Good Reports?

I was a big fan of BomChaCha's reports - more like a blog than a trip report, but he went into great detail about street food, people, incidents, and he went quite far off the beaten track. He had an idyosyncratic way of looking at things, and was very honest about his feelings about travelling - sometimes he got stressed out over little things ... but he was always worth reading ...

kim_h and MickeyMike for mature, unbiased and truthfulness.

Read the FAQ's from Hongha at the top of this Branch. Get some excellent info on where to go, what to see, where to eat etc.

Hi Will,

I'm in detox program at present and my liver is just recovering, only just I might add!! hahaha! (Only kidding!!)

Been busy planning my next adventure so I've been scanning other sites for information myself. Having a little break over Easter and driving to Adelaide for the Rugby Sevens. But major plans in place for a four month round the world trip. Gotta live the dream!!!!

Still get on here when I can mate. Thanks very much for the compliment. Glad it helped.

I'm like you, I tend to get alot more out of reading reports from people, and there have been some excellent ones on here, to gather useful information and advice. And some are just great reads in hearing what people have done!

If you have any specific questions just ask, always happy to help out.

We miss Vietnam so much we actually went and saw Miss Saigon last night!! haha!!

All the best and happy travels.

Cheers Andy.

Search author "Hanno", a German expat living in Can Tho. He made some great reports on the Mekong Delta (Tra Vinh and Mui Ca Mau southern tip of Vietnam). I tried to find the link where he posted some info about Mui Ca Mau but the thread may have been deleted. Maybe you send him a pm. I also keep one of his reports in my file.

Hi - I thought phredmn wrote good trip reports for cycling in the Mekong and trekking in Bac Ha. Also a good read were those from sweetrose6. I too have found trip reports very helpful (big fan of your's Andy).

All the best

Hongha's FAQ is the place to look, as mentioned above. phredmn/julies also had this to say about VN, but chose not to post it on LP Vietnam. This gives a more realistic visual.

Now for the downside. The country is extremely dirty, noisy, jam-packed with people, full of litter, and generally filthy. We saw a lot of very interesting things but nothing we would refer to as charming. The poverty and living conditions are absolutely incredible. Count your blessings that you were not born in a third world country. I think everyone should, at some time, make a trip to see how the majority of the people in the world live so as to gain a perspective on how truly well-off and privileged we in the West are. Every photo you’ve seen in National Geographic or in a solicitation for donations to worldwide charities is absolutely true. We saw 3 year olds barefoot and with no trousers on in 50 degree weather. We saw people cooking over firepits in the corner of their mud huts. We saw people using the Mekong River for cooking, cleaning, washing, defecating, fishing etc. We saw families of 5 all riding on the same motorbike because they were lucky enough to be able to afford this mode of transportation. We saw children who do not attend school because their parents can’t pay the annual $100 tuition.

Do we regret the trip? Not in the least! Would we go back for a second visit? I don’t know. Frankly this is the only trip where we have ever looked at each other and said that we were ready to go home before the end of the trip. This happened to us about day 13 out of 15 days. Perhaps it is because we opted for a trip that was difficult physically and exposed us to the true gritty conditions rather than the “tourist nice” places where visitors are pampered and catered to. Put it this way, I’m now perusing the Europe board again and thinking of another trip there rather than another Asian destination for our next trip. The idea of sitting around relaxing in a nice café in an appealing setting with a bottle of wine sounds pretty good right now.

Purely because I'm nosey, Ron: if they decided not to post it on LP, where did you find it then?

Don't drink milk in hot weather (it's a bad choice).

I have read the FAQs (did that first) and phredmn's reports - all very good. Thanks everyone for all the others.

I really want to audition for the Saigon Symphony Orchestra while I'm out in HCMC, does anyone know if they have a website or anything? Everytime I google it I get a long list of hits for anyone in the world who's performing Miss Saigon!

Ron, really: extremely dirty, noisy, jam-packed with people, full of litter, and generally filthy??? We must have been to a different Vietnam! I couldn't agree less with any of these observations, but I suppose as all observations go they find their roots in your perception and frame of reference. Maybe you've never travelled to a non-Wetsern country before and maybe you are from some remote part in the Mid-West and used to miles and miles of empty space :-). In that case I suppose some Vietnamese towns can seem full.

But back to the OP: for a nice blog on Vietnam you could read the Vietnam part of this blog. Have a great trip!