Vietnam in 3 weeks:
Vietnam in 3 weeks
(German) We spent 3 weeks in Vietnam with small backpacks (30 liters) and here we want to share some tips, hints and information about our wonderful vacation :D
We divide the post into different categories:
1. visa
2. accommodation
3. our journey
5. meal
6. drinking
7. haggling
We started in Hanoi in the north and continued in several stages towards the south. Looking back, we were very satisfied with our route and list the most important things here.
1. Visa:
We had already applied for a visa online in advance to save time. So at least our plan. The disillusionment came shortly after landing in Hanoi. The Vietnamese employees at the airport did not care at all, we had to fill out all the paperwork and probably needed in total rather one hour longer because of the communication problems and some ambiguities. Nevertheless we had to pay 25 dollars per person, which was no problem directly at the border. But the staff at the airport was unfriendly and made us wait. It is recommended to always have passport photos with you, because otherwise you have to add these costs, that a photo is taken on the spot with their camera.
2. Accommodations:
Accommodation in Vietnam is very cheap. As a couple we rarely paid more than 10 dollars per night and were in good homestays with breakfast and friendly service. Mostly a transfer is offered to other towns and airports and sometimes there one can buy quite cheap water and beer. It is also worthwhile to ask directly at homestays for tours and onward journeys to other cities, because they often have cheaper and better offers than on the internet.
It is best to always choose homestays with good ratings, then you can usually do nothing wrong when looking for accommodation.
Hostels and homestays are in the same price range, but in our experience homestays are much cleaner and more accommodating and therefore the better choice.
Note that many homestays and hostels do not have card readers, so you often have to pay cash with Vietnamese dong.
3. Our trip:
Hanoi (3 nights) - Halong (3 nights) - Ninh Binh/Tam Coc (2 nights) - Hué (2 nights) - Hoi An (1 night) - Nha Trang (3 nights) - Ho Chi Minh City (3 nights)
Hanoi was first a culture shock for us. Especially the chaos in the streets and the dusty and dirty environment. Actually, one does not have to be afraid of being run over, however, one must dare to simply run over the street and be aware that one must wait also quite sometimes in the middle of the street for the crossing of the second half. Here, one can easily do the city in a whole day, as there are not so many special sightseeings. A pagoda in the north of the city is quite nice to look at, specially if one has never been in one before. As in most big cities in Vietnam, Hanoi also has a big market. Here you can buy quite cheap clothes (5 dollars) and backpacks (10 dollars), but the quality of the shoes is poor and therefore not really recommendable. As a tour we recommend the trip to the rice fields in Sapa in the north. But this is only worthwhile if it is really the rice season (2 times a year for about 2 months). It is best to find out beforehand whether the rice has been harvested or not. We were on the road from mid-October to the beginning of November and most of the rice was already harvested in Sapa, so it wasn't worth the stress and money for us. 
During our holidays we wanted to eat as traditionally as possible and so we always chose shops on the street where some locals also ate. It's probably not everyone's cup of tea because of concerns about hygiene and sitting on small chairs, which in Germany are probably only found in kindergartens. For us it was always the right decision, we never had bad food or stomach problems. On the other hand we met very friendly and open-minded people who were simply happy to have tourists sitting with them. And despite communication problems due to broken Vietnamese on our part and a lack of English on the other hand, we even got wishes like a vegetarian version of the dish. It's important to get to know the Vietnamese dishes in advance in order to know their names. Otherwise one is soon stuck and has absolutely no idea what to order or what to put on the table in front of one. You can find more about that in the section food. We recommend to drink the Bia Hanoi a lot, because it is very tasty and can only be found in the northern regions.
After Hanoi we were glad when we went on to Ha Long. For 10 dollars per person we were there in 3-4 hours. Check in advance where exactly your accommodation is and where the bus will arrive, otherwise you will have to pay for a taxi like us. At the moment there is a lot of construction going on around Ha Long, especially at Halong Bay (2019), so the promenade is not that nice. Ha Long is divided into two big areas, one is the city with all the tourist shops and offers like Sunworld (theme park) and boat tours through Ha Long Bay. We would absolutely recommend to do this tour! It really is one of the most beautiful natural wonders in Vietnam. 
