| C Usher-clark |
02 September 2004 |
Stayed at Rex Hotel Vietnam - Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon), Vietnam.
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We had two nights in Ho Chi Minh and I wish that we had been able to stay longer, but our whistle stop 3 week tour of Cambodia/Vietnam did not allow. Cu Chi are worth the effort (1/2 day tour about $20-25 for "non-backpacker budget" group tour depending whether entrance fee of $4 included or not) but watch which tunnels you go to. There are actually two sets of tunnels open to visitors - the Ben Dinh tunnels were actually used during the war, though they have been slightly widened and cleaned up since; the Ben Duoc tunnels are "reconstructions" built for tourism.
If you want to do the Mekong Delta you need to do at least a two day trip to get any real value out of it as it is quite a journey to get to the heart of it from HCMC. September 2 annually is National Day (when we were in HCMC) and was an amazing experience - it is the day that Vietnam declared its independence from the Japanese and French in 1945 and the city was covered in flags. It was a real family/party atmosphere.
Ate in Lemongrass (Vietnamese)/La Fourchette (traditional French) and the Mandarin (Chinese) - all in the Lonely Planet and all very good - but the Mandarin is noticeably more expensive and a little out of the way. Skip the water puppets here and see them in Hanoi.
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| M Markus |
07 February 2003 |
Stayed at Novotel Coralia Ocean Dunes & Golf Resort - Phan Thiet, Vietnam.
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Phan Thiet is not very exiting but as the hotel is nice, we did not miss anything. Maybe Chinese New Year (TET in Vietnam) is not the best time to travel because most shops are closed.
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| B Day |
06 February 2003 |
Stayed at Victoria Hoi An Beach Resort - Hoi An, Vietnam.
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Make sure you don't go during TET, their new years, unless you REALLY do want to rest at the hotel and do nothing else. As 90% of the town shuts down.
Don't eat your dinners at the hotel. Overpriced and not worth the money. But the 2nd rest on the right as you walk out from Victoria (about 5 min walk) serves decent food. Forget the CRAB. We tried on multiple occassions and they were NEVER fresh.
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| J Kimoto |
03 February 2003 |
Stayed at Nikko Hotel Hanoi - Hanoi, Vietnam.
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Teto (lunar new year) season is not good for sightseeing. Most of shops
and museums are closed.
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| P Huppatz |
20 October 2002 |
Stayed at Hoi An Riverside Resort - Quang Nam, Vietnam.
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There is a little restaurant about 20 metres to the left of the front gate of the Hoi An Riverside Resort (when facing the road). We went there and had some drinks with the locals who then took us out to see the Cham Ruins at My Son a few days later. We were also lucky to be there for the full moon festival - be sure to wander around Hoi An thoroughly on this night because there are hundreds of things to see and do.
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| A O'reilly |
23 September 2002 |
Stayed at Hoi An Riverside Resort - Quang Nam, Vietnam.
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Hoi An is a wonderful heritage site. We were there for the Mid-Autumn festival which was great fun. Local shop and restaurant owners really need to give people some space, as a result of the constant hassle we bought nothing!
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| A Lin |
07 May 2002 |
Stayed at Saigon Morin - Hue, Vietnam.
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We happened to arrive in Hue during the Hue festival, which occurs every 2 years for 2 weeks. It's the best time in Hue, celebrating Vietnam's cultural heritage with multiple cultural shows held in the Imperial Citidel. Hue has the best food in Vietnam.
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| M Phung |
31 March 2002 |
Stayed at Sedona Suites Ho Chi Minh City - Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon), Vietnam.
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Very cheap in vietnam. Everything is cheap. 100 USD will last you 1 month of food. clothes and everything is cheap. very nice. bad weather during spring break.
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| R O'connor |
26 February 2002 |
Stayed at Hoi An Riverside Resort - Quang Nam, Vietnam.
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Hoi An is the place in Vietnam where we spent most money ... we got loads of clothes made and they turned out very well ... we got most of the items in a shop called Ha Chan ... shirts for $5 and suits for $25 ... the shirts turned out very well!!! Even got shoes made for $5!!! We were there for the full moon celebration and this is a lovely evening ... the whole town partakes - they have no electrical light only red lanterns ... worth being there for!!
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| C Luiza |
14 February 2002 |
Stayed at Lucky Hotel - Hanoi, Vietnam.
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It's worth it to book a walking tour. We hired a guide to visit the Old Quarter and got to see Hanoi at close range, as we certainly wouldn't have on a coach tour. Red River Tours charged $25 each and was worth it!
Emperor restaurant does great food, Cafe des Artes is excellent (wonderful chocolate crepes) and the street food (spring rolls, pho ga etc) is tasty! Try them all.
My friends and I got there a couple days before Tet so we got to see the wonderful peach and apricot blossoms for sale, and souvenir shops were still open. I wouldn't advise coming right on Tet though.
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Traveller's Tales: Events in Vietnam
