Day 1 & 2 — A travel day (NYC to Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam)
A long travel day. Getting to Southeast Asia from New York City is no joke. The journey started off from my apartment to the subway to the airtrain and finally to the plane. We flew through Doha and landed in Ho Chi Minh City a solid 36 hours later. This journey was particularly rough for me because I started to feel pretty sick, and was pretty sick for the next few days. Luckily, I had my wonderful partner to take care of me.
Day 2 — Ho Chi Minh City
When we landed, we had a few hours before our airbnb opened up. This ended up being a common theme of our trip, we always had a couple of hours to kill before getting somewhere. Vietnam has an abundance of cafes and spas which made this a pretty easy way to spend our time. We headed to Little Hanoi Egg Cafe where we tried our very first egg coffees. The creamy egg foam mixed with the sweet Vietnamese coffee was such a treat after a long day of travel. Afterwards, we both got massages and checked into our airbnb. We spent the rest of the day relaxing and ended the night with a bowl of pho ga (chicken pho) which we quite quickly learned was not a dinner time food. Pho in Vietnam is very much a breakfast dish. By the end of this day, I was so tired and promptly fell asleep.
Day 3 — Ho Chi Minh City
We got up bright and early and headed into the heart of the city to visit the Reunification Palace and the War Remnants Museum. Both of these places are truly worth visiting. The War Remnants Museum had so much horrifying history surrounding the Vietnam War. I learned a lot this day and was also sweating through all of my clothes. Vietnam in the middle of August is frighteningly humid. Just a couple minutes of standing outside and I could feel pools of sweat dripping down my face. We managed to survive the heat by stopping in coffee shops along the way. We also got to have our first bahn mi, another wonderful experience. At night, I got my nails done, another must do activity whilst in Vietnam.
To all of those traveling to Vietnam, the cost of food, transportation and airbnbs is so affordable! It was so nice to be able to walk around without the stress of wondering if something was going to be too expensive. I think Vietnam is perfect for a lot of different types of travelers. If you want to go on an extreme budget, you very much can, and if you want to do something a little more bougie, you can do that too! There’s something for everyone.
Day 4— Ho Chi Minh City to Hanoi
We flew into Hanoi quite early in the morning. This was a tough day for me. I really wasn’t feeling well and spent the majority of the day with a fever. We landed in Hanoi and headed to a cafe to spend a couple of hours before checking into our Airbnb. I honestly felt so sick this day and ended up staying indoors for the majority of it. I’m glad we took this day to rest even though we felt like we were missing out.
Day 5— Hanoi to Ha Giang
I woke up in much better spirits this day and we were off onto our next adventure, the Ha Giang loop. This day was spent mostly on a small sprinter van that took us all the way up north to the city of Ha Giang. The bus was quite the experience. A lot of windy turns and random people getting on and off the bus. I highly recommend taking some sort of motion sickness medication before getting on this bus, or just trying to sleep through it.
We made it to Ha Giang in the afternoon and met up with our easy riders who were going to take us along on their motorcycles for the next few days. We loaded up all of our stuff on the motorcycle and set off to our first homestay.
The views on the first day of the Ha Giang Loop were truly incredible. It was a little uncomfortable getting used to the bike, but by the end of the day I felt like I could do it with a lot more ease. The sun was shining but there was always a nice breeze on the bikes. I felt very safe with my easy rider, even though he was so, so, so speedy. We had a lovely little group with one other solo traveler, who we ended up befriending.
Since we opted to start the tour a little bit later than the rest of our group, we stopped a little less this day to try to make up for lost time. Most Ha Giang Loop tour companies are very well oiled machines. We stopped at some really beautiful lookout points and the drivers were very kind. Most tours also include all meals in a family style. We got to enjoy our dinner at a table together with a lot of veggies, protein and rice.
This night, we stayed at a nicer hotel with a beautiful view of the mountains. I had one of the best nights of sleep here.
Day 6— Ha Giang
On the second day, we got up early for breakfast and got to enjoy some tasty coffee with some more views of the mountains. This was going to be another long day of riding, but we were going to meet up with the rest of the group! I really felt like I got a hang of the bikes by this day. I was able to get on and off the bike with ease and didn’t feel like I was going to fall off anymore. The views on this tour are truly out of this world. I’ve never seen a landscape quite like that one. The mountains were tall but friendly. Everything was the brightest green, and millions of shades of green. I felt like every view was extraordinary.
By the end of the day, we met up with the rest of our group and got to go swimming in a nearby waterfall. This was a vibey experience and a nice way to cool off. We ended the night with karaoke and happy water (really strong alcohol). It was so fun to get to meet a bunch of new people (mostly Australians). This homestay we stayed at felt more like a hostel. There were lots of rooms, and not a ton of bathrooms, but it worked. Everyone had their own private space and I felt like I was able to socialize, but also relax when I wanted to.
Day 7— Ha Giang to Hanoi
For the last day of the Ha Giang Loop, we got up early and had a nice breakfast with some bananas and crepes. We hopped back on the bikes and headed back towards the town of Ha Giang. The views this day were still impeccable, but my butt was quite sore from riding on the bikes for so many days. I was amazed that our easy riders were doing this week in and week out without batting an eye. By the end of the trip, I was pretty exhausted and ready for an everything shower. We got back to Ha Giang, took a quick rinse and headed back in a sprinter van to Hanoi.
For this night, we had booked an extra nice hotel, which ended up being exactly what we needed after a long 3 days on motorcycles. We ended the night with some Indian food and a very thorough shower.