From one day tours with food for only 30 dollars to two day tours on big yachts you can find everything here. We have decided for the day tour. Besides the boat trip we visited a cave, climbed up a lookout point and kayaked around an island. 
Our homestay was in the eastern part of Ha Long, where many hotels were still finished from the outside but still completely uninhabited. At the harbour there are many small fishing boats, with which we were driven through the bay for 100.000 Dong (after good bargaining) together for almost one hour. The hiking trails on the small mountains there cannot be climbed at the moment due to a fire incident. But you can get a nice view from the FLC Hotel and enjoy the sunset at a beautiful pagoda on top of the mountain. To get to the pagoda you have to follow the long road on the top of the mountain to the right, not to the left to the FLC Hotel. We thought that 3 days were enough for Ha Long. 
From here we went for another 19 dollars to Ninh Binh or Tam Coc. Ninh Binh is a bigger city with nothing worth seeing. Tam Coc and the surrounding villages are very nice and friendly. There are many homestays and you can really enjoy the rice fields and nature. Very close is the old capital Hoa Lu with temples, in any case we would recommend a boat trip past the hills and caves. A beautiful place is the Hang Mua Peak from where you have a nice view after about 30 minutes walk. However, it is very touristy and sturdy shoes are recommended. Depending on the season it is possible to visit a butterfly park. In a good season you will probably see hundreds of butterflies in different colours. All in all we think that 2-3 days are sufficient. 
From Ninh Binh we took the sleeping bus to Hue, which was quite relaxed and filled only with tourists. Luggage like backpacks can be given downstairs and a luggage compartment can be taken to your sleep seat. 
Arrived in Hue you can do the Emperial City (Vietnamese edition of the Forbidden City) and the Mi Pagoda, which is 4 km away on foot. From there we took back the dragon boat for 100.000 Dong together and then ate in the city *Bun Bo Hue* (spicy version of the Pho especially common in Hue). 
On the second day and one of the highlights of the trip was the excursion to the Ma Nature Reserve. Here you can see real jungle and with our tour with Tan Nhat Travel (TNT) we were able to take beautiful trails through the jungle for 25 dollars. Good shoes are recommended, because we often walked along the rope. Here we could swim at the 5 Lakes in beautiful clear water. If you are lucky you can see monkeys, snakes, chameleons and loris.
2 days were enough for Hue and the next day we went on with TNT to Hoi An with a few stops at the pass and on the beach.
Hoi An is a very small town which is easy to do on foot. A lot of tourist shops like souvenir shops and restaurants fill the town and according to its reputation there are several tailors in town. Here it is absolutely worthwhile to have dresses for balls, suits or other things made. Most of it takes just one day and all changes are made without any additional costs. The best thing to do is to check TripAdvisor to see if your tailor is good enough.
At night it is the most beautiful city in Vietnam. Many lanterns fill the streets and thousands of tourists are on their way and motorcycles are forbidden. There are sweet little things (che ba ba) which is a mixture of tapioca, sweet potato, coconut milk, lotus seeds, beans, sugar syrup and sometimes other little things. Otherwise we recommend to eat at the market because they offer really good food like Cao Lau (very consistent noodles, speciality) or Banh Mi (baguette with different fillings) quite cheap (~40.000 Dong). One night is enough for the city.
We continued to the beach town of Nha Trang. Unfortunately again a steady town with all the honking, but the beach is nice and the water clear. Here you can relax for a few days and for example spend the day in the Thap Ba mud bath. 200.000 Dong costs once in the mud bath and mineral bath for one hour and otherwise relax the whole rest of the day in the hot water and under warm waterfalls. As further activities we went snorkeling and diving (ScubaDive) at the surrounding islands (Hon Mun), cheap (20 dollars) and recommendable. Furthermore the Ba Ho waterfall is only 10km away and in the city are old Hindu terracotta temples. 
