Trip Report - Vietnam, Laos and Thailand
 

Thanks to everyone for their previous posts - it helped me immensely in putting together my trip so I thought I would reciprocate with details of my recent trip.

We flew from the UK to Hanoi via Paris with Air France and stayed at the Hanoi Hilton for 3 nights. The hotel was great, nice big room with a small balcony overlooking the Opera House. The location was good, close walking distance to the Old Quarter and the Lake. Spent most of our time just walking round the city and absorbing the unique atmosphere of the place and eating the national dish Pho in the street cafes.

We then flew with Lao airlines to Luang Prabang via Vientiane. To my surprise both flights were on time and the whole journey was completed without a hitch. In LP we stayed at the 3 Nagas, right in the centre of town, but this inevitably meant that there was quite a bit of traffic noise through the single glazed windows (not quite "Soundproofed" as they quote on their website). The hotel was great, only 7 rooms so very personal service, we had the suite which was beautiful. Here we took a city tour, a boat trip up the Mekong to the caves and had a great foot and leg massage. The whole place closes in the evening at about 11pm, so it is enforced relaxation (although there is plenty of adventurous daytime activities should you want them). There are some fantastic restaurants to choose from, the food everywhere was delicious.
The town has a very spiritual feel to it, the numerous temples are exquisite (although we only went in 2) with the monks going about their daily business; the morning Alms call was unique to observe.

From LP, we took a 1 hour flight with Thai direct to Chiang Mai. I loved the city, especially eating down at the Riverside in the evening. We stayed at the Tamarind Village for 3 nights, there were quite a few mossies around (as reported by other posters) but with repellant we didn't find it a problem. The location was great and plentiful Tuk Tuks meant that everything was close by. We also took a trip out of the city and went to a great place where you could ride elephants, go on an ox cart and then bamboo raft down the river. We even had people wading out to us in the middle of the river trying to sell us stuff - that's Thailand for you! The night market was great with some fantastic quality and cheap places to eat (food does seems to be a recurring theme for me!!)

We then flew to Bangkok and took a road transfer to Hua Hin. This place was more commercial with a lot more Eurpoeans than I had expected, but I still loved it. We stayed at the Sofitel for 5 nights and the hotel way exceeded expectations. It was pristine and modern but still felt historic in the way it was built and set out. The breakfast buffet I think is the best I have ever had, both in variety and quality. Hua Hin is full of tailor shops and we got suites and dresses made up at really good prices. Hua Hin is a great place to relax - the latest craze down there is kite boarding which is a spectacle to watch.

Lastly we went back to Bangkok for 2 nights staying by the river at the Shangri-la. I must admit I found the traffic a bit offputting when planning to go out anywhere, but we made use of boats and the skytrain. A one hour trip down the canals is well worth doing. We also went to the horse racing one day which was fun.

All in all we had a fantastic trip, a good mix of doing things and relaxing. All the people were so friendly, the food great and the beer cheap - what more could you ask for??

Glad you enjoyed, when are you coming back!

When I have saved enough cash!!

nice report anna...now if you could just get the uk to adopt some of the same financial terms the travelling public would be ever greatful

Did you make your arrangements through a travel agent? Or did you handle all of them yourself?
And great trip report - thanks!
Karen

Thanks for the trip report anna. Glad you enjoyed the trip and also glad that you liked the Sofitel as I sing it's praises it on this board every so often.

Anna, Enjoyed your trip report. We also loved Chiang Mai and are planning to go to Luang Prabang on our next trip. Would love to hear more about 7 Nagas and if there are any quieter rooms...also, some of your restaurant recommendations for Luang Prabang & elsewhere. We too love to eat!

i too would like to hear about LP restaurants as i will be there later this month...thanks

Karen, I chose each of the hotels and flights I wanted and then booked them through different agents according to which was cheapest. I used a mix of asia-discovery.com, asia-hotels.com, Mol at VSP travel, and a UK agent for the international flights. It took a lot of research, but I enjoy doing that anyway and this forum helps a lot.

In Luang Prabang we ate one night at the Blue Elephant which is classed as a mix of Franch/Laos food. I found it more French but the food was excellent and the setting lovely. Another night we ate at the 3 Nagas restaurant which was more traditional Laos food (some a bit too traditional such as buffalo skin in chilli paste - but we tried it anyway) - again an excellent restaurant, our 3rd night was at the Villa Santi, we got a table on the balcony and sampled the Laos tasting menu, this was great as I tried things that I wouldn't normally pick.
At lunchtime we were bowled over by a couple of dishes at the Sala Prabang restaurant which has a lovely setting overlooking the Mekong. We had fresh spring rolls which were packed with herbs and nuts and served with a chilli sauce, also Kao Poun, a local dish, a sort of noodle in red curry sauce dish, but again with lots of fresh herbs stuffed into it. We are real foodies who like to try lots of different things but we ended up here 2 consecutive days eating the same thing because it was so good.

