Smeagol

SO, Muffin and I are heading to VN in November originally due to fly via HKG on Virgin Upper. However m flight gets cxld and i dont like the new timings so i cancel my 2 upper class seats (sniff) (which 1 was a reward and 1 was a good deal) and book 2 * EVA biz class at FABULOUS prices to BKK (yippee) So i am super pleased to be going Via BKK as it means a couple of days in my favourite city. However we are now flying a day earlier (which gives us an extra day (yay) and i got Tonkin to change a couple of bookings to accommodate this, but i am not sure about the structure (which i will detail below)
Day 1 - afternoon arrival BKK - onward flight to HANOI
Day 2 - Hanoi - city tour
D3 - Hanoi - Hanoi Kids
D4 - Shopping etc
D5 - Transit to Halong bay - overnight valentine junk
D6 - transit to airport booked 5pm flight to HCMC (tonkin advise this one but if we get to the airport early enough will see if we can catch the 3pm - HCMC
D7 -HCMC - City tour/Cu Chi
D8 - HCMC - - Mekong Delta da trip
D9 - HCMC - shopping etc
D10 - am pick up 4 hours to Mui ne - L'ammien Mu Nei
D11 - Mu Nei
D12 - Mu Nei
D13 Mu Nei
D14 - due to the long drive from MN to HCMC airport flight @ 18.10 to BKK
D15 BKK
D16 - 13.00 flight home to London

SO my concerns are i will be spending day 6 and day 14 in transit. I do want to keep it to 4 nights hanoi 4 nights HCMC, 4 nights MN and 2 BKK BUT do you think it would be better to head to MN on day 9 (so only 3 days in HCMC and then come back to HCMC on day 13 (which does mean we probably wont get back there till lunchtime BUT this means i can get a morning flight to BKK and have 2 full days in BKK and get a little bit of shopping time in HCMC as the other 2 full das are taken up with tours
I know it means breaking up the HCMC stay but i kind of think i may be wasting day 14 otherwise?
Clear as mud? any thoughts?

Nywoman

If you are in HCMC over a weekend make sure you experience the food fair at Lang du Lich Binh Quoi which was a wonderful experience with very few Western tourists I took the #14 bus from the main bus station and a taxi back. It is about 40 minutes out of the center, they only serve Friday, Saturday and Sunday, am not exactly sure of the hours, but you can go there earlier in the day just to walk around it is a very lovely park.

IMHO skip the Mekong River Tour, the boats are way outside the city, I don't remember how far or for how long we traveled. It really is a very uninteresting trip, that sounds better on paper than in reality.
My trip report http://www.fodors.com/community/asia...and-saigon.cfm

Smeagol

NY that sounds great and we may even be in HCMC on a Friday.
Was the mekong trip that bad? bit gutted as it was one of m must do... the mighty mekong.

Kristina

It sounds like you were excited to go back to BKK, yet you only have 1 day there. You will arrive late on day 14 and in reality, not have much time to do anything on the day you leave. I would add another day there if you can, or at least that 1/2 day.

Forgive my ignorance, but what's in Mu Nei that warrants 4 days? Is there any way you could go there first, from Hanoi, instead of HCMC?

As for the Mekong Delta trip, we chose not to go. It just sounded like more of the same of what we'd seen in other parts of SEA. We also did not do the tunnels (not interested). If you still want to do both, you might consider combining those two (tunnels and delta) into one day so you are not going out of town two days in a row. I think it can be done.

Smeagol

Kristina
Mu Nei is the beach bit and we will be in much need of some R & R ( we both drive LOTS for our jobs so the chance to rest will be needed) I did consider going to MN from Hanoi but as we don't get to HCMC till 7pm its another 4 hours and didnt fancy a day where we travel from Halong to Hanoi then flight to HCMC then another 4 hour drive (and Muffin would kill me)

I did ask whether we could do CC and Mekong in 1 day but was told it was too much?? As we will have not seen any part of the Mekong, do you still think its worth a trip?

Kristina

Hmmm...what about changing the beach bit to a place you could fly direct from Hanoi, like DaNang? From there Hoi An is very close, about 40 min by car. We loved this part of the trip and stayed right on the beach for 4 nights. Or you could go to Na Trang...

I really can't comment about the Mekong part. Maybe someone else can. I didn't want to do the tunnels either because I get claustrophobic and it sounded like a recipe for disaster for me. ;-)

Smeagol

I would love to go to Hoi An BUT its right in the middle of the monsoon season in central VN and the luck we have with weather (read NONE... when we went to Australia it was the wettest Christmas they had had in 40 years!!)

