I am off to vietnam today. I will be arriving into ho chi minh, and then heading to the coast and up as far north as hoi an and danang. Any advice on things to do/places to visit/stay?
Looks an amazing place the history and it being quite recent with reagrds to the war must mean you visit the tunnels and the beaches to see for yourself the scars of modern warfare
Either way, Vietnam is great. I was there 4 years ago and just followed the coastal route down from Hanoi to Saigon (Ho Chi Minh). You can actually travel the whole length of the country by motorbike taxi if you are brave enough. They will also take you to a lot of 'off the beaten track' places while doing so. A lot of people choose to trek in the northern part of the country and visit the local tribes or there are of course a multitude of war sites to visit.
Personally found Hanoi a lot more interesting than Saigon. The local water caves around Hanoi at Ha Long Bay are worth a visit. Hoi An is a really nice town south of Hanoi. It's world famous for its tailors so get a couple of cheap suits if visiting. Hue (about half way down) is the start of the war sites. Nha Trang just north of Saigon is probably the nicest city beach I have seen anywhere in the world. Finally, Saigon has some incredible museums. Didn't visit the war tunnels as they were flooded at the time but they are supposed to be interesting.
The food in Vietnam is awesome, street food is cheap and healthy. Of course you can try all that funky crap like snakes blood and fried tarantulas but don't expect to get dog - it's only served two weeks out of four and is incredibly expensive.
If you can though, try to get into Cambodia, shoot a caw with a bazooka, it's true you can but let me tell you it's a great place, I went from Saigon to Phonm Penh by bus and it takes around 5 hours. Cambodia is well worth a trip if you have the time, not at all like the rest of South East Asia, its more like India.
Nha Trang is actually a long way from Hoi Chi Minh. The usual tourist stop North from Hoi Chi Minh is Mui-ne.
Lots to see in Hoi Chi Minh, where are you staying? Great cheap accomodation around Pham Ngu Lao Street. Useful if booking trips north to Hanoi or around Hoi Chi Minh. The war museum and zoo are definately worth a look. Vietnamese food isn't that great. You will see Com and Pho everywhere. Basically rice based or noodle soup. You will also find pancake rolls everywhere. Nothing is wasted so if unsure about eating inards stick to tourist oriented restaurants. Check out Luong Son (Bo Tung Xeo) for the widest (wildest) range of exotic meat/BBQ in Saigon (1).
Usual day Trip from Hoi Chi Minh is to the Cao Dai temple and Chu Chi tunnels. The beach south of Hoi Chi Minh is Vung Tau, it's where Gary Glitter was holed up Kiddie Fidlin'.
Not sure how long you are away for but the other trip 2 days+ is into the Mekong Delta. Highly recommended, this is known as Kampuchea Krum..............was the land stolen from Cambodia, pretty much all the people there are ethnic Cambodians................Darker skined, less oriental looking. You can sample rice field rat down there.
Not sure if you have already booked a trip north. It would be way cheaper than the scam foreign organised trips although a tad hardcore if taking the overnight buses. Options going North are to Nha Trang via either Mui-ne along the coast or inland via Dalat. The later is my favourite place in South East Asia. It's a university town/hippy paradise. It has a very temperate climate and will still be cold at this time of year. Imagine an Asian Brighton minus the beach, ie Hilly. It was never bombed during the vietnam war as the senior officers on both sides had their holidays there while the fighting went on elsewhere.
As already mentioned Nha Trang is the big tourist costal town. If you walk North along the beach and over the bridge you will come to the ruins of the South Vietnamese rulers palace. There isn't much to see as they were beaten by the North Vietnamese rulers many centuries ago, but it's a nice walk.
Next spot up is Hoi An. This is a world heritage site...............ancient trading town. Can take trip from here to see the ancient Cham ruins............worth doing by road as it's a lovely trip into the foothills, but don't book to return by the river as it's a scam...........just take you to carved furniture shop and have to wait for boat back to the town.
Next spot up in Da Nang. DMZ Zone area.
Then Hua. This is the Vietnamese equivalent of the hidden city/ Bejing. The huge fortress/palace is their and a great day trip can be had on the perfume river visiting the tombs of the emporers.
Don't think you are going further than this so i'll stop.
Final few pointers................
