Vietnam

The karst wonderland

We though quite a bit on why we would like to visit Vietnam. We had been to Thailand, Cambodia before and felt Vietnam might end up being quite similar. There is no one big must visit place in Vietnam. While Halong Bay is popular, the pictures were similar to karst mountains near Phi Phi islands in Thailand. We had also heard all the scam stories of Vietnam making us a bit wary. We are listing things to know before visiting Vietnam to make your travel less worrisome

Vietnam is becoming a hot destination from India, so thought there might be something special that is attracting so many visitors. We had only 10-15 days at hand and couldn’t travel to far away destinations, so decided to zero in on less traveled Laos and the karst land Vietnam. We wanted to see Ban Gioc and Kuang Si falls mainly and used cities as a way to get to more remote villages for nature and peace

While no destination was out of the world, collectively we had a great time in Vietnam. There was variety everyday and we never got bored. Vietnam has something to offer for everyone like caves, cliffs, waterfalls, temples, beaches, cute towns, amusement parks, cruises and what not

Best time to visit

With Vietnam’s longish structure, you will find rain in some part of the country whichever month you pick. It is ideal to pick dry season at Hanoi from November- April to have an overall pleasant experience

Visa

E-visa is available for Indians, takes 3 working days for processing. You can apply here

E-visa costs 25 USD and has maximum validity of 90 days. You can enter different travel and validity dates. Ensure you correct the auto filled dates before submission if you want 90 day validity beyond actual dates of travel

I don’t have a last name and had heard horror stories of people being denied flight boarding by having first name repeated as last name. The official website asks to apply through agents or consulate if you don’t have a last name

One of the agencies on Youtube mentioned keeping last name blank, which I did. Although it says last name is mandatory on the e-visa form, the application gets accepted without entering one

I took some risk in trying this out with a backup plan to contact agency if there are issues during boarding. I did not face any issue with airline or immigration later

You can try this at your own risk. Just because it worked for me might not mean it will work again all the time- it all depends on the mood of airline and immigration officers

I had booked flight through Thai Airways who are typically not painful. Most boarding denial cases have been on airlines like Vietjet. Vietnam Airlines is also supposed to be accommodative.

Getting In

Ho Chi Minh city (HCM), Hanoi and Da-Nang are popular entry points. We chose to enter from HCM and leave from Hanoi

If you have time and flexibility, flight prices can be as low as INR 10k one way. We did not take cheap Vietjet flights as they have massive service issues. We wanted predictability of entry and exit dates

In addition, given visa complexity without last name, we did not want to take chances with Vietjet

Currency- Vietnamese Dong

You can withdraw money from ATMs or exchange USD at gold shops/banks in cities. Use ATMs from TP Bank or VP Bank as they do not have charges for withdrawal and allow higher limits like 5 Mn VND per withdrawal. You can withdraw multiple times in case you want more than 5 Mn VND. Ben Thanh market in Ho Chi Minh has a gold shop called Ha Tam which is a popular place for money exchange

Getting around

Domestic flights are cheap if booked in advance costing less than 5k any sector. I used my Diners credit card points to convert them into Vietnam Airlines miles for redemption tickets between HCM- Da Nang and Da Nang- Hanoi

While the redemption tickets were not cheaper than revenue tickets, it gave us flexibility to reschedule without any fee. You just have to fill a form on the website and changes get actioned in 1-2 days

For travel within the city, we took a mix of day tours, Grab taxis and car with driver booking from Vietnam Budget Car rental. Grab rides were efficient, with typically less than 5 min waiting time, accepting card payments and hardly any cancellations from driver side

Their service was decent. The cancellation policy was not favourable (non-refundable unless travel is postponed due to Covid), so we booked close to date after reaching Vietnam

Places to see

We cover details on south, central and north Vietnam separately. Major cities/ towns are

• South
  • Ho Chi Minh city: Has a French vibe with Notre Dame cathedral, post office, market
  • Mekong delta: To see village life, although tours seem scripted.
  • Cu chi tunnels- To get a sense of war times

• Central
  • Da Nang– Ba Na hills, Marble mountains, Dragon bridge, Lady Buddha
  • Hue– Imperial architecture and tombs
  • Hoi An– Lantern village
• North
  • Hanoi– Hub for tours around north. See HCM memorial, old quarters, water puppet show
  • Ban Gioc falls– Three tiered falls along Chinese border
  • Ninh Binh- Karst mountains on land with rivers carving their way though. See the spectacular caves, Cuc Phoung National park for Douc Shank Langurs, Bai Dinh Pagoda, caves of Trang An
  • Halong Bay- Karst mountains on sea

We skipped Sapa as we went in December when rice fields are gone. We cover details in a separate post

Things to know

1. Vietnamese is a tonal language like Mandarin, tough to learn and talk for outsiders.
2. Travel beyond the cities for authentic nature. We used HCM only to get in, there is not much to see.
3. Phong Nha Ke Bang is home to largest cave Son Doong which has its own ecosystem of river, forest, clouds. Only 1000 people are allowed to enter every year and permits cost whooping $3000+
4. Douc Shank langurs endemic to Vietnam are critically endangered. You can see them at Cuc Phoung National Park
5. You will get to see caves in almost every part of Vietnam like Tiger cave near Ban Gioc falls, Marble mountains near Da Nang, Surprise cave in Halong and entire Phong Nha ke Bang region
6. Vietnam is very safe- we had no instances of wallet snatching or stealing. Common scams like overcharging for rides do exist, so keep your general guard on

Where we stayed

Hotels are pretty cheap across Vietnam. Bonvoy redemption rates are relatively expensive though, we still booked some hotels through Bonvoy for good breakfast

• Le Meridien Saigon at HCM on redemption: Good location although not at walking distance from District 1. Cheap Grab rides make it very convenient

• Four Points by Sheraton at Da Nang on redemption: We got nice Vietnam hats as gift from the housekeeping team which was a sweet gesture. The lounge is a very small one with mini snacks only

• Threeway Riverside Villa at Hoi An: Cozy and clean. They gave a nice fruit bowl as vegetarian breakfast

• Sheraton Hanoi on redemption: We had an excellent stay here. Points required for redemption are on higher side, but we wanted breakfast option, so chose to go with Sheraton

• Riverside Home stay at Ban Gioc: Has all facilities despite the remote location. The views from the room of the river and mountains were splendid

• Sunlight cruise at Halong Bay: Excellent on service, transfer, sightseeing, food. Could do a little better with cabins, but was worth the price we paid for ($100 each)

How much does it cost

We spent around $1400 per person. We underestimated the Grab rides and entry fees ($2-$10) required at each destination initially. Food is cheap but cabs are much more expensive than India

• Flights:  $750
• Hotel : $150 at $20 per night
• Tours and transport: $270
• Food: $60 (We carry our own food/ shop at supermarkets. We eat out once)
• Entry fee: $120, mainly from Ba Na Hills, Hue
• Visa: $25
• Insurance: $15