Trip Report Vietnam, Siem Reap,Thailand
Mar 9th, 2005, 06:59 PM
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Trip Report Vietnam, Siem Reap,Thailand
Trip Report Vietnam , Siem Reap, Thailand
-Private tour, most arrangements were made with Asian Trails Tours of Bangkok. Very good service and competitive prices. We chose hotels and itinerary. Services included private guides with driver in good cars, airport transfers, all breakfasts, all entrance fees.
Itineraries were decided in advance with possibility to adjust directly with the guides.
Guides were very good, knowledgeable with good English.
From Canada flew to Bangkok via Narita (Air Canada late so almost missed connection).
Night in Bangkok at Rama Gardens, 10 minutes from airport. Large hotel, decent and reasonable @ $59 per night with breakfast and airport shuttles.
In AM fly to Hanoi for daytour and arrange to collect luggage that Air Canada lost.
@ 22:00 take Victoria night train to Sapa. This train is good with nice breakfast in dining car. Most rooms are for 4 people which we did not know until too late however spent a nice night with our new room mates. If you want private request when booking!
At Lao Cai in AM took van with group 2 hours to remote mountain village in Montagnard ethnic area to see market. Absolutely amazing! Continue towards Sapa on a long tail boat along very picturesque river then van the rest of way. Stop for lunch at restaurant serving cans of luncheon meat, bags of bread etc. kind of a do it yourself kit. Stray cats got most of the VietSpam!
At Sapa stayed 2 nights at Victoria Hotel – very nice, great indoor pool,good views over town,valley and mountains. Day trips, walking trips could be arranged locally. The Victoria Sapa offers a 3 day package including the train return and some meals – a fair deal and good way to experience the area.
Train back to Hanoi and 2 nights at Sofitel Metropole. This is a great world class hotel at good price. Dinner at Club Opera Restaurant across street – excellent Prawns in Tamarind.
Day trip to Halong Bay. I do not feel this was worth it. Trip there is not very attractive and the Bay is OK but having seen other Karst landscapes it is not as good –personal opinion. In evening attend Water Puppet show – great and unique experience.
Early flight to Hué then tour Perfume River and Imperial Palaces. – excellent.
Stay at Saigon Morin a very pleasant surprise, food not great but rooms really neat.
Drive to Hoi An via beautiful mountain passes and so so Danang. OK to buy $10 dollar Seiko!
In Hoi An stay at Victoria on beach. Another good Victoria hotel but beach is OK but not more. Took boat to Cam Kim 3rd hamlet island to see wood working, shipbuilding etc. Very neat place. Met Mr. Huynh Ri and bought some carved wood doors.
Dinner at Tam Tam – very good.
Fly to Saigon and day tour. Stay at Caravelle, large, modern vg 5 star in great location. Dinner at Lemongrass Rest.-very good. Prefer Saigon to Hanoi –personal opinion.
Drive through Mekong to Can Tho to Victoria Hotel – great location on river, nice outdoor pool. Morning boat tour of floating market – amazing place worth a few film rolls.
Long drive back to Saigon. This is a very interesting drive made better with our great guide. Overnight at Caravelle again and dinner at Vietnam House-lousy service good food. Drink at Rex rooftop bar kinda neat.
Next day tour Cu Chi tunnels before flight to Siem Reap and stay 3 nights at Pansea La Residence-very nice, great food. Loved the temples and the grounds they are situated in. Toured Tonle Sap to get a change from the Wats. It is remarkable but you need to hold your nose at times.
On to Bangkok and connect to Koh Samui for 5 nights at Imperial Boat House. Was very happy with hotel, glad we did not pay extra for a boat house room. The larger premium rooms are redone and very nice. The bay here is a real gem, beautiful view,great sand, water and bottom, more quiet than Chaweng but still lots of nearby restaurants etc to choose from. The White House in same bay looked very nice. Took private tour of island in half day-recommended. Good shopping in Nathon.
Back to Bangkok for last night at Peninsula – what a place! Splurged on the Mercedes airport transfers and the Thai restaurant-fantastic. Long flight back via Narita and Vancover to home and cold Canada!
If interested I can give names and coordinates of the better guides who also have their own guiding businesses.
-Private tour, most arrangements were made with Asian Trails Tours of Bangkok. Very good service and competitive prices. We chose hotels and itinerary. Services included private guides with driver in good cars, airport transfers, all breakfasts, all entrance fees.
Itineraries were decided in advance with possibility to adjust directly with the guides.
Guides were very good, knowledgeable with good English.
From Canada flew to Bangkok via Narita (Air Canada late so almost missed connection).
Night in Bangkok at Rama Gardens, 10 minutes from airport. Large hotel, decent and reasonable @ $59 per night with breakfast and airport shuttles.
In AM fly to Hanoi for daytour and arrange to collect luggage that Air Canada lost.
@ 22:00 take Victoria night train to Sapa. This train is good with nice breakfast in dining car. Most rooms are for 4 people which we did not know until too late however spent a nice night with our new room mates. If you want private request when booking!
At Lao Cai in AM took van with group 2 hours to remote mountain village in Montagnard ethnic area to see market. Absolutely amazing! Continue towards Sapa on a long tail boat along very picturesque river then van the rest of way. Stop for lunch at restaurant serving cans of luncheon meat, bags of bread etc. kind of a do it yourself kit. Stray cats got most of the VietSpam!
At Sapa stayed 2 nights at Victoria Hotel – very nice, great indoor pool,good views over town,valley and mountains. Day trips, walking trips could be arranged locally. The Victoria Sapa offers a 3 day package including the train return and some meals – a fair deal and good way to experience the area.
Train back to Hanoi and 2 nights at Sofitel Metropole. This is a great world class hotel at good price. Dinner at Club Opera Restaurant across street – excellent Prawns in Tamarind.
