The Vietnam experience and the amazing Phu Quoc islands
Curiosity leads to a profound experience
Mid-year 2023, two of my college friends Rogin and Aniruddha, after a chaotic, heated argument on a phone call, decided to visit Vietnam this year. In early September, they asked me, if I could join them, and a week later I confirmed. Meanwhile, another college friend, Adarsh, said yes, making us the desirable four. Not less, not too many, can easily fit in a single room, in a 5-seater car, in a single boat for all that matter, experiencing things, together.
After grueling and tiring, afternoon, evening, and late-night discussions, we finally decided on a solid itinerary to visit both North and South Vietnam, along with Phu Quoc islands in 10 days. The places are all scattered across the country and diverse. We decided to visit the historical Ho Chi Minh City, the wonderful Phu Quoc islands, the dazzling city of Hoi An, and the capital city, Hanoi.
It involved booking four AirBnbs, in total four domestic flight transfers in India ✈, a bus ride 🚌, a train ride 🚆, a return ticket from Vietnam, and another four Vietnam domestic transfers.
Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC)
So the four of us met at Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport in Bombay to board our VietJet flight to HCMC.
After around 5 hours, we landed in HCMC. We got the mandatory sim, primarily, to book Grab, and exchanged dollars for the Vietnamese dong. It was a hot and dry morning in HCMC. We could feel the sun en route to our AirBnb.
Talking about the AirBnb, the four of us together, booked a very typical townhouse, which was real-life version of dollhouse! In all seriousness we booked this, primarily due to location, our tight budget, which keeps on getting increased for all the right reasons (yeah! no regret), and my lack of patience on spending more than 5 minutes on AirBnb to book a stay.
Independence palace
We first decided to visit the Independence Palace, which was situated in the middle of the city. The entire place had great architecture, with a large, wide, white building, surrounded by a beautiful lush green lawn.
War Museum
This was second in our list in HCMC. This building primarily stores the remnants of the Vietnam War. It contains artifacts used during the war, including weaponry, tanks, and choppers.
Book street
We visited this place in the evening. Honestly, we did not find this very significant. However, it looked very appealing in the evening, with the lights.
Saigon Skydeck
Saigon is the historical name of Ho Chi Minh City. The Saigon deck is nothing but a 68-storey high-rise building, in the heart of HCMC. The view from the top is picturesque and colorful. Certainly, the words are not enough to describe this urban, glittering, city-centric glimpse, of a high-paced city, from the top.
Everyone was clicking photos here, so did we.
Disco Street
Surprisingly, a band was playing Back In Black, emanating the energy to the entire street.
Food!!!
This ended intense and tiring day 1 in Vietnam.
Cu chi tunnel and Mekong Delta tour
We spent the entire day 2 visiting the famous Cu Chi tunnels and Mekong Delta. These are around 1–1.5 hours away from the city.
The Cu-chi tunnels were very significant during the war. This place had booby traps for American soldiers during war, and camouflaged gates set up by Viet Cog soldiers to hide themselves from the opposition. An interesting place, with a very intense atmosphere considering the history of Vietnam.
The Mekong Delta was the first of many water bodies that we visited during our visit to Vietnam.
If you ever visit this place, try the famous coconut candies.
Two kind women, helped us traverse through the delta, with their boat. It was a beautiful region, covered with mangrove forests. After half an hour ride we enjoyed local tropical fruits in the company of Vietnamese traditional singers.
~Aniruddha summarizes this experience.
Phu Quoc islands
Phu Quoc is an island in Vietnam that is often overlooked by tourists who follow the Ho Chi Minh — Da Nang — Hanoi route. It is probably the most adventurous part of Vietnam and some tourists even just visit Vietnam for Phu Quoc. Connectivity is limited from Vietnam, but once you are in the islands, you can easily use scooter/bikes
We reached Phu Quoc airport and instead of going to Airbnb first, we went to John’s tour. It is probably the best place you can go for adventure activities and they were extremely professional with the entire thing. They also agreed to keep our luggage in the van while we completed the island tour in their boats. Our first stop was a larger cruise, in the middle of the sea, where we had the option to do sea walking. Being adventure-loving and considering our lives worthless, we went ahead with it. Surprisingly, our group was the only one who opted for this. The price for sea-walking was 5000 INR per person, and the activity lasted for around half an hour. The entire experience was extremely phenomenal and we enjoyed it a lot. For those who are unaware, sea walking is walking on the sea bed while you have a helmet, which will have a pipe supplying oxygen from the boat. You can breathe normally inside and it’s unlike Scooba wherein you have to learn the breathing techniques. If you have done Scooba, you may find the experience a little underwhelming compared to it but still won’t fail to have fun. The view inside the water was crystal clear and we could see all sorts of fishes and corals. We also got our pictures and videos taken and it left a lasting memory for all of us. Post the activity, we were back on our speed boat which took us to Xuong Island. Again the snorkeling experience was great with crystal clear water and countless fishes! We just swam around till we were completely exhausted and of course, were forced back to our boats. It was then time to go to May Rut Trong to enjoy the beach and also a nice hot barbeque!
