Hi all,
My boyfriend and I are in the beginning stages of planning a trip to Vietnam and Cambodia in September. We have decided on Hanoi, Halong Bay, Hue, Saigon (HCMC), MeKong Delta and Angkor Wat and the temples. We are looking at 12-14 days to this trip but not with a group tour.

What do you guys think of this itinerary? Should we go see other cities instead of the ones posted above?
What are the junk cruises like in Halong Bay?
Which tour operators would you recommend to help in booking the trip?

Thanks in advance for your suggestions.

I'm sure others will comment on this, but IMO that's way too much to do on a 2 week trip. I would suggest cutting either South Vietnam or Angkor Wat from the itinerary. HCMC is extremely wet in September, so that might make it the likeliest candidate to cut.

as michael suggests you might want to check the weather in all those locations for september...

imo it is way too much to do in two weeks or less...

siem reap (angkor) alone is worthy of a conservative 3-4 days of your time....

halong bay can be done is 1-2 days and 1/2 day travel to get there...

i use asian trails for my vietnam time and they are based in bangkok...

maybe saigon and siem reap in the same trip and some delta??

We are going for the first time also, but we are going the beginning of Dec, for 15 days. Almost the same trip you outlined. We are using a company out of HCMC. ALLAISATRAVEL.COM. The contact is Ms. Chi. She is wonderful to work with. Everything is done via email. I found her in the ITN magazine. Some one used her and they could not say enought how wonderful their trip was and wonderful she was to work with. I spoke to those people on the phone(Arizona).

Let me know if you would like additional information.

Chuck Wallach
[email protected]

Slow down and enjoy the experience. You are trying to cram too much into a short time. Choose either north or south and really explore that region.

As for Halong Bay - Handspan in Ha Noi is the most expensive ($95 US) it is by far the best. Others will be cheaper but if you are only going once in your life why risk a tour with a shady tour operator? Avoid all Sinh Cafe operators.

After your visit, I pormise, you will return.

If you do Halong Bay, you must do an overnight cruise, it is too far for a day trip from Hanoi. We did the Junk cruise and it was fantastic, the cabins were small but comfy and bright and the service and food was great, especialy if you like seafood. I am in Australia and booked it through Travel Indochina, have a look at this site
http://www.handmadeholidays.com.au/v...along_bay2.asp this shows the one night package we took.
Also look at my photo gallery web ite www.sharich.org
there are photos of the Junk there. there is also a link to my Rice for Cambodia web site which has great pics of Angkor Watt
Cheers
Sharon

We did a simlilar trip and took 20 days and it was really even a bit rushed. We also overnighted on Halong Bay. Honestly - the magic of the place is at sunset and sunrise. Plus, it is just too much for a day trip. Do you really want to spend more time in the car than at Halong Bay itself?