With its warm hearts, amazing food, and stunning nature, Vietnam quickly won our hearts from the moment we landed in Phu Quoc until the time we left Hanoi. However, it was an experiment because this is the first time we’ve ever stayed in a country for the maximum visa stay without ever having been there. And while we absolutely loved it, and will undoubtedly come back, it was interesting to experience our evolution as the three months passed. Had you asked us after a month our opinion, we would have probably ranked it a top five country, but as with most good things, the rose-colored glasses came off and by the time we left, we were able to see things a lot more realistically.
In Summary…
Time Spent: 90 days
Money Spent: $4217.95 or $46.87/day
Places Visited: Phu Quoc (14 nights) HCMC (4) Cat Tien (2) Doc Let Beach (2) Quy Nhon (2) Hoi An (7) Da Nang (14) Hue (7) Tam Coc (4) Mai Chau (7) Hanoi (3) Ha Giang (3) Hanoi (12)
Favorite Place: Tam Coc (Ninh Binh)
Least Favorite: Ho Chi Minh City
Best Stay: Coco Villa, Hoi An
Favorite Experience: Biking through rice paddies in Tam Coc
Least Favorite: Mandy’s food poisoning in Mai Chau & Ha Giang without the loop
Would we return? We will, no question and probably for another three months. Priorities will be: Longer stays in Hanoi and Phu Quoc, return to Tam Coc and Ha Giang, new visits to Cat Ba, Con Son Island, Phong Na, Ba Bae Lake and Sapa.
Our Upsides
- Overall, it’s a quieter country. Despite their evening karaoke habits, they always shut off the noise by 10 pm. Also, the majority of the places we stayed offered “soundproof windows,”which is a rarity in the world of budget travel.
- The open-minded people seem very focused on moving forward and not back.
- Some of the friendliest and cutest kids
- They are an early morning culture, which we appreciate. This was more distinctive in the central and south than the north
- The coffee is sooo delicious and can be ordered in multiple ways
- The men who biked through the streets yelling “Banh Bao” in the south and central parts. He just made us laugh.
- A feeling of safety, no matter where you traveled, although we did have a couple crazy bus drivers
- Fast internet almost everywhere
- An abundance of yummy cashews. The prices fluctuated wildly, however
- An abundance of amazing fruit and vegetables
- This goes alongside diverse, healthy, fresh and flavorful food options, including lots of vegetarian/vegan, and international options in the cities
- We had great, fluffy pillows in almost the whole country. Beds were about 50/50. Some were Thai hard and others, perfect.
- Almost every accommodation included a hairdryer and a kettle
- Cheap scooter rental from $4-6 for the day
- Sleeper buses, when everything goes smoothly
- Bike friendly
- Easy to find plain yogurt
- Grab (taxi service) is everywhere and easy to use
- Juices and smoothies, especially Sinh to bo, (avocado) 🥑
- The low beer prices and selection, including craft breweries
- The endless coastline
- The locals are very forgiving when you can’t speak the language and are flattered and amused when you can throw out even a few mispronounced words.
- The Latin alphabet also helps us westerners
- The lack of mosquitos was shocking
Our Downsides
- In some places, they watch you like a hawk and follow you around in shops. It’s very unnerving so we always left
- Many, many Google translate fails
- In restaurants they have a habit of giving one menu and then wanting to hover over you until you decide, even if you told them you needed more time. It drove us mad.
- Too much kitsch, the country is loaded with it
- The north has a lot more “tourist prices” than the south which we were not okay with
- Litter and pollution, especially the beaches and waterways
- You definitely can’t drink the water
- The transportation is mostly easy, until it’s not, which especially happens when you go off the tourist trail
- Crossing the street in major cities can be a nightmare
- Alongside this, no one obeys traffic laws. Are there traffic laws?!?
- The availability and selection of grocery stores is not too great
- Almost every place we stayed had an opaque glass entry door, which flooded the room with hallway light. This drove us nuts.
- Sidewalks doubling as scooter parking
- Most cities are not walker friendly
- Pharmacies seem poor. We received bad or inadequate medicine on more than one occasion
- Roosters!! Everywhere!!
- Apartments are hard to find outside of major cities
- The treatment of animals is disheartening.
