Side trip to Cambodia and/or Laos from Thailand

[thongd4me 69]

On this trip we will be bringing a friend who is an experienced traveler

(she just went to China for a month a few months back).

I have never been to Angkor Wat or similar destinations in Laos and

would like to know if anyone out there knows a good tour operator or

just a good company that we can get transportation to either of those

locations from Thailand.

My wife has always been excellent picking local transportation, etc.

but I just thought I'd gather some other options as well, as it just

won't be the two of us on this trip.

I know things have been and may continue to be tense between

Cambodia & Thailand but I figured this summer (August) will be

a good a time as any.

My idea is to fly from Bangkok but has anyone had a good experience

doing it overland?

[Casprd 167]

For Angkor Wat, the best bet is to fly to Siem Reap and then from any hotel, you can get a tuk tuk to take you to Angkor Wat and do the tour by elephant or by foot. You can also get there normally by bus, but it will be a long trip from Bangkok. IMO better to do it in stages if you go that way. If you want to go with an organized tour, the best prices will be by waiting until you get to Siem Reap and booking with a local tour. In August it is going to be hot and humid so be prepared.

[ThaitoUSA 15]

Been to Angkor and Lao twice each. Always did it independently. Road trip between the boarder and Siam Reap can now be done in record time; less than three hours compared to 5+ when large stretches were unpaved. Poverty and scamming are quite widespread in both countries, so be prepared.

Message me if you have any questions or want to know about some cool digs.

[DaveTX 2]

We flew from Bangkok. It's fast and convenient, and not too pricey.

The hotel we stayed at (arranged through www.angkorhotels.org) arranged a private, reasonably english-speaking, guide and driver for something like $25/day all-in.

Be prepared to be followed around periodically by children screaming "1dollar1dollar1dollar1dollar" and aggressive and abusive sellers of tourist stuff inside Angkor Wat. Polite and firm "no" did not work, you really have to scream at them to get them to stop. No one really bothered us anywhere else. Most people assumed my wife was cambodian and ignored here which pissed her off (the being mistaken for cambodian part, not the being ignore part).

We're planning on a side trip to Luang Prabang whenever we go to Thailand next.

[thongd4me 69]

For Angkor Wat, the best bet is to fly to Siem Reap and then from any hotel, you can get a tuk tuk to take you to Angkor Wat and do the tour by elephant or by foot. You can also get there normally by bus, but it will be a long trip from Bangkok. IMO better to do it in stages if you go that way. If you want to go with an organized tour, the best prices will be by waiting until you get to Siem Reap and booking with a local tour. In August it is going to be hot and humid so be prepared.

Thanks; it's been our experience also to book locally.

Been to Angkor and Lao twice each. Always did it independently. Road trip between the boarder and Siam Reap can now be done in record time; less than three hours compared to 5+ when large stretches were unpaved. Poverty and scamming are quite widespread in both countries, so be prepared.

Message me if you have any questions or want to know about some cool digs.

Much obliged; will do; I'm on a short leash today as I'm trying to go between a retirement seminar & things that MUST be

taken care of at work.

[thongd4me 69]

We flew from Bangkok. It's fast and convenient, and not too pricey.

The hotel we stayed at (arranged through www.angkorhotels.org) arranged a private, reasonably english-speaking, guide and driver for something like $25/day all-in.

Be prepared to be followed around periodically by children screaming "1dollar1dollar1dollar1dollar" and aggressive and abusive sellers of tourist stuff inside Angkor Wat. Polite and firm "no" did not work, you really have to scream at them to get them to stop. No one really bothered us anywhere else. Most people assumed my wife was cambodian and ignored here which pissed her off (the being mistaken for cambodian part, not the being ignore part).

We're planning on a side trip to Luang Prabang whenever we go to Thailand next.

Thanks; I know the feeling about being followed by kids as I've been in developing countries since 40 years ago.

My wife, however would enforce the "Thai Style" rule about me losing my cool in any situation

[DaveTX 2]

Thanks; I know the feeling about being followed by kids as I've been in developing countries since 40 years ago.