Coffee shops everywhere in Vietnam, French influence..............very good coffee. Try iced coffee with milk.............the milk is nestle condensed milk LOL but it works. Watch how the Vietnamese cross the road and copy them. The traffic plays chicken with you but they know how to slow down/stop/avoid when pedestrians cross. You will struggle in Vietnam without this skill. Carry Loperamide tablets as you will wee out of your bum at some point, it's just a water born bacteria you get every where in S.E.Asia, harmless apart from above mentioned symptom. You will quickly discover that the Vietnamese shout all the time. Yopu might think they are arguing but they aren't. It's a tonal language and emphasis on words is very important. Likewise you will realise that they don't have western manners. They don't, definately forget that queueing ever existed. Remember to keep your belongings by you. Vietnam is a very safe country due to the power of the govt/police, so the criminals rarely target foreigners but your property and money are fair game, even in your hotel/guest house. ie carry your valuables on you / you won't be mugged, though bag snatching is becoming more common. Water is more expensive than beer, don't drink tap water.
And finally, you will find things very very cheap over there, remember that nearly everybody is very poor so try to be generous where you can / tipping / buying rubbish you might not want off the sellers you see everywhere.
I'm off to Vietnam on December 7th for 3 weeks, staying away over Christmas and back on the 29th in time for New Year in Welling.... Flying into Ho Chi Minh and out of Hanoi.
Lucky to have found this thread as there's some great advice on it. Better than searching through Lonley Planet and Tripadvisor forums!
A few question to those that have been:
I'm currently thinking about the VISA situation. Is it worth going to the embassy in London or arranging a VISA on collection from Ho Chi Minh?
As December isn't the best time of year I'm making some general plans based around the weather. My inital thoughts are to stay South where it is warmer for a week or so and make my way up to Hanoi in time for Christmas. I will be backpacking as I can just about get away with being young enough still.
So far I'm I've planned for 3 nights in Ho Chi Minh (one night to get over the jet lag!) and then moving onto Mui Ne for a few more nights where the weather should be nice still enough to chill on a beach. I've been told Nha Trang and Hoi An will be crappy weather this time of year? Even so I want to visit Hoi An and Hue and make my way to Hanoi by night train. After reading the above on Danang I'm now tempted to fit this into my schedule.
I've booked a hostel for 23rd December till 27th in Hanoi as I didn't want to be stuck with nowhere to go over Christmas. The hostel seems to be a bit of "party" hostel but over the Christmas period I gathered this would be ideal. I'm then considering to do a 2 night 3 day trip to Halong bay, leaving on the morning of 27th and getting back to Hanoi on the morning of 29th with my flight at 11pm the same day. Not sure if this is a great idea but I didn't want to waste my last day in Hanoi waiting to fly home. Does anyone have any reccomendations of a tour boat to use for Halong Bay? There are so many!!
Halong bay is great, and I can't remember how we found a boat. There are loads of tourist agencies in Hanoi, or the hotel could book one. Shop around - it depends on the type of crowd you want to share with. We ended up on the party boat, and I was made to sing "Can You Feel the Love Tonight?" by a load of Danish girls, while my wife looked on with pity. Quality.
We got a Visa in advance in Cambodia... might make sense to get one here as it's less hassle, but might be a bit more expensive.
I spent a month there in 2010, so feel free to ask. I did a similar trip. Hoi an and Hue are great. Look also at going to Dalat, that place was amazing, and a bit different.
@heavenSE7 im going in 2 weeks...cant wait! With your visa i did abit of research and the official way of getting the Visa is through the embassy over in High Street Ken, aparently you can get it though external companies and they give you a letter which you show on arrival but there are some agencies who offer this but dont have the correct authorisation so there is a small chance you could get refused entry.
Embassy takes a week for normal service and costs about £55 if you do go make sure you get there early as the queue can be massive (only 1 person processing visas)
Get the visa done online, very simple and easy system. You get a letter, which you print off and hand in at the visa desk in the airport. Visa slapped in straight away.
I'm off to Vietnam on December 7th for 3 weeks, staying away over Christmas and back on the 29th in time for New Year in Welling.... Flying into Ho Chi Minh and out of Hanoi.
Lucky to have found this thread as there's some great advice on it. Better than searching through Lonley Planet and Tripadvisor forums!
A few question to those that have been:
I'm currently thinking about the VISA situation. Is it worth going to the embassy in London or arranging a VISA on collection from Ho Chi Minh?
