Hanoi and Siem Reap
 

We have a few days in Hanoi and a few days in Siem Reap.

For Hanoi I already planned a overnight in the bay.

We do plan to visit Ankor but I have not made any formal plans.

For those destinations can anyone recommend a tour or private guide? We have 5 adults in our group. Anything different or unique to do (I was thinking maybe a food walking tour)?

Mrs S and I were in Hanoi last month. Had been before so wanted to try something a little different and we decided to take a cooking course at Hanoi Cooking Centre. Good fun, easy to arrange ourselves - no guide needed.

We also did a night out in Halong Bay - was supposed to be 2, but got cut short by an incoming typhoon. We were actually a little disappointed by Halong Bay. We went reasonably high-end, but it still felt like a tourist factory, and the level of garbage in the bay is appalling. Our kayak trip involved playing dodge-the-plastic-bag etc.

I'm a big beer drinker and I've been to several breweries in Vietnam. While planning my next trip I came across a beer website, beervn.com. The owner of the site is based in Hanoi and they do beer tours. If you're into beer, it would be fun and interesting.

The food cooking class looks good. But how about a food walking tour? That way we can also see the city.

And with REP, any ideas on laundry service there?

Laundry is all over. Not a problem by any stretch.

This looks awesome! We are in Vietnam next summer, 3 in ho chi and 3 in hanoi. Any recommendations on some of your favorite breweries you came across in your travels?

Hoa Vien was great (I've been to all 3). Gammer Beer in HCMC was really good also. I haven't been to Vietnam in over a year, but from that beervn website, there are some new ones that I have not visited yet.

Siem Reap
 

The last trip to Siem Reap was good. The hotel provided free transfer from airport to hotel. You can arrange with hotel for visit to Angkor Wat. The taxi will send you to Angkor and wait for you to bring you back to the hotel. It is an all inclusive price which is pretty standard. No problems at all and no need to book in advance.

Arranging anything through a hotel in Siem Reap might decrease your hassle but the charges will be significantly higher than arranging it on your own.

Isn't that true anywhere in the world? :confused:

It sure is but the pricing discrepancies in REP have always struck me as being extreme. Especially when transportation is easy to find by taking one step out of the hotel.

I emailed the PH and the rates they quoted were very high - $60+ per person.
Doing a quick search online (tours by locals and similar sites) I can get a private guide with transport for some $80 for all 5 of us.

Check out the Two Dragons Guesthouse-run by an expat. I kept getting ripped off in Siem Reap til I went there. He has good drivers. They also have a good, reasonably priced restaurant as well. In the rooms, they have an immensely helpful how-not-to-get-ripped off/things to do tip booklet.

Honestly, his rooms are cheap enough you'd probably make out better by renting one of his rooms, using him to get tours, and-if you don't want to stay at that cheap place (which is not high-end by any means)-staying somewhere else.

Said expat's Tales of Asia website has most of those tips and a lot more too. Regrettably it hasn't been updated in a while.

I used Indochina-Junk for my tour around Halong Bay, but I really don't think you need a tour company for Cambodia. Just rent a bike and see the temples at your own pace. When you are at the temples, you can easily hire an official guide if you want some historic commentary as you peruse.