Do you mean feb2008?

I wish I could help but only stayed in Saigon. My report- for what its worth

thanks for your reply Fiona - very interesting.
we are going on 5th Feb so having to do everything in a rush!

How long will you spend in the south of Vietnam?

we are arriving in vietnam on 6th feb and have to be in bangkok for 5th march to return home.
thought we might stay round the south of vietnam, work our way up through cambodia and then onto bangkok.
will we be missing much by not travelling to the east & north of vietnam?

You will miss Hanoi in the north of Vietnam which is a total contrast to Saigon and of course Halong Bay. In my opinon any itinerary to Vietnam should include Halong Bay and should be first on the list of things to do and see, however it might not be so practical for you.

Even so in a month you can fit quite a bit in. We did an 18 night tour of Cambodia and Vietnam starting in Bangkok and ending in Hanoi and that worked out quite well, and we felt we saw the majority of the top sights. Of course what you intend to do in Thailand will determine just how much time you could allow for other parts of Vietnam and Cambodia. We felt 3 nights in Siem Reap was plenty, and also had the (dis)pleasure of getting to see Phnom Penh, a city I would avoid normally but included local tours of the Killing Fields and the Tuon Sleng (sp) torture prison. Two miss do's in Cambodia, but make sure you prepare yourself for some horrific images.

Have fun though, it's a great area to explore, the food is excellent the locals very friendly. More so in Cambodia than Vietnam.

3 nights in cambodia, Siem Reap is probably enough, this gives plenty of time to do the temples and have a bit of a relax, must admit whilst we thought they were fantastic we did get a bit templed out!! we hired bikes and cycled around the site which was great but Id imagine not for everyone and people tended to get tuk tuks, we cycled alot of miles but th scenary was great, I would not even suggest this if you woud not consider yourself to be fit or did not enjoy such activity. We also cylced up to (cant remember the name!) a lake and got a boat out to the fish farm...not fantastic by any stretch of the imagination but we got to see the people living on the river which was interesting, be warned though of people wanting to be paid for looking after the bikes!! Cambodian food was lovely and we loved every minute. Vietnam, hoi chi min city, same again 3 - 4 nights probably enough, we did loads of walking and visited the places talked about it our lonely planet guide which took us all over the city, went to a war museum and the old goverment buildings, this was really interesting, its nice to get away from all the touristy things that are advertised in the shops and plan your own route...its an adventure...enjoy!

Can some one give me some advice on where's best to visit in Vietnam...We normally go to Goa and stay in the north.We would like somewhere thats got nice beaches,restaurants within walking distance.Not bothered by night club's and such (too mature now) not to far from towns/cities..Which time of the year would be best nov or march weather wise..

Sleep_r_us..

Hi sleep-r-us

We went to Vietnam 2 years ago this Sept and loved it, we had 3 night in HCM and 10 nights in Nha Trang, there beautiful beach and plenty of bars/restaurants but no shack where we stayed although our hotel had sunbeds and brollies etc on the beach and if you order food/drink they brought them from the hotel. I did a report on our visit but I wouldnt know how to put the link here (I'm not very good with technology) maybe Fiona can help

Hope this helps

Jules

Hiya Goanaddict.Did you book a package or did you DIY?I'll take a alook for your report..

Hi

Yes we did it DIY, we thankfully everything was fine. I did go for the more expensive hotels as we had no idea what the hotel standards were and being regulars to Goa we didnt want anything too basic.

Hope you managed to find my report (and Fiona's) if you have any question I'll try my best to answer them for you.

Regards

Jules

sorry Jules
just back from Goa. Here is your trip report