Extended Family's JBR - But we aren't back yet
 

G’day everyone,

We’ve just finished our trip in Vietnam, Laos and are still going on about our travels in Cambodia and then Thailand but think it necessary to share with you all when the memories are still fresh in mind.

As previously mentioned out here, I’m the trip organizer for my extended family and have taken great pains to make the trip as comfortable and enjoyable as possible for every member. Thank you very much everybody on this forum for your valuable suggestions and recommendations given while I was planning the trip. It’s your unbiased attitude to every single question that makes Fodors so worthwhile!

As soon as we touched down the Noi Bai airport in Hanoi, we were met by a friendly guy with a placard bearing our names which was so good. The drive to Hanoi winds along the busy roads surrounded by rice and corn fields with the workers all wearing conical hats, ponies pulling laden carts along the highway and kids riding their bicycles from school which were extremely impressive.

As you arrive in Hanoi, you're immediately met by chaos and it's hard to work out whether the city is charming or unbearable. On one hand, the busy streets are filled with friendly locals all willing to help, cooking local cuisines by the roadside and offering rides on the cyclos. On the other hand, the roads are packed with mopeds that crossing the street becomes an extreme sport, the locals throw waste food into the street every night to be cleaned by the night workers, the "restaurants" offer amongst other things: goat, dog, duck embryos and snake. Although we don't want to sound ignorant, these dishes become more unappetizing when combined with the smells of rotting food; we want to eat the local food but without playing the food poisoning lottery.

We were dropped off at the Sofitel Metropole which was arranged by our local travel agent. We’d looked at many hotels before settling on the Metropole and although it was expensive compared to some other hotels, we were very happy with our choice. It’s situated in a great location and has a lot of character. Check-in was just a breeze and we got rooms in the Opera Wing which was fantastic. Honestly we much preferred the Old Wing for its old charm and history but it was more pricey and more significantly we wanted to stay on the same floor. We were invited to the Club Lounge for welcome drinks, handed our passports to the reception girl and a few minutes later we were escorted to our own rooms, all on the 5th floor. I’d say this is a 5 star property in every way. The staff were wonderful and very helpful. The rooms were well sized, looked recently renovated and were divine. The beds were the most comfortable that we'd ever slept in and they had L'Occitane toiletries. Though I’m personally very fussy about the cleanliness of hotel rooms wherever we go, I found our rooms at the hotel to be up to scratch. The bathrooms were lovely and they’d the deep roll baths with four feet along with a bowl of fresh rose petals!

We then met up one another at the back lobby and off we went to the Hoan Kiem Lake which is the focal point of Hanoi and once we've crossed the Huc Bridge (rising sun) we're met by the Ngoc Son Temple and its traditional surroundings, it seems like a million miles away from the noise and rush. The temple is a shrine to General Tran Hung Dao who defeated the Mongols in the 13th century. This is definitely a welcome break for those who have just arrived in Hanoi, like us. Back to the hotel, had a shower with warm water which was great, then we walked down the French Restaurant for dinner. For those who are wondering if there’s any dress code to this place, I’d confirm that they do require you to dress politely to get served in the restaurant. A metal plate would be placed on one side of the entrance explaining their policy. No problem at all as we were all in our best costumes.

After dinner, we took a stroll around the hotel, the pool, the bars and the shops, etc but as everybody looked pretty tired after a day of flight, we went back to our rooms, feeling excited for the following day.

Based on our experience, the rooms in the Opera Wing are much more comfortable, and better bathrooms than the Old Wing. We started in the Old and found the room charming but too crowded and small.

Thanks Scheps for your report. Really happy to learn from each of your experience as well as talk to people around the world on this forum. Please keep sharing your report, that would be lovely.

Totally agreed, Elainee. The rooms in the Old Wing are somewhat smaller than those in the New Wing, but honestly I'm dubious if they're more stuffy.

@scomars: Thanks for your kind words. Will try to report back ASAP. It's now our Halong bay trip.

Sleeping was just too lovely and it was a battle just to open our eyes and greet a new day. The night’s sleep was uninterrupted and like a death and the morning a rebirth... As I looked out of the windows, the sun was shining promising a beautiful day. The clouds weren’t in the sky but were swimming in the horizon which was a perfect sight. After we’d had breakfast on the hotel Club Lounge which was pretty good and the staff couldn’t be more helpful, we waited together at the hotel lobby for pickup to Halong Bay, which frankly had caused us a few headaches in the planning stage. Everyone we’ve met that has been in Vietnam says your trip would never be complete without seeing Halong Bay. That’s being said you’ve a huge headache of choosing a reliable junk boat to tour this World Heritage Site. Frankly I’ve read a number of stories about rats and cockroaches in the cabins, holes in the boats, no lifejackets on board, food poisoning or even traffic accident, etc. As a result, choosing a reliable boat had consumed much of our time. We consulted Mr. Dinh Bach at Vietnamstay.com about this matter and were recommended the Bhaya Cruise, which turned out to be fantastic value for money.

