cashmeremypuppydog

Sorry raringtogo, although we are visiting Vietnam we won't be staying there overnight. I meant to ask about Bangkok, Thailand where we will be staying overnight. If anyone has recommendations, please let me know?

 

Thank you for any info.

 

Di

Raringrogo, could you post Bangkok info here please as I would need it as well. Thank you

hi cashmere-

so happy to hear you got to meet this charming young local man from HoiAn-

 

Hope you had a really wonderful day and enjoyed HOiAn- truly one of my most favourite places.

 

I hope everyone looking for a great tour or just transfer from Danang port- either Tien Sa or Chan May, writes to him- it really makes a huge difference to your experience in Vietnam to meet someone local who really cares about his home town.

 

so- i'll post his details again in case anyone else is looking:

 

tommyxuanha@gmail.com

 

cashmere, please come back and tell us about your experience.

Hello Raringtogo,

I just want to clarify that I have not met him yet as we will be in Da Nang in January 2015. However, I have booked him as he seems very professional and he replied to my e-mails very quickly... His prices are very reasonable! Tommy Dao Travel, Tour operator Email: tommyxuanha@gmail.com Cellphone: +84 905044564 Skype: tommyxuan1

The flexible itinerary is:

8:00 Pick up by the guide/driver outside the port.

9:00 Arrival at the Marble Mountain. Take a lift up to the mountains to visit Lin Ung pagoda (huge white Buddha). Tang Chon cave, the Heaven cave, the Huyen Khong cave, the Tam Thanh pagoda, and the River watching terrace. Take a lift down the mountains.

10:30: Drive to China Beach (My Khe beach) and to a big marble workshop along the seafront road. 11:30: Transfer to Hoi An, the pleasant ancient town of Vietnam, a World Cultural Heritage site since 1999. Enjoy pleasant city walk to the Hoian history museum, Hoian market, the Fujien Chinese temple, Tan Ky ancient house, the famous Japanese pagoda bridge & great shopping. Enjoy lunch of local specialties (“cao lau” noodle, fried wontons, white roses, chicken rice etc.) at the riverside restaurant to enjoy the view around (not included).

16:00 Drive back to the port through Danang city main streets for an idea of what it looks like. If we have time maybe visit Da Nang.

17:00 Drop-off at the Tien Sa port

Tommy (or his driver) is not a guide (but speak English), you can plan your own day as you wish or follow the above itinerary... The prices are: For 2 to 3 people: 45$/each and transportation will be a car

For 4 to 15 people:35$/each and transportation will be a mini van (4-10) or a large van (11-15). Good luck!

**Ask the driver if we have time to go to Tra Que Vegetable Village (3km N/E of Hoi An) which is famous for herbal plants and vegetables. This land was formed 300 years ago, surrounded by De Vong River and Tra Que Lagoon, so it has very good atmosphere with fresh air.... We could learn how local farmers cultivate the vegetables, could enjoy taking beautiful photos of the green fields and the village.

Hello all,

I will be cruising with Volendam in January 2015 and one of our port of call will be Da Nang (Tien Sa port) (7am- 6pm). I have already done extensive research on our ports of call. Someone on cruisecritic (she has been to Vietnam on several occasions and know him personnally) recommended Tommy Dao Travel, Tour operator Email: tommyxuanha@gmail.com Cellphone: +84 905044564 Skype: tommyxuan1

I have booked him already for next year! He seems very nice and has replied to my e-mails very quickly.

The flexible itinerary is:

8:00 Pick up by the guide/driver outside the port.

9:00 Arrival at the Marble Mountain. Take a lift up to the mountains to visit Lin Ung pagoda (huge white Buddha). Tang Chon cave, the Heaven cave, the Huyen Khong cave, the Tam Thanh pagoda, and the River watching terrace. Take a lift down the mountains.

10:30: Drive to China Beach (My Khe beach) and to a big marble workshop along the seafront road. 11:30: Transfer to Hoi An, the pleasant ancient town of Vietnam, a World Cultural Heritage site since 1999. Enjoy pleasant city walk to the Hoian history museum, Hoian market, the Fujien Chinese temple, Tan Ky ancient house, the famous Japanese pagoda bridge & great shopping. Enjoy lunch of local specialties (“cao lau” noodle, fried wontons, white roses, chicken rice etc.) at the riverside restaurant to enjoy the view around (not included).

16:00 Drive back to the port through Danang city main streets for an idea of what it looks like. If we have time maybe visit Da Nang.

17:00 Drop-off at the Tien Sa port

Tommy (or his driver) is not a guide (but speak English), you can plan your own day as you wish or follow the above itinerary... The prices are: For 2 to 3 people: 45$/each and transportation will be a car

For 4 to 15 people:35$/each and transportation will be a mini van (4-10) or a large van (11-15) His prices seem quite reasonable. Good luck!

