Asia - Critique my Honeymoon Itinerary (Almost Done)

Hey all, thanks to the help of a bunch of FTers and reading a lot of posts here I'm almost done with my itinerary for my Honeymoon trip in August. Would love to hear your thoughts and see if there are any tweaks that you guys would suggest.

I've decided to do the planning myself as opposed to going through a prepacked tour like Exotissimo or others. I just feel like it gives me more flexibility.

So here it is:

August 11th:
- arrive Hanoi at around 7:30 pm via BKK
- sleep at the Hilton Hanoi

August 12-13:
- spend the day in Hanoi
- sleep at the Hilton Hanoi

August 14:
- early morning start the tour of Halong Bay on either the Emeraude Boat or one from Handspan tours
- sleep on the boat

August 15:
- return to Hanoi and spend the night

August 16:
- fly out early to Luang Prabang in Laos, getting in around lunch time via VTE

August 16-18:
- sleep at a nice hotel in Luang, maybe some trekking (any ideas?)
- fly out the 18th at night to Siem Reap

August 18 at night - 20 at night:
- at Angkor Wat (staying at the Red Piano Guesthouse)

August 20th at night fly to BKK:
- stay at the Peninsula for 2 nights and hang around the city

August 22nd at night/afternoon, fly to Koh Samui:
- stay at the Sala Samui resort till the 27th

August 27 at midnight:
- fly back to the US via BKK


So what do people think? My only worry is that I'm not spending enough time in Luang Prabang and Angkor. My friends that have been to Angkor have said that 2 days is plenty to see most of the temples. Should I take a night out of Hanoi and add it to Luang?

The other thought was to head up to Sapa instead of LP which would save some hotel and air travel time. But I've heard such wonderful things about LP that I think it's almost a necessity.

Maybe I can take out one day from Samui at the end (just sitting on the beach or diving) and add it to the itinerary somewhere else.

Any thoughts?

On the one hand, this is a great itinerary! You are visiting some great places in SE Asia. The only place you are missing to make this perfect are the temples in Bagan.

On the other hand, it seems you can't make up your mind about where to visit so you decided to go everywhere. Granted distances are not great, but you want to do this all in two weeks? On your honeymoon? When it is hot, humid and rainy? I'm sure you know that you could easily spend two weeks just in the northern or southern half of Vietnam or Thailand...

Anyway, in terms of logistics:

1) Are you sure there is a flight between Siem Reap and Luang Prabang on the day you want to travel?
2) Only two days at Siem Reap? It's enough time if you only care about visiting the Angkor Wat and a few of the nearby complexes, but it would require nonstop travel to see any of the outlying sites, such as Banteay Srei (then again, it is likely to remain under renovation when you get there, so it isn't as interesting as before), and I highly recommend a visit to Beng Melea.
3) Red Piano restaurant is actually quite good in the old town of Siem Reap. I am assuming that you are staying in the guesthouse above the restaurant, which seems out of place given the other higher-end hotels you plan to stay at on your trip. If nothing else, it could be noisy as it is practically on the street.
4) The Hanoi Hilton is a good hotel (free broadband in the rooms), but I hear the Sofitel down the street is better (perhaps worth one night to try out). Hanoi is a shopping city, so bring an empty suitcase with you.

Yeah, I agree with you that it seems a little hurried, that's what I'm worried about. Maybe I have to suffer and cut one of the locations out. Unfortunately it seems like it would have to be Luang Prabang in order to get more time at Siem Reap.

I've checked on the flights they exist for the full itinerary, maybe not perfectly convenient but they do exist.

Thing is that people have told me that you can't miss Angkor Wat and that LP is a spectacular place so I'm at odds.

I might be able to leave on the 9th of August instead of the 10th which would buy me a day and then take out one day from Samui which would get me 2 days total extra.

I know this is my honeymoon, but we have decided that we want to do half of the trip exploration/visiting and then the last part just relaxing somewhere (Samui part of the trip).

The idea of the Red Piano is to tone it down a bit during the middle of the trip, stay somewhere a little more in line with the area.

2) Only two days at Siem Reap? It's enough time if you only care about visiting the Angkor Wat and a few of the nearby complexes, but it would require nonstop travel to see any of the outlying sites, such as Banteay Srei (then again, it is likely to remain under renovation when you get there, so it isn't as interesting as before), and I highly recommend a visit to Beng Melea.
3) Red Piano restaurant is actually quite good in the old town of Siem Reap. I am assuming that you are staying in the guesthouse above the restaurant, which seems out of place given the other higher-end hotels you plan to stay at on your trip. If nothing else, it could be noisy as it is practically on the street.

I agree that you're trying to see a lot (possibly too much?) in only two weeks.

I also agree that two days in Siem Reap is a little too little - but I think it's still doable, even including a trip out to Banteay Srey. Beng Melea probably is too much to include in a trip of only two days. But Hanoi and Luang Prabang are also both fantastic places, so I wouldn't cut your time in either to add another day in Siem Reap.

Re: the Red Piano, that also struck me as very much out of step with the rest of the places you plan to stay. I haven't stayed there myself, but I've heard it's only OK - not great. Siem Reap has no shortage of high-end offerings (if that's what you want), from the grand to the boutique. If you're looking for a mid-range place, I would personally look elsewhere - as the poster above mentioned, I think the RP will be very noisy at night.

As for the Red Piano restaurant, I don't care for it - I think it's overrated and the food is dulled down (presumably for what they think a western palate prefers).

Enjoy your trip,
Michael

hmmm... seems the guesthouse has recently moved 250m away from the restaurant

http://www.redpianocambodia.com/guesthouse.html

Thing is that people have told me that you can't miss Angkor Wat and that LP is a spectacular place so I'm at odds.

....

