Goodbye Vietnam - You Are Incredible

After a bit more than 5 weeks, it was time to say goodbye to Vietnam. What will stay with me in particular is the exceptional natural beauty - especially in the north of the country (i.e. Ha Giang Loop, Ninh Binh, Phong Nha). The other magical place was incredible Hoi An with its thousands of colourful lanterns, cute coffee shops and warm atmosphere.

The food is really worth the hype as I felt it was much more diverse than in Cambodia. The people are more direct/passive-aggressive, in my view. The interaction I will always remember is the following:
On our street food tour in Hanoi, we went to a little restaurant. We were given the menu and our guide was recommending us some dishes to try. Once we decided, she basically shouted the order across the whole restaurant to the waitress. The waitress then shouted it across the street where it was prepared. No foot was moved in the entire process until we got our food.

My fellow traveler, Amy, also made the journey through Vietnam memorable, as she was always in good spirits, ready to go on adventures and experience the country, its people and culture together. It was sad to have to say goodbye to her!

So where does that leave Vietnam for me? It is a place I will definitely come back to, as over the last 5 weeks, I learned of lots more places that looked incredible and that I want to experience: The Ban Gioc Waterfall, do an overnight adventure in Phong Nha, live the magic of Hoi An again, bike the Hai Van pass, go trekking in Sapa, do an overnight homestay in the Mekong Delta to properly experience local life, etc.

It has a plethora of things to do, but I will make sure I will go in Vietnam's summer - as it got quite cold and cloudy in the north. With that, I say “Cam On“ (thank you) Vietnam and see you next time 👋🇻🇳

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