itinerary ideas

Hi guys,

my husband and i fly into KL on the 26th december (5am!!!) and we are gonna do a one month backpacking tour of laos and cambodia. doing it by ourselves, no company. Just wondering.... I%26#39;ve been told to go to chiang rai and slow boat it down the mekong entering at huay xai and continuing to luang prabang. No idea where to from there. We%26#39;ve basically got 12 days in laos and 12 in cambodia. We%26#39;re happy to cut Cambodia back by a couple of days if need be for Laos, as we%26#39;ve seen Siem Reap and so we only want to spend 2 days there, well in on one day and out hte next evening, or thereabouts. We want to see all the %26#39;do not miss%26#39; things in both countries. We want to experience as much culture as possible, and after backpacking SEA a fair bit we%26#39;re all %26#39;wat-ed out%26#39;, but happy to see the ones that are must sees.

We%26#39;ve only just booked flights and havent been able to put much thought into this, and were hoping ot get help from someone who can give us a roundabout itinerary or perhaps even a quick overview of what we need to ensure we see! we%26#39;re also happy for a full on holiday with little relaxation, if need be.

Also, has anyone heard of the 4000 islands in Laos? or something along those lines? I couldnt find it in the LP, but were recommended by my bro who stayed there???

And any guidance on transport throughout?

a lot of questions....apologies, content with answers for any part of this post!

thanks guys, i%26#39;d be lost without tripadvisor! :)

Jo

itinerary ideas

Hey Jo,

My boyfriend and I spent 3 weeks in Laos at the start of the year - you will love it!

I didn%26#39;t get to the river islands down south but i%26#39;ve heard they are really interesting and great for meeting locals.

We actually loved the south way more than the north because there were less tourists and the locals were more friendly.

Places I loved...

1. Hill tribe trek out of savannakhet.

ecotourismlaos.com/activities/dongphouvieng_…

2. Plain of jars in Phonsovan. Jar sites are lovely + interesting villages %26amp; stories about the war.

3. Champasak - the temple is really nice and peaceful adn the town is super laid back. again not many tourists.

4. Tad Fane waterfall - really cool waterfall that you can walk to from tad fane resort. you can also get great coffee here.

We did the 2 day boat trip from huay xai to LP and there is some amazing scenery.. however the boat trip is long and jam packed (7-9hours a day with approx 150 people on the boat). We didn%26#39;t like Huay Xai (watch out for the dogs) and Pak Beng (weird druggy town and no refridgeration during the day - they just switch it on for the tourists so watch what u eat).

Anyway... if you need any more info let me know... now back to my italy research.

itinerary ideas

4000 islands is in the LP under Si Phan Don

Things worth seeing in Laos - Champassak, Si Phan Don, Vientiane, Luang Prabang.

Thorn Tree and Travelfish will be able to give you better and more advice than TA for treking.

I totally agree with the above post. Have a look on Travel Fish- they have suggested itineries. I am sorting out our travel to Laos and Cambodia for May- June next year and the info there has been great.

We are budget travellers too but have splurged a little for a treat in Southern Laos- %26#39;The Vat Phou Cruise%26#39;- a journey that starts and finishes in Pakse. The itinerary on the Mekong visits the majestic UNESCO World Heritage Vat Phou ruins at Champassak, the mysterious Oum Muong ruins at Huei Thamo, the 4,000 Islands with its myriad of waterways, and the Pha Pheng waterfall on the Laos-Cambodia border. After that it%26#39;s back to the budget !! Good luck. Mary

thanks everyone for your replies, they%26#39;ve helped me a lot, I%26#39;m still just conscious that I think I%26#39;m going to go away disappointed that I won%26#39;t have enough time in Laos. But what can you do when you%26#39;re a school teacher and school holidays is the only time you can go, and I want to squish Cambodia in, hmmm.

I%26#39;m definately going to go and check out travel fish now, my husband said he%26#39;d looked at it briefly earlier in our travel discussions, and said that it was great from what he saw and remembers.

Thanks for giving me the name for Si Phan Don, I was going crazy looking for it! sounds great.

No doubt I%26#39;ll have more questions shortly. Not that I%26#39;ve got long - 2 weeks tomorrow...yikes!

Off to more travel planning....

Jo

Hi Jo,

Well looks like you already got a bit of help here, hope I can add something worthwhile for you...

We are off in a week to Laos and Cambodia and I have been planning like crazy so feel free to pick my brains if you like. We only have three weeks and are using 3-4 days for Angkor Wat so have decided to only see Cambodia and Southern Laos and save the north for another trip so I can%26#39;t help you on that area I%26#39;m afraid.

I got the Footprints guide which has a Laos/Cambodia/Vietnam edition, very useful and I find it better than lonely planet as being in my mid 30%26#39;s I don%26#39;t really need to sleep at $5 places / don%26#39;t want to just go to backpackers haunts all the time! Also used Tales of Asia as well as travelfish and LP forum, combining these with TA and just googling stuff gets you everything. One other tip is i looked at a few specialist South-East Asian travel companies, Selective Asia was a good one,and used their sites to build my itinerary. They have a great interactive map and good weather info as well.

Re Laos - You can fly to Pakse on Lao airlines for the southern area, to see Wat Pou, Champasak area where there looks to be lots of outdoorsy stuff to do, walking and kayaking and elephant riding and you can see dolphins at certain times of year. There are a variety of islands but the main touristed ones are Don Khone, Don Det and Don Khong. Don Khong is the largest and has roads and electricity wheras the others do not. I have found some charming places to stay in the area and I hear all good things baout the place.

Cambodia - I heard that Kep and Kampot were the places to see after PP and Siem Reap so that%26#39;s where we are headed. Also Sihanoukville for beaches but boy, that place gets a very bad rep and now I am almost going there just to see if its really as bad as everyone says!

I could go on but if there%26#39;s anything specific please let me know and i will answer the question if i can!

happy planning!

ps. To finish my planning I am also looking for a taxi driver in southern Laos so if anyone reading can help with that please let me know!! cheers

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