The idea of the Red Piano is to tone it down a bit during the middle of the trip, stay somewhere a little more in line with the area.

I wouldn't worry too much about having only two days in Siem Reap. It will be a rush - but you already know that, and so you can prepare yourselves for it. And Luang Prabang is really great. (If anything, the place I think you have too little time in is Hanoi -- it's a great city, IMO.)

As for the lodging, there are plenty of mid-range options in Siem Reap. I would check out La Noria or Borann (http://borann.siemreap.free.fr/), and (depending on your price range) the FCC Angkor (http://www.fcccambodia.com/angkor/) or the Pansea (http://www.pansea.com/angkor.html). These are all comfortable and quiet (I've heard complaints about morning construction noise near the Pansea, but this shouldn't bother you -- you'll likely be up early in the morning to go see the temples), and more pleasant for a honeymoon IMO. None are large, five star, resort-style places - they have more of a low-key and/or boutique feel. All are easy walking distance to the restaurants, shops and bars of the Old Market area.

For a special dinner while in Siem Reap, note that the Shinta Mani (http://www.shintamani.com/) restaurant has gotten rave reviews. For good Khmer food, the best options are harder to find and not very English-friendly -- but if you are interested I can post some information.

For good general information on Siem Reap, check out the Canby Publications free guide to Siem Reap (http://www.canbypublications.com/siemreap/srhome.htm) - it's usually more up-to-date on the details (hours, prices, that sort of thing) than any of the major guidebooks.

Congratulations, and enjoy your honeymoon!

Michael

We will no doubt be passing at some locations as I have a somewhat similar trip planned during the same period.

For lodging in Luang Prabang (actually a few kms outside, but they have constant shuttles) you might want to look at Villa Santi Resort.

I have a question for you too - how are you getting between Luang Prabang and Siem Reap? Are you transiting through BKK?

Yea, two days in Siem Reap is short but enough to see all the main sights - Angkor Thom/Bayon, Angkor Wat and Banteay Srei, if possible. Definitely get a guide and a driver ($20 each/day). Otherwise you'll be spending all day trying to figure things out. We did a similar thing whereby we arrived close to sunset on Day 1 (did Phnom Bakheng... very cool), Angkor Thom on morning of Day 2 and Angkor Wat in the evening, and then Banteay Srei and Angkor Wat again on Day 3 before departing late afternoon. In between (on Days 2 and 3), we did a bunch of minor temples which the guide thought were memorable (Ta Prohm, for instance). There are so many temples you'd have to spend a week to properly see them all and appreciate them in all their beauty. But since most of us don't have that luxury, I think a 2 full-day excursion is just enough to whet your appetite to come back for more :) Angkor is magical. Angkor Wat itself will reduce you to tears and the faces of Bayon are mesmerizing.

I think you did well budgeting lots of time in Hanoi since that's where you'll first land and experience full-blown jet lag (I would've picked a more civilized place to do that like BKK but to each his own ;) ). I didn't particularly love Hanoi but it's not a bad place to spend lots of time. The food is amazing and there are lots of things to see. Make sure you get rested and take it easy in Hanoi before doing the hectic stuff in Laos and Cambodia. Your time in BKK seems VERY short but I wouldn't extend that at the expense of the beach. Although, you may regret spending so little time in BKK and especially at the Pen (which you and yours will absolutely love).

Enjoy your honeymoon! We're all envious :)

Guys, thank you all for the good responses. Here are my thoughts so far. I'm going to try and leave on the 9th instead of the 10th from JFK (if I can find business seats for that day, the beauty of award travel and switching dates is amazing).

That should buy me one more day which I think i'll add to LP as it seems like such a great place to relax and explore the town a bit. Then I might take just one day out of Samui to add to either Angkor (probably not because it seems that people are saying that the 2 days is enough, my offline friends have also said the same thing for hitting up the main places) or Hanoi.

The reason I'm spending only 2 days in BKK is that my fiancee has already been there a few times so i'd rather spend time somewhere that we both don't know and just hit up the main places in BKK this time.

Letiole, as to how I'm getting from LP to Siem Reap, you are right, it seems like the only way is to transfer through BKK.

Hey, have any of you used the Bangkok Airways Discovery Pass? Seems like a pretty good deal and would cover most of the internal flights I'm doing.

Michael, I'll definitely take a peek at those hotels, I wanted to tone down the hotels a bit in Angkor and LP because I think that's more in the spirit of the locations. I don't mind stepping it up in Hanoi, BKK and Samui because those are big cities. Don't know if that makes sense....

You know what, this trip is going to be merely a tasting so that when I finally decide to take a year off, we'll be able to enjoy all of Southeast Asia slowly.

Peace,
WLM

Hey, have any of you used the Bangkok Airways Discovery Pass? Seems like a pretty good deal and would cover most of the internal flights I'm doing.

I used it a little over a year ago. I won't say it's a good deal but it's definitely a better deal considering the BKK-REP segment is $80 with the Pass and $135+ without. It's still a rip-off, IMHO. Hopefully the LCCs will change all that. If you can stitch together at least three segments on Bangkok Airways - and it sounds like you will with Samui added into the mix - go for it!

Caution: only select flights can be used with the Pass (depending on availability and how full the flight is).

BlueDC, yeah, seems like i'll definitely have enough segments for it. Can you pre-book seats on a flight or is it come as you come on the day of the flight?

We didn't even try since we had no knowledge of what the good seats are on a an ATR72 :eek: . I remember the ATR72 being 2-2; kinda like an RJ but it's turboprop, I think. Either way, if you buy your tickets together, they'll seat you together. The flights are so short (1h) it won't matter whether you're in an exit row or not. No harm asking at booking since you'll have to book over the phone and speak to a live human for the Pass.