Japan / Vietnam

vinylbomb

Thinking of doing a trip to Japan for 10 days in Oct, followed by 10-12 days in Vietnam.

Has anyone any suggestions for either, or both legs - re flights, or duration of stay, things to see etc?

Theresalwaysone

10-12 Days in Nam mean you will have to pick the North or South. You wont have time to do both.

North has Hanoi, Sapa, Mai Chau and Ha Long.

South has Ho Chi Minh City, Mekong Delta, Mui Ne and maybe you can get as far as Nha Trang.

Norths better Id say. More variety and more 'vietnamese'.

Dont know anything about Japan.

solerina

I would agree with the above poster re Vietnam...its an enormous country so to see it requires a long time, if you have less than 2 weeks available I would advise you to stay in the North (I though it was far more interesting than the south) and see Hanoi, Sapa, Halong Bay as recommended above. If you had a bit of time remaining(doubt it) its worth going to Hoi An...its got a gorgeous old town, its a good bit down the coast but you can get the night train from Hanoi (on at 7pm approx, off at 10am ish) so you dont lose any time travelling, alternatively you could fly to Danang which is close to Hoian.

Royale with Cheese

Currently in Japan, was in Vietnam about three weeks ago. I'd originally planned to fly from Hanoi to Tokyo but I couldn't find any decent cheap flights. There are no low cost carriers flying between Japan and Vietnam so you'll have to fork out if you want to go direct. I ended up going from Phnom Penh via Kuala Lumpur with Air Asia, and that still cost me about €250 one way.

The north of Vietnam may be a bit more interesting, and different to the rest of south east Asia, but I preferred the south. A lot of the people I met would have been of the same opinion too, so I don't think it's cut and dry to say definitely do the north over the south. I'd agree you should pick one or the other in that timeframe though. The south is a bit more touristy, but that's not always a bad thing. There are some beach towns to relax in, get clothes made in Hoi An, Hue has some interesting cultural stuff. Nha Trang is the tourist beach town, but I really liked it. Dalat is a town up in the mountains, a little less going on there but I guess it's worth seeing for a night or two if you can squeeze it in. The main town I didn't go to in the south was Mui Ne, another beach town. Also I'd planned to go down the Mekong Delta from Saigon but didn't have time in the end.

If you plan on getting around a lot of Japan then buy yourself a Japan rail pass before you get there, it will work out cheaper. If you only plan on doing one or two cities then it might not be worth it. Go to http://www.hyperdia.com/en/ where you can plan train travel and get an idea of what the costs are. Ignore the seat reservation fee, although it's free to reserve seats with the rail pass I never do. The trains I've been on are never completely full and there are plenty of unreserved carriages. I guess you'll probably need to stick to one or two areas of Japan in that timeframe too, most people would probably do Tokyo and Kyoto. The rail pass is dead handy for doing day trips, you could be staying in Kyoto but decide to take a trip to Hiroshima for the day. They're 380km apart but you can get there in under two hours. The shinkansen trains are very comfortable, it's not like sitting on a plane for two hours.

conor052001

thinking about the trip myself, stumbled across this excellent write up from a while back by a boards user

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056696321

vinylbomb

Jesus, fair play to the departed CocoShovel. What a post!!!

Thanks dudes, some great info for me to think about.

Theresalwaysone

Norths better. Anyone who says otherwise is wrong.

Yea, northern VN is way better than the south.. The real treat is taking a bike to Ha Giang - Dong Van - Meo Vac. Not many people know about it.. Just bikers and expats but everyone who goes says it's the best part of the trip.

Lombardo86

Deleted User wrote: »

Yea, northern VN is way better than the south.. The real treat is taking a bike to Ha Giang - Dong Van - Meo Vac. Not many people know about it.. Just bikers and expats but everyone who goes says it's the best part of the trip.

Would love to hear more specifics if you have it.. not going for a few months but seems like there is so much to do i need to do some serious planning to pick. 18 days to get as much in as possible!

Lombardo86

Lombardo86 wrote: »

Would love to hear more specifics if you have it.. not going for a few months but seems like there is so much to do i need to do some serious planning to pick. 18 days to get as much in as possible!

Scroll down to my trip report..

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056315429&page=2

Gatica

3 day junk boat cruise in Halong Bay (we went with Indochina Junks, around Bai Tu Long Bay), Hanoi is a really busy city but it's worth a visit.

Sapa is amazing and wouldn't have minded having more time there. Lots of trekking in the mountains, seeing how some of the local tribes live, the food is amazing too. Would highly recommend. Easy to get there with an overnight or daylong train.

Lombardo86

Deleted User wrote: »

Scroll down to my trip report..

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056315429&page=2

Excellent - Thank you very much!