Accommodation
When planning the trip we had the option
of choosing various standards of accommodation, from the
onset our goal was to see the real Vietnam, therefore we did
not choose typical international hotels because we thought
they could be bland and distant, we could try this standard
anywhere. What we wanted was to experience something a bit
more local and meet the real people of Vietnam, therefore we
chose middle class accommodation in the hope of achieving
this goal.
Our flight to Hanoi was late in the day
and we arrived at the first hotel it was getting dark, as we
drew up outside the hotel we thought we had made our first
mistake, it did not look to be in the right part of town.
However, our concerns were misguided when shown to our room,
the room was clean and most acceptable and the area was the
real Vietnam which is what we was looking for, we never
looked back from that point onwards.
Food
The food was always plentiful and to our
surprise very well presented, our tour did include the cost
of most lunch time meals (sometimes more than 4 courses) but
for the two of us something a little simpler would have been
fine. In fact towards the middle of our tour we craved for
just a simple cheese and tomato sandwich but this was not to
be found. In the evening there were generally many
restaurants to choose from, each varied in price and variety
with fish and prawns readily available and generally the
result was good value for money.
With food in mind the highlight of the
whole trip was without any doubt the two days we spent on
the Chinese junk sailing in Ha Long Bay. Both the lunchtime
and evening meals were both something to remember, the basis
of each meal was food from the sea, expertly prepared and
presented. It gave a completely different meaning to the
phrase Junk Food.
Climate
The latitude of Vietnam was set in the
tropics and the time of our visit was their spring, we
thought maybe the north would be a little chilly but it
turned out to be sunny and most acceptable for travelling.
When moving south to the central part of Vietnam the weather
did warm up a
little bit more, in Hue we experienced some light rain and
cloud but this improved when reaching Hoi An. Dalat was
sunny during the day but heavy rain was the norm in the late
afternoon and early evening, although the altitude was
somewhat higher it never felt cold. On reaching Ho Chi minh
City the temperature and humidity soared during the days we
were there, the last day of our visit the temperature on the
airport tarmac was 40o C and high humidity. Beware the sun
is very strong at this latitude and for us white folk plenty
of high factor sun cream is a must.
The Tour Operator
The travel operator who organised the trip
was a Vietnamese travel company with offices in the UK and
was called Haivenu Travel (
www.haivenu-vietnam.com). I was a little apprehensive
about booking a trip like this purely over the internet
especially when it was time to part with large amounts of
money but my worries were unfounded. Our representative at
Haivenu organised the trip from start to finish and before
we decided on the final itinerary we were presented with
many variations and options to choose from, each priced
accordingly. Whilst
in Vietnam our representative was in contact frequently to
ensure all was going to plan. I cannot fault Haivenu as a
travel company who were a very professional organisation, I
could highly recommend them to anyone thinking of travelling
to that part of the world.
Conclusions
We thoroughly enjoyed our journey through
Vietnam, although at times we felt as if we were forever
travelling, having said that the short break in the middle
made a difference ( maybe two extra days next time). Using
flights between the main cities is essential because of the
length of the country, although be careful about the amount
of time spent at airports, to me its time wasted.
Alternatively it may be worth considering part travel by
rail but again be aware of the time it takes getting from A
to B. The people are welcoming and friendly and your own
security appears not to be a big issue (but take standard
precautions). Compared with the UK prices are not expensive
and meals were always value for money, although I do think
sometimes you pay extra because youre a tourist but Im sure
that can happen in many destinations.
Tourism, although in its early stages
compared with other parts of Asia was far more advanced that
we had anticipated, however it was not so overwhelming to
disappoint me. Roads appeared well maintained and generally
it was easy to get to and from the places we needed to go.
I suppose the real test of any destination
would be to ask the question would we visit this country
again ? and the answer for us is YES but with a few
reservations. We would like to visit Sapa in the highlands
as that was not on our list this time and we would like to
revisit Ha Long Bay again but do something slightly
different for the next trip. We have no real desire to visit
Ho Chi Minh City as that could be any big city in the modern
world but to take a cyclo in Hanoi would certainly be on the
list for a return journey to Vietnam.
So if your thinking of making a visit to
Vietnam I am confident this country will provide you with a
worthwhile and interesting destination and if you are not
sure where to go and what to do, contact Haivenu as I am
certain they can provide you with some good ideas and
excellent advice.
