During our stay in Hoi An, my parents came to visit us and we went to Da Nang together. Da Nang is the most promising city in Vietnam at the moment. Located between the ocean and the mountains, Da Nang offers many tourist activities. In addition, its beautiful beaches several km long, its high-speed Internet connection, its airport not far from the city center, its abundant and juicy food, its international fireworks competition, and its many job opportunities are attracting more and more talents, who prefer to leave the polluted cities like Ha Noi or Ho Chi Minh City. If you ever take a plane to Da Nang, choose a…

After Ha Noi, it is in Hoi An that we decided to settle for a month. But don’t worry, you can do everything we did below in 2 days 😀 Part 1: Travel Diary Part 2: Practical Tips Part 1: Travel Diary How to go to Hoi An? We chose to fly from Ha Noi to Da Nang (75€/person checked luggage included with VietJet Air), then a cab from Da Nang airport to Hoi An (300,000VND a 4-seater car). Our hotel As the city is very small, most tourists stay only one or two nights. So, with our 25 booked nights, all the hotels gave us sick discounts, and we…

Phong Nha Park has long been famous for its beautiful caves, but it is from 2009, thanks to the discovery of the largest cave in the world “Sơn Đoòng”, that tourist services are as accelerated. Now it is very easy to get to Phong Nha. Part 1: Travel Diary Part 2: Practical Tips Part 1: Travel Diary How to get there We took a bus from Hoi An. A minibus comes to pick us up at the hotel at 1:30 pm to drop us in front of a big bus (with bunks) which leaves at 2 pm and arrives at 10 pm in Phong Nha. On the way, we change…

Sitting on a 10cm high plastic chair in the street, I am eating one of my favorite desserts in Hoi An when a group of French tourists pass by. They are both intrigued by my dessert, which looks like an uncooked tofu, and by the size of the chairs, which is as small as a brick.If these chairs are so small, it is because they allow the saleswoman to store everything in her two baskets, each hanging on a long bamboo stem, and “walk” her boui boui from one street to another. The Vietnamese call this kind of walking boui boui, and ephemeral, “Gánh Hàng Rong”.Gánh Hàng Rong, the name…

After a month in Chiang Mai, we are in Ha Noi – MY hometown, to celebrate the Vietnamese New Year. As soon as we arrive at the airport, we realize that the wait at the immigration office will be long. Vietnamese living abroad are slowly starting to return to Vietnam. After 45 minutes of waiting, we finally manage to get out. JB quickly buys a SIM card while I withdraw money next door. 50 000VND fee to withdraw only 3 million VND (1.6% fee) – at VPBank, there is no fee, but their ATM isn’t present at the airport. We then take a cab to my parents’ house, who lent…

Sorry to disappear for so long. You know, sometimes I get a little bored when I travel (especially at night), and I take the opportunity to blog. But when I’m in MY city, MY country, I’m not bored for a second. There are so many things to eat, so many friends and cousins to see again, so much shopping to do… that I let go of my blog. After Chiang Mai, JB and I went to Hanoi, my hometown, the best of the best of Vietnam, of Asia, finally of the world. This is only my personal opinion because most tourists (and especially JB) don’t agree with me. Of course,…

That’s it, we are in Vietnam, in Hanoi at my parents’ house. For our first getaway in Vietnam, we chose to go to Mai Chau, a valley nested in a mountainous zone still little exploited Part 1: Travel Diary Part 2: Practical Tips Part 1: Travel Diary Ba Vì As we are by car, we make a small detour to Ba Vì, an area known for its cow’s milk and dairy products. It’s not easy in Vietnam to find an area suitable for raising dairy cows. Milk cows don’t eat the same food as buffaloes. Farmers have to trade their rice fields for grass to feed their cash cows We…