This is my first organized group tour ever, and I’ve had mixed feelings about it after many years of independent travel. The OAT Inside Vietnam tour is 16 days within my over 2 months of Asia – all the rest being done independently, so that adds to the mixed feelings of joining a group. Am I really about to join those travelers I've always looked at climbing aboard a bus and following a tour guide and feeling sorry for? But when I looked at the itinerary and the cost, it just seemed so right for me, and when for a time it looked like my tour might not happen due to a lack of participants, I started trying to duplicate in on my own and found that there was no way I could do it on my own for anywhere near the price they were doing it – mainly due to the fact that OAT charges no single supplement, and traveling alone – booking my hotels would all cost me basically double – like they would for two people traveling together. In other words my 17 days comes out to roughly $115 a day including the air travel from Bangkok to Hanoi, two flights within Vietnam, and Saigon to Bangkok, all hotels, most meals, all transportation within Vietnam, guides, admissions, and many extras.

So I met the group in Bangkok after a flight from Chiang Rai. We met at the Tawana Hotel for a one night stay – and the hotel was very nice. There was nothing planned that first night – and I went off to Mango Tree about a block away for a very good dinner. The next morning was an excellent buffet breakfast and then we assembled in the lobby for our trip to the airport and our Vietnam Airlines flight to Hanoi. There were 14 people in the group, and just a Bangkok OAT representative to travel with us to the airport – we’d be met by our regular guide in Hanoi. The entire group was pretty much the same age (myself included) – I’d guess most in our 60’s, mostly, but not all retired. Several had traveled with OAT before including one man traveling alone (his wife didn’t come on this trip) who was doing his 9th trip with OAT.

Upon arrival in Hanoi – very slow luggage delivery on the carousel – we were met by our guide who would remain with us through the entire trip – Lee, who is from Saigon and has been a tour leader with OAT for a number of years. We are also being accompanied on our northern Vietnam segment with a new tour leader in training. Sadly our first day in Hanoi, we lost two of our group. One woman tripped on some raised bricks in the sidewalk, went headfirst and scraped her arm, but we soon realized she was hurt more seriously – she couldn’t walk at all – and spent the rest of the day in the hospital with tests. It was determined she had done some major tearing of a muscle in her groin, was on crutches, and clearly would not be able to continue with the group. Arrangements were made by OAT and she and her husband returned to the US a day later, glad they had taken the optional insurance which seemed to be taking care of everything.

Upon arrival in Hanoi, we did about an hour walking orientation tour, then were taken by bus to a small lovely restaurant in a house – Banana Flower – for an orientation meeting, questions and answers, and then a very good dinner of traditional Vietnamese dishes all served family style. Lee asked each of us for any food allergies or things we didn’t like, made note of one person who didn’t eat pork, another who doesn’t eat beef, and a couple of people who eat very little meat. Through the trip this was communicated to the kitchen and often special dishes were brought for those individuals so they wouldn’t be slighted by not eating one of the major other dishes. Of course, I eat EVERYTHING, so this was no problem for me. After dinner we were bused back to our hotel the Thang Long Opera Hotel which was really quite nice, had a wonderful and friendly staff, and like all hotels on the tour had special agreement with OAT for free internet in rooms, breakfast, and several other nice amenities.

On Tuesday morning, we had a 7 AM wake up call, buffet breakfast, then at 8:30 we assembled outside for a group cyclo tour (bicycle powered rickshaws) all in a single file line, through busy traffic and market streets of the old quarter for about an hour, arriving near Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum. This was when the woman tripped on the sidewalk. Lee was ideal at his job – he had explained in orientation that when we get somewhere the best thing would be for all to assemble while he gives a brief talk about what we’re seeing, then go off on our own to take pictures, explore or whatever. And it was made clear from the start, it’s our tour and we can do whatever we want – in other words, if you prefer to do things totally on your own that’s all right too. And if you don't want to listen to the “lecture” that's fine, just keep an eye on the group as you wander off so you don't lose the group. We toured the gardens there (the Mausoleum is closed for the month), and we visited the garage and two houses of Ho Chi Minh as well as seeing the Presidential Palace from the outside – there is no admittance. Then we were bused to lunch at Green Papaya – again a big meal of various courses all served family style – fresh spring rolls with shimp, grilled beef with pepper sauce, grilled chicken with lemon leaves, grilled pork rolled around pinapple, stir-fried shrimp with Tamarind, steamed rice, water spinach sautéed with garlic, and crème caramel. Really nice meal and way too much food for most of us.