A highlight was the dinner in a small local restaurant. Here we had the best tofu we ever ate and recommended for everyone (even meat lovers). For only 20.000 Dong you get a plate with rice and up to 10 different kinds of tofu and vegetables with very good spice. Here you have the coordinates (12.270674, 109.198163)
to get there, just order Com Chay or Mi Quang, then you get a well seasoned soup with a lot of tofu. This is also available in other cities, but did not convince us as much as here.
If you follow the road to the north, there is a small stand in the evening with very tasty Che Ba Ba. Furthermore you can get very good and cheap fish dishes everywhere for about 50.000 Dong.
From here we went again by sleeping bus to Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC). Here we liked it the worst, many European big buildings and hardly any nice temples, pagodas or parks in the city. The food is a little bit more expensive but if you search a little bit you get very good Banh Mi and different variations of Bun for only 20.000 Dong. Worth seeing are the many markets in the city where you can buy everything. Beautiful postcards can be bought in the side arm of the Postoffice, which shows beautiful landscapes and typical Vietnam on rice paper. Otherwise we would not have found any nice postcards in Vietnam. In HCMC you can still make tours like the Mekong Delta. Most of the day trips go to a workshop for handicapped people where beautiful eggshell pictures are made, then the visit of a pagoda with 3 huge budda formations. Then the trip across the Mekong and a short trip in a local boat through a canal. We were not impressed by the Mekong Delta (Okawango Delta in Botswana is much more beautiful), because also the water level was very deep and everything was quite muddy and dirty. 
Furthermore, we have made the Cu-Chi tunnel tour, where we learn from our guide (KimTravel) a lot of information about the Vietnam War and Agent Orange which was also reinforced by videos. It was advantageous that we were before already in the "War Remnant" museum (nothing for weak nerves, thus rather psychologically for it prepare) in which we already received a lot of information all around the Vietnam war. However, this tour and museum should in no case be done with small children. Beside the tunnels there is a shooting range from which one hears constantly shots through the forest and at the restaurant the volume of it is hardly bearable.
So this was also everything from our trip and it was a very nice time, but also enough, because in the big cities the constant honking and crowding just takes your nerves.
Finally, the highlights were the food and the nature. Especially Ha Long, Ninh Binh and the Jungle in the Bach-Ma Nature Reserve.
4. Dinner:
Here it's always worthwhile to eat in the street and try the local food.
The standard dish is the traditional Pho, a rice noodle soup made from beef stock. It costs only 20,000-30,000 Dong and is eaten at any time of day. Because of the many variations like Pho Bo (beef), Pho Ga (chicken), Pho Chay (vegetarian,), Pho Ca (fish), Pho Cha (meatballs) (although most of them are still prepared in broth) it has become one of our absolute favorites. In the imperial city of Hue it is spiced more and is called Bun Bo/Ga/Chay Hue.
Furthermore you can find everything you can find in a Pho with rice (Com), curly wheat noodles (Mi Xao) or rice noodles (Mien) and in addition shrimps (Tom) and all kinds of fish (Hai San), meat (Thit) and vegetables. 
Our favourite snack is Banh Bao. A yeast dough dumpling with a hearty (mostly meat and egg) filling for 15.000 Dong or sweet filling (Chay) with coconut mixture for 5.000 Dong. They are made in a steam bath and served hot. You can usually find them at small street stalls. 
Banh Mi, one of the absolute classics in Hoi An. It is available in many different variations and quite cheap. A "Vietnamese sandwich" costs only 15.000-25.000 Dong and is usually served with egg, vegetables, different kinds of meat, sauces and cheese. Here you should pay attention to where you order the Banh Mi. It is best to look behind the stand to see how it is prepared (with gloves, with a lot of passion from a sweet granny...) and only then to decide. In the beginning we had a very bad Banh Mi to our taste (hardly any sauce and no egg) but then also very delicious after a long search. For in between and also as a meal very good to recommend.
