Hello Vietnam!

Thanks to extensive preparation in Athens, we entered Vietnam effortlessly, receiving our visas and passing customs in ~30 minutes. With border formalities completed, we picked up 28GB SIM cards for only $13 dollars; hello cheap Vietnam! Data needs satisfied, we caught a transfer into Hanoi, 40 minutes away, where we were immediately overwhelmed by the chaos of the city. We came to Vietnam looking for something different and wow, we found it!

Why Vietnam

We picked Vietnam for a few reasons.

First and foremost, we were looking for something “different”, a taste of culture shock to spice up our trip. Southeast Asia seemed like the perfect destination for immersing in a non-western culture.

Second, we felt that Vietnam is at just the right level of development. On the one hand, it’s less touristy than Thailand so we can find relatively untouched destinations. On the other hand, it’s more developed than Cambodia or Laos so that, when we feel overwhelmed, we can still find western comforts. Furthermore, the country is developing quickly. Unlike Europe, it will be a very different place in 10 years. As a result, we wanted to visit before it developed into a less interesting place.

Finally, we’ve heard wonderful things about Vietnam. It’s beautiful, interesting and full of delicious food.

Traveling Slower but Deeper

As we researched Vietnam, we realized it provided the perfect opportunity to slow travel. In contrast to Europe, where we skimmed each city/country, we are taking 2 months for Vietnam. With time on our side, we’re staying longer in each location, attempting to really get a feel for the country.

Touring

With all of that said, we still want to see the highlights. Consequently, our initial stops followed the standard tourist script. First, we flew into Hanoi where we recovered from Jetlag by eating delicious street food. Next, re-energized, we caught a sleeper train to Sa Pa for trekking (hiking). Exhausted from 3 days of hiking, we returned to Hanoi for one night then bussed to a cruise in Ha Long Bay, the prettiest bay in the world.

In our next post, we’ll walk the talk, getting off the beaten path by visiting some less frequented destinations.

Hanoi

Hanoi is the ideal base for touring northern Vietnam. Most importantly, it’s a fascinating place. The old quarter is chaotic, fun, insane, and brilliant, all at the same time. Naturally, we had a blast exploring the city. Furthermore, northern Vietnam’s best destinations are easily accessed via Hanoi with tours and transportation to Sa Pa, Ha Long Bay, etc. all originating in the city.

Crazy Town

In the wise words of one of our friends, “Hanoi is crazy town.”

Hanoi’s mass of mopeds made us feel like deer in headlights whenever we tried to cross the street. Mopeds are everywhere and they stop for nothing (pedestrians, cars, lights, intersections, other mopeds).  We thought the mopeds in Europe were aggressive, we were wrong, those drivers were courteous compared to the insanity that is Hanoi.

Compounding the situation, sidewalks are not for walking. Instead, they are an ad hoc combination of parking lot (for the mopeds, of course), restaurant seating (with tiny children’s stools), and kitchen/store space (for the delicious street food that is literally cooked in the street). So, “Where do you walk?”, you ask. In the streets, of course, with the locals, mopeds, cars, buses, and chaos.

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Street Food

We toured Hanoi simply by walking the streets, observing the craziness, and, most importantly, by eating delicious street food. If Hanoi is known for anything, it’s street food. Initially, we were concerned that we wouldn’t be able to identify vegetarian street food so we found an amazing, vegetarian-friendly street food tour with Minh (link).

We’re not sure where to start with this experience, as it exceeded our expectations so completely. Over the course of 4.5 hours, we walked all over Hanoi’s Old Quarter, stopping at various local vendors, each operating out of a tiny restaurant or right in the street. In those 4.5 hours, we consumed 24 delicious servings (12 each), composed of 17 different dishes. All for the modest price of $54 (total, not per person).

As we ate, Minh told us about her life in Vietnam and Hanoi. In return, we shared our own stories and we found her reaction to life in the U.S. as revealing as her stories. At one point, we discussed weddings for 45 minutes, ours being recent and hers approaching quickly. We felt she was genuinely interested in hearing our stories and we know we loved hearing about their 400+ person (!) weddings. (She got to invite friends to her brothers’ wedding.)

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Sa Pa

Sa Pa is a picturesque, mountainous region in northwestern Vietnam. Located ~8 hours from Hanoi by sleeper train, it’s a popular destination for trekking (hiking with your belongings). As with most tourists, we went to Sa Pa in search of luscious rice terraces, authentic homestays, and conversation with local minority guides.

In the spirit of traveling slower, we booked a 3 Day 2 Night (3D2N) tour instead of the standard 2D1N and we’re glad we did. The extra day brought two benefits. First, while our first homestay was a bit commercial, the second felt much more authentic (though it still provided a hot shower, thank goodness). Second, we were completely alone for the third day, seeing virtually no tourists on the final day of hiking. This privacy provided a nice balance with the first two days, during which we made friends with others on our tour.

