Our First Visit to Vietnam... Suggestions Needed, Please.

Hi everyone -

Let me start with the most obvious - I am a long time lurker, first
time post-er. I've enjoyed reading the many travel experiences from
folks in the group. Figured I'd toss my inquiry in the mix & hope
someone could offer thoughts & opinions.

Here's my situation: Hubby & I live in D.C. We are new tourists to
Asia altogether - with specific interest in Vietnam. Our next 3-week
vacation will fall between 11/26-12/18 of 2005, when we plan to trek
off to Vietnam. What I am doing now is... (ta-da) research!

I would greatly appreciate opinions, suggestions, recommendations on
*anything* & everything relating to this trip; eg. where to get cheap
tickets, what health issues should concern us, lodging info, places to
visit, transportation, &/or ???. At this point, we know very little
about Vietnam except perhaps Saigon.

Anyhoo, I've read your many posts. A very wordly group this is... &
because of that, I hope you'll be kind enough to provide some needed
guidance.

Many thanks
elisabeh

On 15 Nov 2004 17:56:45 -0800, Elisabeth wrote:

Here's my situation: Hubby & I live in D.C. We are new tourists to
Asia altogether - with specific interest in Vietnam. Our next 3-week
vacation will fall between 11/26-12/18 of 2005, when we plan to trek
off to Vietnam. What I am doing now is... (ta-da) research!

I would greatly appreciate opinions, suggestions, recommendations on
*anything* & everything relating to this trip; eg. where to get cheap
tickets, what health issues should concern us, lodging info, places to
visit, transportation, &/or ???. At this point, we know very little
about Vietnam except perhaps Saigon.

We visited Vietnam about 5 years ago. It was an organized group tour, so
we were insulated from a lot of the details. But here's a list of some of
the places we stayed and ate -- consider them implicit recommendations,
since all were acceptable, although I have no idea how much they cost.

Hope this helps...
Tom

Restaurants

Restaurant Aux Gourmets
(old quarter, near Chains First Eden Hotel), Hanoi

Dong Duong / Indochine
16 Nam Ngu St., Hanoi

Dinh Lang Thuy Ta
1 Le Tahi To St., Hanoi
on Hoan Kiem lake
traditional specialties of Hanoi, Hue, Saigon

Seasons of Hanoi
95B Quan Thanh, Hanoi

An Binh
1B Vo Thi Sau St., Hue

Ngoc Anh
29 Nguyen Thai Hoc St., Hue

An Dinh Palace
78A Nguyen Hue / 97 Phan Dinh Phung, Hue
former governor’s palace

Pho Hoi
69 Phan Chu Trinh St., Hoi An
(nice dim sum)

Café des Amis
52 Rue Bach Dang, Hoi An
riverside, good seafood

Hana Kim Dinh
07 Bach Danang St., Danang
Good seafood

Kem Bach Dang
26-28 Le Loi (and other locations)
Ho Chi Minh City
Ice cream! “Ice cream in coconut� is good

Lemongrass
4 Nguyen Thiep St., Ho Chi Minh City

Augustin Restaurant
10 Nguyen Thiep St., Ho Chi Minh City
French

Vuon Thuong Uyen
141 Nguyen Hue Blvd, Ho Chi Minh City
(rooftop of Rex Hotel)
Excellent food, great live (traditional) music

Ngoc Gia Trang
196A Duong Ap Bac, My Tho
Excellent seafood (elephant ear fish), superb service

Hotels
Chains First Eden Hotel
3A Phan Dinh Phung St., Hanoi
in old quarter

Hoa Hong 2 (Rose 2) Hotel
Pham Ngu Lao St., Hue
Walking distance to Perfume River

Bong Sen Hotel
117 Dong Khoi St., Ho Chi Minh City

On 15 Nov 2004 17:56:45 -0800, Elisabeth wrote:

Here's my situation: Hubby & I live in D.C. We are new tourists to
Asia altogether - with specific interest in Vietnam. Our next 3-week
vacation will fall between 11/26-12/18 of 2005, when we plan to trek
off to Vietnam. What I am doing now is... (ta-da) research!

