I typed this up because the women in my pottery class, Diane and Christine, asked for it:-
Thailand
Phuket/Phang Nga
Phuket is the main area, with the more remote and expensive area of Phang Nga to the North. The main beach area, filled with backpackers, restaurants, bars and chaos, is Patong Beach. The nicer beaches are Karon Beach and Kata Beach. Tours brings you see James Bond island (where a scene from James Bond was shot in the '70s) and Phi-Phi island. Many opportunities for low-end shopping around.
Koh Samui
There is also another beach spot known as Koh Samui. I personally have not been here and don't know much about it.
Bangkok
Bangkok is massive, jammed, and a very chaotic city. It however, is a huge tourist hub. There is the Royal Palace, very nice and shiny, with the Vimanmek Mansion where the old Kings resided. There are lots of Buddhist temples here, if that's your sort of thing. There's Chatuchak market on the weekends, and Patpong night market for shopping. Bangkok is a launching off point for the floating market tours (tourist trap), the tiger temple (tame tigers, I wanted to see that but had no time), snake show, the River Kwai (of WW2 fame). You can ride elephants too if you want, but I think Phuket/Luang Prabang is a better place for that sort of thing.
Hua Hin to the North is apparently a nice beach about 1 hour away from Bangkok.
Laos
Luang Prabang
Luang Prabang was a little disappointing. It used to be the old capital, and there are lots of Buddhist temples around, in various unrestored states. The most famous/pretty is Vat Xieng Toung. All the temples cost about 2-3USD per person to go in, quite a rip off. There is also the old Royal Palace, which is worth looking around in. Then there's the morning alms ceremony where the monks walk large parts of the old town at 6am to receive alms. There is a Hmong market during peak season and a night market.
There are tours to the Pak Ou Caves and Kuang Si waterfalls. We didn't see the falls, but saw the caves. The caves were just caves with lots of bought buddha statues in them. There was also a whiskey village, were you can see one man brewing whiskey in a metal drum. He then puts weird stuff like snakes and various insects in them.
You can take elephant mahout courses there for a few days. That seemed interesting, but expensive.
Vientiane
There was not much to see or do in Vientiane. There are some nice Buddhist temples, but not much beyond that. There is also That Luang, a massive gold stupa. But it's just a large stupa that is gold.
Cambodia (visited Nov 2008)
Siem Reap
I loved Siem Reap. Home of the Angkor Wat, it is also nicely located nearby the Tonle Sap/floating villages. The town has a nice half rustic half touristy feel. There are night markets and handicraft markets. It's a fairly relaxed place. Lots of cheap silk the last time I was there.
Vietnam (visited Sept 2010)
Hanoi
Hanoi was very busy and hot. My family and I didn't like it, so we left for an overnight cruise in Halong Bay instead. There are the usual lot of cultural and military museums here, along with the infamous Hanoi Hilton where prisoners-of-war were kept during the Vietnam War. There is also the French Quarter with the old remnants of French architecture.
Halong Bay
Halong Bay is definitely worth going to. You can book a tour from Hanoi. They drive you to Halong Bay itself, which is about 3-4 hours away from Hanoi, one way. Halong Bay is essentially a bay filed with hundreds of limestone mountains, and is very scenic. A cruise brings you around the area, and lets you off to enter some of the tourist caves. The highlight of the trip is watching the sun set over the limestone mountains.
Hoi An
The nearest airport to Hoi An is Danang, where Silkair flies directly. Alternatively, Jetstar operates flights there, but require transiting through Ho Chi Minh airport. Hoi An is definitely worth going to.
The main attractions of Hoi An are threefold:- 1) My Son: old ruined Hindu temples built more than a thousand years ago by the ancient Champa kingdom. It's the Vietnamese version of the Angkor Wat. 2) Hoi An itself: the whole town is an UNESCO world heritage site, with impressive architecture built by the old Chinese immigrant settlers. 3) Tailoring:- good tailoring is very cheap in Hoi An, and there are many tailors there. I got a nice silk lined pencil dress for USD50 from Phuong Huy (http://phuonghuysilk.com/index.html). Some of the tailors can be a bit suspect though, with shoddy handwork/fitting. I've seen other customers bring pictures of runway outfits for the tailors to copy. Alternatively, there is also a beach nearby Hoi An itself, but I didn't get the chance to go there.
Hue
Hue was the location of the old Imperial City. However the Imperial City itself was damaged by multiple wars and fires, so the main structure is gone. Still the unburned parts are quite impressive. There is also the Thien Mu Pagoda and cruises down the Perfume River. Hue is also the launching off point for DMZ/Vietnam War tours, if you're into that sort of thing.
Hue is about a 2-3 hour coach ride from Hoi An (to the North). You can easily book passage from the tour agents in Hoi An.
Sapa (visited Sept 2011)
Sapa is very off the beaten track. It's about a 9 hour train ride from Hanoi (overnight sleeper). However if you're into trekking/seeing minorities, then it is very worth it. Sapa itself is just a launching off point, and you need to trek out of it to see the minorities. Cat Cat is supposedly a Hmong village, but it's really now a huge tourist trap. Instead, Ta Van is an authentic and easy to walk village. There are also special markets to see on certain days like Sunday and Tuesday, but I didn't get the chance to see them. Seeing all the minorities was very interesting, especially since they still largely preserve their traditional ways of dressing and living, except the one about the women learning English and obsessively following tourists around.
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I'll post about my trip soon.
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