Trip Report: Timeless Wonders of Vietnam, Cambodia & the Mekong (Uniworld) 12/20/15

[gnome12]

Very interesting. I'm off at the end of October. I managed to book what I think are really good business class flights (on Aeroplan points i.e. with Star Alliance). I fly Eva Air from Toronto to Hanoi via Taipei with a 4 hour connection, and home Ho Chi Minh City to Toronto also via Taipei with 2hr 40min connection. Even better, I paid less than CAD$90 in total fees.

 

I can't find anything that good for Myanmar in 2018; I might need 2 connections or pay for some inter-Asia flights separately. But I will keep exploring possibilities based on comparable dates in 2017 until I am able to book.

[ewizabeff]

That sounds amazing! This was my first try booking with miles so it took awhile for me to get the hang of how to find great flights. We're going to book for Egypt in 2018. Committing to dates when I know I want to use frequent flyer miles to book flights is always a little nerve wracking until that is in place.

[gnome12]

I have the advantage that I am only booking for one. It is helpful for flights (but not for anything else).

[Mark_T]

That sounds amazing! This was my first try booking with miles so it took awhile for me to get the hang of how to find great flights. We're going to book for Egypt in 2018. Committing to dates when I know I want to use frequent flyer miles to book flights is always a little nerve wracking until that is in place.

 

Certainly a 'chicken and egg' debate there :)

 

We do this a lot and in fact we are heading off to Egypt (via Jordan) tomorrow.

 

Generally, the beauty of using miles is that the flights remain flexible and easy to cancel without penalties so even if the first flights you book are not ideal, you can often trade them in for better flights later on.

[jpalbny]

Congratulations on finishing this monumental task! Your trip home was quite the whirlwind, but congrats on squeezing all those city visits into the journey. And the food on Japan Airlines looks amazing.

 

Now I have to get inspired to finish my blog...though it's only been 28 days since we returned. Hopefully it won't take me another year... ;)

[eyeu]

thanks...always love reading your blog and seeing your pics!! A treat!

[whatnot]

Thanks for finishing the trip reports! They have been so helpful. We are booked on Uniworld for January 12, 2018, from Ho Chi Min City ending in Hanoi. Ship is the Mekong Navigator. Planning to go in a day early. Hotels are the same as yours in all 3 locations. We plan to fly Business Class but not quite as stretched out as you did! I was so glad to hear that Japan Airlines was quite good. That is the airline we are looking at currently. I have lots of American miles but haven't been able to use them for a good fit. I have enough credit card points to get one ticket and pay for the other and the best schedule for us is on Japan Airlines.

 

We have friends traveling with us, who don't do CC. What is the best way for me to send them a link to your blog for this trip.?

 

What did you do about visas for Vietnam? And did you get shots? I may have forgotten if I read it before. Any other info you can think of would be helpful!

[eyeu]

We are taking that trip later this year and you ask some important questions. I assume we have to obtain our own visas?

What shots did you get? Any malaria prevention? Did you find both the hotels and the ship accommodated the US plug without an adapter? Any other hints would be appreciated...thanks

Rick

[whatnot]

Oh my I had not thought about adapters yet. That is a very good question too!

 

I booked our air yesterday. Japan Airlines came out to be the best fit for us. Also decided to go in a day early, just in case of problems. Booked another night through Uniworld which gives us airport transfers and breakfast too. I had checked and price was reasonable. I just did not want to book a hotel room on my own and then have to find a cab at 11:30 pm to take me to the hotel after i had been flying for 26 hours or so.

 

eyeu, I look forward to hearing about your experience too. Even though ewizabeff has written an unbelievable post, it is over a year old and it is a different ship. Please post on your experiences.

[ewizabeff]

I have lots of American miles but haven't been able to use them for a good fit. I have enough credit card points to get one ticket and pay for the other and the best schedule for us is on Japan Airlines.

