rkkwan

Thanks for your nice report. Spare ribs in dim sum are also chopped into that small pieces. I guess Chinese are so used to bones that wasn't a problem for us.

The tasteless tea - did you order it and it came with a pot? Or they just brought a cup to you? Many of these small hole-in-the-wall places in HK don't even offer you water. But some will give you a small cup of hot water or very mild tea. Most locals won't even drink it, or use it to rinse the chopsticks. Those places MAY have some other drinks - milk tea, soy milk, etc - for extra; or the diners may just go somewhere else after the quick meal to get something else to drink.

rkkwan

BTW, not sure you only find one restaurant in the Miramar Shopping Center. There should be more, but of course, most looking for food just walk through it and out the back to Knutsford Terrace, which is directly behind the mall.

thursdaysd

Thanks for the report - looking forward to the sightseeing bit,. Those lie flat seats do make a difference, don't they? Qantas currently has my favorite biz class - they provided "pajamas" on my BKK-LHR flight - made a huge difference in my ability to sleep.

sf7307

<<<Qantas currently has my favorite biz class - they provided "pajamas" on my BKK-LHR flight - made a huge difference in my ability to sleep>>>

I'll keep that in mind while I save up my miles for Australia!!

yestravel

Great report. Havent decided when we will go. You've got mail at your gmail acct.

rhkkmk

great report... glad you liked my suggestions, but i got them all from other fodorites

lovetotravel2

Fantastic report. Your description of the type of travelers you are fits exactly my husband and me. In the fall our daughter will be studying in Manila so we are feeling like we should go visit her and then go somewhere exciting from there. Vietnam is top on our list. I just started poking around this forum so I have lots of reading to do. I loved this "dreaming" part of the travel planning!

sf7307

I wasn't planning to give a detailed report of our sightseeing, but since this actually seems to be helpful to some people -) )....I promise to continue over the weekend.

yestravel

sf - did u get my email I sent 2 u?
And I'd love to read about the sightseeing

LowCountryIslander

sf...great report.

I believe I was at the Hanoi Elegance Diamond a week or so before you. LOVED that hotel and would go back in a "hot minute"! I've been back from my trip for 2 weeks and still sorting all my photos. I'm hoping to start my own trip report soon! Would love to read about your sightseeing!

sf7307

yestravel, I did, I will reply today or tomorrow.

LCI, I knew that - I saw one of your other posts. Great place, isn't it. I'm recommending it to some friends who are making their first visit in October.

sf7307

Tomorrow, I start my search for decent Vietnamese food in the Bay Area. Before I do, can someone tell me the fundamental difference between Bun Bo Hanoi and Bun Bo Hue? (and Bun Bo is the "dry noodle" one and Bun Cha is the one with broth, right?) Thanks!

dgunbug

Firstly, Bo is beef and Cha is pork. I'm not certain of the difference between the Bun Bo in Hanoi and Hue, although I think that the Hue version has more broth.

sf7307

Thanks! And I know Ga is chicken (right?). What's the word for shrimp?

sf7307

I'm back (having spent a glorious day in San Francisco, continuing my "be a tourist in my own town" and walking from Fort Mason to the Golden Gate Bridge and back on a gorgeous afternoon!).

As I said, I wasn't intending to post my sightseeing guide, since it's been done so many times, but I'll post my edited written-as-we-traveled notes in case it might help someone:

<B>HANOI</B>

Day 1 - seven hours walking around the Old Quarter; You don't need seven hours, of course, but we like nothing better than poking around the old quarter of any city, shopping, eating, visiting markets, people-watching, etc. Hanoi's is one of the better ones we've visited because with its street culture, it's different from anyplace else we've been.

Day 2 - up early. Walked to the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum via embassy row, past the army museum and flag tower. Being children of the anti-war movement, visiting Ho seemed like an appropriate thing to do LOL. The line was long but moved quickly. Interesting that they force you to be duly reverential inside the building where Ho's body lies - not even putting your hands in your pockets, and definitely no talking! Lots and lots of schoolchildren, all of whom were very friendly - "hello. hello. hello. hello" And I responded to each and every one! Also visited the other areas of the Presidential Palace. Thought "Ho Chi Minh's Used Cars" was pretty amusing (they of course meant "cars used by HCM"). The grounds and the stilt house are very beautiful/peaceful. After the Mausoleum, we walked to Temple of Literature - we enjoyed it very much - it's a peaceful site, and it always amazes us to see things so old, since we live in California, where nothing is more than a couple of hundred years old. After lunch at Koto, we walked back to the Old Quarter and lake area.


