INDOCHINA, also called (until 1950) French Indochina, French Indochine Française, the three states of Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia formerly associated with France, first within its empire and later within the French Union. The term Indochina refers to the
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After gradually establishing suzerainty over Indochina between 1858 and 1893, the French created the first Indochinese Union to govern it. Except in Cochinchina (French: Cochinchine), the southernmost portion of Vietnam, the original Vietnamese, Cambodian, and Laotian royal houses continued under a federal-type central government that had exclusive authority in foreign affairs, finance, defense, customs, and public works and was headed by a French governor-general responsible to the French minister for trade. In Cochinchina the administration was under a prefect and a French bureaucracy.
In 1940 the Japanese occupied the Tonkin area of northern Vietnam and in the following year the rest of Indochina. But, except for Vietnam and the western provinces of Cambodia, which the Japanese ceded to their Thai ally, Indochina was unaffected by the Japanese invasion. The local French Vichy government was even allowed to remain in office until March 1945, when the Japanese interned the local French personnel and proclaimed the autonomous state of Vietnam.
This regime collapsed after the Japanese surrender in August 1945, and in the north a party called the Viet Minh under the Vietnamese nationalist leader Ho Chi Minh at once proclaimed a Democratic Republic of Vietnam and assumed power. The monarchies in Laos and Cambodia hesitated to follow suit, and they were soon reoccupied by the French. The French then founded the Indochinese Federation, which was to be part of a new, greater French Union and in which the Democratic Republic of Vietnam was to be treated as an independent state. The French Union, however, was not established for several years, and then it provided for control of the area from Paris.
The conflict known as the First Indochina War soon erupted, and, during a lull in the fighting in 1949–50, the French, in an attempt to retain their holdings in the area, ratified separate treaties that recognized Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia as independent, self-governing states within the French Union. Thus ended the conception that these states were united to form “French Indochina.” The leaders of the states were puppet rulers; real independence did not come to the region until after the Geneva Conference of 1954, which finally ended the fighting between the French and the Viet Minh.
Nowaday, Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia are the most popular destinations in Southeast Asia, and after a tour of splendid cultural heritage and magnificent temples, you may prefer to have some natural touching. Then the laid-back Laos is your best choice. Here is your travel itinerary. After your tour in Vietnam, take flight to Siem Reap from Ho Chi Minh City. There are 5 daily flights running between the two cities and will take about one hour. Then after your temple tour in Cambodia, take flight to Vientiane from Siem Reap. There are two daily flights running between the two cities with one stop at Bangkok or Pakse, which will take more time. Then take the Mekong Cruise to get to Chiang Rai from Luang Prabang which will take two days. The final transfer is fly from Chiang Mai to Yangon, which will have one stop at Bangkok. It seems like a long journey, but what we planned for you is the best itinerary to discover the beauty of Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos.
Our Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos tours below are all independent and fully tailored by our travel experts, ensuring all the smallest details are taken care of. Besides, you can also customize your own trip by telling us your ideas, and we'll take care of the rest for you.
