travel advice

From Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) to Hanoi, for the mid-range traveller:

Re hotels, take a look at these two sites: www.vietnamtourism.com and www.vietnamadventures.com. They both highlight some of the higher end hotels and provide good general information. I'd also recommend taking a look at the Lonely Planet book for Vietnam, they describe all the hotel types including the middle and top range places and are fairly reliable and up-to-date in terms of their information.

In Saigon, I've always stayed at the cheap hotels in the backpackers area but I've also visited the Caravelle Hotel (maybe 80-90$US per night or more). It's very nice, looks like a hotel you'd find in any major centre around the world, and the staff seem quite good. Might be a nice place to start from; it would certainly be comfortable and an easy place to get your bearings from. It's right near the old opera house and it's very easy to walk to museums and shops from the hotel. The other top-end hotels are also ok (Rex, Majestic, etc), and they're VNese-run in most cases. Prices may be a bit more affordable. If you do stay at the hotels, we (Phet & Thaba Tours Inc) recommend that you eat outside the hotel; food is so much tastier and cheaper outside. I also think the zoo in Saigon is very pretty...but that may just be me.

Another thing to think about for a treat is staying at a fancy hotel somewhere outside the major centres...I've seen the Nha Trang Ana Mandara resort and it's super pretty, but also super expensive at $130 US! Still, for a night or two for new it might be nice. Nha Trang does tend to get quite busy during the high seasons, and it attracts alot of travellers during the christmas season. I didn't stay at any hotels in Nha Trang (I was travelling with a colleague and we stayed with her family...what a deal, lovely house about 5 minutes from a very nice beach just outside of town), but the main strip of the beach has lots and lots of hotels lining it. Most of them are in the medium range in terms of price and comforts. I really liked Nha Trang, but the main area is quite touristy with lots of foreign and VNese folks, so don't expect a secluded beach. However, the water is gorgeous, you can take nice boat trips, rent bikes or motorcycles and drive out of town, and the food is very tasty also.

You can check out the airline schedules at www.vietnamairlines.com, however prices aren't listed on the website. Call the toronto office at 416 304 1639 to find out more, or if they never answer the phone drop by their office, I think it's on (or near) University south of Queen. Or at least it was before.

I would recommend then flying to Da Nang. The prices are not too expensive and then you arrive feeling well rested and ready to tour around. I would recommend staying in Da Nang for a couple of days (go eat some big crabs on the beach, go see the Cham sculpture museum), and then taking a bus to Hoi An. Hoi An is a really, really lovely spot; an old shipping town for commerce dating back to the 1400s, with Dutch, Japanese, Chinese and other traders making the town a central trade point. The downtown is full of very well preserved old style Chinese houses. It is a touristy spot, but in a pretty good way and with good reason. There are about 8 million tailors in the town and you can get clothes whipped up overnight for very cheap prices. Just get things made that don't have to be super best quality. Also, there is a stunning beach just outside of town that you can bike or motorbike too. Excellent seafood also. Lots of small hotels, check in the Lonely Planet for recommendations. We stayed at a really nice one near the bridge on the river, but I forget the name, sorry.

Then, I'd say, take the bus up to Hue. Hue is also very nice, and seeing the Emperor's old palace is quite something. The town is pretty relaxed and you can go around by cyclo very conveniently. The drive from Hoi An to Hue is lovely, along the coast and up a big high mountain pass. In Hue, we stayed at a nice and reasonably priced hotel just near the old palace. There are also lots of hotels in the centre of town.

Then, the next recommendation is to fly to Hanoi (or you could take the train if you really want that experience...be sure to book sleeper bunks). We liked the train just fine, but keep in mind that it may not be what you expect, ie no air con, tiny fans, smallish bunks, maybe not as clean as you'd like, etc. Still, a fun experience if you're up for it. Expect to get to Hanoi very tired and ready to c r a s h.

In Hanoi, our 'hometown', there are plenty of hotels to choose from. Since by then you'll be used to things in VN, maybe choose a not-too-expensive place. The expensive places are ok, but the cheap ones are generally clean and just fine. We often stay at the Trang An Hotel on Hang Chau Street (10$ US per night; very clean, with TVs - CNN only - and hot water), and across the street there's a slightly fancier place for $15 a night. The location for this hotel is good, right across the street from the thousand year old university of Hanoi, and then about a 10 minute drive to the centre of town. There are also tons of hotels scattered closer to the central area, just take a look at any guidebook.

Of course there's lots to see and do in and around Hanoi - go visit some of the surrounding villages where they make ceramics, paper, etc. There are lots of small tour companies offering day trips, but you can also just go out on a motorbike on your own if you feel like it. Ha Long bay is gorgeous, as is Cat Ba island, but you need 2 -3 days to go there. (2 for Ha Long, or 3 for Cat Ba). If you want to get very nice clothes made, like Chinese dresses or VNese Ao Dai, or also western style suits, go to Ngan An shop. They cater to VNese and also westerners and do excellent work. The prices are high for VN but still cheap for Canadians, plus the quality is really high. The address is 7 Tran Phu.

Also, take a look at: http://www.sinhcafevietnam.f2s.com/ They have really good info about all destinations, and they are also the company that runs the cheap (very cheap!) tour bus that goes north - south. You can get on at the major points, and get off wherever you want that's on the track they follow. If you decide to take the bus anywhere on your trip, go with Sinh Cafe. The local buses leave somewhat erratically and naturally the drivers can't provide info in English. The Sinh Cafe folks deal with only tourists, so they know what to expect and where you might want to go. You may lose out a little on the local flavour, but that will be more than made up for in some amount of ease. Plus, the buses are still extraordinarily cheap. Sinh Cafe also offers tours in the cities, and trekking outside, and are generally cheap. Service varies; sometimes excellent sometimes sub-par.

Hanoi is also excellent for shopping in general, and it's nice if you wait till then to buy some take-home gifts so you're not lugging everything with you on the way. For fancier girly stuff check out Ipa Nima and Song. [Vietnam-20-July-2001]