Viet-nam and Laos with Sayang Holidays

Pannir of Sayang Holidays (220 Montgomery St., Ste. 469, San Francisco, CA 94104; phone 888/472-9264) did a fantastic job making all the arrangements for our Viet-Nam/Laos trip, Dec. 3, ’03-Jan. 2, ’04. The price from Savannah, Georgia, was $3,600 each — a good price, considering the considerably higher cost of traveling during the Christmas season. We had a lavish buffet breakfast daily.

The food and service on our fantastic Singapore Airlines flight were second to none. We had an overnight in Bangkok, THAILAND, at the Amari Airport Hotel — convenient and one of the nicest airport hotels in which we have stayed.

We began the tour in LAOS at Luang Prabang, UNESCO World Heritage Site. A perfect place for a 2- or 3-day stay, it has charming temples, a good show in the National Palace, a colorful night market and boat rides on the Mekong River. It was fascinating to see a procession of orange-clad monks in the morning as they came through the streets asking for food from the townspeople. The people donate food to them for their two daily meals.

The food in Laos was wonderful, with not only rice, noodles and soup but, due to the French influence, fine bread and pastries.

Hanoi was the highlight of the VIET-NAM part of our trip. This is a pleasant city of trees and wide boulevards, with lots of French-style architecture. Hoan Kiem Lake is a peaceful retreat in the middle of the city. I highly recommend a visit to the theater to see a show of the water puppets — an art unique to northern Viet-Nam and wonderful for all ages.

We stayed at the Hanoi Hilton Opera Hotel, right next to the Opera House. Both buildings are beautiful. Although the weather was cool, 70s by day and 50s at night, the hotel’s pool was heated just enough for us to be able to swim.

A good overnight trip from Hanoi is the scenic boat ride to Halong Bay. The caves, islands and rock formations were simply marvelous. We had a wonderful seafood feast on the boat for $5.

Hue, in central Viet-Nam, was interesting for its citadel, imperial tombs and Buddhist temples. It offers a look at the traditional Viet-Nam, in contrast to Hanoi and Saigon, and I recommend it as a chance to relax from the hustle and bustle of touring.

Saigon was noisier, more crowded and hotter than Hanoi, but we did enjoy our stay there, seeing interesting Buddhist temples and pretty Catholic churches. It is a good base for day trips.

We took a fascinating excursion to the Holy See of the Cao Dai religion. Cao Dai is a mixture of Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam and Catholicism. The religion is indigenous to central and southern Viet-Nam.

The guides in both Laos and Viet-Nam were outstanding. We loved the company of Lan, Tam and Phong in Viet-Nam. They answered all of our questions about various aspects of Vietnamese life.

I am very thankful for a memorable, well-organized trip. I think now is the time to go before these countries become thoroughly discovered.

KEVIN O’BRIEN
Tybee Island, GA