jcontreras

Hello,

We caught the Asian Bug again and after some time retired from this fantastic board we would like to receive your opinion/advice on the following. We are planning a 14Night trip covering two areas we haven´t done before: Luang Prabang and Central Vietnam. In addition, we are considering Saigon/HCM and try to go down to Mekong Delta. Finally, if needed a night or two in Bangkok.

On the sites/places we are pretty much convinced on Luang Prabang (we tried to fit this area on trips bef.) and Hue – Hoi An (including side trips to My Son, Royal Tombs, Cham Museum in Danang). Regarding the Mekong Delta we are considering either a day trip from HCM or and overnight stay, we have no time to going deep into Cambodia.

Our main concerns so far:

1) Logistics / Flights: We are struggling on this, initially we though on the following itinerary:

LAX – HCM
HCM – LP 4 Nights Luang Prabang
LP – Danang 2 + 3 Nights in Hue/Hoi An respectively
Danang – HCM 4 Night (including maybe an overnight near Mekong Delta)
HCM – LAX

We already quote this and domestic flights came out very high. Also since there no direct flight between HCM to LP nor LP to Danang, we have to make connections, wasting precious time.

Do you think is better from BKK a base/hub? The itinerary will look like this:

LAX-BKK (might be required to stay at airport on night)
BKK – LP 4 Nights Luang Prabang – BKK
BKK – Bangkok 2 Nights (that’s life for!)
BKK – Danang 2 + 3 Nights Hue – Hoi An
Danag – HCM 3 Nights
HCM – BKK – LAX

If its possible to get a flight LAX – BKK and HCM – LAX??, I already tried but on several airlines web sites this kind of flight is more expensive, almost double. Any tip on this will be appreciated.

2) Hotels: After some research we are considering the following:

4N LP – 3Nagas
2N HUE – La Residence
3N Hoi An – Life Heritage Resort (in town)
3N HHM – Majestic Hotel or Rennasaince
2N BKK - ???

What you think?

Travel dates are still open, we might try to fit it in November but also considering late Jan2010 just before TET.

Thanks for your inputs!!

Vientianeboy

In Luang Prabang - the Three Nagas is a nice hotel, but I would suggest that you also look at the Chang Heritage Resort. It may be a tad cheaper, and the location is nicer.

rhkkmk

LP--its often difficult to get get the hotels you want on the dates you want, so factor that in and contact them...

have you tried united for the split fare?? also korean, eva, japan, cathy pacific...

i find that if you call the airline you get better info when you are doing something like a split...plus they can take full advantage of partners...

i'm not sure but i don't think you can fly bkk-danang or hue..

look at bangkok airways using their special pass for the laos flights and others...you need to fly 3 segments to use it...

kvchina

Until earlier this year, PB Air used to fly BKK-DAD (Danang) but no more. Effectively, no intl commercial flights to DAD for now, just domestic. Your problems are compounded by the fact that LPQ is not prolifically blessed with flight options and especially not with great connections to Vietnam.

I'd try for the transpacific flights as open jaw if you need to save time or minimize backtracking: LAX-BKK and SGN-LAX (BTW, the airport code for Ho Chi Minh City is SGN for "Saigon"). or vice-versa. If that doesn't work or is prohibitively expensive, pick a straight round trip to/from BKK. Make your routing a circle--in particular, enter into Vietnam only ONCE or you'll have additional visa gyrations and costs OR need to get a double-entry visa to start with.

I'd tend to fly LAX-BKK, then Bangkok Air one way to LPQ, then Vietnam Airlines one-way to Hanoi, process through immigration/Customs then transfer to domestic flight to Hue. Overland Hue to Danang to Hoi An. Flight Danang to SGN and home (or add SGN to BKK if you had a straight round trip). Flying clockwise is best LPQ-HAN if you don't wish to stay a night in HAN, as there is an afternoon HAN-HUE flight that you should be able to make. Doesn't work the other way around without a night in Hanoi, as the flight to LPQ leaves too early to connect into from elsewhere. You can also transfer HAN-DAD and then do Hoi An first, overland to Hue, fly Hue-SGN.