Making Friends

We were fortunate to be paired with a fun group for our first two days of hiking. Everyone was friendly and interesting. Over those two days, we all chatted about our lives, travel, and Vietnam, making the hiking even more enjoyable. The group enjoyed hanging out so much that, 2 weeks later, we still have an active WhatsApp chat.

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Homestays

Authentic homestays are among the best reasons to visit Sa Pa. All things considered, we were a bit disappointed by the first night but the second was precisely what we hoped for. For starters, just look at the view from the balcony.

More importantly, it was a true homestay, run by a single, friendly family that spoke no English. During our visit, Grandma and Grandpa were watching their grandchild while mom worked in town and we loved watching Grandpa playing with his grandchild. He even brought the baby over for high fives and Jackie to hold. We like to say that people everywhere are more similar than different and this is a perfect example. We may speak different languages but laughter is universal and Grandpas everywhere are excited to show off their grandchildren.

Though the family spoke no English, they employed an English speaking assistant during daytime hours. During a visit with her, Jackie was astounded to learn that, not only had she never been to school, she learned fluent English over the last two years by talking to tourists. Amazing!

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Trekking

Last but not least, Sa Pa delivered beautiful trekking. As we arrived after harvest, the terraces were not as green as the promo pictures. Fortunately, they were still stunning. We trekked 10 to 15 KM each day, traversing rice paddies, water channels, hills, and streams.

We loved trekking and consider it one of the coolest things we’ve ever done. Admittedly, we’d hoped to get a bit farther from civilization but we still consider the tour a success and would recommend it.

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Ha Long Bay (Lan Ha Bay)

Ha Long Bay is a UNESCO world heritage site and one of the “must visit” locations in Vietnam. Nowhere else in the world looks like this marvelous bay with its two thousand miniature mountain islands.

As in Sa Pa, we picked the longer 3D2N Cruise instead of the typical 2D1N tour, giving us extra time to admire the bay. In addition, we toured Lan Ha Bay, Ha Long Bay’s adjacent, less well-known cousin. Unlike Ha Long, Lan Ha Bay doesn’t have UNESCO status. As a result, it’s not as touristy or polluted but is similarly beautiful. While we haven’t lived the counterfactual, we are glad we both stayed longer and toured the less crowded bay. We felt 24 hours was insufficient time for appreciating the areas beauty and, if Lan Ha is truly less crowded/polluted, we can’t imagine what Ha Long must be like.

The tour included various activities: biking, swimming, kayaking, etc. Realistically, while these were enjoyable, the bay itself was the true highlight of our visit. We loved simply hanging out the window of our cabin, watching the sunset.

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Observations

Where to start. Vietnamese customs/norms easily make it the strangest place we’ve traveled. In some ways, this difference is exhilarating, taking us out of our comfort zone. In others, it’s exhausting, making us look forward to the western comforts awaiting us in our return home in January.

Mopeds, Mopeds Everywhere

A guide informed us that cars are subject to 100-200% tariffs. Combine that with a low median income and you understand why mopeds are the favored form of Vietnamese transportation. It’s amazing to see a family of 4 or actual furniture balanced on a single moped.

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Marriage Customs

As we’re on our honeymoon, marriage frequently comes up in conversations. In fact, we’ve discussed it with 3 different guides/hosts. Each time we do, we learn something fascinating.

Of the stories we heard, the strangest was in Sa Pa, where girls still marry between 14 and 18 years old. As recently as ten years ago, they had a custom where a man would kidnap the woman he wanted to marry (she didn’t necessarily know the man) and take her to his family home. She had to stay for 3 days before returning to her own family and deciding if she wanted to marry him. She could say no, but only twice. After the third kidnapping, she essentially had to say yes. WTF!

Fortunately, this custom is no longer practiced. The area had an issue with suicides where a dating couple would end there lives after the woman was forced to marry another man. That’s right, they had an epidemic of Romeo and Juliet. It’s unbelievable and heartbreaking.

Pollution; Noise and Physical

Vietnam is, sadly, badly polluted. Litter presents the most striking image, lying in the streets, floating in the ocean, or even piled in the jungle behind a village. We understand that it’s hard to worry about pollution when your society is poor but it’s still sad to see.

Likewise, noise pollution presents an incessant background to life in Vietnam. In particular, Vietnamese people honk horns like it’s an addiction. Instead of following traffic rules, they drive anarchically, trusting that constant honking will create a force field around their vehicle. Admittedly, it seems to work, but it makes walking the streets unpleasant and sleeping difficult.

Thank you, Buddhism

As vegetarians, thank goodness for Buddhism. Many Asian cuisines are meat/fish-based, which would make traveling here impossible. Luckily, many Buddhists are vegetarians, so there’s plenty of delicious vegetarian cuisine for us to delight in.

Conclusion

Northern Vietnam is, thus far, amazing. It’s the prettiest region we’ve ever traveled. On top of the beauty, the culture is fascinatingly different. We’re having a lot of fun. With that said, we think that, after a few months of culture shock, we’re going to be hungry for the familiarity of home.