost done!

Flight is open jaw on Korean Air. We fly JFK-Bangkok, returning Siem Reap-JFK.
Hotels are mostly reserved:

-Bangkok (4 nghts) Centre Point Silom (used AA miles for this)
-Chiang Mai (4 nights) - Baan Orapin
-Chiang Rai (2 nights) - Baan Malai (a new, small guest house in town- basic, but convenient to town activities, which is important to me as we'll be there for a brief time)
-Mae Salong (1 night) - Little Home guest house (too early to reserve for January -- I actually called last night and was told to call back in October!)
-Chiang Khong- 1 night - Teak garden hotel
-Nagi of Mekong boat cruise/stopover in Pak Beng
-Luang Prabang (3 nights) Apsara
-Siem Reap - (4 nights) Golden Temple Hotel

I have booked the guide, Jermsak, for 3 days in Chiang Rai! Details to be worked out later, but I'm very excited to have him to explore this area. I've read a lot about him, and how he really made the touring wonderful.

I'll buy the internal flights shortly (Bangkok-Chiang Mai, Luang Prabang-Siem Reap) but won't be eligible for the discovery pass as these will be the only internal flights I have.

Now I can plan the "trimmings", ie, decide whether to get a guide/driver in Bangkok & Chiang Mai; decide which elephant camp in CM to visit; etc, but these things I can take my time with.

Now I have to get back to the rest of my life, especially as I'm entering a busy work period. I'm glad to get the foundation of the trip taken care of! Now I'm really getting excited about the trip!

Paule

Congratulations on making your international flight reservations for your SE Asia trip for next year! What a wonderful destination! You will love the Golden Temple in Siem Reap. We really enjoyed our stay there. Happy planning!

Thank you! I'm so excited that we wil really be doing this trip! Nice to hear that you enjoyed your stay at Golden Temple, too. They were very responsive to,a few questions I had as well.

It sounds like a wonderful trip!

Thanks, Kathie! I think it does, too!

Very excited for you. This trip will be terrific. May I suggest that you purchase the nancy chandlers maps for both Bangkok and Chiang Mai. We purchased the one for Bangkok in advance and it gave me a greater perspective on where tourist sites were located so I could plan what to do each day. I regretted not getting the map of Chiang Mai in advance. Also, while you can tour on Bangkok on your own easily, our day out to the floating market with tong was delightful and one of the highlights of our trip as we tastes foods and experiences things we would not have, had we gone there on our own or with a tour group.
Can't wait to hear more upon your return!

Thanks, dgunbug. In my admittedly obsessive planning & organizing, I've already gotten both of the Nancy Chandler maps. So much fun to look at - they really do give a good feeling for the cities. Of course the test will be when we're there, but they are really fun to look at.

Thanks for the suggestion of the tour with tong to the floating market. I've been wondering whether it's worth it to do or way too commercial. We'll be in Bangkok during the weekdays so won't be able to get to any weekend market. Did you do a full day tour?

This sounds somewhat like the trip I'm trying to plan!

What time of year do you plan on going? We're going in February, which is good for some places, but terribly hot in others.

We're going mid-January through the first week of February.

So glad you are moving along! There was a lovely coffee shop in Mae Salong that had new "cottages" not far from Little Home (where we stayed) that I think would be a quieter location. We will try to find the name...

Personally I was not a great fan of the weekend market and with so little time in Bangkok, I would have omitted it from my itinerary anyway. We spent an entire day with tong - you can click on my name and read my trip report. We started early in the morning, made merit with the monks, visited the floating market, picked up bananas, drove the the railroad market (worthwhile) and then to pick up a small boat that took us through mangroves where we fed monkeys, saw cockle & mussel farming, and had a sumptuous lunch at a stilted house on the water. The day was such fun, although I could have done with a bit less time feeding the monkeys and perhaps skipped the lunch. It was a beautiful atmosphere though, in a private stilted shelter. Tong was a joy to be with. We would never have sampled the assorted foods she purchased for us from the floating village, had she not been with us and it was a wonderful introduction to new foods and unusual fruits. IMO you can tour Bangkok on your own, so I would use tong only for a day outside the city.

Many thanks for both your suggestions!

virginiafish, I'm already in the process of reserving a room at Little Home, but if you do think of the name of the other place, I'd love to look into it. On TA, I remember reading that there are quieter bungalows in the back. Does that seem possible? If not, we'll survive one night with ear plugs.

dgunbug, thank you so much for that wonderful description of your tour with tong. It's exactly the type of thing I'm looking to do, and I'll have to look at your report (again) and then see if I can coordinate with Tong. It sounds like a lot of fun - though I agree with you about the monkey-feeding. Having just been to India (your report from India helped me enormously!), I'm not romantic about monkeys these days!

