SR--->HCMC, When to fly?
Replies: 2 - Last Post: Nov 28, 2012 12:55 AM Last Post By: Francois
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SR--->HCMC, When to fly?
Hi all-Making the trip from Siem Reap to Ho Chi Minh City in early January 2013.
Current itinerary calls for three nights in SR, two nights in Phnom Penh, one night in Chau Doc (after taking a boat down the Mekong) and one night in HCMC before we leave for Con Dao.
My question: Clearly this is a lot of bus/boat traveling. If you had to pick, would you fly the SR-->PP route or the PP--->HCMC route? This trip will be the week after the new year.
Thanks!
1
I have done both, and it's apples and oranges.The flight from Siem Reap to HCMC is... a flight. Both airports are clean, efficient, and modern. The flight itself is quick. If you've flown SFO-LAX, or Washington to JFK, except for clearing customs, this is the same thing: a way to get from Point A to Point B in a few hours.
The bus/boat thing is an adventure. It takes a long time but you see a lot of weird stuff.
Most memorable for me: we (a group of perhaps 10 tourists) were having lunch at an outdoor restaurant along the Mekong. One of our group noticed a cage containing a large python near the tables and we all crowded around. We asked the waiter some question about it and by way of answer, he unlatched the cage, pulled the snake out, draped it around the nearest tourist, and just walked away.
2
I would travel overland PP-HCMC and fly the SR to PP segment. I liked the bus ride from HCMC to PP more than the ride from the capital to Siem Reap: the former has lovely countryside, the border crossing and the ferry ride on the Mekong, while the latter is a lot of lovely countryside but not much else.
