Questions for Trip to Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand.

Cillian_Foster

Hey guys this is my first post. I am heading off to these places on June 7th for 7 weeks with a friend of mine..I have done a bit of research into them but I feel the best way to get info is from people who have done it them selves.

I just want to know have people got good ideas on hostels to stay in over there and where you suggest visiting, and where not to, what sort of route you think might be the best to go etc..as much information and detail would be an amazing help and very much appreciated.

as i said i will be starting my trip in Hanoi in Vietnam and have 7 weeks to make my way to Bangkok.

Thanks a million in advance..

Cillian.

Faith

Moved to Travel

(Didn't know whether to put it in Youth etc or not!).

Cillian_Foster

ok thanks..

TheBigLebowski

What about Laos? Well worth a visit.

If not, start in Hanoi, up to Halong bay and back to hanoi. Travel down the coast stopping off in all the main places along the way (recommend hoi an and Dalat) down to Ho Chi Minh. Visit the sites there. Maybe fly to phnom penh. Bus up to siemreap for the temples and all that. Then bus or fly (the road from siem reap to Thai border is awfully bad) to Thailand. Wouldn't bother with the coastal areas of Cambodia if you going to Thailand.

Head north in thailand up to chiang mai, do a trek, and then head south to the islands. Try and get to both sides, east and west, (ko samui and ko phi phi recommended).

Cillian_Foster

well the plan was to travel down the east coast i think there is a train for €20 odd that goes all the way down which we plan on doing, and we will go up the mokong river and get an inflight going over Thailand straight down to the islands and spend last few days in Thailand..

we are starting in Hanoi as thats where we are flyin into first..

do you know of any reasonably priced hostels in Hanoi that we can stay for the first few nights just to get ourselves sorted..

thanks a million for your help..

Cillian_Foster

oh yeah and another important thing i was lookin for is what company would ye suggest for getting insurance too..

Cillian_Foster

any other help anyone could offer for this subject ?

Ideo

theres a seperate thread about insurance either in this forum or in the youth and independent forum. its a page or two back and will answer your questions!

mackey087

if your a member of siptu try brassington insurance. they give good deals on year long insurance. been to thailand. loads of hostels to choose from and rooms to let from smaller apartment blocks. they are advertised everywhere. when you land at phuket airport there are loads of people trying to sell taxi fares and accomadition. if you want to go straight to the resort its easy enough to find somewhere to stay.

BuffyBot

Moving this over to Independent & Youth & Student Travel as you'll probably find more people there who have hit these destinations

Jugs82

I just want to know have people got good ideas on hostels to stay in over there

Bangkok - the Shambara just off Khao San is great and just far away enough form Khao San if that aint your thing

Chiang Mai - Libra Guest House Just off Moon Muang Rd on Soi 9 - great people and have stayed there countless times, they are a great help with everything and a good laugh too

Siem Reap - Two Dragons, run by a canadian guy who also operate the great tales of asia site - really great place with excellent food and advice on offer

well the plan was to travel down the east coast i think there is a train for €20

I think the train is a little more expensive than €20 - the bus down the
coast is hop, hop off and is around the €20 mark - can be got from any guesthouse, travel agent

do you know of any reasonably priced hostels in Hanoi

Friends recently stayed at the Hanoi Backpackers Hostel and recommended it - cant remember where i stayed but there really is alot of choice around the old town

Enjoy the trip

Cillian_Foster

This has been a great help, thanks so much for the information so far..i really appreciate it..Sat week i set off and am lookin forward to the trip..

much love for the replies..

Cillian

scruff321

be very careful what you eat in cambodia i was in thailand,veitnam and cambiodia last year had to cut my trip short as i got sick and had to go home didnt fully recover from the dose for months :mad:

NonDrinkersClub

This is brilliant! Thanks for the info - I'm going to these places with my boyfriend in November for a month and we weren't too sure about going on the standard tour bus.

mackey087

about the food. we went to phuket last year. they have great resturants and bars. usually i have a bad stomach when travelling. even if its to malta or other countries in europe. have to bring loads of tablets. we were warned not to eat from the street vendors or the guys on the beach. i didn't try any of these but people we met over there used these guys and said that the food was great and they had no problems. if your prone to stomach upsets when travelling i'd say give it a miss but if not go for it. the damn spring rolls on the beech were huge.

