Chocolate

I am arriving in Hanoi this week, and was planning on bringing some chocolate as a gift for an orphange I plan to visit. Are there any restrictions to bringing food into Vietnam?

started my birth control

Halong Bay for a family of 4

We are travelling to Vietnam at the end of Oct and are looking for a cruise in Halong Bay that can accomodate 2 adults and 2 kids, preferrably in one room. Most that we have found indicate that the max kids per room is 1 which means that we have to get a second room and therefore double our cost.

Anybody have suggestions?

And what are the good outfits that people have booked through?

Thanks

Halong Bay for a family of 4

Hi themartinis,

Highly recommend Classic Sail Junk - Ciao Travel

Cheers

Halong Bay for a family of 4

You need to provide which ages are the kids in order to deal with boat company to accommodate them into the existed cabin.

Bai Tho junk in Halong Bay is the best, you can search for relevant information about this boat.

Mike

Hi how did you go- we are also a family of 4 (girls 11 and 8)- did you find an appropriate cruise and do you have any tips about Vietnam??

Thanks!

Hi themartinis,

To be honest, the room on boat is about six to twelve metres square so it is too small for a family of 4 people.

If possible, you may consider a private boat which only have 2 cabins so that you%26#39;ll have plenty of room for family.

In term of your budget, I recommend a family room (2 double beds)on Lagoon Enplorer Junk or a connecting room on Red Dragon Junk. They offer very good quality wooden boats and their services are professional.

As far as I know, there%26#39;re several boats have room available for 3 (1 double bed + 1 single bed): Red Dragon, Victory Junk...

Only the Lagoon Explorer has room for 4!

Hi, there.

We are travelling to Vietnam this summer, and is going on a 2d/1 halong bay booked thru footprint travel. We,too, are a family of 4 -kids 5 and 9 and was managed to book a triple room in the Red Dragon through Footprint travel. It will be a tight squeeze but it%26#39;s just for 1 nite on the boat, plus my kids are petite in size. How old are your kids?

Hanoi Trip

We have planned to stay 5 nights in Hanoi in early April 09. This is our first timer. My questions are:

1. What do you mean by staying at old quarter? Are you refering to accommodation in wooden houses? Do they have many 3-star hotels at old quarter area? What is the name of the area at old quarter?

2. We have heard of Halong Bay in the forum, which is about 3 hrs drive from Hanoi. Is it advisable to go for day trip or over night at the junk? How much does it cost per person?

3. Is it easy to arrange local tour with the tour operator while you are there or it is better booked it via internet?

4. Can anyone reveal the name of hotels 3 or 4* near shopping complex?

5. What is the name of the biggest shopping complex in Hanoi?

6. Besides shopping complex, where can we get the cheap silk, clothing, shoes, etc?

7. How much can you change for one USD100 to the local currency?

Rgds,

richard

Hanoi Trip

Hi Richard,

1)Old quarter is an old part of Hanoi - lots of character, hotels and restaurants. No wooden houses:)!That is the name of the area - you will find on the maps the Old quarter.

2)Definitely go to Halong Bay - we went only for a day trip, but I would advise to stay overnight. You can stay either in hotel or on the boat. The prices vary depending what you want - basic trip or luxury boat.

3) It is easy to arrange the tour when you arrive in Hanoi. I would do my research on the Tripadvisor before going though, so you would know what you want.

4/5/6 There are no shopping complex in the old quarter (at least we didn%26#39;t see any) but you will find plenty of little shops and market stalls where you can find nice things. If the main reason why you going to Vietnam is shopping I would go to Hoi an in Central Vietnam, it is heaven for clothing, shoes, bags and ect. Talking about the hotel, we stayed in Hanoi Elegance 4 and I can reccomend that. It doesn%26#39;t really have stars but it has all 3* hotel facilities and more.

7)Cannot comment, as it always changes, have a look on Internet.

Hope this helps

Hanoi Trip

Hi Richard,

If your would like to see woodenhouse, please take walking Ma May street, No 87. That%26#39;s ancient architecture in Viet Nam what built since earnly XIX century.

