Cảm ơn, Vietnam

The title of this post literally translates to “Thank you, Vietnam”.

A while back, I had decided that I would be spending my year-end holidays in this south-east Asian country. The usual charade of asking close friends, their initial acquiescence and eventual inability to make it (“I won’t get so many leaves”/”We can always go next year”/”Have to spend time with my family”) was played out. However, it had been quite some time since I had traveled and I decided to go ahead with it, and eventually an office colleague did decide to come with me after all.

As I reflect on this trip, the first thing which comes to my mind is the ease with which everything got done. Right from flight ticket-booking to visa-on-arrival to bus commute within the city or taking an inter-city taxi on the increasingly popular Grab app, or from last minute hostel bookings to getting the laundry done, Vietnam has made itself extremely tourist friendly, especially to the back-packer kind.

The second thing for which I would remember Vietnam is its wonderful food and hospitality. Our Christmas eve was spent at a home-stay in Ninh-Binh run by a family, and it was easily one of the most enjoyable evenings I have spent in a foreign country. The only objective of the entire family was to ensure that the guests were having a good time – and it was achieved quite easily with an adorable four year old son dressed as Santa doling out sweets, an extremely talented young daughter playing the piano and the flute, and the owner himself pouring shots of an extremely strong local alcohol down the throats of everyone, for free.

These kids made our Christmas extremely special!

Lastly, I was able to confirm a suspicion which I have often had while travelling. For me, and it’s an extremely subjective call, I would rather travel in a way which gives me complete flexibility over my plan throughout the trip, and secondly, to avoid all sorts of planned tours if possible. The only planned tour we took in Vietnam was a luxury Halong Bay cruise, and it was an extremely underwhelming experience. The funny part is that it accounted for more than half of my expense even though I spent just two out of the nine nights I was in Vietnam. Luxury, I think, is not for me, at least not yet.

A quick summary and review of my itinerary:

Day 0 and Day 1 in Hanoi

I spent the first couple of days acclimatizing to Vietnam, and Hanoi is a good place to do that. My stay included a street food tour, a couple of visits to the night market and a puppet show (which wasn’t great, just well advertised). Had a lot of beer, met some interesting travelers in the Little Charm Hostel where I was staying, and had a lot of food (I gained 3 kg in 9 days in Vietnam, so yes, I enjoyed the food).

I loved the Vietnamese food!

Overall, I liked this part of the trip. Hanoi is quite bustling and the traffic crazy, but I got a good idea of the local culture.

Day 2 and Day 3 in Ninh Binh

The first thing you’d want to do if you are heading there is book your accommodation in the Green Mountain Homestay. As described above, the family itself is enough reason for you to visit this picturesque country-side city.

I was joined by my colleague by this time of the trip, and we visited the Trang An complex on Day 2 (similar to Tam Coc) and Bai Dinh Pagoda on Day 3. The former takes you through a 3 hour boat cave tour in the Red River Delta, while the latter is a huge Buddhist temple complex. We loved Trang An, and felt Bai Dinh was okay. If you have time, go for it, but also consider Hoa Lu, which we could not cover.

The Trang An boat cave tour was quite an experience

Yours truly at the Bai Dinh temple complex

Overall, I would love to re-visit Ninh Binh and spend some more days there. It is very relaxed and easy-going.

Day 3, Day 4 and Day 5 in Hoi An

My favorite part of the trip, even though it was raining for some of it. An extremely small, relaxed town, great food, and a colorful nightlife. We also enjoyed Hoi An because we met a wonderful Slovenian couple in our hostel whom we clicked with instantly.

Hoi An: My favorite place in Vietnam

In terms of places to see, I just remember the An Bang beach which we cycled to, and the beautiful Japanese bridge. We stayed at the Tribee Ede Hostel which was extremely nice.

I think Hoi An epitomizes Vietnam so if there is one place you must go, it has to be this.

Day 6, Day 7 and Day 8 in Halong Bay

We took the 3 day 2 night Victory Star cruise for which each of us had paid more than $300 each (we had booked it before coming to Vietnam). Halong Bay is extremely similar to Trang An, so this was a research mistake on our end. We went with the notion that “Halong Bay is a must-do” which earlier travelers had shared.

Halong Bay: The only good part was our rooms

Even if Halong Bay itself is over-rated, what made it worse was the terrible experience on the cruise. Our cruise mostly had senior citizens (I think most youngsters would take the 2 day 1 night trip), which meant there was literally no night-life. The staff was very transactional in nature and would only care about you if you consumed their over-expensive alcohol ($3.5 USD for a can of beer versus $0.7 outside). To make matters worse, they fucked up the food as well.

The only saving grace was we met the owner of a famous Indian restaurant on the cruise, and he regaled us with his travel stories and in-depth of knowledge of several cuisines. Barring him and his family, the cruise was extremely dull.

In hindsight, heading down further to Ho Chi Minh city would have been a better idea than going to Halong Bay, but well, you win some and lose some.

My colleague Pritish and I, as we said good bye to Vietnam

I returned back to hazy Delhi last night with mostly good memories of Vietnam. Time to relax for a couple of days before the grind begins again. Hopefully, I will be able to visit another country in 2019!