Vietnam DIY
Flights
Emirates
647 Eu including taxes
7/19 Milan-Bangkok, 8/14 Bangkok -Milan
I renew my praises of this airline. This is regardless of the fact that on 2 flighs above 4 I have been upgraded on business class .. 🙂 🙂
Air Asia
7/21 Bangkok-Hanoi FD3700 6:45 – 8:35 Total cost 2960 baht (1590 baht flight + 320 allowance 15 kg, plus various fees, including exit tax)
8/1 Saigon-Bangkok FD3721 9:45 – 11:10 total cost 86 USD (46 flight + 8 15 kgs baggage, plus miscellaneous fees)
Absolutely no frills, but punctual, and no complaints to move. To save time I checked-in online, which in any case was not mandatory
Internal transport
I was disappointed by trains, I expected more. I tried a bit of everything, I will comment in due course.
Long-distance buses are awful. They say they are VIP class, with every amenity and comfort, but then toilets are out of use, the sleepers are tight (like Formula 1 car) for my size (162 cm x 52 kgs), I can’t imagine for a tall and sturdy person. The drivers get on board more passengers than allowed, people lie on the ground, surrounded by luggage, blocking the corridors and exits during stops. This situation, I checked with other travelers, is the usual one, it is not an isolated and unfortunate episode occurred to me.
Despite all, I would not go around with a driver and a private car. The positive side is that, especially by train, you can get in touch with the population who is very kind.
Climate
Damp heat, but little rain. The places where I found the most annoying sultriness were Hanoi and Ninh Binh, about 33/34° with more than 85% humidity percentage. Sapa is ok, due to the altitude (I think it might be cold in winter time), but it often rains, fortunately short showers. Cat Ba, being an island, it’s less hot than Hanoi. Wonderful weather in Hoi An (apart from a strong storm) and Nha Trang. Veiled sun, some clouds, very little rain at night in the Mekong Delta. Sun even in Saigon, but do not know why I was less faint than in Hanoi, maybe after three weeks I was more accustomed
Hotels
Excellent value for money. Many of the best reviewed hotels are in the 20 Euro range.
Some were found on the spot. I booked 4 of them, 2 writing directly to the owner and without anticipating anything, two with Agoda, a website I never used before. Unlike Booking or Venus, and despite my reservation was erasable, they picked immediately money from my bank account. It seems to me therefore that refunds can be problematic, so I do not recommend it, even if it costs maybe 2 Eu in less than competitors
Communications
At the airport in Hanoi, I bought a Vinaphone sim card, 500 thousand dong, which can be used to talk 65 minutes abroad, or 85 in Vietnam. The text msgs cost 2500 dong, free if received. To know credit left, dial * 101 # and then press “call.”
Food
You can spend a minimum of 15 thousand dong for a pho in a little tourist market. On average I never spent more than 100/120 thousand dong for a meal.
On the street they sell stuffed baguettes. Or, at bakers, you can buy the empty ones and fill them with what you want (7 thousand dong for a baguette and French cheese “la vache qui rit”)
The water has a variable cost, I paid the 1.5 lt bottle from a maximum of 20 thousand to 7 thousand dong.
Shopping
A lot of nice and cheap things to buy. However I find it hard to summarize everything in a single generic sentence “the best shopping is done here rather than there”, since some items are more convenient in a city, rather than the other one.
Let’s say that I have found in Hue fake watches and trousers cheaper than elsewhere (15 dollars and 100 thousand dong respectively, and the latter were a cotton / silk model, while elsewhere they were just cotton). In Hoi An blouses (100 thousand) were cheaper than Ben Tan market (500 thousand ). Laquers were rather cheaper in Ben Tan, compared to Hoi An.
The Hoi An tailors left me indifferent. I find a lot of pretty and cheap dresses in some local markets in Turin, I do not see so why wasting time here for anything I can find in my hometown at the same price. Hoi An is also famous for hand-made shoes, says the Lonely Planet, but frankly the ones I noticed by chance in shop windows were filthy
Worth going?
Absolutely yes. Apart from the sumptuous landscapes, and the unquestioned photogenic, I would define Vietnam as a paradise for backpackers, cheap, with good transport net, and good food
Hassle
Less than expected. The secret is to suspect about anyone who proposes good deals at very low prices.. I always used the taxi company My Linh, white and green cars, whose drivers are very reliable. With another, Vinasun, I had to insist for the meter to be put on, and I would have left in case they would not. I heard stories of scams, and crazy taxi meters, from tourists met in Hanoi.
Warning: I do not know how things go in Saigon, but if you buy tickets at Hanoi train station, do it by yourself at the main counter, even though it might not be so easy to communicate with the officers. I have spoken personally with some guys who were approached in perfect English by friendly staff, invited in a nice office where they booked several trips comfortably and without elbowing among the crowd, but at a higher price (they were in my same cabin on the train, and we compared the tickets). They had a blue coupon, which I then saw also in other foreigners hands.
Visa
With an online agency, it is cheaper than with the embassy.
http://www.vietnamvisacenter.org/index.php
They send a letter of invitation (cost 20 USD), on arrival you pay the stamp to be affixed on the passport (25 USD). We were quick to get off the plane, favored by the business class, and we were among the first ones to arrive at the visa counter. We waited about half an hour. The officers speak English well, so there are no problems. The ground Air Asia assistant who checked-in our luggage in Bangkok controlled our invitation letter, before giving us the boarding cards.