Just recently did the 18 days Trails of Vietnam and Cambodia and must say that we had a good time. The group we travelled with were a great bunch of people and that is always good on any tour.Tour size was 23 people, which was a good size group. From arriving in Hanoi we were greeted with our guide (Tui) who was knowledgeable about her area and who also demonstrated good humour and was wonderful the whole time we had her, she really ensured the tour in her area was a great success. It mentions on the itinerary though that you go to Sapa before Ha long Bay but that wasn't the case with us in that we did the bay before going to Sapa. Didn't seem to be a biggy though as we still had a good time. Ha Long bay was very interesting and was a good place for a dip and a boat ride around the bay checking out the fishing villages and taking in the sights, very nice. Night time on deck sipping a cool bevvy and looking at the stars is a great way to chill out.Leaving Hanoi after Ha Long Bay, we bid a fair well to Tui and were greeted by an eager young bloke by the name of Bang Bang who took us on a 6 hour bus trip to the lovely town of Sapa. This is a lovely place not very far from the Chinese border that has a very obvious influence of colonial French architecture. A place that seems to be a tourist destination for a lot of world travellers. It was also the stepping off point for our tours of the mountain villages and tribes people, the H'Mong. It gives you a good indication of how other cultures live and how no piece of land is wasted when it comes to farming. Sapa itself is also a great place for dining and great massages and to pick up a few souvenirs. The hotel was comfy although the walk up the hill was a bit of a killer if you didn't take a taxi. It is a very colourful and alive place to be. Going back to Hanoi for another night in the hotel after the 6 hour return bus trip before leaving the next morning and saying goodbye to Bang Bang at the airport, we then flew down to Da Nang where we were welcomed by our new guide, Billy.The hotel at Da Nang was great and very close to the surf beach which we soon checked out and was delighted by what we saw. A very clean beautiful beach that was as nice as any beach here in Australia and alive with people enjoying there evening time. If you are in Da Nang on a Saturday night make sure you take a walk to the dragon bridge and check out the huge fire breathing dragon they have set up. It roars out fire and changes colour and is a really popular event. Just be aware that it closes at 9p.m. and thats when the traffic is released to cross the bridge. Fun time navigating the traffic from the middle traffic island to the curb. Up early the next morning for a quick dip down the beach before we are shuttled off to Hoian for a few days. Just thought that it would've been better to stay in Da Nang rather than go all the way to Hoian as when we did the tour to Bana Hills and the Golden Hands bridge we had to travel back to Da Nang anyhow. Hoian was alright but the hotel wasn't in the middle of it and you had to taxi into there if you wanted to keep going back, a bit of a disappointment but the lantern boats are nice and the night time memories show was good. Billy our guide here was a great bloke who gave some good tips about the area and was very efficient and knowledgeable.Leaving Hoian to go back to Da Nang airport we bid farewell to Billy to fly down to Saigon or Ho Chi Minh city where we were greeted by our guide Alex. A very crowded place is Saigon and the rain when we arrived was a bit of a bummer but that couldn't be helped. The hotel was good but because of the HUGE amounts of traffic it takes forever to get any where. Day 11, the day was a very full one. Cu chi tunnels,the war museum, post office, notre Dame Cathedral. Well where to start. Firstly all of this could have been broken up into a couple of days. As said earlier, Ho Chi Minh city is a very crowded place and the traffic is jam packed and it takes AGES to get anywhere. It is a fair drive to the Cu chi tunnels and then a fair drive back to see the other places. We were told we would have lunch at the tunnels and what we got was a piece of some sort of vegetable and a cup of tea. When we arrived at the war museum later we were running behind schedule and most of us needed and wanted some decent food and were directed by Alex to a small shop that had bread rolls made to order, so that took some time and also a toll on a couple of ladies in our group who were later a bit sick from it. The war museum itself was interesting, what we saw off it, because that was a rush job because we also had to see the Ben Than markets,post office and the cathedral, which wasn't all that great. Alex could've been better too.Siem Reap was great and Angkor Wa but could've had more tours to do like the land mine rats. Tour guide their was a hoot, Polli, a good bloke. Over all a good trip but was brought down by the way Saigon was organised.
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