Dieuwer

Have the following trip in mind that is a combination of temples, cities, and beaches. This trip will be during the December Holidays.

1) Siem Reap

• Arrive at night and stay for a full 3 days
• Visit Angkor Wat and other temple complexes, Siem Reap town and the Floating Villages

2) Bangkok

• Fly in the morning to Bangkok and stay for 4 nights
• Visit the Grand Palace, do a city bike tour, and either a boat trip to Ayutthaya or a train trip to the Kwai River

3) Phuket

• Fly in the morning to Phuket and stay for 3 nights
• Do a boat trip around Phang Nga Bay and relax

4) Singapore

• Fly in the morning to Singapore and stay for 2 nights
• City sightseeing
• Leave for Boston early morning

Does this itinerary sounds reasonable? What about availability of lodging and flights? Should I be booking ASAP as everything will be sold out sooner rather than later, or can I wait a few more months to think about it?
Any other suggestions or advice?

jiejie

Yes it sounds reasonable. This is absolute peak tourist season in Cambodia and Thailand, so you must book lodging well in advance. Many Europeans visit during this time and book up to a year in advance. I would book Phuket and Siem Reap by early August to get the place of your preference. The big cities maybe in October. Do not expect any big bargains, and watch out if your stay encompasses Dec 24 or Dec 31, that you aren't required to pay for the "Gala Dinner" regardless of whether you want it or not.

You must book flights in advance, and if you know your dates now, book anytime but be knowledgeable about cancellation and change penalties, etc. There is no need to book local tours or guides this early. If you have a preference for a specific Siem Reap guide, contact in October; otherwise just wait or do through hotel. If you want to sea canoe on Phang-Nga Bay, book just before you leave the USA; for a bigger boat cruise, you can just wait until Bangkok and reserve by phone. Bangkok and Singapore no need to do much in advance, except contact the bike tour company just before you leave USA and provisionally pick your date, to be confirmed once in BKK. Ayutthaya and Kwai can be decided when you get to BKK and see what you feel like. Singapore can be done on the fly and on your own, it has first rate infrastructure and many English speakers.

5khours

Two comments,

1) Half your time is in big cities. Depends on what you like, but you might want to think about about more time on the beach or other less crowded venues.

2) As jiejie says if you're going to be there after about December 20, book early.

Dieuwer

I'm not really a beach person, but I do like swimming. The main reason I picked Phuket is to visit Phang Nga Bay.

5khours

If you're interested in Phang Nga Bay, you might want to consider staying in Krabi. Beaches are not quite as nice on Krabi, but it's much easier to do boat trips into the Bay. You can easily do it for a few hours every morning.

jiejie

From an access standpoint you can get to Phang-Nga from either Phuket side or Krabi side, but I think you will find more large boat and small boat/sea canoe options scheduled from the Phuket side into the karst areas. Also, Phuket is much more useful as an air hub getting from Bangkok and then onward to Singapore (without backtracking). Krabi just doesn't have as much scheduled capacity which translates to less flexible scheduling. Beaches are definitely better in Phuket. Krabi has too many mud flat areas for my taste.

On balance given your time limitations, I'd stick with the Phuket side but pick your location carefully. I'd tend to stay up more in the middle area such as Bang Tao and not get down in the Patong/Kata or points further south.

5khours

Agree on the beaches at Krabi. Flights are fine to BKK, but very few international flights. Maybe one to SIN and a couple of other places.

Re boats, I think it depends on the hotel. I was at Phulay Bay a couple of months ago. One call to the concierge and there was boat in 5 minutes 50 yards from my door. From there 20 minutes and you're on a deserted island beach. From the Andaman side of Phuket, it's a bigger production getting over to Phang-Nga Bay.

Dieuwer

It seems most of the lodging is on the Andaman side. Are there no nice properties on the bay side, e.g. at Po Bay or Sapam Bay?

jiejie

Only a few. There's some down at Panwa below Phuket City but that's not where you want to be. There are a few upscale villa type places further up (Yamu) maybe. But not so much beach on that side. And some of that coastline is either industrial, commercial, or fishery-oriented. If you're going to go to Phuket, it's silly not to stay on the Andaman/beach side. Most of the boat companies will pick up at your hotel anyway. You're not going to be there long enough to make car rental and self-drive worthwhile, nor long enough to get bored being in one general area.

Dieuwer

After deliberation, I guess I could add another night to Phuket if that matters. Trip would then be 4-4-4-2.
Is Singapore worth 2 days, or is 1 day enough?

5khours

Depends what you like. I'm not that big a fan of Singapore so I'd probably skip it entirely.

Again it's a bit of a long haul from the Andaman side of Phuket to the bay. You either need to cross the island by car or take a speed boat to arrive in a reasonable amount of time. From Krabi, you can get a local boat with private guide for not too much money and that gives you the flexibility to go around the different islands in the bay at your own pace. It also allows you to do it early in the morning before the tour boats arrives.

Jiejie will shoot me , but I think you could do Siem Reap in 2 days. Luang Prabong and Hanoi are also interesting excursions from BKK.

jiejie

Well I might not shoot you but will point out that your suggestions to many posters on this forum are shall we say, idiosyncratic to you and heavily weighted towards one-night stands and racing around Asia for maximum touch-downs rather than maximum experiences. I'm hardly the only one who has pointed this out to you before.