Day trip to Halong Bay. I do not feel this was worth it. Trip there is not very attractive and the Bay is OK but having seen other Karst landscapes it is not as good –personal opinion. In evening attend Water Puppet show – great and unique experience.
Early flight to Hué then tour Perfume River and Imperial Palaces. – excellent.
Stay at Saigon Morin a very pleasant surprise, food not great but rooms really neat.
Drive to Hoi An via beautiful mountain passes and so so Danang. OK to buy $10 dollar Seiko!
In Hoi An stay at Victoria on beach. Another good Victoria hotel but beach is OK but not more. Took boat to Cam Kim 3rd hamlet island to see wood working, shipbuilding etc. Very neat place. Met Mr. Huynh Ri and bought some carved wood doors.
Dinner at Tam Tam – very good.
Fly to Saigon and day tour. Stay at Caravelle, large, modern vg 5 star in great location. Dinner at Lemongrass Rest.-very good. Prefer Saigon to Hanoi –personal opinion.
Drive through Mekong to Can Tho to Victoria Hotel – great location on river, nice outdoor pool. Morning boat tour of floating market – amazing place worth a few film rolls.
Long drive back to Saigon. This is a very interesting drive made better with our great guide. Overnight at Caravelle again and dinner at Vietnam House-lousy service good food. Drink at Rex rooftop bar kinda neat.
Next day tour Cu Chi tunnels before flight to Siem Reap and stay 3 nights at Pansea La Residence-very nice, great food. Loved the temples and the grounds they are situated in. Toured Tonle Sap to get a change from the Wats. It is remarkable but you need to hold your nose at times.
On to Bangkok and connect to Koh Samui for 5 nights at Imperial Boat House. Was very happy with hotel, glad we did not pay extra for a boat house room. The larger premium rooms are redone and very nice. The bay here is a real gem, beautiful view,great sand, water and bottom, more quiet than Chaweng but still lots of nearby restaurants etc to choose from. The White House in same bay looked very nice. Took private tour of island in half day-recommended. Good shopping in Nathon.
Back to Bangkok for last night at Peninsula – what a place! Splurged on the Mercedes airport transfers and the Thai restaurant-fantastic. Long flight back via Narita and Vancover to home and cold Canada!
If interested I can give names and coordinates of the better guides who also have their own guiding businesses.
Mar 10th, 2005, 06:27 PM
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Sure. Try http://www.asiantrails.com/
Hope it provides what you are looking for. Send them an email with your questions/requests.
Bon Voyage
Hope it provides what you are looking for. Send them an email with your questions/requests.
Bon Voyage
Mar 10th, 2005, 06:48 PM
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hi christo...great report...how many days/
nights were you in vietnam??? did you feel rushed or would you spend more nites at any special place?? do you have an approx
price for the land portion of vietnam...
we are not sure if we are going to do it our selves or hire a guide/tour.
thanks for the great story
nights were you in vietnam??? did you feel rushed or would you spend more nites at any special place?? do you have an approx
price for the land portion of vietnam...
we are not sure if we are going to do it our selves or hire a guide/tour.
thanks for the great story
Mar 12th, 2005, 05:06 AM
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Hi divediva and hobbes;
In Vietnam we spent total of 10 nights and 12 full days. Naturally more would have been better however you know how it is. But this was good for an introduction/sampling. Did we feel rushed, not really but the pace was pretty fast and there were some early mornings.The thing is when you have things arranged in advance and use guides it makes for efficient use of your time. We kept our R&R for the last week in Koh Samui. I wish we had another night in each of Hué and Hoi An and now that I know I would have removed the day trip to Halong to spend more time exploring Hanoi leisurely. In Siem Reap the pace was really good because the guide would get us out from 08:30 or so, return to hotel for lunch and siesta then another outing from 15:00 to 18:00.
The land portion cost with Asian Trails for 15 nights deluxe (17 private guided days),all transfers, breakfasts,some meals, entrances etc.and 6 internal flights was $5000 US total for 2. We paid separately for the Victoria Sapa 3 night train and hotel package and last night at the Peninsula @ $298pp and $200 respectively.
Of the 4 guides I can highly recommend these 3:
1.Phan Tai Tho, located in Saigon but will do anywhere in Viet. [email protected]
indochinavaction.com
2. Nguyen Anh Co, located in Danang/Hue/Hoi An
[email protected]
3. Khim Bun Ley, located in Siem Reap
[email protected]
tel (855)012 917 802
In Vietnam we spent total of 10 nights and 12 full days. Naturally more would have been better however you know how it is. But this was good for an introduction/sampling. Did we feel rushed, not really but the pace was pretty fast and there were some early mornings.The thing is when you have things arranged in advance and use guides it makes for efficient use of your time. We kept our R&R for the last week in Koh Samui. I wish we had another night in each of Hué and Hoi An and now that I know I would have removed the day trip to Halong to spend more time exploring Hanoi leisurely. In Siem Reap the pace was really good because the guide would get us out from 08:30 or so, return to hotel for lunch and siesta then another outing from 15:00 to 18:00.
The land portion cost with Asian Trails for 15 nights deluxe (17 private guided days),all transfers, breakfasts,some meals, entrances etc.and 6 internal flights was $5000 US total for 2. We paid separately for the Victoria Sapa 3 night train and hotel package and last night at the Peninsula @ $298pp and $200 respectively.
Of the 4 guides I can highly recommend these 3:
1.Phan Tai Tho, located in Saigon but will do anywhere in Viet. [email protected]
indochinavaction.com
2. Nguyen Anh Co, located in Danang/Hue/Hoi An
[email protected]
3. Khim Bun Ley, located in Siem Reap
[email protected]
tel (855)012 917 802