My wife, however would enforce the "Thai Style" rule about me losing my cool in any situation

Haha.. didn't really annoy me. I can repeat "nothankyounothankyou" and keep walking without much effort. My wife was telling me to scream at them! She must have missed the day they taught "Thai Style"

[thongd4me 69]

Haha.. didn't really annoy me. I can repeat "nothankyounothankyou" and keep walking without much effort. My wife was telling me to scream at them! She must have missed the day they taught "Thai Style"

That brings to mind almost 40 years ago when I was in the Peace Corps doing smallpox vaccination in Ethiopia.

I was walking down the street of a provincial capital with 2 Japanese friends who were JOCV (Japanese Overseas Cooperation Volunteers) as well as my house mates.

The street boys cried after me, CIA!, CIA! and I just shrugged it off.

They got no reaction, so they started to work on my Japanese friends:

"China! China!"

One of my Japanese friends turned around angrily,

"No we are Japan!"

Then the boys started shouting: "Japanese Imperialist Running Dogs!"

My friend turned to me:

"It was better when we were China..."

[thongd4me 69]

Anything to add about a side trip to Vietnam?

Myanmar is difficult to convince (some) Thais to visit, so that will require more work;

Malaysia and Indonesia are on my to-do list but probably

a few years down the road.

Vietnam is higher on my interest list,

but Cambodia & Laos are closer and our visit

to Thailand will be under a month.

[anya-D 8]

We took the train from BKK to Aranyapratet province, cross boarder there then take the taxi to Siam Reap… the road was unpaved and they could only drive 20-30 mph.. but the taxi was still faster than the bus! Then from Siam Reap we took the boat to Phnom Penh then a bus to Vietnam. Stayed at Nha Trang (rented motorcycle and ride around) then flew back to BKK.

We almost got in trouble once we got out of the bus in Phnom Penh as we didn't have a real plan and around 20+ taxi drivers surrounded and grabbed us, wanted us to pick them.. that was very scary. We should've told them we have an arrangement (other people did and they left them alone)

By the way, the food was awful. I can eat anything but it's just tasteless or plain or salty. I think the best we had was on the beach in Vietnam, a lady with basket came to us selling lobster. She cooked it right there. Oh and I forgot the food at the market in Phnom Penh that was not bad (grilled chicken and stuff, how could you go wrong, right?).

I was mistaken as Cambodian in Cambodia and Vietnamese in Vietnam as they refused to speak to me in English and continue to speak to me in their language. I just politely said I'm sorry I don't understand you then they asked where I'm from.

Edited May 4, 2011 by anya-D

[thongd4me 69]

We took the train from BKK to Aranyapratet province, cross boarder there then take the taxi to Siam Reap… the road was unpaved and they could only drive 20-30 mph.. but the taxi was still faster than the bus! Then from Siam Reap we took the boat to Phnom Penh then a bus to Vietnam. Stayed at Nha Trang (rented motorcycle and ride around) then flew back to BKK.

We almost got in trouble once we got out of the bus in Phnom Penh as we didn't have a real plan and around 20+ taxi drivers surrounded and grabbed us, wanted us to pick them.. that was very scary. We should've told them we have an arrangement (other people did and they left them alone)

By the way, the food was awful. I can eat anything but it's just tasteless or plain or salty. I think the best we had was on the beach in Vietnam, a lady with basket came to us selling lobster. She cooked it right there. Oh and I forgot the food at the market in Phnom Penh – that was not bad (grilled chicken and stuff, how could you go wrong, right?).

I was mistaken as Cambodian in Cambodia and Vietnamese in Vietnam as they refused to speak to me in English and continue to speak to me in their language. I just politely said I'm sorry I don't understand you then they asked where I'm from.

Thanks for the input Anya

40 years ago when I was doing smallpox vaccination in rural Ethiopia,

I was often mistaken for Italian because there were some cases where

after WWII, Italian soldiers would hook up with Ethiopian women and

marry them and remain in the community doing jobs like auto mechanic

or electrician. I was surprised to see a few small towns with electric lights

when bigger towns had none; the reason was often an Italian electrician

who knew how to acquire & maintain a gas-powered generator.

Similarly you might also find French and Americans living in Vietnam.

[thongd4me 69]

We have pretty much decided tentatively to do a side trip to Viet Nam for 6-7 days.

We will be a group of 6 so it may be best to get a package tour and then on future

visits just go around as we like.

That will be sometime late August or early Sept.