**Ask the driver if we have time to go to Tra Que Vegetable Village (3km N/E of Hoi An) which is famous for herbal plants and vegetables. This land was formed 300 years ago, surrounded by De Vong River and Tra Que Lagoon, so it has very good atmosphere with fresh air.... We could learn how local farmers cultivate the vegetables, could enjoy taking beautiful photos of the green fields and the village.:D

for 4 people it's $30 per person

and for 2 people it's $40 per person

 

this was from Tien Sa Port

Raringtogo,

Just to let you know I have contacted Tommy and have made reservation for him (or another driver, not sure) to pick us up at Tien Sa Port. Thank you so much for sharing his name and info. I will make sure I leave a post on each port of call and tour after our 28 day cruise (HAL- Volendam) in January 2015 as there is not much info yet on Asia. Thank you again. The Canadians!:D

I am not sure. ..but you could telephone HAL and also write to tommy at

tommyxuanha@gmail.com and ask him if he could try to enquire for you

I will. Thank you so much!

for 4 people it's $30 per person

and for 2 people it's $40 per person

 

this was from Tien Sa Port

I am confused! Do you know if HAL Volendam dock at Tien Sa Port (a few km from Da Nang) or Chan May (44km north of Da Nang)? Thank you.

Do you know where your ship will port?

 

Small ships up to vaguely 30,000 tonnes (Azamara Quest, Azamara Journey etc) can berth in the harbour at Da Nang, about 20 miles north of Hoi An.

Larger ships have to use the container port at Chan May, some 25 miles north of Da Nang & about 45 slow miles from Hoi An.

 

We ported at Da Nang about 3 years ago & had no difficulty negotiating with vans at the port. We wanted to see Hoi An & the Marble Mountain. We were a group who'd met-up on the ship & there were about 10 of us. There were a few vans in the port, & a few more beyond. We had a driver who spoke no English & a guide with understandable English, though it was hardly a "guided tour". IIRC we agreed a price of $90 for the van for the day, paid on our return to the ship. Negotiating a price is a fun challenge but a dollar means more to those guys than to us, and we gave them a good tip at the end. Total was about $15 each. Bear in mind this was a few years ago.

We first went to Hoi An, spent a couple or three hours there on our own.

Then to China Beach and to a big marble workshop along the seafront road - the guy was anxious for us to visit, clearly he gets a bung, we found the easiest way to say "no" was to say "yes" but make it a brief visit. ;) It was pretty interesting anyway, I bought a small figurine for peanuts, I know others from the ship (not our group) bought large & costly marble furniture for shipment but rather them than us.

Then round the corner to the steps at the bottom of Marble Mountain - the elevator was built after our visit & it was a steep 10 minute climb up high steps to the cave temple & the pagoda beyond. Well worth the effort & good views too. About an hour there. A street of super little one-man marble workshops at the bottom.

Finally to a huge new white Buddha overlooking the coast at Ling Ung, something we'd not known about & was nearing completion at the time. Well worth the visit.

 

A van (you might need two) for the day is very definitely the way to do it, hiring a vehicle at each place isn't worth the grief.

............................................................................................................................................................................

 

Also did our own thing in Halong Bay - negotiated a junk for 6 hours for $90 total (pay on return), we didn't bother with food & bought cheap cold beers & sodas on the junk. We were again about 10 to 12. Great experience.

 

Saigon we ported in the city, you will need to fix up in advance a tour or transfer from Phu My, but once in Saigon it's very easy to walk all the main sights.

We hired a speedboat to take us from the city to the Cu Chi tunnels. About 80 minutes each way, same as by road but a whole lot more fun. Eight of us, worked out about $50 each. Fixed it in advance over the 'net. Sorry, lost contact details along with all my other e-mails when my computer was taken very ill.

Worth booking an overnite hotel in Saigon. And take in a water puppet show.

 

Nha Trang - we were there only for a morning on our 30-day cruise & we were templed-out, so we took the morning off from sight-seeing & took the cable car over to Vin Pearl island.

A resort island, a few rides, water-park, aquarium, shops, beach, very laid-back. Kinda like Disney on tranquilisers. $15 per person incl the cablecar.

Very pleasant. But not "Vietnam". I'm sure others can come up with better suggestions.

 

Plenty of info on all ports if you search this forum.

So click to the Asia forum, & click on "search this forum" in the brown bar above the announcements & threads. Type in the mame of a port to find all threads about it.

 

Brilliant part of the world to visit - have a good one.

