BootsnAll Travel Community

This summer I'll be backpacking SEA for 3 weeks--need the safest, most effective ideas for a path from Bangkok to Angkor Wat to Phonm Penh (spelling, sorry) through to Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam. Fly any part of it? What buses? Trains? What order? Have a lot to accomplish in 3 weeks--only looking to spend a week on Cambodia and HCMC--and don't want to get stuck on any unreliable or "sketchy" routes through Cambodia and crossing these borders.

Also, where will I get my Cambodian VISA? At the border from Thailand possible?

Thanks so much y'all!!

Well, if you really want the safest mode of travel possible, that's pretty much always going to be flying regardless of what country you are in.

Though going by trains and buses should be pretty painless with the exception of the stretch from the Cambodian border (at Poipet) to Siem Reap. I'd recommend checking out http://www.talesofasia.com/cambodia-overland.htm to see if it looks like it something you'd be up for or not. I did it and thought it was a not to be missed Cambodian experience, but if you're looking for comfort and safety, you'd probably be happier flying from Bangkok to Siem Reap. Then you can take a bus to Phnom Penh and from there HCMC. Vietnamese visas are very easy and cheap to arrange with the guesthouses in Phnom Penh. You can get your Cambodia visa at the border, but they will try to overcharge you by asking you to pay in baht rather than US dollars. I promise though, if you stand firm, they will let you through for the correct amount. Do not back down, not even a little!