Vietnam November 2023

Good to know

Get an e-sim

Having data across Vietnam will make your life extremely easier and will allow you to use Grab (see later) and google translate (despite English is by now extremely diffused, it will still come in handy to have the possibility  of interacting with almost no barrier languages even in less touristy places).

We got Airalo and for a 2 weeks trip (even using social media rather extensively) 10GB (~20$) should be enough.

Restaurants

You will almost always have vegetarian options. All the restaurants listed below had always vegetarian and sometimes vegan options, including the tour we did! The only exception is Cha Ca Thank Long which only serves one dish, which is fish based. 

Fruit

One will get fruit everywhere and it is simply awesome. I realised I never ever had a pineapple before I came to Vietnam. What we get in Europe is a tasteless stone in comparison.

Fun note: their fruit is so sweet that they often serve it with salt. What a lovely combination!

Ice

It will be almost impossible to not get drinks with ice in Vietnam. Even when we got an espresso they asked us whether we wanted a cup of ice with it! If you are concerned about the quality of water, keep in mind that most of the ice is industrially made and therefore purified water is used.

If you are unsure, look at the ice, the industrial one always has a hole in the middle.

Our itinerary

I added hyperlinks to all the restaurants and activities we did. I hope it will be useful!
The list of restaurants and activities can also found here. I added a 🌟 to those really worth it in my opinion.

10/ November Hanoi

We landed in Hà Nội early in the morning for Vietnam and very late in the night for us. 

Be prepared for a long queue at the passport control, it took us almost an hour.

We have been so lucky and our room was already available, which allowed us to catch up some sleep before starting visiting the old town.

I won’t lie, we have dragged ourselves around this first day. We were extremely tired and the overstimulating traffic of Hà Nội is a lot to handle when you have not slept enough. Nevertheless we had a nice walk around and visited the temple of literature.

• Lunch : MET Vietnamese restaurant :

We have been to this restaurants twice on our first and last day in Vietnam. The food is very good and therefore I do recommend it, but you might get “highly pushed” by the waiter to put a nice review on spot.

11-12/ November Bai Tu Long Bai cruise + back in Hanoi

We joined this Cruise to visit the Bai Tu Long Bay. The reason why we picked this, over the more famous Ha Long Bay is because while in Ha Long Bay you will find up to 300 boats, in this equally beautiful (but further away) bay maximum 15 boats are allowed.
I would have no doubts in investing a bit of time and visit  Bai Tu Long Bay. The views are stunning and the kayaking we did to reach a marvellous tiny beach was simply amazing.

Of course, keep in mind that it is not a particularly adventurous trip, you will find a lot of old people and couples, but it’s the only way to see this bay.

Originally we booked 3days-2nights, but our trip got cut short due to a storm. Nevertheless, I would say that 2days-1night is more than fine and of course is a cheaper option. 

• Dinner (once back in Hanoi)  : PK SPICE INDIAN RESTURANTS 

I had once of the best lentils soup of my life along with a delicious Naan bread.

Bonus point for being open much longer than most restaurants in the old town!

13/ November Ha Noi 

I know, we were not long in Vietnam, but my body was craving a western breakfast, so we headed to Lifted coffee and brunch, before continuing our sight-seeing.  If you are looking for a western breakfast or snack in Hanoi this place is just perfect for you! They have an excellent selection of food and beverages, from English breakfast, to avocado toasts, pancakes,  danish sweets and delicious  smoothies! 

The caffe has a very interesting structure, with a couple of small floors, with inside and outside tables. 

All the staff speaks a perfectly English and they are incredibly nice and efficient

We did not have a true itinerary, just walked where our “heart” brought us!

Few tips : 

• Vietnamese Women museum : the museum does not have a very modern structure, but it will give you a lot of very  interesting insights on the role of women in Vietnam, especially in small villages and ethnic minorities.

• Tired City : A great store-chain to buy souvenirs (mostly t-shirts and posters). They support local artists, giving them 10% of each sell. 

• Water puppet show : we picked it because it was cold and raining, but I actually enjoyed it, despite it is of course a show for kids. Note everything is in Vietnamese, so spend a couple of bucks more to get the audioguide.

• Dinner : Cha Ca Thank Long

Wow! If you are in Hanoi you have to try out the Cha Ca ( a fish based meal with herbs and veggies) and this restaurant is exactly what you need!

They only serve this dish and it’s an absolute explosion of joy and taste!

The crispiness of the fish just perfectly matches the freshness of the herbs. Totally recommended!

