Traveling Vietnam in 11 Days
This epic to Asia began as most round-the-world journeys begin. With an excruciatingly long, zombie inducing flight where snorers and movie marathoners unite for 14 airborne hours. The lucky ones pass out into their neck pillows and sleeping pills. After two melatonin and endless yogic attempts at a sleeping position, I surrendered to my inability to sleep on public transport and settled in to the screen in my seat. I got up to walk laps after every movie, checking in on the cackling flight attendants snacking in the back, roaming past first class deep in REM sleep. I started to dread the 24 hour bus ride that awaited to get from Vietnam to Laos in 12 days time. But let’s not think about that yet.
After half an eternity, the cabin lights came on, the snores subsided, and we descended into South Korea. Two flights down, one to go. My next flight was even more charming than the last. Watching people eat corn on the cob they brought from home made me feel far from my own. But alas, Vietnam.
Ho Chi Minh City
I met Andre, my traveling companion, at the airport. Someone famous had arrived at the same time so there was a mob of screaming fans pouring in from every direction. Welcome to Asia! We arrived to our hotel to find the employees feasting in the lobby, empty beers filling the two tables they were spread across. They welcomed us in with some much needed cold ones and we shared some drinking games and laughs.
The next day we slept in (duh) and wandered around our bustling neighborhood. I was in a daze trying to take in as much as I could, my first taste of Asia, the place I had been dreaming of for so long. It was loud, beautiful, busy, chaotic, and smelly. Just as I imagined it. Crossing the street those first few times was bloody terrifying!
We wandered more of the city and bunkered down for some lunch when it started to rain. The weather over there does not mess around. When it rains, IT POURS. We eventually made our way to the Vietnam War Remnants Museum. That place was heavy duty. If you’re in Ho Chi Minh City, I recommend the visit. But leave yourself half a day to recover.
Phan Thiet
Next day we were excited to head out to the coast. We got train tickets to Phan Thiet, not really knowing what we’d find. We spent the few hour ride eating strange train food, laughing off the language barrier with locals, and watching the world go by. Passing by rivers, cities, tiny towns, and even a cock fight. One train, a taxi, and a scooter ride later, we were at the beach.
The next day was one of the best days of our whole 5 weeks in Asia. We just so happened to be right next to some Vietnam bucket list places. The Fairy Stream – which was a 10 minute scooter ride away, and the red sand dunes – another 40 minutes away. We ate breakfast on the beach, bought some fruit and left for the stream.
This place is sacred – so you walk without shoes. You can go as far as you want up the stream, there are restaurants and bars scattered along the way if you fancy a break. At the end there is a nice little waterfall and beautiful stairs up to an opening where we sat and ate our dragonfruit and mangosteen. We were basically the only ones walking the stream up until this point. On the way out there were gobs of people, so we left to explore somewhere else.
We were craving the ocean, so we scootered ourselves down to the beach, finding a random path between nice resorts to get to the sand. We found a Russian resort (lots of Russians in South Vietnam) and bought some cold coconuts in exchange for use of their sun chairs. Beach yoga, waves, and Russians galore! We could see the red sand dunes from the resort so after getting our fill of sun we packed up and headed onward.
We drove about 10 minutes and parked our scooter across from the dunes. A lady came up to us with big pieces of blue plastic (sand boards) so naturally we rented them ($1 each) and ran as fast as we could up the dunes. This place was pure magic.
We sand boarded our absolute faces off until we couldn’t get sand any farther up our noses. Then we went some more. The sea and sunset in the background made me feel like Princess Jasmine *cue Disney music*.
Nha Trang
Next day we took our first sleeper bus to Nha Trang, our next beach destination. We split an Airbnb right across from the beach and set out to find a party that night. Find indeed, we clubbed the night away with too much tequila, Russians, and good ol google translate.
Next day we payed the price and spent most of the day dead to the world. We laid on the beach, drank smoothies, and nurtured our souls back to life with some late night sushi and rooftop champagne (because, birthday).
Spent the next day exploring Long Son Pagoda Temple before catching a flight (and taxi) up to Ha Long for the real birthday celebrations.
Ha Long Bay
We booked a 2 night, 3 day boat cruise through Ha Long Bay. Funny not funny thing was we sort of accidentally got on the wrong boat. We ended up on a one night cruise and it was this whole mix up that was pretty hilarious and still magical. The boat left at noon and puttered out through these gorgeous islands. They brought us to this amazing cave full of history and tourists and left us to wander around for an hour. Island hopping to another spot we climbed 6 million stairs (ok like 500) to the top for some epic views of the Bay. Swimming in the packed beach was still amazing despite the crowds. We finished the night with some dinner on board and a bottle of wine that we snuck in with us.
The following day we ate and set off for some kayaking through a pearl farm. We got a short tour of how pearls are farmed and set off in our two man kayaks. This place has some next level energy and is the most peaceful place we experienced in Vietnam. We learned how to make spring rolls while we puttered back to the harbor and got off the boat.
We were staying in Hanoi that night, but decided to sneak in another hike we had heard about on YouTube. You have to find a little mechanic shop in the middle of the city and walk down a corridor next door. We payed something like a dollar each for this lady to unlock a gate for us to find the beginning of the hike. It’s called Poems Mountain and it is completely worth the sweat and vertigo. It took maybe 30 minutes to climb to the top and will give you the best views of Ha Long Bay you could ever hope for.
I tried to fly my drone at the top but the huge radio tower at the top interfered with my signal and almost lost me my drone for good. A steep climb out in bare feet and we were off to Hanoi.
Hanoi
Our days in Hanoi were mostly filled with eating, wandering, and chilling the frick out. We were ready to breathe clean air again. Vietnam is crazy polluted and really crowded, so by the end I was looking forward to that 24 hour bus ride to Laos.
For a motion picture version of our trip, check out the video below! Thanks for reading about our experience traveling Vietnam in 11 days! Be sure to read about the next Chapter in Laos.
