Vietnam

[cutieboy86]

thank you for the recommendations

 

[Henabi]

any hotels to recommend to stay around benh thanh market? budget around less than 150 per night..

Aplenty!!! Most of the hotels come with breakfast even those no-frills type.
But of course...The sound proofing... Is another matter.

The best should be Liberty Saigon Central.

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[cutieboy86]

any one stay in this hotel before? Alagon D'antique Hotel & Spa

 

[dede1217]

any one stay in this hotel before? Alagon D'antique Hotel & Spa

review looks not bad #31 on tripadvisor...
their room is 25m2, however seems about 20m2 ...

have only stayed before at their sister hotel, Alagon Saigon Hotel & Spa
not bad, got upgraded to their suite with jacuzzi bath tub ...

 

[cutieboy86]

Ok thx.. any good and clean massage or spa places to recommend?

 

[Hikenn]

Trang an, it's beautiful! Booked the tour from the same company, Madame Linh that a bro here recommended. Will recommend some food places later this week when i'm on desktop. Gagt hard to write too much.

Just returned ytd from hanoi. Feel free to ask me anything.

This Madame Linh , u book before u went?

 

[saffronsatire]

This Madame Linh , u book before u went?

Yup i booked before i went, you can email them to enquire further (madamelinhtravel@gmail.com). if you like, i could let them know you're keen, if you let me know your name.

I did Halong Bay day trip with another agency called Classy but they don't have Mua Caves + Trang An together. You can check their website for prices.

 

[sgspurs]

heading to hcm this weekend. planning to take a tour to chi chi tunnels and mekong delta. any recommended tour group there ?

Besides these 2, any interesting place outside the city ?

 

[Henabi]

heading to hcm this weekend. planning to take a tour to chi chi tunnels and mekong delta. any recommended tour group there ?

Besides these 2, any interesting place outside the city ?

Monkey island... vung Tau

How many days you staying there?

Tour group you can just book from your hotel or book online prior your arrival. Not much difference imo... All controlled liao

Just for your information. Going to chi chi war tunnels will take at least 2-3hours to get there from D1 hcmc. As you will be heading north past the airport and head further north...And then another 3-4hours coming back.
So technically it's one day gone.

Mekong delta runs through several South Vietnam provinces.

The region comprises 12 provinces: Long An, Đồng Tháp, Tiền Giang, An Giang, Bến Tre, Vĩnh Long, Trà Vinh, Hậu Giang, Kiên Giang, Sóc Trăng, Bạc Liêu, and Cà Mau, along with the province-level municipality of Cần Thơ.

The closest Mekong river tour, My Tho city @ Ben tre, takes at least 2 to 3 hours travel time. And another 2-3 hours back.

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[saffronsatire]

heading to hcm this weekend. planning to take a tour to chi chi tunnels and mekong delta. any recommended tour group there ?

Besides these 2, any interesting place outside the city ?

You can try classy travel, their prices and itinerary are listed on their site so don't need to spend time enquiring. I think they aren't the cheapest but i felt more confident since they appear transparent as they have a proper website.

My tour co-ordinator for my Hanoi tour was Hasu, she's based in Hanoi but i'm sure the others are great also since their reviews on TA are good.

 

[mozzozo]

Trang an, it's beautiful! Booked the tour from the same company, Madame Linh that a bro here recommended. Will recommend some food places later this week when i'm on desktop. Gagt hard to write too much.

Just returned ytd from hanoi. Feel free to ask me anything.

Hi! Could u give a rundown of your trang an tour? Looking to book from klook haha.

 

[saffronsatire]

Hi! Could u give a rundown of your trang an tour? Looking to book from klook haha.

haha what run down you want? anyway, got 2-3 different routes for the boat ride at trang an, so scenery differs slightly depending which you choose. we just chose the shorter 1.5 hours ride. apparently, the other one 2 hours.

mine was private tour including mua caves too (slightly different from klook, some tours might combine trang an with tam coc, hoa lu or bai dinh - they are all in ninh binh province, you can google to see each place), so they picked me up from my hotel in a car, then drive to ninh binh with a stop midway to rest.

then drove to mua caves first for a climb to the peak to see tam coc, which is rice paddies. (tam coc also has boat ride if you pick that itinerary.)

the lunch good variety but crappy taste, buffet at some place. then drove to trang an for the boat ride which weaves through some caves along the way and also has two stops? to see some temples. after the boat ride is drive back to hanoi.

maybe you search youtube? someone might have posted videos. should give you a better idea.

anyway, i didn't book from klook cos i feel they tie up with local tour operators anyway, so i might as well book direct and liaise myself. the klook reviews are not fantastic if you read, so you might want to look around but yeah i know it's cheaper. i wanted to book the ba vi or hoa lu one initially.

