Xin Chao from Vietnam!

We returned to our home in Chiang Mai several weeks ago and will be staying until April. We learned last year that April and May are just simply way too hot for our liking and so will head back to Seattle for those months. Rather than spend all our time in Thailand this time, we have a few side trips planned. We are currently in Vietnam on a Gate 1 Tour. We are not normally group tour people, but decided to give it another try. There are definitely pros and cons to touring with a group. Since we have toured Vietnam on our own twice, we decided to go with a group. I am hoping to learn more about the country by being with a tour guide.

We flew from Chiang Mai to Ho Chi Minh City the day before the tour was to begin. We like to arrive a day early in case there are any hiccups with travel. It gives us a nice safety net as well as giving us a chance to settle in and explore our surroundings before joining the group. I had pre-arranged a taxi to take us from the airport to our hotel through Booking.com. We had a bad experience with taxis in Vietnam previously so thought this would be a safer way to go. I highly recommend the service. A representative was waiting outside of customs with a sign with our name on it. He walked us over and waited with us until our taxi arrived. We had pre-paid for the ride so there was no issue with being overcharged. We had enough Vietnamese dong left from a previous trip so that we could tip the driver. Tipping is optional in Vietnam. Nevertheless, I like to give a tip for good service. Given the traffic when we arrived, the driver earned his money!

We booked a room at the Liberty Central Saigon Centre Hotel, which was the same hotel that Gate 1 booked. The receptionist provided us with a packet from Gate 1 that gave us our schedule and other tour-related information. We arrived in the evening and so just had dinner at the hotel before settling in for the night.

We had a day and a half on our own before any scheduled events, so revisited some places we had previously been, including the War Remnants Museum. The next day, we met our group and took a short tour of the city. Click here to read about Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon): HCMC

The following day, there was an optional tour of the Mekong Delta, which involved a boat ride down the Mekong River. We felt like we had seen all we needed to in Saigon since we had spent a considerable amount of time there in the past, so we signed up for the optional tour. Click here to read about the Mekong Delta tour: Mekong Delta

Next up was a flight to Da Nang, followed by a short bus ride to Hoi An where we spent two days. Click here to read about the charming ancient city of Hoi An: Hoi An

The imperial city of Hueʹ was next. On the way to Hue, we toured some sights along the coast before Bee led us on a tour of the Imperial City. The next day there was an optional tour. We opted to have time on our own instead. Information and pictures here: Hueʹ

Now it was time to head to the northern part of Vietnam. We flew to Hanoi and rode the bus out to Ha Long Bay. This is the only place on the tour that we had not previously visited! It is spectacular and I am so glad we were able to see it: Ha Long Bay

Finally, we ended up in Hanoi. We were “toured out” by then and so took it easy. We did do a city tour and took a few pictures: Hanoi

So, how did it go touring with a group? As I said in my introductory paragraph, there are plusses and minuses. On the plus side, having someone take care of all the details is wonderful. The hotels were all genuinely nice, and our tour guide Bee was truly knowledgeable and made the trip enjoyable. For us, one of the negatives was not being able to go at our own pace. We like to start our day early and tour places before the crowds arrive. We also like to eat dinner early, and all the group dinners were way past our normal dinner time. I also had a problem with motion sickness on the bus rides, which made things difficult. I also have a tough time when it’s hot and humid out (which is one reason we like to tour early in the day) but on a group tour, you are on a set schedule and are often out in the heat of the day. Given my bus and heat issues, we are rethinking our trip to India in the spring. To end on a positive note, I learned so much about Vietnam from Bee and enjoyed the people we toured with. We are going to return to Hanoi in a few months to spend some additional time in that beautiful city. We will also be in Saigon again as part of our cruise in December.