Customer Reviews

Frommer's Vietnam, Including Angkor Wat

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Like most of the Frommer series, this book is very strong on logistics. The details on transportation, hotels, travel bookings, vaccinations etc. are very strong. It also has a chapter on Angkor Wat which makes it very convenient to take as a single pocket guide for a trip that includes both Vietnam and Cambodia. The information on avoiding certain tourist traps and avoiding taxi frauds are invaluable.

The weakness of the book is that it is short on understanding the place and culture you are actually visiting. The author seems to have got most of the perspective from expats instead of local residents in the 2 countries. The comments on restaurants are littered with references to "this is a good expat spot" and it shows in the resulting quality of recommendations. This clearly does not help you get an authentic cultural experience.

Similarly, the discussions on the various places to visit are also slightly superficial. There are various mistakes. For example, the Quang Cong temple in Hoi An worships a Chinese general from 2000 years ago from the Han Dynasty, not from the Qing dynasty as indicated by the book. The descriptions of the various temples in Angkor Wat does not contain a detailed enough description to give you a feel for what to expect. It also have its share of grammatical errors / typos such as "losing site of...." and "Vietnamese gorillas attacking American troops in South Vietnam."

All in all, this is still a great guide for its practicality. To maximize your experience, you would need to supplement it with better books on the culture and the sites you are visiting.

I'm a big fan of Frommer's guidebooks for several reason:

- It lays out several suggested itineraries from which you can build your own based on preference and time.

- No photos, which means that it relies more on good descriptive writings about the sights.

- A rating system that helps you make your selections and avoid tourist traps.

Frommer's Vietnam was key in helping me put together a full itinerary for a 2-week trip. I visited Hanoi, Halong Bay, Hue, Hoi An, Ho Chi Minh City, and the Mekong Delta. I wanted to see NEARLY everything in a relatively short visit. With Frommer's I was able to narrow down my selection, choose my means of transport and still be happy in knowing I was getting a good taste of Vietnam. The tidbits on history and local customs inserted throughout the books gave me more insights about the places that my tour guides sometimes failed to convey.

Tourism in Vietnam has exploded and because of that there are lots of competition for your money. The book has a good variety of listings for accommodations like any other guidebook, but I'd recommend reading travel forums like TripAdvisor to expand your options for hotels and such. I reserved one star because I found the book's ratings for restaurants as hit and miss, though I understand food is highly subjective.

My friend who has lived in HCM City all of her life said that she learned many new things about her city.

I used this book while in Vietnam in August 2006. It was very helpful in both Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. Cannot comment on it's usefulness in other cities.