Day 3 - Cheap day tour to Halong Bay (I think my DH has finally learned his lesson - just because a company advertises themselves as "different, better than all the others out there", they probably aren;t). Cramped but comfortable van. Very good driver (Papaya Tours). Tour guide (Cong) was very interested in talking -- learned a lot from him. Boat was on the less than luxurious side, lunch just okay. Caves were interesting, Halong Bay is probably beautiful, but it was cold and grey, so a little less beautiful than we expected. Floating city interesting though pretty touristy. The ride is long, and mostly ugly, but at least you get to see other parts of the country.


Day 4 - Took taxi ($6.50) to Museum of Ethnology. We were going to walk, but everyone at the hotel convinced us not to, too far. So we agreed to take a taxi there and walk back -- even the taxi driver laughed, but we did it. The Museum of Ethnology is a "must do" -- very very interesting museum about all the various tribes in Vietnam. Museum cost $1.25 each. It made me sorry we weren't going to be able to visit any of the hill areas, like Sapa. So, we did walk back, about 5 miles (exercise, plus seeing the rest of the city - clearly walked through an expat neighborhood, the rest, who knows?). Spent rest of the day walking around the lake (we did that a lot!). I think you could probably combine our days 2 and 4 into one day if you don't walk as much as we did. I was wearing a pedometer, and there were days we walked more than 8 miles.


Day 5 - morning cooking class at Hanoi Cooking Centre. Run by Tracy Lister, an Australian who was instrumental in founding Koto. Workers at the center graduated from Koto. First up, tour of the wet market, which was amazing -- the fresh meat, fish "filtration" systems, various organs, incredible vegetables and ingredients. Then made food. Instructors were fantastic - English about 80%, good teachers and sense of humor. Ate our own lunch. Dined with the only other two participants, Robbie, and Australian who lives in Hanoi, and Louise, and Australian who is visiting. After lunch, walked to QT Spa. Very nice experience, although the massage was only okay. Good way to while away the afternoon though. $150 for two massages, two facials, one foot reflexology and one manicure, plus a snack that was great and served as dinner, since we were headed to the airport. A little different from home (more naked). Very clean and lovely service. Back to hotel, retrieved our bags and the shuttle took us to the airport. Watched the news of the Japan earthquake on tv at the airport.

<B>HUE</B>:

Uneventful flight to Hue, which takes big planes, but has no terminal really. A bus picks you up at the plane and drives you 100 feet to the terminal. Our bags were first up, and we took a taxi to the hotel - $10 on the meter,which is what I'd been told it would be.


After breakfast in the beautiful restaurant, were picked up for our moto-bike day tour with Hue Riders. I made the reservation on line and they showed up. Nothing to sign, didn't pay until the end of the day. Incredibly fun. Two great drivers. One didn't speak Engliish at all, and the other (mine, Mr. Hung) was at maybe 30%, so we only got the gist of what he was saying, but he was really really nice, and tried so hard to make our day memorable. Our stops -


American and French bunkers overlooking a gorgeous section of the Hoang River.
Fabulous working Buddhist monastery (I don't know the name, but I'm going to research it, because it was incredible). We happened to be there during a Buddhist ceremony.
Palace and tomb of Emperor LeDuc
Tomb of Kanh Tinh
Lunch at the cafe where Hue Riders "office" is
Thien Tu Pagoda (learned the kids go to bed at 9 and get up a 3am). Got great picks of some of the children who live at the monastery, including kids mowing the lawn. Interesting - I wonder who decides they should become monks?
Citadel - very interesting, but much of it barely exists any more. The theater is one of the two best preserved buildings.
A village about 5 km from central Hue, where we saw a bridge built in the 1700s and a display of rice harvesting by a wild and crazy (and funny) 78-year old woman. Had us (and some people watching from their motorbike) laughing out loud.
Back to hotel - all this for $15 each!
No idea where to eat. Started walking, walked about an hour. Nothing appealed, so we decided to grab cyclos back to the hotell. For $2.50 each (about 3 or 4 miles is our guess), we had quite a trip. The drivers were friends and they were very entertaining, even though they spoke almost no English. They did sing Guantanamera and Ole Ole Ole Ole! Read an English language newspaper while we ate dinner. Learned that Vietnam is 100% wired for fibre-optics, and has 189 telephones for every 100 people, of which 91% are cell phones!!


