vietnam guide thread 3

[sunnysan]

^ bich duyen is ok, we paid 17usd per night for a double accommodation without windows. pero wala na si mr chanh dun. 2 batang guys na pinalit. we checked out may 7 kasi 1am ng may 8 flight namin. after touring the city for pasalubong shopping, sila pa nag ask if we want to take a bath dun sa cr sa baba though naka check out na kami. gusto ko rin location niya kasi malapit sa bus stations ng mekong express and sapaco. malapit din sa sinh tourist. dito kasi kami mostly nag book ng tours. malapit din sa branch ng sacom bank - naging useful nung may napunit kaming dong hehe may vinasun marshall din sa tapat so very convenient if gusto niyo magtaxi. though once lang kami nag taxi nung pauwi na sa manila. medyo may kalayuan sa ben tanh and other tourist spots sa city pero carry namang lakarin. and once ka lang naman nag iikot sa mag yun hehe request na lang for a room sa lower floors kasi mataas talaga hagdan.

naalala ko lang na malapit din sa bich duyen e nguyen khan or khang and red sun. pero actually, sa alley na yun e puro guesthouses. may ginagawa ding mga guesthouses dun so medyo maingay sa area ngayon. we were there nga pala last may 4-8.

^thanks for the tip sis! so wala palang elevator. kasama pa naman mom ko and mga tito and tita. haha. kailangan hindi mataas. we might book bich duyen na lang. 1am rin yung flight namin pabalik ng manila, sana magoffer rin sila na maligo kami muna tee hee!.

[yby2476]

sis, kasi yung mga backpacker's area talagang walang elevator...nung nandun kami nun, sa 2nd flr kami unang nag-stay, then pumunta kasi kami ng cambodia, then pagbalik namin ang binigay sa amin ni mr chanh eh 5th flr yata...aigoo, ang hirap umakyat...LOL

[london]

^^if malapit na trip niyo, don't forget to ask them regarding sa ginagawang hotels sa area kasi maingay talaga. kahit sa room rinig. okay lang if you'll be out the whole day but if you want to rest in the middle of the day, baka di niyo magustuhan.

if you have more budget but don't want to spend that much rin, madami ding 3-4star hotels dun. search na lang sa net.

[Gladz31842]

check nyo din small hotels along thai van lung st, halos likod lang ng pasrkson dept store nilaand yong new mall VINCOM...i am not sure of the rates although yong isang hotel na malapit din ton A & M yata, nasa 25usd per night daw sabi nong isang bakasyonista na nakausap ko recently..

[Gladz31842]

For those who will be staying at the backpackers' area (Bui Vien and De Tham sts) meron resto don called Cappuccino, masarap siya and mura lang, italian resto eto.

[barefoot_taka]

mga sis help naman what's the nearest beach in HCMC? i've read about vung [textspeak!] long hai beach. yun na ba pinakalamalapit? any other suggestions? thanks! 

[Gladz31842]

Is this the one in vung [textspeak!]? Yan na yata pinakamalapit around 2.5hrs but beaches in vung [textspeak!] are not nice and madumi pati

[barefoot_taka]

^yes sis yun nga! sayang naman pala. si hubby kase mukhang beach yun.  will tell him na lang na di pala ok dun. thanks!

[pilyaz]

hi, we'll be visiting vietnam-cambodia for 6 days on july. :-) im done with the 1st thread, some infos from 2nd thread. :-) I wanted to explore and maximize my visit in these countries. Could somebody please help me with our IT? we'll be in HCM, and as what i read, hanoi is far. since, we'll be visiting cambodia, im not sure if 6 days is enough. how long po ba ang travel time from HCM to Hanoi? via plane? where to book and prolly how much? kapag by land po, anong fastest? i really wanted to visit hanoi too. pwedeng di na namin masyadong isama lahat ng di naman nakaka-interest sa HCM para mas ma-maximize namin yung time. please help din po for other places to visit (yung talagang interesting) foods to eat. im not that interested sa shopping, bkk parin ako. :-) sobrang thank you.

i read some blogs, please post other blogs to read on, very inormative kasi mga blogs. :-)

[riandrew]

Mas okay ba bich duyen kesa na nguyen khang? Parang mas okay kase room sa nguyen khang eh. pero in terms of service mas ok bich duyen?

in my experience, ok ang service ng Nguyen. I was a solo traveler, so humingi ako ng discount. pinagbigyan naman ako. $2 din yun. hehe
another nice thing, yung driver nila who picked me up in the aiport, hindi nya ko iniwan kahit 3-4 freakin hours nadelay ang flight. hindi birong hintayan yun..

