Where to from Hanoi - Itinerary help

Apart from the obvious (HCMC, Hanoi, Hoi An, Hue, Sapa, Halong Bay) try the area around Danang. Go to the Marble Mountains for the unusual temples and the views, The Cham towers and China Beach.
The city itself is not wonderful but has a pleasant promenade, fishing port and the award winning Cham Museum. And a PINK Cathedral.
The bus ride between Hue and Danang is spectacular.

I like how the "pink" is capitalized for emphasis, haha...

Hoi An is my personal favorite. The town just takes my breath away at every turn. If you're into photography, I thought Hoi An was the most photogenic, at least in the Old Quarter area.

Da Lat is great, too.

It's hard giving tips when I don't know what you enjoy doing.

Well, when you go through the Cu Chi tunnels near HCMC, bring your own torch as it gets dark and quite claustrophobic. And when visiting the tombs in Hue, bring fish food! You can feed the fish. :)

After Hanoi, if you really want to experience rural Vietnam, stop in Ninh Binh and visit the countryside.
ONE LOVE !!
Mike

Ninh Binh is a great base for Tam Coc and Cuc Phuong national park. Go to Tam Coc early to avoid the crowds from Hanoi, and consider staying overnight in the park to do some extra walks. Their endangered primate centre is great.

I also did the trip from Hanoi via Mai Chau and Sonla to Dien Bien Phu and found it interesting, though the bus trip was quite difficult- but that's interesting too.

I met some people who decided not to travel more than 3 hours on a bus, so coming south from Hanoi, they got off at small towns and stayed a few nights. They really enjoyed it.

I spent a few days in a place about 150 km south of Hanoi called Thanh Hoa. Large town, I think nearly a million, but pretty with limestone karsts dotting the countryside. The train from Hanoi stops here. There are some fun markets. Need to use some creativity with ordering meals gettng around however as it was very hard to find any english spoken. A phrase book gets good use here.

About 15 km eastwards of this town is a beach side town called Sam Son. Lots of government style hotels for a km or so along the foreshore. The beach itself is very pretty and there are some interesting thatch hut style eatieries along the beach road. A little out of town heading northwards but still along the beach road is new place called Van Chai resort. Very swish I must say. It is privately owned and offers a peaceful place to stay in bungalows with all the mod cons if you want them. It has a spa type setup with 2 swimming pools. The beach is pristine and in the ams the fishing boats come in and shake out their nets - I was fascinated for hours.

It is expensive, the cheapest room is about USD $ 50 but you certainly get value for money. A great place to chill and rest for a couple of days.

Marleemia

#6
A new poster and a positive idea. Plenty more to come, I hope.

When you get to Hoian take it all in. Say "Chao" to my friend, Captain Dan, at Captain Dan's Tour Boat on the Hoian river front. He does a nice river tour. He once took 4 fellow travelers and me up the river to an area I operated in during the war. We stopped at a village where they had never seen "white" people before. The blonds in the group were a real attraction.

Anyway - Consider a motorbike trip down the NEW "Ho Chi Minh Trail", it runs parallel to the wartime Ho Chi Minh Trail. If you're an accomplished rider hire a bike and guide. If you're not, consider hiring a driver/guide with a bike and ride 2nd seat. Make sure he knows the route. Go west of Hoian to Highway 14 (this runs parallelto the old HCM Trail), it's a paved highway. Go south through Dak Glei, Kon Tum, Pleiku, Buon Ma Thuot and Dalat. There are a lot of small villages along the way. Hotel accomodations are sparce and Spartan. There are Montanyard tribes living here (camera shy). Great scenery - mountains, waterfalls and lakes - awesome. I saw foreigners only 2 times until I got to Plieku (this was '03). Dalat is great. Then swing down to Nha Trang for some great sea food. This tour is a bit pricey (unless you're a great negotiator) by Vietnam standards. US$250 (?) for 5/6 days. That's because you have to pay for returning the bike(s) and driver/guide to Hoian.

To do this ask at your hotel desk, someone always has a "cousin" who wants to make some extra money. Just make sure he speaks English and knows the route. You can also start further north, but you'd miss Hoian; and I'm not familiar with that route. Be careful, there a lot of truck traffic on these mountainous roads.

Good Luck!

Dwight Z.
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