UKC

Hi

Just wanted to thank everybody for their opinions (and offers of money) on the below thread -

http://www.ukclimbing.com/forums/t.php?t=526622&v=1#x7089070

Its closed to comments now hense the new one.

Decision has been made and after lots of long conversations and lots of googling we've booked flights to Vietnam.

Appreciate it didnt get an awful lot of love on the original thread but everytime I see pictures of Ha Long Bay I get butterflies in my belly and thats good enough for me.

So if anybody knows of any good hostels or experiences we should try, let me know!

Thanks

Vikki

In reply to Vikki Haydock:

Get the bus to Cat Ba and then explore Halong Bay via boat from there. Slo Pony can help with days out DWS and sport climbing in the area. Failing that, find a guy with a boat and hand over some cash!

Enjoy, you will have a great time

In reply to Vikki Haydock:

Vietnam is a brilliant country, enjoy!

If you like Top Gear watch the Vietnam special, then watch it again when you get home - lots of it will make more sense!

(I was going to go to China with my Dad a few years ago, then that Top Gear episode was shown and straight after it my Dad phoned me and the conversation went something like "are you thinking what I'm thinking?" "Let's go to Vietnam instead...")

Neil

In reply to Neil Williams:
Ha! Yep we've seen it - gonna watch it again very soon. I really wanna go find that bar they end up at in the middle of the water!

In reply to russtyg:

I've made a note of that - Cheers

In reply to Vikki Haydock: if you cycle, try a bike trip - they get you way more off the beaten track than any treks (and so away from people selling things). Around SaPa and from Dalat to Mui Ne are both good options - quite a few companies who should be able to help. The latter is mostly downhill, so pretty good if you are new to cycling.

In reply to Happy Haggis:

That's the second cycling tip we've had.

Someone suggested cycling into the Paddy fields from Hoi An which sounds lovely.

Unfortunately my boyfriend has 'issues' with bikes (he cant ride one)

May have to get working on that......

In reply to Vikki Haydock:

If your into culture stuff then the water puppets in Hanoi are well worth a visit. We found the beaches in Na Trang really good to and there is a nice one a bike ride away in Hoi An. Halong Bay was a real highlight of the trip, we stayed on a boat and went kayaking which was really enjoyable.

Travelling by train is a good way to meet local people, the rolling stock is pretty rickety and flying can cheaper and definetly quicker. We struggled to get train tickets (you have to pre book you can't just get on) at a sensible price via the net though this was a couple of years ago.

However had booked a fairly posh hotel for our first night after the flight. We e-mailed them and they arranged them all for about 20% of the costs we were being quoted online so the night paid for itself.

Hope you enjoy your trip it seems to be a bit of a love/hate thing, don't let any initial bad experience put you off at the start (we didn't have any the whole trip).

In reply to jonfun21:

Oh I can't wait for the water puppets

We're gonna stay on a boat at Ha Long bay too, do you remember which boat you used? There are so many!

In reply to Vikki Haydock: Don't forget the bouldering gym in Hanoi.