Thailand, Laos, Vietnam
Replies: 26 - Last Post: Nov 3, 2012 1:30 AM Last Post By: Elgreco77
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All being well I'm going to retire in Jan and spend my 65th birthday on hols. We're hoping to have 4 1/2 weeks in total. I want to go back to Thailand and see as much as I can of Vietnam. We've done Cambodia before. This is my first shot at it and I'd welcome any advice. I know we won't see a lot of Laos, but I haven't read good things about Ventiane and, at our age we don't want to spend all day on a crowded bus;
Fly to Bangkok then onto Changrai
two day boat trip with Shampoo tours to Luang Prabang
3 or 4 nights there with day trips out and my birthday meal
fly to Hanoi and onto Halong Bay (2)
Hanoi (3)
sleeper train to Hue (1)
train to Hoi An ( 1 or 2)
stop on way to Nha Trang, not sure where (1 or 2)
Nha Trang ( 2 or 3)
stop on way to Mekong Delta, not sure where
Mekong Delta ( 2)
HCMC ( 3)
Fly to Bangkok
Thailand (3) not sure where, been a few times
Bangkok (3)
Thanks in advance
Fly to Bangkok then onto Changrai
two day boat trip with Shampoo tours to Luang Prabang
3 or 4 nights there with day trips out and my birthday meal
fly to Hanoi and onto Halong Bay (2)
Hanoi (3)
sleeper train to Hue (1)
train to Hoi An ( 1 or 2)
stop on way to Nha Trang, not sure where (1 or 2)
Nha Trang ( 2 or 3)
stop on way to Mekong Delta, not sure where
Mekong Delta ( 2)
HCMC ( 3)
Fly to Bangkok
Thailand (3) not sure where, been a few times
Bangkok (3)
Thanks in advance
1
sleeper train to Hue
The train to Huế is long. Oh my god is it long. Very long. You sleep, then you wake, and you're not half-way there. Consider flying.
2
Thanks, Malvolio, I wanted to experience the train journey and thought the overnight part would be an adventure. We were booking sleepers. Maybe we could do another part of the journey by train.For me the Unification Train was a big part of the trip. As with the two day boat trip to Luang Prabang, we could fly there, but want to do the boat trip.
Thanks for the input I'd welcome any advice. As for accomodation, we're quite happy in hostels with double rooms or basic but clean hotels. All advice appreciated.
4
''train to Hoi An ( 1 or 2)''There is no train to Hoi An. The nearest railway station is Da Nang. There is a regular bus from Da Nang to Hoi An. Taxis are reasonably priced too.
If you do just one train ride try Hue-Da Nang. Just three hours and very attractive
I would suggest that Hue is worth more than one day.
6
revised schedule, thanks for all help, still subject to change following advice, but looking better;Fly to BK, onward to Chaing Rai ( or day after depending on connection) stay in Chaing khong
two day boat trip to LP
LP, 4 nights
fly to Hanoi, 3 nights , with one night in Halong Bay
fly To Hue, 2 nights
train to Danang, then bus to Hoi An, 2 nights
bus to Quy Nhon, 2 nights
bus to Nha Trang, 2 nights
bus to Dalat , 2 nights
bus to HCMC, 4 nights, with one night on tour of Delta
fly to Bangkok, 3 nights, beach, somewhere?
3 nights Bangkok
Home
Thanks and all advice appreciated
7
Just redone this and now flying out a day earlier, and back a day later. All in all we have 3 spare days. Where would you spend them? We could go LP, bus to Vang Vien (1) and then Ventianne (2) then fly to Hanoi. Its seems a long time on a bus. Any other options?Thanks
8
I guess you have been to Chiang Mai? We splurged and stayed at a hotel called the Rarinjinda which was just amazing.Hoi An was our favourite part of Vietnam, check out the Red Bridge cooking school. We flew from Saigon to Da Nang, anf from Hue to Hanoi though due to time. We stayed at the Hoi An Heritage resort, which again, was wonderful.
We did get a night train to Sapa though, it was fun, I would recommend it as an experience. Was freezing in January though so take thermals!
You can fly between LP and Vientiane reasonably cheaply, would mean missing out on VV, would save a hell of a long time on a bus!
9
El Greco, Luang Prabang has an international airport, so why not consider skipping Vang Vieng and Vientiane altogether? I hope I'm not wrong in suggesting that there's a flight from LP to Hanoi, I went from there to Bangkok on Tiger Air. It just seems likely that there will be flights to Vietnam, given the links between the countries. I won't rekindle the polemic on whether VV is worth visiting or not, I've never been, so I wouldn't know. But if you're busing in, then out again the next day, you won't have much more time than a pit stop anyway. Vientiane has its charms, but you could miss it without major loss if your time is short.10
How are you able to book the sleeper trains in Vietnam?I emailed one of the online ticket websites and never got a reply..
11
How are you able to book the sleeper trains in Vietnam?Wait til you get there. With a bit of luck, you can get a ticket on less than a days notice. Buy at the train station or through an agent. Agents often have tickets even when the station has sold out. They charge a small premium for their service. Also, sometimes they screw up arrangements, so the station might be a better bet.
13
thanks everyone. We can fly from LP to Hanoi no problem, and we have done Changmai and the Hill Tribe trek and absolutely loved it. The highlight of our last trip to Thailand, done Cambodia too so not sure where to spend our spare days. Thanks for all the suggestions. Retirement around 95% certain, will be confirmed early next week and I'll be booking flights the same day.Cheers
14
I think that you are maybe looking at it the wrong way.Maybe look at your stops and see where you think you could add an extra day or so here and there.
We had 2 nights in Hoi An and definitely wished that we had an extra. As we arrived reasonably late in the afternoon on night 1, then the cooking school took up a lot of the next day, that was all we had as our bike trip left early on morning of day 3.
Are there any trips that match your hobbies, we did a 2 day motorbike trip between Hoi An and Hue with an overnight in a homestay. Or a trekking trip in Northern VN?