After dinner we headed to the train station to catch our night train from Hanoi to Sa Pa. The trip overall is comfortable (especially if you spend a bit more and get a 2-people only wagon), but if you easily get sick, take a sea-sickness pill and be ready to bounce all night.

14/ November Sa Pa 

We arrived in Sa Pa very early in the morning  (6am) and thankfully we already had a transfer booked to the hotel. Keep in mind that it might not be super easy to get a taxi on the go, however there is a bus that will bring you to the city centre (one can buy the tickets on the train).

Once again luck smiled to us and our room at the hotel was ready…. However I’ve never seen such a dense fog in my life! One could not see beyond a meter. 

As we couldn’t do the trip to the silver waterfall as planned, after a wonderful massage in the hotel spa, we went a batik class (a technique to decorate tissue). Well, perhaps class is a strong word, it was a store where a lady would show you how to do it and handed over to you material. 

• Dinner : Moment romantic restaurant

Oliver and I absolutely agree that here we had the best meal of our Vietnam tour. We travelled from north to south and we have never been so amazed as in this restaurant. We highly recommend  the salmon hot pot, despite the portion looked large to us we ate everything! We just couldn’t get enough of it. The broth of the hot pot is simultaneously delicate and extremely flavourful! To complete this already perfect picture, the staff is one the most smiley and nice I’ve ever met in my life. This restaurant will be the cheery on top of the cake of your visit to Sa Pa.

15/ November Sa Pa 

Early in the morning  we headed  to the Cat Cat village. I have mixed feelings about it. It is nice, but it looks like a fake place built for tourists.  

On the way back, as we were running late, we took a taxi, but we had quite an argument with the driver, thankfully ended ok, thanks to the power of google translate!

We went to the Fansipan peak, the highest of Indochina! This was in my opinion one of the highlights of the trip. 

We took a train and then a cable car to reach the “entrance”. Here you have 2 choices: walk 600 steps or take a small train.

We chose to walk the 600 steps and we highly advice to do so for the way up (the way down, we took the small train). 

Along the way you’ll see a lot of wonderful Buddhist statues (including a gigantic one), as well as temples.

I can’t tell you whether the view on the rice field was nice because the clouds and fog never left us! Nevertheless it was awesome! Note: the train and the cable car are a bit expensive, but the alternative is a 2 days hike!

• Dinner : Anise Sa Pa Restaurant 

A lovely spot in Sa Pa, with great and tasty selection of both vegetarian, vegan and meat based meal! For what concern the food I can only have good words, rarely I had such a juicy tofu! However the service is definitely not at the same level. Disclaimer : the following might be biased by western standards. We ordered 2 different meals, which have been served to us about 10-15 min apart, meaning that we basically ate separately. Also the staff was sitting in a corner, paying very little attention to the customers and instead playing videos on their phones very loudly.

16/ November back to Ha Noi

Very early in the morning, we took a sleeper bus from Sa Pa to Hanoi. I have to say, it was quite an experience! Everything was pink and Hello Kitty themed! We still have not figure out if we have booked correctly the tickets, as we ended up having 2 double beds on the bus. 

This solution is pretty convenient to reach Hanoi, but in general, do not take buses (sleepers or not) for long distances if you are on a tight schedule. Bus drivers will stops as many times as they please and for how long they please. Therefore being 2-3h late with respect to the planned time is considered perfectly normal. 

• Dinner:  Bao WOW

This place is outside the old town, but we loved it so much that we came here twice! 

Their selection is not enormous, but this is great because clearly the ingredients choice and the cooking is made with extreme care! The fluffy dough of the bao will feel like a cloud while eating. We also treat ourselves with their chocolate dessert, which was absolutely amazing!

Here, here… we were supposed to take the night train to Da Nang, which is supposed to be an outstanding trip across nature…however our train first got delayed of 2h, than of an additional hour…and that’s when we found out online that there were huge floods along the way… Disclaimer: Vietnamese people are always very nice, but when it comes to problems or hard situations to handle they either disappear or pretend to suddenly don’t understand you anymore… if something goes wrong you’re on your own.

We got pretty scared to get stuck as other people the day before for 18+ h on a train… and we booked a last minute flight for the morning after.

17/ November Hoi An

After landing in Da Nang we got a taxi to Hoi An (~1h driving)…however 500 meters from the hotel the taxi had to stop because the water was too high to continue by car. So, we rolled up our pants and wore flip flops to reach our hotel.

Luckily only around the hotel the situation was so bad, while in the rest of the city most streets were dry.

Despite the water, Hoi An centre is an incredibly colourful place! I was enchanted by the yellow that dominates the city.

