Thorn Tree travel forum

FAQ Thread for Vietnam

The purpose of this thread is to provide answers to Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) about traveling in Vietnam I hope that this FAQ helps newcomers and others plan their trips to Vietnam. I would like to thank all the posters who have contributed information to this thread. To make searching easier for you, please find my index of some major topics as follows:

1. Visa for Vietnam => find posts #115, 117, 111
2. Ha Long bay tours/Cat Ba => #83, 84
3. Vietnam - China border crossings => #7
4. Vietnam - Laos border crossings => #8, 50, 58
5. Vietnam - Cambodia border crossings => #96, 107
6. What to see in Vietnam? => #12
7. Taxi/bus from airport to cities => #3
8. Train in Vietnam => #76
9. The lunar new year (Tet) => #23, 80, 114
10. Bus from Hanoi to Vientiane => #79
11. Bus/train from Hanoi to Kunming => #105, 106
12. Bus/train from Hanoi to Nanning => #95, 99, 100
... more »

Exchange rate to US Dollar

What is the current black market exchange for dollars? is it better to exchange as you go along or in the bigger cities? I imagine buses and guest houses take dollars. thanks

Summer weather in Laos

Hi,

We're planning a trip to Laos in July en hope to cover South, Middle en Lower-North. We're wondering how the weather is in that period because we receive contradictory information...

Regards.

Biking around Inle

Can anyone give me some pleasant bike rides to do around Nyaung Shwe-Inle lake? Any map for that available on line or locally?
What's the way/distance from Nyaung Shwe to ride to Shwe Yan Pyay monastery and Bawrithat pagoda?

share taxi to Bang Melea temple

The day after tomorrow or Wed, my friend and I will head out to Bang Melea early in a taxi. We'd be happy to split the cost with one or 2 other people. I'm guessing it's 30 to 40 $ total. I'll check this email tomorrow night to see if there's any interest.

Or drop a note at our hotel, which is My Home at #142, St. Psar Krom--for Doug or Karin.

Vietnam to China

Has anyone gone into China and then headed over to Hong Kong?

How difficult was it?
Can it be done?

Thanks Dave

Suggestions for northern laos - 10 days

We have between 10-12 days in laos starting in luang prabang, got a few ideas of what we want to do but I would be interested to hear peoples thoughts on a workable itinerary including anything else not to be missed to make the most of our time before we head back into thailand.

Things we are interested in are;

Kuan Si falls, pak ou caves (from Luang Prabang)
A trek in nam tha (not sure whether a jungle trek or a muang Sing trek - we have just done a trek in Sapa though)
Nong khiaw/Nam Ou
Muang Ngoi

we would like to do a boat journey, maybe the slow boat to huay xai from lp in time for our border crossing but if we go north this will mean back tracking, i have seen boat options from Nam tha maybe more expensive so what other options would there be. Our other alternative is just to do a boat trip in one of these regions and then just fly to chang Mia from lp to save time.. more »

Don't miss Cambodia's indie film fest, CAMBOFEST, December 4-6

If you're heading to Cambodia around early December, be sure to check out Cambodia's only international, indie film festival, CAMBOFEST, now in its 3rd year - CamboFest features new movies from around the world (including Cambodia, of course)

This year's CamboFest takes place along Cambodia's south coast in Kampot (close to Kep and Sihanoukville), from December 4-6, and will be held in a vintage Cambodian movie house which is being revived especially for CamboFest.

• • • • Seven international filmmakers attending ****

crazy cambodian experiences and diving

hey all,
ill be travelling to cambodia at the end of january for a month. im currently planning up my trip and have all the usual temple/dolphin/beach/lake stuff in there but am looking to add some 'off the beaten track' activities to my trip.

has anyone got ANY suggestions for some unique/crazy/weird experiences they have experienced or heard about in camodia? im open to any ideas really as i like to make the most of it while im in a country

also has anyone done any diving in cambodia? which is a good dive company and is it worth doing as ive read the dive sites arnt exactly the worlds best??????

and, for anyone whos already been there, how many days would you recommend spending in PP to cover all the must dos of the city?

last of all, how long should i allow for a trip from pp to kratie to see the dolphins?????? will 2 days be enough including the journey there n bac... more »