[xena7051]

Hi First I would appreciate any advise people have to offer..We (my family (Father 45 + Mother 45+ Son 18+Son 15) are thinking of visiting HK in April 2006 including a trip to Vietnam.... the first question is ....any thoughts on visting Vietnam instead of China? We are on a budget. Thinking of Flying to HK from Auckland NZ then to Ho Chi Mingh city...about 10-12 days in Vietnam than back to Hong Kong for 4-5 days.

We will probably use Airpoints to get from HK to Ho Chi Minh...any suggestions the best and economical way to get from Hanoi back to HK? The normal flights seem expensive when you times it by 4? Travel into China by plane also seems expensive?


If we did a day trip from HK into Southern China what would suggested places to visit? Wife love shopping and eating out....

Kids being teenagers like exciting things to do...e.g they enjoyed Songkan in Thailand so appreciate ideas and thoughts on what they could do in Hong Kong or Vietnam.....also good but reasonable Hotels in HK to stay.....

Suggested links, books

Many thanks in advance
Peter

[Mat]

In Vietnam u can try to dive in Nga Trang...can be fun for your sons..
Youc an also do a 1night / 2days trip in Halong Bay including kayaking, swimming...

Why don't u fly directly from NZ to Saigon, then from Saigon to HK and finally HK to NZ..instead of NZ-HK-Saigon-HK-NZ....u would save air tickets...

[Lammarite]

12 days in 'Nam is a long time. You could spend 12 days really well in China.

[Sazzy]

You could try flying from Shenzhen (you get the ferry from HK to Shenzhen) - prices generally 40% cheaper.

[Mat]

12 days in Vietnam isn't long at all...if u want to go from Saigon to Hanoi passing by Dalat, Nha Trang, Hoi an, Hue....it will take u easily 16/20 days.

[minack]

Mat, you're right...12 days isn't too long, if you want to travel from North through South. I live there my whole life but didn't have time to do that...what a shame! hehe
Anyway, 12 days in VN can be costly too if you travel like that (Ha Noi, Hue, Nha Trang, Ha Long...) I just feel that China is cheaper, since it's closer to Hong Kong.

I don't know about flights from Ha Noi to HK. But if you do the trip from North to South, then you can get a flight back to HK from Ho Chi Minh

You can get hotels in Ho Chi Minh at a cheaper price...like 20-30 US/ day, this I mean for family type of hotel, spacious, clean.

Anyway, you can find cheap things in Vietnam, if you know the place well. Otherwise, it's not that cheap, if lets say you have to travel around by taxi, stay at different cities, different hotels, transport expenses from one place to another.

12 days I think you can choose Ha Noi, and Ho Chi Minh. Domestic flight from HN to HCM ischeap. 6 days at each places are good enough. In HCM, you can find beautiful beaches (Phan Thiet - 4 hours away, or Long Hai - 1.5 hour away). Your wife can shop there too...You can take her to Dong Khoi street....but remember to bargain!

If you have specific questions, don't hesitate to buzz me
Mina

[xena7051]

Hi All
First thankyou for your replies. One reason why we are flying into HK first..is that we are paying for my sons tickets in Airpoints so need to go via Air New Zealand or anAlliance airline (none fly directly from Auckland to Vietnam). We can fly from HK to Ho Chi Minh via United (Alliance Airline) again using points but getting back from Hanoi to HK seems the expensive....appreciate more thoughts on China as an alternative to Vietnam...problem again is distances and airtravel for 4 within China seems expensive alternative travel like trains could take a lot of time.......for those who have been to both China and Vietnam.....which place would you suggest is the best for my family and why?

really appreciate the feedback.

Cheers
Peter

[Mat]

I have done both country by bus/train and both are fantastic. I did a 10 day trip: HK-Guangzhou-Beijing-Shanghai-Guangzhou-HK by train (Guangzhou-beijing will be around 24H and will cost you around 400 HKD for hard sleeper, Beijing-Shanghai is around 17 hours and cost about 350 HKD and finally Shanghai-Guangzhou 24H, 350 HKD). If u want to stay in the South you can also do: HK-Guangzhou-Guilin-Yangshuo....by train it is 14 hours.
All trains are night train (except the 24 hours one of course)...
For vietnam, I did Hanoi, halong Bay, Hue, Hoi An, Nha Trang, Saigon, Mekong Delta, Saigon. It took us 16 days and more or less 8 to 10 USD each trip by bus/train.
Buses are generally dangerous in Vietnam. train are safe in both country. It is a real experience....it all depends on what you look for....

[xena7051]

What are the train trips like for seeing things to keep you interested for 24 hours (Guangzhou-beijing)...apart from the wall and other buildings landmarks etc..what is there to do in China...remember I have two teenage boys...they enjoyed Thailand as always lots of exciting things to do... Any more advice or infomation owuld be great

Cheers
Peter

[Mat]

well the 24 hours are basically: leaving Guangzhou at 6.00 PM so from 6.00PM to 6.00AM nothing special: just take a rest, try to communicate with the chinese ppl, eat and sleep. The Guangzhou-Beijing trip, will cross all china from South to North. You won't see a lot of fantastic places, cos the country is really poor in those areas, but u can see how life is for 80% of the population...always interesting to see something else that the "cliches". Beijing- Shanghai is a night train (6.00PM to 9.00AM if I remember correctly). However Shanghai- Guangzhou is are ally nice trip with a lot of rice paddies, natural landscapes....