first timer for august; 14-18 days...need to narrow options

Hi,

First let me preface this, I%26#39;m a poor grad student. That being said, besides the crazy expensive flight from NYC to BKK, it seems like a trip to southeast asia is entirely affordable. I%26#39;m going to have most of the month of August, %26#39;09 off, so want to travel for around 14-18 (or even more if i can pull it off, but not more than 3 weeks).

I love to travel. I will be going with my girlfriend, a teacher, who is almost as adventurous as I am, but does not dive (but will snorkel). I%26#39;m a scuba diver / snorkeler, and am big into marine biology. I%26#39;m also a lover of biodiversity, esp. the rainforests. We are huge nature lovers and want plenty of off the beaten track time. I%26#39;d much rather stay in a national park then go to a full moon party. That being said, I love history and culture. The temples of SE Asia, the people and history all fascinate me. Shopping is not really a big deal, besides maybe a few gifts for people back home.

I%26#39;m very worried about time. If I had the time, I would love to go to all of SE Asia (wouldn%26#39;t we all). Top places on my list are of course Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos, Borneo and Indonesia. It seems like most likely I will end up spending most of my time in Thailand and have a few days in Cambodia, mostly spent at Angkor Wat. With the amount of time I%26#39;m spending, could a practically do more than Thailand and Camobdia? Am I missing the boat by not visiting a destination that would be down my alley and wonderful, but haven%26#39;t focused on?

Here%26#39;s an quick idea of what interests me in Thailand:

Bangkok, a few days, not too long...but definitely some time in and around the city

Chang Mai, lots of temples, great cultures, great food (forgot to mention, i love food), maybe cooking class and touring

Northern hilltribes with elephant camp - i know this is really touristy, but have heard some great things. I also know there are hilltribe camps in other countries, are some of those better?

Now here is where it breaks down, besides that, I don%26#39;t know what to do

Phuket seems way too touristy

Krabi sounds nice, but weather in august? monsoon season?

Koh Samui, Phagnan and Tao. Tao seems most down my alley, but far from off the beaten track. Also, are the islands on the east coast of thailand not worth it. should i just skip them and wait until i can go to the andaman sea another time? is the weather ok to go to the andaman sea in august?

venture into another country for the coral reefs?

also, rainforest, stay in thailand, or maybe venture down to malaysia?

also, i want to add about 3-4 days in Cambodia, Angkor Wat is can%26#39;t miss for me.

Any tips on narrowing down would be great, there%26#39;s just so much to do and so little time.

one last thing, is it way to early to buy plane tickets from NYC-BKK in August? When should I wait until for best deals?

first timer for august; 14-18 days...need to narrow options

Wow, it looks like your in for an enjoyable trip and it%26#39;s good to see that you obviously have already done quite a bit of research for yourself. One bit of advise I would give is not to try and do too much. I realise that you want to maximise your fun as your flight fares are likely to be huge.

If you just want to do Siem Reap in Cambodia, 3 days would be fine and will be cost effective with your 3 day temple pass. An economical way to get to SR is to fly Air Asia from KL in Malaysia. You could perhaps explore that option by flying into KL instead of BKK.

Personally with your time I would not try to do more than one other country. Thailand seems the logical choice as it offers eveything that you have mentioned.

BKK for a few days with an overnighter to Kanchanaburi region (River Kwaii, waterfalls, Tigers, Australian War Museum at Hellfire Pass etc)

Chiang Mai for a great cooking class, elephant farms, wonderful scenery. Perhaps a side trip up to Pai in the mountains.

Then down to the islands of Koh Phagnan %26amp; Koh Tao for your snorkelling and diving.

All doable particularly if you can stretch your days out to 3 weeks. Overnight sleeper train travel from BKK to Chiang Mai (and/or return) is cost effective as you wont waiste much time and you will save on overnight accommodation.

Check out our website for pics and stories of our trips to the areas mentioned... www.thebobmarsh.com