which elephant sanctuary do
you recommend in Chiang Mai? there are sooo many!! any
other recs for chiang mai?
thanks!

Anonymous wrote:I have been to both. Vietnam is fine but would not visit again. Thailand is good, spend 5 days at a beach area and the rest at chiang mai or a similar. Skip bangkok or only check it out for 1-2 days.

Same and I'm Vietnamese!
Too polluted for me. The highlight was the people - so incredibly hospitable! Oh and of course, so cheap!

Ask Jane Fonda about Vietnam. She knows it well.

Anonymous wrote:If it were me and my teen, I would do:
3 days at a Thailand beach to relax after travel, 5 days in Bangkok (so much to see there you can stay at one place for a while), and 4 days in Hanoi (to include leaving bags at hotel and doing an overnight on a junk ship at Ha Long Bay, which is a UNESCO world heritage site).

5 days in Bangkok is an insanely long amount of time. 2 or at most 3 days (including your arrival day) is more than enough. I’d divide the rest of the time between a beach area and Chiang Mai, which is a charming city. You could also do a couple of days at Angkor. I haven’t been there for a long time and am not sure how it is now.

Vietnam.

I have been to both. Vietnam is fine but would not visit again. Thailand is good, spend 5 days at a beach area and the rest at chiang mai or a similar. Skip bangkok or only check it out for 1-2 days.

Anonymous wrote:Make sure you visit the elephant sanctuary in Chaing Mai, it's life-altering

how?

Anonymous wrote:Make sure you visit the elephant sanctuary in Chaing Mai, it's life-altering

Be careful and look into this. A lot of places that claim to be elephant sanctuaries are anything but…

I would do Thailand. I would do 3 or 4 days in Bangkok (make sure you see the snake venom place), 4 or 5 days at the end in the beach somewhere like Koh Samui or near Phuket (the 6 senses near there is great), and 5 or 6 days in Chiang Mai or Chiang Rai in the middle. Take the train from Bangkok up north and stop at Ayuthaya on the way. Then fly from chiang mai down to phuket.

Vietnam is also great, with as much to see and do. But the tourist infrastructure isn’t quite as well established. If I was 20 and backpacking then i would definitely do it, but with a family it can just be a little more of a hassle.

Make sure you visit the elephant sanctuary in Chaing Mai, it's life-altering

Lived in India and traveled to both several times, Thailand is my favorite. Food is better (for me), great things to see, great grocery stores, etc.

Anonymous wrote:I've done both and loved both, but preferred thailand.

Spend some time in Chiang Mai, Bangkok and pick an island with good weather (xmas you'll want to be on the andaman side, so krabi, phuket, koh lanta, koh phi phi, koh lipe).

With 12 days I'd probably do something like 3 nights bangkok, 4 nights CM, 4 nights island + 1 night back in BKK for your flight back.

Definitely Thailand. Perhaps a side trip to Angkor Wat, or stop off in Singapore or Hong Kong in one direction. Skip Vietnam for this go around.

I’ve never been to Vietnam but used to live in Thailand and you can definitely spent two weeks there easily. In fact, when I’ve gone back to visit, I try to go for at least three weeks otherwise I don’t feel like the travel distance is worth it.

With teens, I would do a few days in Bangkok, a few days in Chiang Mai, and a few days at the beach. M favorite is Railay beach, but there are so many nice ones. Do you want luxury resort or rustic beach bungalow?

If it were me, I’d skip Bangkok entirely and just do Chiang Mai and a beach. But if you’ve never been, Bangkok is worth checking out.

Neither.

I've done both and loved both, but preferred thailand.

Spend some time in Chiang Mai, Bangkok and pick an island with good weather (xmas you'll want to be on the andaman side, so krabi, phuket, koh lanta, koh phi phi, koh lipe).

With 12 days I'd probably do something like 3 nights bangkok, 4 nights CM, 4 nights island + 1 night back in BKK for your flight back.