It was my first trip to Vietnam, and I ended up enjoying it more than I had expected. I went in with no real expectations, as I wasn’t sure what the country had to offer. From my research and what friends had shared, the only thing I knew was that the food was affordable.
Since it was a two-week trip, we travelled beyond just Ho Chi Minh City. I got to experience a few domestic flights and even a train ride while moving between cities. Vietnam is a vast country, and the fact that we managed to explore several places during the trip already felt quite amazing.
Here’s where we visited during our 2 week trip:
- Ho Chi Minh (arriving and departing from here)
- Hue
- Hoi An
- Danang (stayed for a night before departing)
- Phu Quoc
Each city had its own unique charm and specialty dishes. What stood out consistently, though, was the warmth and friendliness of the Vietnamese people throughout our stay. One thing that was the same everywhere was the traffic. I noticed there were very few traffic lights, which made crossing the road as a pedestrian quite intimidating. We often had to take a leap of faith and be brave enough to step into the flow of vehicles. Many times, I found myself holding my wife’s hand as we navigated our way across the busy streets together.
Would we visit Vietnam again? Definitely—though we’d probably head north next time. Dear mentioned she’d like to visit Hanoi, and I’d love to try their pho too, since I’ve read that its taste varies across different regions of Vietnam.
I’ll be sharing more of each city that we’ve visited individually because there’s so many things to share.