Summary:
Hanoi - Hotel Sofitel Metropole
Halong Bay – Princess Cruises
Siem Reap – Raffles Hotel
Car/guide- Blue Dragon Tours - www.bluedragontours.com
Airlines: Smile Thai Airways
U.S Citizens needs a visa for both Vietnam and Cambodia.
For Vietnam you need a letter from the tour group and then at the airport you have to get the visa when you land. It took some time as we have to wait in line, fill out a form and then wait to be called – quite a process
For Cambodia it is online and a simpler process.
Angkor Wat was always on our list and we finally planned a trip to Siem Reap. We combined it with some time in Vietnam with Hanoi being the first stop. Here is our itinerary and used the services of www.bluedragontours.com and they provided a private car with an English speaking guide. The only suggestion is to go over the details so that you can adjust is according to your needs. For example, we could have eliminate the puppet show in Hanoi and used the time to relax or to walk around the Old Quarter. The show was quite boring and we waited for it for one hour and then the show itself was for over one hour.
Day 1: Hanoi Arrival
Arrival in Hanoi early morning as we took a flight from New Delhi via Bangkok. We had visited New Delhi for a few days prior to heading east. We checked in at the Sofitel Metropole which is centrally located in the Old Quarter and is a luxurious charming hotel with modern facilities and a great ambience. It has a beautiful courtyard where they have a couple of restaurants, one with a bar with open air seating. The other one is where breakfast is served in the mornings and is a wonderful place to start your day. We explored the hotel grounds and then had an early lunch in the courtyard and went for a walk in the neighborhood. The street in front of the hotel has some fancy upscale shops and the back of it has the charming old quarter and further up you can walk to the lake. We rested in the afternoon as the jetlag caught up with us and then had dinner at the restaurant on the hotel which is a Michelin starred restaurant.
Day 2: Sightseeing in Hanoi
The tour guide picked us up in the morning – we had to pay her before we started. They do ask for payment in cash to avoid the credit card charges and they accept US Dollars but we had opted to pay be card. The day tour took us to the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum (we could not go inside as the lines were too long but the outside was very good to see), Vietnam Museum, several old temples and pagodas with a stop for lunch at a local restaurant where the local "pho" was delicious.
Next to the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum is the Museum where you can explore the architectural and historical aspects of Uncle Ho’s final resting-place. Next door is Ho Chi Minh’s house on stilts and lying to one side of the Mausoleum is the One Pillar Pagoda which was founded by King Ly Thai To in 1049.
We also visited the Buddhist Tran Quoc Pagoda on the West Lake (One of the oldest pagoda in Vietnam). You can skip the water puppet theater (most of the tours include that – but you can use that time to rest or just to walk around the Old Quarter or sipping a much needed chilled beer and soaking in the local atmosphere. ).
For dinner we went to a local restaurant that was recommended by our tour guide – she called them to make a reservation for us. We took a taxi back and forth from the hotel and it did not cost much at all. The restaurant was called “Garden House Restaurant” and is worth a visit – it has a beautiful entrance and bar in the street level and the dining room is upstairs.
Day 3: Sightseeing outside Hanoi
The car and guide picked up at 9am and the first stop was Ninbinh – it is a pretty small town outside Hanoi (2 hours’ drive. At Tamcoc we went on a boat ride – boat was being rowed by local fisherwomen - went along the Ngo Dong river and under some limestone caves; since it is rowed manually the trip takes about 1 hour. It is known as Halong bay on land. We also visited a temple - Hoalu is a sacred land with two temples - worshiping those kings in 10 century who gave great contribution for the nation.
Day 4: Halong Bay
From Hanoi the drive to Halong bay is around 3 hours. We took a 2 night cruise which turned out to be too much time – one night is sufficient as all the activities from the first day were repeated on the second day. There is also an option to do a shorter day boat ride in Halong Bay if you are pressed for time. The boat was beautiful and we had a nice room on the top. They provide shoes for when we go into boats – they were clogs so that they are waterproof and the pores drain the excess water. All the meals were very good.
Day 5: Halong Bay
There were small side excursion in little boats and there was once place where we could kayak amongst the caves and also stopped at a beach for those that wanted to go in the water.
Day 6: Flight to Siem Reap
Drive from Halong bay to the airport to catch a flight to Siem Reap. The driver was very good and made sure that we reached the airport on time once we had told him that the time of our flight.
Upon arrival at Siem Reap we were met by the guide and the car to get to the hotel. We stayed at eh Raffle which is truly old luxury and it was an amazing stay.
We went to dinner at a local restaurant which was a short walk from the hotel. The restaurant was “Chanrey Tree” – beautiful entrance via a courtyard that had nice decorative lighting. The food was delicious all local cuisine and they come around with extra rice helpings carrying a big pot of rice and serving it as needed. It was a nice clean place, nicely decorate, great ambiance and the cost was very in-expensive, dinner for 2 with drinks was $35.
Day 7: Angkor Wat
Big Day!!!!! Started early morning at 5 am to catch a glimpse of sunrise at Angkor Wat. WE stopped first to buy the tickets which was in a building on the way to the temples. They take a picture and give you the ticket which is a nice souvenir to keep.