Looking to take a short holiday 7-9 days to Vietnam in late April this year At this stage planning to get a short stopover in Singapore to catch-up with an old friend and visit the great zoo there (our daughter is coming on this trip, she is 18 months old), singapore airlines have a great special at the moment which we have to book by the end of the week In Vietnam we are thinking Hanoi, Halung Bay and then Da Nang/Hoi An Just want some more advice from people about things to do, places to see, stay, eat and transport options? Thanks Smegstar
I doubt many people have been. My best friend's parents are both from Vietnam, and his dad in particular visited there for very extended periods of time. The one thing I can tell you is that there are some kick ass things to eat.
lol. Watch the vietnam special of top gear here http://torrent.zoink.it/Top.Gear.S12E08.WS.PDTV.XviD-RiVER.[eztv].torrent . It could give you some idea's, but they go to most of the places you already listed.
You will thoroughly enjoy yourself. The hospitality and friendliness was almost embarrassing to me (much of Asia is the same). Ha Long Bay is an unbelievable experience. I can't remember where it was, but I visited place with underground tunnels (and even went down to the 2nd/3rd levels before getting claustrophobic) where VC's hid & lived, set traps for and ambushed American soldiers. It was a truly bone-chilling experience that I really can't describe. A juicystream says, the food is incredible. Be adventurous.
Eh, I might have an old post on this. I can't remember. Take the train to Sapa from Hanoi - it's more interesting than Ha Long bay which you can almost do in a daytrip from Hanoi if necessary. If you go to sapa make sure you go over a weekend if you can so you can catch the Sunday market day at Bac Ha which is a bit of a drive from Sapa but easily accessible as all the tour companies sell bus tickets there. If you do go to Ha Long bay, I went to Bai Chay - it was ok but not much to do other than rent a boat (a huge junk big enough for 40-50 people w/crew of 3) and cruise around for about $10 hour. Hoi An and Hue are both ok and worth a stop. Not a lot to see or do in Da Nang though. Food is pretty good everywhere. There are some very nice French/Vietnamese restaurants in Hanoi. Obviously there's more fresh seafood out on the coast.
5$ for the cheapies, 10$ for the goodie good. Make sure you go with a local or else they will charge you like $50 to $100...
cheers will check out the top gear episode, think i just deleted a bunch off the pvr prior to watching them as was running out of space and time to watch them thanks Sam for the advice, any more from you (and anyone else) would be awesome so it is not worth staying at Halung Bay?
You don't want to visit the North (Hanoi,Hoi An...) You gotta go to the South: 1. Vung Tau (beach) 2. Nha Trang (beach) 3. Sai Gon (too croud thought)
Take Pepto Bismol, just in case. The food is good, but sometimes your stomach won't be used to some of the things over there even if it looks the same over here. So I recommend you take some, or it could ruin your day.
i went last year and absolutely loved halong bay. its like a unesco heritage site if im not mistaken. i took a boat trip with about 4-5 couples and slept one night on the boat. the boats like a floating small motel n u get ur own room n shower. id definitely wanna return later n check out sapa. those tunnels i think are in the south. ho chi minh city (saigon). i was only there for a day or 2, spent more time in hanoi. i prefer hanoi. great people. i actually met a local girl on the plane when disembarking in hanoi and we got to talking n she invited me to her family's house in saigon. it was a very memorable vacation
You don't have to stay there to enjoy it. Just go on a boat ride, let them fix you some awesome seafood, view the rock formations and visit the caves for a while. The caves are incredible. You MUST bring a camcorder.
the day trip to halung bay from hanoi is sounding promising, on a day trip would you get the chance to swim?
I took the day trip about 6 wks ago. Its very structured, so you wont have a chance to swim. You take a minivan from Hanoi with about 12 ppl, takes about 4 hrs to get to Ha Long Bay. Get there at around noon, join 4 other groups of 12, and go on the boat for 4-5 hours, eat lunch, go to caves, etc. Overall I liked South Vietnam alot better, Saigon and Nha Trang are 2 of my favorite cities in SEA. Also, in Singapore they have a night safari near the zoo, and your daughter might like Sentosa Island.
Smeg--what is this deal with Singapore Air, and do you know if the dates will be good for late next month. My wife has to go to Singapore for work then, and we're thinking that I will tag along with the baby (he'll be 8 months then). In fact, we'll probably turn it into a two week affair and take in Hong Kong as well (would LOVE to do Vietnam and/or Thailand, but that will have to wait). I take it you've done more looking at fares than we have, and I'm just curious what makes this deal better than most. She's trying to talk me into two business class seats instead of three coaches (no way in heck I'm considering a day long flight with a baby without some extra space for him and his stuff). Also.......does anyone have any advice on traveling with an 8 month old over such a long distance? (other than the requisite "don't do it!).
