Traveling to Phillipines, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos

[bugsy]

If you're in Ho Chi Minh area, a town called Mui Ne is not that far north along the coast, and, at least back in 2003, found it to be a really worthwhile chilled out beach town. At that time, it wasn't too crowded either. Careful if you're there around TeT though. The locals are friendly to the point where, a brief conversation leads to shirt trading and drink quaffing, and the potential exists for your Honda Dream (scooter) ride back to your hut to turn into disaster (or an impossibility).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mui_Ne

[Kybosh]

The Krabi province in Thailand is an excellent place to decompress for a week or so. Bonus if you want to do some rock climbing while there. Koh Samui is really touristy and I would give it a pass compared to other islands. Koh Phi Phi is also really touristy and I might recommend the other islands around there instead.

Also, you'll want to pay attention to the news while you're there. There are somewhat frequent border disputes between Thailand/Cambodia and Thailand/Malaysia. Sometimes overland travel is more difficult because of this and you might want to fly to avoid the hastle. I found flights to be decently priced though. Lots of discount options.

[return to the red]

Thailand - Koh Phi Phi for rest and relaxation, beautiful beach (see what I did there) and awesome snorkelling. Haven't been there since just before the tsunami so things may have changed.

- Koh Phangan, full moon party obviously

- you gotta check out some of the "shows" in Bangkok, you have to see it to believe it, such crazy shiat.

[GomerPile]

Originally Posted by Kybosh

Also, you'll want to pay attention to the news while you're there. There are somewhat frequent border disputes between Thailand/Cambodia and Thailand/Malaysia. Sometimes overland travel is more difficult because of this and you might want to fly to avoid the hastle. I found flights to be decently priced though. Lots of discount options.

Definatley agree on the flying part. We flew about half the time for major hauls. We were burned bad once on a 15 hour bus ride, that ended up being 35hrs. Plus the border crossing scams don't happen at airports. If you can fit it in your budget, fly.

[GirlySports]

Originally Posted by bugsy

If you're in Ho Chi Minh area, a town called Mui Ne is not that far north along the coast, and, at least back in 2003, found it to be a really worthwhile chilled out beach town. At that time, it wasn't too crowded either. Careful if you're there around TeT though. The locals are friendly to the point where, a brief conversation leads to shirt trading and drink quaffing, and the potential exists for your Honda Dream (scooter) ride back to your hut to turn into disaster (or an impossibility).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mui_Ne

Yes I agree. Ho Chi Minh City go north to Mui Ne and Phan Thiet and eventually to Nha Trang.

That's over 24 hours right there. I wouldn't go much further north than Nha Trang. There's nothing in Hue and nothing in the north worth seeing.

I would instead go South of Ho Chi Minh City to the Mekong Delta. Places like Can Tho in the south and Ha Tien on the West Coast. If you have some more time, you can fly or ferry out to Phu Quoc Island.

[bugsy]

In Ho Chi Minh, couldn't help but, as often as possible, just grab one of those ever-present red plastic stools, just park up on a street corner and behold the unfathomable chaos that was Vietnam traffic (and that's after having lived in Taiwan for a few years prior).

Also probably goes without saying, probably good to have a plan in terms of accomodation, etc, before you get there. You'll get hustled from here til next thursday by dudes who are part of a network that see their buddies right (a cyclo driver here, a hotel owner there, etc). Plus, when you exchange currency, you get handed hundreds of thousands of "dong" (currency). It can all be pretty baffling and the hawks just love to circle.

Try speaking French to a local in Ho Chi Minh if you can throw some around. Many locals can speak better french than english.

Enjoy the best coffee in the world: Vietnamese coffee. Hot or cold. That #### is life changing.

Have Pho at Pho Binh restaurant, a one-time Viet Cong front who served noodles to the enemy and gathered intelligence. Also, damn good Pho.

http://www.time.com/time/travel/arti...029390,00.html

[Nammer403]

Here are some of my tips I learned from family there and when I went to Vietnam (Saigon & Nha Trang)
-In ho chi minh stick with the franchise taxi companies
-Do not give money to the beggers or you will see them follow you around in places you go even if they are kids begging for money
- Tipping is not required to the roundest 10,000 is fine
- Go exchange your money in a jewelry store I found you get a better rate
- When crossing the street walk slow let the bikes/cars move around you you dont bother moving or you will get hurt
- Barganing is a must when dealing with the street vendors

- If you go to the ben thanh market at night you can experience a lot of the food in one area.
- if you get tired of the hustle and bustle of the noise in the city go to Nha Trang or Vung Tau for relaxing beach location
- Sugar Cane Juice and Ice Coffee is a must!
Ill post more later when I can think of it

[bugsy]

Originally Posted by GirlySports

There's nothing in Hue and nothing in the north worth seeing.

