VIETNAM TRAVEL GUIDE _ Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City _ 21 days 2,800km

Welcome to Vietnam. It's taken me three weeks to travel from Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City and here's what it's like to travel in Vietnam in 2024. I'm gonna die, I'm gonna die. Just landed in Hanoi. We made it. On day one in Hanoi, I just explored my area. I tried my first ever Vietnamese coffee as well as the famous Banh Mi. It was super cold when I landed in Hanoi with an average of about 15 degrees every day. It's sweet and strong. I think this might be one of the best coffees I've ever had. And this is what I've been excited for the most is the Banh Mi which is like a Vietnamese sandwich and it's huge. It's in it. We've got bologna, pork floss, pickled veg, a spicy sauce, some pate. It's looking pretty good. Let's try it. I was not expecting the bread to be that good. I spent day two editing and exploring just a little bit more of the new city. Day three is a day that I wanted to try all things new so what better to try than an egg coffee and my first ever bowl of pho which is their noodle dish. It's like a noodle soup. Super hearty, very warm, delicious. What a good day this was. What a busy morning in Hanoi. All right so I'm just gonna grab an egg coffee or a cafe trang. I've probably butchered that pronunciation and I don't know if I've said this but it's cold. Colder than I'm used to. I've heard so much about this. Mine isn't as thick as fluffy as I see the ones on the internet but let's try it. See what the hype is about. On my way to try and find some pho which is a noodle soup dish that I am super excited to try because everyone talks about it. Let's cross the road without dying. I'm gonna die, I'm gonna die, I'm gonna die. Okay next one, next one, next one. Off to this path, off to this path. I'm just hoarded. I spent day two editing and exploring just a little bit more of the new city. I spent day two editing. It would be Vietnam if it wasn't for these tiny little chairs. This is so thick and creamy. I had yesterday but also not as sweet. To the pagoda, let's see what all the hype is about. This pagoda is probably one of the most popular tourist destinations in the whole of Vietnam. It's one of the first photos that come up when you search the word Vietnam and I've done a whole video on this so if you want to go and see specifically what happens at this pagoda, check it out. I just stumbled upon the cutest little market, like literally two streets down from my hotel. This is crazy. Let's try and see if we can exchange some money because coming from Africa, I have no trust for ATM machines. For example, back at home it's a general rule to me that I will never draw money out of an ATM that isn't next to the bank. So I'm gonna go to a jewelry store and see if I can exchange money. Grab a coffee and then go to Train Street. So everybody does this. I don't know if it's gonna be overrated or not but let's give it a try. Why not, right? We're here, we might as well do it. But yeah, today I'm thinking because I've had egg coffee now, I'm thinking maybe it's time to try the salt coffee. Yes, I know there's some very strange options here or even the coconut coffee. Let's see, maybe even both. All right and that was Train Street. Hundreds of people pushing at each other to try and see the train. Definitely not worth it. I have no idea that the foam was thick on the salt coffee. I just thought it was a regular coffee that they put salt in. Okay, so that's literally whipped cream with salt. It's really good. It is salty. I'm on reprimanded on this weird little alleyway. Let's see how this goes. Mission accomplished. I'm just gonna have to wait a whole lot for it to cool down. It's very hot. The very outside layer is quite sticky. The inside's very juicy because of the juices of the pork. And I got one that was supposed to be a salted duck egg. Let's see how it goes. I'm gonna see if I can explore for a little bit more and then maybe head back to the hotel and have dinner. There's so many different foods that I need to try while I'm here and I don't have the stomach capacity to try them all. A caramelized pork, sticky rice with pork and caramelized onions, and a kumquat tea. This is gonna be so interesting. My tea came with gummies in it. How cute is that? We're taking an overnight bus to Hue. I've never had this before. It's apparently like the crab cake noodle. I have yet to be disappointed. We're in the bus. We've got a 13-hour trip to go. It's a little bit more than I was expecting, but hey, it looks a lot better than the bus that they were going to put us on five minutes ago, so I'm happy with that. We made it. I got 14. Be slow. Not gonna lie, it wasn't the best sleep, but I managed to get some sleep. All right, we just got here and it's raining and I'm walking in the rain, so I'm gonna go find a cafe to sit by. I had the most delicious traditional condensable coffee. I checked into my hotel and explored a little bit in the rain. It's beautiful so far. Next up, dinner time. I was looking for traditional spring