Burnsie

Hi folks.

This September I'll be spending a week working in Singapore and a week working in Malaysia. However these weeks don't fall back-to-back, leaving me with eight days (18th - 25th) free. So where do you think I should go? I've heard lots of good feedback from people who have visited Vietnam, so I'm looking into that, but a colleague said that Cambodia would be nicer.

I'm not one for lying on a beach or by the pool, I'd much rather go exploring to see the sights that places have to offer. Also I don't think that I'd be confident enough to embark on a motorcycle adventure (ŕ la Top Gear) but hopefully there's a happy medium somewhere.

I'd be interested to hear any of your suggestions.

Thanks,
Paul.

injera

Love Cambodia. 4 nights in Siem Reap, 2 nights in Sihanoukville. Have fun

erik123

I agree - Cambodia is cheaper, friendlier, smaller, and it will be easy to meet fellow travelers if you don't stay int he high-end places. There are outfits that offer motorcycle trips where you ride as a passenger (in Vietnam as well).

Bangkok with a few day/side trips is also a fantastic option. Packed with things to see.

JY1024

Moving this over to the Asia forum for further discussion. Thanks. /JY1024, TravelBuzz co-moderator

Burnsie

Cambodia definitely sounds and looks fantastic, and it's good to hear that you both like it. I won't be staying in any high-end places, so it'll be nice to meet some other explorers along the way. Can you offer some suggestions of what to do / where to go? So far I've got Angkor Wat, Bayon Temple, Ta Prohm (all close to Siem Reap) and Koh Rong (near Sihanoukville) - I'd love to see the glowing plankton on the beach at night.

That sounds more like it! Riding in a sidecar sounds cool, rather than as a pillion passenger.

Yes Thailand is definitely somewhere that I'm also considering.

Thanks for your input and suggestions, looking forward to hearing some more!

glennaa11

For sure Cambodia makes sense. Sounds like you have it covered. September should be rainy season. My first visit to Cambodia was in September and I recall getting caught in a couple of pretty big downpours. But it's typical tropical rain storms in the afternoon.

There's also Kep/Kampot and Bokor Mountain in the south of Cambodia which might be worth a look. I was there several years ago and they were building a new road up Bokor Mt which has probably made that trip a lot easier than it was then.

frobozzelectric

bangkok is always fun.

hcmc is cheap but good.

Burnsie

Yes I've been caught outside in some pretty torrential downpours in Malaysia, getting absolutely soaked to the bone! I'll make sure I pack waterproofs and enough spare clothes - just in case.

Thanks, I'll add those to the list of places to research. I also read your Thailand/Laos/Cambodia trip report from 2015 - very inspirational. Love the photographs of the temples and wildlife.

Had to Google what "hcmc" was! At the moment Vietnam - which would have to include a visit to Ho Chi Minh City - is my second-choice behind Cambodia, unless anyone can convince me otherwise? I won't be booking anything for a while, so all suggestions are still on the table.

invisible

You are in Singapore and KL. Both places are hubs of budget airlines so finding low cost flight is not a problem.

For one whole week, I would not recommend to entirely stay in Cambodia. If you have not seen Angkor, it is definitely place to visit, but you can do it in full three days. Other three days I'd suggest to go to Vietnam - Da Nang/Hue/Hoi An or Hanoi for example. SilkAir and Vietnam Airlines fly directly between Da Nang and Siem Reap and Vietnam Airlines and VietJet - between Hanoi and Siem Reap. I would not recommend Saigon based on personal experience.

Or, alternatively you can fly to Indonesia - spend 4 days in Bali/Ubud (avoid Kuta at all costs) and then 2 days in Yogyakarta to enjoy the city and see Borobudur and Prambanan.

Just make sure that you travel light - carry on only.

Burnsie

That might be a problem; as I'm travelling with work I'll have a suitcase with me, including uniform, PPE, as well as my own clothes. I can't think of a practical place to leave it for a week, as I don't expect to "backtrack" on my route.

Thanks for your input, invisible. Based on your suggestion (combined with previous recommendations) does this look like a sensible plan...?