<B>HOI AN</b>:

Sunday - hired driver through hotel for ride to Hoi An. More expensive than it should have been ($100) but we didn't plan in advance. After breakfast at hotel, got in a little pool time, then driver picked us up at 12. Drove over Hai Van Pass - beautiful, but it was a little foggy. Suckered into buying a couple of necklaces at the obligatory "rest" stop, but I had wanted to get them in Hanoi anyway (and I've worn them since). Saw the American and French bunkers, China Beach (stopped for photos). Outside Hue, passed a couple of weddings in progress. Very good driver, new Toyota Corolla, gave us just enough information. Stopped at marble factory - who buys this stuff??

Next day, spent at the pool (after breakfast outside next to the pool). Ate a late lunch at the pool. Went into town at 4 p.m. ($3.50 taxi ride). First I did a couple of miles on the treadmill. Wandered all over. Bought a "pashmina". Had a couple of drinks at a restaurant overlooking the river ($6 for two diet cokes and two cocktails). Never did get hungry for dinner so caught the 7:30 shuttle back to hotel.


Next day (15th). Weather is supposed to be bad starting Wednesday, so changed our flight from night to late morning. $60 total extra (Vietnam Airlines doesn't charge a change fee, just the fare differential -- although they didn't even charge us that when we rearranged our flight from Saigon to Siem Reap). Spent the day at the pool again. Walked a couple of miles on the beach. After treadmill (2 miles), rested, then took a taxi into town about 6:30. Finally found Casa Verde (supposed to be excellent ice cream), but it didn't really look open. Decided on Secret Garden and it was an excellent decision. Got the 8:30 shuttle back to hotel.

<B>SAIGON</B>:

16th - taxi to Danang airport about $23. Good decision to leave early, as weather in HoiAn is bad - cool and rainy. Ocean looks really rough today - waves are huge! We lucked out with 3 warm and sunny days in a row. Going to be complaining about the heat soon enough! Plane delayed by weather, but got to Saigon around 2 - took "fixed price" taxi for $9 - my mistake, should have only been about $5 on the meter. Checked into Liberty Central no problem. Went for a walk - had lunch at Quan an Ngon. Visited War Remembrance Museum, old Post Officce, Notre Dame Cathedral, walked through Hotel Majestic and Rex Hotels. Back to hotel for shower and rest. Dinner at La Hostaria. Walked back. Michael has a rash on both legs and a mosquito bite on his arm, and my feet are rubbing in all the wrong places! Hotel is plain but nice, and directly next door to Ben Thanh market.

Day 2 in Saigon - got up relatively late (9) had breakfast then showered. Walked to Reunification Palace aka Independence Palace aka Presidential Palace. Then walked around downtown, including Audi dealer ($90,000 for an A4 1.8), through exterior of what we later found out was the military museum. Walked over to the river. Stopped at United about our flight home, but it wasn't the ticketing office. They were very nice, though, and told us where to go. Had to use the restroom so stopped in at the very lovely Legend Hotel (and used a bidet for the first time in my life -- but this was built into the toilet and it was electronic!!). Spent some time at the United ticket office, but they couldn't find any way to re-route us other than from Seoul in coach (no dice unless someone tells me it isn't safe to transit through Narita). Spent a long while at the Ben Thanh Market (I'd say if we had to pick one category of things we like to do when we travel, it's markets), crazy place. Bought two sets of chopsticks - $5.00 each for 5 pair with covers and litttle stands. Walking through the fish section of the market, I stopped to take a little video of a bunch of live fish in a plastic bin, and one of them jumped out! I was the only one who reacted -- they just left it on the asphalt to die. Well, I guess it was going to be someone's dinner anyway. Rain (such as it was) stopped - DH went up to the rooftop pool (small, but pleasant, he said there were a lot of people up there) while I took advantage of the air--conditioned room. After dinner at Tandoor, had drinks and dessert at the lovely rooftop bar at Hotel Rex with live music. Strolled through the night market at Ben Thanh.