 

[ParkJinYoung]

Is Lotte Legend Hotel Saigon good ?

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[mozzozo]

haha what run down you want? anyway, got 2-3 different routes for the boat ride at trang an, so scenery differs slightly depending which you choose. we just chose the shorter 1.5 hours ride. apparently, the other one 2 hours.

mine was private tour including mua caves too (slightly different from klook, some tours might combine trang an with tam coc, hoa lu or bai dinh - they are all in ninh binh province, you can google to see each place), so they picked me up from my hotel in a car, then drive to ninh binh with a stop midway to rest.

then drove to mua caves first for a climb to the peak to see tam coc, which is rice paddies. (tam coc also has boat ride if you pick that itinerary.)

the lunch good variety but crappy taste, buffet at some place. then drove to trang an for the boat ride which weaves through some caves along the way and also has two stops? to see some temples. after the boat ride is drive back to hanoi.

maybe you search youtube? someone might have posted videos. should give you a better idea.

anyway, i didn't book from klook cos i feel they tie up with local tour operators anyway, so i might as well book direct and liaise myself. the klook reviews are not fantastic if you read, so you might want to look around but yeah i know it's cheaper. i wanted to book the ba vi or hoa lu one initially.

Oh i see! Thanks for the info haha. May i know the price u paid??

 

[saffronsatire]

Oh i see! Thanks for the info haha. May i know the price u paid??

Mine is private tour, just two pax with guide and driver, usd 80/pax. If you don't mind other ppl around, just do normal group one will be cheaper.

 

[Henabi]

Is Lotte Legend Hotel Saigon good ?

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If we look TripAdvisor...Base on the recent 2 months reviews... The recent photos shared by travellers...
Does it suit what you want?
Is it inline with What you expected from a luxury hotel?
Do you personally feel that it's value-for-money?

In terms of its location... Are you alright with being at the edge of the tourist zone?

People who find Sheraton or caravelle hotel good may not find Lotte Legend good. And vice versa.

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[saffronsatire]

5D4N Hanoi with two day trips

Flights
SQ176 0920 - 1140
SQ175 1235 - 1705

Noi Bai Airport
Dedicated lanes only for air crew and ABTC, no dedicated lanes for all other passengers whether citizens or foreigners
Some queuing to clear immigration but fairly fast
Could not say the same for luggage arrival which took ages, >30 mins?

Hotel
The Noble Swan Hotel & Spa (not to be confused with their sister chain Noble & Swan Boutique Hotel)
Booked directly with them and got a slight discount for multiple nights and also free airport pickup
Car that came to pick us up was a Mini Cooper 4-door, that was kinda a cool start to our trip albeit the luggage delay
Only managed to reach our hotel at 1320 to check-in

Private Day trip – Halong Bay
Tour operator: Classy Travel

Spoiler

Proactive and clear communication pre-trip from sales consultant, Hasu. Replies were patient, prompt and not pushy. She even came to meet us at our hotel lobby at the end of the trip to ask for our feedback and presented us with a small souvenir. Pricing and itinerary are transparent and listed on website.
Driver arrived on time for the hotel pickup and drove safely throughout the journey. Tour guide, Ti, was professional and thoughtful, speaks fluent English and knowledgeable about Vietnam's history and the history of Halong Bay and its surrounding areas. Too much food for the lunch LOL, like 8 dishes (oysters, prawn, mackerel fish, fried spring roll etc.) to share between two people.
Agree with xtwis7 that Halong Ba is underwhelming, so we just chose the cheaper of the two options but still recommended to visit given it’s a UNESCO site. The row boat ride around the Ba Hang floating village was really short, like just 20 mins.

