Vietnam Tour

My husband and I have recently returned from a trip to Cambodia and Vietnam. We followed a recommendation on this forum and used Sisters Tours Vietnam (www.sisterstoursvn.com) to plan our itinerary and make all arrangements. We were absolutely delighted with the results. We had checked out a number of tour agencies before selecting Sisters Tours. It offered the best value for the dollar. We were not disappointed with the tour, which was custom designed for us. Overall, this was the best tour company we have ever used--quality of lodging, professionalism of the tour planners, expertise of guides, responsiveness to our requests, and sensitivity to our needs. The owner of Sisters Tours is Le Thi To Diep. She is a former tourism teacher from Hanoi Open University and specializes in sustainable tourism. (In addition to her customized itineraries, she also conducts cooking classes.) She is in her early 30s, and her tour guides are also in the 30s with degrees in tourism, English, or a comparable area. All are highly professional. Our itinerary included 3 days in Siem Reap, Cambodia. I will not include a description of that part of the trip in this discussion.

Our Hanoi guide, Mr. Thuy Lam(thuylamvn@gmail.com), met us at the airport in Hanoi, took our passports, and obtained our visas for us. Sisters Tours had done all the preliminary paperwork and arranged for us to get the visas once in Hanoi. We were taken to the Zephyr Hotel, an excellent hotel, in downtown Hanoi. Lam, as he told us to call him, met us early the next morning for a fun-filled day of sightseeing. We toured the French Quarter bordering Ba Dinh Square, which is the political center of Hanoi. We also visited Ho Chi Minh's last residence within the grounds of the former French Governor-General's Palace and the One Pillar Pagoda, one of the few structures remaining from the original foundation of the city. Our itinerary included a visit to Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum, but it was closed in order to service his embalmed body. Next, we were off to the excellent Ethnology Museum, which contains artifacts, photographs, and documentaries of practices and rituals of Vietnam's majority Kinh and 53 minority people. A special exhibition, Hanoi Under The Subsidy Economy (1975-1986), chronicles the decade after the communist government oversaw a disastrous experiment in Stalinist collectivism. My husband and I were saddened by the experiences of the Vietnamese people during this time, but Lam filled us with hope for his future and the future of his country. After the museum, we were treated to a special dining experience at Koto, a training restaurant for underprivileged young people. Lam helped us select from the day's specialities and assisted with the order. (Bill Clinton and other dignitaries have eaten here.) We had a short time after lunch to visit the nearby Craft Link, which is a not-for-profit organization that seeks to assist small craft producers (NGOs) to find markets for their products. We did not want to be late for the performance at the water puppets theatre, so we decided on a return visit later. The water puppets show was magical with live music and colorful puppets, and highly skilled puppeteers. We spent a delightful evening with Diep, who treated us to a delicious meal at a local restaurant.

Lam arrived at 8:30am for our 3.5 hour drive to Ha Long Bay, which gave us the opportunity to see the countryside with farms and rice fields. Shortly after our arrival Lam and the two of us embarked on a classic junk. There were 18 guests and 4 guides plus the crew on the junk. We checked in and had lunch cruising in the bay on our way to Thien Cung Cave. The hike through the cave allowed for spectacular views. Once back on the junk we traveled to another area of the bay, got into small boats, and paddled around for more stunning sights. After our evening meal we had an enjoyable conversation with lam about Vietnamese culture past and present. After a quiet and restful night on board, the crew awakened us in time for breakfast. We then traveled to an island for a swim and/or a climb up a hill for splendid views of the bay. We had an early lunch on board as we returned to the harbor, where our driver met us. We had mentioned to Lam that we would like to see the Hoa Lo Prison (Hanoi Hilton), the place where John McCain was imprisoned. He arranged for us to do this on our return to Hanoi, after which he dropped us off at the Craft Link and arranged for the people at the shop to get us a taxi back to the Zephyr Hotel. We had to leave the hotel at 4:30am for our 6:30am flight to Hue. Lam met us with our tickets for this flight and the final flight to HCMC. Once at the airport he checked our luggage and got our boarding passes. It was difficult to say our goodbyes because we had grown so fond of him. He was one of the best tour guides we have ever had.

We arrived in Hue after our short flight, and were met at the airport by our next guide, Mr. Vinh(vinhha123@yahoo.com), who was also an excellent guide. Vinh and the driver took us first to the Hotel Saigon Morin, where we stayed on the recently renovated third floor in one of the superb deluxe rooms. After a delicious breakfast in the hotel's dining room, we met Vinh for our tour of Hue, which was the ancient capital of southern Vietnam during the 18th century. Our tour began at the Imperial City, which is built on the same principles as the Forbidden City in Beijing and where Vietnam's kings once ruled. The Imperial City was constructed in 1804 and is square in shape. While we walked through the different areas, Vinh explained what we would see and what we would not able to see because of destruction from the war and natural disasters. He also provided us with the history and traditions of the Imperial Court. Next we went to Thien Mu Pagoda located on the north bank of the Perfume River and the oldest monastery in Hue. We then returned to the hotel for a nap after the early morning departure. We walked in the city and along the Perfume River waterfront in the late afternoon. Across from the hotel we found an outside restaurant, Thien Dang, along the riverfront. The food was delicious and the atmosphere was great. Overall this was one of our favorite dining experiences in Vietnam. The next morning we informed Vinh that we wanted to visit one of the seven imperial tombs, although that was not part of our itinerary. He agreed and helped us chose the Tomb of Tu Duc. The complex is enclosed by a wall and includes a lake with lotuses and water hyacinths. There is an island in the lake that has replicas of famous temples built by the king. The Xung Khiem Pavilion, which was recently restored, is considered the most attractive building here.

