Two weeks in Vietnam

It all started when I got wind that Lauren was planning on doing a tour of Vietnam. She was going to be in Asia with a friend and wanted to check out Vietnam before heading home. I was still pretty broke after my big trip six months earlier but figured I could do it on less than $1000 (I thought wrong!). So that was that – I decided it was an opportunity I couldn’t refuse (to impose myself on).

I asked Lauren how she felt about letting me organise the trip instead of doing a tour and my powers of persuasion paid off because three months later I was on a plane.

We decided to stay three nights in Saigon. In retrospect I probably would have given the city an extra day – because I feel like we were rushing around non-stop.  We got to see everything we wanted to, so it wasn’t too bad.

In three days managed to explore the city and a few of its markets. We climbed up to the Saigon Skydeck, which I thought was great, and stumbled upon a pretty sad state of a zoo.

We also managed to squeeze in a couple of day trips –  to the Mekong Delta and Cu Chi Tunnels.

In the evenings we kept busy by going to see AO Show as well as a Water Puppet Show.

On our last night in town we did a Back of the Bike Street food tour which both of us thought was fantastic and can’t recommend it highly enough.Eventually it was time to leave Saigon and while it definitely wasn’t our first choice, we ended up taking the overnight bus up  to Nha Trang. I had (pretty rightly) anticipated a rough night and so organised a plush hotel for when we arrived.

Lauren thought I was taking the piss when we marched across the road, bleary eyed, towards the Sheraton Hotel and Spa.We wasted no time in getting freshened up and having a spot of breakfast before heading up the road for our 0900 Nha Trang Islands Tour. I’m not entirely sure the trip was worth it, but it was something to do. In the end we went Con Sẻ Tre but if I had my time again, I’d probably book on with Funky Monkey.We spent the next day (Friday the 16th) relaxing – chilling at the pool and beach – before taking an overpriced rickshaw ride to see the big Buddha. It’s pretty interesting and from the peak of the mountain you get some cool views, but otherwise there’s not a great deal to do there. After lunch we decided to continue our relaxing day with a trip to Thap Ba Hot Springs. It was pretty fun and definitely worth a visit if you have a spare afternoon.

Later that night we gathered our affairs and headed up to the train station for our hell-raising trip to Da Nang.

We rationed the overnight train had to better than the overnight bus, right? Wrong. Well it would have been had it not been for the little devil we were forced to share our compartment with.Anyway we survived to tell the tale, but only just, and got some pretty dirty looks from our neighbours the next morning – as if we could do anything about it.

We arrived around 1000 on Saturday, looking (and feeling) pretty worse for wear. We took a costly cab south, down to Hoi An. The journey is about 30 kilometres and takes about 45 minutes along a pretty decent road. I think it cost about $15-20.

We arrived at our hotel in Hoi An – Thanh Binh Riverside – and thankfully were allowed to check in right away.We spent two days and two nights in the picturesque but touristy little town, and even managed to squeeze in a sunrise trip to My Son.

Early on Monday we hired a private driver to take us further north, to Hue, via the Vietnam Pass.

Lauren was having none of the frequent stopping for sightseeing, but I thought we saw some pretty cool stuff and it helped to break up the trip.

Marble Mountain, just outside Hoi An, was a highlight of the trip and if I was going back I’d probably do a cycling trip there.We also checked out some random fishing village and supposedly one of the most beautiful beaches in the world, before arriving at Hue.To be honest, I wasn’t too fussed for Hue – I don’t think the miserable weather helped.  I’m glad we got to see it, but I probably wouldn’t go back.

Later in the day our driver dropped us at Phu Bai International Airport for our 1935 Vietnam airlines to Hanoi.

We’d organised transfers from the airport through the hostel – Hanoi Backpackers – and despite them being a good hour late (and us being half hour early) – I thought the service was pretty good and a worthwhile investment.  We arrived at the hostel around 2200, dumped our things and ducked out for a late bite to eat. Luckily we were right in the heart of the busy French Quarter and so there were quite a few things opened.We had three days and three nights in Hanoi and had more than enough time to explore the city, and to eat and drink ourselves stupid. We checked out the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum, the famous Hanoi Hotel (Hoả Lò Prison) and the downed B52 flight which I thought was really cool. We also managed to slip south for a day trip down to Tam Coc which was fantastic. Back in Hanoi, we spent a good half day trying to choose the perfect Ha Long Day cruise – reading, researching, planning and organising the trip.

In the end we went with Ha Long Phoneix at the recommendation of our hostel. We had a couple of days up our sleeve but opted for a two-day, one night number, and were pretty satisfied with that. The service, rooms, food and facilities were fairly good and I think we got a good deal.We had a fantastic time sailing on the the bay’s emerald waters and through its thousands of towering limestone islands.

Our package also included a couple of island stops, a morning of kayaking and a cooking class.We’ve since spoken about whether we should have taken an extra day and night on the cruise, but I think we got out of it what we wanted.

The company runs a tight ship and so we were back in Hanoi early in the afternoon and checking back into the hostel.

We did one of the free walking tours the hostel was putting on on our last morning, which, apart from the usual suspects, covered some cool markets and things we hadn’t seen previously.

On Sunday we had an early start so we could get back to the airport in time for our 0900 flight to Kuala Lumpur.

For a summary of where we stayed in Vietnam, click here.

For our guide to transport in Vietnam, click here.