Hotel 3* at oldquater: Majestic Salut on Hang Duong Street

And If you would like to get cheap silk, clothing.. . please walk to Hang Gai Street. Good Price

Thanks

hi Rechard

1, Staying in Old Quater not mean you will stay in wooden house. That means there are plenty of hotel in Old Quater fpr overnight that you can book via internet or through travel agents. Some area name in Hanoi Old Quater gathering hotel: Mamay street, Hang Manh street, Luong van Can, Ngo huyen street....

2, Halong bay is far from Hanoi about 175 km ( 3 drive), Here is famous for caves, grottoes and over 1,000 islands. You can take 1 day tour Hanoi halong or 2D1N Hanoi-halong with 4-8 hours cruise on Halong bay. There are plenty Overngiht Junk for overnight in Halong if you do not stay overnight at hotel: Huong Hai Junk, Bai tho Junk, An nam Junk......

3, It is better if you have partners in Hanoi and book through travel agent. The cost is much cheaper on the internet

4, 3* hotel near shopping central: Hong ngoc hotel, Flower hotel, Bao Khanh hotel, Viet hotel, Platinum hotel....

4* hotel: Flower garden hotel, Hoa binh Palace hotel, Sun eay hotel.....

5, Dong Xuan market is the biggest shopping In Hanoi at Hanoi Old Quater

6, If you want cheap silk, clothes, beside Dong Xuan, you could rent a car to Van phuc village where is famous for silk

7, 100 usd = 1,7480,000 VND. But the exchange rate is daily changable

Hope you will get more information before pick up Vietnam

RGDs

Khanh-Vietcrane

Thanks for the good feedback and it is very useful for my trip planning. Just few more questions here:

1) Regarding Halong Bay, if I decide to take up 1 day tour to Halong from Hanoi instead of 2D1N, how many hours do they normally allocated for cruising on Halong Bay? Is it cheaper to book the tour through the Hanoi travel agent there or is it cheaper to book through internet?

2) Regarding overnight junk, is the boat crusing along the Halong bay big and each have their own individual room like hotel! What about the river condition - is it also rough as sea? Is it bad to stay overnight junk in April 09 because i can easily get motion sickness if the sea condition is bad.

3) Is it easy to move around if we have Hanoi city map or with the help of the cab driver?

4) What sort of currencies do they normally accept for exchanging to VND? Besides USD, what about Singapore Dollars or Brunei Dollars?

5) Are the clothings cheap there? What about food if you have it at the restaurant?

Thats all.

Rgds

ray

Hi Richard,

Old quarter is the oldest part of Hanoi Town. It%26#39;s the most happening part of Hanoi I can say. Really nice to stay around there as never difficult to get anything you want, from eat, shopping of silks (etc), and you can see many travel agent there. Most of them offer a very competitive price in US$. You can just pick one you trust and go ahead with their service. If you looking for a nice beautique hotel I recommend: www.giabaohanoihotel.com they have a nice descent service, as well as the room is very2 clean. I can say worth of money. Some of the hotel in old quarter might be over price.

Moreover, I recommend you to go visit Sapa as well. For Sapa trip you can trust: http://www.sapa-hotels.com/ they are managed by local Sapa tourism Board. Very professional and able to help you in term of tour around Sapa too. They can give you the best advice. I hope you enjoy your stay at Hanoi!

As far as seasickness on Ha Long Bay goes, I get seasick very easily. But in Ha Long Bay, even without medication I didn%26#39;t feel in the least ill. It is very calm.

Hanoi is full of inexpensive cafes and restaurants.

I can%26#39;t comment on Brunei dollars, but I%26#39;m sure we saw signs in jewellers%26#39; shops (they do money exchange as well as banks) advertising rates for SGD.

Vietnam or Thailand

We%26#39;ve been going to Thailand for the last couple of our OS trips (generally every 2 years). We have really loved Thailand and usually do a couple of day%26#39;s in Bangkok for the shopping/cultural experiences followed by a couple of weeks in Phuket to relax by the pool/beach with some day trips added in here and there.

