Comparing Vietnam, Cambodia, and Thailand: What Lies Beyond the Postcard
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 28 พ.ค. 2024
- Ep.99 We spent over four months in Southeast Asia and want to share all that we've learned so you can decide if any of these three countries are right for you. There's a lot to love about all the cities we stayed: Saigon, Hanoi, Hoi An, Siem Reap, and Chiang Mai.
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Vietnam Playlist: • Vietnam
Cambodia Playlist: • Cambodia
Thailand Playlist: • Thailand
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Chapters:
00:00 - Start
00:37 - What it costs to stay in Vietnam, Cambodia & Thailand
01:41 - How much do visas cost in Vietnam, Cambodia & Thailand?
02:05 - Using money and credit cards in Southeast Asia
03:13 - Did we feel safe in Vietnam, Cambodia & Thailand?
03:49 - Language & Communication
04:13 - How fast is the internet in Southeast Asia?
04:50 - Weather in Vietnam, Cambodia & Thailand
05:39 - Medical services in Vietnam, Cambodia & Thailand
06:05 - Transportation in Vietnam, Cambodia & Thailand
06:51 - Are the cities in Southeast Asia walkable?
07:43 - Food & food safety in Vietnam, Cambodia & Thailand
10:39 - Dining out in Vietnam, Cambodia & Thailand
13:05 - Activities in Vietnam, Cambodia & Thailand
13:44 - Would we visit Vietnam, Cambodia or Thailand again?
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![[TH] 2024 PMSL SEA W3D5 | Summer | ชี้ชะตา 16 ทีมสุดท้าย](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/PabKlXzcK8c/mqdefault.jpg)
If you want more information about any of these countries, please watch our videos using these playlists.
Vietnam Playlist: th-cam.com/play/PLNT98lWfwdF0w1OZR1ZwgqGRPRMKXZaNB.html
Cambodia Playlist: th-cam.com/play/PLNT98lWfwdF36uzKAw4rrY5Ih1A9XZNgy.html
Thailand Playlist: th-cam.com/play/PLNT98lWfwdF3cqPH8_O_WDVYgoT13KJRq.html
Credit card charges merchant 3%-3.75% fees. For a small time seller, they have to shift that fees to customer.
@engtechno We had no problem paying the extra fees. We get the benefit of earning credit card miles. and for the prices we paid, the fees were minimal. We definitely want to support small businesses whenever we can. -Judy
been to Bangkok two times. Siem Reap, Cambodia 5 times never been to other one. Love Cambodia❤
We loved Cambodia as well. Siem Reap was such a wonderful place for us that we didn't want to leave, but we do want to explore more of the country. Here's a link to our video series from there, and also a recipe and history of ginger cake from our blog, which you might enjoy reading about. Thank you so much for sharing your experience. -Judy
🎥 Cambodia video series: th-cam.com/play/PLNT98lWfwdF36uzKAw4rrY5Ih1A9XZNgy.html
📝 Champa and Khmer Ginger Cake (“Ginrong Laya”): findingginamarie.com/articles/cham-ginger-cake-ginrong-laya?rq=ginger%20cake
Great comparison of these three wonderful countries. When it comes to deciphering menus and signs in other languages, I've recently started using Google Lens and it is a gamechanger! It instantly translates any written information from a variety of languages into English simply by pointing your phone at it. I'm headed back to Vietnam next month, plan to be in Bangkok for New Years, and expect to make a return visit to Cambodia in early 2025. Thanks for sharing!
Thanks for watching, Jim! Unless I'm mistaken, doesn't Lens require you to use it from a browser? Maybe not. Google Translate offers similar but easier functionality and allows you to take a photo or merely point. We sometimes also use Apple Translate, but Google Translate has been our favorite these days. How fun for you to be back in Vietnam and then Cambodia. Both countries are great for that time of year. In our younger days we never left home for New Year's, but these days finding a fun place to celebrate New Year's is high on our list. We hope you have an absolutely wonderful time! -Judy
Kosh Rong island is a must visit paradise in cambodia
Thank you so much for the suggestion! We will add it to our list for the next time we visit Cambodia. There is so much more of that beautiful country that we want to see. Here is a link to our Cambodia playlist if you didn’t get around to it yet. -Judy
🎥 Cambodia video series: th-cam.com/play/PLNT98lWfwdF36uzKAw4rrY5Ih1A9XZNgy.html
Judy, your hair looks awesome!!
You sure know how to give a compliment, Rebecca! I was very proud of my hair that day! Busan has been so much better in the way of humidity compared to many of the places we've been lately! -Judy
Hi! Judy & Kevin, Wow! That was an excellent video! It was interesting & very well done! How hot & humid a place is & the cost are our biggest factors in picking destinations. Lots of natural beauty is a big + too.
