molly2004

Hi. DH and I are planning a big trip to Asia in a couple of years. We're waiting because we want to save up money for the trip and for our boys to get a little older. They will be 9 or 10 when we go. My MIL will probably come too. She'll be in her late 60s by then.

We're thinking about a trip through Vietnam (7 to 10 days), Hong Kong (3 or 4 days) and Japan (about 7 days), probably in that order. Also, I'd like to plan for "rest" days where we just relax so that we stay energized.

Is it insane to do these desitnations in the time we have, given that they're also far apart? These are destinations we really want to see and are unsure when we'll be able to go back. And given that it will be a three week trip, we plan to go during early summer.

What are your thoughts?

Thanks

Paul1950

Well, nonstop flights between those cities aren't terribly long if you make Hong Kong the second stop. You don't have much time in any of the destinations, so rest days would eat up a good percentage of your visit. I don't think it's insane, but it is ambitious, or it would be for me at any rate.

rhkkmk

some depends on where you are coming from....for instance if you are coming from usa, the direct flights to vietnam are quite limited...on the other hand if you started and ended in hong kong there are many more alternatives and the same for japan...

4-5 days is perfect for hong kong....2 weeks would be better for vietnam.... you could spend months in japan...

lcuy

I think it is a perfectly sane idea. I wouldn't do both north & south Vietnam though. Either Hanoi+ <b>or</b> Saigon and the Mekong delta.Just choose one. I think I'd start in Hong kong or Japan, also. easier to adjust. Vietnam is a bit harder travelling.

Cicerone

It appears you would have to go in the summer as you are bringing children. So be prepared for some VERY hot temps in Hong Kong and Vietnam, and some very high humidity. Look at weatherbase.com and other weather websites and make sure you are OK with what you see. You know your children best as to how they would react to high temps and humidity. Understand that sights in Vietnam, and some in Hong Kong, are outdoors and there may be little access to air conditioning. Hong Kong and parts of Vietnam will have some rain as well in the summer months, some of it quite heavy. Consider whether any areas of Vietnam you may want to see are Malarial at that time of year, and whether it is appropriate to give anti-malarial medication to children that young. (The Scottish NHS has a very useful travel health website at http://www.fitfortravel.scot.nhs.uk/home.aspx, see esp their Malaria page. The cdc.org website is also a good source.)

There are very few, if any, non-stop flights from the US to Vietnam. I don’t think that situation will change much in the next few years. I don’t see any sense in taking connecting flights to go to Vietnam first, especially with kids. It just makes a long flight even longer. So I would do the itin Japan-Vietnam-Hong Kong (or reverse), as there are non-stops from the US to both Japan and Vietnam. There is good service to Vietnam from both Japan and Hong Kong. There is some sense to going to Hong Kong first as it is English-speaking, and Japan last (because it is so clean and organized, unlike any place else in Asia), but I think I would do whatever works best with flight schedules or timing for events in either country.

You plan appears to have a decent amount of time in each place, although I agree you could easily spend more time in both Vietnam and Japan. Once you start reading, you will see all the options in both. Japan and Vietnam are very large and I think you will find that you will be focusing more on what to leave out than what to leave in. With children you have to consider their interests. But you have time to plan.

July 1 is National Day in Hong Kong and there are sometimes fireworks in the harbour which are quite spectacular. I don’t think there are other holidays in Vietnam or Japan in the summer months, but check guidebooks and websites, they can be fun to celebrate.

mrwunrfl

I think it is a perfectly sane idea. It is just a matter of timing. June is rainy in Japan and hot/humid.

Also, the order of stops makes sense, going to Vietnam first as you would have more energy at the beginning of the trip.

I am not aware of any nonstops from USA to Vietnam, but there are one-stops (e.g. via Hong Kong or Tokyo).

mrwunrfl

May would be a much better time for Japan (sumo tournament, festivals).

marmot

Most likely you have a reason for choosing these three countries -- and they are all good choices -- but I think with grade school aged children you may be skewing too urban. Not that there's not a lot for kids to do in each place. There is, but as you say it's important to have some "rest" days interspersed options for which are somewhat limited in Hong Kong, Japan and parts of Vietnam.

You might think about substituting Bali or one of Thailand's beaches. Having said that (and I'm sure I'm preaching to the choir here) kids that age have enormous energy and need to burn it off or just be allowed to let their hair down.

You should also think about what your boys like to eat as you'll be seeking food every 3-4 hours. This takes some organization.

