Backpacking in Vietnam - Page 2 of 2

Old deteriorated gates in Imperial Citadel

1 Sep, 2012

Northern Vietnam’s treasures: Halong Bay, Hue & Da Nang

After spending a lot of time in Sapa and Hanoi, I needed to hurry up to the other cities if I wanted to stick to my plan. A lot of these cities have only 1 or 2 things which were worth visiting for a couple of days. Halong Bay Halong Bay is one of the most scenic and famous places whenever you talk about Vietnam. This UNESCO World Heritage protected bay area with nearly 3000 little islands makes a great facebook cover photo and postcard picture. Of course with the luck I have, I visited Vietnam during raining season, meaning...

South East Asia / Vietnam

26 Aug, 2012

Sapa – Where rice paddies happen

I originally planned to visit Sapa for only 3 days or so but ended up staying an extra 2 days at the last minute. Sapa is thé place to visit if you want the scenic rice paddies you see on postcards and when people are talking about rice paddies. It is fairly easy to wander around the town and visit the outer lying villages by yourself on foot or with a motorbike. You can find tons of Hmong people around the town selling little handicrafts and offering to guide you to their home village. Their English is suprisingly good, not...

South East Asia / Vietnam

23 Aug, 2012

Last battlefield in Vietnam Dien Bien Phu and Hanoi aka “The Noise”

The first Vietnamese experience was even before I got off the bus. The motorbike touts. They surrounded the bus as we were driving into the bus terminal, already handing out their business cards and asking where you, their new best friend, would want to go. I’ve seen pushy touts before, but none of them can compete with the ones in Vietnam. That said, Vietnam has really shocked and suprised me in the next couple of weeks during my visit. But lets start off in Dien Bien Phu. Dien Bien Phu – Last battle field with the French There’s no real...