Again, thanks all for the help! I so appreciate all the wonderful ideas from all of you here on the board.

We also arranged our tours with Tong for our time in Thailand this past January. The train market was amazing and most unusual, and we also loved our afternoon at Tong's "secret destination", all of which dgunbug described so well above. (Please read my TR). It was helpful to have a guide in BKK also to accompany us to the wats and explain many things. We enjoyed of course exploring on our own on other days. At that time, Tong, herself, was not tour-guiding due to health reasons; but her tour guides were excellent. I recommend the Jim Thompson House, as well as lunch in their restaurant(pomelo salad)! Upon our return home, we read The Secret Agent by Francine Mathews, a novel based on the life of Jim Thompson. We had such an appreciation of the vivid details and description of Bangkok (in the book), having just spent a memorable time there. The advice given by so many people on this travel forum contributed greatly to the enjoyment and success of our SE Asia trip!

Sounds like a great trip! We'll be in BKK mid January also.

Sounds like a great trip. Good luck and enjoy :)

Thanks everyone! I'm really excited about this trip. Can't wait -- but at last I can still plan!

Yestravel, when will you be there? We will be arriving on Jan 19.

Wk, I just looked at your TR -- very helpful! I will definitely contact Tong at some point for at least one full day tour, maybe two. The trip to the train & floating market as well as the "secret destination" sound terrific. And having a knowledgeable guide taking one through the wats is invaluable. I like the khlong tour as well.

Your description of the Golden Temple Hotel also influenced my choice!

dgunbug,
I just looked at your TR - looks like I'm following in your footsteps (though I won't have nearly as much time in the different locations).

Great to read about Korean Air and how comfortable steerage is, too! Did you fly home from Siem Reap? We will be leaving very late that day and was curious if you did a day's touring on that last day. I suspect that we'll need to have a day to relax, but will definitely have a full day before leaving.

Paule

We arrive in BKK on January 17 and leave on Jan 23. Maybe we could meet up. You may have read our TR from 2012 - we did a very similar trip to the one you are planning. We loved it!

yestravel,

We'll definitely be there at the same time, though you'll be rested by the time we arrive! That would be wonderful to meet up!

Did I forget to mention when we'll be there? We arrive on January 19 and also leave on Jan. 23. Do you then go to Chiang Mai after BKK?

Sounds good! We will have to keep in touch. We go to Burma for 3 weeks from BKK. We will end our trip back in Thailand with a few days back in CM since we loved it so much last year.

yestravel, I wish I had that much time! Yes, we'll have a mini-Fodors GTG-- how fun!

More trip planning stuff with questions:

1) Tour with Tong -- I'm thinking of doing 2 days of touring with Tong and one day on our own, as follows:
-Day 1/Tour w/Tong: wats, grand palace, khlong tour (is this doable in one day?
-Day 2/on our own: Jim Thompson house, city touring, & wats not seen the day before
-Day 3/Tour with Tong: Floating market/train market/fishing village

Question: is Day 1 touring doable, or do I do some of this the next day?

2) Flight from BKK to CM -- many flights during the day, and I'm thinking of booking the 3pm flight, which will give me a morning in BKK before I leave. I have 4 nights in CM, so this will give me a little extra in BKK. Otherwise there's a noon flight or a 5pm flight. Does this seem reasonable?

I mean, is my thinking about doing the 3 pm flight reasonable?

Cannot find the name, although I found a picture of the other side of the street from them. I think you will be fine with earplugs. Is the 3pm flight on Day 3 in BKK or Day 4? 3pm flight can be nice as you get in, have dinner and relax.

It's great when travel dates happen to match up with another fodorite! I'll be in Bangkok for the Christmas/New Year holiday time period yet again, but heading back to OHare on or about January 6/7 2014, so I'll be leaving before some of you arrive. DO meet up, if it works out. Lots of fu to put a name and face together.

I would agree that the 3pm flight to CM is good timing, as you will have time in Bangkok and CM after you arrive!

Virginiafish, I'm sure for 1 night we'll be fine, too, and maybe we'll even be in a "quieter" location in Mae Salong. The flight from BKK to CM is on AirAsia and is at 3:45pm, so it gets us in early enough to settle in but also leaves us with an extra morning in Bangkok, which I'm pleased with. Well have 3 full days there and 2 half days, although I'm sure we'll be zombies after arriving from the states, so we won't be worth much on that first half-day.

Too bad, simpsonc, that you won't be there, too. It is fun to meet up when it works out.

Progol - with only 3 days in Bangkok you will be very busy and it is best to start out very early if you want to get everything in on day one. While the grand palace, the reclining Buddha and wat Arun are all very close, we visited them on our own and spent time wandering the surrounding communities. we had 8 days in bangkok and took our time to explore it more leisurely . However, with a guide, you will probably be able to see all sites. We like to linger and take pictures. We find that we awaken early when traveling as our internal time clocks are usually discombobulated. Be Ure to have an early breakfast and get out early.