I would greatly appreciate opinions, suggestions, recommendations on
*anything* & everything relating to this trip; eg. where to get cheap
tickets, what health issues should concern us, lodging info, places to
visit, transportation, &/or ???. At this point, we know very little
about Vietnam except perhaps Saigon.

We visited Vietnam about 5 years ago. It was an organized group tour, so
we were insulated from a lot of the details. But here's a list of some of
the places we stayed and ate -- consider them implicit recommendations,
since all were acceptable, although I have no idea how much they cost.

Hope this helps...
Tom

Restaurants

Restaurant Aux Gourmets
(old quarter, near Chains First Eden Hotel), Hanoi

Dong Duong / Indochine
16 Nam Ngu St., Hanoi

Dinh Lang Thuy Ta
1 Le Tahi To St., Hanoi
on Hoan Kiem lake
traditional specialties of Hanoi, Hue, Saigon

Seasons of Hanoi
95B Quan Thanh, Hanoi

An Binh
1B Vo Thi Sau St., Hue

Ngoc Anh
29 Nguyen Thai Hoc St., Hue

An Dinh Palace
78A Nguyen Hue / 97 Phan Dinh Phung, Hue
former governor’s palace

Pho Hoi
69 Phan Chu Trinh St., Hoi An
(nice dim sum)

Café des Amis
52 Rue Bach Dang, Hoi An
riverside, good seafood

Hana Kim Dinh
07 Bach Danang St., Danang
Good seafood

Kem Bach Dang
26-28 Le Loi (and other locations)
Ho Chi Minh City
Ice cream! “Ice cream in coconut� is good

Lemongrass
4 Nguyen Thiep St., Ho Chi Minh City

Augustin Restaurant
10 Nguyen Thiep St., Ho Chi Minh City
French

Vuon Thuong Uyen
141 Nguyen Hue Blvd, Ho Chi Minh City
(rooftop of Rex Hotel)
Excellent food, great live (traditional) music

Ngoc Gia Trang
196A Duong Ap Bac, My Tho
Excellent seafood (elephant ear fish), superb service

Hotels
Chains First Eden Hotel
3A Phan Dinh Phung St., Hanoi
in old quarter

Hoa Hong 2 (Rose 2) Hotel
Pham Ngu Lao St., Hue
Walking distance to Perfume River

Bong Sen Hotel
117 Dong Khoi St., Ho Chi Minh City

I would suggest you treat going to Vietnam as you would treat going to
central Mexico. Don't drink the water unless it's bottled or has been
boiled. If you go to the sidewalk resturants look how they clean up after
people have eaten and how they are preparing the food. I have eaten in many
sidewalk places like this and always enjoyed the food without disasterous
results later. The only place that I did ever get any food related illness
was in a very nice looking resturant? You can find cheap accomadations on
the internet easily even booking reservations there. Here is a link that I
use when my wife and I want to travel around the country and don't know the
area that well. http://www.vngold.com/gold/index.html
This is the official tourist link
http://www.vietnamtourism.com/index/e_index.asp

Remember airline tickets jump in price on December 15th or so. Tet starts on
February 9th next year as well.
Have fun and enjoy, there are some pictures on my homepage and perhaps can
give you some more information on the south.
http://users.adelphia.net/~bbardill/
"Tom Gutnick" wrote in message
news
On 15 Nov 2004 17:56:45 -0800, Elisabeth wrote:

Here's my situation: Hubby & I live in D.C. We are new tourists to
Asia altogether - with specific interest in Vietnam. Our next 3-week
vacation will fall between 11/26-12/18 of 2005, when we plan to trek
off to Vietnam. What I am doing now is... (ta-da) research!

I would greatly appreciate opinions, suggestions, recommendations on
*anything* & everything relating to this trip; eg. where to get cheap
tickets, what health issues should concern us, lodging info, places to
visit, transportation, &/or ???. At this point, we know very little
about Vietnam except perhaps Saigon.

We visited Vietnam about 5 years ago. It was an organized group tour, so
we were insulated from a lot of the details. But here's a list of some of
the places we stayed and ate -- consider them implicit recommendations,
since all were acceptable, although I have no idea how much they cost.