Thank you!! Marion & Jan 😁👍🏼
Thank you so much for watching and for letting us know your criteria, Marion & Jan. It actually is super helpful for us to know. We don't like to be too cold and we try to avoid temperatures that are more than around 30 degrees Celsius. We also typically try to find a place with cultural and historic experiences and great architecture when possible. But absolutely cost is one of our biggest factors as well, and unfortunately a few of our bucket list places were a bit too expensive for us this year. We've got our sights on 2025 for a few of them! -Judy
@@FindingGinaMarie Thank you too!! 👍🏼😁
My husband and I really enjoyed this video as we do with all of your videos. This was definitely a nice wrap up with the three different countries. Having the coffee (Essential!! ☕️ 😊)and other items that you were able to get that were the same in each country with the prices, made it really nice for a comparison. All of your advice for getting around just to make travel easier is so helpful!
So much more to explore as you mentioned. Wondering if Phnom Penh in Cambodia may be of interest? Also, hopefully you'll get to go to Malaysia at some point. The Batu caves look like a lot of fun & KL looks stunning. Penang looks beautiful. As you said there's so much more to experience in Thailand, too! Everywhere has so much to explore 😊
Thank you so much for watching, Carolann, and for sharing your suggestions. We were definitely interested in Phnom Penh and worked hard to try to make it work to include it. Now that the airport is an hour's drive to get in/out of Siem Reap, it's a bit harder to hop on a plane to get to another part of the country. We definitely would like to return to experience it because I found the Khmer history fascinating and tragic. One of the things that we like about Southeast Asia is that it's a great place to escape to for warm weather in the winter. We had looked most closely at Georgetown as a location in Malaysia to visit for this year, but we just couldn't swing it.
Planning is quite a tricky thing. We put probably 17-25 different countries and cities on our wish list for a specific year and then try to narrow it down after weighing pros and cons and often many places fall off only because we aren't willing to fast travel to see them all. BUT if we could stretch a year in some magical way, we would absolutely do them all! -Judy
I understand and my husband and I are soaking up so much great information from you both. That's going to be a good plan for possibly visiting Southeast Asia again during the winter months to have the nicer weather on another trip. 😊 It was so nice to everything you saw, & ate but the the best for us was seeing all the kind people you met 🤍 🤗
We feel the same about the kind people, Carolann. They are the best! -Judy
Good job comparing Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand. We think SE Asia is an excellent winter destination and provides the geo-arbitrage in order to afford more expensive destinations. We have visited Chiang Mai for several months and would go back in a heartbeat. We would like to explore other Thailand locations - and think maybe we owe Bangkok another chance. We loved DaNang and HoiAn, Vietnam and would go back to DaNang, and wouldn't mind visiting other, especially beach, locations there. Was just thinking about Bahn Mi today - yummy! Maybe Saigon just wasn't the best city to start with in SE Asia and on a second look you may find it more manageable. But, you've given me pause about whether I'm feeling it - or not. You've opened my eyes to Japan and Taiwan although I'm thinking a cruise might be one may for us to briefly experience Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore since we can't afford a month in some of those places. Can't wait to hear where you are off to next!
Thanks so much for watching, Merrill. I think you're right about Saigon, and I also think we would have had a different opinion had we stayed in a slightly different area. We had just left pristine Japan and I think that Saigon was more of an adjustment than we expected. Taiwan was much more affordable than I thought it might be, especially compared to Hong Kong and Singapore, which we skipped because of how expensive they are. We didn't get to explore beyond Taipei, but we would highly recommend giving yourself time for it. Otherwise, it was a very international city but not nearly as high priced. We heard so many mixed opinions about Bangkok that we decided to skip it. It was a good decision at the time because we really don't like moving around unless we would have shifted there for an extended period of time. Thank you so much for sharing your experiences with us. It's so helpful and encouraging to us. -Judy
Good video, and I applaud your production quality - great graphics! As for these 3 countries, I have only been to Thailand, focused on Bangkok and only for a brief time. I have no desire to go back although you make good arguments for doing so. I recently returned from a month-long visit to Japan and China; countries I first visited 43 years ago as a student. The Japan experience was based on a folding bike tour and seeing non-tourist sites; an excellent ways of re-experiencing the country. I returned to China because I still had friends in Beijing and Shanghai. It was a great experience, and the changes in that country were truly monumental. Traveling abroad is, I believe, something that more Americans should do in order to see the world as a prismatic spectrum, not as a black-and-white fixed image.