After lunch we were taken back to the hotel (about 2:30) and we were free until we assembled at 4:40 for the 5 PM water puppet show, nearby, but we were bused to. It was very interesting and enjoyable – live music and singing to the puppets in an elaborate theatre with a pretty large water stage. Programs listed in English the some 15 or so different scenes – things like men fishing, clash of dragons, and a story of a man who finds a sword in the water. After the show, we all waked to City Café atop a nearby building and we did cocktails – individually with a view of the small lake in the center of the city. Then the bus picked us up to go to dinner at Vietnam Kitchen (?), another place in a house and a similar meal of other traditional foods.

Wednesday was an optional tour to a small village where they make rice paper and other activities, but I met with a friend of my Shanghai friend who was anxious to show an American his city. Tu is from Hanoi and works as a mechanical engineer. He only drives a motorbike but he wasn’t anxious to take me on the back of that – so we went by taxi to Bat Trang, a small town which is all about ceramics and pottery. As we arrived in the village (about 45 minutes and a $9 taxi ride from Hanoi) I suspected the town was very touristy as there were rows and rows of open shops – but I soon found out, this town is all about manufacturing and wholesale. Most of the shops are actually just showrooms where retailers come to order or buy goods – including many international wholesalers. We wandered through a number of these showrooms without any pressure – in fact I’m not sure all of them even sell retail. And we walked through tiny little streets or walkways where when you’d look inside buildings there were all kinds of kilns, or groups of artisans painting or spinning pottery, or other activities. And Tu was not afraid to ask workers what they were making and they happily showed us unfired and fired versions of whatever products they were working on. We also peeked in at a class where trainees were practicing painting of ceramics. I found it all very interesting. Then we had lunch at a very casual place outdoors but under a thatched roof. Tu ordered, and although the restaurant didn’t have his first choices of some things, he ordered a whole river fish (carp?) steamed in a “washtub” with celery, tomatoes, garlic, peppers, chilis, and lots of herbs and broth, served with a giant platter of noodles to put in a bowl then ladle the fish stuff over. We also had a dish of fried calamari with onions and peppers. It was a great meal and we left stuffed – and full from splitting three beers. The cost was about $15 total. We ended up in this village till after 2, then waited at one of those improvised tea shops outside on a sidewalk where you sit on little stools – and waited for the public bus back to Hanoi. There were no taxis to be had in this village. Besides the bus only cost about 15 cents each. The ride back was bumpy and pretty hot. Back in town we did a lot of walking, and stopped for iced coffee – it is delicious here and very strong, and also fruit juices another place. I thought it would be great spending the day with a local – and it was – but it seemed much of our talking was more about the US than it was about Vietnam as he was even more curious about my country than I was about his.
It was fun and the afternoon passed quickly. We stopped for dinner about 7:30 at a sort of French Brasserie, but ordered fresh spring rolls, duck leg (off the bone) with orange sauce over steamed rice, and lotus root salad with shrimp. Nice meal. We walked back to the hotel where he had parked his motorbike for the day. And I think I went to bed about 9:30 or 10 – exhausted. Incidentally the rest of our group had returned from the optional tour at about 2:30 and had the afternoon and evening free and some split up into groups and went to dinner. We were all looking for signs of the Fall Moon or Mid-Autumn festival, but other than seeing one group of young people doing a dragon dance, I was only aware of the incredible traffic everywhere.

Thursday we had a wake up call at 6:30, breakfast, then took the bus for the 4 hour trip to Halong Bay. There was one stop half way – for toilet and rest – and as Lee had told us there would only be two actual shopping stops on the trip. This was one of them – the Humanity Center which is a large place and organization that teaches handicapped people a trade – mostly in crafts, particularly embroidery and sewing. Many are working there and of course the big shop sells other goods as well – but all proceeds go back to the Humanity Center. In my usual mode I wasn’t going to buy anything, but I found a wonderfully wild and colorful silk shirt for $27 that I bought – kind of to make up for one I brought with me but had accidentally left in a hotel in Xi’an, China, along with my new Patagonia zip off leg pants and two other shirts.

