Reports on Thorn Tree demonstrate that visitors either love or hate the country. Some say that the Vietnamese are pushy and their aim in life is to cheat travelers. I prefer to use the expression: that the Vietnamese particularly in Saigon are entrepreneurial. We found that the people were friendly and helpful particularly in the smaller townships, villages and the countryside. Even in large centres such as Hue and Da Nang, people stopped us in the streets, just to talk with us. Some invited us to their homes or business places to have coffee and meet their friends.

Bargaining

Be prepared to bargain, prices come down dramatically and the Vietnamese love to bargain which means that it can be a mutually enjoyable experience. Touts, cyclo drivers etc will want to bargain in dollars – bargain in dong because it saves money and gives a more flexible bargaining base. Some travelers report that cyclo drivers can be aggressive when trying to get your business. We found them easy to deal with. I guess it is how confident and relaxed you are in your attitude. Kids will pester you to buy postcards – buy some cards and then show the kids that you have some and have a chat with them.

Bureaucracy

Travelers still report that Vietnamese bureaucracy is corrupt. They continue to advise that you carefully check your visa to ensure that it contains the appropriate departure point as you can only leave from the place nominated on the visa. Ensure upon arrival that immigration and customs give you all necessary paperwork, because if you don’t have it at the departure point they will try to fine you. This continues to be a popular scam. If you do confront problems with the bureaucracy, adopt a pleasant, courteous, persistent approach. Don’t be concerned if they don’t appear to understand English or French – keep trying. Rene didn’t have one of his documents when we left from Hanoi. I happily settled in to discussion mode and after some time, the official got either sick of listening to me or noticed that the queue was getting longer and longer and waved us through. And when all else fails, your fall back position is to negotiate the fine. Travelers report you can bargain it down substantially.

Photocopy relevant bits of your passport, and all the Vietnamese documents. Hotels want these documents and you may prefer to give them photocopies rather than originals. Recent travelers are reporting variable success in depositing photocopies rather than passports. We had a 50% success rate but didn’t make an issue of it.

Safety and security:

We thought Vietnam was extremely safe and happily prowled through darkish lane ways at night. Travelers do report low key robbery, mainly bag snatching predominantly in Saigon. Don’t leave valuables within a metre or so from windows in hotel rooms, even if there are grills on the window. Soft wire with a hook can neatly extract your camera etc. whilst you are comfortably snoring. But then you would know this from your past travel expertise.

Changing money

Bank hours are variable, close down for 2 hours in the middle of the day. Note that smaller towns do not have exchange facilities. As usual count your money especially as you get "bricks" of dong. Torn notes don’t appear to be an issue. Incidentally, I wouldn’t recommend changing money on the black market – a bit iffy and reports suggest that the black market exchange rate is no better than that from the banks. We didn’t use credit cards although we did see an ATM in Hanoi.

Language:

English works well in the south, but for Hue and further north, French is useful if you want to talk with older Vietnamese about the French colonial empire or the French and American wars etc.

Pooing and peeing:

In the cities you get mostly European loos. In small towns and villages, loos tend to be Asian style and can be smelly and dirty – but not nearly as bad as in some other countries. In some villages, there is just an open, odorous pit.

Getting around: Buses

As independent travellers, Rene and I disliked the idea of the Vietnamese regime of tour agencies eg Sinh Café, Red River etc but we used them judiciously as a pragmatic means to get around efficiently. We did a 5 day Mekong Delta tour, a one day Cao Dai/ Cu Chi tour, a 3 day Halong Bay tour, 1 day Ninh Binh tour and 5 days Sa Pa and Bac Hai. Basically their buses get you to these areas, arrange hotels which were low budget and then you potter around by yourself. We used a Sinh Café bus to get us up to Da Lat and then we found our own accommodation and then a Sinh Café bus to take us to Nha Trang. The agency buses were basic, but more comfortable than the local buses. Before we left Australia I worked out how long it would take us to independently travel to all the places we wanted to see in the Mekong – it worked out at something like 16 days.

