Last week, we shared the first part of a detailed piece by Preethi about her travels #WithHer girl cousins in Vietnam. Check the second part of the insightful Vietnam article here and inspire women to travel more!

Da Nang

Modern Vietnamese Lifestyle

Da Nang is a city that offers visitors a taste of a more modern Vietnamese lifestyle. It is located by the sea and this one particular stretch looks much like Miami. The modern architecture here is outstanding. From bridges to buildings, they’re all top notch. Every Saturday night at 9PM, The Dragon bridge has a show where people come to watch the dragon breathing fire. It was actually really cool.

Seas of Food

If you love seafood, this is your place. There is a line of restaurants by the beach and you get to have a great meal with a great view. I love seafood so I went all out. China Beach for fresh seafood and good waves, Marble Mountains for exploring temples and caves, and the city itself for a burgeoning culinary scene.

Sea Food Galore! Vietnamese Coffee.

In recent news, Vietnam had just unveiled a new bridge ‘Can Vang’ also known as The ‘Golden Bridge’ and it was making news all over the world. We had a hard time figuring out how to get there because the locals had no idea what it was (since it had just been built). However, we figured. Getting here did burn a hole in my pocket, but you gotta do what you gotta do.

Ba Na Hills

You take a taxi to Ba Na Hills, which is about 45 kilometres from Da Nang. Then a cable car ride up the mountains almost 1400 meters high. A small tram ride later, we finally reached the 150 meter long bridge held by two giant hands (replicating the hands of God). The bridge is lined by Lavender plants and has the most scenic views of the city, mountains and the sea. Ba Na Hills is a resort on top of a hill station with some fun activities, a wax museum, marble mountains and a big castle! The entry ticket was about 700 thousand dong (2200 INR) and is totally worth it.

Phong Nha Ke Bang

Phong Nha is a national park and a UNESCO World heritage site. Also home to some of the biggest caves in Asia. We went on a two day trek to Phong Ngha. We took a train from Da Nang to Dong Hoi. The train journey was beautiful and scenic. On reaching Dong Hoi we took a taxi to Phong Nha. Our trek was a level 2 trek, but a little harder than what we were expecting. Our camp site had the most breathtaking spots. The first day we swam across Kenh cave. On the second day we visited the Tu Lan cave and Kim cave which was recently discovered in 2012.

Caves and more caves

The great part about these caves is that they are so unique and different from each other. The entire experience was mesmerizing. With zero connectivity and no internet, this was definitely one of the best treks I’ve been on. From having lunch in the middle of the jungle to dining in caves and swimming in complete darkness, it was definitely out of this world.

Being cut off from the world gives you a lot more time to realise what genuinely makes you happy and you begin to see that the world has a lot more to it than what you know. Some say travelling makes you a great story teller, but there are some things which can’t be explained and just experienced. For me, Vietnam was that experience.

Details that you should know about Vietnam

Travel

Flights are probably the only expensive bit. We booked our flights from Bangalore to Bangkok, stayed there for 4 days and then flew out to Ho Chi Minh city. I would personally recommend taking a direct flight to Vietnam if you’re not looking into staying in Thailand and avoid the hassle of paying for the Thai Visa. In Vietnam, we took flights and trains to reach different cities. Within the cities, we used public transport and grab taxis. Here’s a tip to save on travel, the minute you land in Vietnam, get a sim card and download the grab taxi app. The local taxi tend to charge extra and sometimes cheat you by taking you to the wrong location (YES that happened to us!); and if you’re willing to work a little harder, take the local transport.

Stay

We mostly stayed in Hostels and Air BnB’s. In Ho Chi Minh city we made sure to stay close to this street called Bui Vien also commonly known as the backpackers street as it was ideally situated in the citycentre. In Hoi an, we stayed at Rice Flower Homestay with an amazing host, Mimi! Absolutely loved the hostel in Da Nang, it’s called the Lighthouse Danang Hostel and I highly recommend this place. We paid roughly about 400- 900 INR per night throughout our trip.

Food

I LOVE Asian food. But honestly, Vietnamese wasn’t the best of the lot. Food here is a great challenge. If you’re vegetarian, god bless you! I had a hard time trying to find a decent meal in Ho Chi Minh. Chicken and vegetarian are hard to find. They do have a Vegan restaurant called Poke Saigon in Ho Chi Minh city. For chicken lovers, there’s a cafe called Sasa Cafe in District 1. I, however, survived on Pizza in Ho Chi Minh. Make sure to check out Italiano’s in District 1, they make amazing wood-fired pizza. The food in Hoi An and Da Nang was actually a lot better. Some places there had great food. We even took up a cooking class in Hoi An.

Shopping

In Ho Chi Minh, of what we had heard from our friends and sources, Ben Thanh Market was a great place to shop and buy stuff for cheaper prices. However, people in Vietnam beg to differ. They suggested we shopped at the Sai Gon Centre mall and Vincom Dong Khoi. We anyway visited Ben Thanh and it actually turned out to be great. Being an Indian, my bargaining skills are fantastic. If you’re not a local they tend to charge more, so up your bargain game before heading here. Hoi An has great places to shop from. Clothes to souvenirs, it has it all. Make sure to take a lantern back home.

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