Vietnam 2023
I made it to Hanoi, two flights 20 hours flying. Long long couple of days. Today our tour begins another Abercrombie & Kent. I enjoyed having the day to myself yesterday. I went on a long walk. I’m staying at the Metropole Sofitel. Great area I feel extremely safe you have to watch out for your life crossing the streets with hundreds and hundreds of scooters. Someone told me just follow a local when you are crossing. Good advice.
Today we are visiting Ho Chi Minh’s stilted house, One Pillar Pagoda, Temple of Literature, Hanoi Hilton. We are having lunch at a local restaurant. Tomorrow we leave Hanoi and travel 2.5 to Ha Long Bay. On the way we stopped and saw how pearls are made. Very interesting. They had beautiful jewelry in the shop. Workers were planting the small seed into the oyster to make the pearl and another woman was opening the oyster and taking out the pearls. It takes 2-5 years depending on what kind it is. Then we went to a food market beautiful flowers, fish, meats.
Now I’m on a cruise on Ha Long Bay. Beautiful scenery little islands popping up everywhere very calm. I was on the ship Orchid very nice just a calm night. Had a cooking demonstration by the chef on board learning how to make spring rolls.
we departed in the morning and went to visit Hang Kenh Temple and saw a water puppet show.
Late afternoon we left to take a 2 hour flight to Ho Chi Minh City or Saigon. Saw the Reunification Palace and Cao Dai Temple. Stayed at the Reverie in the heart of the city. The next morning we traveled by bus for 2 hours to Cu Chi Tunnels. A veteran gave us an account of what it was like during the war and being in the tunnels. Pretty interesting and I was able to duck walk through a few of them, very tight space. In the afternoon we did a culinary tour and stopped at different local spots. This evening we went on vespas and toured the city stopping at more local spots and trying different foods. They never stop feeding you on these tours thank god we walk a lot. The city is beautiful in the evening and we had a full moon. We drove through the market it is woman’s day here and the markets were crazy people buying flowers for their loved ones. Our last night we took a cruised down the Saigon River and had a Sundowner. Drinks on the water.
Viet Nam Travel tips and Things to see
- Best things to do in Hanoi
- Visit Ho Chi Minh’s house
- One Pillar Pagoda, also know as the temple of loveOne
- Hanoi Hilton prison
- Ride like a local on a cyclo
- Best things to do in Ha Long Bay
- Visit Legend of Pearl and oyster farm and see how pearls are cultured
- Cruise down Ha Long Bay and see the beautiful islets that pop up everywher
- Cat Ba Island, explore Trung Trang Cave
- Best things to do in Ho Chi Minh City
- Try Vietnamese coffee delicious and have pho (noodle soup) for breakfast
- Reunification Palace and Can Day Templ
- Cu Chi Tunnels go down into the tunnels and see how tight a space it is.
- Take a Culinary tour of the cit
- Take a cruise at sunset down the Saigon River.
A small river named Duden
A small river named Duden
Accommodation
Sofitel Legend Metropole, beautiful hotel in the heart of old town Hanoi. Beautiful pool and full service spa. Quick access to shopping, restaurants. A few blocks from Hoan Kiem Lake. Take a walk around the lake, its magical in the early morning, people are exercising, group dancing, playing badminon, doing tai chi, aerobic group exercise. All before they go to work young and old. The Reverie in Ho Chi Minh City also called Saigon. This is one of the most extravagant hotels I have ever been in. In the heart of the city. Great restaurants, full service spa and fitness center, pool overlooking the city. It is on the Saigon River, you can take a ferry across for shopping or just to explore.
1. Tips
I exchanged very little money in Viet Nam. Maybe $100 for the dong mostly for tipping and for local vendors. They all preferred receiving the US dollar. Credit cards were accepted almost everywhere.
Crossing the street you take your life into your hands with all the vespa riders. Someone said to me follow a local when they are crossing. Very good advice.
2. Packing Tips
If you forget anything in your suitcase Hanoi and Saigon had almost everything we have in the US. I was there in March and it was hot. Bring comfortable shoes you walk constantly and its uneven surfaces. I did have sandals but wished I had thrown in another pair of sneakers.
Currency: The official currency of Viet Nam is the Vietnamese Dong (VND). 1 VND is equivalent to 0.000043 USD.
Credit Cards & ATMs: Many of the larger shopping centers took credit cards. I found out the Vietnamese all preferred getting the US dollar.
I only exchanged a hundred basically for tips.
Final thoughts
I was surprised at how metropolitan Viet Nam is. Not sure what I was expecting but the high rises, the traffic is worse than NYC. That’s saying something. I loved the food, the people just want to please you. They have beautiful silks, ceramic hand made boxes, gems they are know for their pearls, sapphires and ruby.
Try Pho, Vietnamese coffee, little restaurants sometimes only serve one specialty and that’s all they serve.
Our guides told us of how their lives were and the atrocities they went through. Most couldn’t even tell us without choking up. It was heartbreaking.
Growing up when the Viet Nam war was going on it was surreal to me seeing all the places that I had heard about on the news. To see the Hanoi Hilton and to think of the Americans held here and how they suffered. Then to be at the Presidential palace in Saigon and look out on the lawn I could imagine the images that have stuck in my head for all these years. It was history coming alive for me.
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