Getting around: Trains

The trains are better than those in Indonesia and India or, dependent upon your point of view, more boring – no exciting challenges or Asian train chaos or mayhem. The railway stations lack the colour, or excitement of other Asian railway stations. Nor do you get people invading the trains to sell food or drinks. There can be some low key selling when trains stop at stations. The trains more or less run according to schedule. They are delightfully slow which allows you to absorb the passing scenery, plus sliding past villages gives you a near voyeuristic view into huts and houses. We took a first class overnight sleeper accommodating 4 people from Nha Trang to Da Nang. It was a little more up market than the Indian equivalent. We loved the little compartment and the accompanying bureaucracy. We took 3^rd class seats from Da Nang up to Hue. This, as a day journey is highly recommended for the superb countryside you pass through. The carriage was uncrowded compared to 3^rd class in other parts of Asia. We took a 2^nd class soft seat for an overnight trip from Hue to Hanoi. Uncomfortable and nothing to make the journey interesting apart from the train running over a poor unfortunate a couple of hours out of Hanoi. I would suggest taking a combination of 1^st class and 3^rd class tickets as each give different train experiences. With the former you should book ahead, basically get into a town and book your tickets for a couple of days hence.

Getting around: Motor bikes

We hired them on a number of occasions. Traffic rules or the Vietnamese equivalent are interesting. Only to be recommended if you have used motor bikes previously. We didn’t have motor bike licenses but that is a decision you must take re the risks of an accident or being pulled up by the police. A policeman did wave us down to stop but we decided a quick exit was the preferred strategy. Motor bikes are a good way to move between areas and great for stopping to chat with villagers etc.

Getting around: Bicycles

Again these are a good mode of transport in the smaller cities, villages and to get out into the countryside. I am 5 foot and got suitable bikes so I guess at least your daughter should be fine. One of the minor hurdles we confronted was having kids wanting to us to give them lifts on our bikes when we were cycling through rural areas. This was good fun and gave us an opportunity to chat with them and their parents.

Getting around: Boats

Vietnam is water, water everywhere, so a lot of boats.

Getting around: Cyclos

Well, I like that mode of transport for the slow pace. Sometimes we hired one each. You use them to get you to a particular place or to amble through cities at whim for a number of hours.

Getting around: Hire cars

Only used them once but it was very cheap.

Accommodation

Rene and I have always used your techniques. One person stays with the packs and the other goes out and checks establishments and prices. Ensure you get a room off the street as the Vietnamese start the day very early. In villages be prepared for the public radio blaring over loud speakers giving the local news and uplifting social messages at around 5 am – it is worse than mosque noise because it goes on longer.

Negotiating prices works effectively from superior hotels to basic accommodation. Through bargaining we reduced the cost by 30% plus for up market or mid range hotels. You can also negotiate lower prices for cheap hotels although I didn’t bother if they were quoting $8 or lower. Hotel prices now appear to be cheaper than when we were there 2 years ago. You can get good, clean accommodation in Saigon for between US$6.00 - $15.00. We elected for the $8.00 range came with nice rooms, ensuite and aircon. $15.00 gives you aircon, a fridge, phone and TV. I adored Vietnamese TV as it gave insights into what makes Vietnam tick. Small, family run hotels will give you free tea, coffee etc when you come back from a hard days sightseeing. Showers and loos were clean in even the cheapest hotels we stayed in.

Food and drink

Breakfast costs $1-2 for 2 people, lunch between $2- $6, average dinner costs for 2 ranged from $4-$15 dependent upon where you eat and what you eat. Up market restaurants can cost a little more.

We searched out restaurants popular with the locals. Watch what they are eating because it mightn’t be on the English or French menu and ask for it if it looks and smells good. Road stalls or the low key cafes for pho, the noodle soup. Each region has its own pho nuances. Eat it for breakfast, lunch and dinner. My favourite breakfast whenever I could find it was baguette filled with a Vietnamese pate or sliced pork with greens, chilli and other condiments. Mobile food vendors offered regional delicacies that we didn’t see in the restaurants or cafes. They were delicious. I liked Vietnamese green tea which had a slight almond taste. Coffee served in different ways is wonderful. We enjoyed the local ice cream (krem), my favourite was the coconut version.

