Vietnam?????

nj23

Thinking of going to Vietnam on holidays this year and was wondering if anyone has any advice or information.
Was in thailand last year and really liked it and we are thinking of either going back to thailand or trying vietnam. or maybe combining both
What are the beaches etc like. WHat places are worth visiting and where would you get cheap flights. Any info would be much appreciated.

PunyHuman

I preferred the north of Vietnam to the south because it seemed much less westernised than the south, for obvious reasons.

Highlights for me included time in Hanoi, Hue, Da Lat and boating around the Mekong delta. Cu Chi is worth a visit, as is the war museum in Saigon.

The only beach I was on was at Nha Trang which was nice but not beautiful. There are supposed to be some nice ones further down the south coast.

I thought that the only really negative aspect of travelling in Vietnam is the way you're sometimes hustled around the place by the tourist companies, some of whom are kind of unscrupulous. Taking trains when possible proved to be a good experience.

And there are a few cheap airlines flying around SE Asia. Search around and you'll find them.

Ag marbh

nj23 wrote:

Thinking of going to Vietnam on holidays this year and was wondering if anyone has any advice or information.
Was in thailand last year and really liked it and we are thinking of either going back to thailand or trying vietnam. or maybe combining both
What are the beaches etc like. WHat places are worth visiting and where would you get cheap flights. Any info would be much appreciated.

When you're going over that side always include Thailand along with something else, it's just too good not too. Im on my third trip this year for 3 months and I would recommend Laos over Vietnam any day! I'm hearing more negatives about Vietnam than positives these days. Angkor Wat in Cambodia is another one to check out.

This year im going to Thailand, Burma(Myanmar), Laos and Malaysia.

nj23

I was in thailand last year and loved it. I was there for just less than three weeks and it really wasnt enough. we saw a little bit of a few places but not very long in any. This year the predicament is whether to go back to thailand and see a bit more of it. could you recommend any places other than chiang mai, samui, phuket and phi phi that are worth seeing?
Or else we were thinking about spending a week in thailand and a week or two in another place. Loved the whole asia buzz, where would be best to combine with thailand if we did that... cambodia, laos vietnam?

We are looking for really nice beaches but also to see some sights as well. one of our complaints last year was that we did so much moving around we didnt really relax and were wrecked when we got home.

Any other advice you can offer is much appreciated. Also what is the best time of year. went last week in august and first two weeks in september, but were planning to go earlier this year. whats it like in july or early august.

arac

Ag marbh wrote:

This year im going to Thailand, Burma(Myanmar), Laos and Malaysia.

is nt Burma meant to be a bit dodgy what with the ban on tourism etc?

PunyHuman

There's no ban on tourism in Myanmar; in fact, the ruling junta actively promote it. Friend of mine travelled there last year and loved the place. Sure, there are a few bureaucratic impediments but nothing too drastic.

If you have qualms about visiting a country with a dodgy government, you'd soon find yourself hard presesed to find places to go.

Defcon 5

Whats the deal with visa's i was priced 145 for one to enter vietnam ,
I heard its cheaper to get one when over there or in Thailand?
Is this the case ?
are they easily obtained ?
What price are they? :rolleyes:

I would really appreciate some help with this while its only 145 yo yos any saving would help towards my vaccinations!

Cheers folks

PunyHuman

I got my Vietnamese and Laotian visas in Bangkok and they were much cheaper than the price quoted - Vietnamese was maybe €40 (but that was for next-day delivery) and Laos was maybe €20.

It's possible to get Cambodian visas at some of the border crossings but it's likely you'll pay a bit extra to the crooked border guards - they relieved me of an extra $7 plus 100 Baht 'stamping charge' which the dude put into his desk drawer, already overflowing with 100B notes. The whole experience still came to only $30.

If you have to buy antimalarials, get them in Bangkok as well because they're about 1/10th of the Irish price.