Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia trip report 2013

So, we pulled the trigger and booked 2020. However, I promised myself if I were ever to repeat this trip, I'd do it in the Winter. So, we're going Christmas 2020. I remember the difficulty of finding flights in an out of Saigon and Siem Reap. Not looking forward to that! But I'm excited to go back to Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia!
 
We are planning to do this ABD in July 2020 (I can already feel the humidity:) - just wondering if anyone has any flight suggestions? Seems like a minimum of 2 stops is required for the return. We live in Texas so I was consider Qatar Airways one stop to Saigon, but the return still requires a second connection.
 
We are planning to do this ABD in July 2020 (I can already feel the humidity:) - just wondering if anyone has any flight suggestions? Seems like a minimum of 2 stops is required for the return. We live in Texas so I was consider Qatar Airways one stop to Saigon, but the return still requires a second connection.

For our trip in August this is our routing:

IAD->Newark (United)
Newark -> Tokyo (United)
Tokyo -> Singapore (Air Japan) [2 day stopover in Singapore]
Singapore -> Saigon (Scoot)

(we could have gone direct from IAD to Tokyo but the Newark fare with new Premium Plus Economy was about the same price so we opted for that)

Siem Reap -> Singapore (local airline)
Singapore -> San Fran (United)
San Fran -> IAD (United)

I got all but the Singapore to Saigon on the same ticket. The extra leg I booked directly with Scoot, who also arranged my Vietnam visa for me.

The other options were to go through China, which I wasn't excited about, or had crazy long layovers in London.
 
Cousin O., We did the December trip when we went and there is a direct flight from IAH to Tokyo and then we took Vietnam Air to Saigon. From Siem Riep, we flew back to Saigon and then to Tokyo and the IAH. It worked out great, very easy and I got a great price. I would highly recommend especially since you are in Houston. You may have already taken that direct ANA flight to Tokyo. Loved, loved, loved this trip. It is a great one to repeat. The food alone! Also, Christmas in Saigon is a wonderful experience!
 


Cousin O., We did the December trip when we went and there is a direct flight from IAH to Tokyo and then we took Vietnam Air to Saigon. From Siem Riep, we flew back to Saigon and then to Tokyo and the IAH. It worked out great, very easy and I got a great price. I would highly recommend especially since you are in Houston. You may have already taken that direct ANA flight to Tokyo. Loved, loved, loved this trip. It is a great one to repeat. The food alone! Also, Christmas in Saigon is a wonderful experience!

Thanks, that’s really helpful! I have flown that ANA flight to Tokyo. Glad to hear Christmas in Saigon was great. How was the weather in general that time of year?
 
I read ABD prefers the stamp visa instead of loose leaf. How did you get your Vietnam visa: CIBT, in person at embassy or consulate, mail passports to DC embassy, or online with visa on arrival?
 
Thanks, that’s really helpful! I have flown that ANA flight to Tokyo. Glad to hear Christmas in Saigon was great. How was the weather in general that time of year?
Weather was great. It was only hot in Cambodia. Laos was perfect. Saigon was sunny and hot (but not oppressive!). It was a bit rainy in Hoi An but we still could swim, etc. Hanoi was rainy and chilly but lovely. Loved all three countries so much! I think December is really the best time for this trip. I can't imagine the heat in the summer (and I am in Austin!).
 


We were there in December as well and I agree I believe it's the best weather as well as the Vietnamese do over the top holidays. It was quite fun.

I read ABD prefers the stamp visa instead of loose leaf. How did you get your Vietnam visa: CIBT, in person at embassy or consulate, mail passports to DC embassy, or online with visa on arrival?

I paid the money and used CIBT. It was more convenient and the process worked smoothly.
 
I read ABD prefers the stamp visa instead of loose leaf. How did you get your Vietnam visa: CIBT, in person at embassy or consulate, mail passports to DC embassy, or online with visa on arrival?
I just sent mine to the Vietnam embassy. It was scary but we got them back, no problem!
 
I read ABD prefers the stamp visa instead of loose leaf. How did you get your Vietnam visa: CIBT, in person at embassy or consulate, mail passports to DC embassy, or online with visa on arrival?
We just returned from this trip and had a fantastic time!

I don't see why Disney would care what option you used. We did the eVisa (not Visa On Arrival) and it was super easy. Fast and cheap, too.

At one point, our guide stapled our loose leaf visa to one of our passport pages. When I handed my passport to the officer, he saw the stapled page, rolled his eyes and threw his hands up like, "Not this again". There were 4 of us in our group; each went to a different officer, each got a similar response.