As December isn't the best time of year I'm making some general plans based around the weather. My inital thoughts are to stay South where it is warmer for a week or so and make my way up to Hanoi in time for Christmas. I will be backpacking as I can just about get away with being young enough still.
So far I'm I've planned for 3 nights in Ho Chi Minh (one night to get over the jet lag!) and then moving onto Mui Ne for a few more nights where the weather should be nice still enough to chill on a beach. I've been told Nha Trang and Hoi An will be crappy weather this time of year? Even so I want to visit Hoi An and Hue and make my way to Hanoi by night train. After reading the above on Danang I'm now tempted to fit this into my schedule.
I've booked a hostel for 23rd December till 27th in Hanoi as I didn't want to be stuck with nowhere to go over Christmas. The hostel seems to be a bit of "party" hostel but over the Christmas period I gathered this would be ideal. I'm then considering to do a 2 night 3 day trip to Halong bay, leaving on the morning of 27th and getting back to Hanoi on the morning of 29th with my flight at 11pm the same day. Not sure if this is a great idea but I didn't want to waste my last day in Hanoi waiting to fly home. Does anyone have any reccomendations of a tour boat to use for Halong Bay? There are so many!!
Thanks, Tom.
I'm flying out same day, but getting a connection up to Hanoi then back from HCM 2 weeks later.....
So when i went earlier this year, we stayed down south (Feb) and it was fantastic weather. I have heard from a few people that halong bay is not as good at this time of year due to potential problems with fog/bad weather preventing boats going out. However i don't know this first hand. Ho Chi Minh was great, as was Nha Trang, and the crazy house was fantastic in dalat, not sure if i went again that i would go out of my way to visit dalat though. My main point however would be that when we went to Mui Ne, it wasn't the best experience. The russians have taken over vietnam in a big way, especially so in Mui Ne, and we didn't find it to be the friendliest of atmospheres when we were there. I had always assumed this was just a stereotypical view, but lets just say there were not too many smiles bandied around the place. Saying that, we stayed in a great villa on the beach, and it really its beautiful. So probably great to go there with a few people, but on your own, maybe not the best place to make some friends to hang out with.
If you go to Nha trang, i would highly recommend Vin Pearl theme park. about £10, and has rollercoasters (don't expect anything thorpe parkesque, but still fun), water slides, and hundreds of free arcade games. The cable car trip over there is pretty impressive too, and is included in park entry. Hot spas in nha trang also worth a visit. good place for a night out too.
N.B. i did have a funny experience at night here, when i was walking home i had a few local women shouting at me from a moped, which they quickly stopped, jumped off, grabbed hold of me, and started to get quite friendly. I had heard about, and been warned to look out for, the local women getting a bit close and personal. They try and distract you and steal your wallet. Fortunately i had my wits about me and pulled away. But just watch out for these women and walk briskly away. I don't think anyone else should have to experience two old women grabbing their johnson on their walk home. Unless of course this is why they are there in the first place...
I got my visa my visa in london no problem, it did take a few weeks though, so probably best to decide early what you are doing
It really is a fantastic country, have a great time!
Visa is a tricky one. For peace of mind getting it in London may be better but would have to pull a sicky as it's only Mon-Fri opening service and I've got 0 days holiday left.
I've initially booked 3 nights in Ho Chi Minh with a hostel / guesthouse in District 1 but with the weather being how it is I'm a bit worried now the weather all the way up is going to be a bit ropey. Would I be better to consider doing Hanoi to HCM rather than HCM to Hanoi?
Thanks for info on Mui Ne, I think I'll rely on meeting some backpackers in Ho Chi Minh and seeing where they are off to. Why is it the russians in their speedo's take over anywhere good?
I've done the whole travelling / backpacking thing before but went with a best pal (also an addick). I have met loads of people over the years who've travelled solo but now it's me I'm just hoping that it'll be busy enough to meet like-minded people.
Comments
Either way, Vietnam is great. I was there 4 years ago and just followed the coastal route down from Hanoi to Saigon (Ho Chi Minh). You can actually travel the whole length of the country by motorbike taxi if you are brave enough. They will also take you to a lot of 'off the beaten track' places while doing so. A lot of people choose to trek in the northern part of the country and visit the local tribes or there are of course a multitude of war sites to visit.