Once arrived, our first impression was what a beautiful part of the world this is. One of the nicest we've been to. We’d heard that the harbor was incredibly bustling with 500+ boats, people leaving boats, people getting on boats, food and drinks being passed which was chaotic but our experience was completely different. We were dropped off at a separate pier which was almost empty, incredibly quiet and escorted to Bhaya Café for welcome drinks. Boarding the boat, we were welcomed to the dining area and introduced by the Cruise Director to the crew on board who were well-groomed and smiley. The boat’s made of beautiful wood, all polished inside and a top deck to sit on. Felt like royalty and indeed I had to keep pinching myself to see if this was real. What followed was a delicious brunch which was more than plenty of Vietnamese food. All was fresh, beautifully presented and delivered in style. Then it was time for us to check our rooms. We were assigned to deluxe cabins on the second deck which came with a fully equipped bathroom, spotless basin and shower. There were 2 bottles of fresh water and a massage menu in each room. The windows looked over the sea which was just gorgeous.

We then chugged slowly passed towering mountains of all shapes and sizes disappearing into the still deep water, reflections, mistiness which added to the beauty and created layers of mountain ranges and shapes in green to blue to grey to white tones. We stopped at the Vung Vieng floating fishing village and saw lots of weird and wonderful fish and crabs, lobsters etc all swimming around in little enclosures. The helmet crabs were the wildest. Then it was free time to either kayak or swim on the beach. Some of us including the husband, son and I kayaked which was good fun because we were on the waves, and then we paddled under a rock into a sheltered lagoon that was really clam and flat and our voices echoed all around it. The weather was pleasant. We were all then offered cocktail drinks and attended a cooking demonstration conducted by the chef and one of the crew members. After enjoying what they’d just made, we were given a recipe so that we could cook the food on our own when we got home which was lovely.

Our evening meal was even more delicious, very fresh and nutritious with tons of food. At least 7 courses were served and we’d lovely chats and wines with one another. We didn’t retire until late that night.

The next morning we woke up early, stepped up to the deck and joined the Tai Chi exercise. Tea and coffee were served with wonderful flavor. We finished the morning exercise when the sun started shining which was divine. We snapped a few shots before heading out to the beach for one other swim.
After breakfast, we’d a visit to the Surprise Cave which completely lived up to its reputation and was perhaps the biggest and most spectacular we’d ever seen, huge chambers and huge stalagmites and stalactites. It felt like each of the karst formation had its own legend and story. As we’d read quite a lot before leaving home, we were well prepared for what we’d see in the cave: thousands of tourists. But on the contrary, the cave wasn’t very busy which, according to the guide, was because we visited the cave in the morning while most other groups did it in the afternoon.

We were back in Hanoi in the late afternoon that day, all in all everyone had been in good spirits and immensely enjoyed the trip so far…

What a wonderful report. We are also considering the Bhaya Cruise. Do you happen to remember the price? Do you think one or two days would be preferable? We are also trying to decide on how many days to devote to Hanoi itself. Any recommendations? I am looking forward to hearing more about your trip. Enjoy the rest of your holidays.

Keep it coming, please! Also, what is a "JBR"?

Hi everybody,

Many thanks again for your lovely words. When writing a trip report, one never knows if it would be of any interest to someone :)

@dgunbug: We spent two days out the bay and personally thought it was perfect. Some of the others were booked for three days. But, from experience, never take a day trip because it takes almost 3 hrs to the bay and another 3 hrs for the way back to Hanoi.

Regarding the price, terribly sorry I can't remember it exactly. Will find the receipt and get back to you shortly.

@Marya and others: Hope you'll enjoy our upcoming parts.

Oops! I forgot to answer your question, Marya. JBR stands for 'Just Back Report'.

Still obtusely wondering about the "JBR" reference so please explain when you provide the next installment.

We had the whole following day to discover Hanoi by ourselves. The capital city of Vietnam is described as ‘bustling’ by our guidebook and to be honest, we found it to be noisy (the boys wished someone could give them some earplugs :). We're by no means the fans of honking which is literally constant here. The roads are tiny. In the Old Quarter, it’s a single lane that will fit one car or several motorbikes. And it's ceaselessly packed. And everyone just sits on the horn which never seems to let you cross the street (as we observed, traffic lights are routinely ignored). Everyone is racing to fill every bit of empty space between the vehicles that litter the road. The sidewalk space here serves as both parking lot for the motorbikes and overflow display area for storefronts forcing pedestrians to walk in the street, while motorbikes fly past on one side. We learned the trick is to walk slowly staring straight ahead while the bikes part on either side of us as we slowly make our way to the other side of the street.

