In Hanoi, we bought an open-tour bus ticket, which gave us five stops in different cities down the country. We chose Hanoi > Hue > Hoi An > Nha Trang > Da Lat > Saigon. Our first bus was my first of several overnight sleeper buses. It had about 30 "beds" that were about 5'10" so I fit comfortably, but the other foreigners definitely struggled. It wasn't too bad of a ride with the exception of the Vietnamese music blaring through the bus speakers by the inconsiderate driver, not to mention the incessant honking!
We also had bad weather upon our arrival in Hue and only did minimal sightseeing - mostly just the citadel.
The rainy weather brought us to a fancy restaurant where we opted for a cooking course. We made a delicious 4-course meal that took around three hours to make and stuffed our stomachs beyond a comfortable limit. We even took some leftovers to go!
In the evening, we found the backpacker district and had a drink and did some shopping. It didn't seem like there was loads to do there, and we were happy to take our next bus to Hoi An in the morning.
In the evening, we found the backpacker district and had a drink and did some shopping. It didn't seem like there was loads to do there, and we were happy to take our next bus to Hoi An in the morning.
We wobbled around Hoi An with our increasingly-heavy packs until we found Nhi Trung Guesthouse that our friend, Lena, had stayed at a few nights prior. There were plenty of other backpackers there, including Ryan and Dillon - fellow Californians - that we would later do some traveling with. We also met the fabulous Joyce from Canada that I would spend a lot of time with later as well.
Amy and I loved Hoi An! Our first day was a little rainy when we did some sightseeing with our $1 per day bicycles. We also rode 5km out to the beach, which was beautiful! We were hit with a huge rainstorm there one day but got nicely sunburnt the next.
Hoi An is also famous for beautifully custom-tailored clothing. Although we had no intentions of having anything made, I left Hoi An with two dresses, one skirt and an incredible blazer; these might be my favorite pieces in my entire wardrobe - note just in my backpack. I would go back to Vietnam just to have more clothes made here! We also rented a motorbike for a day, and Amy drove the two of us around town as I wasn't too stellar as a motorbike driver.
Amy and I loved Hoi An! Our first day was a little rainy when we did some sightseeing with our $1 per day bicycles. We also rode 5km out to the beach, which was beautiful! We were hit with a huge rainstorm there one day but got nicely sunburnt the next.
A bunch of us backpackers were all heading to Nha Trang at the same time, and we made plans to meet up at the backpacker hostel there as we all set off on our next sleeper buses.
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