10 favourites from Vietnam

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Holidays

Vietnam - Saigon

It’s just shy of a week since returning from Vietnam and I’m still sitting in a sea of photos waiting to be processed. Digitally. Occasionally the task of sorting through and processing the photos can feel like, well, a task, but it’s so much fun re-living all the memories while they’re still fresh. I think the sorting process gets elongated because every now and then I’ll take a ‘break’ to just scroll through the photos in Lightroom to see what’s to come.

In a nutshell, Vietnam was awesome. One of the best vacations I’ve had in a long time. While I’ve been to South East Asia before (Thailand, Singapore and Malaysia), that was years ago when I was a kid and with the family. Vietnam felt so familiar and not at the same time. Had a blast.

While I sift and sort through photos and videos (we might have bought a GoPro), here’s a run down of my 10 favourite things I did in Vietnam.

  1. Rented a scooter and biked from Hoi An to My Son for an afternoon. The BEST part of the entire trip.
  2. The train ride from Hue to Da Nang. Not only ridiculously cheap, but you get to see some beautiful scenery.
  3. Eating at some very local and decidedly divey places. Yes, a rat and a cockroach were spotted. But the food was so worth it.
  4. Riding a bicycle through Hoi An.
  5. All the BEER! The cheapest beer I will ever have in my life.
  6. Being cooked dinner by a 75-year-old grand mother, while her daughter and grand daughters serve us.
  7. Sitting on the beach in Da Nang with a beer in hand, watching the world go by. Bliss.
  8. Hai Van Pass – it’s spectacular.
  9. Banh mi. All the banh mi. Every damn day.
  10. All the pagodas. May have got a little pagoda’d out by the end of the trip, but damn are they stunning.

Expect a whole slew of Vietnam related posts soon. As soon as these photos sort themselves.

7 Comments

  1. Jennifer Mitchell

    This is awesome! I took the tourist bus from Hanoi to Ho Chi Mihn City/Saigon over a week long trip through Vietnam YEARS ago. I have to say I was really unimpressed, but I think it was maybe the way that we went about it, or most likely, my expectations. Regardless, I really have been wanting to go back so I am really excited to read your posts about your trip!

  2. How did I miss this post? I’ve been looking forward to hearing about Vietnam and I’m so glad that you liked it! I’ve heard mixed things about Vietnam so I was curious about your experience. I’d like to visit, but it’s not high on my list. I know that sounds odd living in SE Asia, but I hear that they do NOT like the Chinese and based on my looks I’m weary about what experience would be like. Who knows? It could be great. In any case, I’m sure your pics will be stunning!

    • There are a LOT of Chinese tourists in Vietnam, and if I’m being totally honest, I can see why some Vietnamese might draw issue with them – very loud large groups and kind of obnoxious. But that’s a very broad generalisation, and more about the groups of Chinese tourists.

      And no that doesn’t sound odd even though you’re in SE Asia – I’ve been living in the Middle East for nearly two years and have yet to explore anywhere beyond Dubai yet!

      • I forget how much the Chinese have taken over tourism. And they are obnoxious, but I’ve decided any nationality is obnoxious in large groups 😛 In any case, their behavior does not bode well for me!

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