1 Month in Vietnam/Cambodia - where to go?

sazs

Hi

Myself and the other half are taking a month over Christmas to visit Vietnam and Cambodia. Just booking flights and planning the itinerary at the moment.

A couple of things it would be great to have a bit of advice on:

1.) Itinerary:

We are roughly thinking of flying to Hanoi - exploring that area and Halong Bay for about a week, then taking an internal flight to Da Nang, again spending a bit of time in that region (1 week approx) then another internal flight down to HCMC and the Mekong Delta area for 1 week, then taking the bus/train to Pnomh Phen for 1 week in Cambodia. Flying home from HCMC or Phnom Penh.

What would be your thoughts on these timescales? Would you spend longer/shorter somewhere? We're booking flexible internal flights so can always change our minds as we go along.
Has anyone taken these internal flights before? Any thoughts?They look very cheap at the moment (30-40 euro max). We're probably take buses/trains between smaller towns in each area.

2. Places to visit / Activities


We are in our late 20s and generally like to get off the beaten track when travelling, mostly to get away from the overly touristy spots and experience a bit of the local culture and food. Not completely averse to partying and meeting other fellow travellers but the party scene/nightlife wouldn't be a huge reason to visit somewhere, just a bonus. We're into scuba diving and kayaking and general adventure type stuff. It'd be nice to see the cities and sights but also have some more relaxed time on beaches/countryside.

Anywhere you've been or activities you've done that sound like it might tick any of those boxes? Appreciate any tips.

3. Accommodation

Any hostel/hotel recommendations? We're looking for basic enough - double room with private bathroom. Might be happy to splash out on a few nicer places but nothing too fancy.

4. Food

We'd like to do a Vietnamese cookery class or something similar on the trip and would be big into trying out the local stuff - anywhere cool you ate? has anyone done a good course? Definitely going to try out the street food.

Any help you can give would be great

Thanks!

Tipperary animal lover

First of all ye'll have a ball!! North Vietnam will be cold at time of year(bring a fleece)so 1-2 days in Hanoi 1-2 days in Sapa 2day1night junket Halong bay, head down to danang and unto hoi-an( beatuiful town) use this as a base and tour the areas around and do your cookery class here(walk the town and see what is offered in the course and suits ye).
Head to nha trang it's touristy but if you stay outside the backpacker area you'll enjoy eaten and drinking with the locals on the side of the street, plenty of things to do here. Do a easy rider tour it's great.
Head down the coast to HCMC spend a few days here chu chi tunnels Mekong delta tour etc, you can get a boat from HCMC to Phnom Penh or fly. Have a look at tripadvisor Vietnam and also enter the cities your going to it'll give you all the hotels restaurants etc and the prices. Enjoy your trip.

sazs

Thanks for the advice Tipperary animal lover!

We have 24 nights in Vietnam, the way our flights are working out and are now thinking of doing the following:

Hanoi - 3 nights
Halong Bay - 1 night
Sapa - 3 nights
Back to Hanoi and overnight train to Hue - 1 night
Hue - 2 night
Hoi An - 3 nights
Dalang - 2 night
HCMC - 2 nights
Mekong Delta - 2 nights
Phu Quoc - 4 nights
HCMC - 1 night (fly home in morning)

Skipping out Cambodia altogether.. although we might go on a Mekong Delta tour that will bring us into Southern Cambodia for a look.

I've heard the this guy can do street food tours in Hanoi which might be cool: http://stickyrice.typepad.com/street_food_tours/

Hoi An certainly sounds like a highlight for a lot of people.

Thanks for the tip on bringing warm clothes - I'd be freezing in the shorts

Tipperary animal lover

Do a xo motorbike tour in HCMC book in advance its always busy, that itinerary sounds good, I enjoyed Cambodia but love vietnam going back in march for the fourth time.
You can buy all your shampoos soaps etc over there at fraction of the cost as well as cheap clothing so don't over stuff your bag. Make sure taxi always uses the meter. The food and beer is dirt cheap stay out of the tourist areas and you'll live like a lord on a few euro.... But it's also nice to have western food now and again;).
You can get your visa online it's about half the price of going through the embassy.
If you need anymore help let me know and I'll try help you out. You'll love it over there the people are lovely.

solerina

We had 3.5 weks in Vietnam and loved it. We flewinto Hanoi, visited Sapa (3 nights in total, 2 on the overnight train..Sapa is beautiful and is well worth a visit). We had 2 nights in Halong bay, def worth doing 2 nights. We got the overnight train down the coast and went to Hoi An for a week. We flew onto HCMC and spent sometime in the Mekong....all in all we had ana amazing trip and I think that where ever you go you will love it. I would recommend you add an extra day to Halong Bay (a 1 night cruise is actually less than 24 hours on board) and skip Hue, there isnt a lot to see there (unless the citadelle or the DMZ float your boat...they didnt do much for us).