Vietnam

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Sapa & Lao Cai

up to the mountains

HANOI

the crowded

and funny city

Ha long Bay

Rocks of Gods

Hue - Nha Trang

The imperial city

& the coast

Hoi An

Lights of gold

Mui Ne

Desert dunes on the sea

surf and kitesurf

HO CHI MINH CITY

Looking west...

but still "far" west

Can Tho - Mekong Delta

The river community

IS IT REALLY ALL HERE ? what I would have liked to see but couldn't ...

A Brief Introduction

Why Going?

Why not going should be the real question... Vietnam has everything you can be searching for.

It's a country reach of History, Traditions, Holy Temples, crowded Cities, Great Food, Unesco heritage sites, natural wonders and friendly people. Forget the old stereotype of a country destroyed by war. Vietnam is a modern country that's running fast to the future maintaining connection with its old traditions.

There is still a big difference between the south and the north, with the former more modern and technically advanced and the latter yet a little step back in time. This makes the north more interesting to discover (at least for me), but it's up to you to choose your favourite!

By the way, traveling in Vietnam is easy and this makes it the perfect destination for who's traveling to Asia for the first time. Nonetheless, also experts can enjoy going a bit deeper and discovering what's not so evident at first sight.

Americans, French and Chinese, they all tried to conquer Vietnam in the past centuries, but they had always been defeated by the strength, the pride and the courage of Vietnamese people. It's really a great country who deserves to be discovered...soon, before westernisation will take over!!

Tips and Curiosities

VIETNAMESE COFFEE

Vietnam is famous for coffee, made with the typical coffee Phin. They like mixing it with cream, eggs and much more and drinking it cold, warm or frozen...

have a look here for more info!

TRANSPORTS

* Motorbike: you can rent it but remember "in England they drive on the left, in the rest of Europe on the right. In Vietnam it doesn't care, you just go."

*Trains: expensive and not so common (except the night train to Sapa, see below)

*Buses: very comfortable (sleeping buses)

*Flights: very affordable for long distances, all the major attractions are perfectly connected by plane.

To compare the best transports just check on 12.goasia

VIETNAM LIKES TO ROLL!

Vietnamese food is delicious and various. But if you are eating a whole meal without rolling at least one roll, you are not a real Vietnamese. Get ready to roll everything! And get ready to eat anything...

The-Healthy-Hour-Summer-Rice-Paper-Rolls

PHO BO!!

Pho is the national dish, a noodle soup usually with pork meat but also available in the "vegetarian" version. Don't need to go crazy to find him, you will eat it for breakfast, lunch and dinner every day!

NÓN LÁ, Vietnamese Hat!!

The Vietnamese hat is not just a touristic souvenir, it is part of Vietnam culture and every worker use it to protect from the burning sun. Try it, it's very effective in muggy days!

Weather & bookings in August

Rain in the north, hot and muggy in the center and south. We lived the experience of an Hurricane in Hanoi that fortunately was not too strong. My advice: depending on how many days you have available you can directly book activities on site, it's not essential to book it in advance, at least in august!

Let's Start The Trip

Our Itinerary...

Vietnam in 14 days (August)

Hanoi

In Hanoi you just have to walk and get lost, smelling real Asia. I am in love with tis city.

Best Memories and Must do:

- Old Quarter, authentic food and atmosphere: Try the colourful street-food or search for a delicious Banh Mi in the crowd (typical Vietnamese tasty "sandwich"). You cannot absolutely miss drinking BIA HOI, daily brewed beer typical of the north, very light and cheap, only available in steel barrels in very small bars on street corners like Bia Hoi junction.

(no subject to healthcares-agencies control...just to let you know, actually we didn't care too much!)

- Welcoming the new day doing tai chi, dancing or playing football at the sunrise along the lake or in any garden of the city

- Water Puppet show in the Thang Long Theatre,

after having visited the temple of the Jade mountain

nearby and having stopped admiring the crazy life in the

Dinh Tien Hoang, the big street just in front of the temple

- Literature temple, for the spiritual part of Hanoi

- Ho Chi Minh mausoleum area, to honor the long and tragic history of the country, and to see an unexpectedly nice area

- Lotte center panoramic terrace!! for a cocktail with great view

Sapa

Sapa & Lao Cai

Our favourite stop in Vietnam. A natural beauty created by men. A rural area still stuck in the past, where local communities live between infinite rice terraces in small villages, eating their own cattle.

The best way to see it is doing a trekking trail, alone or guided.

We decided to support the locals relying on Sapa O'Chau a social enterprise that helps out the youngest through education programs. We chose the trail called "off-the beaten path", we walked two days around 50 kms (under the rain due to a hurricane in Hanoi) and slept in a village with a really nice family, with a young and friendly group! But if you are thinking of cross the border to China, they will not allow you without a valid visa.

PLEASE NOTE: TRANSPORTS!!

It's a nice experience taking the night train from Hanoi to Lao Cai, but it's enough to do it one way. To save time you can come back by bus in few hours, leaving from Sapa at 5 p.m. arriving at around 10 pm in Hanoi.

Ha Long Bay

You know...when a place is praised and too famous, probably your expectations fly high and you can get a bit disappointed in the end. Partially this can be the case of Ha Long Bay, but no doubt it's an experience that you MUST do! Of course it will be touristic, like any UNESCO world sites, but it worths the visit. The best way to visit is through a cruise overnight.