Personally found Hanoi a lot more interesting than Saigon. The local water caves around Hanoi at Ha Long Bay are worth a visit. Hoi An is a really nice town south of Hanoi. It's world famous for its tailors so get a couple of cheap suits if visiting. Hue (about half way down) is the start of the war sites. Nha Trang just north of Saigon is probably the nicest city beach I have seen anywhere in the world. Finally, Saigon has some incredible museums. Didn't visit the war tunnels as they were flooded at the time but they are supposed to be interesting.
The food in Vietnam is awesome, street food is cheap and healthy. Of course you can try all that funky crap like snakes blood and fried tarantulas but don't expect to get dog - it's only served two weeks out of four and is incredibly expensive.
If you can though, try to get into Cambodia, shoot a caw with a bazooka, it's true you can but let me tell you it's a great place, I went from Saigon to Phonm Penh by bus and it takes around 5 hours. Cambodia is well worth a trip if you have the time, not at all like the rest of South East Asia, its more like India.
The usual tourist stop North from Hoi Chi Minh is Mui-ne.
Lots to see in Hoi Chi Minh, where are you staying?
Great cheap accomodation around Pham Ngu Lao Street. Useful if booking trips north to Hanoi or around Hoi Chi Minh. The war museum and zoo are definately worth a look.
Vietnamese food isn't that great. You will see Com and Pho everywhere. Basically rice based or noodle soup.
You will also find pancake rolls everywhere.
Nothing is wasted so if unsure about eating inards stick to tourist oriented restaurants.
Check out Luong Son (Bo Tung Xeo) for the widest (wildest) range of exotic meat/BBQ in Saigon (1).
Usual day Trip from Hoi Chi Minh is to the Cao Dai temple and Chu Chi tunnels.
The beach south of Hoi Chi Minh is Vung Tau, it's where Gary Glitter was holed up Kiddie Fidlin'.
Not sure how long you are away for but the other trip 2 days+ is into the Mekong Delta. Highly recommended, this is known as Kampuchea Krum..............was the land stolen from Cambodia, pretty much all the people there are ethnic Cambodians................Darker skined, less oriental looking.
You can sample rice field rat down there.
Not sure if you have already booked a trip north. It would be way cheaper than the scam foreign organised trips although a tad hardcore if taking the overnight buses.
Options going North are to Nha Trang via either Mui-ne along the coast or inland via Dalat. The later is my favourite place in South East Asia. It's a university town/hippy paradise. It has a very temperate climate and will still be cold at this time of year. Imagine an Asian Brighton minus the beach, ie Hilly. It was never bombed during the vietnam war as the senior officers on both sides had their holidays there while the fighting went on elsewhere.
As already mentioned Nha Trang is the big tourist costal town. If you walk North along the beach and over the bridge you will come to the ruins of the South Vietnamese rulers palace. There isn't much to see as they were beaten by the North Vietnamese rulers many centuries ago, but it's a nice walk.
Next spot up is Hoi An. This is a world heritage site...............ancient trading town. Can take trip from here to see the ancient Cham ruins............worth doing by road as it's a lovely trip into the foothills, but don't book to return by the river as it's a scam...........just take you to carved furniture shop and have to wait for boat back to the town.
Next spot up in Da Nang. DMZ Zone area.
Then Hua. This is the Vietnamese equivalent of the hidden city/ Bejing. The huge fortress/palace is their and a great day trip can be had on the perfume river visiting the tombs of the emporers.
Don't think you are going further than this so i'll stop.
Final few pointers................
Coffee shops everywhere in Vietnam, French influence..............very good coffee.
Try iced coffee with milk.............the milk is nestle condensed milk LOL but it works.
Watch how the Vietnamese cross the road and copy them. The traffic plays chicken with you but they know how to slow down/stop/avoid when pedestrians cross. You will struggle in Vietnam without this skill.
Carry Loperamide tablets as you will wee out of your bum at some point, it's just a water born bacteria you get every where in S.E.Asia, harmless apart from above mentioned symptom.
You will quickly discover that the Vietnamese shout all the time. Yopu might think they are arguing but they aren't. It's a tonal language and emphasis on words is very important.
Likewise you will realise that they don't have western manners. They don't, definately forget that queueing ever existed.
