Cambodia, Vietnam & Thailand tour advice

[Casper]

Hi all
I’ve always received good travel advice from here.
The wife and I are going on an organised tour of Cambodia, Vietnam and Thailand next month - 21 days in total. It’s the first time we’ve been to SE Asia and our first experience of a long tour.
Trying to find out about practicalities such as handling travel money in 3 different currencies , using mobile phones (eSIM the best option?) what to pack and laundry ( I don’t fancy lugging 3 weeks worth of clothes around!), essential vaccinations, any lingering Covid issues etc but really any tips and advice much appreciated.

Thanks in advance
Casper

[Sinnlover]

An organised tour will make it easier as they will have it sussed and people on hand to help and point you in the right direction, re cash, most places will take a card. But you can take cash out of ATMs even in Cambodia
I presume you will be heading to the standard tourist places? Siem Reap, Ha Long bay, Hoi An, Hanoi, Saigon, Bangkok, if so atm and banks are easily available. It’s pretty cheap compared to Europe so you don’t need much.
All hotels will do washing but there is often a place just outside the hotels / resorts that will do your laundry cheaper than the hotels (usually the grand mother of the cafe / bar owner will do it for you for a bit of extra cash.)
Re mobile sims, I tend to use my UK phone when abroad, most places have Wi-Fi so if I do need to make a call wait until there is Wi-Fi available

I loved Cambodia although Siem Reap is a bit seedy but fun. Hanoi is probably my favourite city on earth, Hoan Kiem Lake at the weekend is great. I am sure you will have a great time.

[notenoughwrists]

Mrs and I did a few weeks through Vietnam just before Covid.
Uk phone and stick to using WiFi. It’s easily found everywhere.
Carried all my cash. Took 14mill Dong, if I recall - was a few hundred quid, but more than enough, especially as you can pay on card in loads of places.
It is the absolute Wild West on the roads. Genuinely terrifying at some points (like on an overnight coach, that just chose the least busy route down all roads and motorways, irrespective of direction of traffic!!!).
No functional emergency medical support or ambulance service - so be prepped to deal with any worst case stuff.

People were wonderfully helpful.
Don’t worry about the food and hygiene, or eating roadside on a tiny chair near a drain - just get stuck in.
Bring diacalm just in case.


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[Mr Curta]

Check the FCDO Travel Advice pages, there are links there to other resources like health and vaccination info and security stuff.
https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice

Best to avoid using your mobile as much as possible, you are on holiday after all. As the others have said, turn off data roaming and stick to WiFi which is widely available. You can download maps to your smartphone using the maps.me app and use them offline.

I'm sure that you'll have a fabulous time, I've loved my visits to all of those places. Have a beer by the railway in Hanoi if you get a chance, it's quite surreal. Choo choo!

[gingerboy]

Eldest daughter went last year for about 4 months and loved it.

Buy SIM cards in country, make sure your phone is unlocked etc.

She did the Vietnam Highlands tour on the back of a motorbike, said it was amazing, most beautiful place she's ever been.

Food wise, she had an upset stomach twice, if you are having chicken dishes just make sure it's cooked all the way through.

Other than that she had a fab time



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[hilly10]

Clothes wise loose fitting cotton is the way I went this year in Maldives and Bali. We are off to where you are going next year. In Bali I bought 15 pieces assorted shirts and shorts, just the ticket, and bloody cheap. If I were you take the first weeks clothes and buy as you go.

[manganr]

Pm me. I've travelled se Asia extensively. Love Vietnam but Cambodia is probably my favourite place in the region. Thailand is lovely but you're probably better asking RyanB for better advice

It really depends on what you're looking for from the trip. Real SE Asia or tourism?

[Dr Wolff]

US dollars work well as unofficial currency, especially in Cambodia. Most people will convert their prices or just give you the USD equivalent straight off, but you will often get change in the local currency. Using local currency is easy enough but is a pain when you cross borders as they won't necessarily exchange some of the smaller denominations. If you do use USD, you will find they are very fussy about the age and condition of the notes themselves and won't accept dirty or creased ones especially at the bureau d'exchange.
I looked at e-sims, but in the end just turned off roaming and stuck to WiFi. GPS, Strava, and Google maps still work if you download the maps using WiFi. Strava will sync/save later with WiFi.
Take minimal clothes and buy new when you're there

[Maysie]

It is over 20 years since I travelled through Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore so any advice I have would probably be out of date.

The one piece of advice which I am sure would still stand today though is to travel light - as light as you possibly can and then just buy whatever clothing you need when you are there.

[Casper]

thank you for the advice and encouragement - I'm much less apprehensive now. Hopefully this will be the first of many trips. Several of you have said to travel light so I'll try and convince the missus - she's already at 3 suitcases!
I'll wait for RyanB to come out the football thread :-)

[Montello]

You will have a great time, here is a retro photo of me at Angkor Watt ... which will no doubt be on your schedule..

[Gerald Genta]

Can't comment on travel itinerary but I would def recommned an eSim from an app such as airalo. I used airalo when I went to the states and was extremely cheap compared to my mobile phone provider roaming charges. For example:

https://www.airalo.com/vietnam-esim