<B>SIEM REAP</B>:

Day 1 in Siem Reap. Arrived no pblm. A little confusing re visas. Lucky we had brought pictures. Had to use the ATM to get cash for visas. Lots of workers at Siem Reap airport - looks like a full employment policy. They are the nicest immigration people ever. Met by driver in Lexus SUV. DH had left his backpack inside at the visa counter. Went back to get it and they let him in and out without too much of an issue. Car service was too expensive through hotel, but worth it (and helps the local economy anyway). Hotel is fabulous. Took a walk to town. Lunch at Le Tigre Du Papier. Shopped, poked around (considering a fish pedicure), spent an hour at the gorgeous pool. Rested - watched a stupid movie on TV (Taken with Liam Neeson). After dinner, had a $1.00 foot massage at the night market. Every foot massage place at the night market was busy (why not, for $1.00?)

Day 2 in Siem Reap. Planned to grab a tuk-tuk to go to Angkor Wat. Not sure whether we would come back mmidday or not. Front desk was great - used their guy, Mr. Too - and hired him for the whole day for $17. Went to Angkor Wat (after getting tickets - $40 each) and Ta Prohm before lunch, then decided to go back for a few hours of sun and pool - gorgeous day, about 90 degrees. Had lunch at pool. Mr. Too picked us up at 3:00 to go out again - went to Angkor Thom, then to a mountain temple to see the sunset (his idea, us and about a million other people - very few Americans in evidence, loads of Japanese). Agreed he would pick us up in the a.m. at 8:30 to go to Banta Srei, River of a Thousand Lingas, and Beng Melea (which is 65 km in a tuk-tuk, so we'll see, but we loved it today). I had another $1.00 foot massage (waited for my girl, no. 56) and Michael had a shoulder massage -- mine was better than his. Total $4 with tips.

Next day, Mr. Too was right on time. He suggested going to Kbal Spean first, then Banta Srei. Done. Loved the hike at Kbal Spaen, but it's not so easy - first of all, it's uphill, second, there's a lot of scrambling over rocks and boulders. There are some great views, and you're mostly shaded. the full employment act was in evidence again, as there was a crew sweeping leaves from the path. Obviously had no idea what we were doing or looking at so took guidebook suggestion and "hired" a local guide to walk us around. Total time at Kbal Spean 1-3/4 hours. Drove to Banta Srei from there. Had a decent lunch - rice and shrimp for me, rice and stir fried chicken for M, two diet Cokes and "free" fresh fruit - bananas and mango. Very small - spent about 45 minutes or an hour there (as I've said before, we are not "in depth" people - we prefer to the short course to the PhD . 1-1/2 hours drive on bumpy dirt roads to Beng Melea. A little long, but traveling through rural areas was excellent adventure. Every single child, and plenty of adults, waved to us, and we waved back to everyone! In Beng Melea, we again hired a local guide -- we never would have gotten through the temple without him, since most of it is not restored and you have to scramble over broken-down rocks, tree roots, ledges, etc. Ride back to Siem Reap was also tiring, but again, it's a really great way to see the "countryside" (as Mr. Too, who speaks practically no English)called it. Whole day with Mr. Too was $40, plus $10 for entry to Beng Melea. After a much needed shower, and decision to have an R&R say tomorrow, had dinner at World Lounge.

Last day - R&R. Weather is gorgeous- humid, but temp hasn't gone above 85 and sun has been in and out. As usual, DH has been in the sun all day and I've been in the shade. Before dinner, walked over to Seven Candles Guest House to bring some things we had brought along to donate to the Ponheary Ly Foundation. It was drizzling when we left our hotel, and while we stood in the lobby of the guest house, the heavens opened -- a tropical rainstorm like I've never seen outside the Caribbean. We waited it out (chatting with Lori) for a few minutes, then put on our ponchos and got in a tuk-tuk (the driver had zipped up the sides). The poor driver got soaked, but he was laughing when we got to town. There was so much water, we had to roll up our pants to cross the street! After dinner at Picasso, had a fish pedicure (couldn't leave without one - very very weird, then mani/pedi at Dr. Feet.

