Great Trip to Vietnam
Vietnam
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Nov 3 - Nov 10, 2024
Our specialist, Huyen, was great to work with. She helped us take different pieces of different tours to come up with our own itinerary, move dates around, and answered all of our questions.
From the moment we landed in Hanoi, we felt well taken care of even if we were unable to communicate with the local drivers. All of the drivers and tour guides were friendly and on-time. When moving from one activity or guide to the next, we were always handed off to someone who would then take care of us.
Ha Long Bay was definitely a highlight of our trip. The views were amazing and we especially enjoyed kayaking between the rock formations. Plus we got to know other travelers on the ship. We were also pleasantly surprised by the large size of the cabin on the Swan Cruise ship.
In Ho Chi Minh City, we really enjoyed our food tour with Phat from Saigon Food Tour. He was fun and enthusiastic, and he took us to a couple places off the beaten path. The food was all delicious and we learned about the culture.
In Hoi An, highlights included a ride in a basket boat, a walking tour of the old town, and a hands on cooking class.
Though we had a couple of obligatory stops at the tourist centers where they try to sell you everything, I'm confident that I would not have been able to plan as successful a trip on my own.
Hotel Reviews
Hotel was clean and staff was friendly, but the hotel is in a very loud area and the windows do not block any of the sound.
This ship was really nice and the staff were very friendly. The rooms were bigger than we expected. Everything was well organized. We really enjoyed the kayaking between the rock formations. Would definitely recommend.
Great hotel and friendly staff. We took advantage of the onsite spa.
This hotel was right in the heart of things, but wasn't noisy. Everything was clean and the staff were helpful.
Activity Reviews
The city tour was OK. Our guide didn't seem to really have a plan so we wandered around aimlessly and he kept pointing out the same items at different stalls. Even after he asked if we were ready for lunch, we wandered around much longer than expected before finding a place to eat. I think it threw him off when we asked for local food and not a touristy restaurant. For the cooking class, the chef was great and we were definitely able to get hands on with making the delicious food. The location was a bit difficult for our driver to find. We weren't expecting a cooking class with just the two of us and we also didn't expect the driver and tour guide to stay with us the entire time.
Driver was excellent.
Excellent excursion. The cooking class was very fun and we enjoyed talking to the other participants. Not only did the chef show how to make the dishes, but there were several assistants to dummy-proof the hands-on part of the class. The food was very tasty. The basket boat ride was one of our highlights. There was clearly a standard agenda. Paddle, visit the professional boaters who could spin their boats very quicky, visiting the fishing man casting his net, visit the karaoke area, do some fishing, and visit the heart sculpture for pictures. Our boatman was super nice.
Troung was a great and very kind tour guide. She showed us all around the old town and gave us the history.
Phat was a great food guide. He was fun and enthusiastic, and he took us to places off the beaten path.
This was an enlightening experience, but might not be worth the long drive to Cu Chi from HCMC. The city tour was good. The lunch was OK. Clearly all of the tour guides take their groups to Nam Du for lunch.
Highly recommend! Ha Long Bay is beautiful, the Swan Cruises ship was very nice, and the cabins were much bigger than expected. We really enjoyed kayaking between the rock formations as well as meeting other travelers. The guide on the ship was terrific!