I loved Luang Prabung too, a magic place and hard to leave! I would also suggest you go out to the Plain of Jars. Unfortunately the name of the town escapes me, but there are details in the LP. It was weird and fascinating...did a great one day tour that included the jars sites and a village built on bomb shell foundations! A reminder that Laos is/was the most bombed country in the world (according to the guide). The tour guide spoke good English and was informative, friendly and had a great sense of humour. Vung Vien (spelling?) south of Luang Prabung was great too. Laos is beautiful and has a great vibe, but the food in Vietnam remains my favourite of anywhere I've been yet...in Saigon there is a great market that closes at night and then is surrounded by food stalls. Took me 12 months to 'eat' my way arround it! and didn't have one meal I didn't enjoy and the people watching is the best! Don't miss the War Museum in Saigon and if your into a few drinks or just weird places to drink go to Carmen bar. Even people who have been to a lot more places than I agree that there is nothing quite like it! Hoi An in the north of VN is a lovely town and tailor central, you can even have shoes made to order! Cheap and great quality, still wearing the few items I had made. If I had known what I know now about clothes in VN I would have gone there with an empty suitcase. The citadel in Hue is also worth a visit but I didn't think much of the city itself...beware of cyclos in Hue....Enjoy!!
I also enjoyed Baguette and Chocolat in Sapa as #8 noted. 2 days/1 night for Halong Bay does work out well, 1 day far too rushed, not to mention that you couldn't get out very far in the bay. We used Handspan Travel and it worked out very well. They also booked our train tickets to Sapa. If you go to Halong Bay first, you can get back from Halong Bay by around 5-5:30PM , then take the night train for Hanoi to Sapa.
I know everyone as their favorite places to stay, but we really enjoyed Thanh Xuan Hotel In Hoi Ann. It was probably the friendliest place we have ever stayed. We were there last year and paid about $25.00 including brekkie.
In Hanoi, we stayed at The Golden Lotus. At $50.00 for a deluxe room including breakfast, I know sometimes the backpacker crowd thinks it too expensive, but the location and room is superb for the money. Reserve room 701 in advance for a room with a roof top balacony. The staff was also lovely.
Just keep on checking the SE Asia branch, I found so much great info there also!
Vietnam
excellent tour company for Vietnam Their trip to Halong Bay is very well worth the extra money. As born2go says they can also book train tix for you. Look out for the posts by hongha on the Vietnam branch. Don't forget to try Fanny's ice cream on the west side of the Lake, Brother's Cafe has an incredible Vietnamese lunch buffet, and Le Cyclo has excellent Viet food too. Baan Thai had amazing Thai food. The Thai embassy staff all eat there. If you get tired of Asian food, Al Fresco's had the BEST ribs. Their milkshakes were outrageous too.
For HK
Dragon Hostel
For Hanoi
Salute Hotel
i think the plain of jars was outside of phonsovan...but i found it a boring excursion...though others did not
...rough travel from there to nan neam, then stops at phu lao on thru vieng khan & nang kiaw...before entering china via udomxai
...excellent kayak tripo on river at nang kiaw
I still think the Sinq Cafe open-ended bus is the best organized bargain in Vietnam. It stops at Dalat, Na Trang, Hoi An and Hue in the South and you can stay as long as you want in each place. You just notify them the day before you plan to leave. They stop at acceptable accomodations, or you can take or LP and look for something else. Sometimes I did that, and other times I just stayed where they stopped.
The flight to Chiangmai from Luang Prubang is only a half hour with Laos Airlines, and is a good way to do one end of the trip. You can book that in Luang Prubang.
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