Vietnam 2020: A Recap and Travel Guide

With just a few weeks of vacation, it's hard to narrow down where to go for our bigger trips. I've started to keep a Google doc to reference the many destinations I have in mind. For this trip, we went with two friends who we had traveled to Dubai with last year and narrowed down the list of places with them. Our criteria was roughly 1. warm in February and 2. somewhat adventurous, not just beach but also have the option for a beach. It got down to Argentina and Vietnam, landing on Vietnam because our friends had heard great things and, while we had never been to SE Asia, they had been to Bali and loved it.

At first I wanted to combine Vietnam and Cambodia as I so wanted to see Siem Reap, but quickly discovered how much more I wanted to see in Vietnam than we could possibly fit in and settled on 2 weeks fully in Vietnam. Based on the above criteria of being warm, we stayed largely in the south and central regions starting in Saigon/HCMC, then Hue, Phong Nha and ending in Phu Quoc.  Vietnam, and much of SE Asia, has a large backpacking community, so 2 weeks seemed highly rushed compared to those who had 6 weeks or who were used to dealing with tourists there that long, but 2 weeks was what we had and it was a great time!

 

 

Saigon/Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC)

Where we stayed: Hotel des Arts Saigon. Since our $$ went much further in Vietnam, this was one of our splurge hotels at 5 stars. It had a rooftop bar and pool and an amazing breakfast. It was pretty central and walkable to everything on our list. 

What we did: Took advantage of the very reasonable spa and manicure prices! Enjoyed all the decor still up for Tet, found a craft brewery filled with expats and got a different perspective at the War Remnants Museum. The highlight was a foodie motorbike tour as we got to go beyond District 1 and eat far too much good food including my favorite - grilled scallops. We spent 3 days here and it seemed like enough. Saigon was fascinating, but it was also occasionally overwhelming - very hot and very loud. 

 

 

Hue

Where we stayed: Hotel La Perle. A much more basic - and cheaper - place to contrast our amazing hotel in Saigon. The service here was great with free drinks and fruit on arrival, and it was a convenient yet quiet location, but the bed was quite uncomfortable and rooms were small. Not bad for what it was.

What we did: Our flight landed mid afternoon and we immediately got food and then crossed the river to get to the old Imperial Citadel. Our 2nd day we started out touring 3 tombs of various emperors and the contrast from the different time frames and the associated influences was amazing.  The afternoon included a tour of a pagoda. Both the Citadel and the tombs had absolutely gorgeous landscaping. It was a pretty packed 1 1/2 days, just enough to see the highlights. We took a private car from Hue to Phong Nha and stopped at the DMZ (demilitarized zone) and the Vinh Moc tunnels, which were rather quiet (fewer Chinese visitors than usual was the thought) and a bit confusing to navigate. However, I'd recommend visiting as it was crazy to think people actually lived there during the war. 

 

Phong Nha

Where we stayed: Two places, actually. One night at Jungle Boss Homestay, a cute little guest house type place a long walk or bike ride from the tourist town. Loved our hosts here as they made us breakfast early when we needed it. Two nights at Phong Nha Lake House, a very swanky place for the area and a fantastic way to recover from long days of hiking. 

What we did: Phong Nha is actually the name of the national park and it's a rural area that's become popular for its caves. The world's largest cave, Son Doong, is here, and many, many more. I became fascinated with it as soon as I heard about it. Oxalis is the biggest tour group in the area and has exclusive license to some of the caves. We had really wanted to book the 2-day (overnight) Hang En tour, which includes sleeping in the world's 3rd largest cave, but it unfortunately wasn't available for the day we wanted. Instead, we landed on 2 1-day trekking and cave tours - Hang Tien and Tu Lan, with Hang Tien being our favorite. Both were technically quite challenging and exhausting; I was grateful for the help of the safety team to navigate the slippery rocks as it rained both days. With just 2 1/2 days, we really didn't have much time in the area other than our Oxalis tours. 

Phu Quoc

Where we stayed: Salinda Resort on Long Beach. A short drive from the airport and close to a lot if we ever did want to leave the resort, this was the perfect place to end our trip on a relaxing note and was another small splurge at 5 stars. Still not much more than a normal hotel back home.

What we did: Mostly chilled by the water. The beach was warm, but we weren't big fans as apparently there's micro jellyfish and the water felt all tingly. The pool, however, was amazing. We did get off the resort a bit to do a farm tour and cooking class where we got to see how pepper is grown. A great way to end after exhausting our legs in Phong Nha. 

After Phu Quoc, we flew back to Saigon for one night in an airport hotel and then back the way we came. A 6 hour flight to Tokyo-Narita and then 11 hours (was 13 on the way over) to Chicago-O'Hare and then the quick flight back to Minneapolis.