The Bangkok Airways Discovery Pass isn't going to work that well for your needs, but you might look into the Asean Air Pass and Asean Hip-Hop Pass to see if it would save you any money. Flights into LPQ in winter get booked up quickly as capacity is limited so lock it in as soon as you can. Vietnamese domestic flights are cheaper bought in country and can usually be done fairly last-minute, but your timeline may not allow for this.

If interested in the Mekong Delta, I'd recommend doing a 2-day trip with overnight there, rather than a daytrip out of HCMC. You'll see more. HCMC itself can be covered more than adequately in 2 days/nights.

kvchina

Addendum: 1) not sure why you are finding the open-jaw transpacific to be so much higher...normally it's close to same price or maybe a little bit more, as long as you stay with Same-Alliance partners. Usually the old standbys like Expedia and Travelocity are TERRIBLE for this kind of thing, so skip them. Try a travel agent that is specialized in transpacs to this region:
www.thaifly.com
www.vinaworldtravel.com

The latter may also be able to help you more cheaply procure the Vietnam Airlines domestic flights.

2) I think using Bangkok as hub as you proposed should be your last resort, you just waste so much time going in and out of there repeatedly. But if forced to do this, then try looking at the Bangkok Airways pass, making sure your plans don't fall foul of the pass usage limitations.

jcontreras

Thank for all for your comments!

Kvchina, Im already in contact with the agents you mentioned above (actually I´m past customer of thaifly). Your advice on the LAX-BKK-LPQ-HAN-DANANG-SGN-LAX seems good in terms of time saving and lower cost. Great!

What do you think on nights allocation?
2BKK
4LPQ
2HUE
3HOI AN
3SGN

About the Mekong Delta, how interesting might be after some time in the Mekong River up to Luang Prabang (planning on going to cave/waterfall)? Pls. also bear in mind, we already been to Thailand´s floating markets, Tonle Sap lake near Siem Reap, and Inle lake in Myanmar. Is the Delta up to those? pls. advice.

Thanks again for your guidance!

Finally, how about my dates? NOV vs. Late Jan? If there´s any benefit on going to Vietnam just before TET? How about rain in the Hoi An region on January, It seems that jan is still a wet month..

Kathie

I like your itinerary and kvchina's suggestion for routing is excellent. Central VN is very wet (not just rain but flooding) in November; it's much better in January. I'd schedule so you are out of VN before Tet - by a week or so. Lots of VN people travel just before Tet to visit family.

Sounds like a great trip!

seagypsy

Hi jcontreras,
I don't know if you've already setup your flights but I did want to mention that I'd 'open-jawed' with Cathay Pacific on a trip to Vietnam quite some years back, flying SFO>Hong Kong>HCMC, then traveling up the length of Vietnam for 3 weeks before flying Hanoi (code shared with Vietnam Airlines) to Hong Kong and returning home to San Francisco with Cathay.

That flght cost only about U$100 more than the regular Cathay Pacific roundtrip fare to Saigon.

So, what you could do is start in Hanoi instead, recover a few days from your longhaul flight, and then fly roundtrip Hanoi>Luang Prabang>Hanoi, then resume your travels south to central Vietnam and out of Saigon (or even roundtrip just out of Hanoi).

Lao Airlines is presently offering a discounted roundtrip airfare between Luang Prabang and Hanoi for U$200 but it's only to the end of this month so it will jump back up at least by U$50-80 once the promo expires unless they decide that they still want/need to market and extend this route due to tourism numbers being down in Laos.

