Viet Nam and Thailand, another fantastic job by Kim Kim.

Vietnam | Sep 29 - Oct 20, 2026

A lovely place to stay in Hanoi. Clean, comfortable and helpful staff.

This place has a stunning view of the highlands and valleys surrounding it. We were treated to beautiful thunder and lightning storm one night. The staff was very helpful and accommodating. We had a footbath prepared for us the first night that felt wonderful. The rooms are a bit rustic, but very nice. The food was plentiful and very tasty.

This was really fun to cruise on Ha Long Bay. Our staterooms were great - comfortable and very private. We were able to go kayaking off the boat and see the amazing sights there in the bay. The meals were all excellent.

This is a very nice hotel. The staff was very friendly and helpful and the location was good. Meals were good and we very much enjoyed our stay here.

This was one of the two top places we stayed. This hotel practices "community tourism" which means they partner with families in the community who run businesses from their homes. We were able to visit their businesses/homes which was a fantastic way to learn about their culture, economy and families. We visited a frog farm, a rice wine business, a palm frond weaving business and coconut fiber weaving business. We were also privileged to meet with a veteran of the war and hear his experiences from that terrible conflict. The owner of the hotel was there and we had several great conversations with him about his business philosophy. And, this is right on a river - the location was wonderful. Can't recommend this enough. If you go the Mekong Delta, be sure to allow enough time to stay here for at least two nights. Well worth the effort.

This place was in a good location - very close to the Central Park complex which you should definitely visit if you stay here. The rooftop garden at the complex is fantastic and the view, especially at night, is worth your effort. We had a suite here on the 8th floor which gave us a lot of room. Staff was very friendly and helpful.

We can't say enough good things about this hotel. It's on the beach in Koh Samui, so it was the perfect place to end our trip in a relaxed and elegant spot. The staff was so friendly and helpful, anything we needed was at hand. The restaurant food was the best we had anywhere on the trip. The room was perfect - we would've gladly stayed longer.

There is lots to learn about Hanoi and our guide helped provide lots of history and information about the country, the city, the long struggle for freedom from other countries. His command of dates and events was pretty amazing. If you visit Hanoi, a must see is the War Relics Museum. Hard to take it all in, but very worthwhile.

The boat ride through the area was very peaceful and pretty.

Riding on a motorbike through this countryside was wonderful, a great way to experience the beauty of the terraced rice fields and actually meet some of the residents. The drivers of the motorbikes were all careful and courteous. To call it caving is kind of an overstatement - you can walk to the mouth of a large cave but we didn't go in. Nor did we swim - just our preference.

Walking is another excellent way to see the countryside and meet locals. It's easy and you are surrounded by intense green fields of rice.

This is intense. Seeing the actual tunnels and learning about them was a good experience, but really drives home the brutality and inhumanity of war on both sides.

The sampan boat rides through the jungle were very good. We stopped at a local market and visited a factory that produced ropes and carpet made of coconut fibers. We were impressed by the central role that coconuts play in the economy.

This included riding bicycles through the area - another great way to see the area and people. A stop at the home of a rice wine maker was included along with a sample of his product - very good. Their hospitality always includes tea and sharing of food. We felt very welcomed.

Our guide, Kat, was enthusiastic and anxious to show us around. Bangkok is a huge city so there is lots we didn't see, but she took us to some of the major sites and helped us understand the culture and religion. The temples are amazing to see.

The train track market is fascinating as is the floating market.

Koh Samui is so beautiful. We snorkled among thousands of brightly colored fish and coral. This was the only day that rain impacted our activities, but it was still great. Very clear water. Good lunch at a restaurant.

Another opportunity to be on boats and see up close some of the unusual geography of Viet Nam. Going through the caves (tunnels actually) in boats was very different and fun.

Another great experience. We were able to observe, feed and touch the elephants that have been rescued and live there. The staff helped to educate us about elephants in Thailand and what the mission of the Elephant Home is. Lots of fun to interact with them and see how caring the staff is towards those gentle animals.

Very ingenuous ways to use and move the abundant water to rice fields for production.

This was our first activity of the trip and we've found that food tours are an excellent way to be introduced to a new culture. It was a good start to 3 weeks of wonderful food throughout the trip.

This tour included very sobering things, especially the War Remnants Museum. Our guide let us go through the musuem at our own pace. Wars are brutal and this portrayed that very clearly. Hard to see it, but important to do so.

We loved seeing this part of Viet Nam, away from the big cities. It gave us a chance to see and meet people in their own setting and interact a bit with them. If you have the opportunity to go this area, do so for more than a day trip.

This is the picturesque area seen on many calendars. The limestone karsts are so beautiful and it's great to be among them on the water.