I'd always wished I'd been able to take a motorbike/scooter all the way up the coast. You sure there's nothing worth seeing up in Hanoi area, etc, or did I misread?

[KOgear]

When we went to thailand, changmai was a highglight of our trip. We booked a hill tribe tour through our hotel and it was awesome. Had a moderately challenging hike up to the top of the "hill" where this tribe was. Had dinner which they provided and slept in the bamboo houses they live in. Woke up and showed with rain water in buckets haha, no electricity or running water which was freaking cold as hell.

Took a wander int he morning and I guess we were up so high that it seemed you were looking down on cloud formations, which was rpetty cool feeling.

Then the rest of the way down we white water rafted, rode elephants, hit up a water fall, and bamboo rafted the way back.

I would highly recommend checking out changmai if your into hiking and nature.

[afc wimbledon]

Originally Posted by Nammer403

Here are some of my tips I learned from family there and when I went to Vietnam (Saigon & Nha Trang)
-In ho chi minh stick with the franchise taxi companies
-Do not give money to the beggers or you will see them follow you around in places you go even if they are kids begging for money
- Tipping is not required to the roundest 10,000 is fine
- Go exchange your money in a jewelry store I found you get a better rate
- When crossing the street walk slow let the bikes/cars move around you you dont bother moving or you will get hurt
- Barganing is a must when dealing with the street vendors

My ex wife always took this veiw when we went to Mexico, it would always piss me off she would try and get some useless peice of cheap crap for 50 cents instead of a dollar off some poor ####### that lived on less money in a year than I would spend on a few weeks booze and videos.

In the end I don't want to get the absoloute cheapest price I can off someone who lives from hand to mouth, I am blest to be a Canadian.

[Zevo]

Originally Posted by moncton golden flames

disgusting and want no part of that kind of stuff.

That's good...I couldn't figure out how to put a youtube video in green text.

[Mr.Coffee]

Originally Posted by GirlySports

Yes I agree. Ho Chi Minh City go north to Mui Ne and Phan Thiet and eventually to Nha Trang.

That's over 24 hours right there. I wouldn't go much further north than Nha Trang. There's nothing in Hue and nothing in the north worth seeing.

I would instead go South of Ho Chi Minh City to the Mekong Delta. Places like Can Tho in the south and Ha Tien on the West Coast. If you have some more time, you can fly or ferry out to Phu Quoc Island.

Nothing in the north worth seeing? What?

Hanoi is a good experience, I liked it, however I could see how it's not for everyone. I liked it because it was cool to see the dichotomy vs. the westernized south of the country. More importantly, world heritage sight Ha Long Bay is ####ing amazing, and you can hop on a luxury boat and stay overnight in the bay, plus cruise through the National heritage site caves that rim the coast and are truly spectacular. Ha Long Bay was one of the most beautiful places I've ever seen...

http://www.google.ca/search?hl=en&q=...KaqmiQKN4YDwBA

Also in north Vietnam is the town Sapa, which is about 20 km from the China / Vietnam border, and is a pretty cool little town to cruise around and check out life in the north, plus the rice patty fields. You can access by train from Hanoi.

Secondly, if you're headed to Laos, first of all excellent call. The place is also incredible. If you're going to be in Vientienne, you'll be close enough to the Gibbon Experience, which was created to help preserve the jungle in northern Laos, and is along the Thai / Laos border. It's a little expensive but 100% worth it... guaranteed.

http://www.gibbonexperience.org/

You live in tree houses for 2-3 days and fly around the tops of the jungle in massive zip lines, some of the biggest in the world. Access is sometime tricky and you'll need to hike in, but if you're the adventurous type I recommend this 100%, and you'll likely meet some great people too in the hut. You can also access this from Chang Mai in the north of Thailand, they'll take you there if you want to line that up.

[bugsy]

Originally Posted by afc wimbledon

My ex wife always took this veiw when we went to Mexico, it would always piss me off she would try and get some useless peice of cheap crap for 50 cents instead of a dollar off some poor ####### that lived on less money in a year than I would spend on a few weeks booze and videos.