Anyways, just another option for you to consider. This would mean though that you'd have to get a multi-entry or dual entry Viet visa UNLESS Noi Bai/Hanoi Airport is setup for you to retain 'transit status' which means that if you can connect with the Lao flight to Luang Prabang AND NOT be required to go through Viet immigration procedures, you could then only need one Viet visa with which to enter Vietnam after your return to Hanoi after the Luang Prabang segment of your trip. BUT you would have to check with a Vietnam specialist travel agent or with a very good Cathay Pacific agent to ascertain whether this is viable or not. I hope it is and I do seem to recall a report by one traveler who was able to do this for HCMC. This would require some research on your part but it might save you the cost of a double entry Viet visa or if you're not bothered, just get the multi-entry visa.
You could also research this on the various travel forums too.
Hope this helps and have a great trip!

Cicerone

Just some random thoughts:

Silk Air goes from Singapore to Danang, so you might fly LAX to Singapore, spend a few days there, and/or then connect from there to central Vietnam. You can then use domestic flights to get around Vietnam and head out to LP from there. I would then go from LP back to S’pore for the flight home, although an open jaw from another city like Bangkok or Hong Kong may work as well.

You might also look at Air Asia to Vietnam from KL, and do a flight from LAX to KL. Air Asia also flies from Bangkok to Hanoi and HCM.

Also another routing is from LAX to Hong Kong on Cathay, as they seem to have flights set up to connect to HCM from their US flights (lots of returning AmericanViet Q). Or spend a few days in Hong Kong in either end.

I assume you have looked at Jetstar which is run by Qantus and is very cheap for intra-Vietnam flights like Hue and Hoi An, and also has some international routes, like Singapore to HCM. See http://www.jetstar.com/au/en/index.aspx

I just stayed at La Residence in Hue about 2 weeks go, can’t say enough good things about this hotel. They have maintained the original art deco spirit of the place, and have an excellent location on the river. If you can, get a deluxe river view room, as they have lovely large balconies looking onto the river and the Citadel. (The suites actually have limited views and I don’t think they are worth the money although they are quite large. Their standard garden view rooms are on the small side from what I saw.) Also be sure to rent one of their bikes (US$3 for half day) and do a tour of the town, esp around the inside walls and other areas of the Citadel, which is a great way to see the other parts of this huge complex after you have walked the main bits. The hotel offers a cooking class which includes a trip to the local market, which I did not do as I was not aware of it until too late, but if you are interested, ask about it. I had not been to Hue in about a decade and had forgotten how interesting this area is, lots to see and do.

In Hoi An if you want a really marvelous beach hotel outside the town, you might look at the Nam Hai. http://www.ghmhotels.com/.

My personal view on your itin is that 3 nights in HCM is too much. It’s my least favourite place in Vietnam, quite crowded and loads of tourists. I would spend more time in other areas. There are tunnels like Chu Chi not far from Hue/Hoi An if that is the sort of thing you were planning on doing in HCM. You also are not including Hanoi which is IMO a more interesting and pleasant city than HCM; but perhaps you have been before.

jcontreras

Thanks for your advice. We are not visiting Hanoi this time because we´ve there before (we loved, thats we are going for more Viet). our Itinerary is set as follows:

2Nights Bangkok - Plaza Athene (really god rate)- any day spa recommendation, we´ve been to Faces in the past was OK?

3N Luang Prabang - impossible to do 4N due to flights but we will only do the cave (not elephant or waterfall) - Chang Heritage Hotel, what do you think on this? Other 5* hotels seem to expensive ($340 3Nagas, $500 Residence PV, $200 Le Maison).

3N Hoi An - Heritage Hotel - Excursion to MySon Ruins - any advice on restaurants or stores worthvisiting?

2N HUE - Le Residence Hotel - Citadel and Emperor Tombs, any advice on?

2N HCM - Majestic Hotel - not going to Mekong Delta just going to local sites; could you pls. advice on good stuff in Saigon (sites, restaurants, shops).

1N BKK - TBD - given because transpacific flight, we´ve got a very good deal on EVA roundtrip Evergreen Deluxe roundtrip BKK.