<B>HONG KONG</B>

Hong Kong Day 1

Got up around 8:15. Went to Starbucks for free WiFi so I could call DD. Took Star Ferry to Hong Kong Island ($5 HKD for both of us) Walked about 8 miles (possibly not exaggerating ) all over Central -- including Sheung Wan, Li Yuen Street East and West (junky market stuff), mid-level escalator, Hollywood Road (antiques - really), Man Mo Temple (fantastic - loads of people burning incense and paper), Lok Cha Tea Shop, Upper Lascar Road (Cat Street) - lots of junk/secondhand stores Soho, Western Market, Victoria Peak (by tram), lunch at a local busy dim sum place. At the peak, we had tea and shared a piece of marble cake at Pacific Coffee (of which there may be more than Starbuck’s). Walked by well-known buildings such as Jardine House, Bank of China Tower, HSBC, Central Plaza, Legislative Council Building, Governor’s Mansion, Bonham Strand, Deveoux Road West, IFC Mall.Had a drink and a nice chat with the bartenders at Bourbon Street, then dinner at Café de Paris next door.
Took Star Ferry "home" ($5 HKD). Got back a little after 10.
Cold at the peak, not warm, but not as bad “down low”.

Hong Kong Day 2 - all day in Kowloon -- all the markets -- Ladies Market, Bird Market, Jade Market, Flower Market, wet market. Lunch at Aberdeen. Ice cream at Gelare - fabulous. Went back to Hong Kong Island for dinner - pretty unexceptional salad, pizza and pasta. The town is overrun with people there for the Rugby 7s.

Hong Kong Day 3 - took bus 260 to Stanley. Wow, the bus was amazing. Seemed new, exceptionally clean, and the route through Central, Wan Chai, Causeway Bay, Repulse Bay and Stanley is fantastic. Wandered the market, had a nice lunch at Ocean something on the water. Bought some scarves at the market. Back in town, took the ferry back to Kowloon. Ate dinner on Knutsford Terrace. Couldn't decide where, finally picked an Australian bar - pretty bad. Walked back.

Travel day. Had decided to take the Airport Express shuttle and Airport Express. Had scouted out where/how to pick up the shuttle the night before. Came within 5-10 minutes. Chatted with a nice couple from Boston (he had been in Vietnam illegally during the 70s ("peace movement") and got arrested and kicked out). At Kowloon Airport Express Station, so easy - bought our train tickets (we knew to get the "group of two" - best price at $140 HKD for 2 people traveling one way). Then we could check in and dump our bags - amazing setup, still don't know how it works. Train smooth as ever. Airport is phenomenal -- looks like the international terminal at SFO but about 10 times the size.


<b>GENERAL OBSERVATIONS</b>:


There are very few animals in Vietnam - no squirrels, nor rats (despite all the street food). In fact, very few dogs, but the dogs we did see all looked extremely healthy - well fed, shiny coats.

# of cell phones in Vietnam - as I said, we read there were 189 phones for every 100 people. It seems like everyone, rich and poor, has an iphone. Does anyone have any idea what cell phone service costs?

retail retail retail - every inch of ground floor space (and lots of above-ground floor spaces) seems to be occupied by a store, restaurant, or service provider.

no zoning - fascinated us how you could have a store, a place selling "street food" and a motorcylce repair shop or electrical supply place all in a row. And open fires on the street.

no fear for safety - everyone warned us of scams, and to keep our money in money belts etc. The only "scam" we encountered was the kid who wanted to "fix" my DH's sneakers, which we politely declined, pretty determinedly. DH kept his money in a money belt the first day, but after that, as he usually does, he kept it in his front pocket, with his hand on it. As always, I carried a small cross-body "Baggalini". We never had a problem, and despite all the walking we did through neighborhoods known and unknown, we never once, in all of the trip, feared for our personal safety.

friendly - people in general were incredibly friendly. If they spoke English at all, they tried to communicate, and if they didn't, a smile and wave.

crossing streets in Hanoi - this will be an abiding memory, the same way it is for Cairo. Wow! No stoplights, and even where there are stoplights, they're routinely ignored. The sheer number of motorbikes is not to be believed.

tipping issues - still not sure. We gave a few tips (manicurist, foot massage, local tour guides at a couple of temples who worked only for tips) but mostly didn't since we'd been told tips are not expected and not part of the culture.

