Hanoi
In Vietnam, our first stop was Hanoi, the busy capital city. It was hot and bustling with people, but we had a great time exploring. We saw famous landmarks, visited temples and churches, and soaked up the local culture. One highlight was Train Street, where we saw locals living and working alongside the train tracks. On weekends, some streets closed to cars, turning into lively spots with families playing, restaurants setting up tables, and vendors selling all sorts of things. It felt like a big party!
We also checked out Beer Street, where you can find cheap drinks and food. It was so crowded we could hardly move! Another cool spot was Note Cafe, covered in notes from visitors, and Unicorn Pub, a cozy place with great drinks and a western vibe. Overall, Hanoi was a blast!
Ha Long Bay
After staying in the city, we were super excited to head to the beach for this hot weather. When we arrived at Ha Long Bay, we were amazed by the Airbnb we had for the week – it had four stories, an elevator, a pool table, balconies overlooking the bay, and more. However, we didn’t have it all to ourselves; Ben and Eddy joined us a couple of days in. Although Ha Long Bay isn’t very large, it boasts beautiful beach spots and some of the most stunning mountains you’ll ever see. We embarked on a cruise tour through these unique mountains scattered throughout the bay, exploring one of the biggest caves I’ve ever seen. Additionally, we hiked up to the top of one of the mountains and enjoyed a breathtaking 360-degree view. We also witnessed some incredible sunsets at a beach club we visited three times due to its delicious food and drinks. Adjacent to it was an actual club with a stage and live music every night, resembling a rave – it was amazing, and we relished dancing on the beach. Moreover, we visited one of their casinos and were surprised to find they only accepted USD, but fortunately, they offered an exchange service, allowing us to play, although Ben and Eddy ended up losing some money.
Da Nang
Da Nang turned out to be a fantastic surprise in Vietnam, even though it’s a small city. When we got there, we had a blast! We visited cool places like the Golden Hand Bridge and Ba Na Hills theme park, where we spent the whole day having fun. At night, we partied at a rooftop club with an amazing view of the city. The next day, we played pool, checked out the night market, and saw a cool fire show at Dragon Bridge. But then I got sick from drinking tap water. Bummer! Despite that, Da Nang was beautiful, and I wish we had time for the beach. Maybe we’ll come back someday.
Hoi An
Just a 30-minute drive from Da Nang, Hoi An is a small city known for its lanterns, boats, and vibrant nightlife. Sadly, when we were here, I became extremely sick and wasn’t able to do everything we wanted. I did try my best to see the most important things, like the beautiful lantern boats that lit up the river through Old Town every night, and go on a coconut boat ride. We also rode bikes around during the day and got to experience the city a little bit on our last days when I was feeling better. Overall, I would definitely come back here to see everything we missed out on, but I’m so glad we didn’t skip this small town!
Ho Chi Minh
After arriving in Ho Chi Minh, I started feeling a lot better, so we did a ton of exploring, and it might be my favorite part of Vietnam. Ho Chi Minh is much more advanced than other parts of Vietnam, with skyscrapers and five-story malls where you can find anything and everything. We even stumbled upon a Mexican restaurant on our first night. We visited the famous cafe apartment building, which houses many different restaurants, and the Tan Dinh Church, known for its pink exterior. At night, we stopped by one of the tallest buildings in Asia and enjoyed the park across the street from it, and also visited the party street that is lined with bars and clubs and lots of entertainment. But one of my favorite things we did here was sending postcards at the Saigon Central Post Office. We picked out super cool postcards representing Vietnam, wrote letters to our families and even to ourselves on them, stamped them, and sent them off. It was such a fun experience, and I hope to send out more as we continue our trip. Overall, this city was spectacular, with a perfect blend of Vietnamese culture and advanced technology. I would definitely visit here again.”
Phu Quoc
Phu Quoc was one of the last places we added to our trip. We originally didn’t plan to go here, but after considering others’ suggestions, we decided to include this island, and I’m so glad we did. First off, our hotel was right by the beach and had a super cool beach bar where we watched the sunset over the water most nights. We really wanted to chill and tan most days, so we didn’t do much besides lounging on the beach and at our hotel’s rooftop pool. The beaches were super nice; one of the ones we visited had these crazy structures built up and down the water, which was different from anything else we had seen. We did go out one night since it was the weekend and ended up at this super nice restaurant that had the best chicken burrito I have ever had. Right by the restaurant is this rooftop bar called Ink 360, where you could see the whole island from. I guess we got lucky because there were fireworks going on in the distance while we were up there, and it was a super cool experience! The place was also designed around octopuses, which was so fun. I loved this island, and I would definitely recommend it to anyone who wants to see Vietnam!