If you have any comment or suggestion for us, pls. go ahead!!
thnks.

Cicerone

Some thoughts would be:

<u>Hue</u>: The restored/surviving parts of the Citadel are not very large, and you can see most of it in about 1.5-2 hours. I would have a guide for this as otherwise you may get lost or not quite understand what you are seeing, it is a bit spread out. I am not aware if there is an audio tape, you could check, if so, that might be a good option. I have a guide I can reocco, I will repost with here contact details; I found her quite good, she also took me to some of the tombs, and to back areas of the Perfume Pagoda like the monks’ kitchens and quarters (which I had not been to before as one is never sure where one is allowed, but she knew where she was going). Reconstruction is constantly going on at the Citadel. For example, the library which I saw 10 years ago is now closed as it is collapsing and apparently will be restored at some later point. As I mentioned, after you have seen the restored bits, I would strongly recommended getting a bicycle from the hotel and touring inside the walls of the Citadel by yourself. It’s a very large area, probably the size of the Forbidden City in Beijing if not larger. You do not need a guide, and its virtually impossible to get lost as you can use the walks as the guide. There are houses, farmer’s fields, bridges, restaurants and all sorts of activities going on inside the walls. Just follow the walls all around the circuit of the walls, and then go inwards as you wish to the tiny interior lanes. I would bike over from the hotel by crossing the railroad bridge which has a special lane for bikes and motorbikes, because it’s a hoot to cross. From the hotel, turn right and follow the road for maybe ½ to ¾ of a mile. The railroad bridge will be off to the right, you go up a small incline bearing off from the main road, it’s hard to miss as all the motorbikes are heading up to it. No cars, only trains, the river and you. You can come back via one of the bridges in the downtown which makes a nice circuit. The streets are wide and there is little car traffic, but weaving around the zooming motorbikes is interesting.

On a day trip by boat with the guide, I went to the tombs of Tru Doc and Minh Mang, the Thien Mu Pagoda and the Hon Chen Temple. At my guide’s suggestion, we skipped the Minh Mang tomb as she said reconstruction work was extensive and it would be harder to appreciate it. You might want to include it if you have time, I would like to myself at some other point and hopefully see more of the tombs, which are very interesting. The Hon Chen Temple was very peaceful and in a lovely setting on the river, and there were no other tourists there at all. I would like to go back and go further upriver to the tomb of Gia Long which is on its own island. It is not really restored from what I understand, but is supposed to be very peaceful. I loved being on the river and could have gone all day up to it toward the mountains. (After seeing the last tomb, we returned to town by car to tour the Citadel, which did save time I will say, as the boats are on the slow side.)

<u>HCM</u>: I would say the usual tourist sites like the town hall, cathedral, War Crimes Museum, Ben Thanh Market (you can see a smaller version of this in Hue as well) wander around the areas around the city hall square. It’s a nice walkable city in that it is flat and tons of stuff is going on in the streets. If I were a coffee drinker I would be in heaven, because there is a coffee shop every 20 feet it seems. Oddly, there are not any boat trips on the river as far as I am aware; you can take the car/bike ferry across the river over to the Thu Thiem/District 2 area and walk around there, it’s quite undeveloped and different from District 1 of HCM (where most of the tourist sights and hotels are located) and it can be interesting to poke around there, there is a church, some temples and some other older buildings. (It will be completely developed by a huge new planned development of offices and residential, and in 10 years you won’t recognize it.) You can get the ferry from almost in front of the Majestic, its down the river road to the left as you exit the hotel, basically in front of the Renaissance hotel.

One thing I have tried to do on several trips to HCM is schedule a cooking class at the Vietnam Cookery Centre, see http://www.vietnamcookery.com/index2E.html. I have always ended up having to cancel because my meeting schedule interfered, but you might want to try. I think there are similar places which offer lessons.