In the end I don't want to get the absoloute cheapest price I can off someone who lives from hand to mouth, I am blest to be a Canadian.

Sure you're 'blessed', but maybe it's worth considering the nature of bargaining in a broader range of countries, especially asia, where among locals it is "a strong cultural tradition...and participating in that tradition can make foreigners feel accepted".

In short, that's how they roll. Was in that region long enough to absorb that (not that I wasn't woefully ####ty at it).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bargaining

[Mr.Coffee]

also regarding the bazooka-ing the cow... you can go to the gun range and not take part in that. Unless of course your objection is to the entire enterprise in general in which case, fair enough.

When we went, it was in Cambodia, and we were handed a menu. Weapons on one side, animals on the other. You can just order a gun (we did an AK-47) and just shoot into a dirt hill if you want. You don't have to go kill a bunch of defenceless chickens or pigs. We had fun doing it.

Oh yeah and if you're offered to go "F-1 driving"... it is not actually an F1 car. No surprises there, I just always thought it was funny. It's just go karting.

[moncton golden flames]

Originally Posted by Mr.Coffee

also regarding the bazooka-ing the cow... you can go to the gun range and not take part in that. Unless of course your objection is to the entire enterprise in general in which case, fair enough.

When we went, it was in Cambodia, and we were handed a menu. Weapons on one side, animals on the other. You can just order a gun (we did an AK-47) and just shoot into a dirt hill if you want. You don't have to go kill a bunch of defenceless chickens or pigs. We had fun doing it.

Oh yeah and if you're offered to go "F-1 driving"... it is not actually an F1 car. No surprises there, I just always thought it was funny. It's just go karting.

thanks for the heads up, but i would not support anybody who offers animal killing just so you can try out a particular type of gun.

[normtwofinger]

Some of the best snorkeling I've seen is in and around Nha Trang. There is not a huge amount of fish, but the coral life is amazing. Just watch out for that town, crawling with petty theft.

[GirlySports]

Originally Posted by Mr.Coffee

Nothing in the north worth seeing? What?

Hanoi is a good experience, I liked it, however I could see how it's not for everyone. I liked it because it was cool to see the dichotomy vs. the westernized south of the country. More importantly, world heritage sight Ha Long Bay is ####ing amazing, and you can hop on a luxury boat and stay overnight in the bay, plus cruise through the National heritage site caves that rim the coast and are truly spectacular. Ha Long Bay was one of the most beautiful places I've ever seen...

http://www.google.ca/search?hl=en&q=...KaqmiQKN4YDwBA

Also in north Vietnam is the town Sapa, which is about 20 km from the China / Vietnam border, and is a pretty cool little town to cruise around and check out life in the north, plus the rice patty fields. You can access by train from Hanoi.

Secondly, if you're headed to Laos, first of all excellent call. The place is also incredible. If you're going to be in Vientienne, you'll be close enough to the Gibbon Experience, which was created to help preserve the jungle in northern Laos, and is along the Thai / Laos border. It's a little expensive but 100% worth it... guaranteed.

http://www.gibbonexperience.org/

You live in tree houses for 2-3 days and fly around the tops of the jungle in massive zip lines, some of the biggest in the world. Access is sometime tricky and you'll need to hike in, but if you're the adventurous type I recommend this 100%, and you'll likely meet some great people too in the hut. You can also access this from Chang Mai in the north of Thailand, they'll take you there if you want to line that up.

He said he didn't want touristy places. Ha Long Bay and Sapa are as touristy as it gets. Plus there are so many vendors and beggers at Ha Long Bay, they just get in the way of me enjoying the scenery.

Your Laos and Thailand suggestions are excellent. I loved Chiang Mai. But I found nothing in Hanoi, it was dirty, backwards and the food sucked. Maybe I'm just a diva. The south is so much better.

[Phanuthier]

I was in Thailand last year... saw a lot of the sites, but if you are scuba certified...... scuba diving def the best part of my trip.

Krabi was the most beautiful place I have ever been to. We stayed at Railey, but unless you climb, its a bit of a pain in the ass to get to with little benefit.

[normtwofinger]

Agreed. North Vietnam is not worth it. Stick to the south. It still feels like 2 different countries.

[drewboy12]

Pm'd you.