From Xi 'an to Vietnam for a self-help tour, it takes about two people.

Route Xi 'an-Shanghai-Nanning-Dongxing-Mangjie-Halong Bay-Hanoi-Hue-Hui 'an-Nha Trang-Saigon-Hanoi-Nanning-Shanghai -Xi 'an.

visa

There are two possible visas to Vietnam. The first is to use a temporary passport, and you must go with a group. The route is limited to Halong Bay and Hanoi. The second is a tourist visa, which allows you to travel around Vietnam with a personal passport. We chose the second one. At present, Viet Nam only issues such visas at the consulates of China in Guangzhou and Beijing. You can ask them for the application form directly, or you can handle it through an agent. The visa fee is RMB 400 yuan.

Nanning

How to get there: The train: 1379 leaves at 10: 4 1 in the morning and arrives at 8: 40 the next afternoon. Ticket price: hard sleeper 40 1 yuan.

Plane: about three hours, full price RMB 1, 440.

Accommodation: There are many hotels in Nanning, especially near the bus station. The price can be kept in a clean standard room around 80 yuan.

Dongxing

How to get there: There is an express train from Nanning to Dongxing, which leaves at 8: 30 in the morning and leaves at 1 1: 00. Ticket price 40 yuan, time 3 hours.

customs

China Customs: Passport and valid visa are enough. The health and quarantine certificate is not necessary, which is the same as going to any European and American country. Remember to declare your camera when you leave customs to avoid unnecessary explanations when you return to customs.

Entry into Vietnam: Passport and valid visa are required. Vietnamese customs may require inspection of health and quarantine certificates and make preparations in advance. It is worth reminding that the customs officer may forget to stamp your passport with the entry frontier stamp (it sounds a bit funny, his duty is to stamp one passport after another every day, how can he forget it? But he just forgot to stamp this stamp on our passports representing national sovereignty, which turned our trip in Vietnam into illegal entry in the legal sense. It sounds a little scary, so when you get your passport back, be sure to check whether this entry border seal is stamped. At the same time, Vietnamese customs must also stamp your entry declaration form (a separate yellow application form to avoid trouble when you leave the country).

Viet Nam

Currency: The exchange rate between Vietnamese dong and RMB is 1800: 1, but RMB can only be exchanged in the north (Hanoi and Halong Bay). From the middle to the south, you can easily exchange US dollars at the local bank at the exchange rate of 15000 VND 1 US dollar. If you don't want to. You can use international credit cards to pay large sums of money (such as air tickets), but you have to pay an extra service fee of 2.5% to 3% every time you use credit cards.

Climate: There are two seasons in a year: dry season and rainy season. The average annual temperature is 27 degrees Celsius, with plenty of sunshine. When you are outdoors, you should wear sunglasses and a sun hat. Sunscreen is also a necessity.

Language: Vietnamese is a 29-letter phonetic symbol. /kloc-was founded by Portuguese missionaries in the 6th century, and/kloc-0 was recognized as the official language in 900. In fact, Vietnam did not have its own language before, and the official language was Chinese. For the convenience of westerners, missionaries created Vietnamese today according to the pronunciation of Chinese.

Communication: In Vietnam, you can communicate with backpackers about their related industries, such as hotels, restaurants, travel agencies, air ticket agents, banks and so on. There is no problem, which is also an important reason why Vietnam is called the backpacker's paradise in the world. Of course, if you communicate with local people who don't speak English, you may face the dilemma of "chickens talk to ducks".

Income: The average monthly income of Vietnamese is RMB in 200 yuan.

Security: The security situation in Vietnam is reassuring. Tourism is a pillar industry in Vietnam, and any behavior that may cause foreigners to worry about the security situation is strictly prohibited. As far as safety is concerned, it is no different from traveling in domestic cities.

Communication: It's very expensive to roam internationally by mobile phone in Vietnam. Take me as an example: In Viet Nam, * * * made ten calls to Shanghai by mobile phone, each call lasted less than one minute, and the call charge was RMB 220 yuan.

