Judysfinds

Would love your comments on our trip planning for October/November-23 days VN, Cambodia,Thailand
3 nights - Hanoi Intercontinental
1 night - Halong Bay
2 nights - Hue Pilgrimage Village
3 nights - Hoian The Nam Hai
1 night - Saigon The Windsor
1 night - Victoria Can Tho Resort
2 nights - Saigon Park Hyatt
2 nights - Seim Reap Raffle Hotel
3 nights - Chaing Mai DusitD2
4 nights - Bangkok Banyan Tree
Our plan is to fly (5 flights) between all the cities, except cruise and those that are a reasonable drive where you can not fly to.
We plan to tour all the sites that are the "musts", explore culinary avenues and restaurants, and hopefully have time to just relax and do nothing.
Are we trying to cram in too much? Would you change any of the places for something else?
Thank you all who are regular posters, the information is so helpful. I always have intentions to post when I return but haven't yet, but will after this trip/

Craig

Too much running around. Hanoi IC is not in a great location for walking and touring the old town. Most feel that one night is ok for Halong Bay. We will be doing N VN in April so I'm not an expert. 3 nights is maybe one too may in Chiang Mai or just cut it out completely.

thursdaysd

Two nights is way too short for Siem Reap. Youneed at least four nights if you're going to minimal justice to the temples - it's not just Angkor Wat, but at least 40 accessible temples spread out over 77 square miles (look for a copy of Dawn Rooney's guide.) I'd drop Chiang Mai altogether in favor of Siem Reap. It will simplify your travel, let you slow down a bit, and not cut out much, as Chiang Mai is now just a busy big city.

Judysfinds

My interest in Chiang Mai is the ethnic Hill Tribe and the elephants. The flight situation to Chiang Mai is a challenge. Is there another suggestion to see the ethnic minorities? We loved Lijiang in China for this reason and The Banyan Tree.
Thanks for all suggestions.

Kathie

If you are really interested in visiting ethnic minority hilltribes out of Chiang Mai, you need to do an overnight trek and will need to have it organized by someone who has some connections to particular hilltribes.

I agree with both Craig and Thursdays - you are moving around way too much and don't have enough time in Siem Reap. It takes three full days (four nights) just to visit the major temples. Do your research first on Angkor. Get a copy of Dawn Rooney's book, Angkor (2006 edition) to get a sense of the temples. You are also welcome to take a look at our Angkor photos at www.marlandc.com.

Step back and consider what is most important to you about this trip - what do you most want to experience. Then plan your trip around that. Right now, you'll spend a good deal of your time just getting from place to place. You need to cut at least two locations.