A very beautiful country. This country has its own vibe. Like what do you even say about a place that just completely took over your brain. You land, it's chaos, it's hot, motorbikes are coming from directions that shouldn't exist, someone's already trying to feed you something, and within a day — maybe less — you're googling how hard it is to get a long stay visa. That's just what Vietnam does to people.
It's beautiful. It's so cheap it feels slightly wrong. The
food is not something I can describe in a way that will prepare you. Just trust
me and go.
Why Vietnam
Honestly? Because nothing else comes close for what you
spend. Like nowhere. The only food in
the flight worths. The beaches are the kind of beaches people put as their
phone wallpaper. The history is heavy and real of this country. And you will engage
with it even if you do not like to. And the coffee-god, the coffee — will
genuinely ruin you for wherever you live.
The places
Ha Long Bay: Yeah yeah it's the obvious one. It's
obvious because nothing prepares you for actually seeing it. Thousands of
limestone islands just sticking out of this wild green water and it looks so
unreal your brain kind of short circuits a little. Get on an overnight cruise,
even a budget one. Kayak through caves. Eat seafood on the deck while the sun
goes down over the islands and try not to cry about it.
Ho Chi Minh City: Everyone calls it Saigon, including
the signs sometimes, including the locals always — is the fastest city I've
ever been in and I've been in a lot of cities. It just moves. Everything is
happening at full volume all the time and at night it somehow gets even more
alive — rooftop bars, street food stalls going until 2am, music coming out of
everywhere, people just out living their lives. The War Remnants Museum will
gut you. Go anyway. It matters more than anything else on this list.
Da Nang: It is honestly just a city that has its act
together. Clean, easy to get around, beautiful beach right there in the city.
The Golden Bridge up at Ba Na Hills — held up by two giant stone hands coming
out of the clouds — is the most unhinged thing I've ever seen and I mean that
as the highest compliment. Go.
Hoi An: There are places you visit and places that
get inside you. Hoi An is the second kind. The whole town is hung with colored
lanterns. The buildings of this town are warm faded yellow. And at night when
it all lights up and reflects in the river it looks like someone art directed
real life. You will rent a bike and get around there. Get something made by a
tailor — seriously, the quality is good and the prices are so low you'll feel a
bit guilty. Hoi An is the one place in Vietnam where having no plan is the
actual plan.
Sapa: feels like a completely different country. Up in
the northern mountains, rice terraces going down steep hillsides, cool air,
mist sitting in the valleys in the morning. If you can go in September or
October when the fields turn gold — do it. Just do it.
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The food
I'm going to try to be measured about this and I'm already
failing.
Pho first thing in the morning because that's what people do
there and by day two you'll completely understand why — the broth takes like
twelve hours and you can taste every single one of them. Bánh mì from a street
cart for fifty cents that is somehow, genuinely, one of the greatest sandwiches
that has ever existed. Bún chả in Hanoi is grilled pork with noodles and a
dipping sauce that I still think about regularly, do not leave without trying
it. And the coffee — it drips through this tiny little metal filter really
slowly and what comes out is this strong, dark, perfect thing. Then someone
tells you about egg coffee and you think that sounds disgusting and then you
try it and you have to sit down.
Eat food where locals eat. If the place has plastic stools
and a line and it looks chaotic, that is the place where you must have to try
the food. Every time without exception.
Getting around
Budget airlines are cheap if you book early — VietJet and
Bamboo Airways. The train between Hanoi and Da Nang is slow but the coastline
it runs along is so beautiful the slowness almost becomes a feature. Sleeper
buses are better than they sound — you're horizontal, you wake up somewhere
new, done. Motorbikes are great within cities. Just — the traffic is actually
genuinely wild here, not in a scary way exactly, more in a
there-are-no-rules-but-there-are-vibes way. Go slow. Move predictably. You'll
be fine.
Money
Vietnam is already cheap. Guesthouses under $20, often with
breakfast. Street food will be under $2 and you will get full. Budget airlines
under $50. It is normal to be bargained at Vietnam. Use Grab for getting around
cities — it's Uber basically and you won't get overcharged.
The people
This is the part that catches people off guard. Vietnamese people are genuinely, quietly kind. Not in a performing-for-tourists way. Just actually warm. Take shoes off at homes and temples. Dress modestly at religious sites. Don't lose your cool when plans fall apart because they will and staying calm works infinitely better. Learn xin chào and cảm ơn — hello and thank you — and just watch how people's faces change when you try. It costs you nothing and it means a lot.
Safety
Yeah, fine, genuinely. Violent crime is rare. Watch your bag
in crowds, use Grab not random taxis, copy your passport and keep it separate
from the real one. Cross roads slowly and steadily and don't freeze — the
traffic has a flow to it that your brain will eventually figure out.
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Beaches
Phu Quoc: tropical island, white sand, clear water, still
not overdeveloped. Nha Trang: lively, nightlife, watersports, popular. My Khe
Beach in Da Nang: in the actual city, clean, easy, great for a swim after a day
of walking around.
Nightlife
Saigon is genuinely one of the best nights out I've had
anywhere — rooftops, live music, street food at 1am, just people everywhere
doing everything. Hanoi is calmer but the Old Quarter bar scene is great if you
like actually being able to hear people talk. Hoi An at night is just the
lanterns and the river and an inexplicable feeling that everything is okay,
which is honestly more than most nightlife offers.
For first International Trip
English is spoken widely in tourist areas. Moving between
cities is easy and cheap and well set up for visitors. The range of stuff you
can do is huge — mountains, beaches, cities, history, food — so whoever you
travel with, however you like to spend your time, you'll find your thing.
Okay last thing
Vietnam doesn't try to impress you. It just exists — loud
and messy and beautiful and full of food and life — and at some point, usually
without you noticing, it gets you.
You'll walk through Hoi An at night with
lanterns above you and take a hundred photos and not one of them will actually
get it.
Just go. 2026. Vietnam. Do it.
This time I made it more uneven on purpose — some sections
longer and rambly, some abrupt, digressions mid-thought, sentences that don't
wrap up perfectly. That's what actual human writing looks like.
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