Vendors and drivers: Vietnamese who extend their sincere greetings to you. Unfortunately, there is only one legal answer to their enthusiasm: "No, thank you". If you want to try to test this law, you can bet that you only try it once.

Mang street: a small town that is prosperous because of the prosperity of border trade.

Accommodation: There are more than ten family hotels near the bus station, and the prices are mostly between 80- 100 yuan.

Attractions: Not found so far.

Halong Bay: Tourism advertisements call it' Guilin at Sea'. The location of Halong Bay is called Xialongcheng, which is divided into two parts, east and west, with a bay in the middle, red cover in the east and white firewood in the west.

How to get there: Take a bus from Mangjie Bus Station to Honggai. The fare is 35,000 guilders per person, and it takes about four hours to arrive. After getting off the bus, walk west for about 100 meters to reach the ferry terminal. There is a ferry every ten minutes, each with 500 guilders, and it takes five minutes to get to Baizhai. Don't rush to find a hotel when you arrive, because the bustling place of Baizhai is by the sea, about two kilometers away from the pier.

Accommodation: There are many hotels across the beach. Suitable for backpackers. In the area opposite the beach where restaurants are concentrated, just around the corner, you can live in a clean and spacious double room for ten yuan.

Eat: You can eat Chinese seafood here. Further south, you can eat some seafood, which is cheaper, but the practice is not the same as that in China. It can be said that it has a unique flavor, but the people who eat it are a little unwilling. In Halong Bay, you can be satisfied if two people eat seafood for several hundred yuan. It's not very corrupt.

Attractions: Going out to sea to see the' Sea Fairy Mountain' is a must-see project in Halong Bay. You can rent a boat at the pier near the beach or take a day trip to the local travel agency. There are all kinds of caves in fairy mountain, but it's still a pleasure to go out to sea by boat to blow the wind.

Hanoi: A noisy city.

How to get there: the bus stop in Baizhai is in the east, near the ferry terminal. It takes about three and a half hours to get to Jinma Bus Terminal in Hanoi, and the fare is 40,000 VND per person. After arriving at Jinma station, take a motorcycle to repair Jianhu. By the way, the most convenient means of transportation in Vietnam is motorcycle. Cheap and fast, it looks safe (from north to south, we haven't seen a motorcycle accident). Cyclo (a kind of human tricycles with passengers in front and drivers behind) is highly praised by former donkeys. It is only suitable for short-distance sightseeing and the price is not low.

Accommodation: There are many family hotels near the old district north of the restored Jianhu Lake, and most backpackers live in this area. Too many choices can sometimes be a headache, especially when you are a complete stranger. So we provide the following hotels where we stayed, with hot water, air conditioning, satellite TV mini-refrigerator, changing sheets, quilt cover and pillow towel every day. Sounds good:

Sport Hotel

Address: No.96 Hangbei Street, Hanoi

Tel: (84-4) 9260 0 154

Price: $8/day

Eat: There are many cafes in the same area, offering western food at prices similar to those in tea restaurants. The problem is that it is not easy to find Chinese food. Or you can try a local restaurant, if you are sure that what you ordered will be served.

Attractions: Longbian Bridge, He Chi Ming Mausoleum, Confucian Temple, Water Puppet, City Museum.

Open ticket: This is a bus ticket equivalent to a joint ticket. It starts in Hanoi and ends in Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon). It can stay in several major cities for any length (less than half a year, which seems too long). After confirming your seat the day before you decide to go to the next city, you can take the next day's shuttle bus. Almost all backpackers choose this way of travel. Most of these tickets are provided by travel companies. In addition to car service, they can also provide accommodation and catering in related cities, which means one-stop service. The most famous is Sinh Café, and we take T &；; Brother m's cafe is the same, and it won't save you time on the road. The fare is 26 dollars per person, and the whole journey is about 2200 kilometers.