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dlt
Posts 544
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07/01/2012 13:51:32
Hi, I was in Vietnam about 15 years ago and had a fantastic time - spent a month there. As others have said, Hoi An and Hue are lovely. Hanoi and HCMC are busy, frantic cities, though each special and interesting in their own right!
Wanted to add that you will need to be very careful in terms of your belongings - a motorcyclist tried to grab my bag while riding on a cyclo (luckily I'd been warned and had tied it to a metal bar when I got on). Similar experience while walking. Despite this, it was one of my best trips - lovely people, beautiful, interesting places.
Surprised to hear travel hasn't improved - I travelled by bus (backpacking at the time) and it was fine (bumpy and slow, but got there in the end!).
Enjoy your trip!
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Saharagypsyrose
Posts 433
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07/01/2012 11:15:58
Hi,
Just did a bit of Vietnam couple weeks ago. The cheapest, quickest and easiest way to get Vietnam visa is via online. Try Vietnamvisapro.com, they have been around for ages and highly recommended by Thorntree forum members. We paid $18 total for 2 apps, and again you pay the $25 per pax stamping fee when you arrive at the airport. I highly recommend staying in the Old Quarter of Hanoi while you are there. As the other posters mentioned, the temperature will drop in February, so just bring layers. I think the average winter temperature isn't really that bad, but I guess it depends on your luck as well, it shouldn't rain but be prepared in case it got a lot colder. While we were there, the temp was about 20C but certain days felt like 16C when it was cloudy but still felt very pleasant. We walked everywhere, took in the Water Puppet Show at Thang Long Theater, concert at the Opera House, strolls by the lake, museums etc and most importantly, we ate till we dropped and all at the street stalls and our tummies survived :-D
Good luck with your planning and have a great time.
Cheers!
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TimTam
Posts 1293
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07/01/2012 09:20:45
Hi, Malaysian stop flying to Dubai as of this weekend, so that won't be an option. You could use Emirates to Kuala Lumpur then Air Asia, who have really cheap fares KUL/Hanoi and then out of Saigon/KUL. Emirates sale fares are on unitl Monday. Otherwise Qatar airways.
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Duchy
Posts 37
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06/01/2012 22:32:39
While I can't always afford their itinerary I like to check audleytravel.co.uk for their ideas. A new site I stumbled upon and specialists in SE Asia is travellocal.com they can give you local and reputable contacts on the ground. HTH
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Singapore Sling
Posts 325
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06/01/2012 20:27:43
Yip it is not an easy destination by any means.
I also thoroughly enjoyed reading your posting as it is spot on.
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Tallybalt
Posts 959
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06/01/2012 20:21:57
We really did feel like that everyone only looked at us with dollar signs in their eyes.
Another good site for hotel reviews is booking.com.
Singapore Sling wrote: Oh i nearly forgot - triplecheck names of hotels and addresses especially if you take a look at Tripadvisor ratings and reviews. There are many hotels sharing the same name, belonging to different people, often even in the same street or across from one another. The surname Nguyen is also shared by around 40% of all Vietnamese to further complicate matters. You could easily book one hotel and read the reviews of another without knowing it. Be streetsmart too, you will be seen as a walking ATM 
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Singapore Sling
Posts 325
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06/01/2012 20:12:12
Oh i nearly forgot - triplecheck names of hotels and addresses especially if you take a look at Tripadvisor ratings and reviews. There are many hotels sharing the same name, belonging to different people, often even in the same street or across from one another. The surname Nguyen is also shared by around 40% of all Vietnamese to further complicate matters. You could easily book one hotel and read the reviews of another without knowing it. Be streetsmart too, you will be seen as a walking ATM
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Tallybalt
Posts 959
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06/01/2012 20:09:58
Just be aware that February is winter in North Vietnam. Hanoi and Halong bay will be cold. We were in Vietnam at the end of March and early April, and it was cold, wet and rainy. We did a two night, three day sail on Halong Bay and it was wet and foggy the entire time. The bay was still nice and atmospheric but I didn't necessarily find it amazing, and the water is filled with trash. Hanoi is very polluted, especially when it's cold due to the coal they burn for heat. DH and I were both sick after just a day in Hanoi.
Of Vietnam, we liked Hue, Hoi An and Sapa the best. The tribal villages and markets in Sapa, up in the mountains of North Vietnam are truly wonderful to see. But it was still wet and cold! The food in Vietnam is brilliant, the touts less so.
Getting around Vietnam is rather easy as you can arrange for private cars through your hotel or fly from one city to another, just get the scheduling correct. But for Sapa you need to take a grimy overnight train and then a long drive up into the mountains. The train gets into the mountains around 5 in the morning, and the return train to Hanoi also gets in around 4 30 am. It's a lot of effort but well worth it.
Places like Thailand and Malaysia are very easygoing places, Vietnam not so. I didn't regret the trip, but we're unlikely to go back.
