Cambodia Travel Forum

My husband and I are planning on going to Cambodia and Thailand next spring. We would love to have some suggestions for planning the trip: \
1) How can we find cheaper flights to these places?
2) Where should we visit? We were thinking about 3-5 days in Cambodia and about 5 days in Thailand.
3) Have you stayed at any places that are reasonably priced but wonderful?
4) What are things that we just can't miss?

Thanks in advance!
Ginny

Be sure not to miss Siem Reap/Angkor Wat while visiting Cambodia.

The Kingdom of Cambodia is now safe to travel, and tourism has once again become possible.
The country's capital Phnom Penh is renowned for its beauty, particularly the area surrounding the Royal Palace. The other places to see there are Silver Pagoda and Temple Wat Phnom.
The Angkor Wat, built in 802 A.D. is must see. It situates in Siemreap Province and is just a few kilometers from the town. It can be reached by taking daily direct flight from Phnom Penh. Travel to Ayuthaya, ancient capital of Siam. Visit Bang Pa-In, former summer retreat of the Royal Family. For the airfare check: Cambodia-Flights.Asia.com
I suggest you to arrange the whole trip, Including Thailand with the one of the Tour Operators. They can book air for you as well. Try New York based Orientflexipax: www.orientflexipax.com . They offer packages to Thailand and Combodia. You can also refer to http://www.asianatravelmate.com/ . Make sure you complete your tour before April since this is a beginning of the hot season. In April it gets really hot (40/100 daily, 30/85 at night).

Most travelers use Bangkok as a hub and then book roundtrip air flights to Cambodia (Phnom Penh or Siem Reap) from there. But you might be able to 'open jaw' your ticket if you use a good travel agent. This would save you the hassle, cost, time of having to return to the city you started in.

However, Thai Air Asia is an excellent budget airlines that offers dirt cheap flights between BKK and Phnom Penh provided that you book online well in advance. In fact, right now they are offering promo flights already for the beginning of next year BUT you have to purchase within the next several days. They offer several flights a day to PP but I'd recommend their early morning departure which then gives you a full day to visit PP. Then you can take the 4.5-5 hour luxury VIP bus to Siem Reap for Angkor and via this transport get a sense of the countryside.

I'd highly recommend at least 3 days for Angkor. Siem Reap offers tons of moderately priced hotels in the U$24-35 range with amenities such as aircon, satellite TV, great restaurants, etc.

As for Thailand, 2-3 days would be great for Bangkok and try to coincide your days there to do some shopping at the Chatuchak weekend market. Then I'd recommend 2-3 days at a Thai beach destination before heading back home.

Since you're traveling half way around the world, I'd highly recommend trying to set aside more days for your trip. Also, early spring is better to travel becuase the weather in SEA/Thailand/Cambodia is not as hot. Best late Feb. to mid-March because once late March rolls around it becomes a sauna. You should be able to get 'soft' or 'shoulder' fares for that time of the year. But if you're into celebrating and don't mind crowds and getting drenched by locals weilding water buckets, then you could also visit during Songkran/Thai New Year's April 13-16. The Cambodians also observe New Year's during mid-April as well.