rolls and there was the cutest little kid that sat behind me. He just made my day. He didn't want to talk to me and I would turn around and he would run away, but super cute. On day eight, I decided to try a traditional Vietnamese breakfast, which is like a hot plate with an egg and all sorts of goodies on, as well as a coconut coffee and then went to explore a bit. I wanted to see the ancient city and what the imperial city really has to offer. Again, I've done a full video on this location, so if you want to watch that, check it out. The imperial city was absolutely magical and the rain just made it so much more special. It's just crazy to think that they started building this in 1805 and just look at the detail. I swear I could spend forever here. I've been walking around for a while now and because of the rain, these cobblestones are so slippery. It's been raining for days. I don't know why, but they're so slippery. It's like every three steps, I nearly see my ass. I've been going super, super slow. The ancient city is beautiful. It's definitely worth a visit. It is yet again raining. Wonderful. There are many pagodas that you can visit in Quay, however, I decided to go to the oldest. Again, I've also done a specific video on this one, so I'll put it up at the top for you to check out if you wanted to. I won't say too much except for the fact that although this looks like a peaceful place now, it was involved in a lot of violence and the story is really heartwarming, so check it out. This morning, we're heading from Quay to Da Nang. They've just given me breakfast. I have no idea what it is. It looks like it's oats. Let's try it. Mix it? With this? Okay. It's really good. Yeah, we're on our way. Bus headed to Da Nang and he's put me in the front of the car because he saw my camera and he's like, this way you'll take beautiful photos. How wonderful. The ride from Quay to Da Nang was super short and so scenic. The mountains blew my mind. I think I definitely want to come back one day and do this as a motorbike trip. I think that would be so amazing to just be able to stop whenever you want to and just take in the scenery because I have absolutely loved this trip. So let's see if we can't find one of those interesting little street food markets. I haven't been to one of those yet. And welcome. Our first ever night market. We're going to walk through all the goodies and get to the food because that's the good stuff. I hate shopping, so this is not my section. I need to hurry up and get to the yum-yums. I've got six shrimp cakes. Let's see what they taste like. It's really good though. I think the spicy sauce makes it. So the street food market in Da Nang, I didn't quite like. I thought it was a little bit overrated, although a lot of people do enjoy it. So just my opinion. One thing you do have to see is the Dragon Bridge. And again, I've done a whole video on just Da Nang, so if you want to check that out, I'll put that up above. All right, so today I am going to be looking for a special kind of tapioca noodle. But first, I want to have some coffee. I haven't had coffee yet. This is supposed to be super thick and chewy, which I absolutely love. Oh, they're so slippery. I know, I said I was full, but it was only 6k, so I got myself a deep fried banana. Oh my goodness, that is so good. A street food market. Well, a market that's not as busy and touristy as the last one we went to. That's the plan for today. You coming? Let's go. Okay, so this street food market I absolutely loved. It's a hidden gem. It has some of the most amazing food I've ever tried, including an avocado ice cream. Yes, avocado vanilla ice cream and coconut shards on top. It was amazing. I think one of the best desserts I've ever eaten. Then we had the crispy pancake that you wrap yourself with a peanut sauce. It was absolutely amazing. It was gorgeous. I loved it. Also had these tapioca dumplings that had shrimp and barbecued pork on the inside. This market I can definitely 100% recommend. All right, it's our last day here and the sun's come out a little bit, so I'm taking the drone with me. I need to exchange money, get some food, and then maybe have a beach day, seeing as we're in the beach town. I absolutely loved walking around Denali. It's a little bit of a mishmash of everything, but it's so, so lovely to walk around and just explore. That is so good. It's not sweet. It's really refreshing. Okay, bun cha. You have to try this. These have officially become my favorite noodle dish in the whole of Vietnam. But again, I've done a full video on this, so you have to check it out. It's absolutely amazing. If you're in Da Nang, you have to come and eat. Dessert. She said she's going to mix them. Okay, so the translation is literally rice balls with sticky soup. Am I going to lie? I am feeling uncomfortable, so I think I'm going to go lie on the beach and enjoy the little bit of sunshine that we've gotten, because it's been raining for the last three days. Beach time it is. So this was my first day without rain, and I had to make do with the beach. Beach, sunset, coconuts. Yes, amazing. Definitely