The drive from Hue to Danang along Highway 1 is considered one of the most scenic in Vietnam. This drive takes approximately 3 hours and consists of steep climbs with hairpin curves along the way. The crest is reached at Hai Van pass, which forms a boundary between North and South Vietnam. There are fortifications built by the French and later used by the South Vietnamese and Americans located here. Hai Van means Pass of Ocean Clouds, because the peak of the mountain reaches to the clouds while its foot extends to the South China Sea. We descended for a panoramic view of the bowl shaped bay of Danang. Danang is a seaport town that played a prominent role in the Vietnam War and is noted for its historical significance. Centuries earlier this area was settled by the Chams, who probably immigrated into this region from Indonesia. After visiting the Museum of Champa Sculpture containing the largest collection of Cham artifacts and sculptures in the world, we walked on the sand at China Beach and had a bowl of pho at one of the nearby stalls.

After lunch we made the short drive to Hoi An, a historical town on the banks of Thu Bon River. Our tour here began by way of the Japanese Covered Bridge, which is the town's most famous landmark. We walked to Tran Phu Street where there are attractive buildings and assembly halls located. These buildings are a blend of French, Chinese, and Japanese architecture. We visited a typical Hoi An home with its unique architecture and a Busshist temple. We arrived at our hotel, Vinh Hung Resort, late in the afternoon. The lovely resort has several buildings with rooms surrounding the swimming pool. Although the walk to town is short, we decided to eat at the resort. We had a delicious meal and an enjoyable evening.

The next day we returned to Hoi An and visited the market, and asked lots of questions about the products there. Hoi An is one of the best places in Vietnam to shop for locally made products e.g., embroidery, silks, carvings, and other handicrafts. We also had a leisurely stroll through the small streets and byways. We had a planned trip to Marble Mountain, but we decided to spend more time in Hoi An instead. We did stop on our way to the airport for a view of this historic mountain. Vinh assisted us with all the necessary arrangements for our departure. He was intelligent, knowledgeable, and sensitive to our needs.

Our flight to HCMC(formerly Saigon) was delayed by about an hour due to the late arrival of the plane. It is amazing that a 777 was used for this one-hour flight and the plane was totally full. Our guide, Mr. Que, and driver met us at the airport and made the short trip to our hotel, Oscar. This was the least desirable of the hotels in which we stayed. The room was dark, the lighting was inadequate, there were no hand towels, and the staff was not friendly or accommodating. We asked for a different room, but they said none was available. The breakfast was in no way comparable to the others we had throughout this trip. Que had given us recommendations for restaurants in the area. We went to one of those for dinner and had a delicious meal.

We left early the next morning fora full day cruise on the Mekong Delta. The drive from the City to the Delta is long and arduous. We boarded a motorized boat at My Tho, which took us to Ben Tre to visit a coconut candy workshop and enjoy singing by the children and adults of the family at the workshop. We boarded a small sampan and were rowed through the canals to our next stop at Unicorn Island. Here we visited a honeybee farm and had tea sweetened with honey. We traveled to the Island for lunch, riding in a horse-drawn cart to reach the restaurant. We ate in a small gazebo overlooking one of the canals and were served a tasty local fish. This would have been a more pleasant experience if our waiter had not spend the entire time implying that he wanted a large tip. He seemed unhappy with the tip we left him, although it was more than generous. We returned to our boat to make the trip across the waterway and to our vehicle for the return trip to HCMC. That evening we walked in the area surrounding the hotel,stopped at several shops, and ate at another of the nearby restaurants.

Our final day in Vietnam was spent sightseeing in HCMC. We began with a tour of Ben Thanh Market, one of the city's most famous landmarks. It is a huge covered market in the center of the city that has lots of consumer goods, fresh fruits and vegetables, meats, seafood, coffee, and everything else that goes into making Vietnam's delicious cuisine. We could have easily spent the entire day here, but it was on to other sights. Next we visited the Giac Lam Pagoda, and then other buildings that are examples of the French Colonial architecture, including the Central Post Office and Notre Dame Cathedral. We passed by the City Theatre, where the film "The Quiet American" was shot. We spent a long time in Reunification Palace, which is remembered for its role in the fall of the South Vietnam government in 1975 when the North Vietnamese tanks crashed through the gates and the soldiers hung the North Vietnam flag from the balcony. We also visited the War Remnants Museum and, although the exhibits were slanted toward anti-American propaganda, we found this to be a moving experience. After checking out of the hotel and having lunch at a local pho restaurant, we took a tour of Chinatown before being taken to the airport for our departure from Vietnam.

We had a wonderful trip and we plan to return to the region to visit other parts of Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos. When we go back we will definitely use Sisters Tours Vietnam again!