Despite the dim picture we may have painted of Hanoi from a traffic perspective, the city is fantastic. People are friendly. Tourists are here and there, but not everywhere. The pretty lake, the pulse of the Old Quarter, the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum - satisfyingly communist (we queued for over an hour for the opportunity to be quickly ushered past the body which was immaculately preserved and guarded on all sides. No talking, no stopping), the Presidential Palace (where we got to see the modest lifestyle of Ho Chi Minh), the Museum - amazingly modern and tasteful, the traditional mountain house on stilts that he’d built in the grounds, the Buddha trees he planted and even the one hundred year old fish that were still swimming in the nearby lake. The Temple of Literature was steeped in history. It was the first University to open in Vietnam in 1448 and was dominated by the Chinese who ruled the country for almost 1.000 years. The place was full of students touching the heads of the stone tortoises for luck in their upcoming exams.

Museum of Ethnology

The afternoon visit to the Ethnology Museum was the highlight as anticipated. It’s a huge centre outlining the origins and lifestyles of all the major ethnic minorities dispersed through the country and their languages, clothing, artisan specialities, food, customs and entertainment specialities. Very well presented and with original artifacts and cleverly constructed imitation housing. There was also an interesting exhibit on Vietnam during the time of the Subsidy Economy, from 1975-86.

Water Puppet Theatre

Not to be missed while in Hanoi is definitely the water puppetry which is as bizarre as it sounds. It started when puppeteers from the Red River Delta decided to soldier on entertaining in spite of the annual floods. Now it's performed daily with wooden, mechanical puppets operated by puppeteers hidden behind a mesh screen, thus creating the illusion that the puppets are floating on water. They introduced all of the traditional musical instruments and characters that were used by Red River Delta fishermen since ancient times to portray sketches and scenes of village life. There were sketches of typical stuff like ‘Boy riding a Water Buffalo’ and ‘Catching Frogs’. The puppeteers themselves are really talented, since they’ve to control various puppets using bamboo sticks in the water. The puppets look pretty lifelike, especially the river fish, and all in all it’s a great outing for the two 5 or 7 year old boys. For us, it probably went on about 15 minutes too long, but we enjoyed it nonetheless.

Scheps - keep it coming! I'm really enjoying your trip report. As for Halong Bay - we never considered a day trip, but are wondering if it is worth extending the trip for 2 nights or just the one. I'm more curious though about how many days you would devote to time in Hanoi itself. Did you do a day trip out to Ninh Binh province and if so, do you think it is worth doing that if you also spend time in Halong Bay?

Absolutely fantastic report. Your writing skills really engage the reader. Thanks for the incredible details.

Where is your next installment, scheps? Hope all is going on smoothly!

keep it coming

Thank you for the report. The puppet show was great fun. My favorite part was the fat boy swimming across the water doing the front and back stroke.
I enjoy Ha long bay so much that I want to go back and stay several days. I also considered Bhaya but the tourist information in the old quarter (next to the citibank atm) said the bhaya 3 is the newest and the best but they will not specify which boat until the last minute. I called Bhaya office on the phone as I saw a discount on the website but they wouldn't honor it and they were also booked the day I wanted to go. I ended up with classic which was good too but I am willing to try a different boat next time. I saw their boat on the bay and they were big. I am wondering did you feel crowded?
dgunbug, the Ninh Binh trip includes an hour bicycle ride which according to most was awesome. The boat ride was two hour long, it was a nice ride and would be more relaxing if the boat people didn't keep on pushing handicrafts and whatnot on us. We were warned by the tour guide earlier on so it did not come as a surprise. The two hour van ride to and from was boring and we were stuck in traffic. Hope this helps.

Hi all,

Our apologies for the delays. Yes, everything has been fantastic so far. Life is just too busy... but never mind, we're back with our tales.

@dgunbug: From experience, we'd recommend you to spend about 2-3 days in Hanoi only. We had two days to ourselves there and thought it was just enough.

We didn't make it to Ninh Binh but the Aussie couple we ran into in Hanoi raved about the bicycle ride in the countryside though the karst formations and caves were pretty similar to those in Halong Bay. Hope this helps.

Now it's Sapa - the very north of Vietnam:

We were booked 3 soft sleeper compartments onboard the Tulico Train to Lao Cai which went well, but I think we all had difficulty sleeping - always waking up whenever the train stopped at a station.

The ride up to Sapa, although visibility was low due to the clouds, was spectacular. We got into Lao Cai around 5am something, it wasn't even sunrise yet and started to get cold... then one can see the silhouettes of the rice terraces, there were low-lying clouds... just perfect!

