After being in Vietnam for three weeks I thought I would pen a few words to paper about our experiences. It has been a lot easier than we expected. Booking train tickets, nice hotels with hot running water and friendly people. Hanoi was brilliant. I am glad we were delayed getting our Indian visa due to holiday celebrations.
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- Our Hanoi Kids tour guide she was brilliant
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- Red Bridge on Hoan Kiem lake
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- Lots of flags flying
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- A crossing barely used
We got to see the fireworks on Reunification Day and explore a lot of the city thanks to Hanoi kids. See my review here on tripadviser:
Hanoi Kids, do the tour you will not regret it
Halong Bay was brilliant and I am glad we paid a bit extra to do a tour that had good reviews. I am also happy that we decided to do the three days and two night cruise. Otherwise after you drive four hours to Halong Bay you get on the boat rush around and get off the boat less than 24 hours later for a long drive back to Hanoi. Below is a link to my review of our Halong Boat trip.
Halong Cruise with Viola Cruises
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- On the water
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- Bit of fish shopping
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- Shop
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- Halong Bay on our Viola Cruise
Train trips are brilliant with it easy to book. The trains are comfortable and have running water for a quick face wash in the morning and they even bring you meals. Our next stop was Hue where we enjoyed our full day tour exploring the Kings and Queens tombs and the Old Citadel. The drive to Hoi An was easy and booking a car and driver who stopped along the way was well worth it. Hoi An we relaxed for a week. Going to the beach or into the old town. Now, we are at Nha Trang the only foreigners staying at a hotel that are not Russian much to the amazement of the staff.
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- Perfume river
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- King and Queen for a meal – Vietnam
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- Gardens of the 2nd Kings tomb
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- Hue Garden
If your concerned about coming to Vietnam and doing it yourself, don’t be. We mostly use trip adviser and are careful on where we stay and so far, fingers crossed have been lucky in our selections. Our last stop is Saigon and hopefully we have made a good choice there. On cost, we are paying around US$750 a week for both of us. This includes 3-4 star hotels, tours, food and transport through Vietnam. I know you can do travel in Vietnam a lot cheaper than this if you stay at guest houses or backpackers accommodation. However, for a few dollars more your enjoyment and memories will probably be better ones.