one of my favorite parts of the trip. Again, a super, super, super short drive from Da Nang to Hoi An. Hoi An I'm excited for, because this has been voted the number one spot in the whole of Vietnam by tourists, so let's check it out. Made it to Hoi An. I am so excited to go and explore, but today, unfortunately, I need to work. I'm going to be putting out a couple videos soon, so I have a lot of editing to do. It's tough when you're trying to edit and travel at the same time, and you're only spending three to four days in one place. Let's get to editing. Vietnam does not seem to amaze me. I found a new coffee that I need to try, and a mango cup. Let's see if we can top this place down. Google Maps has not been my friend this trip. You can actually see how it's split. How disappointing. I don't love it. See why this is at number one. Just walking around this morning, I've noticed the architecture, and this is such a historical, cute little town. Loving the vibe so far. Chicken noodles, salad, chili. This was awesome. It is so spicy. All right, so exploring ancient town has been one of my favorite parts of this trip. I keep saying this over and over again, but it's like every time I think I've found my favorite, something else kind of either matches it or goes to the top of the list. Vietnam has just been a country of surprises for me. I have done a whole set of videos on Hoi An, places to go, things to eat, so I will put those up at the top for you. One thing I will say is although I've tried to avoid as many tourists as I could in my videos, it was really crowded here, so that is something to keep in mind when you're traveling here. If you want peace and quiet, I don't know if this is the best place for you because there is a lot of tourists here. Good morning. I'm having a great day. I've done some research on the different foods that I want to try that are local to Hoi An, so let's get on it. Starting with a sesame-based breakfast. I don't know if I'm ready for that one. Let's try it. For our first stop, a cup of coffee, a cup phet moi, which is quickly becoming my favorite. It is salt coffee. It's smoked, so it's been cooked over like a smoke fire and it's literally just been, it's just sesame seeds that have been cooked down into a paste with a little bit of sweetness. The food in Hoi An and Hoi An has been some of the best. I've spoken to a couple locals and apparently that's because this is where the imperial cities used to be, so anything close to the imperial city is where you find the best food because they would prepare food for the emperors, which kind of makes sense I guess, but again this is just what I've been told by a local. Might be absolute nonsense, but I have noticed a difference in the food. It is absolutely delicious here. I just had the most delicious dessert. I can't even describe how good it was. I had the mixed one and I had it warm. You can have it cold as well, but I had it warm and it had the freshest coconut cream soup sauce thing on the top, but there were rice balls that were stuffed with ginger on the bottom and then a corn soup and a bean soup and the red beans and black beans, black beans on the top. It was absolutely delicious. Just walking around I found this hidden, well it's not really hidden but nobody knows about it, the coolest World War II blockhouse. It's a defense system protecting the, I think 102nd engineer Italian. All I know is that you can just walk around here in Hoi An and find some amazing things. I stopped at a little banh mi stall that he came from next to me. Let's see, super crunchy. I've just ordered something quite strange, something that I haven't seen on a menu anywhere else and I've been looking and it is called duck porridge. Gotta try it right? Now let's try it. Ginger coffee, so we're gonna try that. So far if I can remember correctly I've had just regular black coffee, condensed milk coffee, coconut coffee, mango coffee, salt coffee, egg coffee. I'm pretty sure there's a few others that I've left out but I think I've just forgotten them. Just stopped in the middle of the street and my bikes are going past me and this chicken looks amazing. It's like a local chicken dish with yellow rice so let's hope it's good. It's only 25 yen, crazy. Because Hoi An is an ancient trading center there is so much history to be found here. There are so many buildings that date back to so long ago and tourists don't even know about them because they just blend into everywhere else. It's amazing here. Got a chair. The market's opening up guys, it's opening up. See if I can find somewhere to sit and try this. With this being my last night I went to multiple street food markets and walked around, enjoyed some good food. It's definitely worth a visit. I can highly recommend it. All the pretty lanterns on the river, the river boat rides, it's such a beautiful place to take photos. It's the third day, we are officially checking out. Leaving Hoi An and heading to Ao Chi Minh city in Saigon. I'm gonna be taking the overnight bus and bringing you along with me so you can see what the