Our guide for Sapa, Tuan met us at the station, took us to the hotel for breakfast and check-in, then off we went on our trek to Cat Cat village. It was so steep but the beautiful waterfalls were a nice reward. The trek was fun, the sights were awesome and we loved the endless rice terraces on the way. We also got to see the Black H'mong traditional song and dance show, but something told me those on stage are not really tribal people but performers from town. They don't look H'mong at all. Not completely sure, that's just what I thought. FYI, ethnically about 90% of the country’s population is Viet, the rest are minorities. The most obvious minorities are usually the ones that reside in the northern hills because they’ve maintained most traditional dress and customs. In Sapa we saw many Dzao, notable for shaving the front of their head and winding the long hair in the back into a red sort of turban-kerchief. Sapa was also home to the Black H'mong people, who have cylindrical hats and use massive amounts of indigo dye. There were also Dzao with a different kind of headdress, and a smattering of White H'mong. There are 5 different categories of H'mong, but there are many more tribes, and each is a little different from the others. Most of them seemed to be sidelined by the local tourism development and earned their living by doing farm work, selling things to tourists and of course by allowing tourists to take their pictures. In spite of reading quite a lot before the trip, we hardly anticipated such ‘buy from me, you took my picture’ thing, which honestly didn’t bother us much since the salesgirls’ effort alone to follow us all that distance told us never to hesitate buying a few things from them.

The afternoon was spent on a visit to a local village called Ta Phin. The scenery was utterly breathtaking, the location completely isolated in the middle of the mountains and the way there was a real trek. Tuan took us to a local house where we were greeted by a woman in her colorful traditional costume. Tuan went out of his way showing us around the house, explaining everything that came into view as well as the local customs which were really impressive.

The next morning we headed out to Bac Ha Market which was colourful and well worth our effort rescheduling the itinerary. As we arrived quite early, we just stood around out front watching the town come to life. Slowly but surely people started to find their way to the streets and set up their stalls with food, traditional clothing, souvenir, tobacco and things for daily life of the locals. It was a gloomy day, the sunshine was lacking in the sky. The people were busy doing what they do best – buying and selling. Many of the local Flower H’Mong just kept to themselves and went on with their personal affairs, while the others clearly made an effort to sell their woven goods to us foreigners who were all busy taking as many shots as possible. It was amazing, everyone was warm and friendly. The little bundles strapped to the woman’s backs were so cute. Kids of all ages were such a pleasure to photograph as they just loved to see themselves in the camera. After each photo was taken, we always made a point to share it with the one who we snapped a shot of. Our boys got a kick out of getting to know the local kids and sharing the photos through the lens. Some spoke pretty good English while most seemed exhausted after a few words of greetings.

While at the market, we tried some snacks, sugar cane and then some fried sticky rice from some of the vendors who definitely got a kick our of seeing our reaction to the food. All in all the market is a blend of sounds, smells and colourful things to see that made it an experience not to be missed. If you're looking for a culturally-rich place, Sapa is the place to be! You'll just have to ignore all the tourists that are all over the area.

Scheps - You make everything sound so wonderful. We were in Cambodia last year and had so much fun photographing the people - especially the children who are so charming. We too shared our pictures with them. Sapa sounds fabulous. How many days were you there and what do you recommend? I have a bit of a fear going down steep hills at times (hard on the knees and ankles) Were most of the treks difficult? How did you find your guide? Do you recommend him and if so, how does one get in touch with him?

Where did you stay in Sapa and what do you recommend there? We are considering the Victoria, although I'm hearing mixed reviews. The Eco Lodge sounds great, but it seems a bit far out of town.

Looking forward to more of your wonderful report.

Ok, glad you're now back. Love to read every detail of your report. Keep it coming. BTW, happy weekend!

Hi,

We spent just 3 nights for the trip which included 2 on the train. Had a great time at the Victoria Hotel. Firstly I will note that the hotel is set in a gorgeous spot on top of the hill offering stunning views of mountains and part of Sapa town. The hotel itself is really beautiful and clean. The lobby, spa, pool area and grounds are nice. Breakfast was great with a wide variety of foods and the staff friendly and welcoming.

The tour and the guide were arranged by Vietnamstay.com which we could not speak highly enough of. Actually the company had the option of providing a guide who would accompany us all the way, but that wasn’t what we were really looking for. Most of the family members opted for a local guide who is based in Sapa and has a good grip of the area and Tuan was truly brilliant.

Trekking was great fun and, from experience, will easily worth every of your efforts. Hills can be very steep and rocky at times but mostly the trails are well-groomed and usually you’re not too far from a road. If you’re traveling independently, how long you wish to walk will be dependent on you and often a vehicle can be hired to get you further along faster or eliminate an afternoon’s loop. All that being said, you can arrange a trek just does a couple km a day and will have no problems! BTW, don’t miss out one of the tribal markets which would be the highlight of your entire trip.

