Vietnam (Thread 4)

[kikay iska]

^ thanks sis for answering my questions agad-agad!

So far, here's what I have come up with after backreading...

Option 1: 2N Saigon/2N Mui Ne
Day 1: (7am-2pm) Cu Chi Tunnels and Cao Dai Temple + (3pm trip) Travel to Mui Ne + Overnight in Mui Ne
Day 2: (am) Fairy Spring + (2pm-sunset) Fishing village, "Mni-Grand Canyon", White and Red sand dunes + Overnight in Mui Ne
Day 3:  (8am) Travel to HCM  + (pm) Saigon City Tour + Water Puppet show + Overnight in HCM
Day 4: Mekong Delta Tour??

Option 2: 3N Saigon/1N Mui Ne
Day 1: (7am-2pm) Cu Chi Tunnels and Cao Dai Temple + City tour + Water Puppet show + Overnight in HCM
Day 2: (7am) Travel to Mui Ne + (2pm) Fishing village, "Mini-Grand Canyon", White and Red sand dunes + Overnight in Mui Ne
Day 3: (7am) Fairy Spring + (11am) Travel to HCM + Overnight in HCM
Day 4: Mekong Delta Tour??

I prefer Option 1 over 2 because we’ll have more time to explore Mui Ne. It seems more interesting than Saigon. And with that, I have a number of questions.

Questions:
1) Is it safe to assume that the Cu Chi Tunnels will be done by 2pm and that we can take the 3pm bus to Mui Ne?
2) If we leave at 3pm, we’ll arrive in Mui Ne at around 10pm.  If we miss the 3pm bus and take the 6pm bus instead. Is this safe for 2 females – arriving late night in Mui Ne? 
3) Is Mekong Delta worth a day’s tour? 1am pa ang flight namin. What others tours can we take on our last day? Our return flight is at 1am pa. Time’s too short to go to Da Nang and too long to skip Mekong Delta and just wander around Saigon.

Help, mga sis! Please...

[kittycat228]

it will be our first time in vietnam this november 2014.  any suggestions on where to stay? our main goal is shopping  food trip and sight seeing.

[kikay iska]

^ I recommend Nguyen Khang Hotel in District 1, where we stayed last September. Very clean place and accommodating/friendly staff.

This is almost right across Bich Duyen which also has good reviews here in the forum. Actually, this street is lined with hotels.

[kittycat228]

Thanks sis kikay iska. Can we walk to shopping areas and food joints if we stay in hotels along district 1?

[kikay iska]

^ Yep, an easy 10-min walk to Ben Than Market and Saigon Square.  We took a cab 2x: one, when we were rushing and 2nd, when we had too many shopping bags. Cab fare was only around 20,000vnd (around 50 pesos).

Food joints - everywhere. District 1 is full of tourists so food joints are everywhere.

We ate at Pho 2000 near the market before shopping. Liked it a lot, we went back there for our last meal in the city before going to the airport.

[kittycat228]

May murang tulugan ba near the airport? Past midnight kasi dating namin and lilipat din kami ng hotel in the morning after a bit of sleep.

[ayionick]

nag-inquire ako sa Bich Duyen (17USD double room) at Nguyen Khang (24USD double room). pareho silang with breakfast pero walang free airport transfer?

we'll be coming from SR on nov.5, allotted the whole day for travel na lang kasi malamang wala naman na magagawa pa kung gabi na kame makakarating sa HCMC. wala bang way para dumiretso sa Mui Ne from SR? ang naisip namin gawin ganito:
Nov.3-4: MLA-SR, Angkor [textspeak!] tours
Nov.5: Bus travel from SR to HCMC; overnight in HCMC
           -- 24USD na ba sa Mekong Express Limousine Bus? Alin mas ok Mekong Express Limousine Bus o Sinh Tourist? May nabasa din akong blog na hindi ok ang experience sa Mekong from SR to Saigon, comfort room lang daw ang maganda sa Mekong?
           -- Meron bang byahe from SR to Mui Ne or any suggestion para hindi kame puro byahe at check-in/checkout from HCMC and Mui Ne?
Nov.6: Checkout from HCMC; Bus/Van travel to Mui Ne; overnight in Mui Ne
Nov.7: Mui Ne tours; Checkout from Mui Ne; Bus/Van travel to HCMC; overnight in HCMC
Nov.8: half day Cu Chi tour and City tour
Nov.9: 1am HCMC-MLA flight

[a.k.a. HELGA]

^Yep, both don't have free airport transfers but they can book a taxi for your pick-up for 17USD.

I tried to research Muine-SR route also when I was preparing my iti but sadly, walang ako nabasa na direct bus for these 2 destinations.

