Backpacking Vietnam Without an Itinerary
Neither did planned parts go as planned.
The plan was traveling Vietnam for 2 weeks. I was to stay at a friend’s place. The only hitch was I hadn’t looked up a single place before landing at the Hanoi International Airport.
The only planned parts were a rough sketch my friend made for us, flight tickets to the South (Ho Chi Minh city), and Da Nang (Hoi An) with a couple of days in each place. I wasn’t aware of this either.
Considerably, my Vietnam trip was one of the best trips I’ve had. But I can argue that it was partly because we planned so less.
There are always parts that could have been planned better. But isn’t that any place you visit? I’d pick traveling Vietnam blindly again. And here’s why you should too!
Vietnam is nothing close to traveling to a country like Singapore
Singapore is a city country with a thoroughly planned layout. So is a trip planned here. MRT routes are fixed where you need not interact with people.
Vietnam isn’t the same — nothing is fixed. Plans depend on the local guides, flight delays, and ultimately improvising everything.
Somehow, I don’t mean to complain. In fact, it’s one of the best parts of traveling. It gives an opportunity to stick to everchanging plans, pushing the go-with-the-flow idea.
There was no ‘Tonight we sleep early for an early flight tomorrow’. We just slept later on the flight or dozed off on a local bus.
Regardless of the world-famous attractions we visited, it was the small things, a local fisherman’s smile, and little kids excited to try their newly learned English words with us.
Unpopular opinion — I didn’t like Bana Hills much, I found it super touristy. Not to mention expensive. But I do remember a local joyfully trying his best to communicate with the only English word “Okay!”
We responded with the only Vietnamese word we knew, “Cám ơn”.
Making friends along the Way
I think this applies to any place you go. When you plan less, there is room for anything to happen. We would simply go along with the day with the only thing we planned for the morning.
Knowing less forces us out of boundaries to talk to people. When we talked, nor were other tourists certain of routes. How could they be? So we’d find the path together, ultimately making new friends.
And boy, did we meet people. We sat down at a table with a 60-year-old or so American traveling (almost) solo. Made good friends with Indonesians we met on the way to Halong Bay.
I even spoke of the heat with a Japanese lady I met at the peak of Marble Mountain. And cracked jokes about the cancel culture today with a 23-year-old Irish girl while in Mekong Delta.
The point is when you travel with things less clear — the possibilities are limitless.
Exploring without a Spoiler
I’ve seen the Hanoi Train Street on Instagram before. Gladly, I didn’t know it lay in Vietnam. Our taxi hurriedly passed over the tracks when I caught a glimpse of it.
Exchanging glances with my travel bud, we landed the very next day — had a sip of coffee and lunch here.
When a conversation about a place begins, most start with “This place was amazing!” or “This spot was simply too hot”, I make sure not to ask much.
Most heard others’ experiences as pieces of advice for their visit. I heard it as spoilers.
To think of it, apart from the basic idea of how long it takes to get around someplace (for the sake of fitting it in the trip), there is almost nothing necessary to know, is there?
Any popular dangerous sport while traveling is bound to be conveyed of its risk at least when we reach there. What else can be so important to know beforehand? Best timings, pricing, food (if you’re vegan) — that’s about it.
I had heard a dozen others talk of Halong Bay being a must-visit. It must be so. Never did I look it up once. But when green islands began popping in crystal blue waters underneath, imagine my surprise! It was nothing short of a paradise.
Affording a directionless trip
We aimed at budget-traveling Vietnam and we killed it! But traveling with our mindset, it’s always a better end to have more money set aside.
We couldn’t make it to Cu Chi tunnels when we had 2 days in Ho Chi Minh City. We chose Mekong Delta over the tunnels.
While I don’t regret cruising the Mekong, Cu Chi tunnels — apparently — were one of the best here. I still can’t regret enough that we had only 2 days in Ho Chi Minh City.
I was on the verge of tears while we headed to the airport. Half for leaving the perfect city so early, the other for not being able to afford the luxury to extend the trip.
Nevertheless, if money wasn’t something accounted for — I’d almost always pick traveling uncharted waters without reading a blog on it.
Ironic, isn’t it? I write travel blogs myself and here I am, ushering you not to :)
It all comes down to one’s preference at the end. Either way, happy traveling!
