JBR - Vietnam [4 weeks in September 2015]

PompeyPete

Carrying on from post #6.

As Day 3 was our only full day in Saigon until our final 4 nights I'll leave it until the end.

Day 4. Our Vietjet flight from Saigon to Da Lat was at 1125, we were up at 0615. Showered and finished packing, breakfast on the Hong Han terrace, and checked-out at 0825.

No need to book a taxi as they're everywhere. As soon as we set foot outside the Guesthouse a Vinasun taxi appeared straight away.

No need to remind the driver to turn his meter on. The traffic all the way to the airport was horrendous , especially motorbikes going in all directions, and with all sorts of stuff loaded onto them. Took 30 minutes, with only one slight nudge with a scooter.

Taxi fare on the meter was 153K dong, which I rounded up to 170K dong [£5].

We went into the Domestic Terminal, which turned out to be the wrong one, as Vietjet have their own terminal v.closeby.

Check-in was straightforward, no water allowed airside, and airside a 50cl bottle cost 12K dong [35p].

The Departure lounge was pleasant, clean, and plenty of Departure Boards.

No airbridge, we were bussed out to the aircraft at 1100.

Vietjet aircraft v.clean and pleasant female cabin crew, who looked straight out of a Scottish version of a female Thunderbirds. Burberry shorts, red polo-shirt, Burberry Thunderbirds hat, and a smile to match.

Didn't leave the ground until 1150. Cleared the sprawl mass below us, into the country, and before we knew it we were descending into Da Lat. Landed 25 minutes after take-off!

Da Lat is only a v.small airport, you walk from the aircraft to the Terminal Building. My homework had told me that we could basically walk on to a shuttle bus to take us to town. While Rosemary recovered our luggage I went to book the bus [which was waiting outside]. Ticket each was 40K dong [just over £1].

The bus [33 seater] set off at 1240 [only 50 minutes after leaving the tarmac in Saigon!].

The outside temperature was 26c, a lot more bearable than Saigon. It's 28km from the airport to Da Lat town, half on a fast [little traffic] dual carriageway along a valley, every spare inch taken up by crops growing in the fields. Then we leave the valley and onto a pot-holed road, climbing through the hills for the rest of the trip before descending into Da Lat. Quite a tricky drive as oncoming drivers in Vietnam don't have a lot of road-sense, and I wouldn't fancy it after dark.

It's a really pretty scene dropping down to Da Lat as Xuan Huong Lake is right in front of you, and an impressive sight.

Past the Lake and it's up a hill into town. It's been a 55 minute bus ride, and we expected to get dropped off at our hotel. No such luck. We got dropped in the centre of town, and the walk was about 10 minutes. During that 10 minutes, and as we were carting bags on wheels, we were obvious targets for any touts that spotted us. The first one touting Easy Rider trips pinged us as soon as we got of the bus. We're too old in the tooth for touts, but he was good for giving us directions to our hotel.:) You have to be careful of fake touts.

Checked into Dreams Hotel quickly. Pleasant, decent sized room with all we needed at £18 a night including what turned out to be an excellent breakfast.

More later(ish). If you want to read a bit more about Da Lat, the Wikitravel page is here...

http://wikitravel.org/en/Dalat

And here's what reviewers on TA say about The Dreams Hotel...

http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Hotel_Review-g293922-d582986-Reviews-Dreams_Hotel-Dalat_Lam_Dong_Province.html

northwest1965

Loving the trip report! Reading with interest as i think we may pluck up the courage. After 4 years of road trips in the US, it's time for something out of our comfort zone!

slinga

hey PompeyPete did you ever finish your blog after day 4 shown above?

PompeyPete

Nope. I go through these can't be bothered phases.:o

The places we stayed at, and that I've not rambled on about in any detail are...

- Dalat [5 nights]
- Flight to Danang with Vietnam Air
- Danang [4 nights]
- 3rd Class train to Hue
- Hue [5 nights]
- Bus to Hoi An
- Hoi An [7 nights]
- Flight to Saigon with Vietjet
- and final 4 nights in Saigon

So if you've got any questions I'll try and answer them.

slinga

PompeyPete wrote: »

Nope. I go through these can't be bothered phases.:o

The places we stayed at, and that I've not rambled on about in any detail are...

