hanoi vs. ho chi minh
 

hey kids,

taking a 3 week trip to SEA, basing out of bangkok. planning on spending 5 or so days in vietnam, either ho chi mihn or hanoi with one 1-2 day side trip. any recommendations? so far, i have the impression that ho chi minh is the more "fun" city while hanoi is the prettier city... leaning toward hanoi in order to hit halong bay...

same question
 

i am heading there in 2 weeks, i got the same question. anybody?

I had way much more rain in the north of Vietnam than the south when I was there in December (yay monsoon), although I did get lucky at Halong Bay - wasn't brilliant tropical sunshine, but it didn't rain.

True though that locals are friendlier in the south. Hanoi isn't that "pretty" in my opinion, but very interesting city.

I was in northern Vietnam at this time of the year, the temperature was around 15 Celsius daytime, but the rain season was off. However, if you head to the center of the country (Hue or Hoi An) then it's still rainy.

Christmas in Hanoi (and probably in Ho Chi Mihn) is hi-la-rious ! Will you still be in Vietnam ?