Vinh Long, Vietnam: Vinh Love You Long Time
The Story – Vinh Long, Mekong Delta, Vietnam
Exploring Vietnam
Articles, Tips, Everything you Need to Know about Visiting Vietnam
I consider myself well-versed in Vietnam. I lived there for years, and I’ve traveled to almost every corner of the country. I love (most of) Vietnam. Of course, it’s not for everyone. But the people who love it have a connection to the country that they just can’t shake.
Anthony Bourdain called it his “first love”. Saying, “I’ll come back to Vietnam, always.”
The amazing war film Apocalypse Now has a line about being stationed in Vietnam, “When I was here, I wanted to be there; when I was there, all I could think about was getting back…”
In a lot of ways, this is Vietnam. There are plenty of frustrations that come with living and visiting the country, but it’s truly a magical place, an addictive place. The vibrations it gives off is like a high that you didn’t notice needed until it was gone.
Budget Guide to Vietnam
$20/day
This backpacking guide to Vietnam covers 22 locations in Vietnam and shows you how you can travel the entire country for $20 a day. It took years of traveling to complete this detailed travel guide.
Vietnamese Food Guide
When I first moved to Vietnam, I started documenting everything I ate. Two years later, I had this complete food guide to Vietnam with over 75 dishes. It includes a food dictionary that will help you translate a Vietnamese menu.
Ben Tre, Vietnam: Tour-less in the Mekong Delta.
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The Story – Ben Tre, Vietnam
We almost decided not to go to the Mekong Delta. It’s one of the places we found the most difficult to research transportation for. Even Lonely Planet’s Southeast Asia on a Shoestring suggests that the easiest (and cheapest) way to do it is to buy a tour from a travel agent in Ho Chi Minh City. This may be an easier option but the idea of spending three days on a tour bus, cramming in as many towns as possible, and eating in the prescribed restaurants is not really our scene. We decided to go at it alone.
Ho Chi Minh City or Saigon? (Sooner or later…one has to take sides. If one is to remain human.)
Our Budget Guide to Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
The Story – Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam: Our First Visit
Having spent the last few weeks in the safety and comfort of Vietnamese beach resorts, we were a little nervous about venturing to Ho Chi Minh City. We pictured it as a huge, vast metropolis with billions of people milling about on their motorcycles in conical hats. We thought it would be dirty, and we thought the overpopulation of Vietnam would be felt here the most.
Vietnamese Beer Review
There are 329 beer producers in Vietnam. Sara and I would love to try all of them but we don’t have the time or the liver to spare.
Beer brand popularity widely varies from province to province. This is because there are so many breweries and the cheapest, and freshest, beer is often the one made by the closest brewery.
Huda (Hue, 4.7%, 450ml, 10,000 dong/$0.50)
Ryan: A pretty clean taste. Easy to drink. Who da man? Huda da man! 6
Sara: It’s good — not too strong. I wouldn’t buy it if it weren’t cheap and plentiful here. I think the volume of the bottle is ideal. You can really taste that Danish technology. 7
Mui Ne, Vietnam: Resort to it.
The Story – Mui Ne, Vietnam
We left for Mui Ne from Nha Trang, taking a bus that we booked through our hotel. We usually book buses directly with the company to avoid the commission fee that hotels and travel agents charge, but we were having a hard time finding a bus ticket office. The only ones that we could find were sleeper buses (Sara’s worst enemy). The hotel hooked us up with Tan Hanh Travel (126,000d/$6). We found out that the bus’ ticket office is at 14A Tran Hung Dao and if we had booked directly through them, we would have only paid $5 for the ride (that’s a savings of 2 beers!).
Vietnamese Tropical Fruit (and how to eat it).
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The Mekong Delta provides many treats to a traveller: the abundance of river waters, the friendly people, the less-touristy cities, and the freshly grown tropical fruits. We decided to indulge in the latter. If you enjoy this article and want to learn more about Vietnam’s amazing food, I have a guide with over 75 dishes Food Lover’s Guide to Vietnam
Want to travel Vietnam? We did it for $20/day! Check out our Budget Travel Guide to Vietnam
Nha Trang, Vietnam: Sun, Sea, Sand, and Scams.
The Story – Nha Trang, Vietnam
From Quy Nhon‘s nearest train station, Dieu Tri, we took SE5 (220,000d/$10.50) at 3:09pm and arrived in Nha Trang around 8pm. That night Ryan vowed never to ride a Vietnamese train at night again, after witnessing a mouse run out from under our seats, across the aisle, and towards an adjacent lady’s bag of corn that she had on the floor.
Quy Nhon, Vietnam: The Key to Nom Nomming Seafood
The Story – Quy Nhon, Vietnam
Quy Nhon, Vietnam doesn’t see a lot of tourists and it breaks up a trip from Da Nang or Hoi An to Nha Trang nicely. The train ride from Da Nang was about 6 hours long, cost 180,000d/$8.60 and took us to Dieu Tri where we had to take a taxi to Quy Nhon which cost the same as the train despite it only be about 10km.
Tourist Limbo: Caught Between Hoi An and Da Nang, Vietnam
The Story
We thought about skipping Da Nang, Vietnam but decided against it. It was a good decision. Our first train ride in Vietnam was a pleasant one. We took train SE1 (70,000d/$3.30) departing Hue at 8:02am and, one Scrabble game later, we arrived in Da Nang around 10:45am.
Hue: Good Evening, Vietnam!
The Story – Hue, Vietnam
We arrived in Hue at around 7:30PM, after a gruelling bus ride, and jumped into a taxi. It cost us 150,000d/$7.10 to get from the bus station to the guesthouse area. We felt we were paying too much but no one was willing to negotiate, they refused to use their meters, and it was dark out so navigating the city ourselves would have been difficult and intimidating. We always try to arrive in a new city during the daytime. It’s easier to find a guesthouse, the taxis are cheaper, and if you need to walk out of the bus station and find a cheaper taxi, you can do it without having to worry about walking into a dangerous neighborhood in the dark of the night. We took our overpriced taxi to the Original Binh Duong 3 Hotel (now known as the Sunny B Hotel) where we got a decent room with AC, TV, mini-fridge, and a private bathroom (250,000d/$12 per night).
Crossing the Laos-Vietnam Border: The Bus From Savannakhet to Hue
We took a bus from Vientiane to Savannakhet which was a killer nine-hour ride. Our butts were sore but we headed to Leena Guest House for the night.