vietnam with twc holidays

By Nancy Grenager

I had a very nice deluxe experience with TWC Holidays.   

Vietnam seems to be the upcoming place to go for prices:  Prices were so inexpensive there, and the culture was amazing, with some of the happiest, friendly people and very little crime.  Hanoi is the capital, and had many ancient sights to visit including pagoda’s, ancient temples, and tombs. Also, they yellow painted colonial buildings and the Old Quarter. Very fun to walk around a view the culture, and sights.

 I found the pricing for packages are much less than Thailand their neighbor but seems to have similar landscapes, ancient sights. Also, the bays, rivers, oceans, tropical forest, farming, culture of people, sights in the cities of Hanoi, Da Nang, and Ho Chi Minh City (formally Saigon) etc. is amazing.  Hanoi is a bustling energetic city with many new, old, and historic sights to see. Traffic is like NYC with mopeds instead of cars. Great for walking if you stay more in the historic part. We stayed at the Rey Hanoi Hotel, which is modern, in a great location and caters to English tourists.  The downside is the bar was very small, and didn’t have any decent wine.  It was hard to find good wine in most places. The cruise had nice wine, as with the resorts near Da Nang. 

After Hanoi we went south down to Da Nang, and enjoyed most of our nights here (Ninh Bay, Paradise Grand, and Hue). This area, which is known for more tropical oasis’s, forests, beaches, farming, ocean adventures and the ancient rock formations in the ocean which was the most beautiful part around Halong Bay. This is where we spent the night on the Paradise Grand cruise ship. This location is where you can completely appreciate this National Park with the islands, kayaking through caves, a bike excursion on one of the islands and rock formations which were the result of volcanic activities in ancient times. I was told this park is one of the nine wonders of the world. Beautiful rain forest type islands with many caves, inlets, cliffs, and spectacular sights. The cruise was my favorite part - Paradise Grand is a 4 plus star, clean, and very nice rooms, deck areas, small pool jacuzzi and enjoyed a full moon this night with the most beautiful views. Before leaving this area, we ended with an excursion on bamboo boats in the Ngo Dong River to ancient sights. Da Nang/Halong Bay area is the most developed for tourism and is growing rapidly.  

We explored more mainland, from a cooking class with locals, to pottery making, and yes foot massages from locals. Massages in the country are much less. We spent approximately $32 for a 90-minute message. Then we spent the night in Hue where finally the room looked more Asian than American. All hotels we stayed in were at least 4 star and all lovely except the Hue which felt more local.

We ended the trip in Ho Chi Ming City for two nights. This area is a very industrial, big city, with few historical sights. Spent two nights and one day. They drove us 3-4 hours north to the Delta Mekong River.

We did an excursion with small motorboats for tourists up the river a bit, then transferred to a small paddle canoe type boat which a lady paddled three of us up an inlet to view wildlife, then to an island for a local lunch. I found another ore and decided to help her row. We took a local taxi back. It was a long drive both ways to see the Delta Mekong, and it was nice to see. Ho Chi Minh is very industrial, the Mekong excursion was nice, but the drive there and back was a bit too much to spend for just a few hours and then return.  

It was just the six of us along with the TWC Holidays representative named Sam, a guide, and the driver. Sam was great and our guides were very informative, knowledgeable and spoke English very well, especially Sue who was our guide for Hanoi to Da Nang for the 6 days of our trip (I wish I could request her for future clients’ trips).  She even participated in some of the events with us.  

TWC Holidays, focuses on middle east and Asia tours, independent or group, but have other locations for tours and travel. 

Let me know if you have any questions or need assistance with a Vietnam trip in the future.