Very rough itinerary:

• Mon 18th - Fly from Singapore (SIN) to Sihanoukville (KOS)
• Tue 19th - Koh Rong
• Wed 20th - Bokor Mountain National Park
• Thu 21st - Bus (?) to Siem Reap
• Fri 22nd - Angkor Wat, Bayon Temple, Ta Prohm
• Sat 23rd - Fly from Siem Reap (REP) to Da Nang (DAD)
• Sun 24th - Huế / Hội An
• Mon 25th - Fly from Da Nang (DAD) to Kuala Lumpur (KUL)

Obviously on the days where I've listed a flight, I could hopefully do something in the morning/evening, depending on what time I need to be at the airport. However I get the feeling that I might be trying to squeeze too much into a week, what do you think? It's a holiday after all, I don't want to be on the clock all the time!

Indonesia is another great suggestion, but at this point I'm leaning towards Cambodia and Vietnam. Maybe next time I'll plan a visit to Bali, and maybe Bangkok too.

Having said that, my mind can still be swayed...!

glennaa11

Personally I think there's plenty to see and do for a week in Cambodia.

My own personal style is to spend more time in a place rather than be running the whole time.

invisible

Both SIN and KUL/KLIA have places where you can leave your suitcase. AFAIK, in SIN price is something like SGD $12 per day, at KUL it might (should be even cheaper). If you start and come back your journey at KUL - where you need to be on second week - it might be an alternative solution.

I see following problems with your plan - from 7 days you spend 4 days going from place to place or arriving/departing. Very inefficient, in terms of time management, if you ask me. I would also avoid land transfer within Cambodia unless you have enough time - a bus does not depart on time/canceled/breaks down - you are delayed for 6-12 hours.

You can't have Hue and Hoi Ann on the same day, period - it is 3h drive one way in best conditions. Don't trust google maps - if it rains or there is a problem on a road - double the travel time.

Hoi An and neighbourhoods (cave temples) require two full days minimum - I would stay at Hoi An just for food. Hue requires one full day minim after arrival.

I would say that Angkor also requires two full days minimum, if you want to see and experience it (best way we did - we rented electric bikes to drive around) and just not put checkmark "I've been here" on a map.


Your call.

maverick17

I agree with Invisible about the land transfers in Cambodia. Snooki to SR is a long long day in a bus, not my idea of a good vacation. Especially if you're only going to SR for one day.

But I disagree on length needed for Hoi An and Hue. It would be great if we could all spend as much time as we wanted in places, but we cannot, and you can see plenty of Hoi An in one day, and the same for Hue. His recommendations might be the ideal, and you wouldn't see everything if you go shorter, but they are doable in shorter amounts of time if you accept that you're missing out a little. But he is correct, cannot do both in the same day.

I'd add one more day to the two Cambodia locations, and skip Vietnam for this trip.

Burnsie

Helpful advice, thank you. I'm doing my best to keep my expenses low, so it would come down to the cost of luggage storage combined with an additional flight (since I would have to fly to KUL at the start of the trip) versus the cost of bringing the suitcase with me, which would obviously increase the fares for my internal flights.

As I said in my previous post, on the days where I've listed a flight, I would still hope do something in the morning or evening. I'm not sure how practical that would be, but you're right in saying that it would be inefficient (and unenjoyable) to spend four days dedicated to transit.

Noted, thank you both. I'll investigate a flight between Sihanoukville and Siem Reap.

Sorry, I should have made it clearer that I was thinking of Hoi An or Hue, but not both.

Having spent a bit more time looking into the logistics of a combined Cambodia and Vietnam trip - thanks in no small part to all the great advice and hints in this thread - I'm now (again) leaning towards staying in Cambodia for the entire week. The above posts all suggest that there's plenty to keep me occupied for a week. I'd love to visit Vietnam but I don't want to do it an injustice by rushing around at the end of the week, in an attempt to cram a visit into a couple of days.

Thanks again for all the continued help, it's great being able to call on such a combined wealth of experience when planning a trip like this.

jiejie

I would stay in Cambodia for the entire time--8 days including the international flights is not a lot of time. I'm not aware of any international nonstops going into KOS, and having to connect to get into there is going to eat up a lot of time, so you'd likely want to route this
18th Fly nonstop SIN-PNH and overnight there.
19th Bus Phnom Penh-Sihanoukville (4 hrs on good road, many departures)
21st Flight S'Ville-Siem Reap (Cambodia Air Angkor, check website for promo price)
25 Fly nonstop REP-KUL (Air Asia has good deal now)

I personally would skip S'ville in favor of Kampot, or even Battambang, but if you must have some semblance of beach it's the only real option.