Vietnam forum

Itinerary Questions

charlotteru-
ssell

longtail driver
Posts: 7

Hi everyone,

Me and 2 members of my family are travelling through Vietnam for a month in Febuary next year - I just have a few questions regarding our itinerary (we are pretty laid back, love nature, not that keen on big cities, love the water and good food but might want to party a bit)

1. We are considering avoiding the craziness of tet by going to Pehom Pen/Ankor wat or travelling from Vientaine to Luang Prabang(thru vang vieng)for 6 days. Does anyone have any opinions on whether Laos or Cambodia are better?

2. How long do we need in HCM (not including 1 day cu chi tunnels, 2/3 days mekong delta)?

3. Is Nha Trang worth going to if we are on a tight timeframe? (otherwise we will fly thru it)

4. How long do we need in Hanoi?

5. How long do we need in Hue and Hoi An?

I know my questions are not that interesting but we are just trying to get a feel of where we want to go because travelling in tet requires booking flights and accom early.

Thanks to anyone who can help.

#1 Posted: 5/11/2007 - 12:32
rocketgirl

motodop
Posts: 22

I don't know about Vietnam as I've never been there, but if you only have 6 days in Laos or Cambodia I'd probably go for Cambodia as you can see a lot of it in 6 days. The temples are amazing, probably one of the most impressive things I've ever seen and Phnom Penh is a really interesting place to visit and the journeys between them are pretty easy (about 4 hours by bus).

Laos is my favourite country in South East Asia as I love all the beautiful mountains and beautiful chilled out people, but I would probably give it more than 6 days. However you could cover the highlights you mentioned(Luang Prabang, Vang Vieng & Vientiane) in 6 days at a push, but you'd have to fly to Vietnam afterwards, where as in Cambodia you could go straight from Phnom Penh to HCMC by bus easily enough.

#2 Posted: 5/11/2007 - 13:23
rakhee2108

tourist
Posts: 55

2 days in HCMC and 2 days in Hanoi will give you enough time to see all the main sites. Also, I'd recommend Cambodia - the temples of Angkor are AMAZING and Phnom Penh is a nice city. It's easy to take a bus from HCMC to PP and you can buy Cambodian visa at the border.

#3 Posted: 6/11/2007 - 04:42
CatBa2

tourist
Posts: 53

HCMC is worth three days; Da Lat one whole day; Nha Trang a whole day (take a sleeper train to Da Nang - for Hoi An); Hoi An 2 days; Hue 2 days; Ha Noi 3 days. Ha Long Bay 2 day cruise and Sa Pa 3 days,

Use the overnight sleepr between Hue and Ha Noi (all rail travel requires 2-3 booking ahead at any major station).

Sinh bus (easily the most reliable) between HCNC and Da Lat and Da Lat to Nha Trang as well as Hoi An to Hue,

Best to buy your Cambodian visa ON-LINE (you will a .jpg of a passport pix) at the OFFICIAL web site.

There are daily bus services between PP and HCMC in both directions run by the reliable SaiGon bus company.

#4 Posted: 6/11/2007 - 17:00