Day 8— Hanoi
Our days in Hanoi were quite fragmented, but this was such a fun day. We woke up fairly early for a nice hotel breakfast. With our bellies full, we headed to the HCM Memorial and walked around the gardens. It was nice to explore the city and the architecture. It was honestly so hot and by the afternoon we were taking a nap in the hotel room.
For the second portion of the day, we had booked a food tour, which was one of the best things we did. We got to try so many different foods, and discovered one of our favorite dishes, bun bo hue (beef noodle soup). For some reason, even though it was so hot out, eating these hot soups was satisfying. We tried different salads, rolls and a couple of different types of dessert. By the end of this tour I was actually bursting at the seams. It was really nice to get to talk to the local guides and learn more about how people live their day to day lives in the city.
We ended the night at the train street where I enjoyed a beer while we watched the train go by. This was a very touristy but fun experience.
Day 9— Hanoi to Ha Long Bay
I’m writing this article several months later and I don’t understand how we packed so much into this trip. This morning, we got up quite early to catch yet another sprinter van that took us to Ha Long Bay for our cruise. This cruise company was another well oiled machine. Vietnam’s tourism industry is so incredible. It feels like people really know what they are doing and the logistics for everything felt very seamless. We got to the cruise ship and were immediately given an itinerary for the next 24 hours. After a quick rest in our cabin, we were called out to go on a small boat tour to explore some of the caves. This was a fun way to get used to our surroundings. We headed back to the main cruise ship and relaxed for a bit. This ship was really nice and had huge windows where we could really see the beautiful landscapes around us. After some relaxing, we headed to the back of the boat to go swimming. The water was so warm and welcoming. This was a perfect way to end the packed day while the sun started to slowly set.
I took a nice shower, and got changed into some nicer clothing to enjoy the last of the sunset with a couple of happy hour drinks. The cruise company we had chosen was definitely on the nicer side. We technically were in a bay right next to Ha Long Bay that was a bit more secluded. I felt like we were further away from the other boats and had a more private experience. We were served a nice sit down dinner and got to end the night squid fishing. I learned that it is hard to catch a squid and that I may not have the patience for it.
Day 10— Ha Long Bay to Hanoi
Before heading back to Hanoi, we had an activity to do quite early in the morning: kayaking. This is one of the big Ha Long Bay activities, and I get it. It was so hot in the morning, but we were able to explore a small bit of the bay. After kayaking, we had a nice breakfast and were back to our sprinter van back to Hanoi.
Luckily, we were able to check into our hotel pretty quickly and still had time to enjoy another walking tour. This was a fun way to explore Hanoi on foot. We got to see the lake, a bookstore and ended at the church. I liked being able to do a walking tour because it allowed us to turn off our brains and not have to navigate for a bit. It was also a nice way to get an understanding of the city and how it is all connected. By the end of this day, I was pretty exhausted and we had a nice sleep before getting up early to travel back to HCM.
Day 11— Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City
This was a fun day because we were definitely in the groove of traveling. We landed in HCM, relaxed for a bit and headed to the Post Office. This was a really cool experience and I liked being able to spend some time there writing letters to my friends. It felt like a nice reflection point. For lunch, we ended up at Popeyes and then had to cross the scariest intersection of my life. Vietnam made me so much better at crossing streets. The Vietnamese people make crossing the street in Vietnam look like a piece of cake.
Day 12— Ho Chi Minh City
For our last full day, we had booked a trip to the Cu Chi Tunnels and the Mekong Delta. We had an amazing tour guide who took us through the entire day. He shared his own personal stories related to the war and was so informative about how it affected the Vietnamese people.
The tunnels themselves are terrifying. I am not someone who gets particularly claustrophobic, but they were tiny. It was such an engineering feat and standing inside those tunnels really highlighted the gravity and bravery of the Vietnamese people.
After exploring the tunnels, we had a nice lunch and headed to the Mekong Delta. This was a fun little boat ride and we got to do some cool coconut and honey tastings. I thought this was a cool way to explore a slightly different geography of Vietnam and our guide made this day trip so, so worth it. We ended this day trip with of course, more karaoke. It was a long journey back to HCM, but if you have time to do this, I would recommend.
Day 13&14 — A travel day (Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam to NYC)
On our last day, we did a motorcycle food tour. This was a fun way to close out the trip. I honestly ate so much yet again. We tried more bun bo hue, crepes, salads and of course, bahn mi’s. I had one of my favorite bahn mi’s during this food tour. This was a private food tour so we were really able to chat with our guides. My only regret was that we could have done these food tours earlier in the trip. It’s hard to say but I think doing a food tour towards the beginning can be good for getting a better understanding of the menus and finding places that you can eat when you are by yourself. We ended this day at the museum, headed back to the airbnb and changed so that we could get on our flight back home.
Our journey back home was long and tiring, but we made it back safely.
Some Reflections
I’m writing this article a couple of months later but writing it brought back so many good feelings. This trip started off rocky, between feeling sick and the heat, but I felt like things got better every day, and the egg coffees were quite helpful with that. Vietnam is such a beautiful country and there is so much to do there. In two weeks, we barely scratched the surface. I feel so grateful to have been able to eat such tasty food and meet some truly kind people. Every person we interacted with was so helpful and willing to share their stories. I think there is something for everyone in Vietnam, and their tourism industry is so well oiled that you will feel safe and welcome on your adventures. Vietnam, I hope to see you again soon.
