🇻🇳 Sabbatical - Vietnam III - The Good

October 22, 2025

VietnamSabbaticalTripAsia

This is Part III of my Vietnam travel series:

Vietnam I - The Ugly
Vietnam II - The Bad
Vietnam III - The Good (you’re here)

It’s not all madness, scams, and lost hotel bookings. If you stick around long enough (and survive the total mess), Vietnam gives you real moments: totally unexpected kindness, wild landscapes, ridiculous coincidences, and perfect food. This is where it finally started to feel right.

Food & Drink

Michelin Guide spots literally foodgasmed me many, many times! You can find my favorite foods and restaurants below:

Food:

Beef Pho

Vietnamese pancake

Clay pot dishes

The dish that taught me “umami” taste (kebab rice noodles & fried spring rolls)

Another umami food! (HCMC)

For years, I’d enjoyed this rich, deep flavor in certain meat dishes or beef broths, but never knew it was umami. Vietnam finally put a name to it. No wonder I couldn’t describe what I liked about those dishes, I didn’t know it was a separate taste!

Coffee:

More resources

Hanoi street‑food overview, and the Michelin list.

Mini story: When I finally stumbled into a ramen place in Japan Town, Ho Chi Minh City, the smell of actual cleanliness hit me! It was weirdly emotional. I hadn’t realized how much I missed that feeling after three weeks of questioning every bathroom, every kitchen, every surface. Everything was spotless, everything felt fresh, and for about an hour, I could pretend I hadn’t spent days dodging sticky floors and wondering if the meat hanging in shops was safe to eat. If I ever needed proof that restaurant hygiene can be a form of therapy, this was it.

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Phong Nha: How to Actually Connect with People and Nature

If I’m honest, the first time I really felt something genuine in Vietnam wasn’t in a city; it was in Phong Nha. I stayed at a homestay literally in the middle of nowhere; not even on the main street, but a solid 10–15-minute walk from anything. Normally, that would annoy me, but the family who ran the place lived right there, and everyone was welcoming in a way that felt real, not like a tourism script. There was one person in the family who spoke English, and she basically helped me arrange every tour, every meal, every pickup. You know those rare travel moments where you feel like less of a customer and more like a guest? That was this.

One evening, they even organized a family dinner where I finally got to talk to other travelers and swap stories. The food was great, the cave and river tours around (Paradise Cave, Dark Cave, water sports around Dark Cave) blew me away, but maybe best of all, the people on those tours actually felt cool. Finally, we were many people who were complaining about safety, hygiene, disorganization together! And having lots of fun while doing water sports, or exploring inside of a wet cave…

And then, completely by chance, I met this Austrian family at breakfast. It turned out they were retracing almost exactly my own trip: Thailand, Vietnam, then Japan. Same islands, same route. Sometimes travel hands you coincidences that make you feel like you’re in on some secret, and these five days in Phong Nha, honestly, were one of the best parts of my trip. Nature in northern Vietnam hit so much harder than any city, and food plus real people easily beat any high-rated restaurant or fake hotel in Hanoi. If I could pick one slice of real Vietnam, this would be it.

Paradise Cave

Lunch in Phong Nha Cave

The wildest tour I did in Phong Nha was a full day kayaking and cave adventure. Seriously, one hour paddling, then five hours basically living inside the deepest corners of the cave including having lunch there. Everyone struggled because there was a bit of rock climbing involved, more than a few people couldn’t stay upright, and at one point we swam in pitch-black water, not seeing the bottom. But the real highlight wasn’t the scenery, it was meeting a New Zealand couple, easily in their 70s. The woman had a prosthetic leg, had beaten cancer, and told me this was their second trip to Phong Nha after 13 years. They were right there with us, kayaking for an hour, smiling and making jokes the whole way, even if they skipped the climbing. I’ll never forget their energy. If I ever needed proof that travel is about spirit, not age or strength, they were it. They also told us that Phong Nha was a tiny village than it is now, and actually things are more accessible. So maybe Vietnam will learn tourism one day…

Hoi An, Different Vibes and One Unforgettable Old Guy

In Hoi An, I stayed in a newer, slightly fancier hotel near the beach, far away from the old town chaos. Breakfast was genuinely unbeatable: big portions, tasty fresh fruits, a mango smoothie, and coffee, which actually felt like a treat. This time, though, I didn’t run into other travelers, but the place was also a family-run and they lived there. The highlight? The older guy, probably the dad, didn’t speak a word of English, but somehow sorted all my laundry and random errands with zero drama.

He cracked me up more than once. Every morning, I’d come down for breakfast, say hi, eat, and then thirty minutes or an hour later head back upstairs. Every single time, he’d greet me again as if it was the first time he’d seen me that day, like he either forgot or thought all the tourists looked the same.

On my last morning, I told them when I’d check out, packed up, did the usual room scan, and opened my door. There he was, lying on the floor in front of my room half asleep, half on his phone, waiting so he could carry my suitcase downstairs and hand me a cold bottle of water for the road. Sometimes the smallest interactions make the best memories, and this guy was easily one of my favorites.

