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Hello all,


This is my first day to actually do some research prior to leaving for Vietnam on Jan 13th till Feb 5th. I have never been to Vietnam and would love any tips about where to go, what to do, etc. I am male and aging fast at the age of 29 y/o; yet I do still have a bit a fight and adventurous spirit left in me. I don't have any solid plans as what part of the country I what to go to; I generally like to make plans as I go but at the same time have a few ideas prior.

Thanks for all your help

USNR

My wife and I (both in our 70s) went to Vietnam twice, about two years ago. We traveled from the far south all the way north to the border with China, from the sea coast to the highest mountains. At no time did we ever encounter anything but the warmest of hospitality, interest, and friendliness of the people. True, if you have seen one rice paddy you have seen most of them. Nevertheless, the differences between the South and the North can be quite substantial. Our favorite large city: Hanoi -- still having some of the old French Colonial influence, a marvelous Old Quarter, and cultural aspects galore. We came to appreciate -- even love -- the local food with its many, many varieties. We did not think too much of Saigon (now Ho Chi Minh City), with its traffic, pollution, and crowds. The coast drive connecting Hue (marvelous small city) and Hoi An and Danang is very much Big Sur in California. Get out into the country, mingle with the local tribal people, take the train and bus from Hanoi to Sapa. Take a riverboat up the Mekong to the border with Laos at Chao Doc. Don't waste your time doing the tunnels outside HCMC; it's a hokey bit for day trippers and is a kind of underground Disneland today. You must remember that the people are more concerned with earning their daily rice bowl than discussing the past. The average age of the citizens is 15 years, and they could not care less about the so-called "American War."

Kathie

Start by buying yourself a good guidebook. The Lonely Plant has a good VN guidebook. Once you've spent a little time with the guidebook, you'll have some specific questions for us. Choose some particular places you want to go and don't think you can see everything in VN in three weeks.

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Thanks all for your help

WSL

Start in Saigon. Hang out in the evenings at QBar, the hottest bar in town. It's full of expats, etc. who are interesting, fun and full of ideas about what you should see and do. Avoid Apocalypse Now; full of hookers.

4015c

I spent three weeks in late jan and early feb in 2001 traveling with a friend of mine who is a Vietnam vet, we got our visas in Bangkok as well as our airfare from a travel agent on Khao San rd for 170.00 usd, it took four days to process. We went to Saigon and spent a couple of days there before busing up the coast, we were not on a budget but we wanted to see some of the countryside and it worked out well. We stayed in Nha trang for a few days, they have a nice beach and the hotels were reasonable and everywhere we went the food was excellent. From there we went to Hoi An and spent two days there enjoying the people and the quaint little city. If you want to have any clothing tailored for you this is the place to do it, I had a shirt and pants made and it cost 17.00 usd and I still have them and wear them often, great quality tailors. There is a mountain called marble mountain that there is a bhuddist temple on that is definatly worth seeing for the architecture, there are a few vendors trying to sell you marble sculptures but they are not real pushy. From there we went up to Hue, This is a city worth spending a few days in, there are many sights to see in and around the city, some good restaurants and everybody is very nice. We met an expat living with his Vietnamese wife there and he gave us a motor bike tour of the outlying islands that are connected by bridge to the mainland, we did end up going into places we were not supposed to be, not much of a problem really, the government has a lot of off area "off limits" but if you look as if you know what you are doing and you are not in a military area they just look the other way. if you do get stopped you just pull the dumb tourist act and they tell you to get out of there and maybe hit you up for a small fine. These trips we took out into the countryside gave us a true glimpse of life and we had much more contact with locals who were not engaged in the tourist trade. At this time of the year the temperature was in the mid to high sixties so it wasn't condusive to taking a dip in the south China sea above Nha trang but there are some beautiful stretches of beach around.We found that the Lonely Planet guide book to be very accurate in every way, so even though this is a fodors site, you may want to pick up one of there books. From Hue we went up to Dong Ha, this place has little in the way of accomodations and unless you want to see the DMZ area as we did you probably wouldn't want to stay there. That said we did a two day tour of the area including the Vinh Moc tunnel complex, which is definitly worth the trip, not only is it an amazing piece of history, the surrounding area is very beautiful and it did not have the carnival atmosphere so many mention of the tunnels at cu chi. We visited all of the old american firebases that we were allowed to see, the only one we couldn't see is now a "re-education camp" in otherwords, a prison, we could see the guard towers from highway 9. We went all over from the sea to the town of Khe San all on honda 110s, little motorbikes we rented from the cafe where we arranged for our guides. I will say that even if you are not interested in the history of the war, just seeing the countryside up in that area is worth the trip, you will get to meet the locals and by all means, eat local, some of the best food I have ever had anywhere was up in the hills at little places that our guide knew. From Dong Ha we took the bus back to Da Nang and spent the night there and then flew back to Saigon. One tip worth noting is that if you cannot get a coach class seat in either Vietnam or thailand , the upgrade to business or first class is no much, the difference from Da Nang to Saigon was only 20 dollars more and no problem getting a ticket when we wanted, this may have changed by now but it is worth a look if you are making up your itinerary as you go. After that long ramble, I think that you will have a great time, the Vietnamese are very gratious hosts, we did not have any problems any where we went and once you see the country you can see why they have fought so hard for so long to keep it, it truly is one of the most beautiful places I have ever visited. I hope this helps you and good luck on your trip and if you would like some more info on places I went feel free to email me @ [email protected] Good Travelling, JP.

Neil_Oz

As the guidebook will no doubt explain, public buses should be avoided unless you're a very small masochist, but airconditioned minibus transport is easy to arrange at travel agencies. One-day or longer side trips, e.g. from HCMC to the Mekong, are also easy to organise. I agree with other posters about the land, people and cuisine of Vietnam.

In Hanoi I recommend a visit to the Water Puppets and the Ho Chi Minh mausoleum/museum complex. To appreciate the city centre, get up very early and stroll around the lake, already busy with locals doing their tai chi and dance exercises and playing badminton but at that hour still free of the persistent postcard (etc) sellers, then wander into the Ancient Quarter as it comes to life. Have a cup of excellent local coffee, made with a small filter that drips into the sweetened condensed milk in the bottom of your cup (a slow process that will give you time to soak up whatever's happening around you).

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Thanks again to everyone who took the time to help out a fellow travelor