Private Day trip – Mua Caves / Trang An
Tour operator: Madame Linh

Spoiler

Good and enthusiastic communication pre-trip from Linh, who I think is the owner. Replies were also patient, prompt and not pushy. She also took the initiative to ask about our trip soon after the tour guide return to the agency. It’s a small setup but with sincere service. Recommend by xtwis7 as well.
Driver and guide were waiting at the lobby before departure time. Driver drove safely throughout the journey. Tour guide, Tuoi, a cheerful petite lady, was warm and helpful throughout the trip. While she has been speaking French for a few years and only learnt English for a couple of months, she spoke well enough for us to understand. She helped us up and down some very steep steps of the Mua Caves. The 500 steps climb was quite tedious.
Linh made a good recommendation to visit Trang An over Tam Coc. The view at Trang An was beautiful and breathtaking. Despite the many tourists, the place felt serene. The hour and a half boat ride was amazing and we look forward to doing something similar as this in the future. I highly recommend visiting Trang An. It’s also a UNSECO site.

Food

Spoiler

Madame Hien [4.2 stars 517 Google reviews] - Took the 3-course set lunch which was pretty decent and set us back by just VND 435,000 with tax

Giang Café [4.4 stars 1,425 Google reviews] – Went for the egg coffee, shop is located inside an alley, almost couldn’t see it, small seating area occupying two storeys, egg syrup kinda sweet, especially since we didn’t know we had to stir first, the iced egg chocolate wasn’t so good, just choco power on egg syrup with ice bits

Trang Tien Ice Cream [4.2 stars 622 Google reviews] – nothing to shout about but still kinda interesting to pop by, basically the place consists of a few different zones, bakery on the outside and a café next door, inside, there is one area for soft serve, one for scooped ice-cream, one for popsicles, again another one for soft serve, prices are dirt cheap here starting from something like VND 6,000 or 7,000 (that’s just 40c?), no crowd when we were there but business was brisk

Old Town Café [4.1 stars 1,012 Google reviews] – decided to check out this place since it was much reviewed on google but it turned out disappointing, more of a drinks place than for food, we just ordered a few items, friend spring roll, beef maggi as pho wasn’t available but was surprising tasty and some chicken jerky that was really spicy, a beer and soda, it was raining that evening so we just sat on the 2nd floor indoor area, which was rather warm and humid, went to check out the 3rd floor when we were done, a nice alfresco area that would have been more cooling

Quán phở Gia Truyền Bát Đàn [4.2 stars 1,064 Google reviews] – decent soup base, we only ordered one VND 50,000 bowl and dough fritters (roasted pork not available) to share as place was quite crowded and cramp, there was a queue as it seems like many tourists know of this place, it’s self-service, you queue, order and pay and try to grab seats at the same time, we went around 0930 and the crowd started to thin closer to 1000, which there are supposed to close according to google (my hotel and day tour guides recommended Phở 10 Lý Quốc Sư, 4.1 stars 711 Google reviews, not sure if it’s because it was really near our hotel), pho 10 definitely looks slightly more sanitary than quan pho as quan pho as waste bins beneath your table and I was sitting next to one

The Hanoi Social Club [4.4 stars 1,007 Google reviews] – decided to check out this place as well since it was much reviewed on google. Cosy retro café with friendly staff but food was nothing to rave about, pasta and burger were mediocre

WannaWaffle? [4.2 stars 93 Google reviews] – had a waffle craving, so decided to search for a waffle café and this place turned out pretty good, was hard to locate this place too as we had to look for clues from other reviews and finally realized we have to go through Circle K and then go up the stairs to the 3rd storey, place was clean and run by some young people, you can either choose one of the pre-selected combinations or DIY, a quarter of a waffle was VND 20,000 (S$1.20) or half for VND 35,000, and add a scoop of ice-cream for VND 25,000 and other toppings at VND 5,000 to VND 10,000 each, also ordered a Japanese inspired tear drop jelly that was quite pretty

Fu Rong Hua Cantonese Restaurant [4.1 stars 222 Google reviews] – interior looked nice and there was a crowd, so we decided to give this place a go but the food was horrible, never eaten worst xiao long baos and dumpling noodles in my life, guess it’s one of the few Chinese restaurants around