mosquitoes (or rather lack of mosquitos) - we took anti-malarial meds (Malarone) just in case we ventured outside the Angkor area. We wore pants into town in the evening, and were covered head to toe with mosquito repellent during the day and on our ankles and legs in the evening. We literally only SAW 3 mosquitoes on our whole trip. It was funny -- our room at La Residence d'Angkor had a mosquito net, so I asked if we needed to use it and they told us it was "for decoration only".

dual economy - this was fascinating, I'm not sure I'm explaining it correctly, but there appear to two economies = an ex-pat and tourist economy, and a local economy. I mean, Prada in Hanoi? We never really found places in Hanoi where locals shop for clothes, but in Saigon, we went into a couple of department stores that probably serve locals.

Would have loved to have been in these places 30 years ago to compare.

Propaganda - there was not even a hint of antipathy toward the US, but some of the anti-war propaganda was pretty over-the-top (at the War Remembrance Museum and Hoa Lo Prison, in particular). Then of course there's all the replica propaganda "art" you can buy (and we did) - probably all being purchased by Americans.

I showed someone some pictures of building facades in Hong Kong at night (Ermenegildo Zegna is a fabulous building) - he said it looked like a pinball machine, which I thought was a great description

the juxtaposition everywhere of old and new was very interesting

The fruits & vegetables in all of Vietnam and in Siem Reap were phenomenal - beautiful, delicious. I fell in love with pomelo

Note that everywhere you go in Vietnam there's free Wifi. I was carrying my iphone and I could log on just walking down the street. Not so in Hong Kong, where there were plenty of hotspots, but not free - 20 minutes of free use per day at Starbucks. Which leads me to....

Skype. I had set up an account before I left, and downloaded the iphone app. I also put $10 on my account so I could call actual phones rather than only skype-to-skype. Absolutely brilliant. Most of the time, we called our kids skype-to-skype. As long as there was a good WiFi connection, the Skype connection was excellent. Not always perfect, but definitely very very good. A couple of times I called their cell phones, and it cost something like $.02 per minute. A definite winner.

Dollars everywhere - most businesses in Vietnam, and all in Siem Reap, accept dollars. The businesses, including the restaurants and hotels, all gave approximately the same good exchange rate.

Note: just a reminder that you need to purchase a visa on entry into Cambodia - $20USD per person. We forgot and had to take money out of the ATM at the airport. Do bring pictures, however, I don't know what would have happened if we didn't have pictures for the visa.

Multiple entry visas - also a reminder that if you go to Vietnam, then Siem Reap and back to Vietnam, you need a multiple entry visa.

Hope this helps somebody!!

sf7307

One more general observation - who is buying all the jewelry from the myriad of jewelry stores in Hong Kong? There seem to be two high-end jewelry stores and a couple of high-end watch stores on every block of Nathan Road. A couple of the jewelry stores are chains that seem to have a branch on every block. I'm really very curious.

I may have forgotten to say that some of the high-end hotels -- the Sofitel Metropole in Hanoi, Park Hyatt in Saigon and Peninsula in Hong Kong are truly memorably gorgeous.

sf7307

Did my research (really, the internet is amazing). The name of the Buddhist Temple we visited outside Hue (one of the highlights of our trip) is Tu Hieu Pagoda.

rkkwan

It's 90% Chinese from the mainland who visits all those jewelry stores in HK. There are huge number of newly rich in China, and they trust the HK jewelers and their style a lot more than domestic ones inside China.

You are correct that Chow Sang Sang, CSS and Chow Tai Fook are buying/renting up the whole Nathan Road in Mongkok. Every other store is one of those three jewelers.

shelleyk

I've enjoyed reading your TR. Makes me think I should finish mine, but I am busy sorting and deleting photos. In regard to your question about cell phone rates. When cell phones first arrived in VN, the only provider was the VN government and the rates were "very, very high"-per my guide. But during the past couple of years the government has allowed other providers to enter the market, and because of the competition, the rates are now very inexpensive. It is amazing that everyone in VN seems to have one.

silverwool

My sister and law had mislaid her passport photo when entering Cambodia. They just photocopied the picture in her passport and charged her $2. I would not risk it however just in case!!