Intrepid - Thailand/Cambodia/Vietnam/Laos

[JonnyBloo]

Hey everyone

Well ive narrowed down my next trip to 2 options, both completely different so ive put 2 posts out there.

In short, i want 6-8 weeks, Feb/March 08, somewhere with lots to do.

My second option is to do an Intrepid trip, something like the Indochina encompassed trip (http://www.intrepidtravel.com/trips/KRD)

Does anyone have any experience of these Intrepid trips ? The schedule looks pretty busy so i was wondering if 40 days is log enough to see these places or whether its better to just concentrate on one place ? (The itinerary is copied to the bottom)

Im not the most travel savvy of people (ive done NZ and a week in Oz by myself) so im assumimg a trip like this would be pretty suitable as your in a group and there is a leader who knows what there doing. I know that isnt suitable for everyone but probably better for me

If anyone has any experience of these trips or these countries and can offer ANY advice then that would be really appeciated as im trying to decide between this and a Trek America trip

Thankyou everyone !
Day 1- Bangkok
Days 2-4 Siem Reap

Day 5 Kompong Cham

Day 6 Takeo Homestay

Days 7-9 Sihanoukville

Days 10-11 Phnom Penh

Days 12-15 Ho Chi Minh City

Days 16-17 Nha Trang

Days 18-20 Hoi An

Days 21-23 Hue

Day 24 Hanoi

Day 25 Halong Bay

Days 26-27 Hanoi

Days 28-29 Vientiane

Days 30-31 Vang Vieng

Days 32-34 Luang Prabang

Days 35-36 Mekong River

Days 37-38 Bangkok

[Esterina]

I love the itinerary, but it is in my sense too tight ! What is missing in the schedule is the travel time between cities and countries, which, if you do it by land, takes forever ! When you read a two-day stay in a city, it is in reality only 1 1/2 because you need to hop on a bus and change place.

I understand this is different because you're with a group and everything is organised, but still, the schedule is unrealistic timewise, you'll be out of breath and above all, you'll end up seeing very little whilst trying to see all... do I make sense ?

S.E.A. deserves "better treatmen" if I may...

If you feel unsure about traveling alone there, Thailand and Vietnam would be a good start because they are fairly easy to go by, and most people speak english pretty well. Laos and Cambodia are more difficult, but you could include them later in your itinerary.

I loved Laos by the way.

Keep us informed of your decisions !

[marc873]

I like your itinerary too!!! But it is wayyyyyy to fast. You are only giving yourself an arrival day, plus one day per city. I would try to slow it down some. But I'm super jealous either way