We arrived safe and sound in Hoi An which is a beautiful small place and different to where we’d ever been in Vietnam. The town definitely has charm about it and as soon as we got here, we fell in love with it, so many tailors and a French look about it.

We stayed at the Life Heritage which was flooded a couple weeks prior to our arrival and now back to normal. Our rooms were on the third floor, very spacious and equipped with all the amenities you could ask for. We enjoyed making and drinking cocktails and their cocktails class. The hotel is situated on a second-to-none location, on the banks of the river, close to the markets and about 2km from Cua Dai beach which is lovely. The staff were absolutely wonderful and immensely helpful. The breakfast buffet was superb with regard to food quality, quantity, selection as well as the setting of the dining room.

Firstly I’d say Hoi An is a shopping paradise! I suppose over a half of the shops in town are tailors who would make almost everything you desire and the prices are far lower than those at home. Latest catalogues are available for you to choose. You just need to turn up with a few pictures and away you go. We went with Yaly and Future which are the two biggest operations in town. Very happy with the outcome (2 suits, 2 skirts, 3 business shirts, a few pairs of shorts and tops and the boys had 2 winter outfits each). Had to go in for several fittings but well worth our time and effort.

The food in Hoi An is just wonderful. Every meal we’d was excellent. There are little restaurants scattered all through the old town and you'd never struggle to find a good one. We stumbled into the Mango Rooms on the last day. Great food - a bit expensive as compared to the others in town but certainly worth it. The chef (about 45 yo) works the room as well, describing the food and the specials, so it was a real dining experience. There's also a bunch of restaurants down by the beach serving good seafood where we filled ourselves up on crabs (with tamarind sauce), fish and prawns.

Red Bridge Cooking Class was one of our kids’ highlights which lasted from 8am to noontide. In the morning we went for a tour to learn about the herbs in the garden, then we went to the local market for groceries. Next up we went to the school which was beautiful. We learnt to make 2 starters, 2 mains and how to carve food decorations. The chef cooked at the front, then we went to our individual stations, cooked and repeated for each recipe. There were lots of tips for vegetarians as well. All around, the class was well organized and the food delicious.

We were really impressed with all the art galleries around the town and thought it would be nice to own one of the works. The Japanese bridge was impressive too. It has a dog at one end and a monkey at the other. Just a small bridge but is one of the main sights of Hoi An. Visiting the town after dark is an absolute must when lanterns light up the town at night and add to the charm of the town.

We’d a half day trip out to My Son which is one of the most important ancient remains in the world, particularly the Cham Kingdom. The ruins themselves are about 45km south of Hoi An and the drive down there was fascinating. Set within the Vietnamese jungle, the ruins were a very important spiritual and religious centre for the Cham people from the late 4th to 13th century. There are about 20 temples on the site which were recognized as a World Heritage site and the guide’s commentaries on each of them were perfect. Unfortunately much of the site was destroyed by bombing during the war as the Viet Cong soldiers used the temples as a refuge. The best preserved was group B and group C. Several shrines to Shiva remain intact and lingas are dotted over the site. In addition, the site is open early so if you want to be there for sunrise you will have to wake up early for the added benefit of feasting your eyes on the sun rising on the background which is fab. At 11am there’s a demonstration of traditional Cham dancing and music. This is well worth staying to the end with the last dance being the most beautiful.

Scheps - Your descriptions are wonderful. Given that we likely will not have clothing made, how many days do you think we should spend in Hoi An? We were thinking two - one for the ruins and one for the town - is that enough?

Hi Dgunbug,

Two days would be fine if you're short on time and don't have clothing made but honestly I'd say this lovely town is worth at least 3 days.

Happy planning.

Hi Scheps - Thanks again for your info. Looking forward to the rest of your report. I will post my itinerary under separate cover for your further suggestions.

Hi dgunbug,

It would be my pleasure helping you figure out your itinerary. Actually I just posted my rec on your recent thread. Hope that helps.

Hue and the DMZ

We arrived in Hue in the morning and spent just 2 days there but loved every moment of it. A vibrant and friendly town.

Our first stop was to a garden house along the banks of the Perfume River. Important officials and merchants built houses here hundreds years ago with impressive and extensive gardens and today families are still living in and maintaining them and some are open for visitors. We were taken around and shown to the major plants in the garden. We got to see inside the main part of the original house which looks as if it is kept in the original condition with original furnishings so honestly we can imagine how important and wealthy the people living here were.