We drank water from the tap in all Vietnam’s cities and towns and filled our own water containers from these. Bottled water is readily available. Consider buying it in the Vietnamese super markets etc rather than in tourist stopping places which charge a lot more. We loved bottled water we were given on a train which carried a label advertising that the water included "free bacteria". Beer is readily available – there were lots of varieties that Rene tried. We tried a Vietnamese vodka in Da Nang. The local wine and brandy in Sa Pa and Bac Hai was lethal, powerful stuff and tasted gruesome.

Places to visit

We preferred the north as we felt it was in a time-warp as it had been isolated from western influences much longer than the south.

Hanoi

I think it is one of SE Asia’s most intriguing, and one of the most beautiful major cities in Asia. It is a wonderful city for prowling around the neighborhoods, checking out the little streets and lane ways etc. Lots of discoveries. I enjoyed equally the old Vietnamese part of the city and the frayed elegance of the newer French quarter. Although I had mixed feelings about visiting Uncle Ho’s museum it was fascinating on a series of dimensions including the long lines of school kids waiting to enter. The Temple of Literature is a must see as are the water puppets. We spent a week in Hanoi.

There are various areas for reasonable accommodation. We stayed in the area near the railway station, to avoid the backpacker hotels in the old part of the city. When we were there you couldn’t get anything for less than $15 but recent reports say that there is OK accommodation for $8. We stayed in the Thong Nhat Hotel, $15 in a quiet lane, called Nam Ngu St. First class facilities for the price, family run by nice, caring people. Lots of similar hotels in this and nearby streets. We did some good grazing in reasonable eateries throughout the city. Regrettably, I did not retain their addresses and they are not listed in the guides. Mini street stalls offered interesting food.

Halong Bay etc

Halong Bay is a must see altho a 3 day trip might be too long for your kids and Cat Ba island doesn’t add much to the overall experience. Go to the inland waterways, Ninh Binh/Hua Lua – south of Hanoi. The people row with their feet, and you can spend a couple of hours in one of these boats, we had a boat to ourselves. The cliffs and outcrops are impressive with some temples, and tiny houses huddling beneath them. Wild goats jump from crag to crag, I was enchanted watching and hearing a couple of kids bleating for their mother goat and then leaping down to join her.

Sa Pa and Bac Hai:

As you visited northern Thailand you might give Sa Pa and Bac Hai a miss. However, I found the latter’s hill tribes infinitely more colourful than those we saw trekking out of Chiang Rai (that was 20 yrs ago). I adored the small horses that the Bac Hai people use to bring themselves and their goods to market. There were about a hundred horses and the mares were often accompanied by the cutest little foals. There was also a horse market where we saw prospective buyers trying out the horses. We have 2 horses of our own, so therefore we are biased. The area around Bac Hai, with terraced landscapes reminded me a little of Nepal. There were stacks of tourists at Sa Pa, the tribal people were keen to sell their goods to them, whilst the atmosphere at Bac Hai was much more positive and few tourists. Bac Hai’s market is one of the most fascinating I have ever seen.

Accommodation in both areas is basic. In Sa Pa our room was heated by an ineffective pannier filled with coals which produced more smoke than heat. We slept practically fully clothed even though we had brought one of our super down sleeping bags. There are some nice little family eateries in both places.

Hue:

This is one of my favourite Vietnamese cities with wonderful historical sites. Hire your own boat to go up the Perfume River and visit all the royal tombs as they were all quite different. There are also lots of interesting low key temples in Hue. They may be locked but persevere as they are intriguing, more for a social rather than religious dimension. We spent about 4 days in Hue.

