Hanoi Train Street View with Coffee Shops
My first trip to Vietnam was back in 2018. I loved the trip to the core, I visited Hanoi, Ha Long Bay, and Ho Chi Minh city. The three spots had a great balance of culture, history, nature, and good coffee. Vietnam tourism has improved now in 2023 compared to my previous trip, it is undoubtedly one of the most preferred countries for tourism in Southeast Asia.
We handpicked places that we have never visited before – Vietnam is huge and there is so much to explore. If you are like me, who can only get away from full time job for a brief period, pick 2-3 spots you want to cover in a single trip, then make another trip for the remaining places. We covered three places in this round, Sapa, Danang and Hoi An for 8 days & 7 nights itinerary.
Tourism in Vietnam now is way more commercialized than my first visit, it had huge crowd, and prices were higher than few years back – but this is applicable to everywhere now with the recovery of tourism post COVID-19. We booked our flights a month earlier, used Malaysia Airlines to fly to Hanoi and AirAsia for return trip from Danang Airport. We had a domestic flight in between Hanoi to Danang via Vietnam Airlines. We hired a private car for our trip in most places – you can totally do a DIY trip in Vietnam, our previous trip was using only public transports and Grab, and we managed to get around well, it was much cheaper too! Our preferences to hire a private car was because this was a family trip and we wanted to accommodate the elderly in the family 😊
Some tips of getting private car and guide in Vietnam:
If you are getting only a driver, be prepared to get creative in communicating to address the language barriers, the drivers hardly speak English.
Private guides are expensive, but they do speak English well, and able to guide you through to avoid peak areas during peak hours.
Best option, review your places in the proposed itinerary, see which one you need a guide. Places such as Mount Fansipan, Ba Na Hills, and even Marble Mountain, you can get around without a guide, this way you can reduce your tour pricing with only drivers.
Stunning View from Mount Fansipan
Majestic Buddha Statue in Mount Fansipan
Discover SAPA: A Journey to the Picturesque Highlands of Northern Vietnam
If you have been searching for the beautiful green rice terraces, stunning nature landscape and completely unique experience from the common hustle and bustle of the city, SAPA is the gem of a spot for you to consider visiting next. SAPA exceeded my initial expectation, I thought I would only get a greenery view of terraces for capturing amazing photographs, but SAPA gave me much more than that!
We departed from Hanoi in the early morning, and the drive took close to 6 hours to reach SAPA. It was not a pleasant drive, only few rests room stops, there were numerous sharp turns, narrow bends, reminded me of my journey to Cameron Highlands in Malaysia – but this is even longer, if you are travelling with family, kids and elderly do take this into consideration and plan properly with the driver or tour agency.
We visited during the Vietnam Reunification Day – it was a national holiday hence peak time for tourism. Our drive took almost 7 hours due to the this as there were too many vehicles on road. Upon reaching SAPA, we headed to Fansipan Mountain directly as we had a buffet lunch included in the package.
GUIDE TO VISTING MOUNT FANSIPAN
Our entry tickets included cable car. They have several options for the entry tickets (cable car/buffet lunch/funicular rides ticket) – do check what does your ticket inclusive off, ours did not include the funicular rides, we had to purchase this on site. They were fewer options for lunch/food in Mount Fansipan, so if you are not a buffet person, I suggest you pack a meal for the day. The ticket pricing, packages and F&B options are available here TICKET PRICES 2023 IN SUN WORLD FANSIPAN LEGEND.
The Roof of Indochina is such an apt name for Mount Fansipan! Starting from the cable car ride until the very end, Mount Fansipan is something that one should experience at least once in their travel diaries.
The ride to the top is beautiful, it is like you are floating in the clouds when you reach to the top. The soft clouds, sun hiding behind them with their bright radiant rays piercing through the fogs, gentle cold breeze on your face will be awestruck that such magnificent place was constructed and maintained so well up at the top of the mountain.
The temperature is colder, so do not forget the jacket. It took us a while to get use to the elevation, I was catching for my breath for the first 5 to 10 minutes – I do advise to take it slow if you are travelling with elderly parents, it took them a while to get used to the oxygen level at the top and they took it slower when climbing up the stairs.
Other than the cable car ride and the beautiful mountain views, the historic, cultural-embodied spiritual pagodas were the surprise for me. The dynasty touch in their architecture, tall pagoda structure and a majestic Buddha Statue is a remarkable sight.
You can choose to climb six hundred stone stairs to reach the summit, or you can pay on site and take the funicular ride. We took the ride both ways, but still had to climb the stairs to visit different temples. There are only certain places when you travel, you would have the feeling to just stay there a little bit longer, a little bit more. Mount Fansipan was such a place to me, if there is one thing I regret is not arriving earlier and spending more time taking in the splendor of the architecture and continue to be astonished by the nature's beauty. We walked in to one of the pagodas and the monk guided us on how to perform the prayers in their local ways and these are the moments I travel for, being able to watch and learn other culture, and why they do what they do. There is great amount of history in the place, and learning how they lived and evolved to the current state was an interesting part to explore. There are also events and other activities organized at the location, do check out their website when you plan to visit.
Pagoda in Mount Fansipan
Sunset View in Mount Fansipan Pagoda
Lao Chai Ta Van & Cat Cat Village
Our first stop of the day was for a walk in Lao Chai Ta Van, and this place was my favorite compared to everything I did in SAPA!
We walked throughout the rice terrace, and our guide was explaining the type of plants and what they use it for – we even saw a plant that they use it to make inks for fabrics. What astonished me was how knit and well-connected the whole community was. Most land were owned by the locals, and used mostly for growing crops, either for their own meals or as a mean to make money. They plan their farming activities systematically to ensure they have enough food during the winter. When I asked how they repair the pathway or roads that needs attention, considering the rice terrace had crops and difficult to access, the local guide said the village people come together for such community needs. The societal connection was so strong that they were self-sufficient with only necessities available.
Rice Terrace View from Cat Cat Village SAPA
It is essential you get a good local guide, ours did an amazing job! She brought us around to show the day-to-day life of the locals, how they farm, sustain, and connect with each other – we even manage to see a local wedding that was happening at the time. Our local guide was even kind enough to show us around her own home, this was very humble and amazing of her!
The place does not offer many choices for food, take good breakfast before getting there. There were few locals following around us try to sell local made products, try to manage it well so it doesn’t bother you, our guide helped with this. The village also had plenty of adorable dogs – a plus point to visit!
Cat Cat Village was almost complete opposite of Lao Chai Ta Van. It was very commercialized with plenty of shopping options, Instagram-able photo spots, and amazing view. We travelled on peak duration hence it was almost impossible to do anything with the crowd. One thing I loved about Cat Cat Village is the option for you to rent or buy the local costumes and take photographs. Each costume belonged to specific ethnic and it has its own history and meaning behind it. If you are looking to buy local made souvenirs and crafts, Cat Cat Village is a good option.
Rice Terrace View from Lao Chai Ta Van