In respect of the 3 Nagas hotel, it really was lovely. We had the suite which was room 7, but if I returned I would probably pick room 6 for VFM and less noise. I would skip rooms 1 and 2, which are both on the busy corner at street level. Room 7 is above both of these with a lot of windows so still fairly noisy. Room 6 would be better, next to 7, smaller but a big terrace and not on the corner. Room 5 I didn't see inside but is on the quieter side next to 6. Also I think room 3 would be a good choice, this is ground floor (below 6) with a nice terrace area and on the other side of the hotel not by the road. Having said all that, it is still a small hotel and the windows are built traditionally. I would definitely stay there again, just remember your ear plugs.
Another choice would be the Villa Santi Hotel (not resort), very close to the 3 Nagas but much bigger, they seemed to have rooms based around the garden away from the road. I passed on this because the rooms didn't have, or couldn't guarantee a balcony. I love to while away time relaxing on a balcony. If you can stand a bit of noise I would choose the 3 Nagas.

thanks for that info on restaurants...i have made note of it and especially sala prabang..

any shopping hints?? especially fabrics

No, sorry, I don't really do much shopping.
They had a small market area with lots of fabrics sold (supposedly) direct from the Hill Tribes, but I read somewhere else that this was set up just for tourists and that the genuine fabrics should really be bought direct from the hill tribes by taking a trip out.

thanks anna...

Luang Prabang is not famous for fabrics. There are some very good silversmiths like Thithpeng Maniphone. We bought some lovely jewellery in LP at a silversmith close to Sala Prabang, in Thanon Khem Kong, the street running past the Mekong. There are also some great saa paper shops, selling lampshades, card etc. The best quality fabrics we saw were in Vientiane at Carol Cassidy's shop called Lao Textiles. VERY expensive but gorgeous stuff. I thought Artisans D' Angkor in Cambodia had comparable fabrics at cheaper prices.

Bob, as Lyndie said, paper is a nice thing to buy in LP. I got some very beautiful lanterns. Flowers and leaves are mixed with the paper when wet and when it dries, it gives a very beautiful effect. I also bought a gorgeous silk weaving in LP and a carved wooden thing to hang it from (can't think of what the wooden thing is called--my mind went blank). Other than that, there's not too much shopping in LP.

thanks for the shopping hints, albeit slim....i expected as much....we hope to find some nice fabric pieces...

Most of the fabrics I saw were silk weavings, suitable for hanging. If you want fabrics to have clothes made or to use as upholstery, you may be out of luck. But if you want wall hangings, you'll find some very nice ones in LP.

laurie---we had in mind scarfs, home decoration items, etc....not flat goods

Hi all, We stayed at 3 Nagas last year and are booked again for a longer stay in August. We chose room 6 and will have that room again this year. The suite looks lovely but is a good bit more expensive and room 6 is a very good compromise. Its a nice room and has a very big verandah which we loved - we had breakfast there each morning and tended to laze away for parts of each day - just reading and watching life go by. Four nice easy chairs with a couple of foot stools and a nice table. I think from memory there was a fan as well. Just loved the hotel and LP in general and are going back to use it as a real lay about stop this year. We didn't find it noisy as the town seems to close down very early in the night - as indeed we do being country hicks. We book direct with 3 Nagas though their website as its also the cheapest way I've found.

Bob - shopping good in LP for some things - like silk hangings and hill tribe jewellery and lots of hill tribe quilted/applique cushion covers and quilts. Only thing to watch out for with these is that the fabric is synthetic and sort of melts if you iron it too hot (I know from experience!!!!) but they are very cheap and look nice. Also in the night market there is a good artist doing some interesting prints - you'll also see his work in the Lao restaurant of the 3 Nagas. Saa paper is lovely but I'm Australian and its difficult to bring in here anything that contains plant material so it restricts you a lot. The loveliest stuff has lots of petals etc. If you want specifics you can email me on [email protected]

Mary

I think Room 6 is a good choice, I would probably choose that next time for best value for money. I didn't find the noise at night a problem, just in the morning, there was a Cockerel crowing early every morning and the noise of bikes zooming by. It was made worse because there were so many windows which didn't quite shut properly. The building was very traditional though so I guess that's what you get!

Hi Anna,

Yes I think the corner would have been a bit more noisy. The bikes can be more than a bit annoying but I don't find the cockerels a problem - in fact as we live in the country I wake up if ours doesn't crow!!! I'm worried he's been got at by a fox. When my brother comes down to stay the cock wakes him up but he doesn't hear any traffic if there is some. We always wake up to the sound of a car some distance off. We once had a very large gas tanker arrive at 6am when he was staying - they are so noisy but he didn't hear it at all just the rooster! We hear the tanker turning off the highway 5 kms away.