chimani

If you included Dalat in your trip, are you glad you did? Or not? How did you get there, and where did you leave from?

If you didn't - do you wish you had?

I have a 2 week trip coming up, concentrating on the country only as far north as Hue. Dalat has been on the list since the start but now I'm thinking I might skip it in order to make my 3 days roaming around the Mekong Delta into four.

Would you?

glorialf

The central highlands is fascinating and one of the few non touristy places left BUT Dalat is none of the above. I would skip it. If you want to go into the central highliands and see something "different" you should go n Pleiku, Buon Ma Thuot or Kantum. The cities themselves are typical communist cities with little charm but the area around them are where the montagnards live and where we (Americans) destroyed their lives during the war. It is unspoiled; the people are gracious and hospitable. It was probably the high point of my trip to Vietnam -- I spent 10 days there. Dalat is just a touristy spot with pretty scenery.

cmenoni

I spent 2 nights in Dalat in 1997 and really enjoyed it. We went by Sing bus from Saigon in one day and when we left, went by bus to NhaTrang. I thought the cooler air, the lake and the surrounding countryside were very beautiful. They were just starting to restore some of the old French villas then; I'm assuming that some of them are now finished and would be great to see.

glorialf

Nha Trang I loved.

chimani

Gloria,

Thx for the info.

I am leaning towards excluding Dalat, but the reason I chose it in the first place was to add time in the mountains to time in the city and delta.

I would much prefer to visit the less frequented places you mention. But it seems to me that a journey that way would take days, and would mean cutting back on time elsewhere - meaning perhaps a day trip to the Delta rather than 3-4 days to visit leisurely and under my own steam.

So - would you spend more days in the mountains than the Delta? And how did you travel to/between Pleiku, Buon Ma Thuot, Kantum?

Cheers,

glorialf

I'm probably the wrong person to ask because I have a huge interest in the various ethnic groups so the highlands was much more interesting to me than the delta. However, it does take much more time. Since you have 2 weeks I would probably save it for another trip -- my first trip to Vietnam was 2 weeks and I didn't go there but waited until a second trip.

What's your itinerary?

chimani

Gloria,

Thx again. I think you have (obliquely) answered my question, though you didn't say how you travelled around in the area.

I guess I'll save a good wander around the Central Highlands, like you, for a second trip.

The only itinerary I have is in my head. Like I just have a flight booked to Saigon. And I plan to just have one full day there before heading off - I will return for a day before going home.

During that day I wish to book train tix and maybe flight tix. If I decide to skip Dalat then I would hope to take the overnight train HCMC to Hue at the end of the first day. That would give me 4 days in the Delta at the end of my trip.

Or .. try to get on a flight to Dalat the day after I arrive in SGN (giving me two full days in Dalat), or get on a flight the day after that (or take the bus) giving me one full day there. And that would give me three full days for the Delta at the end of my trip.

From my reading so far, Dalat itself sounds pretty mundane, but plenty of interest in the surrounding areas.

I have no plans to visit the north this time and am ambivilent about "ethnic groups".

So .. to dalat or not to dalat, that is still the question.

glorialf

Is there a reason Hanoi isn't on your list? I actually found it to be much more interesting than Saigon and, in fact, I prefered the north to the south (maybe because at the time I went there was much less western influence there).
Nha Trang is a lovely spot in the south central area and Hue is great. But if I were you I would go to Hanoi.

I traveled by mini van with a guide and driver but when I went you had to do that as the US had no diplomatic relations with Vietnam (I went in the early 90's).

baaj

Funny that so many people here loved Nha Trang. I was only there for two nights, but definitely not on my list. I wasn't horrible or anything; it just was a pretty generic experience like any other bustling beach town.

Mui Ne, however, was paradise!

chrdum

I went to Vietnam 3 times and I loved that country. I visited Dalat and vicinities and I've travelled by motorbike. There a lot of motorcycles in Dalat you can contact or they will contact you on the street and will offer to do trip with them. The last time I went there, I've travelled with Mr. Young in Dalat for 3 weeks on motorbike. He was a history teacher before war and now a touristic guide. So he knows very well the highland and his country. He is very interesting and I was feeling very safe with him. He brought me at local restaurants and I tasted all the local specialities and it was very very cheap. He brought me at cheap hotel too (always under 12$) and I learned a lot with him. We visited all family fabrics, went on Delta Mekong, visited Saigon, Cantho, Dambri falls, Dalat and around,Buon Ma Thuyot Nha Trang, Cana, Mui Beach. I think it was the greatest experience of my life. To see Vietnam with a Vietnamese guide is to see real Vietnam. So good luck and enjoy your trip.

Neil_Oz

chimani, my recollection is that it's a nice drive, the surrounding countryside is pretty, but the town is not that special. I'm inclined to agree with the poster who suggested leaving the highlands for when you have more time.

Nha Trang itself I thought was OK, but Hoi An has more atmosphere and better eating. We did make a couple of nice boat excursions from Nha Trang - one to a nearby fishing village and the other for some snorkeling in bathwater-warm water.

I do remember having a very ordinary meal at an outdoor restaurant on the main esplanade in NT - unfortunately don't have the name now. I was convinced that the chicken had had a successful career as a fighting fowl and died of old age.

glorialf

It could be that Nha Trang has changed. When I was there in the early 90s ther were virtually no tourists there and it was pretty quiet. I spent one day at a school where the kids were desperate to practice english and another day at a wedding which I was invited to simply because they couldn't believe that an american was visiting there.

chimani

I thank you all.

Gloria, I suspect Nha Trang has changed. I'm not really a beach person but I am an "islands trip/snorkelling" sort of person, but Nov is not the best time for that. From what I've read, if there's no opportunity to go boating then the town would leave me stone cold. Quite developed with a "strip" and vibrant nightlife nand a vn and Sort nof

And clearly I don't have time to go wandering around the Highlands to places that are more difficult to get to.

I have read about the "Easy Riders" in Dalat, but it's "me" that's going to be there, not "we". I'm not sure I have come across a report or post from a single solo woman about travelling with the ERs.

Having read that over, I guess I really am getting old!! If I go I'll get out there on the back of a bike, cos although I love the idea of the journey and the scenery, it is a hell of a detour between Saigon and Hue/Hoi An when you only have two weeks. So why go, if you are not going to explore the countryside - even for one day.

I guess I'll decide when I arrive in the coungtry.

Gloria - i am not planning on going to Hanoi, because I am a slow traveller. This is my first visit. If I get lucky there will be another one. There aren't so many places that are "close" to Australia and cheap to get to, so I am "saving" N Vietnam for another time (with a view to seeing SW China at the same time, and maybe travelling overland to Hong Kong).

glorialf

If there is any possibility that you will only get there once I urge you to do northern vietnam -- going south to Hue and Danang area. I really think it is the much more interesting part of Vietnam. Hanoi is a fabulous city. You could easily spend 5 days there alone.