 

JB :)

As we will be in at the container port of Chan May about 44km (56 min) from the main part of Da Nang on a Friday from 7am to 6pm (11 hours), I was wondering if we would be able to see everything mentioned below. I want to add that Hoi An is another 29km (40 min) from Da Nang and My Son is 40km S/W of Hoi An.

Do you think my plan is realistic with let say 10 hours?

My Plan: Negotiate for a van, group of 10. First, My Son (but return part of the way by boat, stopping at a couple of craft villages along the way). Second, we went to Hoi An (2-3 hrs on our own). Then to China Beach and to a big marble workshop along the seafront road. Then round the corner to the steps at the bottom of Marble Mountain (1 hr). A street of super little one-man marble workshops at the bottom. Then, to a huge new white Buddha overlooking the coast at Ling Ung, something we'd not known about & was nearing completion at the time. Finally, visit Da Nang (hopefully 1 hr) and back to ship.

Maybe you need to go to specsavers I said £8 . And no I haven't got a hazy memory it was this March.

Could you tell me how you found your transportation? Detail info would be appreciated.

Thanks for this recommendation. I contacted Tommy and he replied immediately, quoting us a reasonable rate for a taxi for our family of four, taking us from Danang to Hoian via Marble Mountains, and back to port. We will pay the driver at the end of the trip in cash. So it all sounds good! We're going to Danang in December - will come back and let you know how it went.

Could you please share with us how much you paid? Thank you

JB, Thank you so much for your reply. You travel exactly like us. Unfortunately, we will be on HAL Volendam and not a small ship like Azamara or Oceania... which means we will sometime sberth further from the cities we want to visit.

Thank you also for the suggestion "So click to the Asia forum, & click on "search this forum" in the brown bar above the announcements & threads. Type in the name of a port to find all threads about it" as I didn't know about "this...

Again, people, I am waiting for replies. Keep them coming.

Hello all,

We are going to do the 28 day cruise from Hong Kong to Singapore in Jan 2015.

As we are independent travellers, I do a lot of research before each trip. I have been reading roll calls related to Asia...

I found that Smile Tours will charge about $70 USD for a group of 16 people and u+. I find it's a lot of money for a bus to pick you up at the port, drive you to Marble Mountains. Take a lift up to visit Linh Ung pagoda/Tang Chon cave/Heaven cave/Huyen Khong cave/Tam Thanh pagoda/River Watching terrace. Take lift down. Then, transfer to Hoi An where you will enjoy a pleasant city walk to the history museum/market/Fujien Chinese temple/Tan Ky ancient house/famous Japanese pagoda bridge and great shopping.Enjoy lunch of local specialties. at Ly's Cafe. (Not included in price of tour). Transfer to visit Cham museum in Da Nang. Finally, transfer back to port.

Is there anybody who has done the same but by taxi a taxi or the bus? Also, anybody who would have negotiate a tour right at the port? I understand the driver might not speak perfect English but limited English I think would be okay...

In my research, a taxi from Da Nang to Hoi An is only $15 USD.

A guided tour from Hoi An to My Son: $8 USD or $15 but return part of the way by boat, stopping at a couple of craft villages along the way. My Son is not included in the above tour (Smile Tours) and I don't know why. Anybody knows?

Should I be afraid of trying to travel independently?

Thank you for your help. As well, if you have any comments on travelling independently for Halong Bay, Nha Trang and Phu My, don't hesitate to write...:)

Thank you for your replies.

I am planning a 24-day Asian cruise and I got about 12 books from different countries and different authors. Lonely Planet is by far my favorite (for Asia) but it doesn't come close to Rick Steves' style...

I guess there is room for a writer to start writing Asia travel books a la Rick Steves...

Thanks again for your input.

We just did a Orvieto and Bagneregio tour. You must do the tunnel tour in Orvieto.

There were 8 of us with a driver/guide.

Gail

Can you tell me what company you used and how much it did cost in total or per person? Thank you

Hello all,

My DH and I have been visited Europe with the help of Rick Steves' guide books and it really suits us. We are independent travellers that don't like to wait for large groups. Does anyone know of a writer that is similar to Rick Steves? With RS, it tells you for example, how far is the train station from the port, if you can walk it, bus it or take a taxi with all prices, where to go for lunch, give you detailed walking tour etc. It's just a gem for travellers... I would LOVE to find a similar writer :confused:for Asia... Thank you

Thank you all for your reply. I will look into it.:o

Hello all,

We will be in Civitavecchia on a Wednesday from 7am to 7pm. As we will have explored Rome for 4 days prior to cruising, we think we might have seen a lot of Rome and instead, we should visit Orvieto. What do you think? Are we wrong? If not, do you know any tour company that would take a group of 8-12 (would post a link on our roll call to form a group)? I understand we could rent a car by DH and I don't want to drive in Italy. Thank you for your reply.:D