Vier Städte, drei Länder: Südostasien entdecken

About the destination: Bangkok, one of Asia’s most cosmopolitan cities, is the capital of Thailand. Bangkok is hot and crowded, but it's fairly clean and offers lots of fun things to do. Bangkok has great shopping, plenty of culture, amazing temples, delicious food and a decent art scene. Most of Bangkok's sights are concentrated on the island of Rattanakosin, often referred to as the Old City. The Grand Palace is the absolute must see site. The Grand Palace complex also houses the Temple of the Emerald Buddha, Wat Phra Keow, the most sacred Buddhist temple. Other famous temples in Bangkok are the Wat Pho and Wat Arun temples. Bangkok is a great place for shopping. There are many shops, shopping centers and markets to satisfy every wish. The nightlife scene in Bangkok is as varied as the city itself, from beer bars to exclusive clubs, night shopping markets, discos to hippie parties. Bangkok is a large sprawling metropolis, noisy and crowded yet peaceful and delicate. It is one of the world’s top destinations that one has to visit at least once in life.

About the destination: Siem Reap is the capital city of Siem Reap Province in northwestern Cambodia. It is a popular resort town and a gateway to the Angkor region. Siem Reap has colonial and Chinese-style architecture in the Old French Quarter, and around the Old Market. In the city, there are museums, traditional Apsara dance performances, a Cambodian cultural village, souvenir and handycraft shops, silk farms, rice-paddies in the countryside, fishing villages and a bird sanctuary near the Tonle Sap Lake. Siem Reap today—being a popular tourist destination—has a large number of hotels, resorts, restaurants and businesses closely related to tourism. This is much owed to its proximity to the Angkor temples, the most popular tourist attraction in Cambodia.

About the destination: Phnom Penh, located at the confluence of the Mekong and the Tonle Sap rivers, is the capital and largest city of Cambodia. There is a very strong French influence in Cambodia, particularly Phnom Penh, so much so that the city was once known as the Paris of the East. The French developed the canal system, ports, roads and buildings. Even though most of the city’s French flair has disappeared, there are a few beautiful French colonial buildings remaining. The Riverside district with its charming river walk, is full of hotels, restaurants and bars looking over the river and is very handy for visiting the main tourist sites. The main tourist attractions in Phnom Penh are Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum, the Killing Fields, the National Museum, the Royal Palace, the Silver Pagoda and the temple Wat Phnom. Today, Phnom Penh is one of the fast growing cities in Southeast Asia and you can find upmarket cuisine, a very good arts scene and a vast array of markets. Phnom Penh is a worthwhile destination and a convenient base to explore the rest of the country.

About the destination: Ho Chi Minh City, formerly known as Saigon is the largest city in Vietnam. It is a modern, lively and bustling city. It is economically active, filled with lively markets and it is unequivocally the nation’s commercial center. Though the country’s most modern city by far, it retains a unique Vietnamese flavor and you can still see evidences of an illustrious Colonial past of this former pearl of the orient. In the core area, which locals still affectionately refer to as Saigon, you’ll find some of the city’s main attractions such as the Opera house, railway station, Notre Dame cathedral, Reunification Palace, the Saigon river and the Markets. To take a break from the city, you can take a tour to the Mekong Delta or to Da Lat, if you have more time. Da Lat, located in the highlands approximately 300km from the city is worth the trip as there is plenty to see and do including waterfalls, gardens, the old French Quarter and the local restaurants which served magnificent local food. The commercial and financial hub of Vietnam is an exciting and interesting sprawling metropolis that does its best to preserve the way of life and culture of this magnificent county.