At Halong bay we sailed on a boat called Oriental Sails. Not inexpensive, but most of the cheaper junks are deathtraps and it seems like every year a boat sinks and most of the tourist aboard drown. These would be the cheap backpacker boats, so it's well worth the money to go for the better boats. Just keep in mind you won't be the only boat at Halong Bay and at night the coves where the boats are berthed can seem like a vast boat parking lot.
edited by Tallybalt on 06/01/2012
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Singapore Sling
Posts 325
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06/01/2012 19:59:03
Westside bear in mind that the weather in Northern Vietnam is competely different to the tropical HCMC where it is hot year round. It gets very cold and very hot and humid in Halong, SaPa and Hanoi. Only a few places are geared with heaters and even in hotels hot water can run out very quickly. It often goes up to only 11 degrees celcius during Jan/Feb and with the windchill it is that much colder and grey. The Husband worked in Hanoi last year and it was bitterly cold during Jan/Feb and he moaned for days on end that he simply can't get warm.
If you could, I suggest that you work SaPa into the itenary too. Northern Vietnam is by far more quint, traditional and tribal than the Southern parts. I love the centre parts too, its probably my favourite. We once travelled Vietnam for 3 weeks and we too flew Malaysia Airlines. We travelled Hanoi and Halong Bay for a week, then Hoi An and surrounds for a week and lastly Saigon the last week. It is doable over 12 days but be prepared for hectic travelling. I still think making the logistics and itenary work for Vietnam was one of the most difficult trips I ever planned. We also flew from Hanoi to Hoi An and thenlater to Saigon. Your visa you can arrange online and pick up from the airport. You will pay an online processing fee and then later the visa costs at the airport in Hanoi. Medical care is stupid expensive so make sure you are covered well. Enjoy your trip. Vietnam is very interesting and a huge assault on the senses, the noise, smells, visuals etc
Chizz you had a great trip planned there and looks like we have covered similar ground by other destinations before too. Cheers!
edited by Singapore Sling on 07/01/2012
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westside
Posts 31
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06/01/2012 18:50:10
WOW - thanks ladies, for all the tips. We don't need anything posh and in fact the Asian Ruby looks perfect! Can anyone recommend a "junk boat" in Halong Bay. I think we'd like to try staying onboard for a night or two. I've done loads of research online and found many companies that do it, but I'm not sure which one is good.
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chizz
Posts 1899
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04/01/2012 21:45:39
Westside - hotel in Halong Bay was called the Halong Bay Hotel - not bad and had a sea view - close to get to the boats of course that do the tours around the bay. HCMC hotel was Asian Ruby Hotel - again, quite nice - bit of a walk as I remember to the sites when we had our free time from the tour, but not out in the sticks - was in the city centre....check them out online and see what you think...Explore use pretty good hotels on the whole, but usually nothing too posh (until maybe at the end of the tour - had a lovely hotel in Siem Reap!)....
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westside
Posts 31
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04/01/2012 20:21:12
Thank you everyone for your responses. CHIZZ: Thanks for the itinerary. I think we'll stick to Vietnam as not to spread ourselves too thin. Can you tell me where you stayed in Halong Bay? From the itinerary it doesn't seem like it was on a "junk" boat, but I could be wrong. Can you also tell me where you stayed in HCMC?
Thanks again for all the information.
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Lil Bubbly
Posts 353
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29/12/2011 15:11:33
I got cambodian visa at the border, nothing needed doing beforehand (2010). Check online. Very easy to plan and get around when you are there, loads of independent travellers, not just backpackers.
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chizz
Posts 1899
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29/12/2011 15:08:09
I did a Vietnam/Cambodia trip a few years ago as part of a tour with Explore (which was excellent!) - here is our itinerary from my travel pages on VT:
http://members.virtualtourist.com/m/tt/a146b/
http://members.virtualtourist.com/m/a0709/63e/
We traveled by Malaysia Airlines from Dubai to Hanoi - stopping off in KL, where we had a stopover for a few days. Stayed at Traders, which was great and central too. Flew Malaysia out of Siem Reap back to Dubai. Also, we got the visa for Cambodia online (double check that you still can) and had no problems at the border. There used to be a Consulate for Vietnam in Dubai, but it closed down a few days before we needed to get the visa, so had to go to Abu Dhabi to get it - again, double check that this is still the case, as I went in 2008.
The trip was one of the best I've ever done!
edited by chizz on 29/12/2011
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Lil Bubbly
Posts 353
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29/12/2011 13:55:28
You could use expedia to get a multi city flight, fly into Siem Reap, travel through then out of Hanoi. With only 12 days I think I'd just do one country though. We like to travel fairly fast but that would be too much I think! Have you searched Lonely planets forum, loads of people asking similar questions on there.
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Barbie doll
Posts 748
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29/12/2011 13:50:52
Check a site called Yalago.com, its a search site and great for getting the best deals on flights & hotels.
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westside
Posts 31
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28/12/2011 22:23:24
whoops...I failed to mention that part -- we have 12 days to travel.
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Paris6
Posts 260
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28/12/2011 22:01:20
Hi,
Depend on how long are you planning yr trip.
Laos => north of Vietnam => south of Vietnam => cambodge
Hth
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westside
Posts 31
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28/12/2011 21:29:49
DH and I are planning a February vacation and thinking about going to SE Asia. Currently thinking about Vietnam and/or Cambodia. Can anyone help with itinerary ideas? I've spent hours searching online and there are so many ideas. Would love to hear from someone who had a great experience and a wonderful plan that they would highly recommend. We're adventurous, but long over the backpacking stage. Have stayed at many, many dodgy hotels in our day, but I think we're over that too! :-)
Thanks in advance.
WS
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