Vietnam

[jokerpoker81]

which hostel is recommended in Hanoi?? location wise etc.....

Hanoi Backpackers Hostel
Ha Noi Atlantic Hostel
Hanoi Guesthouse

check out ratings / reviews at http://www.hostelworld.com starting from the worst ratings ( could be close to 100% also, and gd remarks )

tht is how i came to choices of hanoi legend and splendid star, and chose the former in the end.....location is ok....

Hanoi - Sapa - Halong Bay
http://forums.hardwarezone.com.sg/showthread.php?t=2589220

Ho Chi Minh - Dalat - Nha Trang
http://forums.hardwarezone.com.sg/showthread.php?t=2204843

 

[MrTheROCK]

i stayed in hanoi charming hotel. service is excellent! USD22 a night for a double bedroom. located near hoan kiem lake and of cos at the old quarter. if any of your tour packages cock up, they will help u, regardless u book it through the hotel or not. which happen to me. hee hee

from airport, take the airport van cost only about 300 000dongs. once van reaches the lake, take taxi to this hotel. please take mah lin taxi. white top and green bottom. about 20 000dongs. meter on automatically so cannot cheap passengers money! haha

in hanoi itself, a must to visit is the water pupprt show and the french quarter and the lake of cos. outside of hanoi, a must to go halong bay and sapa!!! hope this helps.

 

[katarina]

i am thinking of going to hanoi from hcm by train....any idea how much will that be? how long is the journey? feasible?

 

[watertreader]

first time to hanoi, hw many days are enuff to cover???

hanoi city maybe 2-3 days... Ho chih minh masoleum about a morning and afternoon.. Ho kien lake, about an afternoon..do visit the eli cafe or the surroundingone to laze around, maybe the scholar temple or the cathedral for cultural stuff + the water puppet(must see)...the old quarter for an exp of hanoi everyday life..taste the bun cha,cha ga and hanoi beer, rice, snake wine..of cos viet kopi, ...also try the viet dessert........
if u dun like roadside stall can go quan an ngon...or more high class one like 1946...

Think take u at most 3 full days lah...
The old quarter mite be a bit hard to navigate though
If u going out of hanoi...then another story liao

 

[jokerpoker81]

i am thinking of going to hanoi from hcm by train....any idea how much will that be? how long is the journey? feasible?

Possible but tk days. Waste time. Use domestic flights, 1 way thk usd 50+, 60+? can get liao

 

[MrTheROCK]

take jet star from hcm to hanoi la...which i did. and never regret. cheap and fast. on board buy drinks and set meal to eat also cheap! cos in dongs!

 

[stonedx]

depends. are you going to halong bay?
i would say give halong bay about 2 days for you to enjoy.

first time to hanoi, hw many days are enuff to cover???

 

[MrTheROCK]

ya, halong bay must 2D1N....else wasted

 

[player]

going hanoi during CNY and fly off on sunday .. heard that many shops will be closed for CNY ... anygood place to recomend . btw i follow tour ..

 

[watertreader]

ya, halong bay must 2D1N....else wasted

Depend...lah... if u visit guilin b4, u mite nt want to take a full 2d1n tour... Also @nite nothing much to do...unless u can really blend with da fellow passenger well...i end up drinking rice wine with them on the boat @ nite... Bring cards along...good way to interact with people

 

[iamlzw]

hanoi city maybe 2-3 days... Ho chih minh masoleum about a morning and afternoon.. Ho kien lake, about an afternoon..do visit the eli cafe or the surroundingone to laze around, maybe the scholar temple or the cathedral for cultural stuff + the water puppet(must see)...the old quarter for an exp of hanoi everyday life..taste the bun cha,cha ga and hanoi beer, rice, snake wine..of cos viet kopi, ...also try the viet dessert........
if u dun like roadside stall can go quan an ngon...or more high class one like 1946...

Think take u at most 3 full days lah...
The old quarter mite be a bit hard to navigate though
If u going out of hanoi...then another story liao

2 days (one day is for halong) is more than sufficient. i spent the third day at hanoi (free stay cos win voucher) in my hotel because there's nothing left to see =)

dunno abt you guys, but i find halong bay so so only... plus there's really nothing u can do at night if u got for the 2d1n package

 

[veejae]

fell that ha long bay is so so also too, not very pretty, water is slightly murky. one day tour only. if going with a group of friends, pay around.. 10 more if i remembered correctly to canoe.

with regards to the train thingy, i dealed with this guy from hanoi to hue and will deal with him again. advise to pay more get the 4 berth cabins.

Mr David Tran info@traintosapa.com

stayed at the sofitel metropole legend, and it itself was worth the entire trip.

enjoy!

 

[Dahawk]

wow. finally finished reading all 170 pages of this thread. Took me 3 nights.

Most prob going over to HCMC in may, might wanna take a trip to either DaLat or Nha Trang, up till now from the 170 pages, i can only find that the only way is through bus.

Is there any other better way? (Shorter timeframe + more comfy, of course at a reasonable price).

 

[Techadd]

wow. finally finished reading all 170 pages of this thread. Took me 3 nights.

Most prob going over to HCMC in may, might wanna take a trip to either DaLat or Nha Trang, up till now from the 170 pages, i can only find that the only way is through bus.

Is there any other better way? (Shorter timeframe + more comfy, of course at a reasonable price).

pm me your schedule and no. of people, no. of rooms and i can help check for you on the accommodations

 

[Dahawk]

bro pm-ed you.

 

[greentea123]

i going vietnam this march, wonder how much money do i need to bring to shop there?

 

[Dahawk]

techadd, did you recieve my pm? havent heard back from you

 

[mangomilkshake]

Question on flight:
Is there any budget airlines that cater to such arrangement?

SG to Hanoi
HCM to SG

Departing from different airports.
What's the technical called?

Thanks in advance!

 

[lqkhoi]

@Dahawk: No way to go to DaLat except bus (around 6 -8 hours). You can choose plane but the saving time is not worth it to me ard 2hours.

@mangomilkshake: yes, TigerAirways, Jetstar, LionAir (though cant be call budget) all have flight from Sing-HCM, Sing-HN and vice versa.

@greentea123: difficult to answer. How can I know how many things u wanna buy ? Remember dont exchange too much at the airport the rate is very bad (ard 12500 VND/1SGD) in the city the rate can go up from 13200 to 13600 VND/1SGD.
Just exchange ard 1M VND first enough for you to take a taxi (ard 100 to 150K to city central) and 1 day survive. When reaching the city you can exchange it later.

Any ppl have more question feel free to pm me, a VNese

 

[stonedx]

Question on flight:
Is there any budget airlines that cater to such arrangement?

SG to Hanoi
HCM to SG

Departing from different airports.
What's the technical called?

Thanks in advance!

yes there is

that time i went
SIN-hcm-hanoi-sg

for sin to hanoi (tigerairways)
hcm to sg (jetstarasia)