I know there's a sleeping bus HCMC-Muine scheduled at 8PM and arrival at 1AM, but you just have to ensure na dadating kayo before 8PM sa Sinh Tourist office.
https://www.thesinhtourist.vn/busschedule

Comparing SinhTourist bus (Saigon - Mui ne) and Mekong Express (Saigon - PP, PP - Saigon) mas ok ang experience ko with the later. Although its wifi on board is intermittent. Nasiraan kasi yun bus ko going to Mui ne at mas kumportable yung bus ride ko with Mekong, IMO lang. But, if you'll be including a short stay at PP, I prefer the Giant Ibis Bus. Bago, malinis at mas consistent ang wifi, wala nga lang cr.

[ayionick]

^sisteret! Kung 1am ang arrival sa mui ne susunduin ba kame ng hotel o magtaxi kame? Safe din kaya ang travel sa gabi? Yung sr to hcmc daw kasi di advisable ang night bus travel.

[a.k.a. HELGA]

^ hello sis. Where are you staying at Muine? There's a big probability na madaanan ng bus ang accommodation nyo. Last stop of the bus is infront of the SinhTourist office at Muine.

[candyzire]

san pa ok mapapalit ng VND bukod sa CZARINA?

[ayionick]

^aka helga magbu-book palang ako sa mui ne backpackers. familiar ka ba dun?

[kittycat228]

san pa ok mapapalit ng VND bukod sa CZARINA?

try mo sis sa mb aguirre

[a.k.a. HELGA]

^^ hello sis. Yep, I'm familiar with Mui ne Backpackers Resort. One of my option dati when I was researching prior to my trip. Good choice, location wise. Kasi along main road ito at talagang madadaanan nyo (right side of the street, Mui ne bound). You can inform/ask the bus assistant to drop you here.

[ayionick]

^sis, familiar ka din ba dito at may comment ka ba jan: http://www.duyanguesthouse.com/en/albumdetail.aspx?id=3

[kikay iska]

^ Ayi, yung sa bus namin, pagsakay pa lang tinanong na kung anong hotel ng mga passengers sa Mui Ne. Tapos nung nasa Mui Ne na, tumitigil sila mismo sa mga hotels para magbaba. Sa amin, kasi medyo papasok pa yung sa Mui Ne Hills, binaba kami sa kanto papasok ng hotel.  No hassle at all.

Tapos nung pabalik naman ng HCM, sinundo kami sa kantong yun din. 9am yung alis ng bus sa sation tapos sabi sa amin, daanan nila kami sa kanto ng 9:10am. Before 9:10am, tumawag yung bus line sa hotel namin (via receptionist) para sabihin na punta na kami sa kanto.

[a.k.a. HELGA]

Yep, tama si kikay iska, they will drop and fetch you infront/near sa accommodation nyo, no need to go to their office when in Mui ne to catch the bus (provided na along the way nila yun accommodation).

Hihi! ang sloooow ko, ikaw pala yan sis ayi! Sorry, di ako familiar with Duy An. By the way, do you have a tour guide na ba for Mui ne?

[ayionick]

salamat kikay iska at aka helga! hahaha aka helga, akala ko nakilala mo na ko. :p

wala pa kame tour guide sa Mui Ne. may nabasa ako 4x4 vehicle ($40) ang gamit nila dun? pero di nasabi kung ilan ang capacity though ok lang naman daw walang advance booking sa tour kasi madami naman daw dun at hotel na maghahanap? anong bus ang sinakyan nyo? futa bus at sinh tourist palang ang nababasa ko eh, mas ok din daw sa sinh in terms of travel time?

[ayionick]

additional question, anong mas ok na bus going to Mui Ne -- Sinh Tourist or Futa Bus/Phoung Trang?

mga nababasa ko sa TripAdvisor puro Phoung Trang ang recommended kasi yung Sinh minsan daw hindi nagbababa sa mismong hotel sa Mui Ne kundi sa terminal lang nila. kaso in terms of travel time mas matagal sya ng 1hr, pero parang TripAdvisor commentators find it more beneficial for them?

[kikay iska]

^ we took the Phuong Trang kasi malapit sa hotel namin yung booking office nila. Di na kami nag-effort na hanapin yung sinh tourist. Medyo matagal nga yung byahe pero other than that, wala namang naging problema. MAy free water and wet wipes pa sa byahe.

Re: tour guide in Mui Ne. We hired Mr. Binh (recommended by Mr Punch and sis akaHELGA). 2 motorbikes (at 12usd each) yung dala para sa amin - 2 kami. Pero nag-offer pala si Mr Binh ng 4x4 kaso di ko na nabasa. Sa 4x4, 15usd each ang quote nya.