As of now we have a tentative itinerary and have all of our hotels booked. Most of our reservations are flexible until November so that gives us some more freedom to change things once we get closer to leaving but I imagine they won't change too much- maybe a day here and there.
I think I will use this post to talk about what resources I used to plan this trip. Since we've had so long to plan this trip it really hasn't been a huge undertaking. Maybe 10-20 minutes here and there I would do some reading and find another fun thing to do or a nice hotel. All of these resources can be consumed in small time increments (and all are applicable to any destination) so hopefully planning a trip is something fun rather than a burden.
IntrepidTravel.Com
Once we decided to go to Cambodia I initially planned on using a tour operator. Intrepid had good reviews for a 12-day trip that went through Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand. It seemed like a great price and went to Angkor Wat. I was intimidated about traveling through Southeast Asia (SEA) without a guide and this seemed like a great solution to that.
Once you have a destination in mind I think it's a great idea to explore major tour operators' itineraries for that area. This will give you an overview of what the must-see things are for each city/country. I also like that Intrepid lists activities for each city in the Trip Notes section for each trip. I should mention I've never actually been on a trip with Intrepid but I think their site has tons of great trip itineraries and info about many destinations.
Lonely Planet Travel Forum
I went to LonelyPlanet.com to read about traveling through SEA and what we should expect. I stumbled upon their Thorn Tree Forum for SEA and started reading through the posts. It seemed easy to get around SEA on your own. There are buses and private taxis and flights between all major cities. Thailand and Vietnam have trains as well. Unfortunately though, travel is much slower in Cambodia.
Lonely Planet Books
I ordered the Lonely Planet books on Cambodia and Southeast Asia on a Shoestring. After browsing through them and learning how easy it is to get around SEA on your own I talked to Brandon and we decided to forgo a tour operator and plan the trip ourselves! The Angkor Wat temple complex is still the primary reason I want to go to Cambodia and most tours only spend 1-2 days there. Not using a tour allows us to go at our own pace and choose our own modes of transportation and hotels.
After reading about all the different things to do and see in Cambodia in the Lonely Planet book we decided to focus our trip only on Cambodia. Covering 3 countries in 2-3 weeks seemed like it would just give us a glimpse of each country rather than an in-depth experience. Even spending 18 days in Cambodia we won't even be able to make it to the eastern part of the country! This is the first major trip (major meaning over 10 days) I've planned so I'm interested to see if we think it will be too fast paced or too slow.
Trip Advisor Travel Forum
Trip Advisor has a great travel forum for Cambodia as well. It's not as user friendly as Lonely Planet's but it is more active and you can filter posts by specific cities.
Flights
As I'm sure you know there are countless websites to find cheap flights. I set up alerts for flights from DC to Phnom Penh and Siem Reap on a few and waited. While reading travel forums someone suggested flying into Siem Reap and out of Phnom Penh so that you can avoid backtracking to Siem Reap just for your flight home. Getting from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap (the two cities with international airports in Cambodia) is only 200 miles but can take 10+ hours due to the bad roads. I decided we would fly into Siem Reap and spend the most time at the Angkor temple complex at the beginning of our trip and then end at Phnom Penh. Here is another instance where reading travel forums helped a lot since I probably would have booked flights in/out of Siem Reap without realizing the long time it takes to get between the two cities.
Rome2Rio.com
Another website that helped to plan our route was Rome2Rio.com. This website works for pretty much any country and will tell you how to get between two places. Other than busses there really isn't any transportation infrastructure in Cambodia so we will mostly be using private taxis. This website helped give us an idea of the driving distance between each place.
Final Itinerary
So, after making a list of cities/sights I wanted to see and the easiest way to get around here is our final itinerary. We will be spending 3 nights at each place so hopefully it won't feel too rushed. In Siem Reap we will be spending 5 nights to maximize the time at Angkor and possibly take some day trips.
1. Siem Reap
2. Sihanoukville (flight from Siem Reap)
3. Koh Kong
4. Kampot
5. Phnom Penh
