Input from old hands please.

I am thinking of travelling to Cambodia during my 10 week adventure in the region. My base will be HCMC and I've figured out which parts of Vietnam I will be travelling to--bearing in mind my travel companion will be my 3 year old son--so it's slow travel and open ended.

I would love to see SR and maybe Koh Rong or other beachy places. I'm trying to figure out if I should fly into SR then travel down to PP and then on to coast line, or should I land cross near xa xia, do the coast, go to pp and then up to SR and fly back to hcmc? We would be travelling mid November and no time constrains. Would also think about a boat ride--we are bringing our own life jacket--I've lived in the Asian region so am aware of how "safe" life jackets are compared to strict Canadian safety standards...I can swim, he can't. Is the boat ride longer SR-PP or PP-SR?

If we do the coast--PP-SR route how much farther is the Thai border? I may also go into Bangkok to see some friends there.

Like I said its pretty open and slow travel so any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. This is my birthday gift to my son before he goes off to school next year. We are travelling around and exploring the wider world.

Thanks in advance for any suggestions.

bus from HCMC to PP, PP to Sihanouk, go to Koh Rong by party boat.
Then back to Sihanouk, then fly to SP from Sihanouk.
SP to Bangkok you can take a direct overnight bus(much expensive than the daytime bus BUT worth it), It costs about 3h from SP to the border, another 4h from border to Bangkok.
In the end you can fly back from Bangkok to HCMC!

Taking a 3 yo to SE Asia for a birthday present? What are you planning when he turns 18?

Taking a 3 yo to SE Asia for a birthday present? What are you planning when he turns 18?

maybe a really cool slide show of all the places he went to as a rugrat but were too young
to remember any of?

Ho Chi Minh City is an excellent base with a 3 year old since District 1 has very wide French-inspired sidewalks and plenty of nice taxis. I agree that you should pre-book a bus to Phnom Penh. Maybe you can get the newest and best NagaWorld casino hotel from HCMC. If not, then Giant Ibis bus. You could stay overnight in Phnom Penh and see the river front and maybe the open-air National Museum. Then I would say the Ibis bus to Siem Reap. I have heard the express boats from HCMC to Phnom Penh are nice but I wonder about now with a 3 year-old as the rivers are full and fast. Once in Siem Reap - it's lovely and there are many entertaining Night Markets and Pub Street. Yes, fly back on Vietnam Air to HCMC. You can buy your bus tickets online. There is one caveat to remember about your Vietnamese visa; you would need to pay extra for a multiple-entry Vietnam visa (and to look to make sure they actually gave it to you). You would use one arriving to HCMC and the second time when you fly from Siem Reap. Some people get stuck at the foreign airport coming back to Vietnam because they didn't think about having a multiple-entry visa.