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  • #31
    Re: Vietnam and CS

    Originally posted by 3734262622342C550 link=1273147696/29#29 date=1273531345
    Unless you are on a very tight budget its a no brainer.
    Nah not a tight budget, just had a disagreement with the better half, but i was right! he he, now im gunna go enjoy another cup of your blend!

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    • #32
      Re: Vietnam and CS

      Well Fellow CSs, im back!!!, anyone thinking of going to Vietnam on hols.....book it!!! Its is an amazing experience that you will NEVER forget!, ill post a big rundown tonight with some tips on what we learnt, with photos, its good to be home CSs ;D

      PS Coffee in Vietnam is the worst.........AM, get those Caffeine patches from the chemist ready!

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      • #33
        Re: Vietnam and CS

        Originally posted by 7074524B4B4E514649270 link=1273147696/31#31 date=1278907561
        Well Fellow CSs, im back!!!, anyone thinking of going to Vietnam on hols.....book it!!! Its is an amazing experience that you will NEVER forget!, ill post a big rundown tonight with some tips on what we learnt, with photos, its good to be home CSs Grin
        Welcome Home Mate Looking forward to the pisc

        Cheers Gra..

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        • #34
          Re: Vietnam and CS

          Well we had a ball, from start to.....almost finish, ill explain later, but here is how our journey went....



          Flew into Saigon at around 7pm at night via KL.....WOW what a place!, 7 million people, and 5 million scooters! literally! We checked into Liberty Central Apartments that we had prebooked for $80 USD for just the one night, we dumped our bags, splashed some water on our faces and hit the streets. The first thing that hits you is the heat, 30C at 8 pm at roughly 90% humidity, coming from around 15C max in aust....its a great change. Then the traffic, the road rules or lack there of, and the calmness of the local folk, the happy smiles, the great outlook of these people who compared to us here in the lucky country are bordering on poverty. We headed to the markets to find some food. We found a little Restaurant (if you could call it that) on the side of the road, this is where most cooking in Vietnam takes place, on the ground/footpath/gutter, the food was amazing, and 2 "tiger" beers, 2 mains, and 2 waters(bottled) set us back around $8 AUD or 120 000 VND (Vietnamese dong) $1 AUD = 15 000 VND approx.

          The next day we jumped on a tour to the Cu Chi Tunnels, it was a half day tour including transport and the tour itself setting us back $20 USD for the both of us, if you want to read all about the tunnels, which are amazing and a definate "must see" click the link to find out a little bit about them......amazing http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C%E1%BB%A7_Chi_tunnels



          That afternoon we were off to the Airport to get a flight to Da Nang, found a flight for $60 USD each after a little hopping around comparing rates, ended up with Vietnam Airlines, Boing 737-300 i think from memory, good clean transport, wonderful hosts.....



          Arrived in Denang and jumped on a taxi to our accommodation which was the Golden Sands Resort, 5 star (our only 5 star stay), absolutely amazing!, again, dumped our bags and headed into the nearby village of Hoi An by taxi, about $4 AUD. This was our favorite destination in all of Vietnam, the people were amazing, shopping galore, incredible food, a great night life, one thing we noticed in most of Vietnam was the lack of sleep for these people, most destinations run almost 24/7! We loved it, one thing to note here is the general bartering rule of thumb, ask for a price, offer 40% of what they offered, think about their counter offer, and walk away.....95% of the time it works, kerrie picked up a pure 100% wool tailored jacket for $20 AUD delivered to the hotel!, same jacket in aust......$300 ++. We stayed 2 nights here, but could of stayed longer, got massages for $5, ate more food than id care to mention for next to nothing, bought heaps of stuff at basement prices......loved it!.



          We were off to Hanoi by plane after 2 nights in Hoi An, got the flights for $55 US each, about an hour flight time, 1000 klms in distance, then we were pretty much straight on the overnight sleeper train to the Sapa Valley. Now this is where we got ripped, against several peoples recommendations, we booked the trekking tour in aust through a company whom i wont mention, if you want more detail, PM me...... We payed $300 USD for overnight train to Lao Cai (300klms), minibus from the train station to Sa pa(40klms), a 4 day hard trek including home stays in the villages, with the last night accomadation in the Cat Cat hotel in Sa pa, minibus back to Lao Cai and overnight train back to Hanoi.....Sounds pretty good doesnt it? The problem was that the people that do all the work for you get next to nothing, the traditional Sapa guide gets a pitance of what you paid for the trek, the homestays get less than $3 a night for housing you cooking you dinner and cleaning up after your gone etc etc, the tour company sits back and enjoys the massive profit, your better off, paying for the transport out to Sapa yourself, which can be bartered the finding your own guide on the ground in Sa pa, they are every where, you wont miss them, you could do what we did for around $120 US id say....anyway.....how was it? AMAZING, ill let the pics do the talking......



          Next post............

