Introduction: general info

The vietnamese experience

Motorbikes
Food & coffee
Nature & landscapes
Nice people & plenty of kids

1€=25.000 dong

Opportunity to bargain on the price.
Always keep some cash with you, they don’t accept cards very often.

Transportation

Motorbike
The best option, but you can’t rent more than 125cc

Bus
Usually, they can bring you from your hostel and drop you off wherever you want.
Divided into:
– Sleeping bus (bus with beds)
– Deluxe sleeping bus (bus with bigger beds)
– Private shared bus (van)
Trains
Not recommended

Average prices

Food: 70k dong/meal
Coffee: 30k dong
Hostel: 70k dong/night
Motorbike: 120k dong/day
Petrol: 20k/L

Languages

Vietnamese.
English is only for a few people or in big cities.

Routines

At 5.30 am the cities wake up and markets start. Usually, after 11.30-12.00 pm, there is nothing to do because the shops/bars close earlier

North of vietnam

Hanoi

I didn’t visit Hanoi so much due to the jetlag and because I talked a lot to my brother in coffeeshop bars. I recommend staying there for just 2 nights: 1 for visiting the old town and 1 for setting up your next move. Alternatively, you can skip it, but it’s an important spot for visiting the north.

Food in Hanoi

Hanoi is famous for bún chả. So while you’re in the city, you enjoy their speciality. For bún chả, I recommend 3 addresses:

Bún chả Hương Liên (Bún chả Obama) – This place was where Obama came to eat when he was in Hanoi. The price is higher than average. Address: 24 P. Lê Văn Hưu, Phan Chu Trinh, Hai Bà Trưng, Hà Nội, Vietnam.
Bún chả Sinh Từ. This has a lot of addresses. The good point is it is clean but the price is also high.
Bún chả Đắc Kim. This is a very local place. Address: 1 P. Hàng Mành, Hàng Gai, Hoàn Kiếm, Hà Nội, Vietnam.
After Hanoi, you can decide to go all the way north to Ha Giang and Sa Pa (famous for the rice paddles) and travel those mountain passes by motorbike. You could either rent bikes in Hanoi and ride all the way up and down, or you could bus/train up and rent bikes there. It depends on how comfortable you are riding bikes.
I personally took the sleeping bus Hanoi-Ha Giang and it took 7-8 hours.
I didn’t go to Sa Pa, I chose Ha Giang because people said to me that Sa Pa is more touristy, but I’m sure it’s beautiful in any case.

Ha Giang Loop

You can do the loop with companies, and in that case, it will charge you a lot of money (30$ or more), you will be in a group of people and you will not drive but stay on the back of the motorbike driver following their rhythms and a planned path. I suggest renting the motorbikes on your own. It costed only 400k dong.
I did 5 days in Ha Giang loop. I think it is too much and I recommend doing it in 4 days maximum.
I followed this map:
Ha Giang Extreme North Motorbike Loop – Vietnam Coracle – Independent Travel Guides to Vietnam

Cat Ba island

It’s possible to go by boat, then there’s some climbing, hiking and swimming you could do there. Boat tours are really popular, especially going out to Ha Long Bay, but that’s too very touristy. In general, Cat Ba and Ha Long Bay are turistic places and it’s easy to see horrible modern houses complex.
I spent 3 nights in Cat Ba, but 2 nights are enough. I took a boat that brought me to a platform where I rented a kayak in the south part of the coast. It’s complicated to do it because on the pier no one helps you and there are some people that charge you more if you go with them… It’s better to ask for it from your hostel.
In Cat Ba there is also the tropical jungle but I didn’t go there.
By the way, I recommend going to Thung Lũng Hoa Trên Đá: it’s a lovely bar with a beautiful cave.

Nam Mau and Yen Tu mountain

I arrived here by renting a motorbike by Ha Long bay. It’s not a touristic place and only a few people know this place. I spent 3 nights there: 1 for rest, 1 for the hotel, 1 for the excursion.

The hotel: Legacy Yen Tu

It is an incredible hotel, but go there just to visit it (you can just take a coffee, ride horses or play archery), don’t sleep there because it would cost you more than 100$. It’s a 5-star hotel and I am pretty sure that it was a royal palace in the past.

The excursion: Yen Tu mountain

There are a lot of incredible Buddhist temples on the path (7-8 in total) and it’s a pretty tough excursion because it’s made of more than 6000 steps and 1000m of altitude difference. It took me 4.30 h to reach the top but I could say that it was the best excursion I’ve ever made. So, go in the morning.
You can also take the cable car, but I suggest you only use it just for coming back.
The first temple is the Trúc Lâm Yên Tử Zen Monastery. Then, continue with the motorbike to the car park Cầu Hạ Kiệu and proceed on foot. Bring some food with you and you can refill your water bottle by the breakpoints on the path.
The top is represented by the Thiên Trúc Tự – Yên Tử Bronze Pagoda, and before that temple, there is a 50ton Buddha statue.
Some of the spots on the path seem to be in Darks Souls’ videogame.

