needing advice on 4 weeks in asia

am looking at travelling to asia and i am wanting to visit Saigon, Nha Trang, Hoi An, am wondering in Hue is worth a look? Also wanting to visit Hanoi, ? maybe sapa? in vietnam

Then wanting to venture into laos and go to Luang Prabang and Vientiane?

then come back down through thailand through Chiang Mai, to bangkok, to do a few day tours out of there.

I have been to thailand twice, but am just wanting advice on how long i should spend in each of the places.

i thought i would fly into bangkok and then transfer over to Ho Chi Minh, up for any advice, as these parts o asia will be new to me.

Was thinking about using local trains in each country to move from one city to the next and flying between the actually countries.

needing advice on 4 weeks in asia

Hi, we just came back from our 3 month trip to Asia. I absolutely hated Saigon, but it is good base for Cu chi tunnels and Mekong delta - definitely visit that, Saigon itself is an awful, mad place with 6million motorbikes driving on every flat survice - including the pavements! So I wouldn%26#39;t plan too much time for saigon itself - day is more than enough to see the sights. We didn%26#39;t go to Nha Trang, but I heard it is beautiful. Hoi An is great, definitely spend at least 3 nights there - it is lovely and relaxing. We rented bikes and cycled to the beach, went on the little wooden boat ride with some local old lady and her daughter, and just chilled in lovely cafes and restaurants on the river and in the old town. Talking about the restaurants - do not miss %26#39;Morning glory%26#39; near the Japanese Bridge, it serves great and authentic vienamese food(chicken curry was our favourite). If you have been to Cambodia and Angkor temples, I wouldn%26#39;t bother with My Son - stay and enjoy Hoi An. We went to Hue - but I wasn%26#39;t that keen on it. I f you do go, 2 days is more than enough, we went to Citadel and had cruise on the Parfume river and visited some tombs. So if you are not interested in history and old buildings, you probably will find Hue quite dull. The town itself isn%26#39;t very cahrming either. Definitely go to Hanoi. It is mad but has lots of character. Don%26#39;t miss Ho Chi Minh masoleum and water puppet theatre. Ha long bay is great - we went for a day trip, but overnight one is better option, as the trip to Ha long bay is very bumpy and long. We didn%26#39;t have time to go to Sapa, which was disappointing - as it is breathtaking. Cannot comment about Luang Probang - as haven%26#39;t been there, but have heard lots of positive comments.

Chiang Mai is great, we spent 4 nights there and 3 in Chiang Rai (we wanted to see Golden Triangle). 3 nights for Chiang Rai were enough, but we wished we had more time for Chiang Mai - as there is lots to do. Chiang Mai is a great city - very relaxing. Our highlight was attending a cookery class - it lasted all day, and I cooked and ate the most amazing Thai food. About travelling - we were quite lazy and mostly flew everywhere. It worked fine for Vietnam as flights aren%26#39;t that expensive. We flew between Hanoi and Hue. Hired a car from Hue to get to Hoi An. And flew from Danang (nearest airport for Hoi An) to Saigon. But I know there are overnight buses which you can book in Sinh Cafe. There is very good train between Chiang Mai and Bangkok.

Hope this helps

needing advice on 4 weeks in asia

Thank you, its absolutley what a wanted, to hear aout your reent experience now gives me agood path to follow on how long and what i should do in certain places.

Did you book the flights in australia or when you got there?

We booked flights from / to Vietnam while we were in Australia, as we travelled near Tet time which is very busy time in Vietnam and flights get booked out quickly. Saying that we booked our flight from Hanoi to Hue when we arrived in Vietnam,as only Vietnam airlines fly this route. And any attempt to buy these tickets from outside Vietnam was abandoned when everyone kept quoting very high prices. We ended up buying them at vietnam Airlines office in Hanoi for 40USD each - half of what we were quoted outside the Vietnam! We booked our tickets from Danang (nearest airport to Hanoi)to Saigon from outside Vietnam, as Jetstar flies this route- so that was easy and cheap - $30 something each. Trains and buses were easily booked once in the country.

gold eyeshadow