Hi everyone!
It's November of 2019 and we just returned from taking this trip and the extension to Cambodia. Thought those that are heading there might like an idea of things to take.
VIETNAM
While in the cities I wore 50+ spf dresses (those Columbia Freeze Dresses) and carried a sweater or large scarf in my backpack to put on at temples. My husband wore to the knee shorts with short sleeve 50+ spf fishing shirts. It is hot and humid and in the cities you don't need to wear hiking pants. I also wore Teva Tirra sandals. I had an umbrella (50 SPF) that I could use to help break the heat. We always wore sunscreen, hats, and sunglasses. One person in our group brought masks to wear but I did not see a need for them. While Road Scholar provided a refillable water jug, I preferred my camelback water jug that held a bit more water.
The Hotels were very well appointed. They all had AC so we were able to wash out things and they would dry. So take a small container of laundry liquid. All of the hotels also had hair dryers if you had to dry things faster!
In the country I wore hiking pants that have detachable legs to become shorts and spf shirts. We used our hiking poles and hiking boots. The hikes are not just a slight incline. They are a pretty good grade up and a bit more challenging due to the hot/humid conditions. Many of the caves were accessed by uneven, steps without railings. Take bug spray.
Nothing was fancy dress, so go with less rather than more. Except for Hanoi every hotel had a pool so bring your swimming suit. It was refreshing after a hot day to take a dip.
CAMBODIA
Imagine my surprise when the scarf I had used to cover my shoulders at other temples was not enough to allow me to get up to the upper level of Angkor Wat. Be sure your shoulders are covered with a shirt or a sweater!
Even with AC I never felt like our clothes were dry. We did not wash out anything there.
BTW: We, along with the majority of our other participants, did arrive a day ahead of the beginning of the tour to help adjust to the time. Think it helped.
My husband bought a Sim card at the hotel in Hanoi which was 10$ and offered 6 GB of data. He never ran out. We did not buy one in Cambodia
We changed our money at the front desk of several hotels, but make sure you have new, crisp bills. They do not want anything with folds, tears, or rips. We used about $500 for the two of us. They do have ATM's that we did use. Cambodia uses dollars so you do not need to change money there. Credit cards are used at the hotels but not many other places, especially in Cambodia.
Internet was great in the cities, not so good in the country. But we did have wifi in every hotel. Most of the hotels had computers if you needed them. We just had our phones and tablets.
Hope this helps!