Vietnam is probably one of my favorite countries in the world. The history, its people, food, landscapes – it just blows my mind. We traveled to Vietnam a couple of years ago already, but were certain that we wanted to return. As my sister had never been, we saw it as a good opportunity to fly back there and explore the diversity and beauty of the country for two weeks.

First off, our stay in Vietnam started with us screwing up our visa. Haha, we must sound like the most unorganized backpackers in the world, but in our defense – when you are full time traveling, you kinda get caught up in firstly enjoying your time and living in the moment and secondly organizing so many things (at times simultaneously) that you sometimes loose track of the next important steps. We thought we would be eligible for a 30 day tourist visa, as in most countries, and you are, BUT had we read our notes more carefully, we would have seen that this only applies, when you are organizing it beforehand. Upon arrival, you are granted a 15 day visa as a German citizen, which cut our time in Vietnam short. We were debating on what to do, but thought we would make the most of our stay there and add our extra week to another country that we hadn’t been before. And so our trip through Vietnam began:

Hanoi (1 day, 2 nights)

We flew into Hanoi and planned to make our way down towards the south right after making a stop further north in Sapa. I’ve been to Hanoi before and will always be amazed by its busy streets (and by the fact that I haven’t been run over by a scooter or car there yet). Just stroll around through the old town and be amazed on what’s going on there, it’s impressive. But at the same time, Hanoi for me would not be a city to stay longer than a couple of days, which is why we shortened our stay there to two nights and decided to go on our Halong Bay tour, which we booked via the hostel.

We stayed at Hanoi Rocks, which is supposed to be one of the party hostels in the city. Due to the fact that it was still quite cold and off season, the hostel was fairly quiet, but the rooftop bar promises to be fun with more people around. One thing that is a little different in this hostel: Be prepared to “share” your bed, when you are booking an 8 bedroom dorm there. Even though separated by mattresses, it’s kind of weird having to sleep next to a random guy without having the actual intention to do so. It’s an ok hostel, breakfast included and located very central in the old town, with street food (Pho for life) and the night market right at your doorstep, but I am sure you can find a better one, Hanoi sure has many options available for you.

Ha Long Bay (1,5 Days)

Weather wise, the North of Vietnam was definitely not in our favor. Ha Long Bay was rainy and foggy, but that did not hold us back to enjoy nature’s beauty yet again. The area in the northeast of Vietnam and best known for its beautiful scenery with many, many limestone islands and rain forests.

We booked a tour that included kayaking, swimming (way too cold), food and a stay on an island for a night. We were picked up fairly early on Saturday morning by van. After approximately 3 hours, we arrived at the dock and were welcomed by our boat crew, ready to ship off. You are greeted with a welcome bucket of some sort of alcohol and have time to enjoy the view (that is when it’s actually visual) and chill on the sun deck. Lunch on board was really good, which I was surprised about, because mostly on tours like that it’s more simple than anything else. Lucky for us, we had a really good group on the boat, so even though the weather was shitty, we were able to just enjoy each other’s company and relax together. After a couple of hours, we were able to get off the boat and do some kayaking (or swimming but that was obviously off the table), which was a lot of fun, even though none of us has apparently any sense of time haha. Even though I’ve done it before, I can’t get enough of the landscape in Halong Bay. Just take a moment and sit still in your kayak and appreciate how peaceful it can be (that is if there aren’t 5 other boats with you at the same time).

We arrived at the island around 5pm, lucky for us three, we got an upgrade and did not have to sleep in the dorms, but had a room to our selves. After dinner (which was pretty yummy as well) the party part was supposed to start. Considering that it was low season, we never actually had one of the crazy parties that were promised. Instead we enjoyed some cocktails, played pool and got to know the other travelers better.

The next day it was time to say goodbye – we had breakfast, followed by a short hike on top of one of the mountains, viewing over the island and Ha Long Bay. You can actually decide whether you want to stay for one or two nights or you can also choose to take another tour, where you will stay on the boat. Considering the previous night, we were happy to leave after only one night and were picked up around on and brought back to the hostel.