We traveled throughout Asia with our son from age 3 onward -- 22 years now. There's no doubt that he benefited from the history, art and culture aspects of the experience, but if I were to look back at what he most enjoyed at around 10-12 I would say Bali and Hong Kong. We didn't get to Angkor Wat until just recently. In retrospect that would have been a great destination for a young person.

molly2004

Wow, thank you so much for the response! I had been so nervous about my plans here.

I think it's a great idea a few of you have to hit HK first, then VN, and save Japan for last. Had originally thought to go to VN first. I hadn't thought about the need for transition. We'll be flying from Boston so there's the cross country flight to consider too. I'm hoping to at least layover in California to shorten the length of the trans-Pacific part of the flight. Is it possible to get an overnight layover?

I'll also think about adding a few more days to a week to the itinerary too. Not sure what I'd be able to swing work-wise.

Another couple of questions.

LCUY - I'm curious. Why would you suggest that we do only the North or the South? Is it the timeframe?

What is wireless access like in VN? I'd suspect it's terrific in HK and Japan. Should we forget about international cell phones? If your party splits up, how do you keep in touch?

And also, what do you think is a practical way to pack? I was thinking that limiting ourselves to a standard size backpack each is the only practical way to go. Since it'll be summer, not a lot of bulky clothing to bring along. What do you do about laundry?

What do you recommend for a good VN guide. The reviews on Amazon aren't very promising for the ones that are available.

Thanks so much for your help. I'm beginning to feel like we can do this!
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thursdaysd

I'm a big fan of packing light, and I do my laundry in the sink and let it drip dry overnight. Maybe not so practical with kids, though! Plus you need AC for it to dry in the humid climate in SEA (also a reason to take cotton rather than synthetics). For my packing list see http://mytimetotravel.wordpress.com/...take-part-one/ and follow the links.

kmkrnn

Fodors has a forum called travel trips and ideas.. look on there for tips on how to travel light. In Asia there are cheap laundries all over the place out side of the hotels (cheaper than in the hotels). Drop it off early and get it back by dinner or the next day. 3 days of clothes and one nice outfit for dinner and you are good to go. You don't need fancy , just cool ,neat looking clothes. Remember some places required arms and legs covered (temples, palaces). Do some reading.

rhkkmk

one reason to bring suitcases is so that you can bring home any purchases that you might make...

all the extra time you could add would add to your enjoyment..

any of the major guides work quite well...check your local library first....fodors, frommers, lonely planet, eyewitness

most people feel that hanoi is far more interesting than HCMC

marmot

From Boston you should look at connecting to Hong Kong through Chicago or London.

I've never had issues with cellphone or internet reception in HCMC, but I haven't been to Hanoi. For international phones, be sure to discuss the rates with your provider before you go as plans vary widely.

Hong Kong aircon can be brutally cold so you'll want sweaters or shawls; otherwise the same clothes that you'd wear in Boston in summer.

Cicerone

For guidebooks, I would get a variety, but for the moment, see what is at your local library, as you really don’t need brand-new editions for making plans for a trip that is years away. The major tourist sites do not change very much. Buy new guides for hotels and restaurants closer to your trip dates. I always think the <i>Lonely Planet</i> and <i>DK Eyewitness</i> are very good guides. <i>Fodors</i> are usually good, at least for major cities, although I have not seen their Vietnam guide. <i>Rough Guides</i> are pretty good. <i>Insight Guides</i> are good for background/history. I think <i>National Geographic</i> has unusual ideas for things to do.

For flights, personally, I find stopping for an overnight just makes a long flight even longer. I used do this in the early days of living in Asia, but found it really was not attractive. To get off the plane, collect bags, head to the hotel, and then have to repeat the exercise 12 hours later is more exhausting, IMO, then just taking one flight. (And I did not have kids with me, and this was before the days of long, shoeless security lines in the US.) Unless you intend to make it a layover of several days and do sightseeing in LA, I would not suggest that you do a one-night layover. It also does not help with jet lag. I would try to take a non-stop from the US east coast if you can.

You have got a few years to plan this, and flights may of course change, but if it were my trip, I would go to Newark or JFK and take a non-stop on Cathay Pacific or Continental to Hong Kong (or JAL to Tokyo). I would not want to deal with O’Hare or Heathrow. Especially O’Hare in the summer with all that air traffic and thunderstorms. (I gave up on O’Hare the moment they started non-stops from EWR and JFK.) And Heathrow now has so many terminals that unless you are on BA all the way, you could have <i>quite</i> a schlep changing terminals. Look carefully at the terminals you would go into and out of for flights at Heathrow. Going through Europe, IMO Amsterdam is a much easier airport to make connections in, and even Frankfurt is workable. But a non-stop from the East coast of the US is still preferable, in my long experience flying to Asia. Obviously if you have airline miles, you would want to try to use those, and so some other routing may have to be done to use those miles.