We chilled on the beach, clicked infinite photos, and got changed for dinner. The island had all the arrangements available and the food was amazing (maybe not for the vegetarians). We headed back to the mainland and the van dropped us back at the Airbnb.Our Airbnb host was extremely helpful right from the time we booked the room. Even the room was great and had all the required arrangements. The host had a long talk with us regarding all the activities we could do in Phu Quoc and sent us a list of places, restaurants, and everything essential in Phu Quoc. The very first thing that we did was get ourselves 2 scooters which again our host helped us get.
We were extremely exhausted from the many activities throughout the day so we skipped on sleeping, like normal humans would, and went for a night ride with our bikes. One thing that needs much praise is the roads in Vietnam. The entire road was in great condition and we could easily reach speeds of 80–90 km/hr on our scooters. We explored around a bit and finally got back to our room.
~Rogin shares his experience.
The next day was extra special because we were supposed to go to Vin Wonders Adventure Park along with Safari.
VinWonders
Next day, we spent an entire day at VinWonders and it’s safari. Covering both in a single day will be tricky, especially when you fall sick, thanks to snorkeling under burning afternoon sky. But with sheer perseverance, we managed to cover both adventure park and the safari. First we went on a safari and then opted for a tram ride as we were half dead. We saw flamingos and other birds, and some terrifying crocodiles, which were ready to eat us alive, if we were at a striking distance.
Then we headed over to the adventure park and the aquarium. The highlight of which was penguins, if you see it for the first time. Finally, at the dawn of night, we were treated to a spectacular show at the entrance with all kinds of visuals imaginable. Overall, a very good experience…
~Adarsh opined
Phu Quoc turned out to be the best part of Vietnam because of its many activities. The Airbnb and our host on top of that made sure we had the time of our lives. We are not too much of tippers but we had to leave behind a tip for our host with a note for the delightful experience that she gave us.
~Rogin
Da Nang and Hoi An
We left Phu Quoc early morning the next day for Da Nang. We re-booked an indirect VietJet flight to Da Nang, thanks to Bamboo Airlines, canceling the only direct flight.
An hour’s drive from Da Nang will take us to our third destination Hoi An.
We booked a beautiful villa, and thanks to the wonderful host, who we cannot stop appreciating, had a great stay. Check our Google review with the name Aditya Mahajan, here.
Bana Hills, Golden Bridge, Wine museum
Starting in the morning, the next day we started for the very amazing, soul-soothing, cold region of Bana Hill. Here we visited the astounding Golden Bridge and Wine Museum. Words are not enough to describe this place, it was a dreamland at the very top of the hill.
It is one of the most photogenic places I ever visited.
It had everything, from castles, to white buddha, to vibrant lawns.
In the evening, we came back to the city and witnessed the sparkling, gleaming, omnipresent beauty of Hoi an night market.
In the afternoon next day, we took a domestic air transfer to the last and final destination, the capital city of Hanoi.
Hanoi
On the first two days, we did a tour of Ninh Binh City and a cruise tour of Halong Bay. The last day we spent bopping around the city of Hanoi.
Ninh Binh
Firstly, we visited the charming city of Ninh Binh and Mua Cave tour. It is situated two hours away from Hanoi. The principal spot was a place called Lying Dragon Mountain, where you have to climb 500 steps to the top, to get the amazing view of the Tam Coc.
Halong Bay
The final stop was a bay called Halong, situated on the east coast of North Vietnam. It is 3 hours away from Hanoi. The small stretch of islands was covered during a stunning cruise tour. Sitting on a luxury cruise, surrounded by a verdant covered cluster of lands, couldn’t ask for more.
Nothing better than this to end our kaleidoscopic tour.
Thanks to Rogin and Aniruddha for convincing me for this trip, and Adarsh for not leaving me alone in my quest to find vegetarian food in this country.