We arrived at Halong Bay about noon and it was well organized to get us on a tender and to our boat –the “Hau Au”. There dozens of these traditional looking junks there, ours seemed one of the nicer ones, and we were given keys to our cabins (our group of course had the whole boat). The we had lunch while we started cruising the spectacular bay – whole fish, much like I had the day before, fried spring rolls, rice, sautéed vegetables, a pork dish and a chicken dish. After lunch we cruised some more. It was very cloudy, but little or no rain – maybe a few sprinkles, and some of us agreed that was far better than if it had been 98 degrees and broiling sun. In the afternoon we stopped, and went through some huge caves/caverns. Then sailed some more until dinner time, following a brief “show” by the chef at carving veggies into spectacular flowers. When our dinner was served, each table had an arrangement of these flowers, surrounded by lovely steamed prawns to pull off and eat. We also had beef with green beans, some grilled chicken with veggies, some pork dish, steamed cabbage, the inevitable rice, and some fruit. I think everyone retired to their rooms about 8:30 or so. Halong Bay is truly one of the most spectacular bays I’ve ever seen. The mountains rising up out of the water are vitually identical to those in Guilin, China, except of course here there seem to be more of them and they all rise up out of the water, not must a river and out of the ground.

The next morningwe sailed while having breakfast then took the bus back to Hanoi. We stopped along the road and visited a communal herb farm, Lee talking with one old woman picking “green beans” who said she is a tailor with her own shop, but the beans need picking and her family is busy, so she closed the shop to do it. We also stopped and wandered along a rice paddy, where Lee showed us several stages of rice production. And we stopped at a roadside pineapple stand where a girl cuts the small pineapple in spirals to cut out the eyes as well as cutting off the rind and we all got samples. I like the way these stops are done – not touristy at all – and he (or rather OAT) bought the pineapples for samples. This is nice as I'd never have bought a whole pineapple if traveling alone and stopping – so it's a great way to get a sample.

Back in Hanoi, Lee had said lunch was a “surprise” today. Well, the surprise was that we went to a place called Al Fresco Pizza – where we all had ribs, salads, pizza, and ice cream. I'm not sure how many of our group welcomed “American food” but it was good at least. Then we went to the Ethnology museum, an outdoor arrangement of buildings moved there from hill tribes, and inside exhibits of their handicraft, artwork, costumes, etc. Then we headed to the airport for our 7:20 PM flight to Hue on Vietnam Airlines.

More later.

NeoPatrick,
I am really enjoying your trip report. Last year my friends took your same tour to Vietnam with OAT and loved it and sad that their guide was excellent and was very pleased with the OAT trip experience. Please keep posting.

Great beginning, Patrick! You're making me a bit homesick for Vietnam--I even went to Bat Trang. (And have the black and green tea set to prove it--that was a bit of fun to handle for the rest of the trip.) I hope OAT continued to work out for you; I've used them for a couple of trips and enjoy the way that they do things for the most part.

NeoPatrick..thank you. what a great report. I really enjoyed reading it..makes me want to go to Vietnam..and OAT sound like a great tour group. Keep posting, please.
D.

Following along with great delight...

Like you, I've never wanted to do a tour. But if I had to, this tour sounds like a great compromise between cost/convenience and having your own free time.
Keep up all the good details!

Have enjoyed your great report - can't wait to read more.
I'm interested to see what your overall opinion of OAT ends up being - I've read some good and some pretty bad about them. It sounds like at this point in the trip at least you would give them a thumbs up.

Did you find the activity level and ability of fellow OAT travelers to keep up to be an issue? I would not like a tour that was too slow or catered to a slower clientele.

Sounds like you are having fun. Thanks for the report.

I'm following along with you here, Patrick.

Were you happy with the number of places you saw in Hanoi? The place I loved most in Hanoi was the Temple of Literature. It sounds like that wasn't on the OAT itinerary.

