Hi there Ozbargainers
I will be arriving in Hanoi on the 11th of September and departing on the 20th of September. Most people seem to spend time doing Halong Bay and Sapa. Overnight boat trip in Halong bay is on my list but not sure how many nights? 1 or 2? Just weighing up the best way to fit in Halong Bay and Sapa in with must see things in Hanoi and travel between the 3. Any advice would be fully appreciated.
Need Some Advice for My 9 Day Itinerary for Vietnam (Hanoi)
LOzbargainite on 19/08/2015 - 14:48
Comments
+1 for Hoi An and the cooking class.
Hoi An was an unexpected delight for me. I'd go back in a heartbeat.
Definitely Halong Bay, I spent one night, but you can extend it to 2 if you have time to spare. My advice is not to spend too much time in Hanoi itself (not too many things to see or do), unlike Bangkok for example. I made that mistake and ended up staying inside the hotel.
I thought 1 night was plenty. 2 and I would have gone stircrazy.
I went to halong bay and did two nights. one night on the junk and one night on an island.
you can try take on board your own alcohol as well as prices on board are generally steep. if not try to purchase from the locals who paddle out to the junk.i thought this was just the right amount of time. the day on the island was pretty cool as you could going kayaking, swimming etc.
if you want to save time on your travel to sapa take the night train / bus.
I did one 2 day trekking with one night in homestay.don't forget to spend some time in hanoi itself. it's a pretty good city.
bia hoi is good too!i should add 9 days should be plenty of time to do all 3.
Agree with 996839, no need to spend too much time in Hanoi.
If possible, go to Hoi An for a couple of days. While there, do a half day bike tour to visit some local villages. Hoi An itself is a beautiful heritage town.and take the train. We did the overnight train to Hue and then flew the Denang.
Is it safe and clean in Vietnam? Clean in food and environment.
It's not a nanna state - you have to look after yourself. Common sense is required. There are far more ways you could get hurt in Vietnam if you aren't careful, but at no time during my visit, including walking some dark alleys late at night when lost, did I feel unsafe.
Food prep doesn't meet western standards with some of the street vendors, but then again, I've seen restaurants in Sydney chopping raw chicken and then vegetables on the same cutting board, so again, common sense - look first, consider the situation and eat if you feel comfortable. 2 weeks and a lot of street food and I didn't get an upset stomach once.
We took a bus from Ho Chi Min to Hanoi, wow what a long trip (just over 2 days)in a lay down bus. Looking back I can't believe we did it. Back in 2012. Hoi An was nice and quaint. Been so long ago, I do not recall a lot of the trip. I will say Ho Chi Min was exciting and had a huge park with many Vietnamese exercising and walking around, we spent a lot of time walking in and around that park ( I can't recall the name of it). I do recall doing a lot of walking every day, we never once took a Taxi.
I did get my handbag stolen from a biker as I was walking around a corner - everyone told me to put it over my head to protect it, but I choose not to as I felt very safe. Little did I know that a biker would grab it and ride away with it; leaving my arm all bruised where I tried to keep hold. But otherwise I felt very safe the whole time.
We met a lot of university/college students in the park I mentioned above (it is the biggest grassy area in Ho chi min with children's playground, open areas for doing group exercises, exercise equipment, some people even took dance lessons in the park and a it had a little pond) who wanted to practice their English and get to know us. I liked HO Chi Min better then Hanoi; Hanoi was a stuffy place and not quite as friendly like Ho chi min! You really should visit Ho Chi Min it is a very fun city.
If you do go to Ho Chi Min (Saigon) stay at the AVA 2 Hotel, 126 De Tham Str., Dist 1.
It is very inexpensive and clean and the owner takes good care of his employees, they offer laundry service with the room price and breakfast.
Tel +84.8 3920 8645 - 46 - 47 - 48 this was a few years ago but we were impressed.
www.avasaigon2.com [email protected] .Laundry costs should not be more than 20,000 dong per kilo. One place in Saigon last week wanted US$4 a kilo, which is more than it costs in Manhattan!
Take cash and change currency once you get there. The banks here will fleece you blind. Good rates to be had at jewellers, believe it or not.
Avoid drinking wine. The local brews, usually from Dalat, are rubbish and imported vino is very expensive, even the Aussie stuff. The local beer is excellent. We drank 333 ("ba ba ba") or Saigon, both about 15k dong, up to 40k dong in a flash restaurant. Also, there is some good Vietnamese vodka to be had, either Vodka Hanoi (blue bottle, OK) or Lua Moi, which is actually very good. About 65k a bottle, which is great value.
We preferred to buy booze from supermarkets rather than on the street, and to check the seals. Too many stories of people getting some dodgy home brew — and somewhat unhelpfully, 'ethanol' and 'methanol' sound alike but only one of them will kill you.
Take the toothbrushes from the hotels. If you are like me, you are used to running your toothbrush under a tap, which is a no no in most of Asia. If you do that, throw your toothbrush in the bin and start again with bottled water.
Hoi An is brilliant, but it is a bit far from Hanoi. Better to concentrate on the one area, IMO.
And those lay down buses are great, unless you are taller than 1.80m — like me.
One more thing, re food; 'Chien' might mean 'Dog' in French but in Vietnamese it means 'Fried'…Thanks for all the replies!
Bike riding in Hanoi is very fun. Make sure you include at least 1 day of bicycling into your plan.
Overnight boat trip is fun… for maybe one night at most. You can eat, drink, go fishing / swimming in the lake and generally party on the boat, but fun wears off quickly and you'll want to get off the boat and do something else.
Be sure to also check out Kayak hire as well which is available at the Halong Bay floating villages. Done in pairs and it is best to do this in late afternoon when the sun isn't too blazing hot. Make sure you integrate that into your plan.
If you are going to Hoi An, be sure to also visit the Red Bridge cooking class. The chef who taught us was hilarious :)