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ive been to Malaysia and to Hong Kong....trust me the walking across the streets in Vietnam is 10x worse.. when we were there we were told to just cross the streets and dont stop, keep up a steady pace b/c if u stop a motorcycle will hit u. seriosuly u just walk and keep up a pace, motorcycle will cruise right behind u and if front of u depending on ur walking pace. when are u headed to veitnam anyways?

try the food also... they have things called hairy cherries that are awesome to eat.

if ur a history buff, go see the vietnam war museum in Ho Chi Ming. its very very disturbing b/c of the pictures that they show and to me it was a little bias against the United States but def. worth while seeing.

let me know if u have any more question i would love to answer them

Jen, never been but I would looooove to go there! It is supposed to be beautiful and still rugged (I assume that you will be with a tour group?) Being that I was in the US Marine Corps (Ouch... 13 years ago!),I would be a research-a-holic. Go for it and let me know how it is. SE Asia is deff. different but in your position (fairly close by), I would do it.

kurt wrote:Jen, never been but I would looooove to go there! It is supposed to be beautiful and still rugged (I assume that you will be with a tour group?) Being that I was in the US Marine Corps (Ouch... 13 years ago!),I would be a research-a-holic. Go for it and let me know how it is. SE Asia is deff. different but in your position (fairly close by), I would do it.

We are probably doing our own thing ... no tour - we are both very well travelled and can get by without having every moment of our day planned (we have both done the "tour thing" in the past).

We have a plan to cross the street - get in a taxi, and tell the taxi driver to drive us to the end of the street, turn around and drop us off on the other side

But .. I HAVE DATES!!! woo hoo!! Now just to find the right deal when we are coming from opposite sides of the country- to land around the same time - and where to have our stopover.

I want Singapore (she has been there)
She wants Hong Kong (I have been there)

Maybe Kuala Lumpur then

Sounds great. I would; however, steer clear of Singapore... I was disappointed. Lived there for a month. Don't get me wrong, I'll go anywhere once but the national past time is shopping and if you are there for a little while, you will notice that the whole society is a bit smothered due to the rules. If you are into shopping, go for it since that's all there is to do there (no deals since it is an island though). The two neat things I did do was visit Little India (which makes you feel that your smack dab in Calcutta) and the night zoo. The nocturnal animals are just waaaay cool. Hope you get to the big V Jen...

Hey Kurt - thanks for that - the idea of our stoppover is to "shop till we drop" - I think she might win out and we will end up in Hong Kong or we might try Kuala Lumpur for something different, or Bangkok (tho she has been there also).

We ARE Going - just a matter of co-ordinating ........ I am heading to Western Australia at Christmas where she lives - so that will give us time to do the "plans"

So, anyone who has been - we have escalated things and need to have an itinerary to take to the agent ..

so ..

How many days are needed in

Ho Chi Minh City (inc Meikong Delta)

Hanoi

Hoi An

Dalat

(we wont be going to Cambodia - Australian Govt has a travel alert to not go there) .

creeky wrote:

kurt wrote:Jen, never been but I would looooove to go there! It is supposed to be beautiful and still rugged (I assume that you will be with a tour group?) Being that I was in the US Marine Corps (Ouch... 13 years ago!),I would be a research-a-holic. Go for it and let me know how it is. SE Asia is deff. different but in your position (fairly close by), I would do it.

We are probably doing our own thing ... no tour - we are both very well travelled and can get by without having every moment of our day planned (we have both done the "tour thing" in the past).

We have a plan to cross the street - get in a taxi, and tell the taxi driver to drive us to the end of the street, turn around and drop us off on the other side

But .. I HAVE DATES!!! woo hoo!! Now just to find the right deal when we are coming from opposite sides of the country- to land around the same time - and where to have our stopover.

I want Singapore (she has been there)
She wants Hong Kong (I have been there)

Maybe Kuala Lumpur then

My father lives in Singapore at the moment for business. He has been there since last October. He loved it when he got there and said it was a fascinating country, but he also told me it is EXTREMELY hot, and never to spend more than a few days there if you are visiting because there is little to do.

creeky wrote:So, anyone who has been - we have escalated things and need to have an itinerary to take to the agent ..

so ..

