December18/January19
Endless of rice fields through mountains, rivers, endless of ethnic groups that are living together, there is no debut that Vietnam is the most diverse country in Southeast Asia. Endless of attractions, great food, world wonders and great nightlife. This combination is the perfect match between the east and west. Just there in Tonkin bay.
View this post on Instagram
How to get a visa to Vietnam?
So most of the countries do need to apply a visa request for traveling in Vietnam, and it’s pretty easy, the easier option is to apply online, pay attention there are some scams websites.
You can apply for 3 months visa or 1 month, one entrance or multiply.
The price for 1 month is 25$ and 3 months is 50$
I have been on my first visit for 1 month, how did I spend my days?
Hanoi – 2 days
Sa Pa – 1 day
Ha Giang – 3 days
Ha long bay (Catba island) – 3 days
Tam Coc – 3 days
Phong Nga – 2 days
Hoi An – 5 days
Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) – 4 days
Mekong Delta – 2 days
And a lot of sleepers
This was just my first visit, there is much more to see in Vietnam, you will never get “full” of Vietnam.
How to get from Hanoi airport to the city center (old quarter of Hanoi) –
There are 2 options:
1)Taxi– the price will be 10-15$
2)Airport Shuttle – line 86 the price per person is 2$ and the duration is 40 minutes.
the line operates between the hours:
From the airport to the city –
06:25-23:05
From the city to the airport –
05:00-21:40
How to get from Saigon airport to Quarter 1 (city center of Saigon)? –
1) Taxi – the price is around 5-10 dollars
2) Bus – from the central station in district 1 you can take line number 109, the price is 1$-3$ depend by your station. This line operates between 05:30-01:30, the duration is 30-50 minutes.
Important to know and local terms –
- Easy riders – it’s pretty common in Vietnam in different areas you can rent a bike with a driver that will take you around, also for a few days.
- Grab app – without this app its almost impossible to take a cab, this is also the way to get decent prices.
- 1$ – 23,000 Vietnamese dong
- ATM – if this is a short trip, my recommendation is to use cash. For a long time (more than 1 or 2 weeks) you have to use ATM’s the best ones are – HSBC, MP, and VP.
- Bike or motorbike renting – around 7$ per day for a motorbike, and 2$ for a bike.
- Local sim – the best company is Viettel the price in the airport is around 13$ you can find in the old quarter in 8$ for 2 GB per day for 30 days.
- Good agency – Keni +84904612475, whatever you need to ask from him, tell him through the blog.
-
View this post on Instagram
Hanoi
Vietnam capital, probably in the first minutes you will be dizzy from all of the motorbikes, but pretty shortly you will see how great this city. Great restaurants, museums, temples, lakes and more.
What to do in Hanoi?
1) Ethnography museum – Those of you who love culture, this is a great museum that will help you to understand a bit about the tribes in Vietnam. Entrance fee – 40000 dong.
2) The war museum – not good like Saigon one, 3 floors about the war.
Entrance fee – 40000 dong
3) Ho chi minh museum – there is no words that can describe the admiration of the Vietnamese people to ho chi minh “the uncle”, I really recommend to visit there.
Entrance fee – 40000 dong
4) Hanoi train street – so unfortunately they close this street, but it’s still a nice to go and to see, until Dec 2019, the train crossed this street twice a day with all the people on the sides, and the cool coffee places.
View this post on Instagram
5) Free tour by local Students – through this website you can join for a free tour with local students, it’s better to register few days in advance.
https://www.hanoifreewalkingtours.com/tours/
6) The Western lake (Tran Quoc Pagoda)- one of the oldest and the tallest pagodas in Vietnam, just in the western side of Hanoi.
7) Hoan Kiam Lake – in the heart of the old quarter, believe me you can’t miss this place, pay attention, in early morning the locals get around for tai chi and sport activities.
8) Weekend Market – every Thursday to Sunday there is night market in the old quarter.
Where to Eat in Hanoi?
This is a very hard question, the answer is everywhere!
If you are looking for a good pizza, 4P pizza is a good idea.
If you want to taste local dishes, but not too local, Little Vietnam is the best idea.
Where did I sleep in Hanoi?
In my first visit, I looked for a local place to sleep in my first day in Hanoi, I came from Myanmar and I wanted to get something local not too urban, so I stay in homestay in Hanoi old quarter by the name Qutang Old quarter Homestay, this place belongs to a really nice family.
View this post on Instagram
Sa Pa
Beautiful Sa Pa, one of the most touristic places in Vietnam, and the main reasons are the rice fields and the mountain tribes. Yes, this is a nice place, but in the last year, it’s getting too crowded, in all of this area you will find the mountain tribes and especially more fields. The next destination that I gonna talk about is Ha Giang, in Ha Giang area you will see all of this, so don’t make afraid to miss Sa pa if you don’t have enough time.
View this post on Instagram
What to do in Sa Pa?
1) Cat Cat village – 2 hours away from Sa Pa by foot, a nice village for a day tour.
2) Cat Cat waterfall, Love waterfall, Silver waterfall
3) Fansipan mountain – the highest mountain in Vietnam, this is a nice option for a day tour or for a few days if you doing it by foot with a local guide.
The price for Round trip with the funicular is 700,000 Dong, the Entrance fee is 70,000 Dong.
View this post on Instagram
Ha Giang
From Sa pa I took a privet taxi with few people to Ha Giang, we went there for 3 days with Easy riders for the “loop” this route is a beautiful route all the way to the Chinese border through amazing landscapes and villages.
My Easy Rider was “Tiger” +84964011264
View this post on Instagram
Ha Long Bay (Catba Island)
If to be honest I came to Ha long bay just for one day, too see the bay that everyone talking about, but in the last minutes I went to Catba, Catba is a big island in the Bay of Ha long, and I spent there 3 days and also after that time it was hard to leave.
