Where to go on holiday advice please

PompeyPete

slinga wrote: »

Your info on Vietnam was comprehensive for us and we dipped our toe in HCMC for 6 days on our annual way back to UK from Singapore last year. Perhaps we shouldn't tar all of Vietnam with the same stick, but ...that was enough Vietnam for us even though we could stop off in Hanoi on our annual trip back to Singapore from UK at no extra charge, we fly Vietnam Air annually Sing/UK/Sing.

Always a bit doubtful whether to give an opposing view on here if someone suggests a place but there you go.

I wouldn't judge a whole country on a few days in a big noisy city like Saigon. Ditto if you plan visiting Hanoi, big, loud, polluted.....but get under the surface, take a few turns of the beaten tourist tracks, and the place is endlessly fascinating.

Flying to Quy Nhon tomorrow for 6 nights...

https://en.m.wikivoyage.org/wiki/Quy_Nhon

...and I don't expect to see more than a handful of tourists. In 10 years it'll probably be overrun with them.

PompeyPete

bylromarha wrote: »

I too hated Vietnam - we went around an awful lot of the place a few years back, cities, towns and villages and shall not be returning. A few beautiful places, a few friendly locals but we found that too many locals see a western face and think it's someone to fleece.

OP- just looked on Momondo and, if your school holidays start 1st April like ours do, Sun 2nd April - Thurs 13th April return to Bangkok for £448pp using Jet Airways. Not direct, but layover times are bearable IMO for the price.

Once in Bangkok, the world is your oyster! Travel in Asia is very cheap, as are hotel stays and food. You could easily have a great time on the remaining £600 for 10 days.

Personally I'd spend the time travelling round Cambodia - easy enough to travel there from Bangkok. Phnom Penh and Siem Riep the 2 mainstays, but look into Battambang, Kep and Kampot too. The odd luxury night can be had at around £50 per night in PP, more in Siem Riep, less in the other places (though it's less luxury in those towns!)

You are just as prone to being scammed in any of the places you've named.....perhaps you were but never noticed.;)

Dmerry

Thank you everyone I shall be looking into all suggestions!

slinga

PompeyPete wrote: »

I wouldn't judge a whole country on a few days in a big noisy city like Saigon. Ditto if you plan visiting Hanoi, big, loud, polluted.....but get under the surface, take a few turns of the beaten tourist tracks, and the place is endlessly fascinating.

Flying to Quy Nhon tomorrow for 6 nights...

https://en.m.wikivoyage.org/wiki/Quy_Nhon

...and I don't expect to see more than a handful of tourists. In 10 years it'll probably be overrun with them.

Keep posting.
It may eventually make us try another visit.
The places you've suggested look great.

But take away the war and the beaches, which don't interest us, and for me there's only the food and it's not a cuisine I find that nice.

bylromarha

PompeyPete wrote: »

You are just as prone to being scammed in any of the places you've named.....perhaps you were but never noticed.;)

Can I presume Pete means you're male? It may be that I attracted & experienced a side of a certain sort of Vietnamese person you never will, me being female and travelling alone with 2 young kids?

I was never scammed in Vietnam, that suggests subtlety! It was more like people running down the road to you, thrusting something in your hand you didn't want & getting angry when you immediately handed it back and repeated no thank you-in Vietnamese- several times instead of giving them cash. 2 different men yelled at me in 2 different towns, 1 as I didn't pay for the coconut i'd told him I repeatedly didn't want, the 2nd as I paid him what the meter said when he drove me past my hotel rather than the amount 15 minutes later when he got to my hotel the 2nd time and let us out. This was one of the official taxis too. And that was just the yelling ones!

Never experienced anything like that in 10 years of Cambodian visits.

Totally scammed in Bangkok once...but isn't that part of the experience?!

PompeyPete

slinga wrote: »

But take away the war and the beaches, which don't interest us, and for me there's only the food and it's not a cuisine I find that nice.

Interesting that you mention food.

Vietnam, north to south is about twice the length of UK. Would you say that all the cuisine in the UK was the same? No, of course not.....same in Vietnam, there's an abundance of variety on offer depending on where you are and the time of year. Even a region with the same specialities will have different tweaks on it from town to town.

PompeyPete

bylromarha wrote: »

Can I presume Pete means you're male? It may be that I attracted & experienced a side of a certain sort of Vietnamese person you never will, me being female and travelling alone with 2 young kids?

Lots of women travel alone these days, some accompanied by children. Was talking to a 30-something Aussie Sheila at lunchtime. The subject of foreign females being hassled never came up, she was too busy telling us about her enjoyable 8 weeks in Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam.

bylromarha wrote: »

I was never scammed in Vietnam, that suggests subtlety! It was more like people running down the road to you, thrusting something in your hand you didn't want & getting angry when you immediately handed it back and repeated no thank you-in Vietnamese- several times instead of giving them cash. 2 different men yelled at me in 2 different towns, 1 as I didn't pay for the coconut i'd told him I repeatedly didn't want, the 2nd as I paid him what the meter said when he drove me past my hotel rather than the amount 15 minutes later when he got to my hotel the 2nd time and let us out. This was one of the official taxis too. And that was just the yelling ones!

I wasn't there, so can't comment on either scenario. Question about the taxi though. Why didn't you tell him to stop the first time you passed your hotel, and did you take a note of his driver badge number and report him, that's why they have ID numbers?

bylromarha wrote: »

Totally scammed in Bangkok once...but isn't that part of the experience?!

I've been done by a couple of subtle scams in Bangkok, and laughed at how stupid I was. But I like to think I'm a bit too wise to be totally scammed.

slinga

PompeyPete wrote: »

Interesting that you mention food.

Vietnam, north to south is about twice the length of UK. Would you say that all the cuisine in the UK was the same? No, of course not.....same in Vietnam, there's an abundance of variety on offer depending on where you are and the time of year. Even a region with the same specialities will have different tweaks on it from town to town.

See, now you've gone and dunnit.:rotfl:
We are going to try two nights in Hanoi on our way back to UK in March/April.
Missus has looked at hotels and reckons the Oriental central looks good. Any experience of it?

And then what might be best to view around Hanoi when we arrive at 3pm one day have another full day and then leave late the following day.

PompeyPete

slinga wrote: »

See, now you've gone and dunnit.:rotfl:
We are going to try two nights in Hanoi on our way back to UK in March/April.
Missus has looked at hotels and reckons the Oriental central looks good. Any experience of it?

And then what might be best to view around Hanoi when we arrive at 3pm one day have another full day and then leave late the following day.

My knowledge of Hanoi is only based on the 5 nights we've just had there.

That hotel is in the Old Quarter, so is v.central to the action. Whether it attracts a lot of street noise or not might affect the sleep quality, but it is a manic area, great fun.....but you need to keep your wits about you with all the two-wheeler traffic.

Hoan Kiem Lake is at the southern edge of the Old Quarter,and is a lovely area, particularly so at weekends when it's a traffic-free zone.

Attactions really depend on your interests. People watching is free and there are endless cafes to just sit and watch.

Getting from the airport takes about 35 minutes in a taxi. We arrived after dark, so let our hotel driver pick us up. Cost US$18 [in dong] which was added to our hotel bill.

For what it's worth we stayed here...

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g293924-d8711497-Reviews-Hanoi_3B_Homestay-Hanoi.html

...and really enjoyed it......exceptional vfm. Staying there again next week for 3 nights, before flying back to Bangkok for our final 3 nights by the river at New Siam Riverside.