thailand cambodia laos vietnam

[india]

bongerman who answered the question on vietnam you said you had travelled the loop in these counteries I am doing the same in jan feb but only got 6 weeks I not sure about veitnam sounds dangerous in the lonley planet street crime ect do not know whether to do northern thailand or vietnem I am not doing south thailand only doing ankor in cambodia I am a young 50 year old worman ageing hippy travelling alone backpacking on a budget any tips would be appreciated

is there a border crossing between cambodia and laos

Will I need hikking boots for northern thailland will I be able to buy them in chang mi or will a good pair of trainers do

the bank in viantiane or savannakhet laos does it change trevellers cheques or debit cards do not want to carry to much cash about

thanks to anybody who answers this

[rsd2525]

you could get youself a pair of boots in \chaing Mai night market -- not to be missed nor the long necked tribes

[beamer]

I have done this loop and it took me 4 months. It can be done much more quickly, but i can say with some authority that you won't be able to visit all of those countries in six weeks if you are travelling overland (not unless you want to see everything though a bus window).

All of the countries you list above are great and each have their own unique culture. I would think very hard about missing out on Viet Nam. I loved it, and it feel it really has to be experienced.

Banks in both Savannaket and Vientienne change travellers cheques, though I would give Savannaket a miss - it has nothing to offer except a starting point to the wonders of Viet Nam (though that particular bus journey is gruelling to say the least - you have been warned!).

The border crossing between cambodia - laos is open sporadically, though is always dodgy (ie paying hefty backhanders to Khymer border officials), though the "thousand islands" on the Laos side are wonderfull - particulalry Don Det.

[SKCOLL]

We did the trip in about 2 months but missed the beachy part of Thailand as we were there when the Tsunami hit.

Vietnam is fine. As with everywhere there are always some more dangerous parts but the bits that 90% of tourists go to are safe. Almost everyone gets the same bus trip up or down (Ho Chi Minh to Hanoi) for 22-24 dollars.

Tips....In Ho Chi Minh stay at Hotel 64 (in LP and BOOK ahead - they are very popular), if you go to Dalat stay in Dreams hotel. We found the North nicer than the South and our highlight in Vietnam was a 3 day trip (don't do 2 days - too much travelling) to Halong Bay with Handspan where we kayaked for most of day 2, had a silver service style boat and slept on a remote beach camp - most Halong bay tours are about 60-70 dollars, Handspan was just over 90 but worth it.

In Thailand the Long-neck or Karen tribe are lovely - they are the only tribe we encountered that we liked - all the rest were money grabbing opportunists.

We spent time in Kanchanaburi west of Bangkok and loved it - Bridge Over The River Kwai, monkey school, elephant bathing.....

Cheers

Stewart

[bongerman]

I disagree with people who say you couldn't do it in 6 weeks although with that time constraint you can only have 3-4 days in places.

Don't be put off by LP - they can scare anyone if you read all their "dangers and annoyances". I've been round the world and the only place I've had hassle is in London, where I live.

North Vietnam is a highlight although ageing hippies tend to congregate in Vientiane, Vang Vieng and Phnom Penh and beach resorts. If you're going trekking in Northern Thailand I'd take your own boots with you if you don't mind carrying them around but push further North into Chang Rai rather than Chang Mai to find a more interesting off the beaten track trek into the Golden Triangle near the Myanmar border.

As far as I can remember nearly everywhere these days has ATM's (cashpoints) except Laos - where there are places to change travellers cheques.

One of my surreal highlights was doing aerobics with about 50 Laotians as the sun set by the Mekong in Vientiane - brilliant!

Enjoy!