[Gladz31842]

^^hcmc to hanoi by plane is 2 hours, fare is around 110usd one way economy yon...

[Gladz31842]

^waiting taxis here in vn is not a big deal. minsan nga kahit half-day willing sila mag antay basta nasa proper antayan place lang sila, yong di sasawayin ng pulis..mas gusto nila yan kesa paikot-ikot sila hanap pasahero, at least yan sure na na meron sasakay...

[pilyaz]

sis GLADZ, ouch! bakit ang mahal? haha! wala ba silang promos? lol. i researched by train it would take us 19 hours from saigon-hanoi? too bad. it's too far pala. and i think my hanoi and halong bay dream tour would be crossed out for now, because of limited time and budget. hurts!  sayang, parang mas maganda sya kesa sa saigon. if i had known earlier.

anyhoo, this would be my tentative IT

we'll be arriving at Ho Chi Minh 12 midnight. so I think we'll be going directly to our hotel (wala pang hotel).
1st day - Cu-chi tunnel (morning)
               Half day City tour (afternoon)
2nd day- Mekong delta (as what i read, there's two way for this trip, what's the best and fun route?
              Water puppet show (afternoon) -meron daw 2pm and 6pm nito, aabot kaya sa 6pm kpag galing kami ng mekong delta tour?
(ano pa ang pwede ko isingit na pwede puntahan? aside from food tripping, meron bang byahe ng gabi papuntang phnom penh? please post naman po bus schedules and fares from Ho chi Minh - phnom penh-siem reap and vice versa)

3rd day - phnom penh (what to visit? whole day tour ba to?)
               (may schedule ba from phnom penh-siem reap ng hapon or gabi? or mag stay nalang kami dito?)
4th day - siem reap (visit angkor w-a-t whole day, ride an elephant, hot air balloon, what else?)
5th day - sabi kasi, siem reap has more to offer, ano pa ba visit namin dito? sabi kasi 2 days daw to visit siem reap
6th day - back to ho chi minh and catch our 11pm flight back to manila.

yan palang po, di ko pa nafa-finilize since i still need more infos. please help naman po to fix and maximize my IT, ok lang kahit wala masyadong pahinga, we can do that naman sa byahe. ano ano pa ang pwede puntahan?

TIA! 

[london]

^ my suggestion:

day 1 - hcmc to sr (if yu arrive early and still have energy, you can visit the night market which is open until 12am. try the fish spa (usd2 with drinks) and foot massage (usd2 for 30mins).
day 2 - temple tour, to pp by bus (just visit the main ones. sunrise at angkor w-a-t then you can return to your guesthouse for breakfast. bayon, ta phrom, angkor w-a-t. bantay srei pwede rin but it's an hour away by tuktuk. pwede rin dito night market. then take the midnight bus to pp. make sure to ask your guesthouse to reserve your bus tickets when you arrive.)
day 3 - arrive pp. you can rest in the morning, then after lunch visit killing fields and genocide museum. or if you don't want to rest, visit the royal palace, silver pagoda, etc.
day 4 - pp to hcmc by morning bus (ask your guesthouse in pp to reserve the bus tickets upon arrival), city tour hcmc in the afternoon
day 5 - cao dai temple & cu chi tunnel
day 6 - mekong delta

i think mas ok na ihuli mo na ang hcmc because dun flight niyo pabalik. para di rin kayo nagmamadali. minsan kasi di mo rin masabi kung may aberya mangyari sa bus. actually, yung day 2 till 6 e yun yung naging itinerary namin last may 1 to may 8 lang.  buti na lang nung nag cao dai & cu chi kami and mekong delta e di umulan so maaga kami nakabalik sa hcmc. nung last day namin which we spent shopping, we ate at a restaurant na malapit sa sinh tourist. nakita namin yung galing mekong late na dumating, mga 7pm na whereas nung kami, 5:30pm nakabalik na kami. maulan kasi. the airport is around 30mins away lang din from the city center. yung bus naman namin from sr to pp (virak buntham, usd10) e delayed ng 1hr (12:30am to 7:30am). may nag away kasi sa bus, pero di naman nakakatakot. yung pp to hcmc (mekong express, usd12) naman namin, we left pp at 8:30am then reach pham ngu lao at 3pm na. sobrang traffic kasi. nung time kasi na pumunta kami dun daming holidays so punuan din mga bus kaya medyo late na yung mga nakuha naming sched.