Hoi An is the capital of tailor, so if you have 2-3 days it could be a very nice occasion to get a tailor suited dress or suit.

We did not have enough time, but I definitely did not miss the occasion to buy silk foulards and a wonderful silk (pre-made!) dress!

• Lunch : Morning Glory Original 

While walking through the colourful Hoi An, we stepped by this restaurant which immediately caught our eye. Not only the location is very nice, but also the food is excellent. Portions are smaller than what encountered in other restaurants through Vietnam, but this is not at all a bad thing, it will allow you to try out more of their dishes!

• Dinner : Vvegan
  Nice location and good vegan food! Located in a very central spot in Hoi An. (Actually next to the  one we went for lunch)
  
  

18/ November Hoi An

For the first half of the day we joined a tour including a visit to the morning markets, a bamboo boat tour and an awesome cooking class.
Good meals are based on good ingredients and that’s exactly how your day will start with this tour.

Enjoy a very interesting walk through the morning market and get on spot the fresh ingredients you will use later. You will get the chance to see fruits and vegetables that you will hardly see in Europe.

Before starting cooking, enjoy a bit touristy, but definitely fun boat tour.

The cooking class itself is marvellously organised. Each pair of person have their own cooking station. The preparation is carefully explained to everyone and attention is paid to each and every one of the students.

One piece of advice :) have a small breakfast, as you will cook a lot of delicious food during this class.

• Dinner: Morning glory signature
  Elegant setting and very relaxing vibes. The food is tasty ( I had a very nice soup with curry leaves and mushrooms) and served with elegance.  Note this restaurant is on the second floor of a building where multiple restaurants are located, ask at the entrance.

The Lune production is an absolute must if you are in Vietnam, I have never ever in my life seen something so beautiful. My heart is still pumping at the rhythm of the drums. Make sure you do not miss TEH DAR! I wish I could have seen it twice!

Note they have more than one show (we also so OA show in Ho Chi Minh and it cannot compete at all with Teh Dar). 

• Lunch:  Hoi An Madam Khanh - The Banh Mi Queen (Hoi An)

I totally fell in love with the crunchiness of the bread and the juicy filling. 

Despite not traditional the vegetarian version is simply amazing. 

I could have easily eaten another one right after.

Note: the place is very known, expect to queue if you go at peak hours!

After lunch we took a flight to Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC)

• Dinner : Propaganda (HCMC)

Nicely decorated location and good food. For an easy going evening.

20/ November Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC)

Ho Chi Minh City is pretty chaotic, hot, humid and … gigantic! 

We visited 

• the post office. Hard to believe, but it’s a very nice building (however the visit will take you no more than 5 minutes).

• The war remanent museum . The exhibition has a very strong visual and emotional  impact. They rightfully explain with no sugar coating what the country had to go through. It especially describes the atrocities US army did during the 60s. I won’t lie, I had to get out of some rooms as I was not able to handle the emotions…but I believe that memory has to be preserved and it’s our duty to be informed on what happened.  

• Lunch : Ben tahn street food market 

nothing special  in my opinion but a huge variety of food available for any taste

• Dinner : Hum Lounge
  The location is very beautiful and spreads a relaxing atmosphere.  While I really enjoy the starters, which have very interesting combinations, the main courses did not really speak to me.Note that portions are quite abundant and price are a steeper with respect to other locations in Vietnam. Not very recommended. 

21/ November Mekong delta tour (Can Tho)

• Mekong delta tour:
  Our guide was such a lovely young woman, that had such a positive and joyful energy! The absolute highlight of this tour is the visit to the floating market. The sun rising above the boats is one of the most beautiful images I’ve seen in this country.

• The dinner during the tour was not included, so we went to:  Sao Hôm Restaurant. If you can, try to get a spot outside to enjoy the view on the river! 

22/ November Mekong delta tour (Can Tho) > Mui Ne

After the tour (afternoon) we were in HCMC and  we tried Quán Chuối Nướng (Banana sticky rice) I feel pretty confident it was authentic as we were the only people with round eyes in the long queue. Oil liked it a lot, I did not. 

Oli also had a a Bahn Mi at Bánh Mì Hồng Hoa

Then we headed to Mui Ne (we booked a private transfer…as we were too late for buses and they seemed pretty unreliable in general). 

29/November Ha Noi

It was our last day in Vietnam and we only had the morning to do something and we picked an Egg coffee class.

Gene has been a wonderful teacher for our coffee making class. We learned and tasted many different coffees! (Consider to skip coffee at breakfast as you really want to try all of them!)

If you are looking for a relaxing activity in Hanoi old quarter, don’t have doubt in booking it!