BootsnAll Travel Community

Hey everyone! I've been away from BnA for a while but I've been reading over the boards for the past few weeks and it really is good to see that so much useful information is being posted!

I'm currently planning my next little adventure. I'll be heading to SE Asia in February of 2009 for 6-7 weeks. I was hoping that I could swing more like 10 weeks but it doesn't seem that I can make that happen (maybe I can do so when I quit my job)! So I was thinking that I'd try to make my way through Thailand, Laos and Cambodia. I was initially going to try to get through Vietnam as well but I really feel that I would be rushing it.

Can any of you suggest an itinerary that will take me through these three countries in 6 weeks? I really don't want to be on a bus or train everyday and on the move too much. Do any of you think that I am may be trying to do too much in too little time? I was thinking that maybe I could spend more time in Thailand and Laos and just make my way to Angkor in Cambodia.

Oh, and I'm assuming that flying in and out of Bangkok is the way to go?

I am very open to comments/suggestions. If any of you think that there are things that I should not consider missing or places that I could maybe skip over please let me know!

Thanks,
Danika

Hey Danika, good to see you back.

Flying into Bangkok IS the most logically sense. I think 6 weeks is plenty of time to get a good taste of all of those countries.

If you want to visit beaches in Thailand then you'd either do that first or last seeing as though you will have to back-track either way. Start in Bangkok and go north and visit whatever interests you in Northern Thailand. Cross into Laos in the north (can give you more detail on that if you actually decide to do that) then travel from northern Laos down to southern Laos. I suggest the Mekong slow boats from Thailand to Luang Prabang and then buses the rest of the way south to the Cambodian border. With Angkor give Siem Reap 4 days or so using a 3 day pass to the temples. I think you have time to do more of Cambodia if you want and even southern Vietnam.

If you don't do the beaches in Thailand than you definitely have LOTS of room to work with as far as time goes and you can break up most trips with stopping along the way.

Thanks for the helpful info/tips Joey. I have a feeling that I will be heading in that direction.

I realize that I have a fair bit of research to do but in the past a lot of my decisions have been based on information that people have passed along via these boards...so of course I figured that this was a good place to start again!

Danika

How about this...land in BKK..and day or two later head out to Chaing Mai. Take a day trian to Aytuthaya and then from there that the train to Chaing Mai..that way you have day of sight seeing. I hear Kanchanaburi is also nice. Near CM ..Pai is really nice but not sure how big it has gotten.

Luang Prabang is a lovely town in Laos and if you want you can go from the north but that boat ride down the mekong takes two days.

in Laos i went to Phonsavan ..where the plain of Jars are famous. Also got to see bomb craters and people decorating their houses with old bomb shells..reminds you that Laos till today remains the most bombed country in the world.

YOu can fly into Siem Riep from Pakse in laos. I would spend more than 3 days there if you really like history. The temples that are further away from the city are really worth spending time at and also make great picnic spots.

Well seems like i gave you the same route as Joey :-).

In cambodia if you want to go further north..Rattankiri (Ban Lung) is heavily forested and makes a good starting point for treks. Barely saw any tourists there...quite.

In Laos I went to the 4000 islands. Even at that time all the backpackers headed there and now am sure its overrun..but very pretty area.

Well, it seems to me that my time in laos was very similer to madhu. all the place she mentions are great. I would like to add, that if your up for more adventure, you could go overland from southern loas (400 islands) to cambodia, and that part of cambodia is pretty far off track (or at least it was 2 years ago), and from there over to siem reap. good luck, you've got lots of nice planning ahead of you.

...how about a trip to remote Preah Vihear temple, far from the crowds at Angkor Wat. It's a 4 day trip on the back of a dirtbike, but totally worth the effort. Check out my article here if you're into it.

Andris

hey, just search SEA routes or something there are probably over 1000 quality posts on this exact question...i have personally detailed a route extremely in depth with how to get to each place etc...I can't re-write it yet again but all the info is here

There's a million ways to go...i'd do bangkok north then through laos, cambodia and back west to bangkok...

3 weeks thailand, 1 weeks cambodia, 2 week laos