Our next stop was the Thien Mu Pagoda further upstream of the river. A popular way for tourists to visit this pagoda and temple complex is by boat and there were several of them moored by the pagoda landing and there were loads of people posing for photos by the pagoda stairs and gates. The driver seemed surprised when we said we'd be back in 30 mins, and when we got to the top of the steps we could see why - the complex was way larger than we’d thought and had a beautiful setting with lovely courtyards and gardens. However, 30 mins was enough for our brief exploration, then we were back into the car on to our tour of several of the royal mausoleums.

The Nguyen Kings didn't seem to do things the cheap way. So instead of being buried in ancestral plots or even ornate tombs, they erected huge complexes within massive walled gardens, complete with large lakes, all dug by hand; temple mountains; temples; and apartments where the living relatives could come to worship them and where the wives and concubines lived after the king had died. Most of these mausoleums are in varying degrees of ruin, but with there beautiful settings and gardens, they are very evocative.

We spent the afternoon visiting the Imperial Citadel which must have been very beautiful. We saw the magnificent clothing worn by the Kings, hand embroidered silk robes, with intricate designs. Some of the royal buildings were damaged during the American war in 1968. There are many gates which are wonderful, with inlaid ceramics in bright colors, featuring the dragon and phoenix. I kept imagining how splendid this must have been, with the royal household present in their fine robes, surrounded by tranquil ponds, peaceful and secluded gardens.

The next morning, we were picked up early for a full day to the Demilitarized Zone which was a great experience. Frankly it was difficult for the people living in the area of the DMZ at the time. If you’d Vietnamese looks, you’d be a target for the American soldiers, Southern Vietnam soldiers and the VC as well. Besides Vinh Moc tunnels that were built by local villagers to hide themselves from bombing, we saw the museum where there used to be the Khe Sanh Combat base and one of the main points was the visitor’s book in which the comments by both Vietnam Vets and some passionate American tourists were saddening and enlightening. We also got to see the Hien Luong bridge and part of the Ho Chi Minh trails, Doc Mieu Base, once a monitoring station for McNamara's Wall, the Ben Hai River, which was a demarcation line between north and south, Con Thien firebase, Dakrong Bridge and the Rockpile which, to be honest, didn’t have much to see but our guide’s commentaries were really impressive.

Scheps - Keep it coming! We will be getting into Hue mid day from Hoi, then will have a full day and part of the next until we have to fly out from Danang at 17:35. Do you think we will have enough time to fit in the DMZ tour on the last day? What should we prioritize? I'm not sure if we have enough time to see everything.

can you comment on where you stayed in hoi and also hue...thanks

Hi,

We stayed at the La Residence Hotel & Spa which we had nothing to complain about regarding the hotel and the service. Great location with charming French style. We were welcomed by staff at check-in and given a cool passion fruit juice and a cold towel. Rooms were spacious, romantic and we really loved the high ceilings. The food was world class; breakfast buffet was an excellent mix of American and Vietnamese cuisine. The kids loved the French pastries! For the hotel we stayed in Hoi An, you can see our previous installment.

@dgunbug - IMO, you won’t have enough time for a visit to the DMZ. Even if you take a half day tour out there, you can’t come back to Hue until about 3pm and as far as I know, it takes you approximately one and a half hour to go from Hue and Da nang. So roughly you’ve only one hour left before your flight. Quite risky I think. Therefore I would personally advise you to either stick to Hue only or head out to the DMZ once you arrive and spend the last day in the city. Hope this helps.

Saigon – Cu Chi Tunnels – Mekong Delta

Saigon has a more laid back environment than Hanoi and we had the impression that the people are more open-minded and friendly. Everything we’d ever learnt about this place came from movies but compared to the days of The American War, things have changed a lot, more peaceful and beautiful, except for the traffic. There are literally millions of motor scooters in the streets and traffic flow is relentless. Just learning to get across the street here is an art form in itself.

We spent a day walking around Saigon taking in all the sites, including the Reunification Palace. It has a basement with a bomb shelter and lots of tunnels leading off in different directions, and the walls are lined with huge maps of Vietnam used by the Americans and the South Vietnamese in visualizing their war strategies. A lot of the communication equipment, such as short and long wave radios, field phones, telegraphs, and radars were still in their positions in the bomb shelter as they were the day the North Vietnamese army drove a tank through the Palace gates and took Saigon in 1975. We also went to the War Remnants museum where I was holding back tears for much of the visit. It was so sad to see all the pictures of victims of the war but worse were pictures of the children born since, who have various different birth defects as a result of Agent Orange, a terrible chemical weapon used by the US to kill off vegetation in the area. It was a really sad day all round and the effects of those chemicals are still a very real problem for the people of Vietnam today.

