I’m catching up on all the missing travel logs from Vietnam. It’s June 2024, and after Thailand, we’re looking for a place to land in Vietnam, before heading to Hanoi and flying back to France. I choose Hue because it’s a city I don’t know very well. There’s a direct flight between Bangkok and Da Nang. We spend a night there because I want to take the scenic train to Hue the next day. At the airport, I find out that the international fireworks competition is happening that very evening. I’m very surprised, because in my head, it’s in October, not June. Whatever! I’ve seen it on TV, it’s always…

We’re in May 2022. Vietnam has just reopened after Covid, and we’re meeting our friend F. in Da Nang for a weekend in Hoi An. We each rent a motorbike and decide to ride from Da Nang to Hoi An. We pick up F. at the Pullman, where he stayed the night before. He leaves his suitcase there and keeps only the essentials in a backpack. We each have a small backpack too. There are several possible stops along the way: Ngu Hanh Son mountain, with an old military hotel inside, Ba Na Hills, where French colonists used to vacation to escape the heat… but we won’t do all that…

I write “Ha Long Bay” because the H is NEVER silent in Vietnamese. We are in April 2022. I contact my Vietnamese travel agency and tell them “give me the best cruise ship”. He says OK but warns me that prices for foreigners are twice as high as for Vietnamese. So he suggests we put the “Tây” (foreigners) together and that I “officially” occupy alone the biggest room and that we distribute the rooms however we want upon arrival. Clever! We are in 2022, so prices are still very low due to Covid, borders have just reopened. I don’t remember exactly how much we paid, but it’s peanuts, like 150…

Right after JB’s recovery in Nha Trang, in September 2022, I felt we needed to recharge our energy somewhere, and a friend of my mother’s told me that the hotel Dolce By Wyndham Hanoi Golden Lake (Booking link) in Hanoi had excellent energy. We booked a night there. But first, let me show you the photos of Cam Ranh from the sky! (we had to fly back to Hanoi). I know the hotel a bit Dolce By Wyndham Hanoi Golden Lake, I had already had the lunch buffet there. My mother’s friend lives not far away, and we talked about me inviting her family to the hotel buffet, but we…

We’re in April 2022. After two years of the covid crisis, tourists are just starting to be able to return to Vietnam. One day, my Vietnamese travel agency posts photos on their Zalo profile of a 5-star hotel that just opened in Hanoi with a very attractive offer (200 euros instead of 450 euros/night). Since our friend A. has to come back to Hanoi for a few days, I suggest he spend two nights there: it’s central and cheaper than the Sofitel Metropole Hanoi. He accepts and offers to come with us. We tell him we already have our Airbnb but we’ll spend one night there to see what it’s…