Vietnam from north to south - that's why you should travel to Vietnam is written by Jesper Munk Hansen.
The classic round trip in Vietnam
Why travel to Vietnam? On a cold January day, my boyfriend and I went to a travel lecture to get inspiration for new travel destinations. Asia quickly piqued our interest as I have previously been to Thailand og Malaysia, and she has been in China twice.
The country that caught our attention the most was Vietnam. Soon after, planning began. We found a trip called 'Vietnam from North to South', which was prepared by a Danish travel agency in collaboration with a local Vietnamese company. The journey started in Hanoi in the north, and via Hoi An in the central Vietnam we ended up in Ho Chi Minh City after two weeks.
Took to the food in Hanoi
After 16 hours of flying from Copenhagen with stopover i Dubai we landed in Hanoi in Vietnam.
The first days in Hanoi were spent with a planned city tour, and we also had some time to explore the city ourselves. Here it was, among other things, a visit to 'Train Street', which is a street with restaurants and bars, where you sit and eat and drink a little, and all of a sudden you hear the train pushing in the distance. When that happens, all tables and chairs must be removed, because then the train will arrive.
It is a completely normal procedure and no one is in a hurry because they have tried it many times before. Fortunately, the train does not run fast. It is enough to drive 30-40 km/h, I would think.
Temple time and puppet theater
On the city tour of Hanoi, we visited temples and got up close to the Buddhist culture. We also visited a water puppet theater where for 45 minutes we watched a Vietnamese puppet theater in water where they only spoke Vietnamese. This meant that we understood absolutely nothing of what was going on, but we take that with us as part of the experience.
Scooters everywhere
After a few days in Hanoi we had also got used to the traffic. The rule is: Green light go, yellow light go, red light go anyway.
In Hanoi there are 9 million inhabitants and 6 million motorbikes/scooters. So we quickly got used to the fact that you just go out on the road and then you don't stop. You continue and wind your way through the traffic. The scooters will probably drive around you. They are used to pedestrians on the road.
It only becomes really dangerous if you stop in the middle of the road or start going backwards, because the scooters try to avoid you by driving around.
After three days in Hanoi, it was time for the next point on our trip to Vietnam, namely our cruise.
Vietnam's nature: Indescribably beautiful Ha Long Bay
Ha Long Bay is a 2-3 hour drive to Hanoi. After a short visit to a pearl farm, we boarded a small cruise ship with room for 75 people. Here we were to spend the night, relax, eat, bathe and enjoy the tranquility of the bay.
The nature in Ha Long Bay is completely unreal. Reality lived up to expectations and Ha Long Bay is some of the most beautiful scenery I have seen. I have also written about nature in Toscana, but Ha Long Bay definitely gives Tuscany battle to the line.
Peace on water, hustle and bustle on land
A visit to a larger cave in Ha Long Bay left me a little bit – or a lot – annoyed. I love to travel, but at the same time can have a hard time with too many people gathered in one place. That's exactly why I also enjoyed Ha Long Bay, where everything was far away, but in this cave I stood in 35 degree heat surrounded by hundreds of tourists and locals. If not a thousand.
It was Saturday and therefore there were even more on Ha Long Bay and in the cave. You could neither move forward nor backward and just had to wait until there was a little bit of freedom so you could get forward. I guess it took half an hour to go up stairs, which would normally take 1 minute. It was worst in the beginning until there was a little spread of people so you could walk around a bit inside the cave.
Back on the ship we enjoyed the evening and looked out over the water. The next morning we did the same. The clock rang at 6.00:6.30 because we wanted to see the sunrise, but it had already risen, although we could see that it should actually rise at XNUMX:XNUMX. But then we got up and sat and had morning coffee on the deck, while we again looked out over the water.
Night train to Da Nang
One of the few mistakes we made on the trip was booking a night train instead of a flight. We thought it might be nice to take the night train to the next place, but now we've tried it. And next time we take the plane.
The trip was scheduled for 16 hours, but it took 17 hours. The distance was no longer than about 750 km, so we only drove at an average speed of almost 45 km / h.
It was a very small train where we had our compartment and sleeping place, but not much else. We were accommodated with two foreign Dutchmen, who luckily were our own age, so we could talk to each other.
But no matter how little or how much you know each other, you can't sit and talk for 17 hours, so it became a lot of time where we just lay in our bed and relaxed or listened to music while the train traveled along the Vietnamese east coast.
Bike ride to the beach in Hoi An
After arriving by train in the city of Da Nang, we were picked up and driven to Hoi An, which is a short drive of just under half an hour. There we stayed in a fantastic hotel with a pool and garden area, and of course there was also a restaurant, breakfast and pool bar.
