I have really enjoyed reading this board. I will be travelling for 10 days in Vietnam in February and plan to visit Saigon, Mekong Delta, Da Lat and Nha Trang. My questions are:
1. Would anyone recommend any other must do's for a first trip to the southern region? 2.We are a group of four... should we purchase guided tours (Ann, Sinh, etc) or hire individual drivers to go to areas outside of Saigon? I have travelled quite a bit, and usually guide myself (I rarely book "tours&quot. Can we just buy train tickets for Da Lat and then Nha Tran? Or should we be advised not to travel that way? It seems that a guided tour might be best for the Mekong/Can Tho. 3. We love "off the beaten track" experiences... any recommendations for your most interesting experiences? Looking for safe, but "non-touristy" things to do and see... Thanks in advance and I will plan to contribute back to the board upon our return.

Try to add Hoi An to the list - you won't be disappointed. As we did it the lazy man's way (a package tour) I'll leave it to more experienced independent travellers to advise on transport. However, there's a good rundown on the options in the Lonely Planet guide to Vietnam, especially in regard to booking air-conditioned minibuses (on no account consider the public bus services - you'll know why when you see them).

A day tour is probably the best option for the Mekong, but I've been told that you can be seriously overcharged if you book before arrival - best to book at your hotel or an agency once in HCMC.

Travel in Vietnam (planes excepted) is slow, so don't try to cram too much in.

We are considering Hoi An as well. It sounds beautiful and interesting, we were hoping to avoid plane travel, but it may be inevitable. Where did you stay in Hoi An? Did you travel as part of a large group or just with a guide?

hi.when you are in saigon, take a taxi to chu-chi tunnels outside saigon, its about 1 hr trip, and its intresting to see the tunnels, you can go with a tour operator, but its less expencive if you just take a taxi by ourself.other must see in saigon is: the former president palace, war museum, former us embassy(but you cant get in there, but its ok to see and take some photos), take a cyclo trip around town, but make the price before you start, and get someone who speaks english,who can tell you about the city..walk the back allys and see how the people live, i have done it a lot of times, and never had a problem.
BE CAREFUL WHEN YOU CROSS THE STREETS; THEY DRIVE LIKE CRAZY!`!!!
hoian:: small, but very charming city, do your shopping there, and the beach outside is great(about 15 min with a cycle).if you go south of hoian(about 1hr with a taxi), you will find mylai, its the place where the mylai massacre took place during the vietnam war,.
nha-trang: the beach is ok, but rent a motorbike and go outside the town, if you drive north, you will find beaches you can have for yourself, and the landscape is great.
about safety::i never had any problems is vietnam,,just use your head, and get hotels with safe-deposit box, so you dont have to take your passport, credit cards etc every time you go out.
in general the vietnamese are very friendly people, so i think you will have a great time..cheers!!!!

you can buy train, and bus ticket in saigon, i have never gone by train, only buses, but what i have heard is the train ok, crowdy, but you meet the locals. when you land at saigon airport, just change a small amount of dollar,(or pay your taxi with dollar),cause you will get a better rate in town..most of the tourist is located in distr 1, and there you can find singh, and kim cafe, and they have tours all over vietnam, and you can buy your bus tickets there,
i did a 3 days tour with kims cafe down on the delta, and it was worth it, but if you realy wants to go on "the beaten track", i think you could go up to the central highland, but if you do you must have a guide with you, i did a 7 days trip, but it would be extremly hard without a guide, cause i did not meet many people who did speak english, but since you only have 10 days i think you should stick to the classic rout, dalat, and up the coast.
back to hoian::they must have about 1000 tailors there, so bring a large emty bag with you, cause you will need it,and the prices for shirts,dresses, and suits are very low.there are a lot of nice restaurants down by the cannal, with great fish meny..

I was actually very disappointed with both Da Lat and Nha Trang. Both are more tourist trap than interesting. Th ebeaches in Nha Trang were alright, but don't compare to Hawaii, Thailand, or even California. As for Da Lat, it was very kitschy--in the tourist trap kind of way. I enjoyed visiting the delta and would highly recommend it. Transportation far into the delta can be tricky so pick your travel options carefully--especially since you only have 10 days. And there is a lot to see and do in Saigon, too.

I am American-Vietnamese and speak fluent Vietnamese, so I can tell if I'm being had... I haven't really looked for a good Vietnam guidebook of late, but would warn you against the Lonely Planet Vietnam, which I found to be terrible when it came to identifying interesting cultural sights versus tourist traps. As for arranging in-country travel/itineraries, almost any good hotel will be able to help. We hired cars and drivers through our hotel in Saigon (the Majestic) and they were great--safe and affordable.

We travelled on a 3-wk small group tour run by an Australian operator, Travel Indochina, so they took care of hotels (as I said, the lazy man's way). In Hoi An we stayed at the Hoi An Hotel, 6 Tran Hung Dao St. - phone 510 861445, fax 510 861636 (country code, 85). Good location, no complaints. In addition to tailors Hoi An has many art galleries - best make your own judgement as to how much you're prepared to pay for what's on offer. As a former trading city Hoi An has Chinese, Japanese and other cultural influences which add to the interest. If you saw the movie "The Quiet American", the final scene, set at the Saigon riverfront, was actually filmed in Hoi An. It was nice to be somewhere where you could just stroll around town without being pestered (much), apart from some enterprising kids cadging foreign coins.

I think I agree with kathyl about Da Lat - the surrounding countryside is beautiful, there are a few attractions in town, but I'm not sure that I'd list the city as a "must see". I support jannik in regard to the Cu Chi Tunnels, and the Cao Dai temple out of Ho Chi Ming City is also interesting.

It looks like kathyl and I aren't in agreement about the Lonely Planet guide, so I might have to bow to her greater experience - but that still leaves open the question of what alternatives might be better. If no suggestions are forthcoming I'd have to conclude that the LP is at least better than no guide at all.

Yes, crossing the road does require nerves of steel at first. Proceed in a deliberate, predictable manner so that the oncoming traffic (mainly motorbikes) can anticipate your position and plan accordingly. On NO account assume that a marked crossing offers any protection. Personally, I would have second thoughts about hiring a bike in the larger cities, but then, I'm a born coward.