I didnt use mosquito spray lol. I did get all the recommended shots prior to going though. Bring hand sanatizer, the restaurants will charge you for the wet naps if you use them lol. Its just good to use if your on the go and want to clean up before eating. Sunscrean as well. Top two items. Most hotels give shampoo conditioner soap.

best beach to go in may-june time? south would be better but not sure about weather

does anyone know where or how to apply for vietnam e-visa?

last time we used https://www.bestpricevn.com/vietnam-visa/

this time i just swung by a travel agency on kingsway and got it done. Cost more but less hassle.

booked viet for june, will be stopping by in TPE and ICN. :fullofwin:

In Vietnam right now. I got scammed by a taxi driver upon arrival. For those who are traveling there and plan to use the taxis there, please only take cabs run by the cab companies named vinasun or mai Linh.

I also got to try the beers from east west Brewery at the hotel I'm staying at. I recall it being mentioned in this thread.

Download Grab its like uber.
Also you can negotiate price with taxi at the airport, buddy just arrived and they tried to charge him more then the agreed price. He jus threw them whatever they agreed upon and left lol

Thinking about doing a week in Vietnam as part of my Japan/HK trip. Any good recommendations on places to go and which to avoid? So far, I've got Ha Long Bay and the Mekong Delta on my must see list but the rest is open. Sa Pa looks very scenic as well. As you can tell, I'm looking more for nature type destinations, but would also like a good taste of the city as well.

You can check out the cu chi tunnels near Saigon.


Leaving Vietnam today, if you guys got extra dong that you would like to exchange back to cad or usd. There's a gold store near the banh Thanh market on the corner think it's name was ha tam.
Gave Google rates for exchanging back to usd.

Tons of better resorts to go to. Hyatt, Furama, Pullman, Four Season Nam Hai, etc...

Yes its a decent spot, busy in the evenings. Would also suggest Martini Bar, Xu, Blanchy, Racha Room, Firkin as they are all in the same area. Some cool Japanese drinking spots around that area as well around Le Thanh Ton and Thai Van Lung.

Hope you enjoyed the beers.

Would double check about Sa Pa, heard there has been a ton of over development and construction.

I ended up staying at Naman, damn I miss that place.

Will return to Vietnam as I've left out some places and not rush it. Sa Pa, Hue, Vung Tau, Mekong, Phu Quoc and maybe Nha Trang.

Also want to visit during the summer season.

So much change is happening... no wonder Vietnam has the most new millionaires in the world last year (as i've been told by peers that read up on it).

You've probably come and gone by now, but I figured I'd throw up what I go for future reference.

I got a VietTel Data only SIM for 200K at the airport. They say it's unlimited but it's really 3.5GB of LTE then throttles to something ridiculously slow. I found that out the hard way on my 4 hour bus ride back from the Mekong Delta. I loaded another 7GB of data for 70K. Data is ridiculously cheap there!

Unfortunately I didn't get to go to SaPa but good to know. I'd certainly consider another trip out there if I'm ever in Asia again. It's surprising that they'd ruin SaPa like that as it seems that they are really pushing tourism hard - at least that's the perception I got when I was there.

Well, tourism boosted by 30% last year in Vietnam..

Not surprised at all/foresee it increasing more in the next few years. It's the new "Thailand" per se. Cheap/friendly people/still relatively not tourist saturated per se/relatively easy getting around in major cities

Were you able to share the data via hotspot from your device? Traveling with a group there in the near future, and looking at options for data.

Yep, it could tether with no issues.

Hoi An was filled with at least 50% korean tourists there lol

My friend just returned from Vietnam and said the same thing.. actually she said 70% instead of 50% :P
Koreans that used to travel to Thailand and Philippine are now travelling to Vietnam more instead as Thailand is getting more and more pricier than before and Philippine becoming more infamous for corrupted cops and airport officials.

Bumping this up, as I'll be going to Hanoi/DaNang in late November.

Thinking 3 nights Hanoi, 1-2 nights on a Ha Long Bay cruise (or surrounding less busy area, e.g Bai tu long bay), and then 4 nights Da Nang.

I have been to Da Nang before when we did southern VN, returning for some beach R&R. But haven't been to Hanoi.

Looking for suggestions on:
- Decent areas/hotels to stay at in Hanoi
- Restaurants/attractions to see in Hanoi
- Cruise companies for Bai Tu Long or Lan Ha Bay
- Beach resort/villa in Da Nang or Hoi An

We are past the age of budget travel, so am looking for mid-range/higher end hotels in Hanoi (~$200 cdn/nt) as well as higher-end resort in Da Nang/Hoi An (~$350 cdn/nt).

Thanks!

Lol with that kind of overkill budget, you'd be hard pressed to find anything over $100/night for a mid-range in Vietnam - try more like $50/night. $200/night will probably be get you a room at the nicest hotels in town like the Sofitel.

Stay anywhere near Hoan Kiem Lake in Hanoi. Most of the attractions are around there and anywhere else you can find cheap plentiful taxis to take you. Check out Sapa if you have time (overnight visit). The Halong Bay cruise companies are pretty much all the same, just walk around town and they'll basically find you.

Not sure if inflation or post-covid, but prices do seem to be higher for a subset of hotels that I have been looking at. e.g. the Sofitel Hanoi you mentioned is going for $364/nt to start at the moment for my mid-November dates.

But yeah, def wanna be staying in nicer places these days.

I mean there's nice... and then there's complete opulence

I have a hard time even in HCMC finding places that are much more than $130 a night unless you go absolutely mental!

This was for dates I was looking at in Sept/Oct though. Maybe Nov is more expensive?

I'm curious to find out what your rating is for Hanoi once you return

It's the last place I would ever go back to, the only highlight was Trang An river. And even that was a joke with the locals pestering you for mandatory tips afterward