Asia/South East Asia (15 days)
 

EDIT: 10 days only (not 15)

Ya'll were super helpful with San Francisco and we had a great time in Big Sur and 7 mile drive, little saigon, bounty hunter beer chicken - so I'm back.


looking for places to go in Asia or South East Asia

- tours are ok.
- 1-2-3 countries within 2 weeks ok
- we want at least 3-4 days in a beach type destination
- we will be flying out of Hong Kong (there for a wedding)
- not into temples (1 good temple and thats enough)

will be going around end november - whats the weather like?!

15 days is not enough to go 3 countries unless you are the type that just travel for the sake of going there so that you can say been there. Slow down and just focus on one country. You will have much better time that way.
For beach, IMO Philippines > Indonesia > Thailand > Vietnam
For food, Thailand > Indonesia > Vietnam > Philippines
For best bang for buck (decent accommodation etc .), Indonesia > Vietnam > Thailand > Philippines
Weather-wise, depends on where you travel. November is usually good time to travel as it's usually end of rainy season in many parts of SEA but really varies even within same country.
Decide on your priority, then do some research on the country you feel most attracted to. Be aware of scams in SEA. Sometimes, even cops are in it. Vietnam seems to rip off tourists most frequently but in smaller amount, while Indonesia is less common than Vietnam but when they do, they try to rip you off 20 folds+.. I've seen them quoting tourists $100 for $5 boat rides, etc.. Philippines is pretty bad as well and Thailand seems to be the least problematic but there are lots of scams in Thailand as well. Philippines can be dangerous depending on where you go and same thing for Indonesia. As a matter of fact, just couple of hours ago, 6 gun men stormed into Cebu mall and shot multiple guards to rob.
If you are into luxury type travel, Bali is by far best bang for the buck. The quality of villa I stayed at Bali for $150 a night is almost comparable (except for view) to one I stayed at Boracay for $1300 a night.

To me Thailand and Indo seem the seem - both beach destinations.

We are ok to go to any of the countries you listed. What would you suggest for a first time SEA say 1-2 countries. We want to see atleast 2.

take it with a grain of salt
1) its best to spend 4 days in a city, anything less, is not good for the body to say the least; 1st day you're jetlag, 2nd day is your true touristy day, and then 3rd day you leave..
i explained this friends and they came to a compromise and packing and unpakcing just wasn't fun.
2) philippines doesn't really have a lot of things to do, i did not enjoy philippines (manila). I did enjoy going to cebu / Boracay for scuba diving and the beaches.
3) thailand is good for 1 or 2 temples, the spas were amazing for cheap to extreme expensive, their food scene was also epic.

5 days in each country is fine imo. Id go Thailand(Phi Phi Island) for the beach life, Singapore for the food, and either Japan or Vietnam (Da Nang or Nha Trang).

OP u forgot to mention if your going with your SO or a group of guys?

Are u looking to site see, party? take it easy? Budget?

I should also add it's 10 days now (not 15 - don't know how to edit title).

With the SO
Sightsee
got a club or two if it is safe to party? don't want to be 3R'ed - Roofied, Raped, Robbed)
Budget - how much should we budget?

Hitting rainy season in Da Nang and Nha Trang at the moment. Ho Chi Minh City is winding down. The southern part of Vietnam (Con Dao, Phu Quoc, Vung Tau, etc..) would be better for beach. There are a bunch of newly developed beach areas in Vietnam that might be worth checking out, but would eat into your travel time.

thinking the following:

Thailand
- what is a good beach area?
- bangkok

Cambodia
- Siem Reap (just want to see Angkor Wat)

Vietnam
- Saigon
- Hanoi
- Halong Bay

Thats alot of places to hit up in just 10 days. But id goto Bangkok for for 3 days, check out some temples and other touristy attractions by day and redlight districts at night, maybe hit up a club, when i was there bottle service was cheap. Then i fly to phuket, or krabi to see some beaches, ride and elephant but i feel that alot of the people will end up at PhiPhi Island to party there, its abit more concentrated and everywhere is walkable from 1 end of the island to the other. 2 nights there is enough imo. U would have to ferry there. U can take some boat tours to monkey island, and enjoy there beaches, theres a hike there too, and bars people get there drunk on.

then after thats its up to u, i havent been to cambodia. Id say ud be spending 200-250 a day betweeen u and your SO doesnt include flights but i havent been in thailand since 2016 so i assume prices have changed.