View this post on Instagram
What to do in Catba?
- Ha Long Bay Cruise – of curse that you can’t miss this world wonder and if you got the option take with layover as well.
- Hospital in the Rocks – an old hospital that served in the Vietnam war period.
- Beaches – there are a few beaches in Catba, co1/2/3, the closest one to the city is number 3, the best one is number 1, less crowded. There is another beach a bit far in this place – click here
- The national park of Catba – a really nice place, with an amazing view from the top of the hill, the entrance fee is 40000 Dong and after 1 hour of climbing, you will reach to the top.
-
View this post on Instagram
- Catba Promenade – in this place, click here, with a nice view over the bay.
-
View this post on Instagram
Where to sleep in Catba?
Oasis bar 2 – really cool place with a good atmosphere, 7$ for dorms with breakfast.
Tam Coc
From Catba I went to Tam Coc, I took the morning bus – 09:00-14:00 in 270,000 Dong.
Tam Coc is my favorite place in Vietnam, I can’t explain why that is, but I really liked there everything. Some people call Tam Coc, Ha long bay of land, you will understand why tam coc got this name when you will be there.
**pay attention this is a lack of ATMs in there, so it’s better to come with money in advance to there, this is one of the ATMs, click here.
What to do in Tam Coc?
- Cave cruise – this is a must in this area, there are a few options, but the best place is “Trang An”, in Trang an there is 3 options, in my opinion, option 3 is the ideal one. The price is 200,000 Dong.
you can take a taxi to there or by bikes its 40 minutes, - Thai Vi Temple – 15 minutes by foot from the city.
- Mua cave – totally a must, perfect a bit before sunset or sunrise. 480 steps and you will get an amazing point of view, an entrance fee of 100,000 Dong.
View this post on Instagram
Where to sleep in Tam Coc?
Nature lodge – nice Dorms in the middle of nature, 130,000 Dong with a great Breakfast.
Where to Eat in Tam Coc?
- Aroma – Great Indian place!
- Brick coffee – the best egg coffee I ever drunk
Phong Nha
A rich karstic area with a lot of caves and nice attractions
What to do in Phong Nha?
- Dark Cave – one of the best attractions in the area, dark cave with zip line and kayaks, the entrance fee is 450,000 Dong, you have to come with a swimsuit.
- Paradise Cave – one of the deepest and the largest caves in there, the entrance fee is 250,000 Dong.
- The Duck Stop – one of the funniest things that I ever had, this place is so amazing! 100,000 Dong for an amazing experience with ducks and local lunch. 10 minutes by Motorbike or 40 by bikes.
-
View this post on Instagram
- The Botanical Gardens – a nice option for a day trip, 40,000 Dong for entrance.
Nice Hostels in Phong Nha –
Na Than homestay – nice hostel with a privet room, 9$ per night with breakfast (in front of the famous easy tiger)
Easy Tiger – a cool place with shows, public areas and a lot of concept nights, you have to book in advance!
Hoi An
From Phong Nha I continued to Hoi An, I took a night bus at 20:00 and we arrived at 06:30 to Hoi An, the ticket price is 150,000 Dong.
City of light, city of tailors, an amazing old town, cool night market, and more and more, Hoi an is totally a magical place.
View this post on Instagram
What to do in Hoi An?
- The central market – fresh fruits, fishes and meat.
- Night Market – every evening a colorful market rises up in the old city on the other side of the river.
- Marble mountain – a really nice option for a day tour, this mountain full of temples and you can also see from there nice lookout over da nang beaches. Entrance fee 40,000 Dong.
- The agriculture village
- My son Ruins – one of the most interesting attractions around hoi an, 150,000 Dong entrance fee, around 30 minutes from the city.
View this post on Instagram - Custom sewing
- Workshops – cooking class, painting class, bamboo class, lamp class and more
nice painting class – Thang +84935927545 - The Golden Bridge (hand Bridge) – a huge touristic park one hour away from Hoi an, 700,000 Dong for Entrance.
Good Restaurant in Hoi an –
1)Mix – perfect Greek restaurant
2)Levain Caffe – nice coffee place
From Hoi an I went to Saigon (400,000 dongs 18:00 to 18:00, yes 24 hours), but you can go from there to Hoa, or Dalat, or Mui ne, Na trang and more other options, as I told you, Vietnam there is so much to give!
Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon)
“The big apple” Ho Chi Minh City, different people different opinions, I got confused about the city, some said, skip Saigon, some really like the city, some said maximum one night. The bottom line, this is a great city!
What to do in Saigon?
- The war museum – this is a good reflection about the war, you need to visit there.
- The central mosque – nice big mosque in the city center.
- Markets – Saigon square
Ben Thanh Tourist Market
Street food market - Malls –Parkson,Aeon and more
- District 1 – you will find there everything and especially nightlife
- Food Tour – there is a lot of option in the city, ask your hostel.
- The post office – one of the remains of the colonial period in the city.
- Mekong Delta – go to Mekong delta, I took the bus to Can Tho and I stayed in there in a homestay. There is also an option to take an organized tour. I stayed in Hang place, you can write her on Facebook, say hey from “lital” 🙂
Facebook page.View this post on Instagram
Where to Eat in Saigon?
Zeus Greek Restaurant – nice Greek Restaurant
Saigon Bagel – perfect place from breakfast or brunch
Secret Garden – a nice restaurant with local food and nice rooftop
Kabab station – nice Mediterranean food
Maison Maruo – the best place if you want some sweets.
Nonla Guys – Great Korean Restaurant
Where to sleep in Saigon?
Vietnam guide home – great dorms in a great location, they also offer free night tours
Good luck 🙂
If you liked the post please follow me on Instagram and like my Facebook page