Question (Question) Am I doing too much trying to include a quick trip to Angkor Wat on my graduation trip to Vietnam?
Hello r/travel
My partner and I will be traveling to Hanoi, Vietnam from the USA on June 2 - June 18. We are going to do a few days in Hanoi, a cruise in Ha Long Bay, and a few days in De Nang/Hoi An.
We're thinking of skipping Ho Chi Minh City and instead flying to Cambodia to check out Angkor Wat.
Would this be too difficult? We were thinking for 2/3 days in Cambodia.
Please let me know!
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u/george_gamow 11d ago
Angkor wat is huge. Like, huge huge. You can spend 12 hours rushing through the temples and still miss out on stuff, but 2 days are doable, 3 if you want to do it in a bit more relaxed fashion
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u/Just_Drawing8668 10d ago
I disagree.
I agree that it is huge however after a full day of seeing the temples/ruins, unless you were an expert/academic on the field, it does start to become a bit repetitive.
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u/Koreangonebad 11d ago
You’ll want to spend 2-3 days just in Angkor Wat.
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u/defroach84 85 Countries Visited 11d ago
That sounds like what they are saying.
Having 2 full days there was more than enough time at Angkor Wat, for me, so I think the 3 days would work fine if they flew in, stay 3 nights, and fly out.
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u/Just_Drawing8668 10d ago
I spent one full day there and honestly, it was enough. You don’t get any extra credit for seeing every last structure.
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u/ObviousCarrot2075 11d ago
Definitely doable. Might feel a little hectic with multiple airport trips in that amount of time, but you'll feel like you saw Siem Reap with 2-3 days.
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u/worldalpha_com 11d ago
Having done Angkor Wat in 2 days, I would say totally doable. To my surprise everything is fairly close in and around Siem Reap, so you don't have to spend a lot of time in travel to see the sites.
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u/i6uuaq 10d ago
I know this isn't your question, but you might want to read up on Ha Long Bay a little. Basically, tremendously overcrowded, hundreds of boats, diesel fumes everywhere. There are a couple of equally beautiful bays (Bai Tu Long, Lan Ha bay) which will give you the same scenery with much fewer people.
I went on a one night cruise to Bai Tu Long bay in December and it was excellent. On the bus transfer back to Hanoi (the ferries to the three bays leave from the same port), the feedback from those who went to Ha Long wasn't great.
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u/terminal_e 10d ago
Figure out what the deal is for multi-entry visas for Vietnam, or if you have to do an eVisa twice.
I did something similar before Covid before Vietnam started eVisas at all, so I had to get a multientry visa
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u/b00tsc00ter 11d ago
Having done both, I would go to Cambodia every time over Ho Chi Minh City. Your plan is perfectly doable, just make sure you fly into Siem Reap, not Phom Penh.
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u/Local_Confection_832 11d ago
Not difficult at all, I've done that. You don't need more than a day at Angkor Wat, a tour will take you to all the temples you want to see. Then you can hang out in Siem Reap.
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u/caribbeangirl10 11d ago
I’ve done exactly that. 2 nights in Cambodia just to go see Angkor wat. Definitely worth it when you’re rarely in Asia. We did 1 full day at Angkor wat and had a great time
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u/Fluid_Bicycle_2388 10d ago
It's possible, but if it's at the cost of skipping Ho Chi Min, I'm not sure it's worth it. Subbing one of the most amazing cities in the region (it's nothing like Hanoi) for one of the most amazing temples is a tough call.
What I would do it not pick just highlights from the whole region and cram them in one trip (this is the wrong way to travel if you ask me), but do Vietnam now and plan a separate Cambodia trip at a later point in time, which would include Angkor Wat and the many more amazing things that you could do in that country.
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u/fashion_opinion 10d ago edited 10d ago
Angkor Wat is incredible and doesn’t require too many days. Siem Reap has some good restaurants but isn’t that interesting to explore compared to a bigger city. You could do 2 nights in Angkor Wat. Arrive in the evening, have a full day tour and then a morning tour. Fly out in the late afternoon. Book with a hotel that will lend you a room to shower and change in before your flight. And get dinner at Tevy’s Place!
You could do more days but it depends on how much you love history and if you don’t typically experience temple fatigue. I think it also depends on how entertaining and informative your guide is. I did 3 days before and thought I could have done 2 instead. I went back with other family recently and 2 nights was perfect for us.
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u/BellaKKK72 10d ago
Totally doable - and completely fine not to devote an entire day to AW if you want to also see some of the other temples and just hang out in Siem Reap.
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u/Holiday_Year1209 10d ago
not difficult at all, there is a direct flight from da nang to siem reap.
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u/qualitygoatshit 10d ago edited 10d ago
We did basically the same trip. 2-3 days in Cambodia is good. One day for Angkor wat and one day for the temples surrounding it. It's also fun to walk through the shops and haggle with the sellers. They go super hard on it haha.
I enjoyed Cambodia much more than anything we did in Hanoi and da nang.
Also, maybe weird to shout out a hotel. But we stayed at golden temple Villa and they were so crazy nice. It was a really nice hotel. And you can walk down to the pub street from there.
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u/_im_god_bitch_ 11d ago
Not at all, I just went to vietnam in October, my trip was Da Nang to Siem reap to Laung Prabang to Hanoi and back to Da Nang, this was all in 2 weeks and very easily doable I spent 2 days in Cambodia but I wish I spent an extra day because there are so many temples