The next day we visited the famous Cu Chi Tunnels which is a big network used by the Viet Cong to hide themselves from the Americans during the war. They are seriously dark and narrow. It was really interesting to see all the booby traps they left around the area to keep the Americans away, and also really gruesome, things like fake panels in the ground with loads of spikes sticking through to impale any intruder.

The following day we took a day trip south to the Mekong delta to see how people lived and worked on the water. We were taken to a floating market which is just a sea of boats, all bumping into each other with people buying and selling, throwing and catching etc. Each small boat has a small bamboo pole sticking up with whatever they’ll be selling: pumpkins, cabbages, coconuts, pineapple, bananas and so on. There were big wholesale boats dealing in just one thing as well as little boats catering to the tourist with cold drinks, bread and coffee. We also had a great time strolling along the village on the bank of the river, visiting an orchard growing lots of fruits. We’d a lovely lunch here and drank honey tea which was lovely! We also got to taste all the fruits in the orchard which were mostly unknown to us.

So that’s it for Vietnam – a beautiful country with lovely people. We will come back and ‘bombard’ the forum with the places we’d experienced in Laos and after that, will suggest a few tips which hopefully will be useful to you. Cheers.

Scheps - Thank you so much for your wonderful descriptions. Do you think the one day in HCMC & one day tunnel tour was enough time in Saigon? That's all we have allocated. Also, we now have 3 days allocated to the Mekong Delta, staying in Can Tho with trips to various areas around there. What are your thoughts?
Can you tell us how you got between Hue & Hoi An? Did you use private transport or local, and which route did you go - through the pass or coastal? If you went through the pass - how long did it take, did you stop at Marble Mountain or anywhere else and was the longer drive worth it?
I'm concerned about our limited time in Hue as I want to be able to have sufficient time for the Citadel and also for the tombs.
I was unclear on how you visited the tombs - did you take the boat, or did you use a driver?

Thanks again for a great trip report. I look forward to reading about Laos.

Hi dgunbug,

As you can see from our latest installment, we had only 1 day for Saigon and another one for the tunnels which was enough for us. Also, as I suggested in one of your recent posts, 3 days in the Mekong Delta would give you a plenty of time for the floating markets in Can Tho and the surroundings.

For the Hue – Hoi An route, the transfer was arranged by our travel company and of course it was way more expensive than a public bus. It took us several hours (about 4.5 as I recall) but the drive along the highway was fairly scenic and the road was surprisingly good, though very twisty. The dramatic scenery was at the Hai Van pass which peaks at almost 500 meters. We spent longer than planned at the summit for photos. It would take less time going through the tunnels, which is less interesting though.

You can access the tombs and the Thien Mu pagoda by either car or boat. We opted for a private car since it would be time consuming to go by boat (slowly) and we’ve to pay extra for the drive from the ferry to the tombs if we don’t want to walk a distance of about 3km.

Hope this helps

The car for the tombs sounds like a good idea given our more limited time. Is the scenery worth the longer drive (I am sure we would spend as much time as you did, given the fact that we love photography), or would we be better off spending that time in Hue?

Well, as you love photography, sure enough the scenery would be well worth your effort. In addition, make sure that you won't miss out the tombs which are set in beautiful and peaceful areas with lots of trees & lakes. Great opportunities for photos!

So now it’s Laos the second country on our trip. We arrived in Vientiane at 5:30pm on Vietnam Air and were met up by Toon who was our guide in Laos. Our impressions of Laos and its capital were how few people there were. The weather was warm, prices a little lower than at home, more relaxed, lots of smiling people and really nice food.

There's not much to do in Vientiane and the capital didn’t have many tourists which made it more undiscovered and unique. Most travelers spend a day or two there before heading into the interior of the country. The highlight of our first day was perhaps Wat Si Saket which is the oldest wat in Vientiane. The outer walkway was full of thousands of Buddha images, most broken or damaged. The inner building contained some fantastic and very old paintings and Buddhas. The other thing we did of interest in town was the National Museum. The bottom floor is dedicated to the ancient history of the area and has archaeological artifacts from around the country. But the most interesting part of the museum is the second floor, which tells the recent history of the country.

The following day we flew to Xieng Khuang. The province is one of the poorest in all of Laos. It suffered extreme heavy bombing during the Vietnam conflict. Laos was officially neutral during the war but in reality it was politically divided. While the official leadership forces at that time were offering aid to the American troops, the Phatet Lao, a communist faction, was creating a communist revolution and was lending aid to northern Vietnam via the Ho Chi Minh trail. Although the American never officially declared war of Laos, they did wage a Secret War and bombed Laos more heavily than any other country in the history of the world. They dropped over three million tons of explosives and an average of one bomb every eight minute for nine years straight!

