Things to do in Vietnam

Cauld

I'll be going to Vietnam for about 10 days with my wife. We're flying into Hanoi and out of Ho Chi Min City (Saigon). I know there's a monsoon and it differs by the time of year. We're going in about 2 weeks. Is there anything specific anyone recommends?

We like eating local food and exploring new things/areas. I think we could do some day hikes or something, but nothing for multiple nights. I would also like to go to the beach and the Mekong delta sounds pretty cool. My wife has expressed interest in mountains (because they would be refreshingly cool). She doesn't swim very well, but when we went snorkling in Thailand she absolutely loved it.

Thanks!

Bendery It Like Beckham

Find Charlie? I hear he's been missing for about 40 years

oh god I'm so sorry

Viscountalpha

If you have time, I've heard halong bay is fantastic.

I've wanted to see it myself. I hear the temperature is about perfect there. Also listed as one of the 33 most beautiful bays in the world.

Fandyien

Don't forget to pack some napalm.

MagicToaster

Wake up your wife by yelling "GOOD MORNING VIETNAM!!!"

spacerobot

I would recommend checking out Sapa. When I went we had to take a train from Hanoi, and the train trip its self was a great experience. Sapa seems like a touristy place but there are some cool things to do there such as hiking through Hmong villages. We had a guide lead us when we went. Might be a little more difficult without one. We also visited a Hmong market way up north in the Mountains which was a great experience.
I have some videos of the trip on youtube: www.youtube.com/spacerobot The vietnam videos are in there somewhere.

Darkewolfe

I recommend getting addicted to heroin and then returning to a country that reviles you.

LafayetteLeopards11

defintely do sapa if you can. also halong bay is pretty far from hanoi if you're going to go from there, so just be warned. we spent about 8 hours in a crappy minibus round trip and it was pretty don't get me wrong, but there's only so much there. also when we went it was incredibly hot (like, 103 at 5 am hot, with nothing to block the sun and no wind). so that may have had something to do with it, but at least personally i enjoyed sapa far more than halong bay. also if you go to sapa there is a pretty cool overnight train you can take which we really enjoyed.

also, make sure to try bia hoi (locally made beer for around 2-3k dong per)

i've never really been in the south so i can't help you out regarding hcmc

Cauld

Thanks for the replies! Is there a lot to do in Sapa besides the Hmong things? It seems a long way to go for that. We've also spent a lot of time in Thailand and seen Hmong villages and that kind of thing there. But it does sound like a pretty cool mountain town and we were looking to go to the mountains, so I'll check it out.

Halong bay sounds pretty nice and looks close to Hanoi, so I'll definitely look into that some more.

Viscountalpha

Ha long bay looks to be 130KM from hanoi so yes, it looks like a fairly long trip. Depends on what you want to see though.

EskimoDave

http://dawseng.wordpress.com/2009/08/07/sapa-vietnam/

just saw that. Might have ideas and inspirations for you.

Cauld

EskimoDave wrote: »

http://dawseng.wordpress.com/2009/08/07/sapa-vietnam/

just saw that. Might have ideas and inspirations for you.

Thanks for the link, and thanks spacerobot for the youtube videos. Unfortunately I can't access them as almost all social networking sites are blocked here (China). Anyone else have some recommendations or ideas?