Went to both a month ago, was my second time going to Cambodia. You're going to have an awesome time. I don't do mainstream stuff, I just generally like to enjoy the food, talk to locals and non-locals, visit unique natural areas, etc. I'm not sure if that really suits your preferences. Cambodia: People are genuinely nice. Not the "I want your money" nice. It's more like there are tons of people who have not made much contact with foreigners and not visited other countries. They want to learn. They have a real humility about them. There will always be street vendors and that kind of stuff who just want to sell you something, but you'll be surprised how few of them there are. I'll leave out Angkor Wat and Killing fields type stuff cause those are pretty obvious. I didn't really explore the killing fields, I preferred to talk to people about it. It was just too confusing to me why I'd visit a place where mass murder happened but was now full of tourists and guides trying to make a buck who are not necessarily experts at the history. Also, Pub Street is like the heart of town where almost all the drinking and nightlife happens. Tuk Tuks are how you get around. Or you rent a bike. Everything else is a luxury. 1) Psar Chaa (aka old market), Siem Reap is some kind of time travel. They love banter, but they won't pander. Don't mistake their tough appearance for rudeness, these people are always imminently about to bust out a smile. Cambodians in general have some incredible ability to be courteous and understanding. Fish, meat, chicken, vegetables, fruits, trinkets. All the smells unpleasantly mixed together. Not for someone with a weak stomach. But such an experience, you will laugh at how random this place is. 2) Tonle Sap, Siem Reap. You're going to drive away from Siem for about 45 minutes. Then you're going to have to get on a truck (or hang on the side of it if it's full) and drive over some rugged terrain before getting to the village. Get a boat and have someone show you around and explore. There's nothing really worth buying here, but just seeing the ecosystem exist is amazing. We asked an old lady to take us around, and she was signing Cambodian music while rowing all around and then into a lagoon with big trees. She had some tea. We tried to converse and she was friendly, but the people in this area don't need to learn English so mostly they don't. This was very memorable for me. 3) Kravanh Mountains, Koh Kong. Koh Kong in general is one of the most beautiful places on the planet. I love forests so this area was awesome. It is not necessarily safe for families, there is real untouched wildlife here. You might think you're living in some sort of animation when you're here, it's that visually stunning. 4) Yeak Loam lake, it's in the North East right next to Vietnam. the picture says it all. It's not easy to get to, you need to really want to go to that particular place. Families go there for kids to swim. Some tourists come too but mostly Chinese tourists for some reason, don't know if it's significant. The area is not necessarily the most beautiful, it's just a beautiful lake with a very good vibe. 5) In terms of food, if you let me know what kind of food you'd be most interested I am pretty much an expert with that. Local eateries or upscale foreign owned joints or restaurants that work with the community, anything. 6) If you're into the beach life, I sadly didn't get a chance to go but Sihanoukville is an underpopulated beautiful beach with great vibes. Beautiful water, beautiful sand, jungle right behind you. I'm planning to head there later this year. IMO Siem Reap is far superior to Phnom Penh. With the time you have, I would visit Phnom for 2-3 days. If you were on a short trip I'd advise you not to even bother. Phnom, other than the couple of temples, is the business-boring part of Cambodia. Oh, in the Cambodian airport, they might try to get extra bucks out of you at passport control. Act like you don't understand and just smile. My brother got visibly frustrated with them, they strip searched him and held him for questioning for 2 hours. I have no idea if it's a usual occurrence but just something to keep in mind. I'm a veteran of lawless countries, acting stupid goes a long way and saves you the headache. Vietnam: I only went to Ho Chi Minh to production manage a travel series. I can tell you where to eat upscale food and where to party, that's about it. Let me know if you're interested in that. I'm a huge coffee lover so if you like coffee, HCM is HEAVEN. The theater is beautiful and active among locals and tourists if you're into it. To get around, the youngn's use Ubermoto - which is uber with a small motorcycle. Super cheap, very useful to get around traffic. You can use uber black and uber selekt too also very very reasonably priced but your chances of getting a driver who is adept at using GPS is like 20%. Other than that you can take the white taxis with the green stripes, those are the official ones and they have a meter and if you live in Europe or North America you will find them very cheap and reliable. If you are into partying hard or generally being a crazy traveller, always keep a $20 (for small infractions) and $50 (for big problems) bill in your pocket to pay your way out of trouble. If you're good at this, you can almost always get away with something for maximum $20. A lot of times cops will stop you for what the locals call "beer money". They want to find something to irritate you with, to make a few bucks to have a beer later with their buddies. Don't be hostile obviously. I was supervising a bunch of horny, drunk, high males so this advice came in handy. Obviously, in general, be as respectful as you would be where you live. Don't trust the drugs, laced and fake drugs all over the place, you should know what you're doing. If you want to stay out late, there is a time (around 3am) when all bars/clubs close. At this point everyone heads to one particular street where things stay crazy till almost sunrise. Can't remember the name, you can literally ask anyone though for the street with all the bars that stays open very late. Theft is a big problem in Vietnam, not so much in Cambodia. Keep your stuff close, you can have your pocket picked or a phone or bag snatched off you by a speeding bike and you will never get that back. The people are so friendly. It's more touristy than Cambodia, less than Thailand. There is a middle class and locals mix with non-locals freely unlike Thailand, which I found awesome.
I concur. Haven't been there but looks amazing, have heard great things from friends. If you're in that area for months, it will cost you nothing and would certainly be worth at least a few days.
I spent 3 weeks there. Went to Hanoi, Ha Long Bay, Hue, Da Nang, Hoi An, Ho Chi Minh City. We did a similar trip as the Top Gear special. We might go back this year as well. Didn't get to see all I wanted including Sa Pa. So far Nam is my favorite country I've been to. Central was my favorite part and north had best food IMO. Make sure to take some of the tours. We did Hoi An Motorbike Adventures to the My Son Sanctuary (Excellent!) and Ha Long Bay day tour. Yes it is touristy, but its different then Europe touristy lol If you have any questions please ask
They did. Which made me want to go there....Bourdain loves it there, and comments in this thread just reinforce that.
Here is a good site with an overview of the weather. Even when it's "Wet" season it may rain every day but not like Houston rain. We went in September and it rained but only for maybe an hour then it was nice for the rest of the day. It can rain like Houston flood days also. Kind of a gamble. Just dont go to an area when its monsoon season. Only bad thing is when its good in north it might be bad in south. http://www.selectiveasia.com/vietnam-holidays/weather
