Vietnam - must visit destination!
- Ilene
- Feb 10
- 5 min read
Updated: Aug 20
Arriving in Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) from Singapore there was no question that the South East Asia leg of our adventure was underway. And better yet, reinforcements had arrived to join us in the fun!
With Mark and Marissa we spent a whirlwind 8 days on the ground in Vietnam
HCMC in the south (2 nights)
De Nang in central Vietnam (visiting Hoi An, My Son and Hue - 3 nights)
Ha Noi in the North (visiting Ninh Binh, and Ha Long bay - 4 nights)
After their departure
we hung out in Hanoi through the Lunar New Year, aka Tet holiday
toured the Ha Giang Loop by jeep (northern region, 4 days/3 nights)
completed our month in Vietnam with a week in Hoi An in An-Bang beach (super chill little beach town only 10 min from the old city)
We quickly learned that Ho Chi Minh City is the official name but locals still refer to the city as Saigon, and we found ourselves falling into the same nomenclature. Our first impressions of Saigon were based purely on the traffic we experienced on the way to our Airbnb. If you’ve been keeping up on our blogs, Egypt and Morocco traffic left imprints and we’d rank Saigon up there as well. The game changer in Vietnam are the number of motorbikes that fill the roads. Rather than watching out for horses and donkeys, we were learning to cross the busy streets of Saigon while avoiding the constant flow of scooters. We were taught a technique that served us well: walk, don’t run and never stop! It’s a graceful dance done between the scooters, cars and pedestrians and everyone seems to manage just fine.
As we explored the city we were amazed by the number of food vendors and the child-sized plastic chairs and tables that overflowed onto the sidewalks. Some places were storefronts with sidewalk seating, others a simple sidewalk corner set up for Pho or Banh Mi. The food everywhere is delicious and a core part of our experience here. Eating gluten free and (mostly) vegetarian has been pretty easy as well - YIPPIE - with lots of rice noodles, rice based dishes and little to no soy sauce.
One of the highlights with Mark and Marissa was a motor scooter street food tour we took in Saigon with Street Food Man. We each had our own driver who took us through about 5 of the 23+ districts of Saigon to visit a variety of spots for food, all personalized to our various dietary needs - gluten free and vegetarian in particular. Many places have a specialty dish that they are well known for - similar to some Pinxtos or Tapas spots in fact. We started with a Vietnamese pancake spot that was a rice-based pancake filled with various vegetables and shrimp. This place was multi-generational run by the women in the family. Much of Vietnamese food is eaten wrapped in lettuce with various herbs and dipped in delicious sauces, we ate the pancakes this way as well. Other stops included Vietnamese pizza on very thin rice paper crusts, delicious juices, beef stew, seafood, coconut ice cream that was out of this world. One spot was a Michelin Bib Gourmand even! And throughout the tour we learned a bit about local Vietnamese life - flower markets, fresh food markets and how people lived in some of the oldest apartment buildings in the city.
Beyond the food we’ve been impressed with how industrious, kind, friendly, open and ambitious the Vietnamese people are. From our motorbike drivers, who were twenty-something’s with full time day jobs, to the husband/wife team starting up cooking classes in Hanoi (Mai's Kitchen), and even our tour guides who tended to be in their 20s-30s. It’s a population of driven individuals looking to build a good life for themselves and their families.
Throughout the trip it’s not escaped us that within our lifetime America was at war in this country. However other than the War Remembrance museum in Saigon the war was rarely brought up in the tours we took or the sharing of the history of the country, and definitely not discussed in detail. One could say the Vietnamese people don’t dwell, they move on looking towards the future. Vietnam is a Socialist Republic with a single party system - communist party. When we ask about their government and politics most feel that the government doesn’t get involved in their daily lives and they like the one party system. Watching what’s happening in our country, I can see the benefits of a single party system (though maybe not the communist party….) With one party the politics are muted, no infighting and arguing that waste time and energy.
Outside the cities the country is beautiful. Ha Long Bay has stunning mountain islands that are like polka dots on the water. The color of the water changing with the tide and time of day. We did a 1 night / 2 day cruise with Victory Star which was just the right amount of time with a couple of excursions to visit local sights and viewpoints.
Ha Giang loop was another highlight, located in the northern most part of Vietnam up against the China boarder. In fact, one viewpoint had us looking across a river valley at the Chinese boarder fence. Many people take an ‘easy rider’ motorbike tour of the region, riding as a passenger with a driver taking on the hard work navigating. We opted for a 3 night / 4 day jeep tour with Authentic Ha Giang tours which was an amazing option for us, especially as it was a bit cold in January and we had some rain as well. The accommodations are basic, mostly in homestays; private rooms/bathrooms are available and a lot of dormitory style accommodations as well. We were told October is the ideal time to visit, after the rainy season, when everything is colorful for the fall.
Before we wrap, a quick check-in on what it costs to travel in Vietnam; as you’ve probably heard it is a very inexpensive part of the world to travel. We’ve been using the cost of coffee as a measure but here in Vietnam we’ve also been noticing the cost of beer and massages! By the way, if you love coffee, you have to come to Vietnam. They are the second largest coffee bean producer in the world and hands-down some of the best coffee we’ve had.
A cup of coffee here is about $1. Comparatively, the cheapest we had was in Morocco on a cliff-side road at $0.20 and the most expensive was definitely in Norway at $5.
The cheapest beer David’s had in Vietnam, or anywhere in the world yet, was here at $0.79.
Massages here are a joy, as Sherri has taught me anything shy of 90 minutes is just not worth it… so for you Sherri, a 90 minutes massage runs about $25, tip included. And if you only have a bit of time, you can always squeeze in a 30 minutes foot/leg massage for $5.
That about wraps Vietnam as we finish up a few last days chilling in An Bang Beach, Hoi An. We'll finish off our last days getting some clothes made at one of the local tailors, enjoying some more delicious food and coffee before we head to Laos.
Some final photos I just couldn't leave out!
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