Da Nang and Hoi An: Welcome to the Korean Mallorca

Korean signs were everywhere: in buses, shops, massage parlors, and restaurants! The whole vibe felt like a mini Mallorca, except filled with Korean tourists. It was definitely an interesting anecdote.

Actually, these cities are very different even though they are only 30 minutes away from each other. Da Nang is becoming more and more of a digital nomad city, and Hoi An has a very touristy ancient town.

Ho Chi Minh & French Colonial History - History lessons I learned

Walking through Hanoi or Ho Chi Minh City, or somewhere else, you can’t escape the man’s legacy or the French fingerprints still all over the place. Ho Chi Minh basically spent his whole life fighting for Vietnamese independence, first against the French, who colonized Vietnam for about 100 years, then against the Americans, who thought they could just get involved in. The guy traveled the world, worked as a laborer in Europe and America, got schooled in communist ideology, and came back to kick out anyone who wanted to control his homeland. What’s wild is how Vietnam managed to beat both France and the US in wars nobody thought they could win. I think they also had many troubles/wars with China at different times as well. And they survived! How many countries can accomplish that? Definitely, not many…

Walking past the opera house, Notre Dame Cathedral, and wide boulevards lined with trees, you see the French colonial architecture everywhere, but it feels like a middle finger to the colonizers now. Even breakfast is different here from other Asian countries I visited because Bahn Mi (baguette sandwiches) are still king, thanks to the French influence. But Vietnam stayed true to itself, stayed communist, and somehow won every fight for independence. I wish I could have talked to more locals about all this, but the language barrier made it nearly impossible.

History in Ho Chi Minh City hits different. I went out to the famous Cu Chi tunnels about 60 kilometers outside HCMC, and even crawling through just 100 meters of them felt totally claustrophobic. The way they built hundreds of kilometers of these tunnels, planning everything to outmaneuver American soldiers in the jungle, is honestly mind-blowing. When you see how limited their resources were and how big a fight they put up, you have to just respect it.

At the War Remnants Museum, learning about what the Americans did with Agent Orange and other war crimes was another kind of shock. Some museums definitely do the propaganda of the current regime/party, and a few facts felt suspicious, but the photos, especially ones like Napalm Girl, are impossible to forget. Those images stick with you forever.

Language Barrier

Vietnamese is just impossible. The tones, the sounds, all the time, I had zero clue what anyone was saying. With other languages, you can usually catch a few words or at least get the gist. Here? Not a chance. Because of this, the few times I met guides or locals who spoke decent English, they left such a strong impression on me. These people gave me real insights about the country, its history, the struggles, and what daily life is actually like. For example, one guide on a tour told me that, back in the 1950s, Saigon was actually way more developed than other cities in Southeast Asia. Actually, I fact-checked this, and Singapore’s Lee Kuan Yew said in 1954 that: “If one looked at Saigon and Singapore in 1954, one would have said Singapore was the goner, not Saigon.” Apparently, war and embargoes just left Vietnam stuck while Singapore took off. It made me realize that so much of what you see here now is just a result of decades of missed chances, wars, and mayhem.

Then the same guide shared an even tougher side of life here. He told us how there’s no real opposition party, and most of his friends, people in their thirties, are putting everything aside, trying to save up enough money to escape. Whether it’s the US, or anywhere else. “You just can’t see the world, not just because of money, but because getting a visa is nearly impossible.” And it’s not like everyone here supports the party or loves the system. He mentioned that history is written by winners and that’s why we don’t even know the real story of Southern Vietnam. Honestly, it was heartbreaking. Not everyone thinks like him, sure, but it hits you: so many people are stuck, hoping things will change, and barely anyone gets their shot.

But let’s be honest, most of the time, all you run into in the touristy areas are scammers, pushy vendors, and fake taxi guys. The language barrier really blocks you from meeting actual locals, and that’s kind of sad, because you know there’s way more going on here than what tourists get to see.

Random Thoughts

No matter how hot it gets, Vietnamese people are covered up head to toe. I kept seeing women, especially the aunties on motorbikes, wearing full long sleeves, gloves, hats, and even face masks. Sometimes you could only see a tiny bit of their eyes. Turns out, everyone is doing whatever it takes not to get a tan. They’ll do battle with 35-degree heat just to stay fair-skinned. It’s the complete opposite of Berlin, where people strip down to catch even five seconds of sunlight. I saw this a bit in other Asian countries, too.

One funny thing was that the Wi-Fi password is mostly “123456789,” “thankyou,” or literally the name of the place.
Ho Chi Minh = Atatürk? Ho Chi Minh’s face, statues, and flags are everywhere. It reminded me of Atatürk’s omnipresence in Turkey.
Nature in North was a lot more impressive than the rest of the country. If I knew how much I’d hate the cities, I’d escape from Hanoi as soon as I arrived, and do Sapa region tour or Ha Long Bay tour. Oh actually, I didn’t go to Ha Long Bay because of another sad news.

Final Take

Vietnam is fascinating, exhausting, and sometimes infuriating. Would I return? Not soon. If they reinvent infrastructure, reviews, and honest prices, maybe in 20–30 years. Sure, maybe one day the chaos will feel nostalgic. For now, I’m inclined to say: once is enough. I’ll stick to my photos for now.