I believe that Hue is one of Vietnam’s culinary centres. There are a couple of good up-market restaurants along the river bank, great for an evening meal but a little expensive. One of the most magical culinary experiences we discovered in Vietnam was at the small Quan Chi Quy, at 176 Chi Lang St., a 30 minute bicycle ride from Hue’s city centre. Wonderful, Hue food, extremely delicate in flavour and very complex in the nuances of food preparation. It is a lunch time rather than an evening eating place. Hue Ngu Thien restaurant at 58 Trang Thi St was also good. When you are at the Citadel, consider Huong Sen, it has a lovely ambience and nice, albiet mainstream Vietnamese food. Don Tam at 48 Le Loi offers good Vietnamese vegetarian food in a lovely garden setting. There is good budget and middle market accommodation in this area. There are a stack of restaurants on the west side of the river popular with back packers. People rave about the Lac Thanh restaurant on Dien Tien Hoang St, which is run by a deaf mute. We thought it was the pits – full of loud, insensitive back packers. The food also lacked integrity.

Da Nang and Marble Mountain

Da Nang is a non descript city although we were there over Christmas and the city centre erupted into a massive street party. We attended Christmas Eve mass in the central church and that was an experience with Catholics and Buddhists alike relishing the ceremony.

We hired a motor bike to do the short trip down to Marble Mountain. People will pester you to act as guides but easy to resist their offers. Lovely Buddhas and cave temples here. Nice little villages in the vicinity. With time constraints you could give Da Nang and Marble Mountain a miss.

Da Nang to Hoi An.

Hiring a car is cheap. We took one of the local buses which took 3 hours plus to do what a car can do in about an hour. The bus was fun, packed with people, chickens, ducks etc. Rene at just over 6 feet couldn’t fit into the body of the bus and thus sat by the driver where he served as honorary mechanic as the bus kept on breaking down.

Hoi An

I fell in love with Hoi An, although it is one of the major tourist places. It reeks culture and history. There are cham ruins in the vicinity - took about two hours to get there on a motor bike. Perhaps not terribly interesting for children. We spent about a week in Hoi An hiring bicycles to get out into the countryside and to the adjacent beach. If you want to spend time on a beach for a spot of R&R I would suggest that rather than Nha Trang. Rene has fond memories of a Vietnamese bicycle parking attendant at the beach near Hoi An. Every day when we checked in our bikes, Rene would sing some opera etc, and the guy would respond with Vietnamese songs. There are 2-4 beach restaurants offering basic seafood. Travelers have reported that they have got ripped off with these restaurants. Just check the prices before you order. Some people find the kids on the beach selling fruit a problem. The kids are OK, just get them talking about their family and schooling.

Hoi An is great for food. Café Des Amis is brilliant. We ate there 2 nights because the food was good. They do set menus which are a dining experience. It is family run, with the kids serving as waiters. Restaurant du Port and Restaurant Huong Sen were also good. There are also neat restaurants on the other side of the river. Hue is the place to get clothes made, very cheap but not sophisticated tailoring as compared with Bangkok. Good for leisure style clothes and jackets but not for business suits.

We checked out the budget hotels, all had similar levels of accommodation. You should get in to Hoi An early to bargain successfully for rooms, those arriving late in the afternoon basically took left overs.

Nha Trang

Nha Trang was OK. Some good pagodas and cham towers. If you go there visit the Cathedral – some interesting Catholic statues and a wonderful view to a pagoda. The market is good and some excellent food stalls. Stayed in the Thong Nhat Hotel, 5 Yersin St, close to the beach. It has a range of accommodation from $30 down to $6. The best restaurant in Nha Trang is the Hoan Hai at 6 Phan Chu Trinh. It is a very, popular both with locals and travelers. We liked it so much that we ate there 2 nights, food is magical, superb combination of flavours. The minced prawn on sugar cane is delicious. If you can’t get a table at the Hoan Hai, there are good eateries in the same street. The sea food restaurants along the beach are not very exciting. We spent 5 days in Nha Trang, but suggest 2. It could be on your miss agenda.

Da Lat

Da Lat has some incidental charms as the former French hill station but if you have visited Darjeeling, Simla or Ooty you could give it a miss. You can visit the Montagnard villages in the area, although a trifle depressing. There are silk worm cottage industries in surrounding villages to visit. Interesting possibly for your kids. The waterfalls are only interesting to view the Vietnamese holiday makers enjoy them. In Da Lat we hired two guys and their motor bikes for a day. They were good value and I suspect there are others who equally offer a good service.