So you say:

Bangkok 3 days 2 nights?
Krabi 2 nights?


Any suggestions for
Nam land?

3 days/2 nights is definately doable in Bangkok but i feel it is abit rushed. U would have to schedule out all your days to get the most out of it. But i get the feeling you wanna hit up places to get the check mark on your bucket list. I honestly had more fun on Phi Phi island than Krabi. In Krabi i did scooter almost the whole area there and rode an elephant my wife wanted to do for years. The beaches there are alot less crowded thats for sure.

Im probably the worst person to ask about Vietnam, ive been there several times but i did not do any touristy things. I have family there so all i did was club, get drunk, waste money. Easily the most expensive part of my trip.

I am currently living in HCMC, would suggest 2 - 3 days here. Never found the tourist stuff here particularly interesting but there are various war museums, Ben Thanh Market, etc... If Ao Show is playing would suggest checking it out. Stay in District 1 (city center) and eat/drink as much as you can. The international food scene here is developing rapidly, amazing cocktail bars here and of course tons of local spots to check out.

Hanoi always had more interesting "tourist" options in my opinion, very cool walking/food street areas. Stick to the street Bun Cha Hanoi, Pho, Bia Hoi, etc... 2 -3 days is enough

Ha Long Bay is amazing, would suggest at least a sunset cruise through the bay. 2days/1night is all that is needed.

Manila is a shithole, i would have rather spent more time in coron and el nido

As a side note, 3 countries in 15 days is perfectly fine, especially if they are 1 hour flight away from each other, or even night bus.

As a second note, careful with massages in different countries, we had a guy at work three years ago get a leg massage in thailand, spend the next week in the hospital due to some weird infection from the oil
To top it off, last year we had some guy come back from thailand, and have the same thing on his back :heckno:

we might be dropping off cambo to spend more time in Thai and 'Nam.

It's likley we will never go to Cambo if we don't go this time and it's ok with us (we only really want to see Angkor Wat and I want to go Phenom Penh)

1) are both countries easy to get around in terms of safety (with the obvious precautions) and transport (because she is considering a tour), I'm looking into a private driver/guide.

2) what would be the ideal days in each part of Thai & Nam according to you guys?

thailand and vietnam are just about the easiest SE asian countries to visit, especially if you're mainly sticking to the big cities. you don't have to worry about safety too much, just use a little common sense. don't trust strangers, don't flash money around or carry too much at a time, don't buy drugs, that sort of thing. you don't need a tour, just do a little research on things you want to see and get in a tuk tuk and tell them to take you there. if you really want a tour, then just get a day tour here and there, maybe a walking tour in the city for food, something like that.

Vietnam is very safe aside from petty crime and pick pocketing that happens in pretty much every city. More of an issue in HCMC, than cities like Hanoi, Da Nang, etc... If you are pre booking with a legit tour company or hiring a private driver then you will have no issues, would stay clear of some of the shady bus company's.

do you have recommendations for "legit tour company or private driver"?

Any must see do eat in

Bangkok
Undecided on a romantic beach location - ideas?

Hanoi
Halong Bay
Saigon
Hoi An - maybe right now.

Sorry, been out here for a while so I don't really use any tour companies. Maybe check with your hotel in advance for recommendations, most of them will have a private driver service as well.

download the app, grab.
its the uber of south east asia
very convenient and relatively cheap for the convenience
they might have some trouble finding your exact location to pick up, what i did was took a picture or two of where i am and they had no problem finding me.

Just to reiterate what everyone has said here, I think if you only have 10 days it's best to stick with one country and come back another time for the others.

Seems like you are set on Thailand or Vietnam.

Thailand: Go to Bangkok for 3 days and either spend a week up north in the Chiang Mai area or a week down south (Islands). You could probably do 2 in BKK 4 North and 4 South but that would be rushing it. Islands I went to were Phuket (ignore people who say skip it -find a quiet beach or resort and it'll be great), Ko Phi Phi (Maya bay I believe is closed for now so a big reason to go is off the table), Ko Lanta (Great less touristed island). Krabi is also a very scenic place to hang out albeit not an island.

Vietnam: 10 days you'll probably be able to hang out in Hanoi (4 days) + Sapa + Ha Long Bay, then head south to Hoi An/Hue/Danang (4 days). You could do Saigon, but it would be rushing it. You'll need 3 days to do proper justice to it. Went to Phu Quoc in 2011 it was unspoiled paradise but not sure how it is now judging by how fast SE Asia changes.