Ok- Going solo-five weeks- Flying to Ho Chi Min..would like to visit Laos, Cambodia, and Thailand. Going lightweight...One small backpack.
I'm adventurous and don't want to be around/or stay with tourist. Like to be off the beaten path so to speak..be with the locals and what the locals do.

Looking for ideas etc. I dont mind the occasional hotel or bunglow but dont want to rely on them. Would rather stay with locals. However this topic is NOT about where to stay..but what to see and not miss.

I want to see Ankor in Cambodia for sure, and probably a national park in Thailand to do some solo kayaking for a few days. A ride on and Elephant and hanging out with the Monks and Tigers near Ching Mai sound good too. So what would you suggest as far as a basic "route" from Saigon through Viet Nam, Laos , Camb, and Thailand??? Most likely will take trains, walk, hitchhike or rent a scooter to get around. I dont know anything of what to see in Vietnam or Laos really. So what would you all suggest I see and do to get a feel for the culture and people etc?????????

Thanks a ton!
N

5 weeks is less for seeing all these countries esp given that transportation in Laos is quite slow. but i am sure its doable with a few nights on overnight buses.

I really liked Vieng Xai in Laos- its a Vang Vieng without the tourists and without happy meals. its close to Sam Neau (border town with Vietnam in the north). Southern Laos is very pretty- loved Don Khong in the 4000 islands in the south.

Vietnam was very touristy. I did like Hoi An and Hue and probably would have liked Sapa, if a typhoon hadn't hit it a couple days before i was scheduled to leave for there.

I loved kanchanaburi and sangkhlaburi in thailand, slightly off the beaten track and there is that famous tiger temple and elephants closeby (to kanchanaburi).

do you fly back from Hanoi or Bangkok or HCM?

Thanks for the info. Planning a little longer now..Dec29 to Feb 20 so about 8 weeks in all.
Hoping to do some kayaking on Halong Bay, MEkong River and in Thailand too.
Thanks for your comments.
Norm

I liked Halong Bay a lot (I booked through Kangaroo Cafe) and I liked Sapa a lot (just went up there by myself - no tour).

The train ride from Danang to Hue is cool too, and I based myself out of the "Cafe On Thu Wheels" there.

Hi Norm,

Laos is an amazing place and much less touristy that the other countries around it. In Vang Vieng you can Kayak either solo or with a guide. Yes there are people floating down the river on innertubes. Don't let that spoil it for you though because the place is beautiful and well worth the price of admission. I agree that the four thousand islands in the south are also pretty amazing and you can get to Cambodia by continuing south if you want to go that way.

Kanchanburi is an amazing area of Thailand. It has huge waterfalls that you can hike to, tigers, and is not as touristy as other areas of Thailand.

All in all I think 8 weeks is a good amount of time to spend in the region if you are driven to see all of these places and you are willing to move on even if you want to stay in one place longer than planned. That was the hardest part for me was to move on, which is probably why I spent 8 months in SEA.

Good luck and safe travels.

where are you flying home from?

you have to see: Angkor Wat, killing fields and the Genocide Museum in Cambodia...Vietnam - HCMC, Hanoi, Da Nang, Halong Bay, Hoi An, hue, Hanoi

Laos - vang vieng, luang prabang

Thailand - Chiang mai, bangkok, islands in southern thailand

In Vietnam - Ho Chi Minh Masoleum. War museum

Hanoi - old quarter, hilton hanoi (where john mccain was kept for 5 years), and just walking around the crazy city...hue - rent a motorbike and scoot around the city there is a really cool old fortress that is still there (well ruins).

Halong Bay - breathtaking, can sleep on a houseboat for a night or two...really a lot of fun

Hoi an/Denang - rent a motorbike in Hoi an or Denang and just ride down the coast...you can stop along the way and see locals and hang out...stop at My Son mountain, it is also called marble mountain...hoi an is a small city, known for tailors and some of the best and cheapest in the world..also the beaches of Hoi An, Denang and in general along the east coast of vietnam are amazing especially in these two places.

Thailand - bangkok - crazy place, spend 4 days or more hanging out in khao san road, check out the royal palace, wat po, nice hotels, chinatown, food, shopping and one of my favorite cities, also incredibly cheap and great movie theaters (like 4 bucks a movie or less).

Chiang Mai - all that trekking, elephanting and kayaking

Beaches of Thailand - never went but enough said

laos - i liked luang prabang but it is ALL tourists...i mean it is a world heritage city with cool temples and waterfalls but it is chock full of just tourists, one main street

vang vieng - never went but basically you rent a tube, float or kayak down a river and drink in the nice weather.

Cambodia - Phnom Penh - not the nicest or safest city, but an experience nonetheless with the SR 71 Genocide museum, palaces, museums, killing fields of cambodia (which are forgotten)

Siem Reap - I think this is a very underrated city. I thought the main strip of the city was a lot of fun with bars and clubs lining the streets...people partying, mainly tourists...there is a good market there and of course ANGKOR WAT...for this I recommend a 3 day pass or a 5 day pass...and I recommend just renting an autorickshaw driver for a few days to take you around personally...Honestly it should cost you no more than 10 dollars a day, maybe less...We rented one from like 6pm till the rest of the night and it was a few dollars each when we went out...

I hope this helps...I mean in Laos you have vientiane...the capital city, nothing special, there is stuff to see, if you go there again rent a motorbike for like 5 bucks and drive..just get a map and ride...experience the outskirts of the city, small temples in the middle of nowhere...that is what I loved best about that city...the food was also good...

If u enter Cambodia from Thailand, by Poipet in Cambodia, first of all find out about the scams there. Everybody will try to get you overpaying for visa, taxis, and give you horrible rates on the exchange rates. It's a terrible introduction to Cambodia, which is a wonderful country with the nicest of people, excepting Poipet. It's interesting to cross the border by Poipet because you get to see how bad the situation can get when people try to exploit the tourists. All info on this can be found on talesofasia.com.

Anyway, from Poipet I recommend you find a shared taxi and go to Battambang and check out the bamboo train, and then go to Siam Reap by boat on Sangker River. It's the most beautiful and amazing boat trip, and you can chill on the roof stretched out if you want to.. Most tourists go directly to Siam Reap from Poipet.

I left Cambodia via Poipet and it wasn't that pleasant...but I can concur with Siddharta that you MUST be very careful about what you do once you enter Cambodia. Like I said before make sure you know the rate between the USD and the Riel (cambodia's currency)...I don't think you should get much riel because the unofficial currency of Cambodia is the US dollar...the ATM machines give you US Dollars and basically when something is like 1 or 2 USD's or less you use the riel otherwise you will use USD and can bargain for a much better price using USD...restaurants, clothing shops et. al are priced in USD, markets use them etc...so again you really shouldn't exchange that much riel at the border and I would just make sure you really make sure you know where to get your visa from...

Thanks for the tips on the border scams. The bamboo train sounded awesome too and the river trip etc. Maybe I can avoid that border city altogether. (?)

Do you forsee any MORE challenges being a male/solo traveler compared to a small group or couple?

Do you know of any internet message boards where I can post a classified type message to see if there are others traveling the same time that may want to hook up etc.
Thanks
Norm

well if you scroll down to the bottom we have a thread called "travel buddies" you could start there and besides that I do not know of sites to link up with people...sorry

If you want to meet locals get registered on Hospitality club, google it. Check out the profiles and e-mail the people you have something in common with, we did this on our round the world trip and had some great experiences staying with local people. As for ideas check out my website of our trip and see my comments.
www.getjealous.com/trio
Best of luck and keep safe
Jean