Didn't cause any issues, though. We went right through. For us, it was clearly the best option.

I'm going to try to write up a trip report (in between catching up on work, sleep, and scanning through a ton of photos). In the mean time, I am happy to try to answer any questions.
 
I'm going to try to write up a trip report (in between catching up on work, sleep, and scanning through a ton of photos). In the mean time, I am happy to try to answer any questions.
Would be happy to hear about: weather while you were there, packing suggestions, pre and post night recommendations, going back to Angkor Wat for sunrise, luggage advice (carry only vs checkin), any specific guidelines for airport security in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia and rules that are different from US (liquids, etc), did you do an Asia stop over or go straight to Ho Chi Minh City? (Sorry so many questions, thank you!!)
 
Would be happy to hear about: weather while you were there, packing suggestions, pre and post night recommendations, going back to Angkor Wat for sunrise, luggage advice (carry only vs checkin), any specific guidelines for airport security in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia and rules that are different from US (liquids, etc), did you do an Asia stop over or go straight to Ho Chi Minh City? (Sorry so many questions, thank you!!)

Would love to hear about your trip as well... we leave in a week!
 
Would be happy to hear about: weather while you were there, packing suggestions, pre and post night recommendations, going back to Angkor Wat for sunrise, luggage advice (carry only vs checkin), any specific guidelines for airport security in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia and rules that are different from US (liquids, etc), did you do an Asia stop over or go straight to Ho Chi Minh City? (Sorry so many questions, thank you!!)
Happy to help

Let's see if I can break this down into sections

Weather
We had great weather throughout the trip. It was hot and humid everywhere but we avoided rain for the most part. We live in south GA so the heat and humidity wasn't too unusual for us. For much of the trip, the temperatures were pretty much the same between where we were and at home.

There were a few showers, but none really impacted us. We had a few pre-trip days in Hanoi (more detail below). On the first day there, it rained most of the morning. We were going to go to Hoan Kiem Lake and walk around, but we decided to switch it up and go to Hoa Lo prison (even though it was also a part of the Disney trip). We figured it was mostly inside and, since it was an optional part of the ABD, we could skip it then and go something else (we ended up sleeping instead lol).

There was a short afternoon shower in Laos one of the days, but we were walking into a temple when it started and it was over by the time we were ready to leave.

There was a big shower on our last afternoon in Cambodia which moved the farewell dinner inside. We were already back at the hotel when it started, so it didn't impact us. I think most were happy for the air conditioning during the last dinner anyway ;).

Packing
We were prepared for hot and rain. Our first day in Hoi An looked like a great opportunity to do laundry, so we packed enough clothes to get us up to that point, and made sure we would have enough clean after that to take us through the end of the trip. It worked perfectly as ABD arranged a laundry pickup for anyone that wanted it.

We had a bunch of outlet adapters. I think we used them at one hotel. For the most part, all the outlets we ran into accepted the US-style plugs. One of the most useful things we packed was a multi-USB outlet. Between the two of us, we had 2 cameras, 3 phones, 1 power bank, and 1 Apple Watch - so a lot of USB charging. We also had our laptops and could plug them into AC and use their USB ports for more. We also had long USB cords so that we could put the phones next to the bed. Even with long cords this wasn't always possible - many places only had outlets on the other side of the room.

A small luggage scale was also very useful.

Pre and Post Trip
We added some days as a pre-trip and went to Halong Bay and Ninh Binh and loved both.

We landed in Hanoi and spent the night and booked with a Halong Bay cruise company (Indochina Junk) to pick us up early the next morning to take us for an afternoon cruise. We also arranged for them to transfer us to Ninh Binh after the cruise to stay there that night. We worked with Tommy's Service in Ninh Binh to arrange a full day tour of the area. We planned another night there, then Tommy would transfer us back to Hanoi. One more night in Hanoi, then off to HCMC to meet the ABD crew.

Unfortunately, there was a curve ball. There was a typhoon and all Halong Bay cruises were cancelled the day we were supposed to cruise. We didn't learn this until we arrived at the Hanoi hotel around 11PM the night before we were to go to the cruise. Indochina offered us a cruise the following day, but we had already scheduled the tour of Ninh Binh that day.

A few emails to Tommy and Indochina and we were able to rearrange our days. We had a free morning in Hanoi (the day it rained), then Tommy transferred us to Ninh Binh. We did the tour the following day (as previously planned), then Tommy transferred us to Halong the next morning for the cruise. Indochina then brought us back to the hotel in Hanoi.

