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 Vietnam travel tales
Our customers share their travelling experiences in Vietnam.
Read about first hand stories on travel tips and guides, events, entertainment,shopping, food, business and transportation.
Also, you might want to read our
Central Vietnam city guide,
Halong Bay city guide,
Hanoi city guide,
Ho Chi Minh city guide,
Phan Thiet city guide,
and Hoi An city guide.
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| B Fitzsimons |
02 October 2004 |
Stayed at Grand Hotel - Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon), Vietnam.
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The tours available are a little limiting, Mekong delta and the Viet Cong tunnels were worth a visit. Did not have time for any thing else. Good eating places near hotel especially The Santa Lucia Italian place. If you have time look around before you buy, prices vary a lot. The market is worth a visit, however we bought things a lot cheaper in shops near hotel. Beware of motor bikes!
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| E Ho |
27 September 2004 |
Stayed at Majestic Hotel - Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon), Vietnam.
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We took 2 tours-- the Mekong Delta & the Cu Chi Tunnels--and would recommend them. The shopping was wonderful especially when we pick up plenty of bargains with our bargaining skills. If you want a bargain go first thing in the morning as some shops will be willing to give you a handsome discount especially if it's the first sale for the day. Also always ask if they give discounts---you never get any if you done ask. Also it's easier to use their currency to bargain than using US Dollars.
Avoid the red taxis. We were twice cheated using them. Once we got to a restaurant paying the equivalent of US$4.00 & less than US$2.00 coming back. And on our ride back to the airport the driver wanted the equivalent of US$45.00 instead of US$4.50 by reading the meter with a change in the decimal point.We argued & he would only settle for US$6.00 & we had to let it go. Some Australians advised us to stick to the white & green taxis & we should have listened.
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| A Kwan |
26 September 2004 |
Stayed at De Syloia Hotel - Hanoi, Vietnam.
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It is recommended that you book your airport transfer beforehand from a trusted source or from the hotel itself. We boarded a mini van which promised to take us to De Syloia but end up in the Old Quarters having a heated argument with the operator. They tried to convince us that the hotel right infront of us IS De Syloia. We remembered clearly how the hotel should look like in asia-hotels.com website and it looked nothing close to that old-looking motel he pointed out (definitely not worth the US60/night we are paying for). Furthermore, there was no signage to confirm that. Just then, someone from inside that motel emerged with a De Syloia name card and introduced himself as a staff. He said it was a high tourist season and so the hotel is fully booked (which is impossible as we had email confirmation from the hotel itself). He insisted that they bring us to another hotel under the same company whereas we insisted they bring us to the right location.
After a long struggle, we eventually get dropped off somewhere near and made our way to De Syloia on foot.
The amazing thing is that they had the namecard of De Syloia (which looked exaclty the same as the real thing after seeing one for myself at the hotel itself). They probably had prepared name cards of various major hotels to be in this
"Hijacking business".
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| P Van der weeen |
25 September 2004 |
Stayed at Victoria Hoi An Beach Resort - Hoi An, Vietnam.
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Hoi An is the perfect town for travelers looking for good food and shopping. We took the tour to My Son, which is about an hour by car. The Tam Tam Cafe in the city center is highly recommended - both Vietnamese and western food at reasonable prices.
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| M Adkins |
18 September 2004 |
Stayed at Furama Resort Danang - Danang, Vietnam.
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For some of the popular destinations, such as Hue and Hoi An, a guide and driver is highly recommended. You will learn far more about the sites you visit and it's hard to beat the personal attention of your own guide. The Furama provided a guide by the the name of Kwan, who was outstanding! From his intimate knowledge, to his genuinely charming personallity, this young man was a joy to spend a couple days with. He is a fine ambassador for the Furama and represented the level of service offered by all the staff.
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| G Loebus |
11 September 2004 |
Stayed at Grand Hotel - Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon), Vietnam.
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We tried the dinner buffets of several hotels as well as restaurants - all within walking distance. Our favorites were the dinner buffets at the hotels Caravelle and Majestic.
Transportation to other parts of the country are best via air travel, worst via open bus ticket. Except for air travel, all means of transportation are painfully slow. To see the country side close up we recommend hiring a taxi or private car with driver, it's worth the extra expense.
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| G Loebus |
07 September 2004 |
Stayed at Grand Hotel - Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon), Vietnam.
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Guests who are staying here for several days have multiple choice of dinner buffets of HCM City's best hotels and restaurants right at their finger tips, all within walking distance. Good shopping and night entertainment are also only minutes away. Taxis are very convenient, but look for the white taxi cabs, either VINASUN or MAI LINH, there is never an overcharge. Always use a metered taxi, unless you make other arrangements satisfatory to you. If a meter appears to be running too fast, get out, pay, and choose a VINASUN or MAI LINH. Don't use a van type taxi unless you need it, they use more gas and their meter runs at a slightly higher rate. If you decide to buy an open bus ticket, which is only $25 from HCM City to Hanoi, be prepared to spend a few days on such a bus. You will have to cope with unwanted detours to tourist locations and you may not be able to get back on that bus the next day, if you stay over somewhere. There seems to be only one bus a day and if you are in the wrong city you have to start your trip at night. We forfeited our ticket after sitting in the bus for 13 hours, which took us only to Nha Trang, less than 200 miles north of HCM City. We used a combination of airplane, taxi ($40 from Danang to Hue), and train to get to Hanoi. Roads are surprisingly good everywhere, but the infrastructure of frequent city to city buses is mssing.
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| J Huynh |
05 September 2004 |
Stayed at Yasaka Saigon Nhatrang Hotel - Nha Trang, Vietnam.
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Boat tours to neighboring islands are definitely recommended (in particularly boat #4). For USD7-8 you can join the simplest boat tour, which covers four islands. The tours are entertaining, enjoyable and furthermore food is provided.
The Sailing Club is perhaps one of the most happening places during the night. It is situated next to the beach and is generally filled with foreigners partying early into the morning.
For seafood, Truc Linh on is not a bad place to feast on the latest catches.
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| M Lundqvist |
03 September 2004 |
Stayed at Hai Yen Hotel - Hoi An, Vietnam.
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Hoian is very interesting for all kind of travellers. It's easy to get around by foot or by cyclo/motorbike. The beach is clean and very big with lots of restaurants with good food.
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| 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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