We first had a visit to the plain of jars. It’s an archeological site amongst the hill tribes near the Vietnamese border and none of us had ever heard of it before we hit Laos. It’s basically a whole lot of big jars made of stone, scattered about on fields and hill tops in the Xieng Khuang region. There are 100's of them and nobody knows why they are there, or how they got there. They were only discovered in the 1930s and then forgotten about for quite a while as various nations killed each other around them and bombed the area. The jars are up amongst the hill-tribes, principally the H’mong which was interesting. Every village we stopped at they were staring and waving and coming up to us. The kids were hiding behind buildings, some looked curious while the others seemed terrified.

Next up we visited a wat and stupa at the old capital of the province - Muang Khoun. This place had been literally bombed out of existence, hence the main town in the area now being Phonsavan.

We spent the third day in Luang Prabang which was lovely. Luang Prabang rests on the banks of the ever flowing Mekong River and is a world heritage site and has been since 1995, it deserves its status as it’s a very pretty town. The government has preserved the old French colonial buildings and has funded their renovation unlike other parts of Laos such as Savannakhet. There is a distinct cosmopolitan feeling to this stunning little town, you will lose count of the number of cafes, restaurants and wine bars, where wine is sold at a reasonable price and it’s a nice drop, there is also a prevalence of top end hotel and villas unlike the rest of Laos.

On our full day here, we set out to explore the world heritage site on foot; we visited a couple of temples and walked around the pretty peninsula. You can see instantly that this is a popular destination for the suitcase wielding tourist from the bus loads of middle aged people and very expensive hotels and villas. We also had a walk up Phu Si to take in the stunning view from the top which was well worth every sweaty step!

The night market is another major attraction in Luang Prabang. More basic than its counterpart in Chiang Mai, it still contains some exotic wares that would be quite attractive purchases if one didn't have to find room in the backpack and then lug them round for weeks. The bold patterns of the bedspreads, the vast array of silks and the bottled snakes were all highlights.

The next day we did a slow boat to the Pak Ou Cave which is well known as a kind of graveyard for unwanted Buddha images. It was really something to see all these Buddha statues stored in there. We also had a stop off at a whiskey making villages and we bought a small bottle with a scorpion in it. In the afternoon we went to a beautiful, multi-tired waterfall called Tat Kiang Si that had turquoise green water and many swimming holes. They also have a sanctuary for bears and a tiger that were rescued from the poaching.

Ban Xang Khong and Ban Phanom were very interesting and we met several women weaving as well as others making paper. Of course all were quite anxious to make a sale and were more than happy to show us all the beautiful textiles and the paper lanterns, cards and so on. We personally found the silk products of much higher quality here than in Vietnam. All of these silk items, wood carvings and paper products can also be purchased at the night market which is really something to watch. Actually, the setting up and bringing down is what is amazing. Everyday the sellers have to bring their wears to the market, set up their tent with open walls and then bring it back down and carry everything back home with them. Also most of this is done on the back of a motorcycle.

The last day we did the obligatory sightseeing. Our first stop was right down the street at the Royal Palace Museum. Laos was a monarchy for years but after the communists’ victory in Vietnam in 1975, it was the first domino to fall. The King was exiled and his former home is now a museum. There was an interesting display of various gifts received by the royal family. I suppose the most interesting item was the ornate throne in the back room.

Our round up of Laos is such that we loved the place, everyone says how laid back it is, which we felt but also thought it was as laid back as Vietnam. The pace of life moved so slowly and I can see why lots of appeal for some people. Cambodia is next…

"prices a little lower than at home."

Dinner at the best restaurant in town for $40.00 for two, a little lower?

"There's not much to do in Vientiane"(?)

Hor Phra Kao, That Luang, The Morning Market, the French colonial architecture, Wat Sisaket, That Dam, Bhudda Park, short trips to Thanon and Thalat? The new Chinese Market, excellent restaurants, the War Museum, Kaysone Phomivane's House.

"The next day we did a slow boat to the Pak Ou Cave which is well known as a kind of graveyard for unwanted Buddha images"

Not 'unwanted', but offered to Buddha.

"There are 100's of them and nobody knows why they are there, or how they got there."

There are two theories - funerary urns or vessels containing alcohol to celebrate a major victory by a local King. The fact that bones were found in one of the urns does not preclude the second theory, as someone may have tried to sneak a drink and....

"We personally found the silk products of much higher quality here than in Vietnam."

Not if you visit the silk weaving village just outside of Vientiane. Also did you visit Carole Cassidy's silk shop in Vientiane or the two Mixay shops?

Anyway, glad you liked Laos.

Thanks for the report. Laos is in the plans for the future. I'm curious to see how you compared & rated each country. Also, have you been to China yet? How did you rate this trip compared to China?

Thanks for your detailed and informative report! Looks like you'd a good time in Laos. Awaiting your next installment on Cambodia!