This particular poster has a limited time frame and a pretty well-defined trip with a stated goal of balance. And has obviously done some sort of research to get to this point. There's nothing wrong with any of his selections. His plan needs at most minor tweaks not wholesale upset by suggestions such as LP and Hanoi as "excursions" from Bangkok. This poster is also traveling at one of the worst possible times in SE Asia, when transportation, accommodation, and local tours will be heaving with visitors. Keeping the plan simple, keep the number of countries to two at most, and moving as few times as possible by air to connect the dots is key to making this enjoyable rather than a constant battle with precious time wasted in intercity transport.

Dieuwer, if your international flights/endpoints are already booked, I think you should keep your plan as is. You have the timings and allocations right, and as you say you're not a really much of "beach person," it makes no sense to add another day there. If you have not visited Singapore, it certainly has enough to keep you busy for part of day one (assuming a morning flight in) and the entire next day. It's a good time allocation. Alternatively, if you have not fixed your international flights yet, you could save Singapore for a future Asia trip, and return from Bangkok. In this event, it would make sense to add another location after SR and move Bangkok to the end. Keep the other location in Cambodia or (more likely) Thailand. Perhaps making River Kwai area a 2-day/overnight trip along with Erawan Falls/Park, which is much nicer than a daytrip ex-Bangkok. Alternatively, add Khao Sok National Park for 2-day/1-nighter appended on to the Phuket part.

Phuket: As to the issue about where you are located in relationship to the boat dock--I presume you're not going to be chartering your own boat out anyway (costly) so the time frames for join-in boat departures from the Phang-Nga-side piers are already set up. Whoever you sign up with will take responsibility for getting you from Phuket hotel to pier and on the correct boat, that's how it works. All you have to do is be at the front door of the hotel for pickup at the time they give you. Most of the boats to Phang-Nga bay (heavy karst scenery area) leave from Ao Po pier. If you stay in the central Andaman beach areas such as Bangtao or Nai Thon, the drive to Ao Po is only about 20-25 minutes. Don't let this trivial pier connection be the tail that wags the bigger dog.

Krabi is actually further from some of the best karst areas in Phang-Nga bay and a private boat rental from Krabi or Ao Nang out to there won't be cheap. If you aren't interested in karst but more interested in the small flat islands for beach and (crappy) snorkeling, then staying in Krabi province and accessing Bay from Krabi side makes sense. I guess you need to be clearer about what you want to be doing in Phang-Nga Bay. It is possible to forego the Phuket hotel and villa-based beach scene entirely and do a multi-day trip with a sea kayaking company, some do camping and some use land-based bungalows on Ko Yao Yai or Ko Yao Noi which are islands in the middle of the Bay, sparsely visited and one way to beat the Phuket/Krabi crowds. If you want to look into this option for this segment of the trip, www.seacanoe.net and www.johngray-seacanoe.com are two of the best companies. If bringing a family, I'd suggest only an option for kids age 6/7 and older. This sort of thing would be more rustic but definitely relaxing and memorable.

Dieuwer

My international flights are not yet booked. That is why I am now considering spending 4 nights each in Siem Reap, Bangkok, and Phuket, and 2 nights in Singapore. Note that I will be arrive very late in the evening in Siem Reap with 3 full days on the ground. In case my flight is delayed I would have less. So I don't want to take a day away from Siem Reap.

I did some more research on Phuket and although I am not a beach person, it seems that there are many outdoors activities offered that I might be interested in. In addition to a kayak trip to Phang Nga Bay, a visit to an Elephant camp comes to mind, or perhaps renting an ATV.

If I return to the US from Singapore, the fare of the TPAC ticket is about $4,000 while the fare of the TPAC ticket returning from Bangkok is about $4,500. Outbound in KE business, return in EC Delta.
Do you think that this fare will come down a bit, or should I book sooner rather than later?

What exactly is the downside of staying near the Patong area? Would it not be more convenient to be able to have walking access to restaurants and nightlife?

I am single 40 years old male.

5khours

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Without knowing your entire itinerary, it's hard to stay. Is all travel just in SE Asia? If so the fares seem expensive. Also, some of the flights are quite short so economy is very bearable. Often looking at the website of the actual airline will get you a cheaper ticket.

Again it depends on what's important to you. Patong is certainly "lively." If you like peace and quiet, I'd avoid Patong. If nightlife is important, near Patong could be a better choice.

Again, if you have any choice on Singapore you might consider a different stop. There are direct flights from REP to SGN, and IMHO that's a much more interesting option both during the day and at night.

One last comment on Phang Nga. The islands directly off Krabi are not by any means flat and up until about 10 or 11am there are almost tourists. The northern part of the bay does have islands that are more impressive geologically (including the iconic Ko Tapu) and better snorkeling, but the islands directly off Krabi are very beautiful. If you want an easy trip and a beautiful island to yourself, going from Krabi is a much better option. You can do this privately on a local boat (long-tail) direct from the beach at you hotel, which is quite affordable.

Any trip from Phuket will be on a tour or private speedboat. It's quite far to do it in a local boat. You can also do this from Krabi.

As I mentioned before the beaches in Phuket are better than Krabi so I almost always go to Phuket rather than Krabi. However, IMHO if you're primarily interested in Phang Nga Bay, Krabi is a better option. (Part of this may just be personal preference. As Jiejie points out, my suggestions tend to be idiosyncratic .... for me getting on a crowded tour bus or boat is not very high on my list of things to do.

whackyjacky

I'd give SIN a skip. Worth a look, but a little too sterile for my tastes. Plus that $500 you save on airfare will get eaten up on hotels, drinks, & food (unless you eat at hawker centers & stay at the Y). In Thailand you can get a pretty nice 3 star hotel for $50-60. IIWY, I'd take a look at Chiang Mai instead. Well worth a couple days & easy & cheap to get to from BKK.