Larianne

Travelfish.org is a great website for travelling in Vietnam and Cambodia, Laos and Thailand. Gives reviews by travellers, use the LP or Rough Guide as guides only

Virtualtourist.com is good for more visited places like Thailand and Malaysia. Wasn't good for Cambodia,Vietnam or Philippines.

Hostelworld was sometimes good, but again it depended on the country/city.

I've just come back from travelling these places. It will take a long time to bus it all the way down the coast of Vietnam and some places aren't worth visiting so maybe fly some of the way and bus the rest.

I'd fly in and out of Siem Reap. I didn't like Phnom Pehn. Nothing much to see there.. Angkor Wat is a definite. Get the 3 day $40 pass and take your time looking at the temples. Just go early in the morning, like 6am and stay till about 11am. The heat is stiffling by 8.30am! Rent a tuk-tuk for the day for about $8-$10 and he'll take you all around. We stayed in a lovely guesthouse there called Mandalay Inn, run by a Burmese man. Really nice and quite and staff were very helpful... (had to get my wisdom tooth out there!)

oh and if you haven't bought a lonely planet or rough guide, don't, wait till you're in Hanoi and either get a second hand one or copy. Waay cheaper!

Spider_Baby

http://www.hanoibackpackershostel.com/

I would absolutely 1000% recommend this hostel in Hanoi!
Best fun ever.
The aussie owners are so nice and go out of their way to help you. So so friendly and really good atmosphere. It would be a great place to start your trip. You'll meet heaps of people. Plus, when I was there they had a bathtub full of bottles of beer on the roof top. You simply help yourself and put a tick beside your name. Only hostel I have ever seen where they trust you to help yourself to your booze and pay upon check-out!

Its the only hostel I stayed in in Vietnam. Stayed in guesthouses everywhere else.

lil_miss_perfec

great advise guys :]

im heading over mid july for 6 weeks.

how much money would people suggest? i'm aiming to have over 1200 euro, and i'll be getting paid a bit while im there too.
also, should we bring over dollars or euro?

Larianne

Most places like Hotels/touristy things prefer you to pay in American dollars. Wouldn't bother with Euro. But get some Dong as well for smaller things to pay for in markets etc.

mac123

mackey087 wrote: »

about the food. we went to phuket last year. they have great resturants and bars. usually i have a bad stomach when travelling. even if its to malta or other countries in europe. have to bring loads of tablets. we were warned not to eat from the street vendors or the guys on the beach. i didn't try any of these but people we met over there used these guys and said that the food was great and they had no problems. if your prone to stomach upsets when travelling i'd say give it a miss but if not go for it. the damn spring rolls on the beech were huge.

i love the street food, especially in thailand and iv never been sick from it, its the poorly cooked western food u need to look out for!

mac123

lil_miss_perfec wrote: »

great advise guys :]

im heading over mid july for 6 weeks.

how much money would people suggest? i'm aiming to have over 1200 euro, and i'll be getting paid a bit while im there too.
also, should we bring over dollars or euro?

where are you going? i found dollars were only handy in cambodia, just use the local currency in thailand, laos and vietnam. when i was in vietnam last year they had all their prices in dollars in hotels etc but its much easier to just use the dong. i wouldnt recommend bringing over much cash either. just take out lump sums out of the atm maybe once a week. that way if you get robbed, lose money etc its not the end of the world!

mackey087

we found the euro to be wanted more when we were in phuket. we were told to bring dolars but we brought euro and were going to change to dollars over there if they were better. you can get good deals on trips and bargain for everything.