It sounds a lot more confusing than it was ;). Both Indochina and Tommy were so easy to work with.

We heard others did pre days in Singapore and there were a few that had post days in different areas (Shanghai Disney, Fiji (I think it was Fiji), one added a few days in Siem Reap to see more temples). My parents had an overnight layover in Hong Kong, so they planned a morning tour there.

Angkor Sunrise
We had an early flight out of Siem Reap (11AM) so we didn't do the sunrise. We easily could have but we already had a 37 hour travel day in front of us and didn't want to add any additional time or stress. We heard a bunch of people planning to go, but I think only a small handful actually made it. We heard second hand that they got some great pictures.

Luggage
My wife and I each had a large suitcase, a carry-on, and a backpack. This worked well for us. My parents went with 1 large suitcase, 2 carry-ons, and a backpack and purse. They had a few more issues trying to manage weights and capacity. Neither of us bought many souvenirs, but you will accumulate things throughout the trip even if you don't buy much.

There is a lot of packing/unpacking, weighing, and shifting stuff around. Trying to manage what goes where so that everything makes it through security.

The luggage scale was invaluable. That helped us keep our checked luggage under weight. No one ever weighed our carry-on bags. Good thing, they were over weight most of the trip.

From what I observed, most on the trip didn't have carry-on bags. We saw no major downside of taking them - the only one being you have to drag it around yourself.

Airport Rules
These were very fluid (pun intended). Henry (ABD guide) told us that in Vietnam, you can take liquids, even open, on domestic flights. I think that worked for one flight. After that, they were removing even sealed liquids.

We kept all batteries in our carry-on luggage and never were asked to take them out. Small cameras also never had to be taken out. I think we had to take out laptops/tablets in each location.

My mom had small scissors in her carry-on that were confiscated early on. Mine got confiscated about half-way through the trip, but I don't remember when I moved them from my checked bag to my carry-on (I never intended to move them, but things happen when you a rearranging so often).

My general advice would be:
  • Valuables go in your carry-on bags
    • Keep laptops and tablets somewhere easy to take them out
    • I didn't notice if larger cameras had to be taken out or not. If you have one, I'd probably keep that handy, too.
  • Batteries go in your carry-on bags
  • Large liquids go in checked bags
    • Not 100% sure about smaller liquids. I didn't have any in my carry-on bags.
    • My wife got stopped once for an aerosol can of hair spray. The office took it out, sprayed it in the air and smelled it, then gave it back.
  • If you carry a bottle of water, be prepared to have to give it up. If it gets through, consider it a bonus
  • If there is something you aren't sure of (scissors, umbrellas, etc.), put them in your checked bags
  • Finally, expect different results at each airport and possibly for each person.
Stopover
We added the pre-trip days on our own, so we flew into Hanoi. We connected through Dallas and Tokyo to get there. On the way home, we left from Siem Reap and connected through Guangzhou, LAX, and ATL before getting to our small airport.


Would love to hear about your trip as well... we leave in a week!

You'll probably leave before I get my trip report posted. Heck, you'll probably get back before I post my trip report ;) So feel free to ask any last minute questions.
 
Also - for packing, make sure you bring a few outfits that cover knees and shoulders. We were told they were more strict with females. For men, 'in the general vicinity of the knees' seemed to work fine.

We were not told that we needed to have shoulders and knees covered when we went to the Ho Chi Minh complex in Hanoi. As we were entering, the guard stopped a few of the women who didn't have their shoulders covered. Henry made a quick call and within minutes, someone was there with some t-shirts for the ladies to drape over their shoulders. He said that was the first time they've ever been asked to do that.

While we stood there waiting for the t-shirts to arrive (which, they were there amazingly fast. I have no idea how he handled that so quickly), we saw other women with uncovered shoulders walk right in.

We weren't even able to go into the mausoleum - it was closed for 'repairs' on the body.

In Siem Reap, we were told by the local guide that scarves are no longer acceptable there as shoulder cover because too many people were taking them off once they entered.
 
Wow, thank you so much for the detailed advice! This is very helpful for planning.
How many guests were on your trip?
Any suggestions on shoes? Hiking? Waterproof? Sandals?
For the optional Hoa Lo Prison, it is listed on Day 6 and Day 7 on the itinerary. Did they give you an option to do this on both days? For day 7 when only breakfast is provided, we were hoping to venture out for dinner.
Thank you again for all your help!
 