We flew home from siem reap as you plan to and we did spend the last day touring. Be sure to book a hotel with a pool or shower facilities that you can use prior to leaving for the airport.

Yestravel - please be sure to write a trip report on Myanmar as that trip is on our radar.

Wish I could join you all in Bangkok...we'd love to return there some day.

Thanks for your suggestions, dgunbug.

I know I haven't a lot of time to see Bangkok, so will need to be selective. I think I'll probably plan to have at least one good tour for the highlights, one for the floating market and other sights, and have one full day on our own. The tours will ensure that we get out early, at least!

I'm in the middle of your TR from 2009 and I'm really glad to read about Korean Air. I'm looking forward to reading how you spent that last day, too. Yes, I've booked a hotel with a pool/showers and all that, and I've already let them know of our late check out.

Again, thanks for all the suggestions!

As much as I enjoyed the experience with feeding the monkeys, driving through the mangroves, viewing the cockle and mussel farming, and eating in the stilted hut, IMO, since you have such limited time, you may want to omit or limit that portuon of the day so that you may spend the afternoon exploring more of Bangkok with the guide. But, by all means, don't miss the floating market and railroad market with tong! Be sure to contact her right away as she gets booked months in advance.

These posts are all fantastic to read! I am just beginning to plan a trip to SE Asia for early November. Myself and my boyfriend will be going. I would like to go for 5 weeks at least. Is this long enough to fully enjoy our time there? I want to see Thailand, Laos, Vietnam and I'm open to other suggestions.

Trying to figure out a budget as well. Any advice is appreciated since I'm new at this! :)

@sarah -- I'd start your own post as it will get you more responses. Have you read the Trip Reports that are posted? they will give you some great information. We visited the places you mention plus Siem Reap in about 9 weeks and that was a good amount of time. Could certainly be done in less time. My TR is at http://www.fodors.com/community/asia...ia-odyssey.cfm

@propogol -- the heat is a killer in BKK. I live in DC so no stranger to heat and humidity, but BKK was something else when we were there. We really took things way slower than other places we have visited. We did a tour thru Tong and while I didn't love our guide, he did move us along, so using a guide will enable you to see things perhaps more efficiently. If you can fit it in try to do a BKK Food Tour. It was really fun, great information and great food.

dgunbug, I think you're advice for doing only a half day at the floating market/train market make sense. It probably will make more sense to spend more time in Bangkok. That part of the planning is in the very early stages, so I'll have plenty of time to figure it out.

yestravel, thanks so much for the warning about the heat! Very helpful! I just looked at the temperature range for January and was surprised how high it can be. I do appreciate your comparison to DC, though! I'm a NYer and am pretty used to hot/humid days, but DC really did me in, so I'm forewarned about Bangkok.

Thanks for the reminder about the food tour -- I had noted it and thought it would be a lot of fun to do, so I'll keep that in mind as an option. Too many places, too many things to do, not enough time!

Progol - try getting in touch with tong immediately as she is lots if fun to spend the day with. I'm sure she will be flexible and do whatever makes you happy. I just looked back at my pictures and discussed the second part of the day with my husband. We have fabulous pictures and memories of the time out in the mangrove area, but we both thought the time feeding the monkeys and visiting the cockle and mussel farms could perhaps be shortened rather than eliminated. As we had eaten so much food at the floating market (all delicious), we could easily have skipped the meal & time at the stilted house. I believe doing that will give you an opportunity to see more upon your return to Bangkok. Perhaps you can go to either lumphini park to see the local Thai people partaking in sports and exercise. We loved our time there. This reminded us of NY's Central Park. Or you can visit the era wan outdoor shrine smack in the center of the modern shopping district. Alternatively, there is also Chinatown to explore. You won't run out of things to do in Bangkok. But as yestravel pointed out, the heat can be exhausting - nothing like you would experience in the USA. Living in Florida did not prepare us for the heat.
If you find yourself too worn out to continue, consider a relaxing evening and a massage. Whatever you do will be wonderful.

Thanks so much dgunbug for your detailed descriptions of your tour and your recommendations for our trip! It's very helpful! I'll write to Tong now to see about booking tours instead of waiting.

Again, thank you!

Realize that Tong has several (many?) guides that work for her and you don't necessarily have her as your guide. We thought she was going to be our guide, but that was not the case. YOu may need to be persistent in contacting her. We found the best way was thru FB, but even then days, weeks would go by and we wouldnt hear back form her.

tong rarely guides herself anymore

Thanks for the info. That was my impression after reading so many trip reports.

If tong is unavailable, the other person to consider is ratt (sp?), the person who tong originally learned from. I have no personal experience with her, but understand she is excellent.