Vietnam

[AngryABCGirl]

Going to Vietnam next weekend for a short backpacking adventure, probably just in the North cause of time constraints, any tips on what I must see/do, and warnings?

[raacluse]

A couple weeks ago, I met a librarian who works at UCI. Over the past year, he's spent many months in Vietnam. (I think he said in Hanoi.)
He said he's getting to be considered an expert on Vietnamese film. (Not sure by whom.)
He also said he was able to pick up Vietnamese, the language, I mean. Not sure to what extent. I know speaks Cantonese.

http://www.faculty.uci.edu/profile.cfm?faculty_id=5142

You should contact him. He's pretty cool. Not the least bit stuffy.
OTOH, he can get pretty busy, so whether he'd be able to respond at great length is unknown.

[Pookie_gal]

Hey AngryABCGirl,
Are you back? How was your trip?

I'm off to Vietnam in 2 days' time - couple of nights in Da Lat in the highlands, 1 night in Saigon and couple of nights in Nga Trang. Did you visit Da Lat?

Thanks!

[AngryABCGirl]

I was up North in Hanoi; it was an amazingly good trip, I will definitely go back again.

I visited Halong Bay, biked around the countryside in Tam Cac, and spend rest of the time in Hanoi.