Touring Southeast Asia

Q: My wife and I are beginning the planning of a Southeast Asia tour (Thailand, Vietnam and possibly Cambodia). We have about 12 to 14 days in late March and early April.

Do you recommend a good site for multicountry Southeast Asia tours?

What kind of weather should we expect? Where should we start/end our journey from Seattle?

The local discount airlines, Air Asia (www.airasia.com) or Bangkok Airways (www.bangkokair.com), both make easy connections between Ho Chi Minh City and Bangkok.

Tickets can be booked online from the U.S. Bangkok Air flies from Bangkok to Siem Reap in Cambodia if you decide to fit Angkor Wat into your itinerary.

One idea is to fly into Ho Chi Minh from Seattle. You could spend a few days there or divide your time between Ho Chi Minh and Hue. Hue is one of Vietnam's most beautiful cities and March-April are excellent times to visit. Bangkok is an intense, crowded city best visited in short spurts; split up a few days stay there with a side trip to Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai, or one of the islands. Air Asia and Bangkok Airways have frequent flights.

This should be plenty in 12-14 days, including travel time. March is a good month for South Vietnam. It's the "dry" season, but it will be hot.

Most of Thailand will also be hot, but not as humid as other times of the year. Good Web sites to help with planning are www.travelfish.org,www.asiaforvisitors.com and www.passplanet.com