It was a good trip and you arranged it very well and thoughtfully including checking us into the first inner-Vietnam flight to Da Nang, that enabled me to check into the one to HCM City. Your choice of hotels was most satisfactory, all of them in the center, even if that meant that the driver had to negotiate tight spots to load and unload us. All of the hotels offered very good breakfast options, a good way to start the day. If I were to do it again, I would opt for the next tier of room size in Hanoi and HCM City. Both hotels are in the inner city and have to be very creative in using space. At some more cost a larger room would be near perfect for the combination of travelers like us, namely two people related or friends, but not couples.

The teams of guide and driver worked seamlessly together and made for good and easy sightseeing in the cities as well as to the various destinations and events close by or farther away. The drivers, with whom we could not converse easily, did their jobs admirably given the density of traffic and the congestion in the inner cities. The guides were very different in age, easy of speaking English, and experience but all three of them provided us not only with access and explanation about the sites and events on their respective itineraries but were generous in answering our questions, responding to suggestions we had, and were eager to introduce us to places and foods we might not know but enjoy. And they were correct. Your advice about tipping them was useful and I hope that they thought we appreciated the ways in which they had driven and guided us.

The itinerary worked out well, balancing planned as well as free time and visiting tourist attractions with attending performances. The way arrangements had been made beforehand, tickets had been purchased or were purchased on site made it possible to pay attention to what was new or of interest to us without the anxiety of us having to make it happen in a country where we did not speak or read the language.

Our experience in impressions of Vietnam will remain memorable in the most interesting and pleasant ways.