daughter off overseas - vietnam

[bob10]

Well, the daughter and her friend have taken off for Vietnam, 19 days and what a trip. Starting at ho chi minh city[ Saigon] with a Mekong delta homestay, night train to Nha Trang, then night train to Da Nang, flight to Hanoi ,home stay at Sapa,then Cat Ba island. A couple of hotel stays, the rest backpacking. A far better trip than when a generation of Aussies were there last, and a good thing to. Bob

[p38arover]

Sounds similar to the one my wife and daughter did when Jetstar first started flying to Vietnam. Tickets on Jetstar - $37, yes thirty-seven dollars, each way (plus taxes).

[It'sNotWorthComplaining!]

A mate went over with his family and had a great time, warm and friendly people, he recently went with some army buddies and went and toured some of the infamous spots.
I reckon I could handle Vietnam, but you wouldn't get me to Bali at any cost

[incisor]

daughter did that trip last year

loved the majority of the people

thought most of the place was a grubby run down squat.

and that coming from a girl that is happy to sleep on concrete bunks in the middle of a thai jungle nursing sick monkeys...

[p38arover]

Odd. My wife and daughter found Vietnam to be very clean. In none of their photos can rubbish be seen.

[Sentinel]

Odd. My wife and daughter found Vietnam to be very clean. In none of their photos can rubbish be seen.

Same here, a friend did a tour there recently and it was very clean and nice. The travel agent organised local guides for her and they took her places she would not normally go to with the normal tours. She loved it. Didn't mind the food either.

[wagoo]

Hanoi has been undergoing modernisation and rebuilding over the past decade or so and is basically a huge, busy and dusty construction site, and some parts are still a bit dirty and smelly with open sewers in some districts and provinces.
We have a house with a river frontage about 9km from Hanoi Central, and up until about 9 years ago there was no garbage collection service in the district, so the local residents would dump all their rubbish on the river banks, which naturally attracted rats by the thousands. Since the garbage collection service began the situation has improved appreciably, but old habits die hard for some. Sapa and Catba Island although very scenic are also quite dirty once you look beyond the tourist beaten track. Still, I love Vietnam and the people, and would move there in a heartbeat if my Vietnamese wife was still with us.
Bill.

[Disco Muppet]

Ill be heading back for my third trip over to VN this christmas, we have very good family friends who live over there.
sure it can be dirty, loud and noisy, but I never felt out of place or unwelcome, the food was great and the people are wonderful.
When we were in Sapa, we met a girl who taught herself english by reading War and Peace....magnificent place and i'd love to live there, except i doubt the disco would get out alot

[bob10]

Ill be heading back for my third trip over to VN this christmas, we have very good family friends who live over there.
sure it can be dirty, loud and noisy, but I never felt out of place or unwelcome, the food was great and the people are wonderful.
When we were in Sapa, we met a girl who taught herself english by reading War and Peace....magnificent place and i'd love to live there, except i doubt the disco would get out alot

Thanks for that, the daughter has reported in via e-mail, she says the people are really nice [ apart from the pushy ones working for tour companies. ] her first time overseas without the parents, I 'm glad she picked Vietnam. For a variety of reasons. Not the least being an underlaying irrational feeling of guilt. Not sure I could go there and look the people in the eye. Bob

[bob10]

Heard from the daughter again, just a few snippets " adventerous day in the city explored by ourselves. Were drawn to a park by the sound of local live music, stayed for a while, very good. Went for a ride on a motorbike [Dad will probably kill me when I get home ] " She's sending me grey. " Went to the War Museum, very chilling, came out feeling angry at the world" her & a few hundred thousand others. " Went to Mass at Notre Dame Cathedral, had to stand outside, there were so many people, it was packed. " Now that is a surprise, I thought the north Viet. Gov. was anti all that.

"Went to a traditional lunch, $2.50, to a traditional western restaurant for dinner, $ 8.15 for dinner, drinks, dessert . After the war Museum, talked to a couple of young locals for over an hour so they could practice their English " typical school teacher in training. " Tomorrow we go to the Cu Chi tunnels " my cousin visited the tunnels during the war, for a totally different reason. " it will be good to get out of the city, it's ok, but not the nicest place to be. " can't say much about that. cheers, Bob