Vietnam

[sterling]

HI. I was just in Ho Chi Minh. A lot of the people still call it Saigon. It's a city of motorbikes- there are many,many more motorbikes than there are cars. Food is excellent,the noodles especially,and you're never without a little bowl of their fish sauce,called nuoc mam.
You will enjoy shopping at Ben Than market,especially for fruits,textiles and sleepwear.
The most happening bar is Apocalypse Now. Try to arrive by 10,so you can get a table by the dance floor.
Some of the best sights are actually outside the city. The Cu Chi tunnels, where you will have a chance to fire a real AK-47, is a must-see. Take also a day trip to the Mekong River Delta, which is very relaxing.

[ladymd]

Went to vietnam last april 1-4. Sobrang init! NOt a lot of people speak english but you'll get by. Crossing the road is a suicide mission, because everybody follows their own set of traffic rules. If you're in HCMC, try the chu chi tunnel and mekong delta tour. Dapat at least 2 day tour yung mekong delta, bitin kung 1 day lang. Go to Hanoi, it's much more beautiful and the weather is milder. Have fun!

[red_track]

the medical mission thing is sponsored by a pharma company.. june 16 daw ang punta namin.

[red_track]

the medical mission thing is sponsored by a pharma company.. june 16 daw ang punta namin.

[SuPeR_MaN]

mukhang itutuloy ko road trip ko from Ho Chi Minh City, all the way to Macau!

[veco_notebook]

tanong lang po... im now interested in going to Ha Long Bay.... tips naman kung pano makamura.... may alam ba kayong reasonable na tour agency sa Hanoi + Ha Long bay for 3 days 2 nights or 4 days 3 nights.... baka dalawa kami punta dun...

[asiamiles]

HI. I was just in Ho Chi Minh. A lot of the people still call it Saigon. It's a city of motorbikes- there are many,many more motorbikes than there are cars. Food is excellent,the noodles especially,and you're never without a little bowl of their fish sauce,called nuoc mam.
You will enjoy shopping at Ben Than market,especially for fruits,textiles and sleepwear.
The most happening bar is Apocalypse Now. Try to arrive by 10,so you can get a table by the dance floor.
Some of the best sights are actually outside the city. The Cu Chi tunnels, where you will have a chance to fire a real AK-47, is a must-see. Take also a day trip to the Mekong River Delta, which is very relaxing.

hi sterling, how much lahat gastos mo, excluding the airfare?

[dalepatrick]

I've been to Vietnam once and next week i'll be goin' back there again! i'll be visiting my expatriate father. Vietnam is really a nice place. Nice people. If you go to HO CHI MINH, look for the noodle restaurant (i forgot the name) where Bill Clinton visited. the beef noodles with real menthol leaves will really help you crave for it! WARNING: just have a big presence of mind when walking, motorcycles may hit you! so many!haha. try also CU CHI TUNNEL. and i challenge you to go to the non-tourist tunnels, just ask the soldier tourist guide (they provide it for cu chi tunnel tourist destinatioN) to tour you to the said tunnel. scary and you feel that your not alone.:-) overall vietnam has nice people, the only thing there that may test your patience is their communication skills, funny thing that when bargaining, they will use calculators to bargain with you, because they cant express the numbers in english!

[gulaysk]

hello. balak namin pumunta sa vietnam next summer. excited ako dahil matagal ko nang gusto pumunta doon. meron bang pwede magquote kung magkano ang kailangang ihanda na budget (i suppose, in US dollars) per person? also, baka merong pwede magrecommend ng cheap hotel sa hanoi or ho chi minh ciy. hindi naman kami maselan. basta may AC lang siguro. thanks in advance.

[waterwell]

hi, went to ho chi minh last month for one week. it was a pleasant experience, although i enjoyed thailand a lot more. honestly, medyo depressing ang vietnam for me, kasi most of the attractions are about the vietnam war. i don't like wars! lolz!

gulaysk, sorry po, can't recommend a hotel, kasi we stayed at our friend's apartment. i heard na expensive ang real estate sa HCMC, although i'm not sure if this also translates to hotel rates. we took 3 tours -- city tour, mekong delta tour, and cu chi tunnels tour. we paid $6/person for the city tour, $8 yata for the 1 day mekong delta tour (lunch included), and $8 din yata for the cu chi tunnels/cao dai temple tour. relatively mura yung mga tours, compared sa ibang countries like singapore or thailand.