Hope this helps...
Tom

Restaurants

Restaurant Aux Gourmets
(old quarter, near Chains First Eden Hotel), Hanoi

Dong Duong / Indochine
16 Nam Ngu St., Hanoi

Dinh Lang Thuy Ta
1 Le Tahi To St., Hanoi
on Hoan Kiem lake
traditional specialties of Hanoi, Hue, Saigon

Seasons of Hanoi
95B Quan Thanh, Hanoi

An Binh
1B Vo Thi Sau St., Hue

Ngoc Anh
29 Nguyen Thai Hoc St., Hue

An Dinh Palace
78A Nguyen Hue / 97 Phan Dinh Phung, Hue
former governor's palace

Pho Hoi
69 Phan Chu Trinh St., Hoi An
(nice dim sum)

Café des Amis
52 Rue Bach Dang, Hoi An
riverside, good seafood

Hana Kim Dinh
07 Bach Danang St., Danang
Good seafood

Kem Bach Dang
26-28 Le Loi (and other locations)
Ho Chi Minh City
Ice cream! "Ice cream in coconut" is good

Lemongrass
4 Nguyen Thiep St., Ho Chi Minh City

Augustin Restaurant
10 Nguyen Thiep St., Ho Chi Minh City
French

Vuon Thuong Uyen
141 Nguyen Hue Blvd, Ho Chi Minh City
(rooftop of Rex Hotel)
Excellent food, great live (traditional) music

Ngoc Gia Trang
196A Duong Ap Bac, My Tho
Excellent seafood (elephant ear fish), superb service

Hotels
Chains First Eden Hotel
3A Phan Dinh Phung St., Hanoi
in old quarter

Hoa Hong 2 (Rose 2) Hotel
Pham Ngu Lao St., Hue
Walking distance to Perfume River

Bong Sen Hotel
117 Dong Khoi St., Ho Chi Minh City

I would suggest you treat going to Vietnam as you would treat going to
central Mexico. Don't drink the water unless it's bottled or has been
boiled. If you go to the sidewalk resturants look how they clean up after
people have eaten and how they are preparing the food. I have eaten in many
sidewalk places like this and always enjoyed the food without disasterous
results later. The only place that I did ever get any food related illness
was in a very nice looking resturant? You can find cheap accomadations on
the internet easily even booking reservations there. Here is a link that I
use when my wife and I want to travel around the country and don't know the
area that well. http://www.vngold.com/gold/index.html
This is the official tourist link
http://www.vietnamtourism.com/index/e_index.asp

Remember airline tickets jump in price on December 15th or so. Tet starts on
February 9th next year as well.
Have fun and enjoy, there are some pictures on my homepage and perhaps can
give you some more information on the south.
http://users.adelphia.net/~bbardill/
"Tom Gutnick" wrote in message
news
On 15 Nov 2004 17:56:45 -0800, Elisabeth wrote:

Here's my situation: Hubby & I live in D.C. We are new tourists to
Asia altogether - with specific interest in Vietnam. Our next 3-week
vacation will fall between 11/26-12/18 of 2005, when we plan to trek
off to Vietnam. What I am doing now is... (ta-da) research!

I would greatly appreciate opinions, suggestions, recommendations on
*anything* & everything relating to this trip; eg. where to get cheap
tickets, what health issues should concern us, lodging info, places to
visit, transportation, &/or ???. At this point, we know very little
about Vietnam except perhaps Saigon.

We visited Vietnam about 5 years ago. It was an organized group tour, so
we were insulated from a lot of the details. But here's a list of some of
the places we stayed and ate -- consider them implicit recommendations,
since all were acceptable, although I have no idea how much they cost.