experience is like. Let's go. Our shuttle comes at two so I'm gonna see if we can't get a maybe a cup of coffee or a banh mi. I'd like a breakfast. All right so because I got the beef instead of the pork, communication misunderstanding. It ended up being 25k not 20k but honestly one of the best breakfasts I've had in a long time. See if we can find a coffee. The last couple of days because I've just been obsessed with it, it's the cafe moi or a salt coffee. It's absolutely delicious. It's really strong coffee with like a salty cream on top and it's all on ice. Coffee ended up being only 25k which is a dollar. I can't wrap my brain around it. And now we wait for like 30-45 minutes for the shuttle to come pick us up. We have made it to the bus. We've got lots of legroom, beautiful window, curtain with some privacy. This is going to be a wonderful journey. Let's enjoy it. Apparently we even get dinner on this bus. I've heard so many good and bad reviews on these luxury sleeper buses. Everything from toilets spilling over while they're driving, to people not being able to sleep, to it being the best thing you could ever do. And I'm not gonna lie, I'm a very easygoing person so I absolutely love this. I do not have one thing to complain about. Yeah the ride was a bit bumpy but it didn't take anything away from my sleep really. It was comfortable enough to sleep. The window was huge so whenever you woke up you had a beautiful view to look at. The inside of the bus was super comfy and you could switch all the lights off if you wanted to sleep. It was, it was good. Stopped for dinner. About two hours left and then we're in Ho Chi Minh. Just gonna enjoy the view. First stop, I'm just waiting. Grabbed driver, bus station, and now everything's a mess. There's so much traffic. What are these? Welcome to Ho Chi Minh. We're gonna start our experience off with the Ben Thanh market. As soon as you come in, watches and sunglasses. We're gonna move through the aisles. There's lots of clothing, lots of food, lots of snacks. I'm gonna quickly show you what's around, grab something to eat, and then head over to walking street. I'm not gonna lie, this doesn't look the greatest. But let's try it. I haven't tried this area of Chi Minh before so see. So I got the crab noodle, thick noodle. Okay the vibe here in Ho Chi Minh is totally different. The city is huge, there's so many people. Ben Thanh market was an interesting experience. There was such a sweet guy that kept waving in the back of my video and I wish I had seen him in person when he was doing that because I would have wanted to give him like a huge hug and just be like you're so cute. But yeah, he walked past the camera like eight times to wave. I love this place already. I've been to walking street a few times since this night and every time I go they just keep adding more and more things. During their Vietnamese New Year they had this huge mechanical dragon. It was absolutely stunning. Walking street is definitely a must do here in Ho Chi Minh. Day 20 and it's time to find the pink church. Let's go exploring. There's just cinnamon and aniseed. It's a coffee with condensed milk and coconut cream. I'm not gonna lie this is the most traffic that I have ever seen in Vietnam and I am quite scared and nervous to cross the road. A cute hidden gem that you can try and find here in Ho Chi Minh is Turtle Lake. It's not a huge lake or anything it's more like a pond but the story behind it is really really interesting. It's also such a cool photo spot. I cannot believe I am actually here. I have been, I think this is one of the places that I've been wanting to go to most in the entire Vietnam and it's just because the story is so captivating. But what story should I tell other than the burning monk? So the legend goes that from the wall there was quite a harsh environment. The monk's name was Thich Quang Duc and he decided that in a shocking and awe-inspiring way he was going to sacrifice himself for his beliefs and he, the photographer that shot this, was the only one present at the time because everyone else thought it was propaganda but they heard rumors and stories and so this monk came to the middle of the street, got out of the car, sat down and meditated and one of his associates poured a can of gasoline over him and they set him alight and not once did he flinch until he died. All right guys it is day 21 and although this is my last day in the video this is definitely not my last day in Vietnam. I've been staying here a few months already. There's just this magic here in Vietnam that I cannot shake and I think I'm just gonna stay here until I feel like I'm ready to move on to the next place. But yeah, today editing favorite coffee shop and that's it. Last stop of the day. We're heading, well we're at Khan Cafe. Cutest little vibe here. Such a cute little place. Right by the pink church and we're gonna have a coconut coffee. I think this is the best coconut coffee I've had in Vietnam so far. If you enjoyed this video make sure that you give it a like, consider subscribing and I will see you in the next one.