Our trip to Vietnam was rather spontaneous. Little did we know about the country. We booked our tickets purely based on an offer we saw on AirAsia 😀 We didn’t even know what the visa process was but booking those tickets was the best decision we ever made. Vietnam offered a travel experience that exceeded our expectations. There are so many reasons to visit Vietnam but here are some of the top reasons that made us fall in love with the place.
01. A budget traveler’s paradise
If you are travelling on a low budget then Vietnam is the best place for you. You will be a millionaire there (not kidding). On a backpacker’s budget you can easily manage a comfortable trip inclusive of hostels, food, drinks and transport for around 50$ per day. To keep your transport budget low we would recommend renting scooters which will cost you only around 6$-10$ per day.
For long distance journeys we would recommend taking the popular night busses in Vietnam which will cost around 10$-25$ depending on the stop. (Make sure you bargain and get your tickets from a reliable re-seller.
Sleeper buses in Vietnam
02. The street food and coffee!!
Forget fancy restaurants! If you truly want to experience authentic Vietnamese food you must hit the streets. The feeling of enjoying a hot Vietnamese dish on little plastic stools on a sidewalk is nothing short of amazing. Vietnam’s streets offer a wide variety of options at any hour of the day.
Some of our favourites included the ever so popular ‘Bánh mì’ which is Vietnam’s pimped up version of a baguette stuffed with herbs and a protein of your choice, ‘Pho’ a bowl of bliss made with rice noodles, herbs and protein. The roast duck in Ninh Binh is a must try as well!
Vietnam was pork paradise! We still think about the pork rice we had in Cat Ba at this small restaurant run by four sisters. It was the best we’ve had to date.
Street food dishes can range from about 0.50$-5$
Vietnam was truly the definition of best coffee in the world. You must try the famous Vietnamese egg coffee made of egg yolks, condensed milk and coffee. The Note Cafe in Hanoi is a unique place to enjoy a cup of egg coffee. Every inch of the cafe was covered in post it notes left from visitors from all over the world.
The Note Cafe – Hanoi
03.Stunning natural landscapes
If you are a photographer or nature lover you will love Vietnam’s diverse landscapes. We’ve all seen a photo or video of Vietnam’s proud heritage sight Halong Bay but no photo and video can do justice to witnessing this spectacle in real life. With it’s 1500 islands and towering seascape of limestone pillars was truly mesmerizing.
If you want to catch a different view of Halong Bay of both the city and the seascape you should definitely climb Bai Tho mountain.
View from Bai Tho mountain
A bike ride on Cat Ba island will take you to some stunning viewpoints of Halong Bay as well. The ride itself is beautiful with its lush forests and mountains on either side of the road. If you are there at the right time of the day you will be accompanied by butterflies along the way
You must take a boat and explore the Trang An grottoes in Ninh Binh, the complex network of rivers will treat your eyes to some extraordinary scenic landscapes that are picture perfect with its towering cliff mountains blended with natural rainforests
A climb of 500 steps to the top of Hang Mua Peak will guarantee you some of the most picturesque and stunning views in all of Vietnam which includes the Red River Delta and the towering mountains. The mountain is also inundated with majestic dragon sculptures.
You should also checkout Sapa, due to our limited number of days in Vietnam we opted out and visited Hoi An instead but based from what we heard from other travelers, it is a must see place if you love nature
04. Vietnam’s rich history
Vietnam is a country with a very rich and long history dating back for thousands of years from the liberation of China, Le Loi, the coming of Europians, the french takeover to the famous Vietnam War.
You’ve probably read, watched movies and documentaries about the Vietnam war but seeing it from the perspective of the Vietnamese brings a new light to it. Visit the Hoa Lo Prison in Hanoi (Hanoi Hilton) which was used as a prison for political prisoners by the French colony at first but then used by North Vietnam for US prisoners of war during the Vietnam War. (An entrance ticket will cost you around 2$). The temple of literature in Hanoi, Cannon fort in Cat Ba, Trang An museum each offered us a piece of knowledge worth learning.
05. The people
Saved the best for the last. The secret to what makes Vietnam such a heart favuorite for so many of its visitors are its people. The Vietnames are super friendly, approachable and helpful. What we valued the most was how the Vietnamese treated everyone from locals to foreigners equally despite race and skin colour. In some of the countries we’ve been treated differently for our brown skin. We’ve even experienced this in our home country Sri Lanka at some of the tourist hotspots where the foreigners are treated better than the locals.
We met so many people that made our trip memorable. One of the fondest memories was when we met some local villagers in Ninh Binh who were having a small drink beside the river who invited us to join them. They shared their grilled fish (the fish was so good!!) and some home-made toddy with us and did not ask for anything in return.
Hope this article inspired you and we hope you will visit Vietnam for an experience worth a lifetime. Please feel free to reach out to us if you need any information