Thanks for your input Kristina (eagerl awaiting the rest of your photo's)

Nywoman

I was in Hpi An in November and got rained out. As a photographer,I am for sure no competition to Kristina but my Mekong pictres can be seen at http://picasaweb.google.com/Nywoman/...AndMekongRiver
The first few ones are what you would see on a day trip,
the rest are from my two nights on the boat into Cambodia.

Smeagol

wow great photos thanks for sharing.
Mmmm not sure what to do about the Mekong trip now, can't decide whether to leave it for when we (eventually) go to Cambodia??

thursdaysd

I would leave the Mekong trip for Cambodia. For me the most interesting part of my delta trip was crossing the border between Vietnam and Cambodia on the river and seeing the contrast. The floating villages were industrial, the storks were storks, and after the first hour or so the river became boring.

If you're going to visit the Cu Chi tunnels, make sure to see the Cao Dai temple as well.

rhkkmk

cancel it all and come meet us in bkk

Smeagol

Ok i am thinking if i leave the mekong delta trip, splitting HCMC into 3 then 1 would work, get an earlyish flight to bkk and i give myself another day (pretty much) in BKK.
Think that could work, thanks guys.

Gpanda

Forget that Vietnam nonsense and come spend a luxurious several days with Bob and Andy in Bangkok. Oh, I forgot, you and Muffin don't like to laugh. Your English after all.

Smeagol

yes but we do irony rather well......

Gpanda

Which brings me back to a sign that was humg many years ago outside the residence of a "new age" commune, i.e., "Steal and Irony". Ah, the good old days, when pandas ran free across the plain.

marya_

I would love to know if anyone out there knows of a high-quality Mekong Delta day-trip. On the basis of our (mediocre) experience, I too would encourage you to drop it in favor of more time in BKK or something else as well.

Can't wait to hear about Mui Ne.

simpsonc510

Spend as much time as you can in BKK!!

AskOksena

... yo, smeagol! (Remember me and the 'Sex Pistols' from a few months back?) ... (and I do promise to keep this reply, 'PG-13').

Now, congrats with that EVA business class booking, but can't resist suggesting those sensational Singapore Girls for your next journey. Rather fine SQ service - LHR-SIN-BKK - these days, with rather competitive fares / upgrade opportunities / award tix possibilities. (And if you don't believe me, venture over to a most refined community, SQTalk.) ... (And a certain SIA Girl blog, but that one's classified.)

Must confess, your itin. makes my eyes 'glaze over' (And not your fault; I'm still rather partial to SIA / mountaineering discussions and tender times with Asian masseuses), but I see a way for you to kick your trip up a notch : a minimum of Four nights at my all-time cherished Bangkok business travel (and occasional pleasure) hotel, the Peninsula! Two of many reasons : as of a ~ fortnight back, the hotel had hired yet another gorgeous and gracious Thai woman (well, aren't they all), and yes, part of my all-time favourite Pen room had been beautifully 're-painted'. (Re the latter : something to do with my informing 'houskeeping' of a rather noticable female handprint over the 'headboard'. ... (Oh, if 'those walls could talk') ...

Savour your planning ... (and don't forget those Girls.)

macintosh (robert)


... "Khun Robert! Welcome home!" ...

(Thanks forever, Peninsula staff)

Smeagol

Now Robert, we have stayed at the fabulous Pen several times before but sky high rates and a desire to try the S-la means we will miss out this time. AND as we always use BKK as a jump off place will have many opportunities to spend time there going forward (and i don't want to short change Vietnam)
AND i would LOVE to go Raffles class to SE Asia but alas still twice the price of Eva, so will have to keep hoping (the suites are a particular ambition of mine)

We did fly SQ last year when all that unfortunates business in Bangkok meant we couldn't make our Biz class flight home (the new A380 no less - but alas it was steerage.....)

Marya - I think i am going to skip the Mekong trip - unless as you say, someone comes up with a high end option.

AskOksena

>>>a desire to try the S-la<<<


A fine choice (and if so inclined, check out my illustrious review of the BKK SL on this fine, family friendly forum).

Now, must enquire : are you staying 'Main' or 'Krungthep' wing? If it's the 'K' (my primary SL business meeting trip wing these past few years), well, do give my regards to some rather fine SL K Wing employees and friends, including the always delightful Khun 'Rattana', Khun 'Eric', the ever-personable 'personal butler', Khun Nathalie, and yes, my all-time cherished 'late-night arrival' Health Club masseuse, Khun 'K'.

Deepest apologies for not revealing my 'special K' wing room number, but should you 'land' in that cherished room, well the little 'guestbook' on the desk contains more than one 'page of praise' from 'Khun Robert'.

Joyous uplifting SL times to you. (And do look forward to those future SIA R/F/J flights with those Angels.)

robert


... "You take care of yourself". "You too". ...

(Room ____, BKK SL, 200_)