Vietnam To China

5. Accommodation

2012-02-14T05:02:00.001+11:00

It's a good idea to work out where you'll be staying so I've been checking out a few places and have already made my decision. the list isn't complete as I've still Nha Trang, Hoi An, Sapa, Nanning and Beijing to figure out yet. Once I have them all, then I'll start booking.

Saigon ~ Madame Cuc's Hotel 64

Dalat ~ Hotel Phuong Hanh? (Theft problem)

Nha Trang

Hoi An ~

Hue ~ Halo or Hung Vuong Inn

Hanoi ~ Hanoi Backpackers ?

Sapa ~

Halong Bay ~ On boat

Nanning?

Xi'an ~ Han Tang Inn Youth Hostel

Pingyao ~ Harmony Guest House

Beijing ~

Shanghai ~ Captain Hostel

Hangzhou ~ Mingtown Youth Hostel

Suzhou ~ Suzhou Mingtown Youth Hostel

Hong Kong ~ New Nan Pan Hotel

4. Vietnam and China Itinerary

2012-02-14T04:27:00.001+11:00

After posting my itinerary earlier, I have done some "fine tuning". The Hanoi/Halong Bay/Sapa stretch needed extra thought - I wasn't too happy with and wrote down a few versions, then compared them. This was the best way for me, I could see them all and compare.

Finally it came to me. Better to visit Sapa first and leave Halong Bay until last.

Thu 17 - Arrive Kuala Lumpur
Fri 18 - Saigon arrive 10.10am
Sat 19 - Saigon
Sun 20 - Mekong Delta
Mon 21 - Mekong Delta - o/n Saigon

Tue 22 - Saigon to Dalat
Wed 23 - Dalat

Thu 24 - Dalat to Nha Trang
Fri 25 - Nha Trang - o/n train. Depart 22.12 Train SH2. Arrive Danang 8.59. Get bus.

Sat 26 - Hoi An
Sun 27 - Hoi An

Mon 28 - Hoi An to Hue. Depart 8.00 arrive 4.30 with Easyrider.
Tue 29 - Hue
Wed 30 - Hue - o/n train. Depart 17.11 Train SE4

Thu 31 - Hanoi
Fri 01 - Hanoi - o/n train. Train SP1 depart 21.10pm

Sat 02 - Sapa - Arrive Lao Cai 5.25am then bus.
Sun 03 - Sapa & Bac Ha - o/n train. Train SP2 depart 20.05pm

Mon 04 - Hanoi arrive 4.35am. Breakfast then 7.30 pickup for Halong Bay
Tue 05 - Halong Bay to Hanoi arrive 17.00pm

Wed 06 - Hanoi to Nanning - day bus

Thu 07 - Xi'an - flight from Nanning
Fri 08 - Xi'an
Sat 09 - Xi'an - o/n train

Sun 10 - Pingyao
Mon 11 - Pingyao
Tue 12 - Pingyao - o/n train

Wed 13 - Beijing
Thu 14 - Beijing
Fri 15 - Beijing
Sat 16 - Beijing - o/n train

Sun 17 - Shanghai
Mon 18 - Shanghai

Tue 19 - Hangzhou
Wed 20 - Hangzhou

Thu 21 - Suzhou
Fri 22 - Suzhou

Sat 23 - Suzhou to Hong Kong. Bus to Shanghai airport, flight to HK.
Sun 24 - Hong Kong
Mon 25 - Hong Kong
Tue 26 - Hong Kong - afternoon flight to KL

Wed 27 - KL to Melb.

3. China Itinerary - 1

2012-02-02T14:38:00.001+11:00

Like the Vietnam sector, the China part of my trip has seen agonising hours spent trying to find the best use of my days and nights here. Itinially, I had planned on going Hanoi to Hong Kong and then working my way up to Shanghai, across to Pingyao, ont to Beijing then flying out to KL on the 26th June. My flight KL to Melbourne departs around 13.00pm so I need to be there the day before.

I'd seen an Air Asia flight for the 26th for $176, but thought it prudent to work out how much time I had, could I fit it all in etc. before booking. Which with hindsight was a foolish thing to do - even if I couldn't fit everything in, I still had to fly to KL on the 26th anyway. So, by the time I did get around to booking it, there were no flights available for that day! So .... then I had to work the other way - going in a clock-wise direction, finishing in Hong Kong and flying back from there. Which in a way, has turned out to be a blessing in disguise.

What I hadn't stopped to think is had I gone Hanoi>Nanning>Hong Kong>Shanghai; I would have needed a multi visa for China. Doing it in reverse, I only need the one Chinese visa. So ... First I was going to stop at Pingyao, then Beijing, Shanghai (maybe Suzhou and Hangzhou), then Hong Kong, but have realised I do indeed wish to see Xi'an - those terracotta warriors look amazing and history buff that I am, I couldn't possibly miss them. So, time was spent working that into my already busy itinerary, but then ....... I saw Qingdao in my Lonely Planet China guidebook and bingo! I really want to stop there for a day or two. So .... now that's something else to fit in. But ......the good new for me is I asked about flying versus train from Hanoi to Beijing and the general consensus is fly! Train from Hanoi to Nanning then fly to Xi'an and work my way around.

