Siem Reap to Hanoi or Ho Chi Minh City

December 16, 2005 7:17 AM

A friend has organised a huge tour for us taking in Ho Chi Minh, Phonm Penh, Siem Reap and Hanoi. Unfortunately, the travel agent now tells us that the flight between Siem Reap and Hanoi / Ho Chi Minh is overbooked, and we're on "standby" just after the New Year. Which presumably means we won't make it. How else can a party of 15 people get from Siem Reap to Hanoi or Ho Chi Minh City, in Vietnam, in the first week of January? Many thanks for your help!
posted by Dio to Travel & Transportation around Vietnam (7 answers total)

Siem Reap to HCMC is the easier of the two trips. Details here.

Don't worry about it being the first week of January. Tet until later in the month.
posted by the cuban at 7:25 AM on December 16, 2005

Tet (the Vietnamese new year and big holiday) isnt until later in the month.
posted by the cuban at 7:27 AM on December 16, 2005

There is a combined lake/river/overland trip possible: rather poor map here. I was offered such a trip in the reverse direction when staying in Vietnam, and it looked like super-deluxe good fun.
posted by roofus at 8:32 AM on December 16, 2005

Does your agent mean 'overbooked' or just 'overbooked in economy'? The difference between an economy and business class fare in SE Asia is often $50 or less.
posted by nathan_teske at 9:55 AM on December 16, 2005

I advise going by lake as much as possible. The roads in Cambodia should not be describes as roads, and rather as miles and miles of moguls, to be slalomed by scooter (with the wife, child and 200lb pig corpse on the back) and not by car/bus/truck.
posted by furtive at 12:19 PM on December 16, 2005

You have nothing to worry about. There is so much tourist traffic from Siem Reap to HCMC that the travel agents in Siem Reap will be able to sort you out easily.

The water route posted above is certainly the most scenic and probably the safest route. Another route you might consider is to travel overland from Siem Reap to Bangkok (about 8 hours) and then a cheap (US$50/person) AirAsia flight from BKK to Hanoi.
posted by soiled cowboy at 2:20 PM on December 16, 2005

You can take a river boat/lake boat from Siem Reap to Phnom Penh, then arrange one of the river boats to HCMC. They stop off overnight somewhere (this is all easily arranged there), then give you a tour of the Mekong delta by boat, ending up in HCMC a few days later. Spend a few more $$ to get a decent hotel and don't ask for the massages ;-) But seriously - you'll be able to get on a flight a day or two earlier/later, or arrange the water/overland portion there. If it's already paid for, you'll get on a flight.
posted by fionab at 5:45 PM on December 16, 2005