It was our group's first trip to Southeast Asia, and left the region amazed with everything it has to offer. After helping another teacher choose a more traditional trip (Italy and Greece), I decided to be a little more adventurous and ambitious with my choice and landed on the Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand tour. Although I had heard good things from individual tours like Discover Vietnam and Treasures of Thailand, I thought a combination of all three countries would be exciting for my travelers. I had done a personal trip back in 2007 with a close friend, and really wanted Cambodia on the itinerary. I took an older group (with some alumni!) which I think helped the trip as a whole. I think with these countries you have to be a little more flexible, but if you have the right group, the trip will be one of your best! Below you will find some more information about each individual country.
There were many factors why this trip deserves a 10/10. Mr. Prodan and Mr. V were the top ones. All three locations had favorites , Vietnam market, I discovered the mangosteen fruits, Vietnamese PHO soups petting a Capybara! Cambodia's cooking class , the land mine education tour was great, in Thailand ICONSIAM was awesome ,experiencing the monsoon on the boat ride and planting rice in knee deep mud!
-- Dave, ECHS Parent
Vietnam
This city is full of life, with over 14 million people and 9 million motorbikes, there was always something going on. Our TD Hai was wonderful. We learned a lot about the Vietnam war from their perspective, including a visit to the cui cui tunnels. From trying PHO as a Michelin guide restaurant, to a rickshaw ride at night, to a boat ride along the Mekong, it was an awesome trip and city choice to get a feel for the country.
Cambodia
This was the majority of my group's favorite city. We had the most wonderfully sweet TD Dalign. We had a lot of options for food (with kids actually getting to select from a menu for lunch the night before). We took the best cooking class, and of course visited the wonderful temples at the Angkor Wat complex. The land mine museum and NGO visit was heavy and powerful. This was also the best place for souvenirs as well in terms of quality and pricing.
Thailand
This is a massive city, our hotel was in the city, but not too close to anything. Our TD Noom was great energy. It seems like everything is a 20-30 minute ride. Their taxi service is called Grab. Visiting multiple temples was good, but with the heat it started feeling a little repetitive for the students. We did take a crazy boat ride through the canals because there was a monsoon and visited one of the wildest malls, Icon Siam. We did the option organic farm visit, and I am glad we did. We got to get away from the city (about 1 hour and 30 minute ride one way) but got to plant rice, do some art and eat plenty of fruit.
It was hot and humid, but I think we were overall ready for it. Liquid IV was helpful, and they provided two waters a day on the bus. Thailand temples got us a little, but it was day 9 and 10 on tour, and they had a strict dress code so pants were required. The buses were super nice as were the hotels (all 4 stars!). The bugs weren’t bad but we did have bug spray. All three TD’s were awesome. Definitely highly recommend the travel, but need to be flexible, but such a different feel from our Europe and Japan trips.
