Anyone ever travel to Vietnam or Cambodia?

My Fiance and I are planning our honeymoon in Vietnam and Cambodia in mid-March of '08 for two weeks.  I've heard so many amazing stories about how wonderful both countries are and how affordable it is to go there.

I really like scuba diving, surfing, hanging on the beach, and also hiking and exploring historical ruins like Angkor Wat.

Hoping someone here has been to Vietnam and/or Cambodia and has some recommendations of things to do and see while there.   

i was just in cambodia and thailand a few months ago with my wife. it was AMAZING. as for cambodia we only went to angkor wat. the ruins are AMAZING. unless you are a total archeologist though, 2 days is plenty. i have a VERY strong recommendation for a guide for angkor wat. he really made the difference between a mediocre walk around a bunch of old places and a vivid experience. message me and i'll send you his email address. he was fantastic. also, i recommend that you do the sunrise at angkor wat the FIRST day - the first time you see it. much more impressive that way (we didn't do it and i regret that). i also recommend you try not to look at a lot of pictures of it before you go, but that is my personality i guess - i cover my eyes and ears during movie previews in the theater as well :)

there is also a floating village, but be prepared to see some of the worst poverty in the world (outside of africa).

"there is also a floating village, but be prepared to see some of the worst poverty in the world (outside of africa)."

India is also a favorite in that respect.

 When I was in Japan a few years ago--the only time I would realistically have traveled to Cambodia--it was under a U.S. State Department travel advisory for banditry and landmines. It may well be that in the intervening years those issues have been resolved. 

As to the U.S., there aren't many places in the U.S.--outside of the deep south and, perhaps, parts of Idaho--which present any real danger for me. 

What do you mean by a few years ago? Pol Pot has been taken out from power in '79 and has dissolved the party (and it's resistance activity) 11 years ago.

And if you look at the present situation, Cambodia's tourism is flourishing, and it is very easy to travel to Cambodia: from Thailand (which is the gateway to south-east asia) there are 2 buses a day going to Cambodia from Bangkok (besides private buses) and many, many flights. In conclusion, Cambodia isn't more dangerous then, say, Viet-Nam. And you often to take with a grain of salt the "dangers" you are warned of. I have a few personal examples about this, but the most obvious one was during the coup in Fiji, last december, where embassies were recommending to tourists to evacuate the country, etc. etc. etc. I was there when it happened, I didn't learn about it until one week after it happened, because I happened to read the newspaper, and believe me, beside Suva, where no particular violence happened anyway, you could never tell anything was happening there. And the India's pakistani border and even Kashmir are other examples I could tell you about. I think the most dangerous place for tourists (beside war zones, and even then it depends) is South America, to which you can still go without problem easily.

I have only heard stellar things from people who have been there.  I'm really looking forward to the trip.

Lot's of info here about Cambodia.  What about Vietnam?  Any advice on that?  Do we have members from Vietnam? 

I'm so excited.  We finally booked our flights... first class with miles. (knew all that travel would pay off one day!!!)

We are planning to visit Sapa in the northwest first, then Hanoi, then Angkor.  After that, we will chill out in Nha Trang for 4-5 days of beach time.

I'm going to use a guide recommended to me for Angkor Wat and the surrounding areas.  Are there any recommendations for FANTASTIC (I have very very high standards) for guides in Hanoi, Nha Trang, and Sapa?? 

 I was speaking specifically about 2002. I don't remember referencing Pol Pot. So, I'm not sure why you brought him up.

Perhaps you are just a more intrepid globe trotter than I. I take warnings about unexploded landmines and banditry--and there are still (at the time of this writing, 08/25/2007 @ 00:52 est) such travel warnings (as well as bird flu warnings) extant on the official travel advisory pages of several governments--seriously. 

 Because any particular danger to Cambodia, especially the mines you mentionned, will have it's source with the Khmer Rouge. Banditry is not worse than other south-east asian countries, no? Perhaps I'm wrong on this one, but I never heard of anything particular about this in Cambodia, I am ready to bet that you are more likely to get robbed in South America, Europe or America. As for mines, the only unexploded mines left means that they will be where no one has walked or searched for over twenty years, you will have to go way out of the touristic paths to be realistically in any danger. I would really like to see the statistics of tourists stepping on landmines... if there is such statistic.

 Agreed, but they didn't evaporate when the Khmer Rouge went the way of the dodo.

I have never been myself, but I do have friends from Thailand. One friend recently returned from a trip there. She said it always makes her sad to see how violent her homeland has become. She seemed to think the violence has gotten progressively worse as time has gone on.

That said, I do hope to go myself someday. I think it is best to keep informed about what and where is safe, but obviously there are a lot of people who vacation there and never witness horrific acts of violence. 

favorite in what respect - floating villages or worst poverty or anything else?  Not quite clear to me.

 Poverty :P

"I have never been myself, but I do have friends from Thailand. One friend recently returned from a trip there. She said it always makes her sad to see how violent her homeland has become. She seemed to think the violence has gotten progressively worse as time has gone on."

I have been to Thailand and never ever felt in danger. You have to realise that statistics that say crime is high, is still pretty small, and often it happens between gangs, for example, so as a tourist, or a regular person you can probably cut the crime rate by a lot. Also, check the crime rate in Washington, for example, it is very high, but would you be afraid for your life going there? If you don't hang in dark little streets at 2 o'clock at night in a shady part of town, you will most probably not get mugged. The only times I've heard of people being mugged as tourists was in South America, United States (at gunpoint), Europe (pickpockets) and New Zealand. And I met plenty of people who have been all over Asia (the worse thing is that you should be ready for stomach problems). And besides South America, it's all developped countries where you wouldn't think "oh the crime rate is high, I'm not going there". But chances that something will happen to you are probably at least as high (or low).

You might hear: 10 tourists have been killed this year at x place, but how many tourists have been there? And what were those 10 tourists doing when they got killed? You have more people getting in jail in foreign countries, but you aren't afraid of going to jail, right? Why? Because you will obey the law and do nothing illegal? Well it should be the same thing for other "dangers", if you don't put yourself into trouble, you won't get into trouble (at least not big troubles). 

I've been gone for a while, but suffice it to say that my honeymoon in Southeast Asia was FANTABULOUS!!!  I'll post photos later, but I highly recommend a visit to this region of the world.

i was vietnam for ast 2 weeks - it was my first time visit there - very nice cuntry with kind people - i have plan go there future - only my problem there was language - i hope find a freind there with english language ability