Travelling for 2 weeks covering thailand, laos, vietnam and Cambodia.
Hi im looking for the best way to go from Bangkok towards laos in to vietnam and then cambodia then to come back to phuket and fly back out of Bangkok again.
Not sure wether to get flights for certain parts or catch the train up to vientiane then bus to vietnam train down to saigon across cambodia then around to Phuket. Im only there for two weeks and want to finish wit 2 or 3 days in Phuket. I know it will be crammed and fast but i just want to see the main highlights in each area as i will come back again one day to do maybe a longer stay.
Any suggestions on the easiest route? I dont mind maybe not including one country in order to get a good trip done.
Reply to this Hey
Can you just confirm, are you planning to stay in Thailand for two weeks or that whole journey in two weeks?
If it is that journey, I don't think it's possible in two weeks. The journeys you are talking about are too big and the transport is too slow. Vientiene to Hanoi takes about 24 hours alone. It's about 48 hours from Hanoi to Saigon without stopping. If you are crossing from Thailand to Laos from Chiang Rai to Luang Prabang it's an overnight boat ride. It's 5-7 hours from Saigon to Phnom Penh in Cambodia. It's the same from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap and then again from Siem Reap to Bangkok. If you add the various legs together you don't have any time at all in any place (as in not even a full day) before you have to move on again.
You can look at flying a lot of the legs, but you are still not going to see much of any of the countries. Bare in mind that you will need to buy visas for Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos and they are $25 - $50 each.
I would suggest that you either see Thailand and Laos, or Thailand and Cambodia or all of Vietnam (still a very crammed trip in two weeks). You could see South Vietnam and Cambodia or North Vietnam and Laos. These trips will still be busy and see a lot of things.
Have a think about it. Look at some blogs of people visiting similar places and check the timings and transport and the highlights of each place (which are different depending on whether you want to see beaches or national parks or cities or remote islands or trekking).
I hope this helps. I don't want to dash your ideas but would just like to suggest that you think carefully about this.
Reply to this If everything is to be done in 2 weeks why not just concentrate on 2 places?
You will probably have to do some flying just to end up with some time to enjoy the places you are visiting. A bus ride from Bangkok to Phuket can take 14 hours alone.
If you only are looking for visa stamps in your passport you can see all 4 places but between airplanes and airports, bus stations and bus rides you will be missing a lot. Some tourists spend a week or two just in Bangkok alone!
Check out the visas you need for each country too!
Reply to this Wow, unless you want to spend all your time at bus stations and boarder crossing it seems a little wishful thinking to me, aand I live here. Thailand is wonderful and after 8 years here I am still finding new things I like. Roads in Lao are less improved, as well as bus systems. Vietnam is better but things run on their time, not yours. Hanoi take a day or two. If you mis Halong Bay your really missing out. Take away a day from arriving and day getting ready to return, Plus you said 3 days in Phuket, either your spending alot of time at airports, or taking busses and dealing in customs and immigration.
Hit on maybe two countries this time, next time maybe others.
Have fun, be safe.
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