Ninh Binh

I arrived by sleeping bus and I did the boat excursion passing through caves. Definitely it is worth doing it.
Other interesting stuff: Bich Dong Pagoda.

Centre of vietnam

Hue

I arrived in Hue by sleeping bus and I spent only 1 night.
Hue is only attractive if you like history, thanks also to the emperors’ tombs.
In my opinion, the Hue Historic Citadel is not worth to see it, and it costs too much money. But in general, Hue is not so special to visit, you can skip it.
The only exciting spot is the Thuy Tien lake Abandoned Water Park, where there is a giant dragon up to a cupola, but unfortunately, I forgot to pass by, lol.

Da Nang

My best recommendation is to rent bikes and explore the coast. There are some amazing coastal roads from Tuy Hoà in Phú Yen Province down through Nha Trang all the way to Phan Rang Thal Cham in Ninh Thuan province.
One of the most famous photos of Vietnam comes from Mercure Danang French Village Bana Hills, with its bridge sustained by big stone hands. I didn’t go there because it seems like a huge touristic trap since to get there, you have to pay quite a lot. There is also a French village there but I didn’t want to feel to be in Europe; if I want to be in France, I go to France 🙂
Anyway, the best place to visit in Da Nang is the Chùa Linh Ứng buddhist temple. It is up to a hill and there is the world’s biggest Guan Yin (lady Buddha) statue. Also, the view from this place is stunning, mainly if you reach it by motorbike, obviously. Definitely recommendable.
I spent only one night in Da Nang.

Hoi An

I reached the city by motorbike from Hue.
Hoi An has some of the best beaches I’ve seen in Vietnam and they have all these farm restaurants outside the city where they cook with all the ingredients that they grow and the farm. Just to understand how much I love Hoi An, I stayed there for 8 nights.
Hoi An is divided into 3 areas very close to each other:

The countryside

It is in the middle, and, apart from the typical bars/restaurants, the interesting spots are:
– Om Factory Yoga Hoi An
where I did a 3-day yoga retreat
– Hub Hoi An Coworking
if you are interested in working in a cozy place immersed in nature
– Quoc Linh Eco Village

The old town

It is located in the south and during the evening, the lights of the thousands of lanterns create an incredible atmosphere that reflects along the river. Here it is full of bars and restaurants with particular vibes (check Phin Coffee and the others on the same streets). Also, there are a lot of artisanal shops. I recommend you to go to clothes shops (for example the LiMe Store). Here they know how to do it. Moreover, there is one of the best free museums I’ve ever seen: Precious Heritage Art Gallery Museum.

The hippie beach part

It is in the northern part of the city and it gave me hippie vibes. Here you can also go surfing, but people say that surfing is better on Da Naang beaches. The best coffee shop on the beach here is The Sound of Silence. Super recommended.

South of vietnam

Ho Chi Minh

This is the city of perdition. Ho Chi Minh for me is landscape bars, clubs, and skyscrapers. Apart from that, there is a remarkable museum: War Remnants Museum.
Ho Chi Minh is a proper international city and all the hostels are located only in one area (district 1), around the red light district. The most famous street is Đ. Bùi Viện, where it’s full of clubs that remain open all day long. But keep an eye! There are plenty of ladyboys that will try to seduce and approach you, lol. Mostly in District 1, there are other streets full of prostitutes, but you will see…
A beautiful walkway filled with performing people (singers, dancers, etc.) is situated in Đ. Nguyễn Huệ, and it is worth a walk there during the evening.
I arrived in HCM on a flight from Da Nang (30$) and I stayed there for 2 nights. If you’re not into clubs and big cities, you can also skip it.

Chau Doc

I spent only one night here just to go to the biggest floating market in the world. It starts at 5 am and the tour was organized by the hostel where I stayed. It took 4 hours for the market + temple + rice noodles making. In total, I spent 450k dong.

In the nearby, there is also the Bamboo Eco Village where I enjoyed spending a couple of hours for a coffee and a quick visit.

Dalat

Phong Nha Ke Bang

It’s a national park filled with caves. Actually, the biggest cave in the world is there, but that cave’s location is hidden and costs like 3000$ to visit. Anyway, there are many other caves to explore in that area. And Phong Nha cave is entered by boat, not on foot. It’s so peaceful and magical along the river there too. Also, there are always cave adventure tours available. For example, if they find a new cave, you can even sign up and go on a hiking, climbing, swimming adventure, exploring new caves.

Recap of my trip

N° of nights: 3 Hanoi 5 Ha Giang loop 3 Cat Ba Island / Ha Long 3 Nam Mau and Yen Tu mountain / Ninh Binh 1 Hué 8 Hoi An 1 Da Nang 2 Ho Chi Minh 1 Chau doc