My two-month trip to this region began in early October, 1997 with a trip up to Chiang Mai in Northern Thailand. I opted for the standard four-day jungle tour complete with tour guide, elephant rides and a trip down a river in a bamboo raft. I met up with a few other people interested in going, so we were able to bargain for the lower group price of $50 per day, per person (including all meals, basic accommodations and transportation). There are many such tours available out of Bangkok. Back in Bangkok, I rented a motorcycle and started exploring the surrounding countryside on and off road. Enduro motorcycles can be rented all over Thailand for about $8 per day, as can scooters which still go a quick 60mph and cost as little as $2 a day. Roads in Thailand (nearly all paved) are in relatively good condition, but watch for erratic driving patterns.
Next, I headed over to Vietnam, where you can ride in style on pre-1970 BMW motorcycles that can be purchased for a fraction of the U.S. price and shipped home. I opted for a rental that again cost only a few dollars a day. The Mekong Delta near the southern tip of Vietnam is best explored on a locally-arranged tour, as you could spend days just organizing the many small boat trips needed to enjoy this beautiful region. I travelled mostly by tiny boats maneuvering between rice paddies and swamps along narrow water channels, passing Khmer shrines and lush tropical vegetation along the way. This is a popular area for bird-watching, and you see hundreds of birds each day, including egrets, pelicans and storks.
The highlight of my trip up the coast north of Ho Chi Minh City was several days in Hoi An, an ancient port city located on the Thu Bon River. A center for the silk trade in the 17th and 18th centuries, Hoi An is a pretty, peaceful place to relax for a few days, especially after the hustle and noise of Ho Chi Minh City. My next stop was Hanoi, a city that still retains much of its French colonial charm and happens to be a great place to have clothing made by hand. I got a custom-made silk tux for $48, making me the best-dressed backpacker in Vietnam...A tip: bring magazine photos of any designer clothes you wish you could buy but can't afford, and you can have an exact replica made for next to nothing.
From Hanoi I made a short side-trip to Angkor Wat in Cambodia--short because so little of the country is open, let alone safe, for tourists. Angkor was definitely worth the trouble, and getting around by motorbike was the perfect way to explore. Rentals are available locally for about $5 a day, so the only "big" expense was the $20 entrance fee for Angkor itself. Because of the dire political situation, the enormous temple complex is almost empty, allowing hours to pass without seeing another tourist, and giving one a very Indiana Jones feel.
Near the end of my trip, I headed back to Thailand and motorbiked to Krabi, on the southern coast, which has some of the world's best rock climbing and best beaches. Hotels run from a grass hut for $4 a night to $200 luxury bungalows right on the beach. It was a perfect place to relax for a week before the long plane-ride home. ---Jeff