In general, the tour itself was nice, but of course we could have done way more if the weather would have been a bit better. You can find tours to Ha Long Bay everywhere, we booked it with our hostel, but I am sure there are many more options that offer the same or similar Programms. But no matter if winter or summer or which company you are choosing, Ha Long Bay is for sure a must do, when being in Vietnam.

Sapa (2 nights, 2 days)

Going even further up North, no rain was able to stop us this time to make it up to Sapa. Henni and I heard so many good things about it the first time around, that this had to be a definite stop on our list. Again, we booked the tour via our hostel in Hanoi and left the same evening we got back from Ha Long Bay. It’s a two nights (one on the night bus and one in a homestay) two days experience, which for us was the perfect amount considering the weather situation up there during that season. The night bus experience to Sapa was a little unorganized as nobody was there to pick us up when we arrived, but overall, night busses in Vietnam are great, you basically have a bed and can sleep quite comfortably, if you are not too tall that is.

After finally arriving at our home stay, which surprisingly even had WiFi, we had a really good breakfast (the food in general in this homestay was amazing) and got ready for our first walk through the Sapa fields. At the homestay, you can rent rubber boots for a day which I would highly recommend when coming in the winter season. It’s super slippery and muddy and you don’t want to deal with ruining your shoes. Also, the homestay made lunch for us on our first day which we were able to take on our hike. So, after breakfast we all got ready, packed our stuff and were then picked up by our guide Soso (find her Local Perspective here) and started walking through the rain.

During the trek, we all had a helping hand, meaning local women are walking next to you as your buddy and helping you out when it is too slippery. They are super nice and ask you tons of questions, which make some very interesting conversations. But here is the thing – they don’t walk all the way with you, so at some random point they will expect you to buy scarfs, bracelets etc from them, which is fine for me as tipping would be appropriate anyways. But we all thought, that they would walk all the way with us and we were told not to bring anything, so none of us had barely enough money to buy something from them. So, if you are going on a walk, be prepared to have enough money with you to tip them properly. By the end of the day, we somehow managed, but it was still a weird situation for all of us.

Anyways, on our first day, we took the longer trail, which is approximately 12 km and stopped for lunch in a local home, which was super interesting. The family that we stayed with for lunch lived in a simple little house, the children sharing one room and in order not to freeze and to cook their food, they just sat around the fire, which was set up in the next room. I initially thought that Our homestay would have been like this, which would have been a real local experience, but considering how cold it was, it was probably for the best that we skipped a night there. But still, it was super nice to sit together around the fire, Soso told us stories about her life and her upbringing in the village and we shared how life in the western world was for us. I love these moments, laughing together, being surprised how different our lives really are, but at the same time seeing how similar we as persons can be, when we share our hopes and dreams with each other. Regardless of culture, country, religion and upbringing. That sounds super cheesy, but I guess there is some truth in it.

The afternoon for us was free, which after the night bus and our walk, or should I say slide through the rice fields, was very relaxing (and I had more time to chase down the homestay’s puppies and force them to love me). There is really not so much to do when it’s raining, so all we did was chill and shower and wait for the next round of food. Seriously, I would just go back there to eat and roll through the rice fields, it was so yummy. They also sell beer at night and the common area is good for playing cards with the others, so it’s a very cosy atmosphere in general. Just the nights are super, super cold. The three of us slept in one bed, having all three big blankets over us so that we would survive the night. But knowing that it is just for a short amount of time makes it all ok (plus they have hot showers).

On our second day, we went on a 5 km walk, the weather was a little better, but the trail was even worse than the day before. My helping hand was a 12 year old girl and boy, did I feel sorry for her having to walk next to me. I think we both were holding each other up while sliding down the hills together. After the walk, it was back to the homestay and then we prepared everything for driving back to Hanoi, where we were able to stay a free night extra in the hostel as we booked two tours with them.

Hoi An (2 nights, 2 days)

Hoi An was probably one of my favorite stops in Vietnam. The hostel was great, probably one of the best in Asia that we have been in, the city was super cute and exploring the scenery by bike was beautiful.

