Vietnam

Hanoi was our first experience of Vietnam’s traffic, street life and food. Sonia hated the motorbike traffic in the Old Quarter. Crossing the street required a leap of faith: you walked steadily and trusted the motorbikes to flow around you. A food tour helped us get used to the city and included a stop at Train Street. We also saw the water-puppet show, ate chả cá, and visited museums, monuments and some extraordinarily luxurious stores.

We spent a night on Ha Long Bay. The limestone islands supplied most of the scenery; kayaks, small boats and the changing weather supplied the rest.

After Ha Long Bay, we continued to Ninh Bình. The landscape was still dominated by limestone karsts, but here we saw them among temples and inland waterways. We also ate at a dining table inside a cave.

Five nights gave us time for more than the lantern-lit old town. We visited the market and surrounding countryside, had clothes made at The Vy and went to a performance at the Lune Center. Hoi An was one of the places where the longer schedule paid off.

Instead of treating the move from Hoi An to Huế as a transfer, we made it a touring day, stopping at cave sanctuaries, mountain viewpoints and the coast along the way.

We spent two nights in Huế, enough time to explore the former imperial capital’s gates, halls, courtyards and gardens before continuing south.

We ended Vietnam with four nights at the Majestic Saigon. From there, we used Grab to move between museums, markets, historic buildings and restaurants, including Vietnam House. The city was busy, hot and a sharp change from Huế. The contrast between statues honoring Ho Chi Minh and the commerce around them was hard to miss—although Ho Chi Minh himself was a practical man.