We were to stay here for 3 days, without anything official planned. Hoi An is a small city in Vietnam with only 100.000 inhabitants, so it was great to get away from the million city.
One of the days we borrowed bikes at the hotel and cycled to the beach. My bike was way too small because they are not used to seeing people at 189 cm in Vietnam at all, so it could not be adjusted to my height. That’s why I often got my knees up in the handlebars during the bike ride. In addition, the bike did not have functional gears, so it was just a matter of getting a flow in the bike so that you did not have to go up and down in speed.
Traditions and full moon in Vietnam
Hoi An also has an old town, which is known for its lanterns, which are lit up in the evening. The city actually has its own lantern festival in conjunction with the full moon. Here you honor your ancestors, and you also launch your own lantern with wishes for the future.
Despite the fact that Hoi An is a small town, there are still many people. Still, we happened to meet the two Dutchmen from the train, who we due to busyness did not manage to say goodbye to at the train station.
Two days later, they suddenly stood on the same bridge as us in Hoi An. Then we just got to take a picture and follow each other on Instagram so the rest of the journey could be felt.
Hoi An is definitely my favorite place on our trip to Vietnam and I wish we had more than three days there. We better go back one day.
Traces of war in Ho Chi Minh City
The last part of the journey was covered by plane. We were going down to South Vietnam and visiting Vietnam's largest city, Ho Chi Minh City, which used to be called Saigon. It is not the capital, but it is the largest city.
After exploring Ho Chi Minh City on our own for the first few days, we were going to go out and see the Cu Chi Tunnels and get a little idea of what was going on during the Vietnam War. None of us were born in 1975 when the war ended, and we generally had very little knowledge of what happened during the war.
We were given the opportunity to get down into the small tunnels that the Vietnamese used to hide, but again because of my height I had to content myself with seeing it from the surface of the earth.
It's kind of scary to think that the American soldiers who were stationed in Vietnam were told they would be gone for 3-4 months when they left. But most of them ended up being in Vietnam for years without going home.
In addition to the Cu Chi Tunnels, which is an hour and a half's drive from Ho Chi Minh City, you can also visit the war museum in the city and go up to the Saigon Skydeck skyscraper, so you get a fantastic view over the city.
On a boat trip to the Mekong Delta
Three hours' drive from Ho Chi Minh City lies the Mekong Delta, which is only slightly smaller than the whole Denmark.
Here we were to go sailing - both by motorboat and rowboat - and we were to visit local families who make a living from producing rice and wine. We tasted a snake wine, which despite the name did not have much bite in it.
Once again my height of 189 cm was noticed when a small boy stood and looked directly at me for several seconds with his mouth open without saying anything. He was shocked and had probably never seen a tall man before.
I now do not think that 189 cm. is so bad if you look at Denmark in general, but in Asia it is obviously extreme.
Another local family provided lunch for us, where we had to help make our own omelette with a lot of ingredients that we did not know. For the omelette, a whole fish was also served, where nothing was removed. The whole head of the fish was still there. It is a little different than what we usually know from Denmark.
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Vietnam at sea again
At the end of the trip to the Mekong Delta, we had to go out and sail a bit with one of the locals, who would take us on a 30 minute boat trip into something that looked like jungle out in the middle of the delta.
It was a little lady of max 50 kilos who sailed us around by hand. As Europeans, you can feel a little bad about sitting there and relaxing while a little Asian sails around with us to make some money. Her conscience was challenged even more when we were told that she earns, on average, the equivalent of three kroner on such a 30-minute sailing trip. Therefore, it is natural to give her a little extra money.
Tips, by the way, are completely natural in Vietnam, and it is expected that one gives it. Sometimes they stand and wait for it and even say if you are not giving enough gratuity, while others just hope you will give a little. The latter was the case with the little lady in the Mekong Delta.
See more about how to handle gratuity in Asia here
Vietnam must be experienced again and again
Vietnam can definitely be recommended - and especially a journey from north to south, as it gave a really exciting insight into the country's nature, history and culture. The different cities each have their own character and offer many distinctive experiences. Vietnam has undoubtedly become one of my favorite destinations, and it doesn't take much.
Have a nice trip to Vietnam.
You must see this on your trip to Vietnam
- Ho Chi Minh City
- Take a boat trip in the Mekong Delta
- Hoi An
- Ha Long Bay
- Train Street in Hanoi
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Yes, traveling from north to south Vietnam will not disappoint visitors. As you said, every place in this country has its own unique characteristics. In the central region, apart from Hoi An, you should not miss the city of Hue and Ba Na Hills in Da Nang. In addition, the regional cuisine is also very diverse and, above all, very good.