Change in itinerary?
 

This planning is driving me nuts.
I need to get a job or something, instead of reading Fodors.
After having read about the mudslides in Sa Pa elsewhere, am seriously reconsidering not going. I don't hike and am sure I will see lots of food markets and other sights. That gives me a few extra days. Then I was thinking of eliminating Phu Quoc in Vietnam and take a boat up the Mekong to Cambodia to Phnom Penh (thanks Kathie) and travel to other parts in Cambodia apart from Siem Reap.
That will probably give me time to go to Pinyang from Beijing, and then fly to Shanghai from Taiyuan and continue as originally planned.
Any thoughts on skipping Sa Pa, keeping in mind I don't trek or hike.
I do want some beach and down time at the end, and was thinking Sihoukanville as opposed to Phu Quoc.
Any thoughts?
Am off to a Swedish crayfish party in Connecticut today. Nothing like like old traditions, Swedish that is.

As you know, there aren't any "right" answers to this.

Some people love Sapa, consider it the highlight of their trip. Others are turned off by the high pressure to buy from local tribes people (and the famous hill-tribe girl who shouts obscenities at anyone who doesn't buy from her).

Your option B sounds just fine - it's just a matter of personal preference.

Hiya Nywoman, good to see you again.

You sound just like me - I faff around for months endlessly debating every possible permutation, twist and turn, comparitive costs and different routes until, like you, I get lost in space. Actually, it's just fear.

But, you know, you have all the answers inside you. Just follow your intuition. Then jump. I sense you're about to do just that.

If you have doubts about a place - don't go. If you've made a dumb decision, [and we all do] turn round and walk away. Get off the boat BEFORE it sails and do something else. Thats where all your pre-planning will kick in.

But if you sense an ADVENTURE - ahhh, my intrepid friend, take a punt and head into the unknown with a glad heart. Things mightn't be quite as you expected - but that's kinda fun. As long as you maintain your mental health on the road, as long as you retain your sense of humour and ability to laugh [at yourself] - nothing will actually go wrong.

We single travellers have to stick together.

[Yeah, I know you wanted specific info on Sapa etc.. but I'm in a philosophical frame of mind in the last two days of my latest journey.. ]

You are NY WOMAN! You can do ANYTHING!

Thanks Dogster and Kathy,

You are so right, I know what to do. Am going to Pingyao, once I saw the pictures of the town and of the Buddahs I knew I had to get there somehow.

The more I read about Cambodia the more it appeals to me, as for adventure, same as calories, have never met one I didn't like.

Back to the drawing board.

Dogster is there a new travel report coming up soon?

Soonish. But don't even think about that - you have an adventure to book!

Dogster's philosophical meandering is spot on. The desire for perfect planning is folly. Something always changes. Rigidity is the enemy of enjoyment. Once you're in situ, the choices become much more clear.

Dogster-you've done such wonderful reports in the past and you've raised our expectations. We love sequesls. By any chance do you have a blog?

That's so kind of you Gpanda. I'm such an techno fool I'm not entirely sure how to set up a blog - and, should I manage it, I'm not sure I could maintain it.

Weeks, sometimes months on end I'm out there being intrepid, way, way out of internet range; sailing down a river, off in the desert - a long way from the nearest functioning 'puter - or in places where the net speed is SOOOO slow that the aggravation ain't worth the result.

And, as I learnt last time, there are moments when, after I've posted, I wished I'd re-phrased, tweaked and juggled a bit more - for maximum clarity - OR a better joke...

I'm prone to bouts of indiscretion as well. Some of my travel adventures are WAY too lurid, some involve the consumption of certain substances that a man of my age should have left behind YEARS ago, some of my opinions are, well, very extreme.

I feel fortunate on this board that you guys have rolled with my punches as much as you have... there were moments in the last report [The Great Stumble Forward] where I waited for the Editor's axe to fall - but I was allowed the group's indulgence. For which I'm grateful.

But your suggestion has struck a chord. Perhaps, after the next trip report...