Hope this helps...
Tom

Restaurants

Restaurant Aux Gourmets
(old quarter, near Chains First Eden Hotel), Hanoi

Dong Duong / Indochine
16 Nam Ngu St., Hanoi

Dinh Lang Thuy Ta
1 Le Tahi To St., Hanoi
on Hoan Kiem lake
traditional specialties of Hanoi, Hue, Saigon

Seasons of Hanoi
95B Quan Thanh, Hanoi

An Binh
1B Vo Thi Sau St., Hue

Ngoc Anh
29 Nguyen Thai Hoc St., Hue

An Dinh Palace
78A Nguyen Hue / 97 Phan Dinh Phung, Hue
former governor's palace

Pho Hoi
69 Phan Chu Trinh St., Hoi An
(nice dim sum)

Café des Amis
52 Rue Bach Dang, Hoi An
riverside, good seafood

Hana Kim Dinh
07 Bach Danang St., Danang
Good seafood

Kem Bach Dang
26-28 Le Loi (and other locations)
Ho Chi Minh City
Ice cream! "Ice cream in coconut" is good

Lemongrass
4 Nguyen Thiep St., Ho Chi Minh City

Augustin Restaurant
10 Nguyen Thiep St., Ho Chi Minh City
French

Vuon Thuong Uyen
141 Nguyen Hue Blvd, Ho Chi Minh City
(rooftop of Rex Hotel)
Excellent food, great live (traditional) music

Ngoc Gia Trang
196A Duong Ap Bac, My Tho
Excellent seafood (elephant ear fish), superb service

Hotels
Chains First Eden Hotel
3A Phan Dinh Phung St., Hanoi
in old quarter

Hoa Hong 2 (Rose 2) Hotel
Pham Ngu Lao St., Hue
Walking distance to Perfume River

Bong Sen Hotel
117 Dong Khoi St., Ho Chi Minh City

Brett Bardill wrote:
I would suggest you treat going to Vietnam as you would treat going to
central Mexico. Don't drink the water unless it's bottled or has been
boiled. If you go to the sidewalk resturants look how they clean up after
people have eaten and how they are preparing the food. I have eaten in many
sidewalk places like this and always enjoyed the food without disasterous
results later. The only place that I did ever get any food related illness
was in a very nice looking resturant

This is now it normally works.

miguel
--
Hit The Road! Photos from 32 countries on 5 continents: http://travel.u.nu

Brett Bardill wrote:
I would suggest you treat going to Vietnam as you would treat going to
central Mexico. Don't drink the water unless it's bottled or has been
boiled. If you go to the sidewalk resturants look how they clean up after
people have eaten and how they are preparing the food. I have eaten in many
sidewalk places like this and always enjoyed the food without disasterous
results later. The only place that I did ever get any food related illness
was in a very nice looking resturant

This is now it normally works.

miguel
--
Hit The Road! Photos from 32 countries on 5 continents: http://travel.u.nu

"Miguel Cruz" kirjoitti viestissä
...
Brett Bardill wrote:
I would suggest you treat going to Vietnam as you would treat going to
central Mexico. Don't drink the water unless it's bottled or has been
boiled. If you go to the sidewalk resturants look how they clean up
after
people have eaten and how they are preparing the food. I have eaten in
many
sidewalk places like this and always enjoyed the food without
disasterous
results later. The only place that I did ever get any food related
illness
was in a very nice looking resturant

This is now it normally works.

So, we should avoid nice looking restaurants.

"Miguel Cruz" kirjoitti viestissä
...
Brett Bardill wrote:
I would suggest you treat going to Vietnam as you would treat going to
central Mexico. Don't drink the water unless it's bottled or has been
boiled. If you go to the sidewalk resturants look how they clean up
after
people have eaten and how they are preparing the food. I have eaten in
many
sidewalk places like this and always enjoyed the food without
disasterous
results later. The only place that I did ever get any food related
illness
was in a very nice looking resturant

This is now it normally works.

So, we should avoid nice looking restaurants.

"Miguel Cruz" kirjoitti viestissä
...
Brett Bardill wrote:
I would suggest you treat going to Vietnam as you would treat going to
central Mexico. Don't drink the water unless it's bottled or has been
boiled. If you go to the sidewalk resturants look how they clean up
after
people have eaten and how they are preparing the food. I have eaten in
many
sidewalk places like this and always enjoyed the food without
disasterous
results later. The only place that I did ever get any food related
illness
was in a very nice looking resturant

This is now it normally works.

So, we should avoid nice looking restaurants.