For our next trip we were thinking of Vietnam but would still like to have some day%26#39;s relaxing by the pool or beach as we work long hours and will need the rest. At the same time we like to ';discover'; the country we are in.

My question is....is Vietnam a place where we can do this?

Vietnam or Thailand

My wife and i went 2 vietnam,cambodia and thailand for 1week each last nov. I would recommend cambodia over vietnam. PP is a great easy city to explore but the jewel is kep/kampot. Kampot is on the sea and not busy just yet and ';the veranda'; at kampot is amazing, cheap with great views of the water.Also the people dont wont to rip u off as wuch as the vietnamese.Safe travels.

Vietnam or Thailand

I vote for Vietnam. I%26#39;m now in Chiang Mai, and while I find Thailand very nice, I miss the atmosphere and people of Vietnam very much (that%26#39;s why I%26#39;m headed there in a few hours). For a very relaxing time in Vietnam, I suggest Hoi An since it has everything you%26#39;ll be needing. Thailand is too Western and First World for me - give me the innocence of Vietnam any day!

Hello, My boyfirnd and I just returned from Vietnam 3 days ago...our experience there was definately not relaxing. although if you plan on spending a bit more money on your hotel then you may be able to relax more. Vietnam on a whole is very loud, very busy, and most of all you will not get a chance to fully feel relaxed on the beach as people are constantly trying to sell you stuff. We visited both Hoi An and Nha Trang, the beaches were very nice but again we were always being hassled to buy things even when you paid to sit on a beach bed....the soliciting never ends. We have not been to Thailand to draw a comparison but this would be my opinion on Vietnam.

Ving Hung Resort

I just spent 2 weeks in the Ving Hung Resort,

and found this to be a very clean, staff ever so helpful, management very helpful as well. I would go as far as saying this hotel is a wonderful place to stay .breakfast is wonderful, and the hotel is walking distance to the ancient town. Being very convient to many places in Ho Ann They can not do enough for the traveler. Very lucky to have this hotel thankyou

Dorrie MacNider. staying most of Feb 2009

8 days spare..........

We are visiting vietnam early April and have a couple of days pklanned in HCMC, thebn overnight train to Hue for 2 nights and then plan to make our way slowly back to HCMC for our return flight. That means we have 8 days between Hue and getting back. We thought we would skip Denang and spend the time between Nha trang and hoi an, how does that sound to you all? Any must see or do places other than obvious marble mountains and my son?

Also, we want a couple of days chilling at the beach, but which one? where? which hotel?

any ideas ????????????

So much to do, so little time!

8 days spare..........

Hoi An is a lovely place to stay. Good idea to skip Da Nang, but on the way from Hue if you%26#39;re into old stuff the statuary at the Cham Museum in Da Nang is worth an optic.

Can%26#39;t recommend a beach side place to stay in Hoi An (though others recommend the beach and hotels there), but the Ha An is a fantastic hotel, about $45US per couple per night including a lavish buffet breakfast and very attentive staff. The in-house restaurant is excellent also if you don%26#39;t feel like walking the couple of blocks to the main part of the old town.

We%26#39;re planning to visit the Cham Island while in Hoi An, and will probably also do a session at the Red Bridge Cooking School.

There are also kiosks dotted around town where you can buy a master ticket for a modest sum which entitles you to visit different places, like one museum, one temple, the Japanese Bridge, an old house and a handicraft workshop. If you want to visit multiple museums or old houses etc, you have to buy a second ticket but they%26#39;re not terribly expensive.

Others here have recommended the pottery village, and just wandering around the old town is fun. See if you can find the Ba Le well :-)

Can%26#39;t recommend anything in Nha Trang as I haven%26#39;t been there.

8 days spare..........

Thanks very much for the advice, will def spend some time in Hoi an.

Enjoy your trip!

gold eyeshadow

email hosting

Hi there! Any one stay at Hanoi Advisor Hotel?

I%26#39;m planing to visit Hanoi in this summer and i would like to stay at Hanoi Advisor Hotel. Any one have been here please give us some experiences. Thank you