Wow, thank you so much for the detailed advice! This is very helpful for planning.
How many guests were on your trip?
Any suggestions on shoes? Hiking? Waterproof? Sandals?
For the optional Hoa Lo Prison, it is listed on Day 6 and Day 7 on the itinerary. Did they give you an option to do this on both days? For day 7 when only breakfast is provided, we were hoping to venture out for dinner.
Thank you again for all your help!
If I recall correctly, there were somewhere around 31-33 people on the trip. It wasn't fully booked.

I wore sneakers and my wife wore sandals the whole trip. I packed waterproof shoes in case it rained, but never needed them - but of course, that is hit or miss. There are a few days where it's nice to have shoes that are easy to slip on/off (both days in Laos (temples, rice farm, Kuang Si Falls, etc.) and any flight days in particular).

I don't think hiking shoes would be worth taking. There are a few excursions where you do some stair climbing, but nothing that needed hiking shoes.

Great question about Hoa Lo Prison - that was a typo. There was only 1 day when that was an option (I forget which day, but I think it was the first day in Hanoi). There were a few other typos (I think it had us saying at the Hoi An hotel when we were in Hanoi or something) and things also got moved around. The book was more 'these are things we will do' than it was 'this is when we will do them', if that makes sense.

Henry recommended a good place for dinner in Hanoi. Local food. It was a few blocks from the hotel (away from the lake). I don't remember the name, but the guides always gave us great advice on places to go.

Speaking of, you will have a OYO dinner in Luang Prabang. They take you to the night market then you are on your own. We had picked out a place (local food) in the vicinity and asked the local guide to get us going in the right direction and he was like, "That place is good, but if you are looking for local food, this place is even better."

We took his recommendation and went to Manda De Laos. It's about an 8-10 minute walk from the market and I can't recommend it highly enough. It was maybe the best food we had the whole trip and the setting and service were amazing. A few others on the ABD ended up there, too, and they all said the same thing.

Since it was the off-season, we didn't need reservations. They said during the busy season you might need them. Either way, I'd recommend asking the guide to help make reservations. If nothing else, it would help you get a table closer to the pond - yeah, that's right... there is a lotus pond in the middle of the restaurant.
 
If I recall correctly, there were somewhere around 31-33 people on the trip. It wasn't fully booked.

I wore sneakers and my wife wore sandals the whole trip. I packed waterproof shoes in case it rained, but never needed them - but of course, that is hit or miss. There are a few days where it's nice to have shoes that are easy to slip on/off (both days in Laos (temples, rice farm, Kuang Si Falls, etc.) and any flight days in particular).

I don't think hiking shoes would be worth taking. There are a few excursions where you do some stair climbing, but nothing that needed hiking shoes.

Great question about Hoa Lo Prison - that was a typo. There was only 1 day when that was an option (I forget which day, but I think it was the first day in Hanoi). There were a few other typos (I think it had us saying at the Hoi An hotel when we were in Hanoi or something) and things also got moved around. The book was more 'these are things we will do' than it was 'this is when we will do them', if that makes sense.

Henry recommended a good place for dinner in Hanoi. Local food. It was a few blocks from the hotel (away from the lake). I don't remember the name, but the guides always gave us great advice on places to go.

Speaking of, you will have a OYO dinner in Luang Prabang. They take you to the night market then you are on your own. We had picked out a place (local food) in the vicinity and asked the local guide to get us going in the right direction and he was like, "That place is good, but if you are looking for local food, this place is even better."

We took his recommendation and went to Manda De Laos. It's about an 8-10 minute walk from the market and I can't recommend it highly enough. It was maybe the best food we had the whole trip and the setting and service were amazing. A few others on the ABD ended up there, too, and they all said the same thing.

Since it was the off-season, we didn't need reservations. They said during the busy season you might need them. Either way, I'd recommend asking the guide to help make reservations. If nothing else, it would help you get a table closer to the pond - yeah, that's right... there is a lotus pond in the middle of the restaurant.

On the day you fly to Luang Prabang, it says on your own after checking into the hotel. Any recollection on approx what time that was? Thanks for the info!
 
Great question about Hoa Lo Prison - that was a typo. There was only 1 day when that was an option (I forget which day, but I think it was the first day in Hanoi). There were a few other typos (I think it had us saying at the Hoi An hotel when we were in Hanoi or something) and things also got moved around. The book was more 'these are things we will do' than it was 'this is when we will do them', if that makes sense.

Thanks for this update, I was also wondering about that. My daughter is trying to connect with a friend from school in Hanoi and we are trying to figure out when there will be free time to meet up with her. It looked from the itinerary that either of those mornings would work if we opt out of the hotel visit?
 

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