My wife and I are going to South East Asia in January, 2006. We both are in our 50's but usually travel without sturctured tours and stay at hostels, guest houses and lower priced hotels. We are currently looking at a 17 day tour through Vietnam that cost $1000 each. Do we need a structured tour or is communication and transportation easy in this part of the world? We would like to be able to talk to someone who has been there by way of personal e-mail. Thanks. Michael

Michael, as we took a tour I'm probably not the best person to talk to, but as nobody else has yet replied I'll wade in.

The short answer (based on other visitors' experiences) is no, you don't have to take a tour - if you do your homework, including equipping yourself with a good guidebook (we had Lonely Planet) and searching this forum for previous threads, you should have no trouble. Enough people speak some English to allow you to move around independently, although I believe that in lower-priced hotels this is problematic. But then, a Vietnamese "mid price" is as cheap as most other countries' "low prices". Travel agencies in the larger cities can handle booking on planes and airconditioned minibuses (don't even think about the public buses), also a wide range of very reasonably-priced side trips. Don't know about hostels, but the backpacker market has probably stimulated some growth there.

Having said that, although we're not usually "tour people", we don't regret using a tour company - in our case, Travel Indochina. In the available time we saw more of the country than we could have by ourselves, and I wasn't unhappy to have somebody else take care of most of the daily details. We also enjoyed the opportunity to pick our guides' brains on the sometimes lengthy bus trips, learning more about Vietnam and practicing a few phrases.

The downsides were that we didn't experience as wide a range of authentic cuisine as we'd have preferred (the company tended to patronise the more "tourist-friendly" restaurants, including a couple that even advertised their prices in US$). Also, our group of 11 people turned out to be homogeneous - all middle-aged Australians and New Zealanders. I'd have preferred a more mixed group, that's all.

If you haven't travelled in Asia before you need to know that Vietnam is still a poor country and its road infrastructure has a long way to go. Don't be put off, though - the people are a pleasure to be around, energetic, cheerful and friendly, they have an interesting history and culture and the food is excellent.

US$1,000 each sounds like a good price for a 17-day tour, depending on what it includes.

PS: I haven't provided my email address because from experience I find it best to exchange information via the forums rather than personal email - that way everybody shares knowledge and opinions (which is the whole point of this site, really). It's better for the enquirer too, as you don't run the risk of getting a distorted picture from one source only.

PPS: I have no idea why the "$" sign in my last post was replaced by an emoticon.

I travelled vietnam (with a Lonely Planet) for one month in '96. We stayed at nice accomodations along the way. Rented a vehicle and driver a couple times to get to some difficult places-like a loop from Hanoi to Sapa and back. Took trains, buses, vans, ferrys,boats and even motorcycles.Rented bicycles in Hanoi, and several other places. And I am not a youngster.

I imagine it is quite easy now with more people speaking English, and signs, menus ect also in English. The people were extremely friendly then and helpful.

People go independently all the time. If you have a problem, there are travel agents that can book sections for you to smooth it over. I say, just get a couple guide books, have an idea what you want to do, choices of where to stay, and how,then go. When you get there, you are on your feet and ready to go.

At a $1000 each it seems doable. Be receptive to meeting and interacting with fellow travellers. We met 2 Danes living in Japan who we travelled with for 2 weeks. It made things easy to negotiate, like hotel rooms, transportation, and actually sharing duties like who is going to inspect rooms before accepting and who watches the luggage. Then the negotiation. We never pay asking price if it can be helped.

In reply to luangwablondes . Are you saying you did a month in Vietnam for $1,000 per person staying in mid-range hotels in 1996? How many flights did you take? Did you use public buses? I read in Lonely Planet you can buy a pass on a tour bus for $22 and use it when you need it (no set itinerary)).
Thanks for your feedback, it's very helpful. We want to experience the real Vietnam, but enjoy our comfort.

Trep, husband and I just returned from 17 day trip to Vietnam. We met up with my cousin and his wife from Australia and toured on our own. We did book all of our hotels in advance and were glad we did because other people were finding higher prices and no vacancies as walk-ups.

We booked at mostly 3 star hotels through www.vietnamstay.com. The website also has hotels and guest houses in lower price ranges.

$1000 US for 17 days does sound rather reasonable, though. I might suggest if your tour includes meals that you go for breakfasts only, as some of the vietnamese meals get very repetitive and being able to have your own choice for dinners will become rather important from about day four on.

You won't have any problems booking on your own. Communication is not a big problem. There are tourist agencies in all the major towns, and the operators all speak English.

If you go the independent route, booking through vietnamstay.com includes breakfast and taxes in their prices.

Thanks for your Q's, Trep. I'm hoping to go to Vietnam later this year & have similar Q's.

Would be most interested if you could post a JBR when you return, please.

Good travelling

Is it hard to find a hotel with A/C? I would love to go to Vietnam but don't know if my breathing problems would be a hinderance.

No, it is not at all difficult to find hotels with AC. Almost all (except for the most basic guesthouses) have AC.

I have been to Vietnam on a "custom tour" and thought that it was fantastic. I went with Vietnam Indochina Tours. They put the whole thing together and it was very inexpensive and included Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos. Flights are very cheap in the countries and so are the hotels. Since the 1970's I have travelled pretty far and rarely on a tour. It makes a lot of sense for Indochina since it is so cheap. The benefits also came out of it when we would be going somewhere and enroute learn about where we were. When I go by public transportation or drive I am only seeing and not really learning. Plus it gave me the opportunity to meet and get to know pretty well people from that country.

For example, I travelled all over Costa Rica last year and had a pretty good time. But I really only got to know the hotels and places I hiked, etc. It would have been good to have travelled with a guide. Not to make sure that I got everywhere safely but to inform me more of what is going on there. Books are only so good at that.

It is so inexpensive that a custom tour is the way to go. The only group tour I did was in Africa. It turned out to be fun since I met some real nice people and got to share my experiences with them.

Now when I go by myself and not on tour it is not as much fun. It is also easier to get to the "tougher" parts of a country since the guide knows when it is safe and when it is foolhardy to go to a poor village or market.

I would also suggest a tour for the first time visitor. It is possible you do it for yourself,but you will learn so much more and find it a lot less hassle than trying to figure it out yourself. My first 2 trips were with Vietnam IndoChina Tours. To have your own driver and guide is so much better on a first trip. As mentioned the infrastructure is still not good in some places. I would not want to depend on the buses and trains. My last trip I went alone,but by then I understood the travel in the country and had made friends there.