Hanoi Food Culture [4.7 stars 138 Google reviews] – highly recommend this place, staff could speak decent English and were always so warm and friendly, one guy who could speak slightly better English gave us some very good recommendations to order the mixed spring rolls and this morning glory salad, which was so appetizing you kept wanting to eat more, also ordered bun cha and one more dish, they aren’t that many reviews but the place seemed well known to Caucasians, they were at least two big groups of them, prices are so reasonable as well, like VND 700k there about or just over S$40 or so for 4 dishes and two drinks

Pizza 4Ps (Pizza for Peace) [4.5 stars 1,381 Google reviews] – highly recommend this place, quite awesome wood-fired oven pizzas and ambience, staff can speak good English, we ordered a pasta, a mixed pizza of parma ham and salmon sashimi, a mini cheese platter, two mini beers and this bill came up to just S$40 as well

Bahn Mi 25 [4.4 stars 1,590 Google reviews] – closed for a staff’s wedding prep unfortunately

Note Coffee [4.4 stars 581 Google reviews] – got our Bahn Mi here instead which tasted great nonetheless, the coconut latte and hot mint chocolate was also good, environment on the other hand, did not feel very clean for a café with those post-it notes stuck all over

Other places I would have wanted to try
Bun Cha Ta Hanoi [4.3 stars 750 Google reviews]
Bún Chả Hương Liên [4.1 stars 2,117 Google reviews]
New Day [4.3 stars 603 Google reviews]
Quán Ăn Ngon [4.1 stars 2,400 Google reviews]
Ngon Villa [4.2 stars 447 Google reviews]
Press Club Hanoi [4.4 stars 192 Google reviews]
O'Douceurs [4.3 stars 110 Google reviews] – cakes and pastries look really promising!

Landmarks

Spoiler

Saint Joseph’s Cathedral (located in the old quarter) – took some photos outside and popped in quickly, there was a wedding going on and then more photos outside again, not a big place

Hoan Kiem Lake – kinda meh and underwhelming, decided not to pay to go in the Ngoc Son Temple temple on the lake despite the rather cheap entrance tix

Thang Long Water Puppet Theatre – kinda walked to the area but again decided we weren’t very interested, there are several shows a day from late morning to late evening

Trang Tien Plaza – can be missed, first storey had luxury goods and the other levels had some sports shops like Nike but the rest of the department store was rather 1980s and quite quiet with few shoppers LOL, absolutely no food and we were stranded due to the evening rain!

Weekend night market – quite near the lake, repetitive souvenir items of lacquer ware, embroidered products, imitation sports apparels and those wooden bags blogshops are selling now, bought two embroidered cushion covers at a steal for VND 100,000 (S$6)

Tran Quoc Pagoda – grabbed there but realized they are close for lunch! Looked underwhelming anyway, so we took a long walk to Ba Dinh Square to see the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum but guess what? It was closed too! Was later told by our day tour guide that they are only open in the mornings and it’s a small place where his embalmed body rests and people make one round around the body and pay their respects but sometimes you need to queue for quite long to get in.

Hoa Lo Prison Museum – admission was VND 30,000 or 35,000 per pax (S$2) pretty interesting, we spent over an hour here to roam about to view the exhibits and also watched a video about the prison, pre, during and post viet war, John McCain was a POW here (his plane was shot and he parachuted into a river and was saved by the viet people) and he re-visited it years later when he became a senator, apparently amdk and the captured US soldiers were treated really well, hence the other name of ‘Hanoi Hilton’

Midori Spa – massage parlour that hires visually impaired masseurs, massage was cheap at VND 260,000 but massage was average only, no private rooms for body massage, beds are separated by curtains

 

[Henabi]

Currently planning a 4D3N trip which includes Hanoi and Sapa

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[ParkJinYoung]

Taxi or Grab better in HCMC ?

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[grapewall]

Taxi or Grab better in HCMC ?

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If taxi, can only take vinasun or mah linh. The rest of the taxis have rigged meters.
Not much difference between taxis and grab. The price difference is like, 1k or 2k. But for grab, you need an address.
Sometimes, you cant get grab. Just walk outside and flag a cab. Lots of taxi at D1.