Thank you so much for watching and for this very kind note! Kevin works incredibly hard on production and it means so much for him to read your kind words. Your visit to Japan sounds amazing. We have mixed feelings about Mainland China, but we thoroughly enjoyed our time in Taiwan and were very grateful for the opportunity to visit. You are absolutely right about the value of seeing the entire world and not just the US. It took us longer to travel internationally (beyond Mexico and Canada) than I would have liked (mid 40s), but we are trying to make up the time now! -Judy
🎥 Japan travel series: th-cam.com/play/PLNT98lWfwdF0V4Brx4J0uWJdQENFZKWBT.html
🎥 Taipei travel series: th-cam.com/play/PLNT98lWfwdF0dD-pEyV1oCamZch9sUSpM.html
Hi guys, what place in Asia do you recommend for someone (my mom) that is not so mobile because of the health? Can not walk that much but i want her to experience Asia. Greetings from the Netherlands 🇳🇱
We love that you want to share Asia with your mother. Everyplace has its challenges, but Thailand may be the easiest. We can't speak for Bangkok (which might be too big and sometimes the weather and smog can be tricky), but Chiang Mai was a lovely place for us to experience. It will give her a broad range of diverse experiences as well. There's a ton of transportation methods, so you don't have to do a ton of walking. I'd also recommend Hoi An, which is one of the most beautiful cities that we've ever visited. It also has a ton of culture and robust methods for getting around. We often saw people riding on the pedi-taxis so your mom might feel like royalty being pedaled around through the center of the city!
We loved our brief time in the Netherlands and would love to visit again! Below are some links that might be helpful for you. We'd absolutely love to know what you end up deciding. -Judy
🎥 Beautiful Hoi An: First Timer's Guide: th-cam.com/video/w0nDoWQz_iQ/w-d-xo.html
🎥 Local Experiences in Hoi An: th-cam.com/video/YdCVhXAWf7I/w-d-xo.html
🎥 Ultimate Guide to Chiang Mai: th-cam.com/video/SZESAy_zqTo/w-d-xo.html
🎥 Thailand video series: th-cam.com/play/PLNT98lWfwdF3cqPH8_O_WDVYgoT13KJRq.html
Thank you very much. Continue with the good work you post.
Consider Chiang mai(Thailand) or Sieam Reap(Cambodia) they are unique and relaxing.
Thank you so much, Martin! We'd love to know where you end up going and hope you have an incredible time regardless of what it is. -Judy
♥
Thank you for watching, Enrique! -Judy
Great Thumbnail 💡👍📺
Thanks for the weather breakdown.
Have you gone to the Philippines? If not why not? If yes do you have a video?
We have not gone to the Philippines. It actually was on our list for this year, but we ended up swapping it out for Hoi An. We don’t really like to move around when we are visiting a country and the Philippines seems like it would really benefit from moving around a bit, but there are some issues with strong wi-fi. We were looking at Cebu City, but if we had to be in the IT Park area, we weren’t sure how great of an experience that would be. But we’d love to hear suggestions. -Judy
@@FindingGinaMarie @FindingGinaMarie There's a dormant volcano near Imus Caviti, called Taal Volcano. Where you can ride horses, see botanical gardens with giant butterflies 🦋
You should reach out to Mr Dexter from Dexter's World, to do a possible colab. He built up a farm from scratch. Also breads cool fish and birds. 🐟 🐠 🐦 🦃
Thank you so much for the suggestions! We were disappointed to not be able to figure out an angle for the Philippines this year and would love to make something work. -Judy
You should give a score to your comparison.
We couldn't possibly. Each places has its own pros and cons, depending on what someone is looking for. It would feel a bit like ranking your children. We didn't love Saigon, but we were in an area of the city that made it a little harder to be comfortable with food. Had we been in another part of town, our experience would likely have been completely different. Also, we didn't quite know what to expect, but were we to return with more understanding, we might enjoy it significantly more. Thank you for watching! -Judy
My husband died Jan. 3, 2024. I was his caregiver for 15 years. I want to travel like you are doing. Is it safe to do it by myself?
We are so sorry about the loss of your husband. After caring for him for 15 years, you absolutely deserve to go after whatever hopes and dreams you want for yourself. We think that there is no reason you can’t travel the world. The vast majority of the places in the world are very safe, including Southeast Asia. It may be a little harder because you won’t have someone to share the load of planning, navigating, etc., but you also don’t have to compromise on what you want to do. Many people travel solo without any issue at all and we think you’re totally capable of doing it as well. I think many of the safety issues people bring up are overblown, especially if you are taking smart precautions. Some people who may try to talk you out of it are projecting their own fears that often have no basis in reality. -Judy
Yes it’s way easier and safe in South East Asia! Especially Bangkok there are Thousands upon Thousands of Vlogs on Bangkok Alone from Entering to Leaving just take notes and familiarize yourself especially the scams so you’ll have a better time!
Chiang Mai Province It is just a large province in the northern part of Thailand. Not the capital When you compare it to the capitals of Vietnam and Cambodia, It may not be a comparable .
Hi Timmy, Siem Reap is not the capital of Cambodia, either. We think the cities we mentioned are a good representation of the three countries and are popular places that tourists would visit. Thanks for watching. -Judy