Vietnam : from Ho Chi Minh to Da Nang
So last year in first week of November we went to Vietnam after numerous postponements and multiple cancellations.By this time it was more of a trip we have to do so we did a 5 day Vietnam trip, wish we had more time. Since we knew we won’t be able to do justice to the beautiful country in 5 days, we picked our spots : South and Central Vietnam,leaving the beauty of Hanoi for another holiday.
Our journey started from Bangalore via Bangkok to Ho Chi Minh.
Day 1: Ho Chi Minh
The first thing we noticed when we landed in Vietnam is the hoard of two-wheelers (even by Indian standards)! Ho Chi Minh is a city of sky scrappers full of urban hustle-bustle, barely hours away from war famous Coo chi tunnels. So that is what we went to explore first, like right off the bat, landing at the airport (rolling eyes)
Coo chi tunnels: It takes a few minutes more than and hour to reach this historic site. The tunnels are in midst of a forest and the guide takes you through paths and invisible tunnels. The experience is quite overpowering with chance to walk through those levels of underground living spaces.
Ho Chi Minh, The city is situated on banks of river Saigon and scattered with historic buildings most of them intact sporting the magnificent french architecture. We have a friend living in Vietnam who took us to this amazing musical AÓ . If you have time then would suggest experiencing this amazing show in Vietnam.
Dinner was at Banh Xeo a small diner not far from the theater with really lovely Banh Xeo (the famous Vietnamese Crepé) and Saigon beer. I also like the other beer -Ba Ba Ba (333 in Vietnamese).
The path leading to dock on river Saigon is very lively at night surrounded by street food and people on segways walking and enjoying the cool breeze off the river.
Day 2 and 3: To Phong Nha : Phong Nha National park is where all the caves and adventure is. We took a flight from Ho Chi Ming to Dong Hoi (closest airport to Phong Nha). Phong Nha is a small quaint town in the shadows of Phong Nha national park with some amazing on street barbecue restaurants. Phong Nha bamboo cafe was our favorite. This town played an important role in the country’s history. The river which flows through (Sông Con), splitting it into the northern and southern halves, was used to transport essential war-supplies to the south during the Vietnam war.
There are numerous caves in the national park, we went to the dark cave on our first day here and had booked a day long tour(Elephant cave and Ma Da Valley) with Jungle Boss for next day.
To reach the Dark cave you need to cross the river (Sông Con) on zip-line. You can enjoy swimming in the river surrounded by beautiful mountains.
Elephant cave and Ma Da Valley: We had seen amazing photographs of the blue pool in Ma Da Valley and were super excited for this trek. We were joined by a couple from England and our amazing guide Trum. The trek started from the side of a highway through the seemingly untouched tropical jungle and barely visible track. The tour includes amazing barbecue lunch and the famous super fun to make salad rolls (Goi Cuon). Post lunch we went to the cave with underground river. Path to the river was difficult to navigate, full of sharp rocks covered with overgrown roots making it harder to get and adding to the temptation.The swim in the river was primed with the eerie view of entrance obscured by, what looked like, war-torn fallen rocks.
If you love exploring jungles, dodging branches,fending off leaches, jumping into pool, walking over rocks, swimming into total darkness inside a cave — this tour is for you. The part I personally loved most was swimming in an underground river into complete black! Never ever have I experienced such darkness. .
Day 4 and 5: From Phong Nha we went to Hoi An, via Da Nang. Hoi an is a small ancient town sprinkled with old yellow tall french buildings on the bank of river Thu Bon. You get amazing Banh Mi here specially at The Banh Mi Queen. Its a must have!
We binged on local food at the central market at night, known as Hoi An Market. Post dinner we went on stroll across famous and lovely bridges. Our trip to Vietnam was a few days before the devastating typhoon, and it had already started raining so we did not hire a bike, rather walked around the town. Though we did see a lot of tourists biking around the city.
Sadly that was the last day of our mini vacation. Things we got back included the traditional coffee had over condensed milk — both hot and cold! Love this coffee.