For food: Thanh Thanh Restaurant – 4 Tang Bat Ho. Slightly up market, popular with Vietnamese honeymooners. Vietnamese food with a French influence, with some local game on the menu. There are good eateries close to the various markets.

Saigon

Saigon is not a particularly interesting city although there are some charming neighborhoods to prowl around. Cyclos are a great way to get around Saigon. The temples and pagodas were OK but lacked the opulence of those of Thailand or Burma. I didn’t want to see anything related to the war, but found the former presidential palace very moving. The major war museum was remarkable, very different to that adjacent to Uncle Ho’s mausoleum. I would be disinclined to take children to the Saigon version as some of the displays were very explicit – I ossicilated between anger and tears. The old French colonial architecture including the Cathedral is worth checking out. I liked the hustle and bustle of Cho Lon. The markets there were worth a visit if like me, you are addicted to the sight and bustle of Asian markets. I would suggest 2 days max in Saigon.

We stayed at Mimi’s Guest House, $8 in a quiet lane between Pham Ngu Lao St and Bui Vien St. Recent traveler’s reports recommend Mimi’s as it is clean, comfortable, quiet and secure. There are several guest houses in this lane. This is in the backpacker area. Don’t let the touts pressure you into a particular establishment. There is a stack of choices, therefore check them out before deciding what is the right place for you. There are book exchange or second hand book shops around here. (note: there were few book exchange places in Vietnam, although this may have changed). We also stayed in a place near the Nguyen Cu Trinh St. which was very Vietnamese, no Europeans etc but I have lost their card.

For food we ranged far and wide. For breakfasts we either hunkered down in street side stalls, or found little restaurants used by the locals. Ditto the latter for lunch plus eating in various markets. As we wandered throughout the day, we checked out restaurants for our evening meals. Around Nguyen Cu Trinh St there are good eateries. Some of the big hotels offer classical Vietnamese cuisine. Splurge out one night – it will cost $15-20 but well worth it. I have fond memories of ordering "little birds" in a down market eatery, assuming it was quail. They were miniscule, tinier than quail and came with head attached.

Definitely do a trip out of Saigon to the Cao Dai church, very very colourful and then the Chu Chi tunnels which should fascinate the kids and challenge the adults on a different level. Whilst I did not want to see the tunnels, viewing them made me understand why America was defeated by the Viet Cong.

Mekong Delta

This is a must. We did a 5 day Sinh tour which was excellent. There were 10 of us – 6 different nationalities. We were all independent travellers so got on well together. The trip took us to My Tho (not very interesting), Vinh Long were we spent a couple of hours on a boat navigating the waterways, Can Tho which is a really nice little town (ate snake there), Chau Doc (alongside the Cambodian border). This is a great town (interesting temples and pagodas – this was the best place, apart from Hue, for seeing Buddhism in action - lots of Vietnamese praying, promenading and eating temple offerings – succulent whole roast pigs in a row). This area also gave a sense of the fragile relationship/threat of war etc with Cambodia. Sam mountain near there is well worth a visit as are some excellent cave temples. If you elect to go there, you could miss Marble Mountain. Rach Gia is a small town with no particular merit. The area around Ha Tien was a delight. We over nighted in a lovely little village and spent a day there strolling around the village, adjacent beach and crawling through grottoes. This area contains the biggest, fattest pigs I have ever seen. Cute little pigglets too.

LAOS

We are planning to go there at the end of this year although work obligations may require us to delay this for 6 months. Currently I am trawling internet sites for info and working on an itinerary crossing the Thai border at Chiang Khong, taking a slow boat down to Luang Prabang. Spend 4-5 days there and the surrounding area. Bus down to Vang Vien, a day or two there. Then to Vientiane, a couple of days there, then out to the Plain of Jars, that will take 3 days. Then 2 weeks in the southern part of Laos. I am keen to get down to Champasak and then Don Khong (maybe a week). We will exit out via Pakse I think, to take us towards Ubon Ratchathani in Thailand. A lot of days will be spent travelling from one area to another as there is the slow transport infrastructure. Laotian buses from Thorn Tree reports sounds primitive but no worse than we have experienced previously. I guess your kids would find the buses entertaining.

Regards,