We chose by chance but were very lucky. With Vega travel we spent two sunny days on an almost too "luxury" boat for the price, with good food and good activities such as kayaking, cave discovering and swimming secretly (as it's not allowed actually). A purple sunset opened the doors to a starry night, and sleeping in the silence of a bay is priceless for me. Moreover, it was the perfect experience to share with two friends who were also travelling in Vietnam, and this makes it even more unforgettable!

PLEASE NOTE: it's possible to find less touristic places in the bay, that's not made only by Ha Long, like Cat Ba for example. We hesitated a bit between the two but then the curiosity of seeing the famous Ha long and the short time available won.

Hue & The Coast

Hue

Small nice town where you must spend at least one or two days to see:

- Imperial city, very well preserved old palace and city, to see in one day as it's not so small!

- Then Mu Pagoda, reachable through a long walk or by motorbike, just outside the city, it stands in a nice position on the river, perfect for the sunset!!

- Tombs of Tu Duc, Minh Mangler's and Khai Dinh. Nice old tombs hidden in the forest.

- MUST DO: eat at Mandarin café not only for the food but also for the great pictures made by the owner Mr Cu, a legend in the city, who will be happy to share his pieces of art with you.

PLEASE NOTE:

Hue-Hoi An (or viceversa) is a very scenic and well-know route accessible by motorbike in just one day trip. You will find many agencies to rent a motorbike in both cities at a good price with good advices on the best spots along the way to make a break (*see map!!)

Hoi An

The enlightened pearl of the country. A romantic town where searching for lobsters among fishermen at the sunrise, getting lost in its ancient houses, eating along the river typical Hoi An noodles (dried in apposite baskets along the street for the whole day) and finally making a wish throwing a lantern on the water at night. And why not, also relaxing a bit on the beach. Enchanting.

MUST DO:

- CREATE YOUR OWN TAILORED SUIT in one of the many professional tailor shops in the city. High quality for a cheap price, and you can choose everything so get there with an idea or (like us) get ready to spend almost one day among colourful silks! We highly suggest A DONG SILK (chose after a deep search by my Italian stylish man!), perfect service and lot of choices!!

- Eat as many BANH MI as you can at the most famous place in the whole Vietnam, Banh Mi Phuong

- Take a bicycle (usually free at the accommodation) to hanging around out of the old town ,to discover the beauty of the coast and the river, mainly at the fish market at the sunrise.

Mui Ne

A hippy location along the sea, famous for surfing and kitesurfing depending on the season, for the strong wind and big waves. It is also famous for the desert dunes that almost reach the sea (but I was a bit disappointed because they are not actually ON THE SEA like in other places in the world). Anyway, as kitesurfing lovers we could not stop by. And it turned out to be a very pleasant stop in a quite low season as august is.

MUST DO:

- Kitesurfing/surfing, main reason to go!!

- sunset on the dunes gliding down with homemade board everyone will try to rent out!

- Local fishing village at the sunrise...If you have a kitchen to cook it, you can buy a lobster at less then 7 euros! the position was not so clear, so just check it on the link before wasting time! HIDDEN POSITION!

-- don't miss one night at Joe's Cafe***! the little live music pub of Mui Ne where every night a different artist performs.

- Candle light buffet dinner at Blue Ocean Resort, only if you are very hungry!!

Ho Chi Minh

(Saigon)

I heard many different opinions about the old Saigon, many people loved it, but actually I didn't like it too much. I don't think Ho Chi Minh is a "nice" city, but anyway it has plenty of historic and interesting sites. What I don't like, the fast growth, too fast respect to the countryside nearby, that made it lost a part of its Vietnamese soul.

MUST SEE:

- War museum: bring tissues and get prepared to cry in front of the images of the horrible tragedy of Vietnam war

- Ancient pagoda, for the spiritual part of Ho Chi Minh

- Independence palace, to celebrate finally freedom of Vietnam

- Marketplace, in this case not for typical handicrafts but to buy nike and any kind of branded stuff at really low price.

- EON Heli Bar for a great view on the city, perfect at night

- search for a Chicken fights along the river!! very funny but be careful, Vietnamese are very kind people but can easily become crazy for any stupid reason.

Mekong Delta

We spent two days in Can Tho, the biggest city in the Mekong delta, arriving by sleeping bus form Ho Chi Minh early in the morning in around 4 hours. We wanted to see the end of this river cruised years earlier in Lao&Cambodia and escape from the chaos of the city searching for a more authentic experience. We definitely found what we were searching for! In Hieu Tour we rent a motorbike and booked a "food tour" for the day after.

This was our second stop in Vietnam and the first time driving a motorbike in the crazy traffic without any rules. It was a bit scary at the beginning but in the end extremely fun! We ended up in the rural countryside driving in muddy roads of tiny villages. Life in the countryside is much better than in the city, with lovely "villas" along streams and "floating markets" that delivery directly at home. Everything happens along the brooks water (or used to happen) and the pace slows down.

The Food Tour the day after is a MUST DO! We ate, saw and learnt so many things! We started with the floating market of Can Tho very early in the morning, actually the worse part of the tour (big and polluted, nice only for breakfast with warm PHO!!), my suggestion is to go to the smaller markets that should be better. But then everything was amazing, starting from the first chocolate factory in Vietnam (Mr. Diamond Chocolate!) and continuing with Vietnamese "pizza", noodles factory, home made lunch where we learnt how to cook spring rolls and more traditional delights. And then bicycle, bot and motorbike itineraries, with two young and interesting "guides".

PLEASE NOTE: you can also find more extreme food tours, if you are interested in trying insects of any kind, but after Lao&Cambodia we were not so interested and we opted for the "easier" one!