Hello! My friend James and I got back last week from our amazing eight-day vacation in Vietnam. Thanks to Kathie, Naci, Jane, and everyone else in the forum who helped plan my trip.

For all those planning their trips, our itinerary was:

DAY 1: Manila to HCMC (plane), HCMC to Hue (plane)

DAY 2: Explore Imperial Citadel, tombs

DAY 3: Hue to Hoi An (bus); explore old town

DAY 4: My Son; more old town

DAY 5: Hoi An to Danang (car), Danang to Hanoi (plane); explore old quarter, watch water puppets

DAY 6: Halong Bay day trip

DAY 7: Explore Hanoi: Uncle Ho mausoleum complex, Temple of Literature, colonial Hanoi

DAY 8: Hanoi to HCMC (plane); HCMC to Manila (plane)

For details, recommendations, and photos, check out the two-part writeup on the trip in my blog:

http://paulophonic.blogspot.com/2007...rt-1-of-2.html

http://paulophonic.blogspot.com/2007...rt-2-of-2.html

Hope this is helpful to anyone else who's planning a trip to this incredible country. If you've questions, feel free to leave a message on my blog.

Thanks again!

paulo
manila, philippines

Thanks for the prompt report. No penalty.

Enjoyed your blog. Thanks for posting it!

Paulo, loved ur spirit, ur reaching out to people, consumption of everything from street food to high-end, and ability to not let irritations bring down ur trip. Saigon is wonderful if u know people, love food and want to hang out. Thanks for opening my eyes to the rest of Vietnam.

Thanks, Kathie and Mari! Glad you enjoyed reading.

James, my travel companion, also blogged about the trip. He has got more photos and some great videos; and while he was less forgiving than me of some of the "inconveniences", his writeups about them are hilarious:

http://jampackedbear.blogspot.com/

Enjoy!