Help needed: Going Vietnam and Cambodia in July 07

[londonray]

Hey guys,
going to Vietnam and Cambodia on 9days trip. right now in the planning stages so very very open to ideas. Want to hear from CSers about these 2 places.

Would a 4/5 split be gd for these 2 countries? In Vietnam, what are some of the nicer places to visit? I have tot of Ho Chim Minh and Halong Bay. Then my friend was telling me about the mekong delta tour.

What would be a nice/cheap/convenient way to move from cambodia to vietnam or vice versa? Coz i understand that aeroplanes dun fly direct from Cambodia to HCM city.

TIA!

 

[AReality]

Halong Bay is a 33 hr train ride + 3 hr van ride away from Ho Chi Minh City.

 

[londonray]

Halong Bay is a 33 hr train ride + 3 hr van ride away from Ho Chi Minh City.

woah... that means i should reconsider going to both places then?

 

[nuts]

For 9 days, suggest doing only 1 country

Otherwise, yup, do HCM, then Mekong Delta tour and exit at Cambodia/PhnomPenh

 

[hwchoy]

woah... that means i should reconsider going to both places then?

Halong Bay is over at Hanoi side, which is more than 1,000 km from HCMC.

 

[eastwest]

I much prefer Hanoi to HCMC and then from Hanoi I would head to the hillstation town of SaPa for the scenery and cool weather. Halong Bay was over-rated in my opinion and not worth the time spent there.

I think it is pushing it to try to cover both countries and you should just concentrate on one. If Cambodia, spend some time in Phnom Penh to visit the recent historical sites (S21, Killing Fields) as well as the markets which are excellent. Then head to Siem Reap for the sites of Angkor Wat etc...You might have time to take in Tonle Sap as well.

 

[londonray]

thanks for the advice guys... but i was just wondering... is it gonna be the rainy monsoon season still during mid july? if so... wouldn't it be better to go slightly later? cheers!

 

[pai]

i didn't like hcmc at all. much preferred hanoi. halong bay is very pretty, but a lot depends on the weather when you get there.

as for cambodia, it depends on what you want to see. if you just want to stay in siem reap and see the angkor wat ruins then 3-4 days is enough, 5 if you want to be leisurely about it.

i've just come back from cambodia - it's very hot and rainy now. still had a lot of fun there though.

hmm one last thing i personally didn't enjoy either my mekong river delta visit (vietnam) or my trip to tonle sap (cambodia, but the lake is also fed by the mekong). the floating village/mkt etc are quite interesting lah, but the whole thing has the feel of a giant tourist trap. once again, depends on what you want to see.