Enjoying your report. I also like Ha Long Bay, the best part was sipping wine on the top deck after dinner when everyone went to sleep. We had the whole bay to ourselves.
For those who think they have to join a tour in order to cut cost, you can look at the hotel list at trip advisor. Some of the most popular hotels were(i traveled last winter) under US$50. I have nothing against tours, all I am saying you don't have to if you don't want to.

mohan, true to an extent, but I defy you to add up even the discounted hotel rates for one person (particularly in the four star ones where we're staying), add in four flights (including round trip Bangkok), add in the night on HaLong Bay with an airconditioned cabin for ONE (I checked on this and could only find per person prices with a minimum of 2), and match the total price of $115 a day -- not even counting all the other transportation, airport transfers, meals, etc.

What I am learning is that I am doing more on a tour than I'd do on my own. Would I have made arrangements to visit the orphanage? Would I have asked the taxi driver to stop and explain the rice growing and the communal herb farming? Would I have had a vegetarian meal in a monestary? Would I have gotten a ticket to the water puppet show? Would I have visited the ethnology museum in Hanoi and hired someone to explain the various tribal customs? Of course these are all things I COULD do on my own, and I could have carried guide books and read up on everything myself, but the bottom line is that I simply wouldn't have.

Yes,Kathie, we did visit the temple of literature,which was fascinating, and now is being related at other sites with how the whole mandarin thing worked. There are numerous other stops I'm not listing, and I just failed to mention the Temple of Literature which we visited after lunch on our full day in Hanoi.

Thanks, Patrick. I wasn't sure if you were listing all of your stops or not. It sounds like you are having a great time!

ok, so you are going to convert at least 9% of us to take tours...

loving the report and look forward to more about vn

Not to sound like a tout here, but OAT tours are different than any others I've been on. (In my very early days of travel I used to use tours, as, well, let's face it, it wasn't so easy without the Internet.) I've only been on two OAT's--I usually do travel independently and alone--but having maybe twelve people is a lot different than a group of 40 or so. I've met some interesting people, most of them a good few years older than me, but there was a 17 year old on my trip with them to South Africa; he seemed to have a great time with all us fogeys. Fogies. However you spell it.

And free single supplement is absolutely a wonderful thing.

Neo, I could become a convert if the tour group is not too large and whiny. How did you handle the early wake up calls? I just don't function at 6:30 am. Fascinating report.

I too noted on our China trip report that we would have seen and done more on a tour than we did on our own. We still prefer to be independent but one of these days .... rev up the tour bus.

I just input some dates into the OAT site for the Inside Vietnam tour and when I clicked single occupancy the price went up $1000 - I don't see anything about no single supplement.....anyway, thanks for the wonderful trip report...

The no single supplement I think might apply only to certain dates? (It's how I was able to afford South Africa!) If you get on their email list you can get updates on all of those kinds of sales, but don't get on their snail mail list--the trees will weep! (They send more catalogues than anyone I've ever known; I called to stop them, and they have, but you'll be weeping for the trees if they start mailing them.)

Thanks, Amy - I'll go onto their email list....not that I'm really planning a tour but one never knows......

Hmmmm. I didn't mean to start a controversy about tour vs. independent. How do I handle the 6:30 wake up calls? Well, actually today was our first of those, the others have been 7 or 7:30, but last night was an early night. 6:30 is pretty easy if you go to bed before 11!

Kathie, I accidentally left out the Temple of Literature, which is more major than many of the little things we do.

Yes, a group of 12 is nothing like a group of 30 or 40 I'm sure. Another interesting thing about OAT -- today we arrived in Hoi An, which apparently has many overnight tailors and people were asking for a recommendation. Most tour groups would drop you all off at their selected kick-back one, but our guide said he really doesn't give any personal recommendations, but will point out a couple that previous guests have been happy with. Those kick-back shopping things just don't exist with OAT -- at least on this tour.

I only logged on to check something after we arrived at 2:30 at our hotel and I got a quick $5 haircut. We go out at 3:30 for a walking tour of the old town. But wait till I tell you about our morning adventure today. I'm still laughing, it was so much fun. But you'll have to wait for that.