This is my third time in Ho Chi Minh but now is the time to start my real adventure in Vietnam. After spending two days in Ho Chi Minh I’ve started my journey up north to Hanoi with Nisha (Indian girl I met in Philippines) and Romane (French girl we met in the Hostel).
First stop: Mūi Né
From Ho Chi Minh we arrived in Mūi Né by afternoon, perfect timing to get changed and jump in the pool. The very next day we’ve joined the day trip organised by our hostel. We visited the famous white sand dunes for sunrise, floating village, red sand dunes and the fairy stream. There is nothing much to see in Mūi Né and the beaches are not that nice. Same evening we catch a night bus again to Da Lat.
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Second stop: Da Lat
There are two must see waterfalls in Da Lat; the Pongour waterfall and the Elephant waterfall. Other than the waterfalls we’ve been to the Crazy House, tried out the weasel coffee and definitely did grab a drink at the Maze Bar. While the first two are not being a must, the Maze Bar is a MUST. It’s an amazing place. I don’t want to disclose too much about it, but it was so much fun playing hide and seek in there. Go to the Maze bar and explore it by yourself and I can promise you that you will not regret it! Da Lat is definitely worth a visit. You can easily stay here for two days. We stayed at the Friendly Fun Hostel, the owner and the atmosphere are amazing. Especially the family dinner, which is prepared with so much love and you can try a lot of different things. Free snacks were always available in the socialising area. (Even in between they have us sort of banana chips and little snacks for free). Without a doubt highly recommend this hostel to anyone.
A long overnight bus journey brought us to our next stop. A little marginal note, around midnight our bus stopped in the middle of nowhere because of rockfall and the roads were blocked. We were stuck for a while having cliff on one side and mountains on the other side – just that you have the real picture 🙂 It was our first long bus journey and of course it wasn’t the last!
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Third stop: Hoi An
We stayed in this lovely town for 3 days at the Sunflower Hostel. Such a cool hostel with a pool and a nice area to chill. They also have a kicker table and an awesome buffet breakfast. We’d so much fun during our stay in Hoi An. The company got bigger. I met Pauline and Annika (from France), Ode (from Belgium) and Jolien, Witsel and Vince (from the Netherlands). We rented a bicycle and explored the village and it’s surroundings by ourselves. We rode to the beach and I played soccer with the locals (the first time since I’m traveling) – it was so much fun. We enjoyed the lampions and the river boats during night. We went out to the famous bar Tiger Tiger 1 and Tiger Tiger 2. The most important place to mention is The Rosie’s Cafe. Such an amazing food! I tried the Avocado toast and açaí bowls and it was awesome. Hoi An is also well known for creating your own clothes. You can literally walk into any tailor shop and make your own clothes pretty well fitted for a reasonable price. I must add at Banh my Phuong I had my best Banh my so far. It was our last night in Hoi An and I was pretty excited about the next day.
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Hai Van Pass
The first motorbike experience in Vietnam was driving the famous road between Hoi An and Hue, called the Hai Van Pass. The entire journey is about 75 Miles. Annika didn’t want to drive so I carried her on my back and the other girls had there own motorbike. There were many places on the Hai Van pass to stop by and explore. Marble Mountains (impressive cave), Dragon Bridge (Danang), the Pass itself with all the viewpoints, Lang Co beach and the Elephant Springs (be prepared to pay entrance fee and a spot to sit and swim in a spring). It got dark and we were still 25 Miles away from Hue. Riding in the dark with all the crazy Vietnamese trucks on the highway wasn’t fun. Towards the end I had a freezing cat (just kidding) on my back, scooter with no light and a flat tyre. With all that we made it safe to Hue. I like to add that if you are not planning to go to the northern parts of Vietnam – Ha Giang, then you shouldn’t miss the Hai Van Pass.
Fourth stop: Hue
Next day morning we met Nils (a great German) at Kim’s Homestay. The three of us (Nisha, Nils and me) drove to the Abandoned Waterpark, which is supposed to be the spot to visit in Hue. Upon arriving at the main entrance the security guy refused to let us in by showing a piece of paper written in English that there is no tourist allowed due to safety reasons. We didn’t give up but tried to sneak in through another entrance. Unfortunately there was another guy on a motorbike covering that area with the same piece of paper. We attempted 3 times to get in but failed. At last we decided to give it one last try with a new strategy. We offered him 10k per person, with a little hesitation at the beginning he let us in after 5 minutes. It was so worth the effort! Actually it was even better, because there was no tourists at all. Overall, it was a great experience. In the evening we went out for dinner, group of 13 Backpackers to a locals place. A Big thanks to Ben (from Australia), who organized a table for us. On the way back to the hostel we stopped at a little night market next to the river and played hackisack. I enjoyed it so much, playing sort of soccer again. After 4 days it was time to say goodbye to Annika, Pauline and Ode, but it was a goodbye for a few days. The next morning we (Nisha, Roman and Nils) took a local bus to Phong Nha.
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Fifth stop: Phong Nha
We stayed at the Easy Tiger Hostel for two nights and it was so far the best hostel in Vietnam. It was a little expensive, but I would highly recommend this place. First day in Phong Nha we rode a bicycle along the village and found a really nice place for sunset. Second day we rented a scooter and explored the Nha-Ke-Bang Nationalpark. There are a lot of caves, but I would recommend the Paradise or Dark Cave. My first choice would be the Paradise Cave. I would also recommend going to the Botanical Garden. There you can walk down to a few waterfalls and climb back up along the waterfalls. There is one place in Phong Nha that you must check out and that’s for sure my favorite spot, it’s called Wild Boar Eco Farm (thanks Max for the tip). It’s an awesome place for sunset and to see fireflies. You can also stay there for one or two nights and help the family with their farm work (they only have a few beds available). After that it was time to move further up to Ninh Binh.
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Sixth stop: Ninh Binh
What would you do in Vietnam without a scooter? Exactly, nothing! It was time to explore Ninh Binh’s beautiful scenery with a scooter. The absolute highlight of Ninh Binh was the sunset at Hang Múa. The sunset has its price but it’s definitely worth it. It’s time for the first train journey in Vietnam.
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Seventh stop: Hanoi
After two weeks of traveling from south finally we arrived in Hanoi. One special thing has to be said, I met Zorro again. It feels so good to meet the same people whom you met a few months ago in a different country and call them your friends.
There is one thing I would highly recommend to do in Hanoi is the “train street” and by that I actually meant the rails. This part is located between Kham Thien street and Le Duan. If you are coming from Ninh Binh it’s right before the central station.
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Eighth stop: Cat Ba Island
My dear Cat Ba Island. What a lovely place with right people. The reunion was perfect. We met Ode, Pauline and Annika again and stayed for 3 nights at the Central Backpackers Hostel. And the company got even bigger – we met Giulia (from Italy) and Filip (from Sweden – he is going to climb the EBC next). Cat Ba Island and especially the hostel was really a good place to have some rest and refill the energy back up. On the second day we explored the island by scooter and headed to Cannon Fort to watch the sunset and enjoy those moment. Later on we had dinner in Yummy’s 2 a really lovely locals place. The next day we did a boat trip to Halong Bay, Lan Ha Bay and Monkey Island. In the evening it was time to play a little drinking game, called Kings Cup or Ring of fire. At 11pm our hostel offered a free bus to a bar, which is called Hair of the Doc bar and located right next to the beach. We went to bed at 5am – it was such a hell of fun. The whole day was so much fun with great company. Thanks for the great time guys! And now it was time to say goodbye again, but there will be a next time I’m pretty sure! In Germany there is a saying: “All good things happens thrice”.
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