Another very good option is if you can get a non-stop from Boston to Vancouver, and take a flight to Hong Kong or Tokyo from there. (Cathay has a non-stop to Hong Kong from Vancouver.) This is especially nice on the return, as you go through US Immigration in Vancouver, and then can just hop just a domestic flight back to Boston.

Mobile phone service in Vietnam is as good, and in most cases better, than in the US. As with most of Asia, they have skipped the stage of putting in land lines for the most part (other than in larger cities which had them in pre-cell phone days), and have invested in wireless. (The concept of “dropped calls” does not really exist here.) You need a dual or tri band phone, and preferably one which is “unlocked” so you can buy a local sim card and then you won’t have to pay international rates to call each other. If nothing else, there is always the “olden days” method of using calling cards from hotel rooms. But you can refine that strategy as the trip gets closer, as with your packing strategy.

marmot

Oddly enough getting from Boston to JFK is not so easy. That's why Boston Chicago Hong Kong is a good connection. Or through one of the European cities that you can get to non-stop from Boston.

marya_

As a Boston-based traveler, I have to agree with marmot that connecting through Chicago can be (surprisingly enough) easier than connecting through New York/Newark. At least that has been our experience. Legendary Chicago weather problems aside, our worst experiences have involved the New York area. It hasn't been the NY/NJ airspace per se but rather just getting that last leg from NY/NJ to Boston. Something has always gone wrong. Maybe it is just us.

My sample is limited and anecdotal though -- based on my husband's 28 or so Bos-Asia trips, my 7 trips, and our children's experiences. It could be that JFK is your ticket and I don't know what routes will be like two years from now. My son raved about the Vancouver-Hong Kong route Cicerone mentioned above but, again, this is chatter rather than advice backed up by solid data.

Getting to Vietnam from Boston is generally very time-consuming so I love the advice that you got above to start in Hong Kong.

Do you have any ff miles-governed preferences for airlines or are you open to all options?

Good for you starting to plan a couple of years in advance. I also like your proposed adult/child ratio of 3/2. Smart.

thursdaysd

Back when I was doing a lot of business travel I had a choice of connecting through Dallas or Chicago, and I almost always picked Chicago - they had a lot of experience in dealing with their bad weather, while there's not a lot Dallas can do about thunderstorms. That said, I've taken the Vancouver - Hing King flight, and thought it was an excellent route - leave in the middle of the night, sleep your way to HK, and arrive in the morning (works better in biz if you have trouble sleeping on planes, though).

lcuy

It is a surprisingly long way from Hanoi to HCMC. It's an extra flight or long train ride. You'll get a nice feel for VN in either, and will have an extra day of sightseeing without the extra travel.

I've been to HCMC and the delta region twice and loved it. Many people who've done both seem to prefer Hanoi, as it is more historic looking and a bit better tourist infrastructure.

My VN travelling partner doesn't like the north so much, and since she speaks Vietnamese, knows how to find all the best food, and has very kind and genereous friends in Saigon, thats where we went!!

Zoey

We were in HCMC and were disappointed. If I were to go back, I would go to Hanoi. I personally enjoy Thailand and Cambodia more than Vietnam but that is my opinion.

I would travel to Hong Kong and as much time in Japan as possible as there is so much to do. We were in Tokyo and Kyoto for a week. Then I would add in a beach resort destination. After so much touring you need time to unwind.

Good luck!

Cicerone

Continental Airlines has 10 non-stops a day from Boston to EWR. CO3265 departs at 9:35 am and arrives at 11 am, which would give you a very comfortable cushion to make the 3 pm Continental non-stop departure for Hong Kong. No need to change terminals if taking CO the whole way. (I recommend the Garden State Diner for lunch, near Gate 82, great chocolate shakes. But I’m a Jersey Girl….)

There are 7 non-stop flights on American Airlines (American Eagle) from Boston to JFK. Four of them would work well for connecting to the either of the 2 daily Cathay non-stops to Hong Kong. (There is a third flight which goes via a short stop in Vancouver, you don’t have to change planes, but it does add time to the journey.)

Of course as your trip is not for several years, flight options may change. And if you have miles you want to earn or use, you may want to use different airlines or routing.