super sarap ng food sa vietnam, and very healthy. yun lang actually nami-miss ko sa vietnam. cafes are everywhere, and during the time we were there, kaka-start lang ng world cup, and every cafe, may giant tv screen. even if you go to clubs, merong giant screen for the games. soccer-obsessed talaga sila, and it was my first time to watch a soccer game, kahit di ko naintindihan yung games. lolz!

shopping was also great, better than the so-called great singapore sale. since they manufacture the north face bags there, it's a lot cheaper than if you buy it in thailand or even here in manila. napa-hoard tuloy kami. even silk items are cheap, and i bought a silk bag for only $7! ben than market is really nice for souvenir items, pero mas happy sa saigon square. don't even attempt to shop in their department stores, kasi expat prices don. and if you want lonely planet books na pirated, maraming nagkalat sa pham ngu lao road, bought two books for only $4 each! almost same quality as the original, which usually costs $35 each.

btw, may jollibee sa vietnam, and kalasa nung nandito sa pinas! masarap yung chicken joy, hahaha. i swear, super sarap ng vietnamese food, plus mura lang, pero after a week, you tend to miss pinoy food, so ayun, jollibee kung jollibee. lolz!

if you want cheap fares, try manila-singapore-ho chi minh via tiger airways. only paid 7k pesos/person, roundtrip na yan, including the singapore trip. for shopping, enough na yung $100, super dami mo nang mabibili nyan, ma-excess baggage ka pa like me. $500 is more than enough for a trip to vietnam.

have fun in vietnam!

[dblizzard]

hi! san mas ok pumunta? hcmc or hanoi? pa-compare naman po sa 2 cities, in terms of attractions, prices of food and souvenir items, safety, and even nearby out if city attractions to visit.

thanks!

[dblizzard]

waterwell, thanks for the tips! *** $500 na quote mo po, does it include airfare and taxes? did you go by tiger airways? magkano po tax sa vietnam airport? do we pay tax at singapore airport on our flight to vietnam?

thanks

[monsterboy]

Bump. Looks interesting, makapunta nga. Anyone been to Ha Long Bay?

[dalepatrick]

to those who are planning to go to VIETNAM, do not forget to go to NA TRANG CITY, it is the 29th best white beach in the world...........imagine ROXAS BLVD, bawasan niyo lang ng buildings, tapos gawin nyong ala-BORACAY ang tubig at sand. yun na ang NA Trang...and also warning lang, walang fast food chains dito ha, almost all the restaurants cater native SEAFOODS. pero worth the taste naman. ok *** experience ko dito last summer

[dalepatrick]

sa shopping malls, sa Saigon Square and Ben Than Market. may mga malls dun na parang malls dito pero its not worth it kasi same products din makikita mo. opinion lang ha!hehe............twice na ko nakapunta dito and sa march 2007 punta ulit ako.....sulit naman kasi din, although depressing *** city compared here in the Philippines, at ang biggest issue para sa tourists ay Language Barrier, mababait naman mga Vietnamese....magaganda pa!hehe

just to give you an info lang: A Gov't official in Vietnam told me that Taiwanese men go to Vietnam to search for the girl of their dreams!

eheh un lang

[dalepatrick]

[leeney_b]

Pictures!!!!

Saigon (HCMC):
http://asia.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/l...en%3as,1%3af,0

Nha Trang:
http://asia.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/l.../ph//my_photos

Hoi An:
http://asia.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/l...onte/my_photos

Mui Ne:
http://asia.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/l...onte/my_photos

[SiOMs]

Bitin kaya kung 3D2N lang kami? Can we tour another city besides HCMC kung ganito ka-ikli lang stay namin dun?

[acespino2000]

la kwenta...mainit pa kesa manila...mahal lahat ng bilihin...pagtawid sa kalsada parang nakikipagpatintero ka sa mga motorsiklo......

[dalepatrick]

Bitin kaya kung 3D2N lang kami? Can we tour another city besides HCMC kung ganito ka-ikli lang stay namin dun?

well, ok na yan kung HCMC lang pupuntahan mo. included na din 3d/2n *** cu chi tunnel....pero kung gawin niyong 4d/3n, i recommend that you stay one day at NA TRANG CITY.....ganda ng beach din nila kahit pano. try to picture roxas blvd. and manila bay. kaibahan lang sa na trang, mas konti buildings, tapos white sand ang beach, at color blue ang dagat wala ganoh green algae di tulad ng boracay!