So .. at the moment my China itinerary is looking like this:

Thu 07 - Arrive Nanning 10.12am. Fly to Xi'an (This depends on flight time as I've been advised it's cheaper by far to book a week or so before your actually flying date.) Anyway, working on the assumption that I fly into Xi'an on the 7th -
Fri 08 - Xi'an (Day trip to terracotta warriors)

Sat 09 - Xi'an - Pingyao
Sun 10 - Arrive Pingyao

Mon 11 - Pingyao - Beijing
Tue 12 - Arrive Beijing
Wed 13 - Beijing (Day tour to Great Wall)
Thu 14 - Beijing

Fri 15 - Beijing - Shanghai
Sat 16 - Arrive Shanghai
Sun 17 - Shanghai

Mon 18 - Shanghai to Hangzhou
Tue 19 - Hangzhou

Wed 20 - Hangzhou to Suzhou/Tongli
Thu 21 - Suzhou

Fri 22 - Suzhou - Shanghai - Hong Kong
Sat 23 - Hong Kong
Sun 24 - Hong Kong
Mon 25 - Hong Kong

Tue 26 - Hong Kong - Kuala Lumpur (Flight departs around 18.00pm)
Arrive KL 23.30pm

Wed 27 - KL to Melbourne. Depart 13.00pm arrive Melb 23.30pm.

This sees me with four nights in Hong Kong and no time in Qingdao, so I have to have a re-think and try some adding and subtracting to fit it in.

2. Itinerary

2012-02-02T14:10:00.001+11:00

Having spent ages working and re-working itineraries, adding this, subtracting that, I think I've pretty much finalised it. But it may still need a bit of fine tuning, especially the Hanoi/Halong Bay/Sapa area. So ... for the moment, what I have is this:

Vietnam Sector
Sat 17 - Arrive KL
Fri 18 - Arrive Saigon 10.10am
Sat 19 - Saigon

Sun 20 - Saigon - Dalat
Mon 21 - Dalat

Tue 22 - Dalat - Nha Trang
Wed 23 - Nha Trang

Thu 24 - Nha Trang - Danang - Hoi An.
Depart 2.36 Train SE2. Arrive Danang 11.51am. Or Train SE4 depart 5.38. Arrive Danang 14.30pm
Bus to Hoi An
Fri 25 - Hoi An
Sat 26 - Hoi An

Sun 27 - Hoi An - Hue (8.00am to 12.00pm)
Mon 28 - Hue

Tue 29 - Hue - Hanoi (train) Depart 17.11 Train SE4
Wed 30 - Arrive Hanoi 5.00am

Thu 31 Hanoi - Halong Bay (pickup 7.30am)

Fri 01 - Halong Bay - Hanoi - Lao Cai
Arrive Hanoi 17.00pm Train SP1 depart 21.10pm

Sat 02 - Arrive Lao Cai 5.25am
Bus to Bac Ha

Sun 03 - Bac Ha - Sapa
Visit Bac Ha market before catching bus to Sapa

Mon 04 - Sapa - Lao Cai - Hanoi
Train SP2 depart 20.05

Tue 05 - Arrive Hanoi 4.35am

Wed 06 - Hanoi - Nanning. Train MR1/T8702 from Gia Lam station (Gia Lam station is 6km from Hanoi's main station, across the river) Depart 21.40pm.

Thu 07 - Dong Dang (Vietnamese border)- arrive 02.00am
Dong Dang - depart 03.00am
Pingxiang (Chinese border)- arrive 4.41am
Pingxiang - Depart 6.41am
Arrive Nanning 10.12am (Train fare $38?)

Flight Nanning to Xi'an (to be booked)

1. I Book The Tickets

2011-12-18T00:45:00.001+11:00

After my last trip to Thailand and Laos, I knew I wouldn't be able to afford another trip next year (2012). I went to Malaysia and Cambodia in March 2009, Thailand, Laos (with a day trip to Burma) in February 2010 and I just knew I'd never be able to afford to go overseas again in 12 months. Told myself I'll go away in 2013.

So; anyway; guess what happened? Yep, you guessed it - Air Asia had another sale on, the booking time ran for a week or so and travel time was from 1st April 2012 to 30th June 2012. So, here's me getting all excited -ooh I'll be able to go, it's not like it's for travel between January and February, this is in the middle of the year and I'll be able to go. I'll have saved up enough by then! Yeah....famous last words huh?

I did book and will get to go. And after reality set in (which wasn't until a few weeks later) I realised I am not going to be able to afford this damn trip - I'm going for six weeks you see - 6 weeks of accommodation adds up to a mighty high number of dollars, not to mention the cost of transport in China is exorbitantly expensive and worse to come - I've just found out that China does not accept foreign credit cards. Which is a real bummer. Far out. I'll have to rely on what's in the bank.

First - I hadn't seen the email from Air Asia about the sale so by the time I did see it, the really cheap flights were gone. The cheapest flight I found from Melbourne to KL was for $171, I put in the details but got a message it was on hold - not confirmed. So..I went back, and found I'd typed in a 'q' after my name, so removed the 'q', started off again with the same result. This happened about five times until I realised I had to click on the red box then remove the 'q' from there. All was good it went through but - by that time that cheaper flight was gone. So I had to start searching again. The cheapest flight then was $50 higher. Oh well, that's life. Anyway, booked a return flight departing Melbourne on the 17th May, flying back on the 27th June. The total for the return flight after adding on pre-purchased meals, pick-a-seat, luggage, taxes etc the grand total came to AUD$487. (Didja know there's a $16 credit card fee now? - Highway robbery!)

Have just checked the itinerary and noticed they have only added on one pick-a-seat and that should be two. I'll have to go check up on that. It's alright, I have a seat picked for the return flight as well. For a short flight, I don't pay extra to choose a seat but for an 8 hour flight I certainly do. I like to sit in an aisle seat as close to the front as possible. Feels less claustrophobic that way.

Booked a flight from KL to Saigon for the following day - 18th May which will see me in Vietnam around 10.10am.