You might get the Luxe Gide for HMC (see http://www.luxecityguides.com/), which has some interesting shopping and dining reccos such as the Temple Club (29 Ton That Thiep St, it’s in all the guidebooks; a bit touristy but a nice redo and interesting overall), some others are below, also see what Fodors says in this site and see Frommers.com as well.

Pho Xua – pho and other dishes, nice atmosphere
11B Le Quy Don St.
Ward 6, district 3
Tel: 3930 8182
http://www.phoxuasaigon.com/en/about.aspx

Hoàng Yên – traditional southern Vietnamese and some northern. Their clay pot mudfish is excellent. They have several locations, see the website at http://www.hoangyencuisine.vn/ (the website is in Vietnamese, but just click on “Liên Hę” on the far left, this is the link for addresses) I have been to the one at 148 Hai Ba Trung in District 1 most often, tel 08-3823-4564.

Xu – this is fusion Vietnamese, in a sleek setting. I like this place a lot, unusual menu selection, great deserts. They have a bar downstairs.
71-75 Hai Ba Trung
District 1
tel: 3824-8468
http://www.xusaigon.com/

Crystal Jade Palace – if you want dim sum or are craving Cantonese for dinner, this is good place; part of the Hong Kong chain. On the opulent side.
Legend Hotel
2A-4A Ton Duc Thang Street
District 1
Tel : 3823 3333
www.legendsaigon.com

Phatty’s – this is a sports bar, one of the few in HCM, and is a nice casual place, mostly an expat crowd, including some very long-term residents. They also have bar food like pizzas and spring rolls. A good place to have a beer and relax. This is walkable from your hotel in a few blocks.
46-48 Ton That Theip
District 1
tel: 3821-0705

On my last trip, I also ate at the casual restaurant at the new Intercontinental hotel and liked it. Italian, including wood fired pizzas. You can eat outdoors. If you are craving Western, this is s nice spot. The Park Hyatt has some good restaurants, including the Opera which is for a Italian and a splurge, the restaurant on the ground floor is very nice for lunch esp. at their window tables (a bit pricey and dressy, it’s a business lunch place but you see tourists there as well.)

I don't have much on Hoi An, I will confess to spendng most of the time on my trip there at the beach, other than wandering the old town, which is quite interesting. Again, it’s a very bikeable place, even less traffic than Hue. I do remember liking the Brothers Café in a nice setting on the river (27 Pham Boi Chau St, tel 510-914-150).

jcontreras

Cicerone, wow, thanks for your suggestions!

Cicerone

The guide I used in Hue was

Miss Thao
[email protected]
tel: 84-983-700 218

I was assigned her by Vietnam Open Tour/Sinh Cafe at http://www.vietnamopentour.com/ and http://www.sinhcafe.com/ which was recommend in Lonely Planet. I would suggest that you contact Miss Thao directly and see if you can just work out your own deal with her rather than paying Vietnam Open Tour as the middleman. She may offer you a better price. I paid about US$70 for the day which included the boat trip, all admission fees to sites, and a car and driver plus Miss Thao’s services. Her English was quite good and her knowledge of the subject seemed very good as well.

CanCan

I'm at the tail end of my 3 weeks in Vietnam. We started out in Hanoi (only 3 days) flew to Hue for 4 days (which was way too long, I think 2 days is better!), took the train to Danang, only about 2 hours and around $3 a person. Very doable, hotel pick up from Danang train station to Hoi An, 4 lovey days in Hoi An, which was not enough! We did a bicycle tour one day with Sleepy Gecko and it was the highlight. I would have done it again the next day but we were leaving. There is way more to Hoi An than cheap tailors and cobblers, it is a gorgeous UNESCO World Heritage city.
From Hoi An we took a cab to a beach in Danang for 2 days (Sandy Beach hotel), then flew to HCMC where I am right now, sick in my hotel room in district 7!
My Vietnam blogs: http://mommosttraveled.com/category/vietnam/