14. Vietnam and China Itinerary - Final Draft

Back in post 4, I wrote my itinerary for both China and Vietnam which at the time was the final one, but after some advice from a couple of people living in China, have now revised the Shanghai/Suzhou/Hangzhou section. After checking flight times Shanghai>Hong Kong, I've decided to fly to Hong Kong a day early. This gives me a little extra time, particularly if I arrive latish in the afternoon. Bearing in mind the 23rd is the Dragonboat Festival, I'd prefer to be there the day before to give me time to sort of find out about buses and transport to go to Stanley which is on Hong Kong Island and where the festival is held.

My final itinerary for this trip is as follows:

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 Xi'an (fly) depart 11.45 arrive 19.05
Thu 07 - Xi'an ~ Terracotta Army
Fri 08 - Xi'an ~ Wild panda base? Tang Dynasty Music & Dancing Show?
Sat 09 - Xi'an - o/n train. Train 2672: Depart Xian 22.48, arrive Pingyao 7.08

Sun 10 - Pingyao
Mon 11 - Pingyao
Tue 12 - Pingyao - o/n train. K604: Depart Pingyao 18.47, arrive Beijing West 6.28

Wed 13 - Beijing
Thu 14 - Beijing ~ Great Wall Mutianyu
Fri 15 - Beijing ~ Day tour Forbidden Palace etc.
Sat 16 - Beijing - o/n train. T109: Depart Beijing 19.28, arrive Suzhou 9.17 or D311: Depart Beijing 20.52, arrive Suzhou 7.49 (costs $30 more)

Sun 17 - Suzhou
Mon 18 - Suzhou ~ Morning, taxi/bus to Tongli, early afternoon return to Suzhou. Bus to Hangzhou (from South long-distance bus station (qiche nanzhan; cnr Yingchun Lu & Nanhuan Donglu)
Tue 19 - Hangzhou

Wed 20 - Hangzhou to Shanghai
Thu 21 - Shanghai

Fri 22 - Shanghai to Hong Kong
Sat 23 - Hong Kong ~ Dragonboat Festival
Sun 24 - Hong Kong
Mon 25 - Hong Kong ~ Day trip to Macau?

Tue 26 - Hong Kong - afternoon flight to KL
Wed 27 - Kl to Melb