- Dalat [5 nights]
- Flight to Danang with Vietnam Air
- Danang [4 nights]
- 3rd Class train to Hue
- Hue [5 nights]
- Bus to Hoi An
- Hoi An [7 nights]
- Flight to Saigon with Vietjet
- and final 4 nights in Saigon

So if you've got any questions I'll try and answer them.

Thanks.
We're looking at 7 nights split between HCMC and Da Lat.

My missus said your hotel in HCMC was a backpacker.
Not that there's anythong wrong with that:D but she's looking at the GK Central. Any thoughts?
Also your Vietnam in country flights are a lot cheaper than she's seen so far.
Is that a time of year thing or a late booking thing on our part.

If this holiday goes well we will return and also try Hanoi and maybe Danang.

MacArthur said he will return but that was the Philippines and we've been there ..

Oops.
Just got a bollocking.
Apparently the missus said the hotel was in a backpacker area..

PompeyPete

slinga wrote: »

Thanks.
We're looking at 7 nights split between HCMC and Da Lat.

Where else are you going? Tbh if Da lat is the only place other than Saigon, then consider Hoi An instead. Not that there's anything wrong with Da Lat, but there's a lot more going on in Hoi An, and after dark it's a bit special. We had 5 nights in Da Lat, which was probably a couple too many, and when I was doing all our planning, someone on this forum said that Da Lat was a waste of time! So it all depends on what 'rocks your boat'.

Hoi An is easy to get to as Da Lat, as all you do is fly from Saigon to Da Nang and then a 330k dong [£10) taxi ride to Hoi An [45 minutes].

slinga wrote: »

My missus said your hotel in HCMC was a backpacker.
Not that there's anythong wrong with that:D but she's looking at the GK Central. Any thoughts?

District 1 is known as the Backpacker Area of Saigon, but it attracts everyone. There's 100s of choices, and we were happy with our accommodation choices, and as most places includes a good breakfast the vfm is very good. The GK Central looks to be in good spot, good reviews, so go for it.

slinga wrote: »

Also your Vietnam in country flights are a lot cheaper than she's seen so far.
Is that a time of year thing or a late booking thing on our part.

I just saw the prices, they looked good, and I just went for it and never returned to the websites. With our Vietnam Air flight from Da Lat to Da Nang I think I accidentally booked online with an agency, and could have got it cheaper if I'd booked direct with the airline. So be a bit careful booking online, as some of the websites look v.similar. Our 2 flights with Vietjet were very good.

slinga

Thanks for the info PP.
We're a bit too old to be night people, well I am anyway, after dark we're usually reading in our room.:cool:
But care to expand your comment about Hoi An.

PompeyPete

slinga wrote: »

We're a bit too old to be night people, well I am anyway, after dark we're usually reading in our room.:cool:

It goes dark early, and the lights come on...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xx3EEW-YmzQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=byID8i7WyVg

Loads of places to stay, we were on the edge of the Old Town...

http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Hotel_Review-g298082-d8460649-Reviews-Hoi_An_Travel_Lodge_Hotel-Hoi_An_Quang_Nam_Province.html

There's so many places to eat and drink and watch the world go by...

http://www.rustycompass.com/vietnam-travel-guide-233/hoi-an-28/eating-16#.Vop4SbaLRkg

and more photos...

http://www.shutterstock.com/video/search/hoi-an/?page=2&perpage=100&query=hoi+an&sort=popular&translation_method=service&use_local_boost=0&lang=en

Leanne1812

I'm still waiting to hear why you never visited Cu Chi?

I loved Hoi An and will return there some day. Very chilled vibe, great beaches, restaurants & bars. The town is so quaint & picturesque. Cheap as chips too. We stayed at Hoi An Trails Resort which was perfectly nice and less than £40 a night if I remember. Next time we will stay at a beach resort though as its so convenient. Loved the hawkers and their attempts at rhyming slang. They could sell snow to the Eskimos! I was happy to converse and buy a few small items but they were respectful if I said no.

Do your research if you plan on visiting a tailor or shoe maker. I had boots made and my hubby called them wellies with a heel! :rotfl:

PompeyPete

Leanne1812 wrote: »

I'm still waiting to hear why you never visited Cu Chi?

Never got there for a couple of reasons. The day we had put aside heavy rain was forecast, and so didn't want to risk part of the complex being wet or flooded. Also we'd spent a couple of hours at the War Remnants Museum in Saigon, which gave fairly vivid images of what to expect.