Vietnam Tour Choice Questions

[JordanF]

We are scheduled to take a Gate 1 tour of Vietnam next year.  While this is a land trip, my question involves river excursions, so maybe close enough for CC?  

 

We have time in Ho Chi Minh City, Hoi An and Hue, with included tours and some free time in each.  Gate 1 also offers optional tours in each city, each involving a river tour.  While they all look decent, we are concerned with giving up too much free time.  Our inclination is to skip the optional tours in Ho Chi Minh City and Hoi An, and to take the tour in Hue as that tour includes some of Hue's highlights.

 

Here are the descriptions of the three tours.  I would appreciate thoughts, especially verses giving up free time in these places.   Thank you.

 

Ho Chi Minh City optional tour:

 

The Mekong River is the lifeblood of Southeast Asia. It starts from Tibet, running through 5 countries before entering Vietnam and created a great basin via its 9 tributaries. Today's journey into the Mekong Delta region will take us along the newly built highway, picturesque countryside and seemingly endless paddy fields. Upon arrival at My Tho, you will board a private motor boat for a fascinating cruise along the river, observing the daily life of local people on the waterways. The tour includes a sampan ride through the winding canals, a visit to a coconut factory, handicraft workshop, honey bee farm. You will be introduced to the daily life of the local people, learning about local fruit and plants as well as an opportunity to sample some local tropical fruit in an orchard. The tour ends with a great lunch at a local restaurant by the river bank. Return to H Chi Minh City by bus. Approximate tour duration is 8.5 hours 

 

Hoi An optional tour:

 

Begin the boat trip at a local pier in the Old Town, cruising down streams and passing many fishing areas before cruising out to the main river. Stop at Kim Bong village, home of traditional woodworking and boat-building families. Return to the mainland and drive to the Traque Organic Village for lunch. Here, meet local farmers and learn about the many vegetables and herbs that are organically grown here to support the people of Hoi An. Walk through the gardens and see how, even today, local farmers work their fields using the traditional methods used hundreds of years ago. A culinary lesson follows on the traditional ways of preparing and cooking Vietnamese food, plus the local specialty called Banh-xeo. Once the lesson is over, enjoy the food you helped to prepare. Departs at 8:30 am. Pick-up and drop-off at the hotel. Approximate tour duration is 6 hours. 

 

Hue optional tour:

 

Enjoy a boat trip on the beautiful and serene Perfume River with a stop to a local village to learn about the daily life of local people in one of the most traditional parts of North Central Vietnam. Continue to the Thien Mu Pagoda, situated on Ha Khe hill, on the north bank of the Perfume River. Thee temple complex stretches north from the river banks in seven successive tiers, each of which is dedicated to a human form taken by the Buddha, or a step to enlightenment. Then, drive to the Tomb of Emperor Tu Duc, the final resting place of Vietnam’s longest reigning emperor, set among forested hills and lakes. Lastly, proceed to Khai Dinh, the last monument of the Nguyen dynasty. A vegetarian lunch prepared by Buddhist nuns of the Dong Thien Pagoda is a very special experience, with time to interact with the Buddhist nuns, learning more about their lives in the pagoda. Departs at 8:30 am. Pick-up and drop-off at the hotel. Approximate tour duration is 7 hours. 

[terry&mike]

Answered you on the river cruise board. 

[JordanF]

Thanks!

[IWantToLiveOverTheSea]

I can only tell you that on my cruise, which stops in Chan May, making both Hue and Hoi An reachable via long rides, that the imperial city in Hue is getting more interest than Hoi An.  But I'm leaning towards visiting Hoi An rather than the imperial city in Hue, just because it seems to have lots of architecture, color and photo ops, all of which I love.  And incidentally, when googling I did run across a tour which includes the Dong Thien Pagoda mentioned in the Hue excursion.  As for Ho Chi Minh City, I am finding some places there which interest me.  However, if I didn't have a whole day and a half  there on the cruise, and instead (I guess) had choices like you do, I wouldn't be too upset about not seeing HCMC.  Someone, however, recommended if possible, that I find a tour which includes a short visit in HCMC at night.  It is supposed to be quite beautiful (Opera House, for example).

Edited September 4, 2023 by IWantToLiveOverTheSea

[edinburgher]

On 8/23/2023 at 2:45 PM, JordanF said:

e have time in Ho Chi Minh City, Hoi An and Hue

The older historic area   of Hoi An is simply lovely to stroll around. It is a Unesco World Heritage Site and one of the best preserved in Vietnam.  Also a centre for artists, crafts persons, and tailors (should you want a custom outfit made to measure!) There is a lot to see there with traditional buildings, and many craft items and paintings for sale.There is (or was)   also a huge day market alongside the river.(There is also a popular night market which we could not visit)

 

Behind the day market is the river and this is a fascinating spot  to while away some time watching river activity with river traffic and   the overcrowded boats arriving and leaving full of produce and local people.

We also visited the interior of one of the oldest houses in Hoi An and took a rickshaw ride.

Overall we really enjoyed our time exploring there. There will be many images,reviews and much info to be found online to help you decide if this would fill your time without the boat trip..

 

 

We also visited Hue (some of which is also Unesco)on a shorex including  lunch  in a hotel. We visited the Imperial City,a pagoda and a mausoleum.  It is very different from Hoi An. Again, images, reviews and info online to help you decide.

 

HMC we had an included tour first time around (docked right in city) the second time explored on foot from transfer bus drop point. That time we were on a much larger ship far away in Phu My Saw some really massive changes to HMC between our first and second visits, and not really for the better.

Edited September 5, 2023 by edinburgher