In our 29 day journey we've seen a lot, almost everything: caotic cities, ancient cities, neverending rice fields, lakes, beautiful waterfalls, beaches, astonishing islands of Ha long bay, jungles and even a desert. Vietnam has it all.
However, if you are on a tight schedule you have to make some cuts or else you will find yourself just running from place to place and not enjoying in different landskape, culture etc. So here is our Vietnam top 5 list with aproximate expenses.
HA LONG BAY
A wonder of nature. More than 1000 small islands in a bay in north Vietnam.
I would recommend that you book a tour in Hanoi for 3 days and 2 nights. You spend the first day on the boat where you also sleep, the second day the boat takes you to Cat ba island, where you stay for the second night.
The prices for this kind of trip are from 50$ and up, it depends what is included, how good is the boat and the hotel, etc. We paid 90$ and it was awesome. It included bus ride from Hanoi and back, all the entrance fees, food (3meals per day), sleeping in a private (A/C) room on a boat and in the hotel, transportation around the island, kayaking, a cooking clas and even one hour of free beer on the boat! There are shorter trips but you deffinately don't want to try and spare some time here.
Money spent:
Tour=90$x2person=180$ -Bamboo travel
Water, snacks, beer=10$
Total for both=190$
SAPA
Small city in the mountains, 1600m above see level. There are 5 small villages near the "city" where 5 tribes live. Every tribe is unique and has it's own culture. Rice fields are everywhere and the views are absolutely breathtaking.
There are even two wonderful waterfalls close by.
2 days are enaugh too see it all.
We think it is better and cheaper if you do this on your own. You arrive there with a sleeping bus from Hanoi early in the morning. Make appointments with your hostel that you arrive so early. Even though the check in time is usually after 12.00, they will let you settle in your room in the morning. At least our Pumkin hostel did!
You need one day to see Sapa itself and to go treking in the nearby villages Catcat and Sin Chau. The first one is very crowded as tourism affected it a lot. The next day you should rent a motorbike to go see Love and Silver waterfall north from Sapa, than return back and go south to Muong Hoa valley and see the other villages.
Money spent:
Return sleeping bus ticket from Hanoi=18$x2person=36$
Pumpkin Hostel 1 night private room=16$
Food&drinks=30$
Motorbike rental+gas=7$
Enteance fees&motorbike parking=15$
Total for both=104$
HOI AN
Ancient city by the sea in central Vietnam. Very well preserved. If you are a shopping freak, this definitely is a place for you. Hoi An's tailors are famous all over the world. You can get a custom made dress for 30$, winter coat for 50$ or a suit for 70$. And the food there is really very good. You have to try white roses, vietnamese panckake, wontons etc. It is not the cheapest food there, but you must try it, as it is delicious.
Night life of Hoi an is amazing. There are hundreds of different bars and restaurants. Whether you want to party or just have a romantic dinner with your spouse, you will find a place.
We've spent 3 days there. It is a small city, easily reachable anywhere with a bicycle (our hostel had free bicycle rental and breakfast included and it was 16$/room/night).
There is a 5$ entrance fee for the old city centre. If you don't have the biggest desire to go inside of some of the temples you don't really have to pay for it, as they don't check for the multi-day tickets in the night time.
You should rent a motorbike for one day and go see the Marble mountains, city of Da Nang and lady Budha statue, with 76m of height beeing the biggest Budha in the world!
Money spent
Bus from Hue to Hoi An=5$x2=10$
Food&drinks=72$
Nature homestay 3nights private room=48$
Motorbike rental+gas+2xmarble mountain entrance fee=10$
Sleeping bus from Hoi An to Nha Trang=10$x2=20$
Total for both=160$
DA LAT
Remarkable mountain town by the lake, totaly different, more developed than Sapa. When you arrive there you get a feeling as if you arrived in a French city in the Alps. With its 1600m above see level it gets pretty cold (it gets as low as 18 degres celsius in the summer). It was a welcoming refreshment from 33+ in other parts of Vietnam that we've been to before.
Our Da Lat Backpackers hostel was great. It was 11$/room/night and we even got a delicious dinner the first night for free!
We've spent two nights/three days there. You need one day to go around the city by foot. Than one day you should rent a motorbike and go see Pangour and Elephant waterfall, silk farm, cricket farm and coffee plantations. We've done the trip with our friends and even though it was raining almost all day it was definately one of the highlights of our whole Vietnam trip :) Thank you Liza, Urska and Klemen for meeting us there! :)
As we didn't have luck with weather (it was very cold and raining) we didn't go canyoning, which is one of the Da Lat's musts. It costs around 35$ and everybody that we met who did it was saying just good things about it. Anyway, we spent our last day of stay in Da Lat with out friends. We rented motorbikes and among other things go see Linh Phuoc pagoda which definately is a Da Lat must se.
Money spent
Bus from Nha Trang-Da Lat=5,5$x2=11$
Dalat backpackers hostel 2night private room=22$
2 day motorbike rental+gas=14$
Food&drinks=30$
Entrance fees+parking=2$
Sleeping bus DA Lat-Ho Chi Minh=10$x2=20$
Total for both=99$
MEKONG DELTA
You should definitely book a tour for this one. It is absolutely worth it. We paid 21$ each, however even if it would be twice the money it would still be worth it. You can really see (and do) a lot.
We also made some new friends, which was the best part :)
Money spent
Tour=21$x2=42$-An travel
Food&drinks=19$***
Crocodile food=1$
Total for both=62$
***I really want to thank Jonathan once again for paying for most of our drinks that night. When we see each other again it is my treat!!! :)
Like you probably noticed I haven't graded them from 1-5. I really don't have a favourite. They are very different from one another, it is hard to compare them. However, if you go to Vietnam, you should not miss any of them.
There are several cities we've been to, that were not mentioned before. Those are:
Hanoi
Hue
Nha Trang
Ho Chi Minh
Mui Ne
All these cities are very nice, if you can find time, you should visit them as well. They just didn't make it to the top 5 list, that is all :)
Vietnam really is a paradise for people like us - traveling on a really low budget. In our 29 days here we've together spent less than 1100$ (1000€). Less than 500€ each! And that is everything included-even the souvenirs and everything we bought. I expected that it wouldn't be expensive, but for example I didn't expect TV in every (!) room I have slept in (and it even had HBO HD in english!). I would recommend going here for sure.
If you weren't impressed with the photos above, go for the culture and for the people here. They are one of the nicest I have ever met. It doesn't matter if they always expect something in return, they are friendly, and they will help you with everything you need no matter what. And that is what matters the most!
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