Vietnam

I have travelled to Vietnam 3 times. Here is a few notes I made from my trip in 2018.

Helpful lingo: Hello: xin chao, Excuse me: Em oi, Thankyou: Cam on

People are so trustworthy, they won’t try to rip you off. Restaurants with tiny chairs on the street, serve the best food, most are clean too. Smaller the chair, better the food! 

I like to just book first 2 nights accommodation then book a few days at a time, and book tours on the street, so much cheaper and you aren’t locked into an itinerary. You may love or hate a place so good to be able to move when you have had enough, or stay on when you are loving it.

Ho Chi Minh 

• Taxi service easy from airport, pre pay before exiting. You can trust them. 
• 2 nights at Townhouse 50 Saigon. 
• Ben thanh markets to eat 
• Mango smoothies are insane! Grab one from any of the stalls, I never had a bad one.
• Stayed at “Townhouse 50” hostel, super cheap and good location. Private room.
• Den Long: Cafe in city, awesome food. 
• Coolest coffee shops in the city is L’Usine at 151/1 Dong Khoi.  The entrance is through an alleyway and up two flights of stairs.
• Go to local food market- eye opener with all the fresh produce. 
• Sunrise Garden BBQ for dinner is amazing!

Nha Trang

• We flew between Ho Chi Mihn and Nha Trang, about $50 each, so much better then over night bus. I have done that before and it sucks. 
• Taxi from Airport, you can trust them. 
• If you can afford it, stay at the Novatel on the beach. Beautiful rooms and right amongst it. They have chairs on the beach and drink service too. 
• Get a moped and ride out to the mud baths, you will pass through some fishing villages along the way. 
• Good restaurants right along the beach, entertainment at night. 

Hoi An 

• Kumquat bbq restaurant- cooking class and good restaurant.
• Get moped and head out to beach, you can get bed on beach, or pay day rate at a resort
• Across river at ancient town go for ride out through villages
• Night market good for trying different foods
• Ancient town so pretty at night, go wandering around 
• Go to “streets” restaurant, it’s run by street kids and the food is amazing! Great initiative.
• Leather really good quality. Paid $70 US for laptop bag, or leather backpack 
• Must Do!! Go to Ba Nah Hills: golden hands bridge, big cable car and a whole town on top of mountain. This day blew our minds, so unexpected when you get up to the top.
• Drink “fresh beer”, Literally beer hand pumped from the keg, its light and excactly like the name “Fresh”. You will pay about $1.
• Stayed a Nhi Nhi Hotel, walking distance to ancient town and service was awesome. They have a cute pool too to cool off in. 

Danang: 

• Stay on the beach, super cheap as isn’t as popular yet. We stayed at Jazz Hotel, paid $50 for 2 nights with balcony overlooking the beach. 
• Ride back around headland to big Buddha, awesome Bonsai trees there, and nice feel. 
• Live Seafood everywhere here, but not necessarily cheap
• Go to dragon bridge on Friday or Saturday night around 9pm, see it “breathe fire”. Make sure you park your moped in the designated parking areas, our bike got moved and then we had to try to find it among 3000 other bikes, funny now haha.
• Get chair on the beach and have a beer and swim day. 

Hanoi

• Stay in Old Quarter 
• I’ve stayed at La dolce vita and luxury old quarter hotel. Both right in thick of it “hang bo street”
• Pay about 350-400 dong from airport 
• It’s crazy here, mostly spend the time wandering around and hanging out in the little bars/cafes people watching. 
• Definitely head down to eating streets at night. If you visit during the week it’s so funnel because they aren’t allowed to have restaurants on the street, so every 30 mins or so the cops come and you have to pack up and pretend your not having dinner. So funny 😂 

Halong Bay

• Tour out to Halong Bay. I have done both 2 nights on boat and 1 night boat, 1 night island. I preferred the 2 nights boat. Basically most boats do the same tour. Spend the money on a nice boat, again I have done both cheap and expensive, and expensive is definitely worth it. We went with “mon cheri cruises”
• After visiting Halong Bay I think it would be worth staying on Cat Ba Island for 2 nights. It has hotels and resorts now and after doing a day trip, they have some awesome landscape and caves, might be worth checking out longer. 

Sapa 

• take overnight train, get a sleeper
• Stay at least 1 night, 2 tops
• Go for hike 
• Look around traditional markets and people watch 
• Scenery is amazing

I hope my tips help you if you ever decide to go to Vietnam.

Only Love

Jodi x