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          • #35
            Re: Vietnam and CS

            Welcome back and congratulations

            If Hanoi was the only place you were ripped off then you have done very well. I got slung US$5 for a 200 metre journey in Hanoi (it was raining) and even then he wanted to charge us $10.

            Recommendations are as only good as what experience the recommender has to compare to. I have nearly always travelled free and easy and book as I go. The only times Ive been disappointed is the booked tours which include the obligatory stop or three at a souvenir shop.

            Didja buy a Viet coffee maker?

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            • #36
              Re: Vietnam and CS

              Buggar, why wont these links work? they work fine in live preview......not in the final post.....

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              • #37
                Re: Vietnam and CS

                Originally posted by 4A4E687171746B7C731D0 link=1273147696/35#35 date=1278922082
                Buggar, why wont these links work? they work fine in live preview......not in the final post.....
                most likely an issue with your photobucket album wsully. They all show as non existent...

                2mcm

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                • #38
                  Re: Vietnam and CS

                  4 Year old Sapa Girl with 5 month old baby sister oh her back.....lol



                  So after we arrived back in Hanoi by night train we trumbled across to the hotel district and found a hotel, got some prices and settled on a tour to Halong Bay(180klms) for two days, one night on a Junk including transport and all meals, swimming, kayaking and karaoke! for $50 each, so we jumped on the painfull bus for 3 hours and arrived at the majestic Halong Bay, once again ill let the photos do the talking!



                  We returned to the hotel where we booked the tour from in Hanoi and checked in for 2 nights, the aircon wasnt working so we were moved to another hotel!, and at 42C you need air con!

                  We didnt enjoy Hanoi at all, for several reasons, we got taken on a ride in a cab, basically robbed $66 AUD for 4 klms! we were locked in the cab and his meter was going ape, it was modified to catch unwary tourists....long story but we got ripped, yes i could have smashed his window, choked him, or whatever, but when you are in an unknown neighborhood, with no tourists around and you have no idea what friends he has around you, and you have a new bride in the car, you hand over the money and leave.

                  Couple that with $1000 theft through a hacked iphone over wifi(i know you love iphone AM).......

                  Beside the last 2 days the rest was an amazing experience that we will never forget

                  So my top tips for Vietnam,

                  - Always negotiate the taxi price before you get in the cab

                  - Book tours/accom in country, not from Australia online, book your first night maybe.....then run on the fly, you could save thousands.....

                  - Never trust Public Wifi (im lucky, im getting a refund from bank)

                  - Be very careful with water and ice, bottled water only and no ice, if not make sure your tea water has been boiled, its a hard one to police but it is important to try, we both got done on the last day and are still suffering the effects of "Vietnam belly"

                  - dont trust weather charts online, see if you can get current weather from people on the ground, the online predictions we got were way off, and it cost us a pretty penny in wet weather gear that we never used.

                  - learn the currency before you go, they can sense your hesitation and will try and trick you, practice bartering.....

                  - When in Vietnam, make sure your wallet and all important documents are safe, we used a body wallet for passports and tickets and my wallet was in my back pocket with a button, i had two kids attempt to steal my wallet from my back pocket, once in the Sapa, and once in Hanoi.

                  - We ate for 2 weeks pretty much off the streets, yes its gritty and dirty, but my gut tells me its pretty safe, and delicious!

                  You will need a strong stomach for Vietnam, for those of you who have not experience true poverty, it may be quite a shock, im lucky, as a few of you know, in my line of work i see it regularly. Just try and prepare yourself, and your nose :

                  Thanks guys

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                  • #39
                    Re: Vietnam and CS

                    Great post Sully! Welcome back.

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                    • #40
                      Re: Vietnam and CS

                      A gift would be nice Epic......maybe your speedster? ;D

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                      • #41
                        Re: Vietnam and CS

                        Welcome back Warren!

                        Good to hear you had a great time there.
                        Bit weird to see that you walked the same path as me and took the same photo!



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                        • #42
                          Re: Vietnam and CS

                          Warren
                          Buddy

                          Looks like you had a WOW of a time

                          Welcome back home

                          KK

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                          • #43
                            Re: Vietnam and CS

                            Originally posted by 4043515155435B220 link=1273147696/40#40 date=1279000429
                            Bit weird to see that you walked the same path as me and took the same photo!
                            Ha ha yeah!, looks like you were holding a better camera than me on that path though.......with our treking in the potential rain, i left the DSLR at home, would of been great though......

                            Thanks heaps for all the advice guys, it really helped when we hit the ground!

                            PS ill get that guide back to you soon mate

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                            • #44
                              Re: Vietnam and CS

                              Great photos Warren good to hear that it all went well makes all the planning worth wile..

                              Cheers Gra..



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                              • #45
                                Re: Vietnam and CS

                                Sounds like you both had a great time Warren, welcome home, looks like lots of photos and great memories.
                                I imagine the collar will rub a little now your back on Aussie time.

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