Places To See In Vietnam

places to see in vietnam"places to see in vietnam"
Where to stay in Vietnam? Going in April with another couple and wish to know the best places to stay and see?

Travelling to Ho Chi Minh, Nha Trang, Hoi An and Hanoi for 3 weeks. Can anyone suggest nice motels around 3star that are clean and not too expensive. We like shopping and beaches...where are the best beaches? Havn't booked anything yet so flexible on where we go....Any suggestions would be great...Thanks

HO CHI MINH
If you do not mind paying well in excess of $100USD a night, you can not go wrong with the Caravell, The Rex, or the New World Hotel. (George W. Bush stayed at the New World).
If you want clean comfortable and well located hotel at a lower price, try these off Pham Ngu Lao Street.
Saigon Comfort or Giant Dragon. The latter is my favourite. Room rate from $18USD a night per room with breakfast include. (The websites advertise a higher price due to commissions charged. Book direct, or just walk in. Visitor numbers in HCMC are way down and almost all hotels will have vacancies any time of year) About 50 metres from there is the Saigon Comfort.
At Pham Ngu Lao Street, all the buses stop on the other side of the street. It is the better area of what is called the back packer district. Within walking distance of the Binh Tanh Markets.
Giant Dragon is 2 star and like it says in web reviews, it really is like staying with family.
http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g293925-d510884-Reviews-Giant_Dragon_Hotel-Ho_Chi_Minh_City.html
http://www.vietnamsunshinetravel.com/vietnamhotels/saigonhotels/hoanglong/index.htm


NHA TRANG
There really are more rooms than visitors, except maybe on holiday periods and weekends. When you arrive at the bus depot, airport or rail station, you will be greeted by Cyclos and Taxis happy to promote a hotel. The price quoted by them will be higher than the usual tariff. They get a kick back. Take your ride to the beach front and inspect the hotel, but do not book. Say you want to think about it and look elsewhere. Suddenly the price drops significantly. If they can afford to pay kick backs to taxi and cyclo drivers, you can be guaranteed they are paying for good staff and fittings.

HOI AN
You will need to book ahead as quality hotels can fill fast, particularly holidays and tourist times.
I can not remember name of place I stayed at. Very good and $35USD a night only a couple hundred metres from main centre of Hoi An.
The beach is a fair way from down town Hoi An. Take a cyclo or rent a bicycle.

HANOI
In 2006, all hotel rooms were booked across the entire city. The government opened the rail station and rented out bunks in the sleeper trains. What this means is unless you want back packer style accommodation, you will need to book ahead during tourist seasaons. The Government has since facilitated the construction of more hotels, but at higher tariffs.The French Quarter is the most interesting with some really old buildings and numerous shops. Within walking distance of the water puppet theater. Generally, quality of rooms exceeds the quality than that of HCMC for the same price.

OTHER PLACE TO VISIT:
Vung Tau ; 45 minutes hydrofoil down the Saigon River from Ho Chi Minh City. Beautiful bay, beach is lovely except for the tidal wash up of plastic bags and other rubbish. There you can find the largest statue of Jesus Christ in the Northern hemisphere. Also, traffic is very light. Rent some motorbikes between yourselves and go explore, particularly to the old village to the south. That village is very much the "old" Vietnam, looking almost no different to what it did in the 1950's.

TIP:
Discover what is called Bier Hoi. It is like a micro-brewery beer. One liter for as little as 25 cents US. It can be potent. Some brews are around 10% alcohol. You can get $hit faced and still have change from a dollar. Most are around 4 or 5%.

HANOI AIRPORT SCAM:
As you walk out of the airport, you will see a number of buses charging a flat fee to the city. However, you will be confronted by men who will without asking pick up your bags and even put them on board a min-bus. They will quote you a price cheaper than the advertised bus fare. Only after they leave the airport terminus will they collect the money, by which stage, the price has increased and you are stuck a kilometre from the terminus. This scam is two part. They do not take you to the city centre but some distant solitary high priced hotel. It will be either out of your budget, or more commonly full. Either way, that is where the mini-bus stops. You will notice that about 10 minutes before reaching the hotel, your mini-bus driver makes a call on his cell phone. You do not speak Vietnamese, so you do not know what he says. Travelling with my Vietnam friend, the translation was he was telling the person at the other end of the phone call how many passengers are on board. Sure enough, the number of taxis waiting outside that hotel always equals the number of people on the mini-bus. So now you pay a taxi fare as well, but the scam continues.... you have no idea where you are so the taxi takes a circle route the longest way possible. The next day, you look at the map of Hanoi and realize that the taxi started the journey only a few kilometres from your destination, but took 15 kilometres to get there. This is a common scam and has been going on for years. The airport is about 45 kilometres from the city center.
I do not know if it is true, but am told that taxis at the airport are in team with these scammers, taking a kick back by quoting a huge fare to tourists as to the cost to the city,

2011 01-03 Ray and Paish Visit Vietnam.avi


places to see in vietnam
places to see in vietnam