How many days are needed in

Of course, this all depends on how much time and how many $$s (or Dong) you have, but here are my thoughts:

Ho Chi Minh City (inc Meikong Delta) 1 day Mekong, 1 day HCM city, 1 day Cu Chi and area

Hanoi 2 days Hanoi, 1 day Ha Long Bay, 1-2 days to northern hill tribes (we missed this part), 1 day rural northern Vietnam

Hoi An 1-2 days beach, 1-2 days in town (have some clothes tailored!!)

Dalat didn't go there...2-3 days?? seems standard

(we wont be going to Cambodia - Australian Govt has a travel alert to not go there) My opinion...you'd be foolish not to go there; the main tourist areas around Angkor are completely clear of land mines .

I hope this helps!!

you def. will needs atleast 1 day in Ho Chi Ming, 1 day Delta, 1 Day Cu Chi Tunnel/CAO DAI TEMPLE(u can usually find a package deal for those 2 trips). i had some friends that went to Cambodia and vistited Angkor Wat and said it was awesome but very neart breaking. if you know about history and there former leader POL POT and what the Khmer rouge did 2 those people and see what happened to them it will def. break your heart. i would go there to Cambodia. Also in Ho Chi Ming, please, please, go visit a orphange. Those children there love to have vistors and play with other people. if you decided to go, bring pens, chewing gum, and other school supplies, those kids eyes will light up when u walk in the room with those gifts. its amazing how much u get for trading a pen in Vietnam and how much people love geting simple school supplies there. Vietnam is a Great Place!

Thanks guys for the info!

The orphanage sounds like a great idea!!

I got two chances of getting to Cambodia - none and buckleys - I know it is safe, but I wont push my mate to go.

Sample itinerary has been emailed to the agent for qoutes! WOO HOO!

Creeky,
While your in Ho Chi Ming, make sure you get a chance to see teh Vietnam War Museum. It has a very one sided political view but if you look past that, its a very interesting place to visit. Some of the pictures in that musuem will make you turn your head and look the other way, but still go there and see the museum. very interesting palce

If you have a open mind about trying new food, VIetnam is def. the place to try new food. While i was there, i ate some of the craziest food ever, nothing there is off limitswhen it comes to eating it. I went to dinner with some freinds at a very nice looking place and 3 of us ate a full dinner with a few beers for only $12 US. for all 3 people combined.

I went to Vietnam in October and it was one of the hottest palces i have ever been to... so be prepared to sweat


let me know hoe geting quotes for you intinary goes.

Chambo316 wrote:Creeky,
While your in Ho Chi Ming, make sure you get a chance to see teh Vietnam War Museum. It has a very one sided political view but if you look past that, its a very interesting place to visit. Some of the pictures in that musuem will make you turn your head and look the other way, but still go there and see the museum. very interesting palce

If you have a open mind about trying new food, VIetnam is def. the place to try new food. While i was there, i ate some of the craziest food ever, nothing there is off limitswhen it comes to eating it. I went to dinner with some freinds at a very nice looking place and 3 of us ate a full dinner with a few beers for only $12 US. for all 3 people combined.

I went to Vietnam in October and it was one of the hottest palces i have ever been to... so be prepared to sweat


let me know hoe geting quotes for you intinary goes.

Thanks - have heard it is cheap to eat there - tho I think I will draw the line at trying any new animal to eat (eg silkworms).

We are still waiting on the quotes - it is not easy to book twin travel accomodation packages, when two people are travelling separately there from different sides of the country - we are now trying to work out if it is easier for my west aussie mate to fly here first - could be cheaper (go figure )

Also people are trying to talk me in to flying Vietnam Air from Australia -that I am resisting - dont care how much cheaper it is ...

Yipee!! WE are all set .. just gotta pay

4 nights in Hong Kong (doing the Disneyland, Macau thing)

4 nights in Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City)

3 nights in Hoi Ann

4 nights in Hanoi

Then fly home via Hong Kong (Agent got our flights leaving HK within 10 minutes of each other!)

Creeky when are you going? I will be in Vietnam in March and Hong Kong in April...

UpstateNYPH wrote:Creeky when are you going? I will be in Vietnam in March and Hong Kong in April...

Bummer - Feb. I tried to get March - but seems everyone at work beat me to then .... so I had to move to Feb.