Vietnam

[sare]

We have a whole lot of miles that are going to expire soon - enough to get us two return flights to anywhere in Asia. We've done Singapore, Bangkok and Hong Kong to death. You couldn't drag DTC back to Indonesia so Vietnam has become the default option for a 4-5 day trip.

However i'm not sure Ho Chi Minh or Hanoi are appealing to me all that much keeping in mind we'll have Madam with us.

Those familiar with Vietnam - where is somewhere nice and relaxing and child friendly to go that can be accessed easily from one of the big cities?

[wombatrois]

Hoi An - fly into Danang from either of the two big cities.

[sare]

thats what we're doing - we can fly into Da Nang directly from Singapore

just going through the numbers to see if the cost of taxes/accommodation/visas/getting Madam a passport is worth spending in order to use the points.


tips on baby friendly stuff to do in Hoi An?

[HalcyonDaze]

Sare, passport for Madam lasts for 5 years, so think of it as a long term investment. ;-)

[scicaro]

Sare, my sister is working in ho chi Minh would you like her email and you could ask for ideas?

[sare]

that would be lovely!

[StripeySocks]

Hoi An's lovely. Went there pre-kids though so trying to think what she might be interested in.

- hired a bike from my hotel and rode out to the beach. About half an hour I think. Stopped and chatted to an old man riding a buffalo. Wonder if there would be any baby bike seats? Dunno
- take her on a cyclo ride around the old town
- find the shops that sell the paper lanterns, very colourful and pretty
- try and get a hotel with a pool. I stayed in a rather strange one where most of the foyer was a pool.

Another option is to fly to Phu Quoc Island from Saigon for a beach break.

[poppy]

or leave DTC and Madam home and go to the Prague Piss up!

[sare]

ack god help me
what a nightmare week
car accident stole half the week and I have to book this TODAY

Hoi An is now out because DTC can't get off work till November which apparently is Hoi An's wettest month
I don't want to fly half way across Asia to sit in the rain. I can do that here!

I'm going to have to book flights ASAP and am leaning towards flying in to Ho Chi Minh spending a day or two there then going down to the Mekong Delta and finding a nice hotel/resort for 4-5 days.

Thoughts?

[scicaro]

Sounds lovely to me. My bank account is suffering from school fees and car purchase so I don't know when we will (if ever) get to visit my sister over there.

[Raised_By_Wolves]

i'd suggest Phu Quoc, but it takes time to get there from the mainland (unless there are flights). november is dry season in the south.

[jimm]

I answered on TT but it seems that Hoi An is out for the time being. The place we stayed at in the delta (Hung's Homestay near Can Tho) probably would not suit you.

Best of luck.

[sare]

I haven't been back to TT yet (after my week from hell)

Flights are booked for a bit of time to make plans and some contacts in HCMC I can call upon

[jimm]

We stayed in a nice small $30 hotel last year in a quiet lane off Pham Ngu Lao (the 'backpackers district')in HCMC if you'd like the name.

[wombatrois]

November can be wet, but we were there in November and the weather was ok. Hue was a different story!

[sare]

there's no way i'll get DTC in a $30 hotel.
me - not a problem
but if the bar doesn't stock Bombay Sapphire then his shadow will not darken the doorway.
he can be a bit of a pretentious wanker in that respect

[jimm]

Buy a couple of litre bottles at the duty free on the way then stay in a nice $30 hotel - cheaper than staying one night at the Rex!

OTOH the later might be a better choice with a bub.

[sare]

Yeah that's the real issue. . I've got to be able to clean and prepare her foods somewhere clean and sage with a kettle/microwave.

[Phar Lap]

Sare, I stayed at Thanh Binh III in Hoi An. I chose a room on the ground floor with a small private garden area. There is a lovely pool and the buffet breakfast is good. My favourite eating place was the Art Cafe Gidino across the road. Walking Street is interesting (no cars permitted) with its old buildings, art galleries and bright lanterns.

A nice area in Ha Noi was around Hồ Hoàn Kiếm Lake and the Thang Long Water Puppet Theatre is very popular with adults and children.

[sare]

thanks
with all the disasters lately i haven't been able to get any more organised
trying to get on with it this week

[janeyd]

lmao.
I also stayed in Thanh Binh III hotel in Hoi An
I also went in november which was supposed to be "wet season" but which was actually really nice.
I also recommend doing the standard Hoi An stuff like clothes at Yaly tailors and custom made sandals/shoes elsehwere
I also recommend the water puppets in Hanoi

[sare]

i think we're going to change our flights to fly into Hoi An (Da Nang) from Singapore and skip HCMC altogether.

[janeyd]

5 day trip? yep, another vote to d fly into Da Nang from singapore if you can. You'll easily fill 4-5 days with Hoi An, Danang and Hue.

[sare]

fly out on a Thursday night, leave on thursday night - 7 days, 6 nights


my only concern is the weather in Hoi An/Da nang - i'm reading to expect everything from afternoon/evening cloud bursts to typhoons and catastrophic flooding.

and with the way our luck is running lately i daresay we're more likely to be get the typhoons and catastrophic flooding

[wombatrois]

According to one site, next Thursday is only 50% chance of rain :-)

Tuesday and Wednesday only 10%, so it's variable. Still 31 degrees, though, so you won't freeze.

[janeyd]

also, no guarantee its going to rain all 24 hours of the day, right

[wombatrois]

Absolutely, you'd have to be dead unlucky like we were the entire three days we were in Hue!

[jimm]

I can't recommend an hotel in Hoi An as we stayed in a homestay. But I can recommend a couple of great restaurants - the 'Secret Garden' and 'Brothers'. We also had excellent pho in a place in the old town, but I don't know the name off hand (will look it up soon) and a very nice green papaya salad at another place on the other side of the river sort of near the Japanese bridge, likewise don't know the name, but I have a photo so can read th name later.

3 hours later - the pho place is at 25 Le Loi, and the papaya salad place was 'Man Nguyen' at 25 Nguyen Phuc Chu.

,

[sare]

thanks!

we've decided to go straight to hoi an
and if it does nothing but rain that's fine...we'll just sleep and eat!

[wombatrois]

As they say (sometimes) in the restaurant caper, "good choice"!