talia68

Hello Forum friends, We are a family of 5 (Parents-48, Kids - 19,16,13). We will be travelling in August to Vietnam and put together the following Itinerary. Most of the trips will be with private guides. I still have some dilemmas as listed below, and would appreciate your feedback and tips:

Day 1 - arrival in afternoon to Hanoi
Day 2- Hanoi
Day 3-5 Pick up by car for 3 day tour to Mu Cang Chai and Northern area. At end of tour, take night train from Sapa to Hanoi)
Day 6 Ninh Binh - Stay at night at homestay
Day 7-8 Pu Luong ovenight trip with the Ninh Binh homestay owner (Return on the 8th day to the Ninh Binh homestay and spend night)
Day 9-11 - Early morning pick up to Cat Ba - for 2 night on private junk . At the End of cruise, back to Hanoi
Day 12 - Hanoi (at night, we take night train to Dong Hoi).
Day 13 - Phong Nha - Dark Cave and Phong Nha Cave
Day 14 - Phong Nha - Abandoned Valley Day tour (or any other cave and water excursion)
Day 15 - Phong Nha - Paradise Cave 7KM Day tour
Day 16 - Travel by car with guide to Hoi An (with stops in Hue, marble mountain, etc)
Day 17 - Hoi An
Day 18 - Hoi An
Day 19 - Hoi An
Day 20 - Hoi An (Fly in evening to HCMC)
Day 21 - Drive to Can Tho (Stay in homestay)
Day 22 - Mekong Delta Tour and return in afternoon to HCMC
Day 23 - Either explore HCMC, or day trip to Cu Chi Tunnels and Cao Dai Temple
Day 24 - Morning flight home

Yes, It's pretty packed, but our experience is that we know how to do packed trip.. and yet...
So, here are a few dilemmas:

Northern experience:
Initially, I was planning just a 4 day Mu Can Cahi tour and 2 Days in Ninh Binh. However, I understood that the PuLuong and Mai Chau areas are much more authentic, with our the fabulous terrace views of Mu Cang Chai.
As a compromise, I settled for the current itinerary, which includes a 2 day PuLuong trip (with wonderful guide), but am still not sure it is the right thing to do. No doubt it would be more relaxing to just do a long Ninh Binh, Pu Luong- Mai Chau trip, however, from all I've read, it seems that there is no alternative to the fantastic Rice Terrace views of Mu Cang Chai area. I am having such difficulty deciding... help!!

Phong Nha:
So many incredible caves, too little time, hard to choose... I will be glad to hear your input on my plan for Phong Nha.

HCMC:
I understand that we are not leaving almost any time for HCMC, but I feel that it would be cramming in too much to add more days here. This, especially since we are less into modern cities and more into the culture, nature and authentic vibe of the trip.

I'll be glad to hear your feedback on the plan.
Cheers!
Talia.

thursdaysd

I would take at least one day from touristy Hoi An and add it to Hanoi, where you seem to have very little time.

While I enjoyed the Cao Dai temple I thought the tunnels eminently skippable (but I didn't go down as I have some calustrophobia). I'd spend that day in Saigon, plenty to see.

crellston

My biggest concern is that August is not the best time weather wise for visiting the North. It is usually the wettest month of the year so any trekking around Mu Cang Cai would generally not be recommended. Yes the rice terraces are amazing but if the weather is awful, it may not be the best choice.

We loved our trip from Mai Chau to Ninh Binh via Pu Long and I think you have probably made the right decision in that respect, but again, not too sure about the the weather there in August (probably a little less rain than farther north). Is it's more authentic? Depends on where you go. Some parts of Ninh Binh were very touristy, others relatively untouched. Some detail and photos of our time there a couple of years ago on our blog @ https://accidentalnomads.com/category/vietnam/ ther eis als some stuff on the delta and Saigon.

We haven't yet been to Phong Nha so are facing the same dilemma in choosing where to go! FWIW I have come up with pretty much the same shortlist as you. We are there in June so I will try and report back here on our experiences then. In the meantime I have booked a stay at http://phong-nha-cave.com I emailed them and they provided a PDF. packed with info on where to go. Far more than anywhere else I could find online. They also have some good stuff on their site.

Hoi An - some love it some hate it. It will be very, very busy but it is also very, very quaint. Personally, I prefer Hue and would probably try and engineer a couple of days in each. The drive via the Marble Mountains , Hai Van etc. is well worthwhile but try not to allow your driver to take you to the beachside seafood restaurants - just not worth the time! The good news is that the central region, unlike the north, will be basking in glorious sunshine.

Saigon - forget about Cai Dai temple and Cu Chi. Both are overrated tourist traps. If you have any interest in 20th century history, stay in Saigon. The Reunification Palace, Notre Dame, The War Remnants Museum, Cholon, etc. all make a full day in the city worthwhile.

talia68

Thank you Thusdaysd and Crellston, we may just switch our trip over from Mu Cang Chai, to PuLuong -Mai Cau - Ninh Binh, thus saving us a day which we would allocate to Hanoi.

Only issue I have with that, is that I understood that the rice harvest may be earlier this year in Pu Luong, in which case we will not enjoy the sites of the rice terraces in this area and it would be much less scenic. In MuCang Chai and the North, the terraces wil still be in tact in August for sure. Do you have any information on this?

Crellston, I would love to hear about your experience in Phong Nha after your trip in June.

crellston

You are welcome talia. I will certainly let you know how we get on in Phong Nha. We should be there in around six weeks.

Sorry, but I can't help with the rice harvests. From conversations I have had with people in the country, I believe the exact timing is becoming increasingly difficult to predict. We had to alter our plans to visit Ha Giang a couple of years ago because the harvest had arrived a few weeks earlier than expected and we would have missed it.

talia68

Thank you Crellston