Basic Details

Starts in: Bangkok
Ends in: Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
Group Size: maximum 16

Highlights

- The bustling streets and cyclos of Saigon
- Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Phnom Penh
- Sihanoukville beach resort

What's Included

- Gecko’s expert English-speaking local tour guide throughout the tour. - Free time to explore Ho Chi Minh City, Phnom Penh, Sihanoukville, Siem Reap, the temples of Angkor and Bangkok. One day Angkor Wat pass to get you started - Local homestay experience in Cambodia.

Meals Included: 2 breakfasts, , 1 dinner

What's NOT Included

International flights, arrival and departure transfers, departure and airport taxes, visas, all other meals, all optional tours or activities during free time, transfers outside of the tour program, travel insurance, tips and items of a personal nature.

Accommodation Styles

- Homestay
- Basic hotel

Important Information

Crossing cultures When you are taking a tour that covers 3 different countries, you will be tempted at times to draw comparisons between them. However, you will get the most of your travel experience if you try to understand and respect each culture and the people living there, regardless of whether you preferred the destination you were in previously. There are some cultural elements that do cross over between countries in South East Asia: · Patting someone on their head is considered extremely rude and insulting. · Public displays of affection are not acceptable, especially kissing. · Losing your temper or showing anger and shouting or yelling will lose respect immediately, to remain cool, calm and collected at all times is an admired quality · When visiting temples ensure your shoulders and knees are covered. They are places of worship please treat them as such. · The monarchy is held in high esteem in Thailand & Cambodia, please treat them with respect
Local Tour Guides By employing and training local site guides to lead our group holidays, there is a two-fold benefit. Firstly, we provide employment opportunities for the local community. Just as importantly is the benefit to you, the traveller. Your tour guide’s friendship, humour, passion and intimate knowledge of the region will be key factors in making your holiday a success.
Tipping Tipping has become an accepted part of tourism in South East Asia. Your tour guide will be able to advise you in this area; however, as a guideline we would recommend tipping 10% of the total bill in restaurants and a small tip to hotel bellboys for carrying your bags. At you pre-tour briefing your tour guide will discuss with you the idea of running a tipping kitty, whereby everybody contributes an equal amount and then the tour guide pays the tips and keeps a record of all monies spent (except restaurant tips). The record can be checked at any time and any money remaining at the end of the tour is returned to group members. This is often the easiest way to avoid the hassles of needing small change and knowing what is an appropriate amount to tip. It is customary to tip your tour guide, at the end of the trip, if you are happy with the service. A minimum tip of US$2 per day, from each member of the group, is the usual amount expected.
Thai Visas Please note that any travellers of certain nationalities (ie. Australians, Americans, Canadians, British and New Zealanders) do not normally require a visa for Thailand if flying in and staying up to 30 days. However, travellers will only get 15 days of stay if arriving without a visa at a land border checkpoint from a neighbouring country. Travellers arriving in Thailand this way and planning to stay in the country longer than 15 days should obtain a Thai visa before they leave home. All other nationalities should check for visa requirements with their travel agents. Please note that those nationalities requiring a visa may need to acquire one before they arrive Thailand, as a visa on arrival is not available at certain land borders.
Infrastructure and Tet Holiday Period Please note that Vietnam and Cambodia are developing countries whose infrastructure may differ from what you expect in your homeland. Expect poor road conditions and be prepared for some inconveniences due to such things as restaurants or tourist sites being closed and our regular transport services not always being available, especially so during the Tet holiday period (Vietnamese New Year), Chinese New Year and Songkran festival (Cambodian and Thai New Year). During Tet (Vietnamese New Year)/Chinese New Year most businesses will be closed as Vietnamese people usually spend this period returning to their homes and celebrating with their families. This will involve a major burden on all forms of transport, and despite booking in advance, tickets for planes and trains especially are extremely difficult to obtain. Even if bookings are obtained, transport services during this period will be overcrowded and heavy delays are to be expected, so you will need to make sure that you pack your sense of humour. In order to facilitate your travels during the Tet period, we may need to substitute your train/plane journey with a private bus trip, if required. This is an 'adventure' trip and we hope to expose you to all aspects of the local cultures. Please be open-minded. Please note that, on your tour, you may link up with passengers booked on other tours in our Gecko’s Asia program. (any additional information from trip notes that may only apply to some trips)
BROCHURE MISPRINT INCLUDED MEALS
There was a misprint in the 2015 brochure. Included meals were listed as 4 breakfasts and 1 dinner but should have read 2 breakfasts and 1 dinner. We apologise for this misprint in the brochure.
Single Supplements
A single supplement is available to be pre booked on this trip. On the following nights a single room is not available:Day 7 Homestay
Local Emergency Contacts In the case of a genuine crisis or emergency, the Gecko's Cambodia office can be reached on Tel: +855 92 555 969
Emergency Funds
Please also make sure you have access to an additional US$400, to be used when unforeseen incidents or circumstances outside our control (eg. a natural disaster, civil unrest or an outbreak of bird flu) necessitate a change to our planned route.

About this page

The information provided here is given in good faith and has been compiled with all reasonable care. However, things change and some of the information may become out of date. Please keep this in mind when you read it and check with us if you want to be sure about something. You can check the most up-to-date version of the trip notes online at www.geckosadventures.com. If you have any queries, please contact your travel agent or your nearest Gecko's office. We are here to help you!