 

We have friends traveling with us, who don't do CC. What is the best way for me to send them a link to your blog for this trip.?

 

What did you do about visas for Vietnam? And did you get shots? I may have forgotten if I read it before. Any other info you can think of would be helpful!

 

Have you been trying to use the American Airlines miles to book tickets on Japan Airlines? That's how I booked them. You won't see the availability on aa.com, but you can check availability on British Airways' site. If it's there to book with Avios, you can call AAdvantage to book with American miles.

 

The blog is at www.grosstravelchronicles.blogspot.com. If you want a quick list of every trip post from Vietnam/Cambodia, our Trip Index will probably work best.

 

We got our Visas through the Vietnam Embassy in DC (sent in our passports, photos, form, and $$). But Uniworld also recommends an agency that will do it for you if you want to pay a bit more.

 

Our doctors recommended having Hepatitis A/B, Tetanus, and Typhoid. We also did the malaria meds but they were probably not necessary.

[ewizabeff]

Did you find both the hotels and the ship accommodated the US plug without an adapter? Any other hints would be appreciated...thanks

Rick

 

I honestly can't remember. I know we used our adapters, but there may have been US plugs available occasionally. I'd definitely recommend bringing one. Mosquito repellent is important as well, especially on the river. My packing list has everything we brought and a little bit of commentary as to whether or not it was used.

[gnome12]

Thanks for the packing list. I'm especially grateful that you note what didn't get used.

[whatnot]

Thanks for the responses. I got tired of calling American every day for weeks and the seats were filling up. but no available seats on Japan Airlines. Therefore I did the one free ticket on my credit card and paid for the other. Booked Japan Airlines through my credit card. Thanks for your tip about British Airways. I will try it in the future. There are some reputable places where you can get visa approval and don't have to send your passport, but then you have to go through a process when you get to Vietnam. Does that take a long time to get through the line when you get there? I just hate having to send my passport away. But we arrive at 10;30 pm if all goes well. So I will probably be a zombie by then, depending how well I sleep.

 

Thanks for all your help! I may have more questions before next January.

[gnome12]

There are some reputable places where you can get visa approval and don't have to send your passport, but then you have to go through a process when you get to Vietnam. Does that take a long time to get through the line when you get there? I just hate having to send my passport away. But we arrive at 10;30 pm if all goes well. So I will probably be a zombie by then, depending how well I sleep.

 

When I looked at this a few months ago, this wasn't true. Canadians (and I think Americans too) could not use a Visa on Arrival, but there was an eVisa option that didn't require sending in your actual passport; it required a scanned copy of the passport, and digital passport photos, and money (amount unknown because you couldn't see it until you filled out the first part of the form). The eVisa was available both for single entry (which doesn't work for me; I am doing the full trip from Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City, which of course means entering Vietnam twice) and for multiple entry (which is what I need). But now, I am seeing new information as of February 2017 which shows eVisa only for single entry.

 

I'll try and do some more searching, because this seems to be very fluid, and I won't be applying for the visa until at least the end of July.

[gnome12]

I found the visa information for Canadians here

http://vietnamembassy.ca/consular-services/visas#By_email

Follow B, b.1 for visa by email

If you look at the information, it seems to cover Americans too (maybe even more than Canadians). If you look at the download form option, you will see that you can apply for single entry or multiple entry Visa.

Again, it shows that they send you the actual Visa, not an approval letter, so this is the same as if you sent in your actual passport, without having to let the passport out of your control.

I would try looking for the Embassy of Vietnam in Washington, and seeing if you can find something similar.

[whatnot]

Thanks for the updated info. But it does not look like it is going to help us. We too need a multiple entry visa and everything I read said it was only for single entry. One site said for multiple entry you had to do Visa on Arrival with the approval letter or send your passport to a VN Embassy in the US. Wish it did work. E visa is what we used for Turkey. I'll checking and if I find anything different I will post here.