Tofu can be found in all possible variations and is one of the cheapest foods in Vietnam. It can often be chosen as an option to pho or rice. By far the best tofu with rice (Com Chay) we had in Nha Trang as described in section 3.
If you want to try something fried you should look for small stalls along the road. They are under the names: Banh Chuoi Sai Gon (banana), Banh Gio Cha Quay (sweet fried yeast dough) and some more variations. The mostly freshly prepared (and very hot!) dough particles are among the most delicious desserts we have eaten in Vietnam, especially those filled with banana. But sometimes there are also variations with meat or vegetable filling. Besides, these little treats only cost between 3,000-5,000 Dong.
Cao Lau are special noodles only in the Hoi An area. The recipe for the noodles is strictly guarded by only 3 families, which supply the surrounding restaurants. The ashes of the amaranth tree give the noodles their typical intense taste and light colouring. This is recommended and a must to try.
Che ba ba is a dessert that you must also try. It contains a variety of different small things like sweet potatoes, tapioca (kind of beans), sugar beet jelly or similar, lotus seeds, dumpling with potato, coconut milk or other small things. Be sure to order it without ice cream, as it tastes much better warm.Fruits:
You should definitely try the local fruits like mango, dragon fruit, nashi pears, star fruit, pink guava, guava with chilli salt, dragon eye (longan), longkong, rabutan, mangosteen and anything else that catches the eye.
5. Drinks:
Water is naturally the most important drink, never drink from the tap and therefore it is always best to buy the 5 litre canisters (20.000 Dong) to avoid plastic garbage. You can also fill up water dispensers, but they are not easy to find.
Unexpectedly, we liked the beer better than we thought and as a German beer lover it is easy to drink. Our favorite is the Bia Hanoi, which is only found in the northern region
It has a very refreshing, lemony taste. A very cheap alternative is Halida. This beer costs only 8.000 Dong in the supermarket and comes quite close to light beer. Saigon beer is the classic one with 3 different varieties and is easy to drink, more like a Pils, with the export being stronger and the special more tangy. The 333 beer is easy to drink, but a bit watery. There is also dark Dai Viet beer which was not bad for a dark beer with coffee aroma.
A paradise for coffee lovers. There are special versions like the Eggcoffee, which consists of a broken egg and strongly brewed coffee, very satiating and only for egg taste lovers. Coconut coffee is again a strongly brewed coffee with condensed milk and coconut milk and coconut ice cream.
Coffee in Vietnam has a strong aroma and it is worth trying as a frahling lover.
The coconut is often drunk on the beach and is super refreshing. For 20.000 Dong it is worthwhile and rather longer search and a chilled snatch with handsome size. It is a good idea to have the coconut whipped open after drinking and then scratch it out.
6. Haggling:
In Vietnam it is normal to bargain all the time and everywhere (except in the supermarket). As soon as you are recognized as a tourist, you are often allowed to pay 3-5 times the price. With some negotiating skills, however, you can usually haggle down to half, sometimes even by a factor of 5. Nevertheless, Vietnamese remain friendly and carry out their service as agreed. In our experience, it is rather difficult to negotiate a "Vietnamese basic price" for fruit and vegetables, e.g. 2 oranges under 20,000 Dong (approx. 1 Dollar), especially on local markets.
Also for trips and day trips, one can negotiate price advantages. For example, if you have found the tour offered locally on the Internet cheaper. Often the tour operators give in and lower their price to the internet price.
To change from dollars to Vietnamese Dong it is a good idea to go to gold buying and selling. Their exchange rate is usually much better than in banks or exchange offices. It is better to change big bills (100 dollars), because the exchange rate is better.
Only withdraw money from cash machines where Dong is issued. There you will usually find the fee due.
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