Remember to keep your belongings by you. Vietnam is a very safe country due to the power of the govt/police, so the criminals rarely target foreigners but your property and money are fair game, even in your hotel/guest house. ie carry your valuables on you / you won't be mugged, though bag snatching is becoming more common.
Water is more expensive than beer, don't drink tap water.
And finally, you will find things very very cheap over there, remember that nearly everybody is very poor so try to be generous where you can / tipping / buying rubbish you might not want off the sellers you see everywhere.
Enjoy yourself.
Anyway I'll try to right up some of the stuff I've done in a day or two.
P.S why was the bus journey a nightmare, not fancy the 'you motorbike' then? lol
Not a fan of backpackers haha.
Lucky to have found this thread as there's some great advice on it. Better than searching through Lonley Planet and Tripadvisor forums!
A few question to those that have been:
I'm currently thinking about the VISA situation. Is it worth going to the embassy in London or arranging a VISA on collection from Ho Chi Minh?
As December isn't the best time of year I'm making some general plans based around the weather. My inital thoughts are to stay South where it is warmer for a week or so and make my way up to Hanoi in time for Christmas. I will be backpacking as I can just about get away with being young enough still.
So far I'm I've planned for 3 nights in Ho Chi Minh (one night to get over the jet lag!) and then moving onto Mui Ne for a few more nights where the weather should be nice still enough to chill on a beach. I've been told Nha Trang and Hoi An will be crappy weather this time of year? Even so I want to visit Hoi An and Hue and make my way to Hanoi by night train. After reading the above on Danang I'm now tempted to fit this into my schedule.
I've booked a hostel for 23rd December till 27th in Hanoi as I didn't want to be stuck with nowhere to go over Christmas. The hostel seems to be a bit of "party" hostel but over the Christmas period I gathered this would be ideal. I'm then considering to do a 2 night 3 day trip to Halong bay, leaving on the morning of 27th and getting back to Hanoi on the morning of 29th with my flight at 11pm the same day. Not sure if this is a great idea but I didn't want to waste my last day in Hanoi waiting to fly home. Does anyone have any reccomendations of a tour boat to use for Halong Bay? There are so many!!
Thanks,
Tom.
We got a Visa in advance in Cambodia... might make sense to get one here as it's less hassle, but might be a bit more expensive.
I spent a month there in 2010, so feel free to ask. I did a similar trip. Hoi an and Hue are great. Look also at going to Dalat, that place was amazing, and a bit different.
Embassy takes a week for normal service and costs about £55 if you do go make sure you get there early as the queue can be massive (only 1 person processing visas)
If you go to Nha trang, i would highly recommend Vin Pearl theme park. about £10, and has rollercoasters (don't expect anything thorpe parkesque, but still fun), water slides, and hundreds of free arcade games. The cable car trip over there is pretty impressive too, and is included in park entry. Hot spas in nha trang also worth a visit. good place for a night out too.
N.B. i did have a funny experience at night here, when i was walking home i had a few local women shouting at me from a moped, which they quickly stopped, jumped off, grabbed hold of me, and started to get quite friendly. I had heard about, and been warned to look out for, the local women getting a bit close and personal. They try and distract you and steal your wallet. Fortunately i had my wits about me and pulled away. But just watch out for these women and walk briskly away. I don't think anyone else should have to experience two old women grabbing their johnson on their walk home. Unless of course this is why they are there in the first place...
I got my visa my visa in london no problem, it did take a few weeks though, so probably best to decide early what you are doing
It really is a fantastic country, have a great time!
Visa is a tricky one. For peace of mind getting it in London may be better but would have to pull a sicky as it's only Mon-Fri opening service and I've got 0 days holiday left.
I've initially booked 3 nights in Ho Chi Minh with a hostel / guesthouse in District 1 but with the weather being how it is I'm a bit worried now the weather all the way up is going to be a bit ropey. Would I be better to consider doing Hanoi to HCM rather than HCM to Hanoi?
Thanks for info on Mui Ne, I think I'll rely on meeting some backpackers in Ho Chi Minh and seeing where they are off to. Why is it the russians in their speedo's take over anywhere good?
I've done the whole travelling / backpacking thing before but went with a best pal (also an addick). I have met loads of people over the years who've travelled solo but now it's me I'm just hoping that it'll be busy enough to meet like-minded people.