| T Lambert |
25 July 2004 |
Stayed at Lucky Hotel - Hanoi, Vietnam.
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The hotel staff recommended both the Army Museum and Ethnology Museums which were both excellent. We walked all around the old town and the French part of town easily. Good sidewalks and not crowded at all. Circumnavigating the traffic gets a bit hairy but as long as you walk through the traffic in a predictable manner, i.e. no jerky stops and starts or running then the traffic just "flows" around you. Take tea tree oil or nit/head lice spray as we encountered a large number of shops where shopkeepers were searching each others heads for the critters. One of our children brought back nits in her hair which we have been trying to eradicate for the last month!!!
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| A Durney |
13 July 2004 |
Stayed at Hoi An Hotel - Hoi An, Vietnam.
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Vietnam is a fantastic country. I am always touched when thinking about the friendliness and hospitality of the Vietnamese people. We travelled around using hired minivans as we were a family group of 6 adults and 2 young children. The prices were reasonable and it allowed greater flexibility. Spending a little extra to take internal flights saved on time and stress when travelling with small children. We would often ask at the hotels we were staying for recommendations to local restaurants and were always pleased with the meals - even for the vegetarians amongst us.
A great experience was our time in Hue where we took some time to visit Buddhist monasteries and see the ancient sights. The buffet dinner for ten US dollars at the Morin was outstanding with service, quality of food and traditional music and entertainment in a magical setting lit by hundreds of candles and lights. I enjoyed my time in Vietnam and would love to return and explore and experience more of this fascinating country.
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| Y Kim |
27 June 2004 |
Stayed at Victoria Hoi An Beach Resort - Hoi An, Vietnam.
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Hoi An was a charming town that we really enjoyed spending time in. I recommend taking a day tour to Cham Island with Lodovico - he's an Italian expat who's lived in the area for several years and gave us an amazing day of sight-seeing, snorkeling, food and stories. His tour was $25 vs. $12 with other agencies, but we were very glad that we spent time with him rather than another tour group. You can find his tour agency in town facing the river near the dock heading towards the Japanese Covered Bridge.
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| R Pineda |
21 June 2004 |
Stayed at Hoi An Hotel - Hoi An, Vietnam.
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If you're going to My Son, book your tour when you get to Hoi An. I booked with An Phu Travel for a half day tour at $1.50 (not including entrance fees) and were on the same bus with others who paid five times that.
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| D Lam |
05 June 2004 |
Stayed at New World Hotel Saigon - Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon), Vietnam.
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Don't take the taxi parked on Le Lai St. next to the hotel lobby. They start at 6000D (which regular taxi starts at 12000D) but their meter jumps almost every 5 seconds. I think they did something to make the meter jump faster. So just take the taxi in front of the lobby is better.
Also, if you want to join local tour, go to Pham Ngu Lao st just south of the hotel. There are thousands of travel agent but cheap tour. A Mekong Delta 1day tour is only US$7 and Cuchi tunnel 1 day tour is US$4. The travel agent at the airport cost US$60 and US$30 for the same thing!
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| J Sandra trotman |
10 April 2004 |
Stayed at New World Hotel Saigon - Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon), Vietnam.
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We walked and walked and walked - wear comfy shoes - the pavements are uneven - and if you want to see a lot within the area from the hotel to Dong Khoi - feet are your best bet. There are so many little side roads and little shops - you would miss them in a car. Of course if you are crazy enough to hire a motorbike - good luck - you will still miss everything - because you will be too busy trying to avoid being crashed into by all the mopeds around you.
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| W Bartholomew and hellene |
07 April 2004 |
Stayed at Majestic Hotel - Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon), Vietnam.
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We did the whirlwind two week tour of Vietnam (on our own without a guide). I would suggest a little less aggresive trip the next time. We really enjoyed our holiday however. A few highlights: Do take advantage of the Cyclos! What a wonderful way to see the area. We took in a day trip to the Delta from Saigon with a hired guide. Well worth it, at least once, and be sure to take in the floating market-it's a long day, but very do-able.
A few highlights along the way were Dalat-for secenery and a cool off and Hoi An for shopping and food!
Our favorite restaurant was in Saigon-not in any of the tourist books we had, but came recommeded by another family of tourists we met on a street corner-quan an ngon, not far from the War Remnants Museum. It's open air, large, very nice and frequented by many locals-especially the young business people and students.
There is just too much to tell and too little time! Overall a great experience-we will be back!
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| E Pinel |
06 April 2004 |
Stayed at Renaissance Riverside Hotel Saigon - Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon), Vietnam.
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Vietnam Immigration can be a long long waiting experience...as it seems several (big) planes always land in the same time. I have noticed that the flights arriving mid afternoon (around 3-4pm) usually give you way to desert immigration counters...such a bliss for whoever is used to the very long queues and the 1-hour-minimum-wait that is commonly associated.
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| A Lewis |
26 March 2004 |
Stayed at Majestic Hotel - Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon), Vietnam.
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We did a day tour with Buffalo tours to Cu Chi and the Cau Dai temple-well worth doing. Whilst in the city we got around on motor bikes-this is by far the best way to travel and despite appearances, they dont go very fast.
We then had 3 days in the Mekong delta with Buffalo-again, well worth doing. Buffalo are on the up-market side but worth the money for individual trips.
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| A Angela irving |
22 March 2004 |
Stayed at Metropole Hotel, Saigon - Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon), Vietnam.
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Taxi rides were cheap and always metered. Although our guide books warned us of rip offs with taxi drivers and other things in general, we never encountered these experiences. The Vietnamese people were delightful on every occasion.
Loved the Cholon and Ben Thanh markets.
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Traveller's Tales: Getting around in Vietnam