We stayed in Vietnam Backpackers, which is a new hostel, big bar area, breakfast in the morning, bike rental, tour agency and pool. It’s a little bit out of the way if you want to get to the center, but taxis are running all the time and it’s cheap anyways. Here, we met Rom (ROOOOMI aka Waldi) again, our frenchie, who we already spent the Ha Long Bay tour with at the beginning of our Vietnam adventure. He already did a bike tour around the rice fields the day before and was kind enough to do the same again with us the next day. Personal tour guide, check haha. Getting outside the city really is beautiful in Hoi An. Rice fields, little lakes, local houses, eco village – I just loved it.

But also the city itself has a lot to offer. Visit the market, eat in one of many, many restaurants, walk along the water and enjoy the lights at night (so beautiful), shop in one of many stores (we got some really good deals on dresses, onesies etc. but if you really want to be in style, you should for sure buy anything with a banana on it haha it’s this seasons must wear for every backpacker).

One thing you definitely don’t have to do in Hoi An is the basket tour. We were looking for a filler for our extra day there and decided it looked like a cool option. Driving in baskets over the water, “fishing” with the locals, free beer, the list goes on and on. Sounds pretty ok, right?! By the end of the day, and excuse my language, it really was a lot of bullshit. Yes, you are sitting in a basket, you can watch one person pretending to fish, you are allowed to hold a stick in the water to fish a crab and then you go around for 15 minutes, look at water palms and turn around. That is with I don’t know how many other basket boats in the water. For me, it was just one of these rip off tourist tours, were they pretend to do super local things, but by the end of it you are thinking ‘what a waste of my afternoon’. So, your call but I would recommend spending your time differently and not to do this tour if absolutely necessary. But besides that, Hoi an is absolutely stunning, so go there for sure.

Ninh Van (2 nights, 2 days)

We were a little undecided where to go after Hoi An, when we saw the offer in Vietnam Backpackers that they just opened a new hostel in Ninh Van, Vietnam Backpacker Hostel – Ninhvana, private beach and everything. As we were open to go wherever, we thought we would check it out.

Getting there is pretty easy, just a night bus and shuttle ride away from Hoi An. We arrived super early in the morning and were greeted by, well by nobody cause nobody was there haha. We had to wait a while to check in and to get in our rooms, but walking around at the property already looked very promising. And the hostel really is a good one. Soccer field, spa, bar, beach, kayaks and much more. Only downside is, that there is not a lot to do outside of the hostel and that the prices within the hostel are not as cheap as you would expect from Vietnam. But besides that, it was still a very relaxing stay. If you go, definitely walk through the little town anyways, say hi to the locals, chill on the beach or at the pool and party at night. We had a pretty fun group together, which made our stay there extra special.

Da Lat (2 nights, 1 day)

I feel like you can do so many cool things in Da Lat, such as canyoneering, mountain biking etc., but we were just so undecided between the three of us in what to do, that we ended up just spending a day exploring the city, going to the Hang Nga house aka crazy house by artist Dang Viet Nga and that’s about it. A little disappointing to be honest and one of our “weaker” stays during our trip for sure. That doesn’t mean don’t go to Da Lat. It just means use your time wisely and don’t waste it there as we did. Next time I’ll be in Vietnam I will for sure go for some tours that are more active Haha lesson learned.

Ho Chi Minh (1 night, 0,5 day)

Our last stop in Vietnam and also just a short one, as Henni and I had already been here. We stayed in a privat room at Himalaya Phoenix Saigon Hostel in District 1, very well located to multiple shops and restaurants and all major sights are reachable by foot. For me, personally, Ho Chi Minh is just a little much. I like walking around there to see for example the basilica, the town hall, eat local food or visit the night market, but then it’s enough for me. I just like other stops in Vietnam way more, but I also understand when people enjoy Ho Chi Minh. After all, it’s very vibrant, it’s crowded and has a lot to offer. And besides that, it’s a good hub to go even further down and do some day tours down there or to fly out to other countries in Southeast Asia.

To conclude, there is really just to say that I love Vietnam, i would always go back there to see more and everybody should experience this country at least once in their life.