Every question, in one place

Because on several legs the overland option is the trip itself: the Hai Van Pass by train, the Mekong between Huay Xai and Luang Prabang, the river from Chau Doc to Phnom Penh.

On other legs it is not, and we recommend the flight. Each journey page says which legs are which.

Eighteen days is the minimum for any of our journeys, and three weeks is more comfortable. A trip that crosses all three countries overland needs about four weeks.

No. Every journey is private for your party, on the dates you choose. We do not run fixed departures.

Yes. The four journeys are starting points. Most people move a stop, add nights where they want to stay longer, or start from a different city.

Vietnam first, Laos second, Cambodia third. Arrange the Lao visa before you reach the Lao Bao border, and check the official e-visa portal of each country for which land crossings accept an e-visa — the list changes.

We send a visa checklist with the leg sheet, but the visas themselves are yours to obtain.

Yes. Siem Reap to Hanoi works the same way. The only change is that the hardest border day comes early, so we move a rest day forward.

Most travellers sleep reasonably in a 4-berth soft sleeper. It is not a hotel: the toilets are shared at the end of the carriage and the train stops at stations through the night. For two people we can book the whole compartment.

We reroute and tell you before you reach it. The planned rest days are where a lost day is absorbed without moving every booking after it.

Downstream, Huay Xai to Luang Prabang, is the direction we plan. Upstream is slower and few travellers choose it.

For some people, yes. Sleeper buses are cramped for anyone tall. We quote the flight alongside so you can choose with the numbers in front of you.

No. The last Irrawaddy dolphin in the pool on the Lao–Cambodian border died in 2022. Cambodia's remaining river dolphins live further south, towards Kratie.

Yes, and drop the boat. But the boat is the reason this journey exists, so we would suggest a different one.

Usually because ours names the hotels, books four-berth sleepers and private cars where we said we would, and keeps the rest days. Ask the other company for the same detail and compare line by line.

Yes. The amount and timing are set out on the payment page and in your booking terms before you commit to anything.

Yes: coaches instead of private cars, a lower hotel level in the cities, fewer guided days. We show what each change saves.

No. You apply for each visa yourself on the official portal or at the embassy. We send a checklist for the borders on your route.

Usually the stop nearest an airport, because it is easiest to visit another time. We would rarely cut the islands or Luang Prabang, which are hard to reach.

Not here. Angkor is the end of two journeys, and the journey pages cover the days there.

Yes. Luang Prabang and Siem Reap both have airports and both make good starting points.

If you go at dawn and stay in Can Tho, yes. It is smaller than it was, and it is a working market rather than a show.

Most people find six and a half hours manageable. It is a fast passenger boat with the border done halfway, not a cruise.

Yes. The rains from July to November bring high water; boat trips run, though some small canals change character.

For the canals and the floating market, a local boat and guide make the morning. In the towns, not really.

Don Khon if you want quiet, Don Det if you want more choice of places to eat. They are joined by a bridge, so you can cycle between them.

Not in the islands any more. The remaining Mekong dolphins live in Cambodia, between the border and Kratie.

Do not count on one. Bring enough cash from Pakse for your stay.

On an eighteen-day trip, possibly. On a four-week trip, it is usually the stay people wish had been longer.

On a five-week trip, no. The rest days are what keep the last week as good as the first, and they absorb delays without moving every booking.

Six days, and only if none of them includes a night train or a border.

February to April for the gentlest weather across the whole route, avoiding the Tet holiday if you can.

Almost everywhere we stay, yes, usually priced by weight or by piece. In the rains it can take two days to dry.

Not from this site at the moment. Send the form; we reply by email, and once you book you get a named contact for the trip.

As soon as we can give a useful answer. Trips with several borders take longer to look at properly.

Yes. Paste it into the notes field. We will say which legs work as written and which we would change.