[Gladz31842]

^galing

[ellyse]

I'm torn. help naman po. ano ba mas okay, Bich Duyen o Saigon Mini Hotel? So far parang almost same rate lang sila eh, magkalapit din yata street lang nila.  Based sa photos mas maganda sa Saigon Mini pero I just want to make sure na tama pipiliin ko kasi ako ang pipili ng accommodation namin ng friends ko. any insights pleas. help! 

[yby2476]

^ my suggestion:

day 1 - hcmc to sr (if yu arrive early and still have energy, you can visit the night market which is open until 12am. try the fish spa (usd2 with drinks) and foot massage (usd2 for 30mins).
day 2 - temple tour, to pp by bus (just visit the main ones. sunrise at angkor w-a-t then you can return to your guesthouse for breakfast. bayon, ta phrom, angkor w-a-t. bantay srei pwede rin but it's an hour away by tuktuk. pwede rin dito night market. then take the midnight bus to pp. make sure to ask your guesthouse to reserve your bus tickets when you arrive.)
day 3 - arrive pp. you can rest in the morning, then after lunch visit killing fields and genocide museum. or if you don't want to rest, visit the royal palace, silver pagoda, etc.
day 4 - pp to hcmc by morning bus (ask your guesthouse in pp to reserve the bus tickets upon arrival), city tour hcmc in the afternoon
day 5 - cao dai temple & cu chi tunnel
day 6 - mekong delta

i think mas ok na ihuli mo na ang hcmc because dun flight niyo pabalik. para di rin kayo nagmamadali. minsan kasi di mo rin masabi kung may aberya mangyari sa bus. actually, yung day 2 till 6 e yun yung naging itinerary namin last may 1 to may 8 lang.  buti na lang nung nag cao dai & cu chi kami and mekong delta e di umulan so maaga kami nakabalik sa hcmc. nung last day namin which we spent shopping, we ate at a restaurant na malapit sa sinh tourist. nakita namin yung galing mekong late na dumating, mga 7pm na whereas nung kami, 5:30pm nakabalik na kami. maulan kasi. the airport is around 30mins away lang din from the city center. yung bus naman namin from sr to pp (virak buntham, usd10) e delayed ng 1hr (12:30am to 7:30am). may nag away kasi sa bus, pero di naman nakakatakot. yung pp to hcmc (mekong express, usd12) naman namin, we left pp at 8:30am then reach pham ngu lao at 3pm na. sobrang traffic kasi. nung time kasi na pumunta kami dun daming holidays so punuan din mga bus kaya medyo late na yung mga nakuha naming sched.

-I also agree...yung cu chi mo, pagbalik mo na lang ulit ng vietnam...yung ginawa din namin, parang ganyan...the 1st 2 days, roaming around vietnam, then yung bandang gitna, angkor [textspeak!], then pagbalik nag-cu-chi kami...

[barefoot_taka]

mga sis open ba ang cu ci tunnels pag sunday? im making kasi our IT. thanks! 

[kiaramae_0403]

hi were planning to go here on Sept, ang quote sa amin nung agency is Php13,097.67/each for 6 pax(Round trip Cebu pacific Airfare and Que Huong Hotel) - reasonable na ba ito?

[yby2476]

how many days kayo dun? sa package na ito? nung pumunta kami ng vietnam-cambodia, for 6 days, PAL ang airplane, with accomodations and taxes, plus our hotel sa cambodia and our bus rides back and forth, and pati yung mga entrance sa angkor [textspeak!], mga 15k, each...we dont use agency, do it yourself...may cut pa kasi ang agency eh...